First-Person Shooters

Source: CVG UK

Activision has released a new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer focused on the game’s sound design. According to the official blurb, the video goes behind the scenes with Sledgehammer Games audio director Don Veca, who details “an audio intelligence system that makes virtually every impact and explosion sound unique”. The latest behind the scenes video follows the recent release of Advanced Warfare facial animation and futuristic tech trailers.

Sledgehammer’s first solo entry in the shooter series is said to be set in a plausible future, specifically the year 2054, and stars Kevin Spacey as main antagonist Jonathan Irons. The Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare release date is November 4 on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.

Source: Battlefield Blog

Get ready to take the battle to Asian Pacific’s dense, urban landscape with Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth, the fourth expansion pack to Battlefield 4. Coming July 15th to Battlefield 4 Premium members, Dragon’s Teeth drops players into four all-new maps that introduce unique environments and gameplay ranging from the bustling alleyways of Pearl Market to the floating restaurant in the middle of a lake in Sunken Dragon.

Dragon’s Teeth sees five new weapons making their Battlefield debut in addition to a new unlockable gadget, the Ballistic shield. Dragon’s Teeth also introduces a new game mode, Chain Link, a twist on the fan-favorite Conquest mode that sees squads battle to link capture points in order to achieve victory. Fans will also get ten new assignments with unique unlocks and a new Battle pickup in the R.A.W.R., a remote controlled ground vehicle armed to the teeth.

All this plus four new maps including:

• Lumphini Garden: Cruise with fast-moving PWC’s on the canals in the pristine park to get the upper hand.
• Pearl Market: Wage wars within the bustling alleyways and upon the rooftops of the marketplace.
• Propaganda: Fight among massive despotic monuments in the grey concrete battleground.
• Sunken Dragon: Battle between modern high rises as you wreak havoc in a floating restaurant or drain the lake opening up for a frontal vehicle assault.

Get a head start playing Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth early by becoming a Battlefield 4 Premium member. Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth will be available to all non-Premium members starting on July 29th.

Source: CVG

Activision will release the latest Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC pack today on PS4, PS3 and PC. The Invasion DLC introduces four new small-to-medium sized multiplayer maps, including a refreshed version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s Favela, plus a fresh mission for the Extinction co-op mode.

First launched on Xbox One and Xbox 360 on June 3, Invasion is available as part of the game’s season pass, or standalone for £8.06 / $14.99. Activision plans to release four Call of Duty Ghosts map packs. Onslaught launched in January, while Devastation arrived in April.

Source: Battlefield Blog

It’s been about a week since the Battlefield Hardline beta has come to a close, and as Steve said last week we want to thank everyone who took part. Even though the beta was just a small taste of the complete package we plan to deliver with Hardline, the amount of feedback we got from players around the world has been incredible and will help ensure we make Hardline a better game when it launches this October.

That’s why we’re happy to introduce you to the CMW – the Community’s Most Wanted. This is where we will outline some of the fixes and improvements we are making to Battlefield Hardline based on feedback we received during the beta and what we’re hearing from you. Yes, we are listening!

List of Changes via Battlefield Blog

Bohemia Interactive today released a brand new video to further introduce the role of the ground vehicle crewman in Arma 3. Just as in real life, most vehicles in Arma 3 require multiple people – either controlled by AI or co-operative players – to operate efficiently, which are typically divided into a driver, gunner, and vehicle commander position. The new video takes a closer look at each of these crew member’s responsibilities, while exploring some of the core principles of ground vehicle combat.

In continuation of the official Arma 3 Community Guide series, the Ground Vehicle Crew video is narrated by Andrew Gluck (better known as Dslyecxi, former service member and leader of the popular Arma community group Shack Tactical), who discusses the strengths and weaknesses of ground vehicles, the responsibilities of each vehicle crew member, and some of the basic communication protocols. While there are many more ways to play Arma 3, it represents one possible method by which players can go more in-depth with their vehicle operations in Arma 3’s open military sandbox.

For more game information, please visit the official Arma 3 Website.

Sledgehammer Games parades its new graphics tech

By Mike Jackson, US News Editor, CVG America

A new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developer diary has been released, showing off the game’s animation and face capture technology. Animations director Christopher Stone and art director Joe Salud discuss how the developer has done “whatever it took to make the game look as photo realistic as possible”. The Sledgehammer developed shooter is said to be set in a plausible future, specifically the year 2054, and stars Kevin Spacey as main antagonist Jonathan Irons.

Bohemia Interactive is pleased to announce the release of update 1.63 for Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead.

Besides the numerous fixes and optimizations which were introduced during the 1.63 beta program which covered almost a 2 year period for this iteration of the engine, the update focuses on the transition of the multiplayer from GameSpy matchmaking to Steam.

As you may have heard, GameSpy is discontinuing its services and it was therefore of paramount importance to offer an alternative for the passionate Operation Arrowhead players who have supported our game and our company for so many years.

Due to the fact that Steam based matchmaking requires Steam to work, this update is only available through Steam. If you have purchased a retail copy of the game, please do not despair. As announced previously all Arma 2 (including DLCs and Operation Arrowhead expansion) keys may now be activated on Steam. Just follow this walkthrough (link), take your Arma 2 CD key, use it as a Steam product key, and the game will be added to your library.

For our other games affected by the GameSpy shutdown, but not updated to work with Steam (Arma 1, Arma Cold War Assault, Take On Helicopters), and also for those players who wish to stick with the older non-Steam version of the game, we have implemented a system to help host and connect to servers even without a functioning GameSpy – http://master.bistudio.com/. Here server owners may add their servers and players may use the listed IP addresses to connect to them. Also to help players overcome difficulties we have added a number of articles for each game to our FAQ (link) and as always our technical support staff is ready to help via [email protected].

For more information about Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, please visit the official website at www.arma2.com.

Death in the Desert

By Mikel Reparaz, IGN

Sniper Elite III is a celebration of extravagant carnage – and, less significantly, a big improvement over 2012′s Sniper Elite V2. Its predecessor’s stiff, linear gameplay has been swapped out for a more open-ended, creativity-enabling approach to stealth-shooting. But the big draw – the real draw – is the same pornographically violent X-ray-vision carnage that erupts whenever your bullets meet their targets.

Read on…

Source: Blue’s News

Sniper Elite 3 is now available, with the sharpshooting simulation being sold through the Rebellion Gamestore, though all roads on this game will lead to Steam, where they have a concise write-up in their announcement:

“Sniper Elite 3 is a tactical third-person shooter that combines stealth, gameplay choice and genre-defining ballistics with huge, open levels and the exotic terrain of World War 2 North Africa.” Here’s a new launch trailer that celebrates the news.

By Nick Cowen, CVG

Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare takes a cue from Black Ops 2 with its sci fi ordinance, except this time it isn’t just the guns the player wields that makes them feel like they’re soldiers from the future. The protagonist in this game is kitted out with an exo-skeleton – a steel frame clasping their limbs and spine that looks like the rig that Matt Damon was wearing in Elysium – that endows them with superhuman abilities. They’re faster, tougher and able to jump incredible heights and distances using something called the ‘boost’ mechanic.

Read on…