Category: What to Know

EA has the Star Wars license for 10 years, possibly longer if Disney likes what the publisher puts out, and so far, the Mickey Mouse is happy. The arrival of Respawn Entertainment’s take on the franchise is coming with a fresh single-player take, unlike the multiplayer-focused Battlefront. Before you spend any money on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, this is what you need to know.

Story and Timeline

Setting between Revenge of the Sith and New Hope, during the time Order 66 has been executed. You will play as a Padawan named Cal Kestis (played by Cameron Monaghan), who is being hunted down by a squad from the Empire called the Second Sister. Cal and friends must survive as they travel the galaxy.

Gameplay

You will get to travel to a variety of different planets. The worlds themselves will be fairly linear, but enough paths to allow for some limited exploration.

This action-adventure title will have a focus on combat, upgrades, and maneuverability. Swinging off of vines line Indiana Jones, climbing walls similar to Respawn’s FPS Titanfall, and swimming will be a few of the many ways you can traverse the terrain.

Combat will include using the force and your lightsaber. The lightsaber will develop with you. Enemies all have their own strengths and weaknesses, so you will need to analyze each situation as they arise. Fighting is meant to be both accessible and in-depth for players of all skill levels, but we will have to see what that means when the game releases.

Puzzles will be another component. While the developers have not entirely shown what these will look like, but you will need to do some thinking along with platforming. Luckily, along with gathering intel and completing other objectives, your droid BD-1 will aid you in every challenge you face.

Upgrades through the world and leveling up your three skill trees will give you more strength through the story. The abilities are divided between lightsaber, force, and survival.

Traveling around the galaxy requires a ship. Your ship will be your hub along with the landing zones on each planet. Here you can upgrade abilities, craft, and interact with people with you.

Saving will be at those locations along with specific points in a level. Saving at these areas outside of the landing area will respawn enemies.

Your droid will be able to help you scan things to learn about the world, along with hacking and healing. The healing items are limited but can be replenished at a save point.

Cosmetics to style things up will be available. You can give your cute little droid a makeover, and the same goes for the ship too.

Difficulty

Usually, putting a game on a harder difficulty means the enemies will be more accurate, have higher health, and do more damage. Well, it would be dorky to have a lightsaber that can’t one-hit kill someone. So, Respawn is adjusting the game in other ways to keep the same feel in the combat while offering a challenge for players wanting to test their skills.

The focus will be on enemy aggression, parry timing, and incoming damage across the three meters of difficulty.

Pre-Order Editions

Standard: Orange lightsaber blade color, Mygeeto campaign hilt (lightsaber customization), Umbaran campaign hilt (lightsaber customization) and Bee-D-1 skin, and Gold Squadron Stinger Mantis skin. This will cost the regular price for any game, $59.99.

Deluxe: Everything above along with a Crimson BD-1 skin, Crimson Stinger Mantis skin, digital art book, and a “Director’s Cut” video that takes you behind the scenes. This will cost $69.99.

PC Specs

Minimum:

• CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 / AMD FX-6100
• CPU SPEED: Info
• RAM: 8 GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7/8.1/10
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 / AMD Radeon HD 7750
• PIXEL SHADER: 5.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 5.0
• FREE DISK SPACE: 55 GB
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 1024 MB

Recommended:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K / AMD Ryzen 7 1700
• CPU SPEED: Info
• RAM: 16 GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7/8.1/10
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
• PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
• VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
• FREE DISK SPACE: 55 GB
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 8192 MB

DLC

There are no plans for DLC.

Microtransactions

Respawn confirmed there will be no microtransactions of any kind. This came when the game got its first big announcement to the world, giving details of a strictly single-player focused Star Wars experience with no microtransactions. Yes, this is published by EA if you forgot.

Release

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order comes out on Nov. 15 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Image via EA

I have waited years for a new main entry to Borderlands, and now the third game arrives in a week. It seems like the other titles, but there is plenty that will evolve this franchise of looting and shooting. Time to hop on the hype train by going over every juicy detail we know about so far.

Vault Hunters

Moze the Gunner: A tech expert mixed with the Gunzerker. Her robot, named Iron Bear is her unique ability that will add another hero to the battlefield. Her skill tree consists of Demolition Woman, Shield of Retribution, and Bottomless Mags. She can be played in both defensive and aggressive styles.

Amara the Siren: Like previous Sirens, your powers grant you superhero-esque powers to give you that edge in battle as she tosses enemies around in the air, at each other, and into the ground. This is a great support character that can hold her own in fights. Her skill tree consists of Brawl, Mystical Assault, and Fist of the Element.

Zane the Operative: The stealth character who focuses on staying back to deal critical damage. His gadgets give him a far greater variety of playstyles than Zer0. His skill tree consists of Hitman, Double Agent, and Under Cover.

FL4K the Beastmaster: A class that involved summoning robotic helpers similar to Moze’s Iron Bear to help in battle. His focus on his companions dealing elemental damage is identical to the Mechromancer’s focus on acidic, electric, and fire-based attacks. Fl4K’s skill tree surrounds Hunter, Master, and Stalker.

NPCs

Many familiar faces return from Borderlands 2, and the Tales from the Borderlands like Zer0, a grown-up Tiny Tina, Marcus, Sir Hammerlock, Claptrap, Lilith, and many more will surely surprise anyone who has played previous titles.

Villains

Anyone who has played any Borderlands game knows there will be a diverse population of enemies to face against, but the central narrative circles around the Calypso twins as the game’s new Handsome Jack for players to face. Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford described Tyreen and Troy by saying, “the douchiest kind of live streamers of the future you can possibly imagine.”

Tyreen and Troy lead a faction called Children of the Vault, so you can start your theories based on that name.

GUNS

Besides unique classes, interesting enemies, and plenty of fun quests to complete, Borderlands is best known for its insane amount of guns. The developers at Gearbox state that there will be about a billion firearms for people to get their hands on from burger launcher RPGs, guns with legs, and various elemental damages like the new radiation.

Is the billion a lie? Well, this is how the team made so many:

Space Travel

Your base will be a spaceship in which you can travel to other planets. Sanctuary 3 as your hub, similar to Sanctuary in previous Borderlands 2. Pandora will still be present, but new worlds like Promethea will give a new breath of fresh air to the environments.

Friends will accompany you on your ship like Moxxi’s bar with slot machines, Sir Hammerlock’s room has walls to mount your kills, and Crazy Earl’s Black Market is available. Your own room will be open to decorate with guns.

True Vault Hunter Mode

The new game plus mode True Vault Hunter Mode lets players keep everything but restarting their story progress for more leveling up opportunities and plenty of better loot.

Mayhem Mode

The endgame comes from a new mode called Mayhem. Challenges get ramped up along with game rules flipping. Those changing mechanics have not been given detail to keep the surprise, but I am sure you all have your ideas popping up in your head.

Guardian Ranks

Badass Ranks from the second entry of the series returns as Guardian Ranks. A seemingly endless list of challenges to complete for points that can be redeemed for extra boosts to stats like less recoil, faster shield regeneration, and more health.

Multiplayer

Remember playing with randoms or friends who took that gun you really wanted? Well, loot in Borderlands 3 will be individualized, but an option for the shared loot style is still available if you want it.

Level scaling allows anyone to come into your game and not unbalance the difficulty for either you or them. Along with that, loot will scale for each individual, so nobody who is level 12 gets a pistol for level 45s. This can be turned off if you wish.

Social features make it easy for anyone playing on and off with friends. You can mail people items or sell gear to buy in your own game. You can even browse a friend’s inventory or skill tree to see how they are playing their vault hunter.

The popularized feature pinging which gained a lot of traction in the FPS genre from Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege comes to Borderlands. Now you can communicate easier to point out loot boxes or where to go for your friend with a bad sense of direction.

Cross-platform will not be a mechanic at launch, but Gearbox has stated that it is trying to make this a possibility at some point.

Microtransactions

Cosmetic microtransactions will be available. Also, DLC will come up in the future.

Streaming

Now users on Twitch for both the entertainers and fans can have a more intimate interaction when playing Borderlands 3. ECHOcast extension is a mechanic to view your favorite streamers character build to see their playstyle or mimic what they have done with their Vault Hunter. Along with that, the chat during a stream can influence the game by drinks from Moxxi’s bar for buffs, be chosen as a badass enemy with your username on display, and many more to help or torment streamers.

Pre-Order Bonuses and Special Editions

Standard: Just the game and gold weapon skins for $59.99.

Deluxe: Additional to the game you get gold weapon skins, Retro Cosmetic Pack (character skins, Echo Device skin, weapon skin), Neon Cosmetic Pack (character skins, Echo Device skin, weapon trinket), Gearbox Cosmetic Pack (weapon skin and trinket), Toy Box Weapon Pack (two toy gun, toy grenade mod, weapon trinket), and XP and loot boosts. This will cost $79.99.

Super Deluxe: Everything listed above including a season pass to the campaign DLCs and Butt Stallion weapon skin, trinket, and grenade mod. This edition will cost $99.99.

Diamond Loot Chest Collector’s Edition: A $249.99 edition that will have everything above plus a lot more. A replica to a diamond loot chest, 10 figurines of Borderlands 3 characters like the Calypso Twins and iconic faces that players love, a model ship of Sanctuary 3 you can build, four Vault Key keychains, cloth galaxy map, five prints of various characters, Borderlands 3 steelbook case.

New Claptrap?

The annoying robot friend Claptrap might sound a little different. Due to an alleged altercation between Pitchford and Claptrap voice actor and former Gearbox vice president of licensing and business development David Eddings, he will not return to play the iconic character. Jim Foronda who is best known for English versions of popular animes like Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Dragon Ball Z will replace Eddings.

Eddings now works for the video game development department for the production company Rooster Teeth.

Release

Borderlands 3 will be out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on Sept. 13. The PC release will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for a year. At some point next year you can play it on Google Stadia.

Images via Gearbox

Supermassive Games had a knock out hit with its 2015 PlayStation exclusive, Until Dawn. Returning to the roots of making a horror game that is all about choices comes The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, an anthology series that will have plenty more games under the Dark Pictures umbrella. The first chapter is coming, so prepare for a nightmarish experience.

What is it?

Each game released will be a relatively short experience full of choices similar to Until Dawn. The individual entries will have a different theme and tackle various tropes within the genre while maintaining the same mechanics. The chapters coming will all be developed by new teams to ensure a steady release.

Man of Medan takes place where five friends gather on a boat to have some fun. Suddenly, the party ended as an evil force hunts them down and they must survive.

Gameplay

Playing solo or with one other person will playout similarly to the British developer’s 2015 hit. As things happen in the story, you will switch between each protagonist. Dialogue and actions will be up to the player as they try to survive. Every decision leads to a consequence, both positive or deadly.

Release Plan

Each standalone within the anthology series will come every year. The plan is to release two titles per year.

Man of Medan will arrive Aug. 20 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Image via Supermassive Games