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It’s probably the funniest joke in Capes – which has a lot of pretty good superhero jokes – that not one of your eight playable characters actually wears a cape. This clever and challenging turn-based tactical game does wear its heart on its sleeve, though, and a clear love of the comics that inspired it comes across as it makes its underdog vigilante squad feel powerful with creative combo mechanics. It’s a style of battle that gives you almost all the information and lets you ******** a surefire plan in a way that reminds me of Into the Breach more than it does XCOM. Every level is a tactical puzzle that tells you almost everything that’s going to happen next turn up front, and winning is all about countering the ******’s moves before they can damage you by either taking them down, disarming them, or moving them right where you want them. Only a handful of abilities have randomized effects and there’s no chance to miss, plus you can see any ******’s abilities and a timeline of who will get to move next. In short, you have all the information you need to succeed. I do wish it went a little further and told us specifically which target an ****** plans to ******* and with what to take the last of the guesswork out of figuring out how best to thwart them, but once you understand that they’ll always go after the closest target (unless otherwise specified), it’s rare that you’ll be surprised by how a turn plays out if you’ve taken the time to read the room. Sometimes that can take a minute when there are literally 25 characters in the turn order list and you have to go through each one every turn to make certain your almost-***** character isn’t in the line of *****. Capes’ *******-in-cheek story grew on me fairly quickly – and when I heard that Morgan Jaffit, a writer who’d worked on the excellent Freedom Force games was involved, it made perfect sense. Sure, we’ve seen about 300 off-brand versions of the iconic Marvel and DC heroes at this point (everything from The Boys to Invincible to Watchmen has their own set of characters inspired by the classics), but it’s fun to embody the “I understood that reference” Captain America meme as Capes rolls out its parade of eight heroes that pay homage to the likes of Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Quicksilver, Professor X, The Hulk, Human Torch, and… I dunno, someone who punches a lot? I wouldn’t say any of them are terrifically memorable on their own, but they hold their own well enough and only Ignis, the fired-up influencer parody, gets annoying to listen to at times. Fights stay interesting and diverse over what turns out to be a pretty lengthy campaign. The triumvirate of supervillains who rule over King City are entertaining megalomaniacs, and they come with creative boss ****** mechanics. The Joker-ish telepath Wildstar can mess with your heroes’ heads and make them miss their first ******* on him, while anti-Tony Stark Primax is completely invulnerable and has to be avoided and worked around as you achieve other objectives, rather than ****** her directly. Those boss battles – and a strong variety of enemies and minibosses with tons of different abilities – keep fights interesting and diverse over what turns out to be a pretty lengthy campaign. I extended my time with it by replaying some missions to perfect them and earn more skill points, and there were a couple of very tough ones that took me a lot of tries to squeak through, but it was around 40 hours before I saw the end. Plenty of amusingly cheesy superhero humor is thrown around – including a lot of references to Primax’s self-driving cars being ****** traps – but the story is also often dark, with plenty of straight-up murders and blood splashed in the streets as the villains hunt down supers and ********** anyone in their way. There’s a fair amount of debate over whether heroes should *****, though all the while it sure seems like we’re ******** a bunch of dudes by knocking them off of buildings or exploding them with fireballs, and the way it ends seems to hand-wave a lot of that moral ambiguity away. But as excuses to have superheroes beat up bad guys go, this ain’t bad. That said, it’s very strange that while most of the story is delivered between missions with a 2D animated comic book style where characters’ lips don’t move, sometimes it will randomly switch to conversations between characters using their in-game 3D models. That works well enough, but it’s a confusing inconsistency. There’s also an annoying glitch where the frame rate regularly chugs as the camera zooms out from a cinematic, which is odd for a game that isn’t trying to be terribly ambitious with its graphics. One of Capes’ best ideas is that your squad of four heroes work together to enhance each others’ abilities. Even though animations aren’t always its strong suit, they successfully make this group feel like a team and bring energy to the turn-based action. One of Capes’ best ideas is that your squad of four heroes work together to enhance each others’ abilities when they’re close enough. It’s not unlike the team-up system in Marvel’s Midnight Suns, but here it’s much more based on position and they work differently based on which two heroes are collaborating. Among many other team-ups, the speedster Mercurial can leave a trail of ***** behind her as she zips from next to Ignis to the other side of the map; Weathervane’s lightning storm is vastly more powerful with Kinetic nearby to supercharge its damage; and Mindfire can telepathically make an ****** turn around so that Rebound can teleport in for a backstab with bonus damage. It makes the choice of which four team members to bring to a ****** hugely important – though it doesn’t cost you anything to restart the mission with a different squad if you find yourself in need of, say, damage mitigation from Facet’s crystal armor. You also have to keep your team’s position in mind, because if they stray more than a few tiles apart they won’t be able to take advantage of their team-up abilities. Capes is very smart about layering on mechanics to think about beyond simply punching or zapping an ****** for as much damage as possible. Some attacks do disarm damage, which doesn’t necessarily reduce their health but can force a thug to drop a **** or bat, or interrupt a more powerful ******’s super ******* that they’re charging up for next turn. On top of that, each hero has an ultimate ability – such as nerdy scientist Hyde transforming into a big stompy swarm of nanobots – but they all charge up differently. Facet charges as he absorbs damage while armored, Mindfire earns his by making an ****** vulnerable and then dealing damage to it, and Ignis slurps up ***** around the map like Pac-Man. Because of that, swapping out a single member of your team can pretty radically change your priorities in clever ways. Once you get the hang of it and are reliably beating down bad guys, you can test your skills by attempting to complete each mission’s list of optional objectives. In addition to completing the main objective without a hero being downed (they can be revived with half their health), you’ll be challenged with pushing some number of enemies off ledges, disarming them, or using specific abilities, among other things. This is the main way you earn skill points to upgrade your heroes’ powers – some of which are minor half-point damage or range increases, but others unlock whole new extremely handy skills – so it’s definitely worth revisiting missions in the Simulator to mop them up, especially if you were that close to pulling off a perfect run. However, the one type of mission I have no ******* to revisit are the stealth ones, which are often obnoxious exercises in trial and error. While you can preview exactly where an ****** will patrol on their next turn and tiles they can currently see are highlighted, their gaze sweeps over the map as they walk and turn, and it can be very tricky to figure out where you’ll be safely hidden. I also had instances where I was detected despite not appearing to be in an ******’s sight at all, and though there might be a reason for that, it wasn’t clear. That’s no fun, but the saving grace is that the quick-save button makes reloading painless, and several of the stealth missions are optional anyway. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Wuthering Waves is an exciting Gacha game that is filled with unique items aimed to make your party stronger for combat. One helpful item is the Monument Bell, so read further to learn how to get and use it.Wuthering Waves: How to get the Monument BellThe Monument Bell can be acquired by completing the Bell-Borne Geochelone weekly challenge. If you don’t have this challenge available yet, it means you haven’t completed Chapter 1 Act 4 of the main quest. Once you finish that prerequisite, the Bell-Borne Geochelone weekly challenge will become available in the Forgery Challenges under the Weekly Challenges tab.The Bell-Borne Geochelone weekly challenge consists of heading to the “George of Spirits – Tolling Stream” location and defeating the Bell-Borne Geochelone ******. The image below shows the location on the map.Image: Kuro Game StudioThis Belle-Borne Geocholone is not the most difficult in the game, but definitely requires some prepar...View the full article

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Discord wants to steer its app back to gaming, and it’s rolling out an app redesign to help make that happen. The new look features reworked group messages, voice chats, video calls, and more. In a message to users, Discord CEO Jason Citron says the company realized it needs to narrow its focus from “broadly being a community-centric chat app” to a service that “helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests.” The company now wants to make it easier to connect before, during, or after playing a game. This year, Discord will make some changes to the app that will let users reach their conversations faster, as well as improve the reliability of its voice, video, and streaming technology. The company also plans to... Continue reading… View the full article

Players attempting to beat Rufus the Foreman in V Rising will want to know how to get around his attacks and how to work around his minions. Rufus is a skilled woodworker who is nominally in charge of the logging camp, but has taken a side interest in being a bandit with a mean crossbow. Defeating Rufus The Foreman will reward players with an ability that will make them much more powerful than before. View the full article

With an effectively infinite universe to fill in No Man’s Sky, developers Hello Games have certainly risen to the challenge of trying to fill it with as much stuff as they possibly can over the last near-decade, still managing to add major new features and modes eight years on from the sci-fi exploration game’s release. Next update Adrift is taking things right the way back, though, by emptying the expansive cosmos of almost everything except you, your ship and planets to visit. Read more View the full article

A data mine from Modern Warfare 3 season 4 has leaked information about the various release editions of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 and some of the skins you can expect to receive. X/Twitter user @Earthbound_Fan posted the images from the data mine on May 29. The leaked images are simultaneously nostalgic and exciting as they show off classic ****** Ops series characters in new ways. View the full article

Unlike the similar Persona 1 Gaiden port, this one will appear on both platforms simultaneously. View the full article

Gathering important information in Modern Warfare 3 is crucial. There are many ways to earn information, including interrogating enemies. If you like to play dangerously, we’ll show you how to interrogate ****** Operators in Warzone BR and Plunder.Warzone: How to Interrogate ****** Operators in BR or PlunderThe battle royale of MW3 is already quite a challenge. Just see how hard it is to complete three unique contracts in a single match. So interrogating an ****** adds to that difficulty. To extract information from a fallen ****** you have to down them first. You can do this by putting in a few shots, just be careful and watch how many hits you make. I’ve on accident ******* an ****** by emptying a clip into them. So keep that in mind.Image: Activision Next, when your target is crawling approach them and wait for a prompt to come on screen. This prompt will allow you to interrogate an ******. You’ll see a progress bar filling up, so wait for it to complete. Not...View the full article

If you're looking to get more out of your Steam Deck, we've found a great docking station deal on Amazon that will unlock the true potential of Valve's gaming handheld. You can save $10 on the Sabrent 7-in-1 docking station, which will allow you to boost your storage, connect to external 4K displays, and download games in no time with a gigabit Ethernet port. It's no secret that we love the Steam Deck, and even consider it to be the best handheld gaming PC, but it can be far more than just a portable gaming console. A docking station allows you to expand the available ports, storage, and display options for your Deck and this Sabrent model is also compatible with the Asus ROG Ally. Be quick though, as this deal is only live for a limited time. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Best computer speakers 2024 The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE could be far smaller than the 4090 Check out the 3D-printed details in this fiery BioShock PC build View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The Specialist Perk does already exist in Modern Warfare 3, on Rebirth Island in Resurgence. But now it’s coming to Warzone, so you can become unstoppable there, too.What is the Specialist Perk in Warzone?The Specialist Perk in Warzone is actually a perk suitcase, although it acts and behaves like a Perk. Upon equipping it, you’ll receive every Perk available in Warzone, including all default Perks available to all operators.For a full list, have a look at this:Perk Slots 1 and 2 (all Perks active): Battle Hardened, Double Time, E.O.D., Focus, Irradiated, Mechanic, Mountaineer, Scavenger, Shrapnel, Sleight of Hand, Spotter, Strong Arm.Perk Slot 3 (all Perks active): Cold-Blooded, Escapist, Payout, Primed, Quick Fix, Resupply, Stalker, Survivor, Tempered, Tracker.Perk Slot 4 (all Perks active): Birdseye, Combat Scout, Flex, Ghost, High Alert, Resolute, Shrouded.That’s right, every single one of those 27 Perks will be active,...View the full article

Shattered Space is the first time since Oblivion's Shivering Isles that Bethesda has used the term expansion pack, and Starfield players believe that this could imply a more ambitious scope for the project. Though Starfield broke several Bethesda records at launch, many fans have a mixed opinion on how Starfield compares to previous Bethesda titles such as Fallout 4 or Skyrim. The gunplay and ship design in Starfield was almost universally praised by its community on release, but questing and open world exploration left a lot to be desired. View the full article

Fate can be a cruel mistress, but she can also be a benevolent one. Today, I found out she can be both simultaneously. No sooner had I published my treatise on when we can possibly expect to hear more about Sony's rumored May PlayStation Showcase, but the firm has now confirmed that a new "30+ minute" State of Play will air tomorrow, May 30, at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST. Get ready for PS5 goodness. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Could Sony shadow-drop its PlayStation Showcase for the first time? New PS5 ***** blesses FF7 Rebirth and Spider-Man 2 with first discounts Neil Druckmann clarifies true intent of new Naughty Dog game comments View the full article

From Spitfire Interactive, former members of Defiant Development who made Hand of Fate, comes the superhero strategy game Capes. It's out now with Native Linux support and it's Steam Deck Verified. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Wuthering Waves is a superb game with a few teething problems. If you’re struggling to run it, here’s how to fix Wuthering Waves running but not launching bug on Epic Games store.What is the running but not launching bug on Wuthering WavesThis bug seems to be exclusive to the Epic Games version of Wuthering Waves and happens when you try to start the game.Screenshot: PC InvasionInstead of opening the launcher window, the game just shows as “running,” this state won’t change no matter how long you wait. Even if you mess around in the Task Manager, the problem will persist. Fortunately, there’s a workaround.How to fix the infinite running bug in Wuthering WavesThis fix has a few steps, but it’s pretty straightforward. If you carefully follow these instructions, we should have you playing in no time.Screenshot: PC InvasionFirst, go to your library, right-click on Wuthering Waves in the list, and click on the three d...View the full article

After recently getting a glimpse of the latest commemorative skins for esports icon Faker, the League of Legends community is banding together to point fingers at Riot Games for creating the “biggest insult imaginable” for fans of the pro player. In a scathing post on the League subreddit, fans gathered together to blast the upcoming skins, which have been set at multiple ridiculous price points. Marketed as celebratory skins for Faker’s induction into the Hall of Legends, Riot stunned the League community by setting bundle prices at a range of $40 to an outrageous $450. View the full article

Contracts are a great way to make some extra cash and earn some loot in Warzone BR and Resurgence, but to complete three unique ones is no easy task. Here is how I get this challenge done fast.How to do three contracts in a single match in MW3There are a few tips you should take note of before attempting this challenge in Modern Warfare 3. These will make it much easier.Pick your game modeI would suggest Resurgence to complete three unique contracts in a single match over Warzone BR. Although there are more contracts available in Warzone, and more time in which to do them, the nature of respawning in Resurgece makes this much faster. When you ****, it is possible to drop in on locations. This makes getting around the map to complete unique contracts much easier. When you **** in Warzone, you’re probably not going to be getting up anytime soon. The size of the map makes things a little longer too.Pick your contractsNot all contracts are created equal. Som...View the full article

Powerful loot can be the decider between who returns to the lobby and who wins the entire match. Great guns win games, so here’s how to find Loot Hot Zones in Call of Duty Warzone.What is a Loot Hot Zone in Call of Duty Warzone?Loot Hot Zones are a new addition to Warzone for Season 4. Regular Points of Interest can be marked as Loot Hot Zones, which house higher-tier loot than usual. Naturally, all players can see which areas are Loot Hot Zones, so expect the most aggressive Operators to show up for a piece of the action. At the start of a match, every player is scrounging for an acceptable *******. Loot Hot Zones ensure you’ll get one early if you can handle the pressure.During the mid-season update, you’ll be able to find weapons with ten attachments in these areas, so they are worth the trouble.Where to find Loot Hot Zones in WarzoneScreenshot: PC InvasionWhen a Loot Hot Zone is active, its POI will be designated...View the full article

We can’t talk about team compositions in Wuthering Waves without mentioning one of the best DPS powerhouses. Here are the best Jiyan team compositions in Wuthering Waves.Best F2P Jiyan team composition in Wuthering WavesScreenshot: PC InvasionResonatorRoleResonance SkillIntro SkillOutro SkillJiyanMain DPSWindqueller:Dash forward a certain distance, dealing Aero DMG. Can be cast in the air.Tactical Strike:Jiyan pierces the target in mid-air, dealing Aero DMG.Discipline:When the next character’s (or other characters on a nearby team that activates an Outro Skill) Heavy ******* hits a target, Jiyan will summon Qinqloong to launch a Coordinated *******, dealing Aero DMG equal to 313.40% of Jiyan’s ATK. This ******* lasts for 8s, and can be triggered once every 1s. up to 2 times.YangyangSub-DPSZephyr Domain:Yangyang wields her sword to create a whirling vortex of winds that gathers nearby enemies to the center, dealing Aero DMG.Cerulean Song:Yangyang sends the tar...View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

A Diablo 4 patch on May 28 implemented a new, under-the-radar feature that means a very noticeable UI icon now appears to show materials players pick up—and it has swiftly divided the community. One player commented on a Reddit post about the unexpected change and how they felt it cluttered the screen for readability. They pointed out the nuisance of being shown non-essential resources. Flowers like Gallowvine, for example, which we gather a lot of for crafting, is one such material that pops up all too often on screen with this feature. View the full article

Enlarge / Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, seen here not questioning the accuracy of a PR interview. (credit: Getty Images) [/url] Sony has taken down an interview with Naughty Dog Studio Head Neil Druckmann (Uncharted, The Last of Us) that the company now says contains "several significant errors and inaccuracies that don't represent his perspective and values." The surprising move comes after Druckmann himself took the extreme measure of publicly questioning a portion of the PR interview by posting a lengthy transcript that conflicted with the heavily edited version Sony posted online. The odd media saga began last Thursday, when Sony published the interview (archive here) under the heading "The Evolution of Storytelling Across Mediums." The piece was part of the Creative Entertainment Vision section of Sony's corporate site, a PR-driven concept exploring how Sony will "seamlessly connect multi-layered worlds where physical and virtual realities overlap to deliver limitless Kanto—through creativity and technology—working with creators." Whatever that means. Druckmann's short interview started attracting attention almost immediately, primarily for Druckmann's apparent promotion of using AI tools in game development. Such tools "will allow us to create nuanced dialogues and characters, expanding creative possibilities," Druckmann is quoted as saying. "AI is really going to revolutionize how content is being created, although it does bring up some ethical issues we need to address." Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments View the full article

Image: Zotac Zotac is getting into portable PC gaming. The company has started to tease the Zotac Zone, a gaming handheld with a seven-inch, high-refresh-rate, touch-enabled screen and two-stage adjustable triggers. Its display will also come with one spec many of its rivals lack: OLED. Right now, the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch are the only two gaming handhelds with OLED display options. This could help set the Zotac Zone apart from an increasingly crowded handheld gaming market, which also includes the Asus Rog Ally, MSI Claw, and the Lenovo Legion Go. Thanks to @prudis06 for brightening this image up. Looks like @ZOTAC is getting into the handheld game. I wonder if this is just a re-badge. [Hidden Content] — Cary Golomb... Continue reading… View the full article

Thanks to leakers, we now know about the CoD and Fallout collab that’ll be adding skins and other cosmetics to the game. Here’s everything we know.Table of contentsCoD x Fallout event detailsCoD x Fallout release dateCoD x Fallout skins and bundlesCoD x Fallout event detailsThanks to a leaked promotional image, we know that CoD not only plans to collab with Fallout, but have already been working on it.In the promotional image, which is all we have for now, we can see some of the main characters (Soap, Ghost, Captain Price, and Gaz) donning the blue and gold outfit of the Vault Dwellers. Interestingly, they are standing in front of Vault 141, which doesn’t officially exist in the canon, or at least it hasn’t been mentioned in any official Fallout media.We can expect to get skins and bundles like with the Warhammer 40K event, and that’s likely about it.As more info drops, I’ll be there to update you about it.CoD x Fallout re...View the full article

A PC adapter for Sony’s PlayStation VR2 has recently popped up in South Korea, giving a new update - albeit an unofficial one - on the incoming PC support for the PS5 VR headset teased earlier this year. Read more View the full article

With every new Call of Duty game from franchise veteran Treyarch, there's the expectation the next era of undead slaying will be an all-timer entry. ****** Ops 6 Zombies could be a much-needed slam dunk for the series after the disappointment of MWZ, and it's beginning to look like it'll feature the return of TranZit, the ambitious launch map from ****** Ops 2. You'll need to prepare for a trip down the rabbit ***** of clues first, though. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: COD ****** Ops 6 finally confirmed for Xbox Game Pass day one launch ****** Ops 6 needs to top the best Call of Duty campaign of the decade XDefiant will take on COD's Search & ******** with "1-life ***** mode" View the full article

If you’re looking for the perfect Echoes for an Electro-type Resonator in Wuthering Waves, here’s a farming route for all the Void Thunder Echo locations.Void Thunder Echo farming route and locations in Wuthering WavesYou can collect a total of 13 Echoes with the Void Thunder Sonata in Huanglong, which are the best types of Echoes for someone like Calcharo. Having a two-set boosts your +10% Electro DMG, and having a five-set grants you +15% Electro DMG after releasing a Heavy ******* or Resonance Skill. Here are the best farming routes for Void Thunder Echoes.Screenshot: PC InvasionTiger’s MawAround Tiger’s Maw, you can find five Void Thunder Echoes. This is the most you’ll find in one area, which makes it the best farming spot.NumberEchoType1Traffic IlluminatorSpectro2Fission Junrock–3Vanguard Junrock–4Fusion WarriorFusion5Aero PredatorAeroScreenshot: PC InvasionDesorock Highland & Central PlainsAlthough ...View the full article