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It may not feel like it, but we’re closer to the start of Season 1 in ****** Ops 6 than we are to the game’s launch. As we’ve come to expect from each new season, this one is also full of new content that caters to all players. Read more View the full article

I’m partial to a jellybean now and then. My favorite flavor is juicy pear, but it’s so popular at my local candy shop that it almost always sells out. Sometimes, if I’m feeling daring, I scoop up some ****** jellybeans. But what herb gives ****** jellybeans their distinctive flavor? The NYT Mini Crossword is dying to know. “Herb that gives flavor to ****** jellybeans” Nov. 8 NYT Mini Crossword hints Six across. Screenshot by Dot Esports Hint 1: It starts with the letter “A” Hint 2: In Greek aperitif, Ouzo. Hint 3: Star _____. Hint 4: Similar to fennel, liquorice, and tarragon. Stop right here! I’m about to give away the answer. View the full article

Warning: Spoilers for the first season of the Fallout TV Show lie ahead. Read more View the full article

It's safe to say that excitement for Monster Hunter Wilds has reached a fever pitch. Despite some pretty awful performance issues, the recent beta was played by 463,798 players at its peak, making it one of the most-played games of this year, having the 22nd-highest concurrent player count on Steam of all time in the process. View the full article

The arsenal available in Call of Duty: Warzone will soon pass a major milestone of 200 weapons to pick and choose from. Over the years, Call of Duty: Warzone has accumulated a massive armory due to its persistent nature. View the full article

Due to the abundance of feedback the development team received from its Steam Next Fest demo several weeks ago, they have decided to release this upcoming tactical CRPG in Early Access first at a heavily discounted price. View the full article

Various monsters could be returning to Monster Hunter Wilds according to a recent *****. As with every game in the franchise, Monster Hunter Wilds will feature the biggest and baddest monsters in the Monster Hunter universe. And while each entry includes a different subset of giants to slay, there are many species that fans have known to love and hate. View the full article

Dragon Age: The Veilguard got a little bit of negative press when it was first announced thanks to its new art direction. Whereas the previous games have all been fairly dark and gritty - with each entry getting progressively less gritty - The Veilguard feels more akin to a Disney movie, with every character having smooth-as-butter skin and cartoonish faces. Naturally, those who were expecting something like the original games were a little disappointed and began stating their opinion loudly online. View the full article

Echos of the past has a few puzzles that can stump players in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While many puzzles are short and easy, this puzzle can be complicated because of the hidden items. The crystals needed to open the doors are hidden in the area, making it a pain to try and open. You can find them quickly and easily once you know where they are. View the full article

Durante reveals that his PH3 studio is behind the PS5 port of Phantom Brave, as well as the new update available on PC today. View the full article

Your Party composition in Metal Slug Tactics is incredibly important in getting through missions. Unlike most games, you can't just run the same party through. Each party member has their own strengths and weaknesses, so some are more suited to certain playstyles than others. You want to ensure that you organize each party based on the mission you handle because not every mission is about taking out all the enemies; some are escorts, and others are about survival. View the full article

Over the three years since the release of co-op survival game Icarus, developer RocketWerkz has continually updated it. And by continually, I mean on a weekly basis: the newest update is the 153rd since December of 2021. That's a lotta patches!.. Read more.View the full article

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's update 1.050 brings in a new PS5 Pro-specific Versatility Mode and a more stable framerate. View the full article

This review covers the single-player campaign of Empire of the Ants. For the multiplayer modes (which are much better!), read the multiplayer review. [/url] It may be nice to look at, but Empire of the Ants’s single-player campaign is outright terrible and dull. It’s around 12 hours worth of missions that pivot between being pointlessly easy – due to a passive ****** AI that doesn’t even know how to use powers to buff its troops, which is crucial to success – to obnoxiously difficult on a dime, and it doesn’t let you save mid-mission. Most infuriatingly, there’s one where nine waves of enemies spawn and ******* from all directions, and you instantly fail if you lose control of a single one of the seven nests you have to defend – so many that it’s impossible to upgrade them all with effective defenses. That last wave is a doozy, too, which meant I had to replay it from the start multiple times just to overcome the final challenging moments where they come in large enough numbers to be a threat. Mixed in with those combat missions are absurdly tedious ones where you only control your single ant as you hunt for tiny bugs – which are usually very effectively camouflaged thanks to the realistic art style – spread across a big map. You’re guided only by a non-directional proximity sensor, so you have to run in circles to triangulate each bug. There are also “stealth” missions that don’t actually care if you’re detected as you scan ****** legions (dying has basically no consequences either), and these similarly amount to running around a map looking for things. Sometimes you’re told to catch butterflies or fireflies that fly away when you get close – the only way I found to do it was to wait for them to repeat their scripted movement pattern and land right in front of me, and that is exactly as much fun as it sounds. Considering you can climb any object and walk on the ceiling, it’s surprising that only a couple of the missions make any use of this ability at all, and those that do are mostly the boring, non-combat variety. (There was only one mission where my units fought upside-down, which was very funny because the corpses of ***** ants rained down.) Similarly, the only thing Empire of the Ants does with its impressive sense of scale is give you a few objects – like a glass bottle or a toy giraffe – to run around, picking up little glowy things as you explore them. I’ll grant you that this does remind me of how I’ve seen real ants figure out if an object is something they want to eat, but I don’t think ants are doing this for fun, and I am not having much fun doing it either. I don’t think ants are doing this for fun, and I am not having much fun doing it either. You aren’t forced to do all of these missions to complete the campaign – you select missions by speaking to quest-giving ants in a sequence of hub areas that serve as a sort of menu – but I don’t recommend any of them, or the campaign in general. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it’s not all that buggy (other than… you know). The other thing you do in these hubs is talk to ants. I haven’t read the books Empire of the Ants is based on, but if the Wikipedia synopsis is anything to go by this game’s story isn’t even close to following them because there are no human characters or secret ant weapons to make it remotely interesting. I’m going to assume that its numerous conversations about how your nest is threatened by termites and other visually identical ant species or floods don’t do the novels justice. Even the ant civil war that breaks out is over almost as abruptly as it begins, ensuring there’s no substance there either. View the full article

This review covers the multiplayer mode of Empire of the Ants. For the campaign, read the single-player campaign review. In short: It's very bad! [/url] Empire of the Ants is striking to look at. For a moment, you might even believe it’s real macro-lens footage of ants in a nature documentary, and the level of detail on the textures of the forest floor is extremely impressive. It’s not really what it appears to be, though: this may be a real-time strategy game with swarms of insects on screen at once, but you’re never actually commanding more than seven units – and given the somewhat clumsy way its controls make you cycle through them to give orders, that’s a mercy. You may be capturing and building up nests, but there’s literally nothing beneath the surface. So while it appears vast, Empire of the Ants is actually a pretty small-scale strategy game in most other ways, and the lack of unit variety and multiplayer modes make it feel smaller still. Multiplayer matches have a fair amount of nuance in how you use your small number of units and build out your nests to tech up, and there’s ample room for skilled players to turn a situation to their advantage with smart use of powers to boost their bugs’ damage output and debuff the ******. It’s not unlike a slimmed-down version of Company of Heroes in the way you capture territory and generate the two resources – food and wood – and that’s a good starting point. Ant units get locked into melee combat and can’t disengage until one or the other loses, so you can learn to hold off a dangerous Warrior unit until reinforcements arrive or prevent a retreat while you finish off an ******. And while you can quickly rebuild a lost unit if you have the food available, each ant legion has a home nest they’ll respawn from, which can mean there’s a long hike back to the front lines. Each nest you capture has a set number of upgrade slots that can be filled by a building or spent to support a unit from that nest, so turtling up isn’t really an option – you won’t even have enough slots to tech up to tier 3, which means you’ll inevitably be overrun by ants with better stats. All the building is done from a radial menu that pops up when you interact with a nest and, cleverly, you use your ant as a cursor to select things. Crucially, taking out an ******’s nest disables all the upgrades that were based there, up to and including turning off their minimap. (Fog of war is a thing on the minimap, but because you’re viewing the world in third person instead of a traditional RTS overhead view, it’s handy that you can spot a moving legion of ants from a long distance even if their icon hasn’t shown up on the map.) There’s fundamentally only one faction to work with. However, Empire of the Ants feels thin relative to most real-time strategy games, in large part because there’s fundamentally only one faction to work with. Everyone always has the same set of workers, big-headed warriors, and “gunner” ants as their primary units, and they all counter each other in a straightforward rock-paper-scissors balance. (You can’t even play as the visually different termites you ****** against in the campaign.) The only variety comes from the ability to customize your loadout by choosing four of eight available powers for your main ant to cast, swapping out your support unit between healing aphids, armoring snails, or troop-carrying beetles, as well as one of three “super predator” unit types. Those certainly enable different strategies, but I’m not a fan of the way locking those choices in before a match begins limits your ability to pivot to a different approach if your opponent throws you a curveball. I’d rather be able to switch from the flying wasps to the acid-resistant beetles as my choice of predator if my ****** goes heavy on gunner units, for instance, but that’s not an option. Another major weakness of multiplayer is that there are only two modes: 1v1 or 1v1v1. That means there’s no option to play cooperatively against the AI (which is very weak even on the highest difficulties and doesn’t seem to know how to use powers, which are crucial) with a friend. It does have 21 maps, at least, and there’s a fair amount of diversity there in terms of how they’re ***** out and the creeps that guard their resource caches, like huge spiders and praying mantises that are cool to watch your ants take down. That’s good, because it soon becomes clear that there’s basically no variety to the bugs’ animations. At first, skittering around at high speeds can be entertaining, even when the controls freak out because you accidentally climb a small branch and start spinning around it like an actual confused ant. Watching a swarm flow over terrain is convincing and, since we’re up so close, dramatic. Warriors will pick up enemies in their big jaws and shake them around, and ***** bodies are flung high in the air like mortarboards at a high school graduation ceremony (which I don’t think ants actually do?) and then roll down hills. But when you’ve seen one ant-vs-ant ******, you’ve seen them all. Beetles in particular get repetitive to watch very quickly because of their lunging attacks. Even so, there are good reasons to play the Empire of the Ants’s multiplayer, which cannot be said for the single-player campaign. View the full article

The REV-8 has been a transformational addition to Starfield but one creative player managed to fly the vehicle even higher with a fantastic mod. Gone are the days of mindless trudging around planets in the hope of coming across something interesting as Starfield players can now simply climb into the driver's seat of a speedy buggy. Taking that idea one step further, modders quickly figured out how to take the bones of the REV-8 and turn it into something more visually unique without losing its usefulness. View the full article

John DiMaggio and Carlos Ferro will reprise their roles as Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago in Gears of War: E-Day. Currently in development by The Coalition, Gears of War: E-Day is the latest entry in Microsofts long-running third-person shooter franchise. View the full article

Thank your own personal deity—possibly Morninglord—it's Friday. I'll be honest with you, it's been a ******* awful week for me, but I know I can find quite respite in a big stash of games to play (and the deep satisfaction of finding discounts for you). In case I don't see you, stay safe, save often, and catch you Monday. In retro news, I'm celebrating the 28th birthday of what was once called "The Sonic's **** Game," ****** Bandicoot. I have crystal clear memories of chasing its white "100% gems" at a mate's place as we swore our way through especially fiendish levels like Sunset Vista and Slippery Climb. Visually, this was also seen as a stunner for '96 with its "Tazmanian ****** cartoon come to life" chic. If you want to get your ***** handed to you, old school style, the platforming here is timeless and was *****-shined well in 2017's N. Sane Trilogy. This Day in Gaming - Sonic the Hedgehog (MS) 1991. eBay - ****** Bandicoot (PS) 1996. Redux - Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PS) 2000. Redux - ***** GT (XB) 2002. eBay - GTA: Vice City (PS2) 2002. Redux - Blinx: The Time Sweeper (XB) 2002. eBay - LOTR: The Two Towers (PS2) 2002. eBay - Metroid Prime 3: *********** (Wii) 2007. eBay Table of ContentsNintendo SwitchPCXboxPlayStationLEGONice Savings for Nintendo Switch Lego Skywalker Saga Galactic (-75%) - A$28.73Mario & Luigi: Brothership (-21%) - A$62.95Detective Pikachu Returns (-23%) - A$53.95West of Loathing (-64%) - A$5.76Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (-90%) - A$6.99No More Heroes (-70%) - A$8.98 Expiring Recent Deals Persona 5 Royal (-36%) - A$64Shin Megami Tensei V (-50%) - A$49.98Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (-20%) - A$64Borderlands 3 Ult. (-74%) - A$23Spyro Trilogy (-35%) - A$45.68 Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card. Switch Console Prices How much to Switch it up? [/url] Back to top Purchase Cheap for PC Disney-Pixar Cars (-100%) - FREE w/PrimeDishonored: Definitive Ed. (-100%) - FREE w/PrimeBioShock: The Collection (-80%) - A$15.99Metro 2033 Redux (-90%) - A$2.99Metro Last Light (-90%) - A$2.99Metro Exodus (-90%) - A$4.49Battlefield 2042 (-92%) - A$7.19 Expiring Recent Deals Trine: Ult. Col. (-77%) - A$16.09Gris (-80%) - A$4.45Talos Principle Gold (-85%) - A$9.29Limbo (-75%) - A$3.79Persona 5 Tactica (-54%) - A$43.67Humankind (-86%) - A$9.79 Or just get a Steam Wallet Card. PC Hardware Prices Slay your pile of shame. [/url] Back to top Exciting Bargains for Xbox Metaphor: ReFantazio (-14%) - A$99FF XII: The Zodiac Age (-56%) - A$35.53******** Squad: KTJL (-69%) - A$36Jedi Survivor (-38%) - A$ 67.99The Quarry (-91%) - A$9The Outer Worlds (-67%) - A$14.95 Expiring Recent Deals GTA V (-53%) - A$28Park Beyond (-77%) - A$9Remnant II (-52%) - A$36EA Sports FC 25 (-23%) - A$85*********'s Creed Mirage (-65%) - A$ 28 Or just invest in an Xbox Card. Xbox Console Prices How many bucks for a 'Box? [/url] Back to top Pure Scores for PlayStation Dragon's Dogma 2 (-45%) - A$59******** Squad: KTJL (-69%) - A$36NBA 2K24 Kobe Ed. (-87%) - A$15Resi 4 Gold (-40%) - A$41.97Rayman Legends (-80%) - A$4.99Limbo/Inside Bndl (-75%) - A$10.23 Expiring recent deals System Shock (-50%) - A$29.98Hogwarts Legacy (-55%) - A$49Mortal Kombat 1 (-53%) - A$36EA Sports FC 25 (-23%) - A$85 Or purchase a PS Store Card. PS5 Pro Enhanced Bargain Need a cheap Pro showcase title? EA Sports F1 24 - $109.95 / $59.95 Sadly, I'm not rich or connected enough to have the TV needed to test out the biggest addition here: 8K at 60 fps. Mind you, it was hard to feel miffed with the results of an upgraded "Quality" mode with on-track, PSSR-based ray tracing running at 4K/60Hz, plus a Performance mode at double the pixel count of base PS5 at 4K/120Hz. This entry in the list is a true jewel in the PS5 Pro, best seen in wowfactor improvements like new on-track shader response with superior rain VFX, pit lanes lined with reflective glass (not to mention impact reflections from glass and puddles, too). Currently, this is in the pole position for most impressive Pro Enhancements. PlayStation Console Prices What you'll pay to 'Station. [/url] Back to top Legit LEGO Deals Minecraft The Frog House (-40%) - A$59.97Animal Crossing: Julian’s Birthday (-40%) - A$12Star Wars C-3PO (-19%) - A$159 Expiring Recent Deals City: Truck + Sports Cars (-34%) - A$99City: Double-Decker (-34%) - A$33Star Wars: Tantive IV (-33%) - A$148 Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

There are plenty of train games in existence on PC, with many either aiming for realistic recreations of driving trains like Train Simulator or Train Sim World, and others looking to a more top-down view like Transport Tycoon, Sweet Transit, or Railroad Corporation 2. Then there are games like puzzle sequel Unrailed 2 Back on Track, which is all about laying rails but in the most chaotic way possible. It's out now in Steam Early Access, and it's off to a strong start. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

From Once Human, to Palworld, to Enshrouded, it's been a pretty awesome year for new survival games. While existing juggernauts of the genre also remain popular, the class of 2024 is a strong one but there seems to be one student that's flunking. Still technically billed to be launching by the end of this year, Ark 2 is not just a sequel to one of the biggest survival games around, but a transformational sequel at that - so where the heck is it? Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ark 2 release date window, trailers, gameplay, and latest news Ark Survival Ascended gets another huge expansion amid Ark 2 silence Ark remaster delayed, now early access, but cheaper View the full article

Activision revealed its plans for Season 1 of Call of Duty: Warzone, which will integrate the popular battle royale title with Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6. Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 will bring new and returning maps, make adjustments and changes to returning game modes, and introduce new weapons and operators for players to enjoy in both ****** Ops 6 and Warzone. View the full article

Like a Dragon players planning to pick up the upcoming Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii game can pick up an alternate outfit for Majima: the iconic suit that Kazuma Kiryu wears through the majority of the franchise. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii players don't need to buy anything beyond the base game to acquire it, but there are some steps they'll need to follow before the end of February if they want it. View the full article

Player-built bases have been a site to behold in Once Human since the game's launch. Modern houses, country cottages, and Tony Stark-esque clifftop mansions have all been showcased by the community. These constructions, while personal to the player, have been noticed by the game's development team. View the full article

The Nintendo Switch is an incredible portable gaming machine that blurs the lines between home consoles and handhelds. It’s a truly innovative piece of hardware. But we can make it better; we have the technology. View the full article

Xbox players were in for a big surprise as ****** Stranding: Director's Cut was released on Xbox Series X/S on November 7. The news is sure to shock a lot of fans of the Kojima Productions title, not only due to there being no prior announcement of its addition to the consoles, but due to the game's initial exclusivity with PlayStation. Nevertheless, the Xbox port of ****** Stranding is great news, increasing its accessibility and allowing more players to experience this title for the very first time. View the full article