First-Person Shooters

Starter Edition priced at $15/£12. Available only until June 19.

By Andy Chalk @ PCGamer

If you think Rainbow Six: Siege looks cool—and if you don’t, Shaun’s excellent “Why I Love” column on the sweet stress of waiting may change your mind—but don’t want to drop $50 just to give it a try, the new, PC-exclusive Rainbow Six: Siege Starter Edition might be just what you’re after. It’s available now on Steam for $15/£12, and includes all of the maps, modes, weapons, and other features from the standard edition, with no restrictions or time limits.

The only difference between the Starter and Standard Editions is in how the Operators are unlocked. The Starter Edition will include just two Operators instead of the usual 20, randomly chosen from a pool of six of the game’s most “intuitive” for newcomers: Rook, Sledge, Ash, Fuze, Mute, and Smoke. Additional Operators can be unlocked for 12,500 renown each (a much higher rate than the Standard Edition) or purchased outright with a $35 R6 Credits bundle.

The Starter Edition also comes with 600 R6 Credits that can be used to unlock two more Operators of your choice (from the pool of six) or on other stuff if you prefer, and it works with the Rainbow Six: Siege season pass, which gives access to eight post-release Operators that will be added over the course of the year.

So it’s Rainbow Six: Siege with fewer guys and more grinding, then, although if you’d like a more specific breakdown of what’s what, a Starter Edition FAQ is available here. There is one other point to be aware of, however: Even though this seems like a pretty good idea to me, the Starter Edition will only be on sale from today until June 19.

The Giant, a remake of Der Riese, one of the all-time fan favorite Treyarch Zombies maps, is now available for a la carte purchase for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 players on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The Giant was previously only available as a bonus, included with the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Juggernog Edition, Hardened Edition and Digital Deluxe Editions, as well as part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Season Pass. Now, however, the map is available as a stand-alone offering for eager Zombies fans.

The Giant takes players back to a secret research facility of Treyarch’s classic Der Riese Zombies map, picking up the Zombies story with classic characters Dempsey, Nikolai, Richtofen and Takeo.

Additionally, The Giant is now available for individual purchase on PlayStation 3, with availability on other last gen platforms to follow.

For more information, and to view the “The Giant” Zombies Bonus Map Trailer visit the Activision Games Blog.

NEW GAMEPLAY TRAILER AVAILABLE NOW

Just Cause 3: MECH LAND ASSAULT, the second content pack from the Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass is out now for Expansion Pass Holders, and will go on sale as a separate add-on for everyone else on June 10th. To celebrate the release, the first new gameplay trailer has been made available today showing Rico causing chaotic destruction in brand new, gravity-defying ways.

MECH LAND ASSAULT takes Rico Rodriguez to the new island of Lacrima, home to an abandoned eDEN research base and a prison camp run by the mysterious Black Hand. Defended by huge powerful Mechs, Rico will need the new Bavarium Power Core rifle to disable their shields and hijack them. Once inside, Rico can use their powerful cannons and the GRIP Gravity Guns to hurl and smash the enemy into pieces.

Features:

• Pilot two types of powerful Mech and drive them anywhere in Medici.
• Unleash the Mech’s Gravitational Remote Influence Projector or “GRIP” to attract and hurl objects at your enemies.
• Jump and smash helicopters from the sky or ground pound tanks with the GRIPS’s “Force Pulse” attack.
• Prove your skills and earn upgrades in Mech arena challenges.
• Call in a Rebel Mech buddy for extra firepower when the going gets tough.
• Includes a powerful new energy weapon, the Bavarium Power Core rifle.

The MECH LAND ASSAULT pack is priced at $11.99 / €11.99 / £9.49 whilst the AIR, LAND & SEA Expansion Pass is available for $24.99 / €24.99 / £19.99. The final content pack – BAVARIUM SEA HEIST – will be released by the end of summer 2016, released one week early to Expansion Pass holders.

Watch the Launch Trailer on YouTube here.

More game information available at the official Just Cause 3 website.

INCLUDES 2 PILOTABLE MECHS, NEW MISSIONS, CHALLENGES & MORE

Just Cause 3: Mech Land Assault, the second content pack from the Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass will be on sale June 3 for Expansion Pass Holders, with a wider release to follow on June 10.

Mech Land Assault takes Rico Rodriguez to the new island of Lacrima, home to an abandoned eDen research base and a prison camp run by the mysterious Black Hand. Defended by huge powerful Mechs, Rico will need the new Bavarium Power Core rifle to disable their shields and hijack them. Once inside, Rico can use their powerful cannons and the GRIP Gravity Guns to hurl and smash the enemy into pieces.

Features:

• Pilot two types of powerful Mech and drive them anywhere in Medici.
• Unleash the Mech’s Gravitational Remote Influence Projector or “GRIP” to attract and hurl objects at your enemies.
• Jump and smash helicopters from the sky or ground pound tanks with the GRIPS’s “Force Pulse” attack.
• Prove your skills and earn upgrades in Mech arena challenges.
• Call in a Rebel Mech buddy for extra firepower when the going gets tough.
• Includes a powerful new energy weapon, the Bavarium Power Core rifle.

“The Bavarium Wingsuit from the Sky Fortress DLC fundamentally changed how Rico could traverse Medici. This time, we wanted to shake up how Rico interacts with his environment in a similar way,” explained Tobias Andersson, Senior Producer at Avalanche Studios. “The new Mechs allow Rico to throw enemies, vehicles and chaos objects around like tennis balls – increasing the scope for physics-based fun. Whether you’re juggling a small car or punching helicopters out of the sky, the Mechs give you the opportunity to mess with your surroundings in creative, explosive ways.”

The Mech Land Assault  pack is priced at $11.99/€11.99/£9.49 whilst the AIR, LAND & SEA Expansion Pass is available for $24.99/€24.99/£19.99. The final content pack – BAVARIUM SEA HEIST – will be released by the end of summer 2016, released one week early to Expansion Pass holders.

More game information available at the official Just Cause 3 website.

Collector’s Editions Available for Pre-order

Today, Ubisoft kicked off its E3 festivities with a brand new trailer for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, the latest in the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise, and unveiled the pre-order details on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

Developed by Ubisoft Paris, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is the first military shooter set in a massive and responsive open-world, entirely playable in single-player or up to four-player co-op. Players will discover Bolivia a few years from now, a country transformed by the vicious Santa Blanca drug cartel into a narco-state.

Sent behind enemy lines, the Ghosts will have to cripple the Santa Blanca cartel’s operation, breaking alliances between the drug lords and the corrupt government, and saving the Bolivian population from the cruelty of El Sueño, Santa Blanca’s ruthless leader. To do so, players will have total freedom of choice to complete missions how they choose and watch as the world reacts to their actions.

“As part of the Tom Clancy franchise, authenticity is one of the key pillars which will bring the Wildlands to life in our latest instalment in the franchise,” said Eric Couzian, Creative Director on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. “Our goal has been to build the Ghosts as credible Spec Ops, so players have a range of options in facing not only the deadly cartels, but also the roughness of the multifaceted Bolivian landscape. Ghosts are survivors and hunters, they can blend in all sorts of environments, leaving no trace except in the heads of their terrified enemies. We want players to feel this power.”

Furthermore, Ubisoft has also announced that the following premium editions are available for pre-order now, in addition to the standard game:

• The Deluxe Edition, available at GAME, contains the Standard Edition and the digital Deluxe Pack, which includes: the Huntsman rifle and motorbike, 3 emblems, 3 weapon camos, 3 character customisation items, and an XP booster. The physical version of The Deluxe Edition will also include 2 extra physical items: an in-game map of Bolivia and the original soundtrack of the game.
• The Gold Edition, available at Amazon, includes the Season Pass, giving players access to two major expansions, as well as exclusive digital content such as equipment packs, an exclusive vehicle, epic weapons, and the digital Deluxe Pack.
• The Calavera Collector’s Case, exclusive to the Uplay Shop, includes all the equipment needed to operate as a Ghost deep inside the Bolivian wildlands to take down the vicious Santa Blanca cartel. This includes the Gold Edition alongside the Ghost’s Audio Headset replica, a fully functional headset for PlayStation 4, Xbox One* and PC. Last but not least, the Collector’s Case also contains a Santa Blanca Cartel Skull, an in-game map of Bolivia, the original soundtrack of the game, a Bolivian carrying pouch, and 3 postcards of Bolivia.

Additionally, fans who pre-order the game will also receive “The Peruvian Connection”, a bonus mission in which they will embark on a perilous journey through the high mountains of Bolivia to break the alliance between the Santa Blanca and the Peruvian Cartels.

Watch the new “We Are Ghosts” trailer here.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, please visit ghostrecon.com.

You say you want The Revolution, well now you know… you probably don’t.

By  Jon Ryan, IGN

For all of its problems, 2011’s Homefront introduced an interesting Red Dawn-like concept, and revisiting post-invasion America in an open-world first-person shooter format sounded promising; but this fledgling FPS franchise has let me down again. There are some genuinely good ideas in Homefront: The Revolution, but nearly every one of them comes with a big fat “but.” While initially engaging, the stealth and shooter gameplay quickly becomes tedious, the story is terrible, and a general lack of polish means Homefront: The Revolution fails to make finishing its 20-hour campaign feel worthwhile.

Read on…

Source: Blue’s News

Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Eclipse is now available on Steam, offering DLC for the Windows edition of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the futuristic black ops shooter sequel. This second add-on pack adds a bunch of multiplayer environments to the game, and expands the included zombie campaign with more undead action. Here’s word:

“In the latest episode of the Zombies experience, the Origins characters head to ‘Zetsubou No Shima’, a tropical island where experiments with Element 115 have created horrors beyond belief. Battle your way through four stunning Black Ops III Multiplayer environments: Spire, Knockout, Verge and Rift.”

Source: Blue’s News

The Battlefield website announces that for the next week all Battlefield 4 owners are entitled to download a free copy of the Final Stand DLC for Battlefield 4. They offer all the details on what the pack includes, and the following explanation:

“From May 17 to May 24, you can download Battlefield 4 Final Stand for free*, from Origin (PC), PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live. In Battlefield 4 Final Stand, you can move the fight into the grand Russian wintry landscape. Make sure you get it quick, though – the future waits for no one, and after May 24, this giveaway will be a thing of the past.”

Source: Blue’s News

Steam News announces everyone can play Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer for this weekend until Sunday at 4:00 pm EDT. Here’s word on the free weekend, the corresponding sale, and the game:

Play Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Black Ops III at 40% off the regular price!*

Also, save 25% off the Digital Deluxe Edition

If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 combines three unique game modes: Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies, providing fans with the deepest and most ambitious Call of Duty ever. The Campaign has been designed as a co-op game that can be played with up to 4 players online or as a solo cinematic thrill-ride. Multiplayer will be the franchise’s deepest, most rewarding and most engaging to date, with new ways to rank up, customize, and gear up for battle. And Zombies delivers an all-new mind-blowing experience with its own dedicated narrative.

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

Source: Blue’s News

Another game is free this weekend as you can play Arma 3 on Steam through Sunday afternoon with no obligation. Here’s word:

Spread the word: you can play Arma 3 for FREE this entire weekend on Steam!

Be deployed to the Mediterranean Republic of Altis & Stratis, and enlist for Bootcamp, create your own scenarios in the 3D Editor, or head straight into multiplayer with friends. How? Just visit your Steam Library, search for “Arma 3″, and LMB fire at that Install button.

In addition, to sign up for extended duty, this weekend you can purchase Arma 3 at its lowest price ever. Take advantage of the massive 50% discount on the Arma 3 base game (which was already reduced in price just 3 weeks ago), or 33% off the Arma 3 Apex Edition (includes Arma 3 + DLC + Apex). And if you already own Arma 3, you can now also get the Karts DLC, Helicopters DLC, and Marksmen DLC (or all of them together in the DLC Bundle) at half price!

Get more game info at the official Arma 3 website.