PlayStation 5 Price and Release Window Announced at Showcase!

WWE 2K22 has found its cover star and release date. Gracing the front of the box this year will be the legendary Rey Mysterio, whose career will be highlighted in the game’s Showcase mode. Check him out in all his high-flying glory.  As for when you’ll get to step into the masked wrestler’s shoes along with many others, you can circle March 11 on your calendar. We previously detailed some of the features, gameplay modes, and confirmed superstars in last November’s update (which you can read here), but 2K22 features a new engine built from scratch to allow for smoother animations and simplified yet strategic grappling. Along with the Mysterio-focused Showcase mode, MyFaction is a new destination that lets you build your own stable of superstars. MyGM lets players manage brands, rosters, and storylines, while MyRise is a reworked version of the old MyCareer story mode. Expect a fully revamped creation suite as well.  In addition to the standard version of the game, which runs for $69.99 on current consoles and $59.99 on last-gen hardware, 2K revealed three special editions: Cross-Gen Bundle - $79.99 Digital standard editions of current/last-gen versions of the game within the same console family Starrcade ’96 Rey Mysterio Pack Deluxe Edtion – $99.99  Available physically and digitally ’96 Starrcade Rey Mysterio pack (PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X/S only) Undertaker Immortal Pack Season pass to five post-launch DLC packs MyRise Mega-Boost and SuperCharger packs Limited-edition WWE SuperCard content Three-day early access with pre-orders before March 8 nWo 4-Life Edition – $119.99 Available physically and digitally All Deluxe Edition bonus content MyFaction EVO cards Alternate nWo attires for Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Syxx Eric Bischoff as a playable character WCW Souled Out 1997 and WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 arenas nWo Wolfpac Championship Three-day early access with pre-orders before March 8 Lastly, 2K finally confirmed the full list of WWE 2K22’s platforms. To no surprise, you can pick it up on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. But before you go, 2K released a new trailer, a handful of new screenshots, and the box art for the special editions that you can admire below. Click here to watch embedded media Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                              

Windjammers 2 launched today, giving ‘90s arcade fans or those who discovered the game via the 2018 remaster a new arena to lob discs at each other. My review is currently in progress, but since the online mode didn’t go live until today, I’ll need time to test that out in a live environment before giving my complete assessment. In the meantime, here are my impressions so far.  The good news: playing Windjammers is still very fun. For those unfamiliar, two players face off in what’s essentially a hybrid of tennis and air hockey. You try to toss the disc past your opponent to score in their goal, but you can also earn points if the disc touches their court. The game sports a fighting game caliber of depth thanks to many variations of disc throws. The best matches are fast-paced, back-and-forth exchanges of flashy trick shots and ricocheting discs until someone slips up.  The gameplay feels snappy and responsive, meaning any time I blew a save was entirely on me. That’s good because Windjammer 2’s CPU opponents are tough, even on Easy difficulty. I choked down several bowls of L’s before I finally conquered its otherwise brief arcade mode. The presentation and soundtrack are appropriately ‘90s (in a good way), and the multi-cultural roster characters, each with speed/strength differences, harken to Street Fighter’s worldly appeal, granted they aren’t as memorable. The various arenas are enjoyable playgrounds, with some sporting small but meaningful gimmicks such as a roulette-style scoring system and those with blockers that can alter shot trajectory.  It’s good that the core game is fun because that’s about all Windjammers 2 has to offer. The package is barebones, featuring arcade, online, and two-player versus modes. I’m most disappointed by the tutorial, which consists of a simple slideshow of commands. As I noted earlier, Windjammer’s gameplay is deep and not unlike a fighting game. That genre has come a long way in how it onboards players to its systems, with Mortal Kombat 11 standing as a shining example. I wish Windjammers 2 had more in-depth lessons or a dedicated training mode to help me better understand why I would want to spike the disc instead of throwing it because staring at several slides of button commands isn’t ideal for retention. It’s also egregious that you can’t access the move list in the pause menu. If you forget how to perform a maneuver during a match, you have to return to the main menu for a refresher.  We’ll see how the online shapes up, but Windjammers 2 seems aimed at existing diehards who simply want to throw discs without any extra frills. That’s fun for a while, but there may not be enough meat on the bones to retain newcomers or even fans for the long haul.

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Release: January 20, 2022 Rating: Mature Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S Also on: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC Rainbow Six Extraction is a spin-off of Ubisoft’s flagship competitive multiplayer hit, Rainbow Six Siege, set in an alien-infested depiction of the United States. This three-player cooperative shooter borrows its predecessor’s roster of operators and weapons and recontextualizes them inside a more approachable player-versus-environment setting – often to fun results. The operator advancements offer exciting rewards for players willing to invest the time, though the climb to unlock the best rewards is steep. Additionally, a persistent health system creates meaningful consequences for players who fail to best Extraction’s many challenges by carrying over operators’ injuries from match to match. However, Rainbow Six Siege casts a substantial shadow, and despite its best efforts, Ubisoft’s latest shooter struggles to fully emerge from beneath it.  Extraction is technically well-crafted. It’s polished and enjoyable. Though, I don’t find it nearly as compelling as the shooter it spins off from. Even during the most exciting scenarios, I couldn’t help but wish I was playing Rainbow Six Siege. Each incursion in Extraction begins like a match in Siege. Your team picks their operators and equipment load-outs and then prepares to fight an onslaught of AI enemies across four brand new locations: New York City, San Francisco, Alaska, or Truth And Consequences — which is a real town in New Mexico. These maps are divided into multiple sub-maps that offer ample cover and verticality, though none of them are particularly memorable outside of a few exceptions. More interesting locations, like a UFO-themed diorama or an abandoned casino, are covered in parasite nests and dark slime textures, making them difficult to memorize. You and your crew complete a random selection of goals in each area. These range from stealth-based challenges like Biopsy, which requires you to obtain alien tissue samples with a knife, to attack-oriented objectives like Hunt and Decontamination, which serve as standard-fare kill quests that remain somewhat satisfying. Siege fans may recognize missions like Sabotage and Rescue, which mirror the Bomb and Hostage modes featured in Siege. My favorite objective type is Specimen, which requires your team to lure one of the powerful Archaeans – the parasitic antagonists tormenting the darkened hallways of every environment – into a trap to capture it alive. This objective is hilarious, and my teammates and I often laughed as one unlucky person had to serve as bait. Airlocks separate each city’s three sub-maps, serving as safehouses filled with supplies like med-kits and (hopefully) ammunition. The deeper your squad ventures into the incursion, the harder it is to successfully extract as enemies increase in difficulty and variety, ranging from low-level grunts to terrifying behemoths capable of smashing through walls. I enjoy the variety, but you’ll have to increase the difficulty level to encounter the best ones. If you manage to fight your way through all three areas, you earn extra experience points, unlocking perks like increased movement speed or new abilities like Sledge’s charged hammer swing. These operator advancements are the highlight of Extraction’s progression loop, and I wanted to keep playing to obtain them. You also receive new operators, equipment, and cosmetics through advancing your player level by completing matches and level-specific challenges. While there are exciting rewards to unlock, and I appreciate the operator-specific upgrades, in particular, progression feels unnecessarily slow overall.  Every weapon handles differently, but I enjoyed using them all equally. Silenced rifles are my go-to weapon type. They trade raw stopping power for the ability to execute discrete kill-shots on all kinds of Archaeans. Shotguns reliably blow enemies – and walls – to pieces but attract lots of attention. Extraction also introduces stealth takedowns, offering a discrete method to complete your objectives when ammo and health are scarce. Nothing feels better than quietly clearing a perimeter with your team. However, the game fails to adequately convey when you’re at risk of being detected, so my attempts at subtlety often devolved into panicked shoot-outs.  Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                               While Extraction borrows a lot from Siege, it introduces a new feature I love: persistent operator health. Suppose you previously played as Vigil and exited the mission with only four health. In that case, he’ll start the next game injured unless you let him recover by completing incursions as other characters. Depending on your performance, several operators could have an injured status, or even worse, be missing in action until you rescue them during another mission. This system encouraged me to experiment with operators across the roster, resulting in white-knuckle encounters. Rainbow Six Extraction converts much of Siege’s content library into an approachable co-op shooter, providing a tense environment for players of all skill levels. However, in a series of industry-defining hits, this installment feels incredibly safe and markedly less gripping than its predecessor. Score: 7.25 Summary: An approachable spin-off of a competitive multiplayer hit, this co-op shooter struggles to emerge from beneath its predecessor's shadow. Concept: Graphics: Sound: Playability: Entertainment: Replay: Click to Purchase

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series has a name and it’s a touch on the nose, if not overly redundant – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.  The Lord of the Rings is already a great title. The Rings of Power isn’t bad, either, but putting the two side by side is an odd choice, but you know what, it’s the one Amazon is going with. Fortunately, the teaser released today announcing that title is much more interesting than the actual title it reveals.  A new age begins September 2, 2022. Journey to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. #LOTRonPrime #LOTR #LOTRROP pic.twitter.com/KWAokaVeWW — The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) January 19, 2022 As you can see in the video above, it features some very Lord of the Rings-esque music and the molten creation of the rings at the center of this Middle Earth story. The rings are being created on top of what appears to be a map that features some mountains covered in mist and other terrain. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will hit Amazon Prime Video later this year on September 2.  Over in a story on The Hollywood Reporter, the publication has more details about what to expect in this show. Specifically, the series will follow the forging and creation of the rings of power that the series title refers to.  “This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics,” showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay told THR. “The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-Earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Numenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Until now, audiences have only seen onscreen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many…and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”  While waiting to learn more about this series, read about how the first Lord of the Rings movie just turned 20 last month (which is kind of wild) and then check out this trailer from the upcoming Middle Earth game, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.   What do you think of the series’ title? Let us know in the comments below!

It is important to keep in mind what is going on within Activision Blizzard at this time regarding ongoing allegations about the work culture. The ongoing lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against the company is over reported toxic workplace culture. The bulk of the suit focuses on "violations of the state's civil rights and equal pay laws," specifically regarding the treatment of women and other marginalized groups. To learn more about the proceedings thus far, including details listed in the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, please check out our previous coverage here. Season 2 of Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone Pacific has been delayed.  Originally set to land February 1, Season 2 will now begin two weeks later on February 14. As for why, it’s to allow Sledgehammer Games and the other teams behind Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone Pacific more time to iron out issues players are experiencing across those two titles, and Modern Warfare as well.  Click here to watch embedded media “We feel your frustrations and hear you loud and clear,” a Call of Duty blog post released today reads. “To date, we’ve deployed a number of dates, but more needs to be done. For this reason, we have decided to reschedule the start of Season Two across Warzone Pacific and Vanguard to February 14. We will use this additional development time to deliver updates, including optimizations to gameplay, game balancing (including weapon and equipment balancing), to fix game stability and bugs, and to ensure an overall level of polish to improve the experience for players across Vanguard, Warzone Pacific, Black Ops Cold War, and Modern Warfare.”  Upcoming updates will feature quality-of-life improvements and adjustments to the core gameplay loop, mechanics, and balance as well.  “Going forward, you can expect to hear from us more often regarding Call of Duty’s state of play,” the blog reads. “Studios remain focused on continuously improving your game experience, and we greatly value our community feedback. More frequent and detailed communication updates will be posted here and across Call of Duty social channels.”  As for when these updates the blog post mentions will come, no dates were mentioned although the start of Season Two on February 14 will likely feature a big one. While waiting for that, read about how Vanguard was the best-selling game of 2021 and then check out this Levi Ackerman bundle coming to the game in a new Call of Duty x Attack on Titan crossover. Watch this video discussion about whether or not Call of Duty becomes an Xbox exclusive after recent news that Microsoft is acquiring Activision Blizzard.   Are you happy with Season One of Vanguard and Warzone Pacific? Let us know in the comments below!