Microsoft has obviously been making big plays with studio acquisitions over the last few years, most notably with the Bethesda deal, which was finalized earlier this year. Even with that massive deal though, Microsoft still isn’t done. Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in late 2020 that Microsoft is “still out there looking for other teams”– and it’s possible that another one of those might be unveiled soon.
Over on Twitter, @IdleSloth84 posted images of a conversation on the Windows Central discord server, in which journalist Jez Corden claimed that, as per “very good” rumours, Microsoft has acquired a new IP and studio. Though Corden says that the acquisition isn’t necessarily “AAA-hype level stuff”, it’s likely that an acquisition will indeed be announced at E3.
Microsoft has a history of announcing some pretty major studio acquisition at events (including E3) over the last few years, of course, so this wouldn’t be unprecedented. Even so, until such time we hear something official, take this with a grain of salt. We’ll keep you updated on any new info that comes our way, so stay tuned.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apartis going to offer multiple graphics modes to players right at launch- or at least it will if you download the game’s day one update. Developer Insomniac Games recently took to Twitter to confirm that said update is not only going to add the previously confirmedPerformance Mode for 60 FPS gameplay, but also a Performance RT mode that will feature 60 FPS gameplay while having ray tracing enabled, similar to what Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales did.
What exactly is that going to mean though? In a separate tweet, responding that that very question, Insomniac confirmed that each of the three modes (Performance, Performance RT, and Quality, with the latter having 30 FPS performance), Rift Apart uses dynamic 4K resolutions with temporal upscaling. In laymen’s terms, the resolution is natively going to be lower in Performance mode, and even lower in Performance RT, but will be upscaled to a dynamic 4K across all modes regardless.
Insomniac has been great with offering visual options across all of its games of late, so it’s great to see Rift Apart getting off the ground with so many options. The game looks gorgeous as it is, and by its very nature, is going to benefit hugely from better performance, so each of three options are going to be great to have.
Cyberpunk 2077 released to mixed reviews. While the world-building and scope of the game was praised, it was also riddled with bugs and glitches. It would seem that the developers at CD Projekt RED were aware of this to the point that an internal bug montage was created called, Cyber ElBuggado 2020. Be warned, some of the bugs featured in the following montages are not safe for work.
The news first circulated on 4Chan, before making its way to the subreddit, r/GamingLeaksAndRumours, and then filtering down to ResetEra. There are a whole lot of clips on display, but one that really stands out utilizes the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer where V introduces the viewer to the city. The following is a reupload by YouTuber Kudos. The original videos can be found in the above links as Streamable videos.
The Reddit thread features a lot of other clips, all of which follow the similar vein of showcasing some glitch or bug. There are superbounces, enemies rolled up into balls, character animations and rigging not aligning, vehicles deforming, and a myriad of other hilarious bugs.
Whether this was the work of a lone developer or a group of developers is unknown. It’s also not clear if the video was meant as a means of showcasing some of the more problematic issues or if it was just a means of blowing off steam for developers that underwent a lot of crunch.
Video montages that showcase a game’s glitches and bugs are nothing new. But, when said montage is made by the developers (based on an internal build of the game) it kind of hits differently. Did you run into many issues when you played through Cyberpunk 2077? Let us know in the Chatty thread below.
The Suicide Mission, as you’ve probably guessed from the name, is an important story step in Mass Effect 2. Commander Shepard spends all of their time throughout the game to prep for this mission, including the upgrades we talked about in our general mistakes to avoid piece from earlier last month. That’s only the first part. The second part requires some critical thinking because you’ll need to allocate roles to your squadmates before rushing the Collector Base. Failure to pick the right person will result in key characters dying. Mass Effect doesn’t play around with consequences. Luckily for you, I’ve played this game well over 30 times, so I’ve got your back.
A few things you need to be aware of before kicking off this step. There is a mission called Reaper IFF. Consider this your point of no return, which is a common saying in the Mass Effect community. While there is more content after this, this is a key turning point in the story, and anything important left undone, such as loyalty missions, will remain undone and have critical consequences. Before you start this step, make sure to do as much as possible. Those loyalty missions? Check. Those side quests and Dossier fulfillments? Check and check! The only exception to this is that you can do Legion’s loyalty mission called A House Divided. Doing this right after getting the all-clear to pursue the Reaper IFF will not negatively impact the success rate. However, waiting too long to retrieve the IFF will result in crew members dying, but not your squadmates.
Without spoiling too much (to avoid all spoilers is impossible when detailing this mission), you’ll have a chance to save everyone on your ship, especially Kelly Chambers. However, doing so is tricky and is very time-sensitive. If you go straight to the Reaper IFF with having completed mission-critical quests, then the entire Normandy crew will live to see another day. The longer you wait, the more people will die, including our beloved Doctor Chakwas.
Suicide Mission Team Selections
All crew members MUST have the loyalty missions completed and be upgraded through the Squad menu. Italicized means that’s my primary choice when I play, but any of the characters shown will work.
Tech Specialist for the vents:
Tali, Legion, or Kasumi
2nd Fire Team Leader:
Miranda, Jacob, Garrus
Biotic Specialists for Shields:
Samara or Jack
Distraction Fire Team Leader:
Jacob, Garrus, Miranda
Normandy Crew Escort:
Any loyal crew member will work, but I personally enjoy sending Mordin since he is a doctor, and in my head canon, he’s a good fit to help with trauma and shock.
Final Boss Squad:
You’ll want to make sure you have evened out abilities, such as tech and biotics, but really pick who you enjoy the most. Unlike the roles above; there are no lasting consequences on who you bring with you for the final fight as long as they are loyal.
Prior to kicking this off, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got all your upgrades. When playing through Mass Effect 2, there is a Research Terminal in the Tech Labs where Mordin resides. Here is where you will find various upgrades to invest in using materials found throughout the galaxy, including upgrades for your ship, your armor, your weapons, and your squad. You’ll also find unique upgrade options from talking to your crew, you’ll see this dialogue option as [UPGRADES]. There are a few upgrades that are beyond vital to making it to Mass Effect 3 with a 100% survival rate, but you can’t ensure everyone’s safety if you don’t put in the time.
Here’s what you need to know.
What you need:
Heavy Ship Armor for 15,000 Palladium, from Jacob
Multicore Shielding for 15,000 Palladium, from Tali
Thanix Cannon for 15,000 Platinum, from Garrus
What happens if you skip these upgrades:
No Multicore Shielding: Garrus, Legion, Kasumi, Grunt, Tali, Zaeed, or Thane will die
No Heavy Ship Armor: Kasumi or Jack will die
No Thanix Cannon: Samara (or Morinth), Garrus, Jack, or Grunt will die
If you don’t do any of the loyalty missions, those that are not loyal will not survive the final push. Invest, invest, invest!
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