Post-apocalyptic sequel Metro: Exodus has gone gold, and to celebrate wrapping up production, the title’s opening has been posted online. You can watch it in all of its gritty detail above.
But that’s not the only good news for fans of this grim survival shooter series. Originally set for release on the 22nd February 2019, Metro: Exodus has been pushed forward a week, meaning that it’ll now carefully creep to PlayStation 4 on the 15th February.
Marvel’s Spider-Man will conclude its DLC side-story The City That Never Sleeps on 21st December, when the final expansion pack Silver Lining launches on the PlayStation 4 with a raft of fresh missions and some bonus suits. As you’d expect, the plot will centre on Silver Sable, as the Russian mercenary returns to New York City to reclaim her stolen Sable International gear.
As has been the case with all of the episodic expansion packs thus far, there’ll be new enemy types to fight, upgraded Hammerhead bases to clear, and Trophies to collect. There’ll also be three new suits for you to use, including one inspired by Sony Pictures’ hit new movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The other outfits include Cyborg Spider-Man and the Aaron Aikman Spider-Armor.
Need to extend your PlayStation Plus subscription, or looking to join for the first time? Sony’s got your back as it’s running a promotion on the European PlayStation Store which will see you snag 15 months of service for the price of 12 months. This means that up until 17th December, if you cough up the standard price of £49.99, you’ll get three bonus months added to your current subscription.
Remember that PS Plus memberships do stack, so even if you have active time left, you can take advantage of this offer now and not need to worry about re-subscribing until well into 2020 and beyond.
If you’re still enjoying the dino-park building fun to be found in Jurassic World Evolution, you’ll be pleased to hear about the latest additions. A trio of creatures from the cretaceous period will be joining the roster of dinosaurs, further expanding your options for making your ideal reptilian resort. Say hello to the Iguanodon, Dreadnoughtus, and *deep breath* Carcharodontosaurus.
The game is to be updated to version 1.6 soon, the developer has said, which also brings new challenges and sandbox options to the title. An exact date hasn’t been confirmed, but we imagine it isn’t far off.
In Special Operation 3, Silent Spade, veteran Ghost Scott Mitchell is calling on Nomad to help rookie John Kozak investigate a plot that links the Santa Blanca Cartel a nuclear threat. Uncover this action-packed plot and complete the mission to get the Cloaking Device Backpack, which will boost your stealth. Experience this free new content and much more as part of Ghost Recon: Wildlands Year 2.
Free Mission: Silent Spade
Ghost Leader Scott Mitchell is calling on Nomad and his team to help rookie John Kozak investigate a plot that links the Santa Blanca Cartel a nuclear threat. Uncover this action-packed plot and complete the mission to get the Cloaking Device Backpack, which will boost your stealth.
Photo Mode
Capture your favorite moments from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands with our new Photo Mode.
PvP Events
Events are gameplay modifiers voted on by players that are applied to all Quickplay matches while the Event is active. Be sure to catch them while they’re live; each Event is only up for 60 hours!
Open to Player Vote: Players have two weeks to vote between two possible events. They can only vote once
Time-Limited: Events happen once every two weeks and last 24 hours
Restricted Gameplay: Quickplay rules are altered (example: shotguns only, thermal goggles always on, etc.)
Rewarded with Prestige: Players get 200 Prestige Credits each time they vote and 50 for every win
New Classes: Vanguard and Sharpshooter
Vanguard uncovers hidden enemies by using his Sensor Grenades, highlighting hostiles for his team. Sharpshooter charges his shots by using his Long Range Specialist ability. At full charge, his next shot negates the effects of sway and bullet drop.
New Maps: Lithium Mine and Outskirts
This map is set on a Lithium Mine on the Western edge of Koani in northern Bolivia. Featuring wide-open spaces mixed with closed and tightly packed warehouses; Lithium Mind offers opportunities for the Marksman class and close quarters combat teams to excel.
The Outskirts map is located on the edge of a Santa Blanca compound near the La Cruz refugee camp. The forest offers many opportunities for flanking, while close quarters combat rages in the nearby base. Tall buildings in Outskirts are the perfect spot to set up a sniper to pick off enemy opponents out of cover.
Year 2 Pass
Year 2 Pass holders will get the Infantry Pack free with Special Operation 3. Year 2 Pass holders will also get one week early access and an instant unlock for to the two new Ghost War classes, starting on December 11th.
Updated Prestige Economy
We will be introducing an update to the Prestige Economy in Special Operation 3, including all Battle Crate items will have a chance to drop in Prestige Crates, improved odds for Legendary and Epic item drops, increased duplicate compensation, and increased Prestige rewards for completing Challenges
To learn more about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on ghostrecon.com and visit our official forums. We also invite you to join the discussion on Twitter by tagging @GhostRecon or by using #GhostRecon. To keep track of your stats and find other Ghosts to join your taskforce, log in to the Ghost Recon Network and download the Ghost Recon HQ App.
Razer has revamped its cyber currency and rewards system, introducing a new way of earning virtual credits – by using your GPU for crypto-mining.
As you may recall, Razer launched its virtual currency in March 2017, but it has now rebranded zGold and zSilver as simply Razer Gold and Razer Silver. Although their function will stay the same, with Gold remaining the actual currency you can spend at stores (like GamersGate, for example, or Razer’s own store), and Silver being a system of loyalty points you can accrue to exchange for various rewards.
The big news is that when it comes to earning Silver, it’s now possible to rack up credits using Razer SoftMiner, a Windows application (compatible with Windows 7, 8, and 10) which taps into the PC’s graphics card, using any idle downtime for a spot of blockchain mining.
Manic Miner
The longer you leave SoftMiner running, and the more powerful your GPU, the more Razer Silver you will accumulate.
All you have to do is install the software – which is currently in beta, mind you – and fire it up. The company observes: “For the best mining experience, switch on Auto Mode and mine with an unlimited internet connection.”
The minimum recommended graphics card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 or AMD Radeon RX 460. Bear in mind that this activity will slow your PC down to some extent, of course – and it will also use extra electricity.
Also worth noting is that if you are one of the first 5,000 users to install and sign up for SoftMiner, you’ll get 1,000 bonus Razer Silver.
The company also announced the return of its ‘Paid to Play’ scheme on Razer Cortex, whereby folks can earn Razer Silver simply by playing games. Cortex is also available on mobiles, so you could rack up credits while gaming on the move, as well as on your PC, to spend on goodies like Razer’s keyboards and mice.
Fortnite Creative Mode is available to the public today, after a week-long closed beta to test out the new crafting tools being offered to players in Fortnite Season 7.
The previous week has seen growing curiosity in the potential of Fortnite’s budding forge mode, which allows players to create and design their own ‘islands’ with a variety of creation tools.
The beta was originally limited to players with a Season 7 Battle Pass, though it’s now opening up to any and everyone playing the cartoonish shooting / crafting game.
Crafting and building has always been part of Fortnite’s DNA, with the ability to build structures out of crafting materials mid-game – for cover or navigation – proving a crucial part of any player’s battle royale strategy.
Creative Mode takes this to its natural conclusion, with a ‘Private Island’ players can shape and populate with buildings, furniture, and obstacles, and have a crack at somewhere to either trade bullets or just share your creative output. Double-tapping the jump button will also let your character fly freely around the level to appreciate in all its glory.
Fortnite Season 7 goes festive for the holiday season
There are limits to how much you can build in one area, but once you’ve made something your happy with, up to 16 friends can join you in the fray for a variety of match types, or just let them wander and tweak your designs.
Islands can then be shared with the wider community, or submitted for consideration in the main Fortnite Battle Royale map, in a 25×25 tile area known as ‘The Block’.
Beginning to look a lot like Minecraft
Fortnite gets a lot of updates, with a new Season launching every 10 weeks and numerous smaller changes and tweaks paced throughout that period. Creative Mode, however, is essentially a whole new gameplay experience.
Fortnite very much has its own identity, and has managed to become the definitive battle royale experience, despite determined opposition from PUBG (PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds), which is where the current trend for 100-player free-for-all matches really started.
But the Creative Mode seems to take inspiration from another source. Minecraft, the equally massive sandbox game led entirely by the pull of user-generated content, where players can build and craft to their heart’s content.
Creative Mode as it stands is basically a blueprint, and could well develop into a serious rival to Minecraft if done right.
Fortnite certainly has the infrastructure – and the solid 125 million player base – to make Creative Mode a force to contend with.
Want a load of free games, exclusive discounts and access to online multiplayer on your PS4? Then you’ll not want to miss these freshly discounted PlayStation Plus deals. This deal has been flying for a few days now and is somehow still in stock. We’d act fast though as it surely can’t last long at this price at the busiest time of year.
PlayStation Plus memberships can be pricey if you pay full price or accidentally let the auto-renew settings pay for a year as soon as your current sub ends. We can do much better for you here at TechRadar Deals though. Today we’ve found the absolute cheapest PlayStation Plus prices for a 12-month membership. This is a fantastic gift idea for anyone you know that may be getting a PS4 or PS4 Pro for Christmas. It’s even a great buy if they already have a sub, as you can stack this on top of an existing one.
Take a look at the links below, where we’ve called out the latest prices from CDKeys.com, who is cheaper than any other reputable site right now. The code will be sent digitally to you within minutes of the purchase, so you don’t have to worry about the postman delivering it on time. We’ve found discounts on both the US and UK memberships – be sure to select the correct ones, as PlayStation Plus membership codes are country-specific.
If you’re looking for even more deals before Christmas arrives, we’ve got you covered for phones, laptops, TVs, gaming consoles, iPads and everything in between. Take a look at our other cheap deals.
While it’s not the only factor driving Fortnite’s worldwide success, the battle royale game’s cross-platform multiplayer is a big part of what keeps the hundreds of millions of players coming back for more. Whether you’re on desktop, mobile, or console, you can all get in on the same action and duke it out.
Epic Games, the developer behind the smash hit, has announced that it will be rolling out its multi-platform architecture in a free SDK (Software Developer Kit) over the course of 2019. This will mean that developers of other titles will be able to utilize the same technology to give their online games cross-platform support.
“Throughout 2019, we’ll be launching a large set of cross-platform game services originally built for Fortnite, and battle-tested with 200,000,000 players across 7 platforms,” said the announcement. “These services will be free for all developers, and will be open to all engines, all platforms, and all stores.”
The announcement was made on the Unreal Engine site, the game engine that Fortnite is built on, and includes a roadmap of how each of the SDK’s features will slowly roll out over the course of the year.
Beginning with the core functionality landing some time in the second-to-third quarter of 2019, additional features such as cross-platform voice chat, matchmaking and cloud-saving will continue to be released throughout 2019.
‘Tis the season for giving, and Epic Games are celebrating the festive season with a brand new era of Fortnite: Season 7.
As sad as we are to see the back of the spooky Season 6, the new Christmas-themed Fortnite Season 7 herald the arrival of more ziplins, icebergs, gun-wielding snowmen, and Stormwing planes than they can shake a sugar cane at. Less ‘frights and delights’, more ‘chills and thrills’.
Not to mention a new Minecraft-esque ‘Creative Mode’ to allow players to properly craft islands of their own…
And it looks like this gift won’t be just for Christmas. According to a blog post on the Fortnite website: “The Epic Games team will be taking its own holiday break this winter, so Season 7 will be extended by two weeks and end on February 28.” Given the usual breakneck pace of Fortnite updates – and the work that must have gone into launching the new Epic Games Store – that’s fine by us.
It’s no exaggeration Fortnite Battle Royale has become certified gaming phenomenon. Pitting 100 players against each other on a single map, it melds fun, cartoonish gameplay with a fierce competitive streak, and has attracted millions of players across the globe across all ages and demographics.
When starting up, you’re thrown onto an island with no weapons or armor and you must scavenge for supplies and fight for your life to be the last man or squad standing at the end of the game – with the added pressure of a shrinking map that closes in as the match progresses, forcing players into tighter skirmishes.
The game is available for free on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, with in-game purchases limited to purely cosmetic options. But with Epic Games actively updating the game throughout the year, we’re keeping track of all the most important patches and changes to come to the game: read on for all the details.
What’s the latest new Fortnite update? Season 7 chills and thrills
Fortnite have kicked off Season 7 with a host of new map changes and skins to celebrate the holiday season.
There’s a whole new map area called Frosty Flights, with ice mountains, ziplines, and four-person Stormwing planes all adding some pleasing verticality to gameplay. There’s also a new ‘wrapping’ feature to customize the look of in-game weapons and vehicles on-the-go, meaning your skin and you rifle should never have to clash.
Only days after Epic Games pulled its long-running Infinity Blade mobile game series from the iOS App Store, the Season 7 announcement showed off a tie-in Infinity Blade weapon that could be found somewhere around Polar Peak. And it looks… pretty powerful. Given Fortnite players on Xbox have also now got mouse and keyboard support, it’s clear we’re being given a lot of fun new toys to play with.
Save The World will be wrapping up its current campaign, with a climactic finale against the ‘Storm King’. Whether or not you usually bother with the campaign mode, players who defeat the Storm King by January 1 (11.59 EST) will be sent a real-world commemorative pin in the post as a reward.
Fortnite’s X-4 Stormwing plane
There’s also a scrappy-sounding LTM (limited time mode) called Close Encounters, which only allows shotgun weapons and a lot of shotgun action. It’s uncertain wether anything can beat last season’s ‘Disco Domination’ LTM – which requires players to emote their way to victory on a throwback disco dancefloor – for sheer ingenuity, but we’re willing to try it out.
Season 6 was a hard act to follow with its spooky atmosphere, invisibility items, and dancing LTMs. But Fortnite never fails to outdo itself.
You can pore through the smaller bullet points and stat changes at Epic’s full patch notes here.
Fortnite is a game that undergoes frequent updates. Week-by-week you can expect to see patches which either squash bugs or make small changes to gameplay that improve the overall game experience.
Season 7 has barely begun, though with its extended duration (until February 28) and promised updates, we’re sure to get a host of fun new content while it lasts – especially in the days around Christmas itself. Maybe some free V-Bucks for anyone playing Christmas morning?
A llama on a Christmas tree
This week, the newly-announced Creative Mode will open to the public, after a brief closed beta with a handful of cherry-picked Fortnite Creators. It looks like it could open up a whole new chapter in Fortnite’s history – and possibly even overshadow or replace the still-running Playground Mode , which lets up to four players hone their skills together in a less pressured environment.
Playground Mode relaunched in July with an aim assist feature for new players, increased ammo and supply drops, and the ability to swap teams in game for fluid play – but will it be long for this world?
One thing certainly on the cards is more Limited Time Modes (LTM) like Close Encounters or Steady Storm, which offer new twists on the classic Battle Royale experience for those used to the usual formula.
Epic will also be continuing its recent in-game tournament mode for players minded towards more professionally competitive play. The competitions will run for several days and track the number of points players accrue in the dedicated mode, rewarding the top performers with commemorative ‘pins’ and the chance to take part in tougher matches – or maybe even take their first steps towards cash-prize matches?
Can I play Fortnite on mobile?
Yes you can! Well, maybe. After months of waiting, Fortnite is finally on both iOS and Android, though you’ll need a phone that can actually run the game.
iOS users can download straight from the App Store. As long as you’re using iOS 11 on iPhone 6S/SE, iPad Mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad 2017, iPad Pro devices or later you’ll be fine. Oh, and you’ll need an internet connection, naturally.
Fortnite also hit Android phones this summer, and finally came out of beta in October. You can see the full list of phones – and how to find the Fortnite Installer – on our Fortnite on Android page.
Is it the full game?
It is the full Fortnite game. There are some small differences: it’s not quite as visually impressive as it is on more powerful devices, the controls are touchscreen, and a lot of audio cues have been made visual so you can play comfortably in public without the need for headphones. But you won’t be missing out on any key features.
What’s the deal with cross-play?
A sweet deal is what it is. While previously Xbox One and PS4 owners couldn’t play the game together, Sony’s U-turn on the matter means that now everyone across Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android can all take part in the crossfire.
So if you’ve got friends that prefer PC, others that prefer console and you’re off on holiday with your mobile, that’s no reason for the fun to stop.
There’s also cross-progression. So, if you’re logged into your Fortnite account on mobile and you later log into your console to play there, everything you did on mobile later that day is carried over.
Sounds great, how do I get it?
We have a guide on how to get Fortnite on mobile on TechRadar and we’re constantly updating it with the latest rollout news. If your device isn’t there yet, keep checking back and one day it probably will be.
What’s a Battle Pass?
The Battle Pass is a purchasable item in Fortnite that gives you access to exclusive in-game rewards.
As players complete daily challenges and level up their rank, they earn Battle Stars which can then be used to unlock Tiers in their Battle Pass. Each new Tier you unlock will bring both Free and Premium rewards. The Tiers vary from season to season but in season three you get around 100 items in each Battle Pass which can take anywhere between 75 and 150 hours of play to unlock.
Everyone that has a Battle Pass will get the Free reward they unlock, but only Premium Pass holders will get the Premium reward. Battle Pass Premium can only be purchased with in-game V bucks and not with real money.
You can purchase a Battle Pass for around £7/$10 in the Battle Pass tab of the game’s menu.
Twitch Prime benefits
Those who use Twitch Prime and play Fortnite will be glad to know that they have access to free loot right now. Those with a Prime account can claim the Fortnite Twitch Prime Pack and the Fortnite Twitch Prime Pack 2 which include a host of cosmetic items and are available across all platforms.
The first pack includes two exclusive gliders and outfits: the Havoc Outfit and Back Bling, plus the Sub Commander Outfit and Slipstream Glider. The second pack contains three exclusive items for Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode including the camouflage-heavy Trailblazer Outfit, the True North Back Bling, and the Tenderizer Pickaxe. There’s also a brand new dance emote for those that like the dance floor as much as the battleground.
The packs can only be claimed on a single platform, but they can be shared across PC/console and mobile as long as you use the same Epic account across these platforms. You can’t however, share your loot across PS4 and Xbox One even if you are using the same Epic account.
