First-Person Shooters

First of four DLC packs features four new multiplayer maps and the nightmare continues in a brand new zombies offering

Source: Gamer’s Hell

Awakening, the first DLC (downloadable content) for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, will be available first, exclusively on PS4 via PlayStation Network on February 2nd, 2016, with other next-gen platforms to follow. It includes four new multiplayer maps (Gauntlet, Splash, Rise, Skyjacked) as well as a Zombies experience set in a medieval Austrian castle during World War II.

Der Eisendrache, the first chapter of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Zombies DLC adventure will take players on a journey with the Origin characters Richtofen, Nicolai, Takeo and Dempsey. Set in an eerie medieval castle built upon an ancient site of unspeakable horror, massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered, delivering inspired new gameplay and – in Zombies tradition – a variety of exciting plot twists and surprises that fans will have the opportunity to discover for themselves.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III Awakening DLC Map Pack is available at a discounted rate via the Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC Season Pass, which features all four DLC Map Packs planned for the year, as part of the discounted bundle.

Watch the Der Eisendrache trailer here.

Source: Eurogamer

The family of Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi have filed a €1m lawsuit against Activision over his portrayal in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Three of Savimbi’s children claim Activision depicted their father as a “barbarian” during his appearance in the 2012 shooter, The Guardian reports.

“[He's portrayed as] a big halfwit who wants to kill everybody,” prosecution lawyer Carole Enfert explained. In reality, she continued, Savimbi had actually been a “political leader and strategist”.

Jonas Savimbi was the leader of an opposition movement against Angola’s communist-backed government (and thus had the support of the US) throughout the country’s bloody civil war that left 500,000 people dead.

He appears in Black Ops 2 during the level Pyrrhic Victory, where he encourages his troops to kill as many opponents as possible, while waving a grenade launcher.

Activision has, unsurprisingly, disagreed with the claims, and said its portrayal of Savimbi showed him to be a “good guy”.

It isn’t the first time Activision has been sued over someone’s appearance in Black Ops 2. In 2014, actual ex-Panama dictator Manuel Noriega complained he had been depicted as “the culprit of numerous fictional heinous crimes”, for which he wanted damages.

In that case, Activision sought to get the “absurd” lawsuit dismissed, and went to the lengths of hiring US Attorney and ex-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani to help. A judge agreed with Activision, and the case was thrown out of court.

Arma 3 Apex now available for pre-order on the Bohemia Store

Entering its third year since official release, Bohemia Interactive today revealed some of their plans for Arma 3 in 2016. Via a new video blog, Creative Director Jay Crowe provides an overview of the ten most significant highlights of 2015, and a list of the ten most important things to look forward to in the upcoming year. Among the most anticipated items will be the release of the Arma 3 Apex expansion, which will bring players to the 100 km² South Pacific island archipelago of Tanoa. The Apex expansion will be supported by new vehicles and weapons, a co-op campaign – and a free platform update that will improve Arma 3′s graphics, audio, usability, and more.

In terms of updates, the year will be kicked of by the release of the free Arma 3 Eden Update in February. This update will introduce the Eden 3D Editor – a brand scenario editor which will enable users to place and edit objects, define waypoints, set mission objectives, and more, directly within the 3D game environment. This represents a massive leap forward from the classic scenario editor, which has been a staple of the Arma series since its conception. Another welcome addition will be the new Launcher-based Server Browser, which will make it much easier for players to search and join a multiplayer server of their liking. Another highlight of the Eden Update will be the audio improvements, which come in the form of new audio configurations and samples. The update will be further complemented by a variety of usability improvements. Among the changes will be the replacement of the in-game font, which should make in-game text better legible.

Next up in line is 2016′s Apex. Similar to previous Arma 3 DLC, the Arma 3 Apex expansion will deliver new premium content, and a free platform update available to everyone who owns Arma 3. In terms of premium content, Arma 3 Apex’ crown jewel is Tanoa – the new terrain which was first revealed at E3 last year. In addition, the expansion will include new vehicles and weapons, and a co-op campaign. While more specific details will be unveiled at a later date, new vehicle classes, namely Light Strike Vehicles and VTOL aircraft, have been confirmed to be among the Apex arsenal. To make the new content shine, the free platform update will provide a graphics upgrade that will apply to the entire game. The upgrade includes an overhaul of the game lighting configuration, and introduction of new Sea Shader and Screen-space Reflections technology.

Bohemia Interactive also plans to build upon their new (web-based) service, Arma 3 Units. Launched in basic form at the end of last year, Arma 3 Units aims to connect players and Arma community groups. In the near future, Bohemia Interactive will increase the functionality by enabling users to join units with their Bohemia Account, manage unit roles, schedule events, post announcements, and more. Further down the line, the studio intends to integrate parts of the service into the game itself.

The Arma 3 Apex expansion, and the supporting free platform update, is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2016. As of today, enthusiasts will be able to pre-order the Arma 3 Apex expansion on the Bohemia Store (regular price: 29.99 EUR / 24.99 GBP / 34.99 USD – pre-order price (20% discount): 23.99 EUR / 19.99 GBP / 27.99 USD). Those who are new to Arma 3, but want the most complete experience, can choose to pick up the Arma 3 Apex Edition (price: 59.99 EUR / 44.99 GBP / 69.99 USD), which includes the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition, all Arma 3 DLC released so far (Karts/Helicopters/Marksmen), and the Arma 3 Apex expansion.

For more information about Arma 3, please visit the games official website.

Source: Blue’s News

The Ubisoft Forums offer details on a new patch that’s now live in Rainbow Six: Siege, updating the first-person shooter sequel to version 1.3, and the UbiBlog has further word. The patch notes outline what’s changed, including anti-cheating improvements, an update to their ban policy, and an exploit fix that’s being tested and should go live on all platforms today. Here’s the overview:

Today we are sharing our third update. This one is smaller because we felt we needed to quickly fix some issues. The changes described below will take effect on January 13th for PC and on January 20th for consoles, except the server tick rate improvement, the anti-cheating and banning policy improvements as well as the out-of-zone insta-kill option which is effective for all immediately (read below for details). This patch will be released on PC first because of the faster deployment process, in order to test the impact the fixes have and adjust if needed. Note that tomorrow, January 13th, Patch 1.2 takes effect on consoles. A much bigger patch, Patch 2.0, will be released at the same time as Season 1, on February 2nd. This update will be made available on PC and consoles at the same time.

Please refer to our post about our top priorities and known issues to see our current plans and steps we are taking to improve the game as we move forwards. Note that this update, Patch 1.3, will not fix all of our current top issues and that we are actively working on fixing them as soon as possible.

Source: Blue’s News

A Steam community announcement unveils details on Sky Fortress DLC for Just Cause 3, the “air” portion of the Air, Land and Sea expansion pass announced a few months ago. The post also offers details on a small release coming to the action sequel today on all platforms which will add the ability to buy content previously offered as preorder bonuses, and say they are also working on addressing issues with the game. Here’s word:

For those of you who picked up the XL Edition, or for anyone interested in the Air, Land and Sea Expansion Pass we announced earlier last year, we’ve got some exciting news for you all. Whilst one side of the studio is working on patches, fixes and optimisations for the game, which will continue to roll out over the coming weeks, the other side is busily bringing this additional content to life. The first pack – ‘Sky Fortress’ which is the “Air” pack, is nearing completion, and will bring new missions, features and other exciting surprises to the skies of Medici. We’re play testing this content right now so watch this space for more news on this very soon.

On top of this, we’ve got a small release of additional weapons and vehicles landing across Steam, PSN & Xbox stores today. This isn’t strictly new stuff – all of this content was previously available as part of our pre-order programmes, so for the early adopters out there you may already have most of these items. However, if there’s any particular pre-order incentives you missed out on that you want to pick up, you can now do so. Check out the store pages for more info.

For those of you that are still having some issues with your game, rest assured that we’re working on optimisations, bug fixes, performance enhancements and improvements, and we’ll continue to roll these out as soon as they’re ready, with the next patch expected later in the month. We’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of all the issues that are reported to us.

The Christmas Truce has been called in the WW1 FPS Verdun. Join the snowball fights and football matches, sing along with Christmas Carols and make sure to send your friends a Christmas card from the trenches. Watch the trailer here.

Verdun is available now with a 40% Holiday Sale discount. Live and let live

The Christmas Truce has begun in Verdun! From December the 22nd to January the 4th 2016 players will have the opportunity to come together with their friends and enemies on a dedicated winter map. Throw some snowballs, play football for some extra points, write Christmas cards to your beloved ones or sing along with Christmas carols while enjoying this extraordinary scene.

Lorraine, the Christmas Truce map, wraps it all together and gives players the opportunity to win an extra Steam key. When players send their friends and enemies Christmas Cards from out of the trenches, they will automatically participate in a daily give away. Each day three random winners will be picked from the many Christmas Cards sent.

Verdun is also offered at a 40% discount during the whole Christmas Truce event on Steam, Humble Bundle, Greenman Gaming, GamersGate, Games Rocket and Bundle Stars.

A Christmas Truce live stream – www.Twitch.TV/VerdunGame – will be hosted with BaronVonGamez, Squire, PhlyDaily and the Verdun team on the 23th of December at 4PM EST /9PM GMT.

Enjoy the Holidays!

Find out more about Verdun at the games official website.

Players Can Refer up to Four Friends and Get Rewards

Today, Ubisoft announced a friend referral program for owners of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege on Windows PC. Starting now, all existing Windows PC players can give up to four friends full access to the game this weekend by visiting rainbow6keys.ubi.com. Whether these recruits want to play 5 vs. 5 multiplayer, co-op Terrorist Hunt or one of the solo Situations, the entire game will be available to them for free this weekend without restrictions.

· Existing PC players can visit rainbow6keys.ubi.com right now to receive four referral keys.
· Recruits can start pre-loading the game as of now, through Uplay™.
· Free weekend access begins Friday, December 18, 12:01 am CET and lasts through Sunday, December 20, 06:01 am CET.
· Each recruit who redeems a key will reward referrers with a 24-hour Renown Boost that they will receive shortly after the program ends.
· Recruits who decide to purchase the full game will receive a 25% discount from the Uplay Shop and keep their in-game progression.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, please visit the games official website.

Source: UbiBlog

If you’re playing Rainbow Six: Siege on PC, there’s an extra treat waiting for you today alongside the latest update – and it’s one you’ll definitely want to grab if you’re playing on a higher-end rig. Download the Ultra HD Texture Pack, and you’ll get new weapon and character textures that look amazing at resolutions up to 4K.

You don’t need a 4K monitor or ultra-high-end graphics card to take advantage of the new textures, however. For example, if you’re running a GPU with at least 4 GB of memory, you’ll notice a difference when using the new textures between 1080p and 1440p resolutions. Rainbow Six: Siege looks even better on a GPU with 6 GB or more, which lets players take full advantage of the Ultra HD Texture Pack at 4K resolution.

Finally, those running dual GPUs with 6 GB or more each will be able to breach walls and rescue hostages with the game looking its absolute sharpest, with 4K resolution, Ultra HD textures and the highest settings for lighting and shading.

The Ultra HD Texture Pack is available today as free DLC through Uplay and Steam. It’s separate from the update that’s also available now – which brings an auto-kick feature for intentional team killers, closes an exploit that let defenders leave their building duras well as bug fixes, matchmaking changes and a number of other improvements – so if your hardware is up to the challenge, be sure to grab it and make sure your Operators always look their best. Details on the larger update can be found here , and there’s always more news at the Rainbow Six: Siege blog.

Source: Blue’s News

EA announces Getaway DLC for Battlefield Hardline, saying this will come to the premium version of the cops and robbers shooter next month. Here’s word on the new maps, weapons, vehicles, and more that this will add:

Drop the clutch, lay on the gas, and hold on to your seats, because Battlefield™ Hardline is gearing up for its fastest, most explosive expansion yet! Whether you’re making a dusty, high-speed escape across the Mexican border, or closing in on a hot pursuit along the sun-drenched Pacific coast, you’ll be chasing glory at top speed when you play Battlefield™ Hardline: Getaway*, coming January 2016.

A great getaway is key to a great heist. If you’re a criminal wheelman, your payday is dependent on your ability to evade the cops. If you drive for the law, the fastest way to earn your badge is to take down the thieves before they can escape into a cloud of dust and burnt rubber. Ready to rev your engines? Here’s what owners of Battlefield Hardline: Getaway will get…

• Four massive maps: Pacific Highway, Double Cross, Train Dodge, and Diversion
• New game mode: Capture the Bag
• 4 new vehicles
• 3 new weapons for the Mechanic Class
• One new gadget and a new melee weapon
• 4 new Legendary Camos

In addition, all Battlefield Hardline players will receive a game update that includes new weapons and patches, as well as new features we’ll talk about soon.

Source: Gamer’s Hell

Coming this December to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, Legacy Operations, a new Battlefield 4 DLC, includes Dragon Valley 2015, a classic map reimagined both visually and with new gameplay features. This large map opens up for vehicular mayhem on land, air, and sea. Players can destroy or repair bridges for a tactical advantage. For infantry players, the dockyards offer intense close-quarter combat in Team Death Match.

The Battlefield 4 Holiday Update will be automatically released to your platform on the same day, but the free Legacy Operations DLC will be a separate, manual download available from the Origin My Games tab, the PlayStation PS Store, and Xbox Marketplace.

The Battlefield 4 Legacy Operations DLC Cinematic Video can be viewed here.