MMO Weekly Recap #429 Oct 24th – Hearthstone & LOTRO Expansions + MMO Halloween Events for 2020!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of October 24, 2020! Transcript and timestamps follow.

SoulWorker pushes out its latest update featuring a new awakening system, Bless Unleashed devs read mean tweets after launching on PS4, Rocket League has a crossover with Ghostbusters, and at least 7 free to play games in the news launched their crazy Halloween events!

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of October 24th 2020 sorry for the one day delay in the news this week, I was out of town for work and didn’t quite make it back quick  enough, but you didn’t miss anything because I’m about to catch you up.

0:21 Bless Unleashed PS4 Launches

Bless Unleashed is no longer XBox Exclusive! The game officially launched on October 22nd for the PS4, and heralds itself as “the most visually stunning MMORPG for console. Players can expect the exact same level of action driven combat and open world exploration as the XBox version. Unfortunately, no cross-play between the XBox, PS4, and upcoming PC release is planned at this time. Meanwhile check out the linked video if you want to hear some of the developer’s replies to community comments and mean tweets. Those are always kinda fun to watch.

1:11 Hearthstone: Madness of the Darkmoon Faire Announced

Meanwhile, Blizzard has announced a brand new expansion for Hearthstone focusing on a beloved event: The Darkmoon Faire! 135 brand new cards await collectors, ranging from proprietor Silas Darkmoon to the dreaded Darkmoon Rabbit herself. In addition, the madness of the Faire has brought back something equally as maddening: the Old Gods themselves. These powerful entities can change the entire field of play, so aspiring deck builders can plan around them. There’s also a brand new keyword this expansion: Corrupt. If you play a card with this keyword after a card with a higher cost than it, increased effects come into play, and they can be absolutely unstoppable in the right hands!

1:50 Lord of the Rings Online: War of Three Peaks Launch

Speaking of expansions, The Lord of the Rings Online has released its newest expansion, War of Three Peaks. This expansion sees players engage in the war to reclaim the mountain home of the dwarves from the orcs. The expansion introduces a new six person instance, a new raid, and a new mission system that lets players from level 20 to level 130 participate alone or in pairs to aid the dwarven war effort. The expansion is available for a starting price of $19.99 but special versions are available with extra bonuses including a Boar mount.

2:22 SoulWorker: Desire Worker Update

Next up in the news, SoulWorker has pushed out its latest update this week too. Called DesireWorker, the update features a new awakening system that lets characters unlock new forms and abilities with their weapon, including the new SinForce explosion. There’s a new solo district and ranked mode, Viilor’s Altar too. Meanwhile the game’s quest series expands starting at level 60, plus there’s new cosmetics and an ongoing Halloween event right now.

2:49 Call of Duty Warzone / Modern Warfare: The Haunting of Verdansk

Speaking of Halloween events, Call of Duty Warzone (and Modern Warfare) have gotten a new content drop for Season Six: the Haunting of Verdansk. This Halloween special event runs from October 20th until November 3rd and features not one but two crossovers with the SAW and Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror franchises. Special supply boxes during this event will be “trick or treat” themed, either containing a spook or blueprints and other items. The event also features a nighttime map variant of Verdansk and a Zombie Royale mode. And if you’re a major fan of SAW or Texas Chainsaw Massacre there’s also special cosmetic items available in the shop so you can dress up like Billy or Leatherface year round.

3:30 Rocket League Haunted Hallows 2020

Rocket League’s also revved up for Halloween with its Haunted Hallows Event, running from October 20th to November 2nd. Just like everything else this Halloween they’re running a collab, this year with the Ghostbusters franchise. During the event there are special challenges to complete that will unlock specific items like Ghostbuster Wheels, Slimer Topper, Mood Slime Boost, and more. There’s also two Limited Time modes – Haunted Heatseeker, which is Heatseeker on a new Haunted Urban Area map, and Spike Rush, which takes place on night maps. The item shop will also host a bunch of Ghostbuster themed stuff including the Ecto-1 vehicle.

4:08 Armored Warfare – Second Spirithaven Raid Event

Meanwhile in Armored Warfare, a new Spirithaven raid event has begun. To participate you have to purchase access for 499 gold, plus have completed 10 contract missions. But the raid offers four main rewards: the Revenant skin, which has an Egyptian Theme; the Hellbeast skin, looking like it’s been dragged out of hell; the Kraken skin, which embraces the watery depths; and the ArchAngel, a holy-themed skin to counteract all that darkness. If you get all four of these, you also get a fifth reward – a lava surface camouflage. Of course these skins apply only to four specific tanks so make sure you check there’s one you want before unlocking the raid.

4:50 MapleStory Halloween 2020

Halloween has come a bit early in MapleStory! Their holiday event features a return to Prendergast Mansion. Players level 101 and above can tackle a new episode each day for some pretty sweet rewards like damage skins, a ghostly mount, and costumes both silly and spooky alike. The event launched on October 20th, and will run until the 4th of November, so go celebrate Halloween in Maple World and you might just get some fabulous prizes.

5:16 Fortnitemares 2020

In other news, Fortnite just got a lot more gold. In Fortnitemares, Shadow Midas has taken over The Agency, and you’ll get to come along and haunt your enemies on the island. Defeat isn’t the end though, as you’ll return as a shadow to torment those remaining, perhaps by, I don’t know, taking over a vehicle they’re riding in …? Along the way, snag the new Pumpkin rocket launcher, the Fiend Hunter crossbow, or catch a ride on the Witch Broom. Look forward to a bunch of new challenges to complete, as well, with lots of Halloween themed items to be obtained! Fortnitemares is live now and runs until November 3.

5:51 Apex Legends Fight or Fright Event

And on a frighteningly similar note Fight or Fright has returned to Apex Legends. This Halloween themed event runs from October 22nd until November 3rd. You can battle in the limited time mode Shadow Royale, where fallen squadmates return as super-powered Shadows with enhanced mobility. Wait a min, that, that sounds like what we just talked about in Fortnite. There are challenges that grant free rewards along a special prize track. Plus during this time new and returning cosmetics will hit the store, along with some new takes on the old cosmetics. Hmmm might be a little tough not confusing some of the Halloween events in Apex and Fortnite this year.

6:33 SMITE: The Reaping F7 Event

The last on our Halloween event list this week is SMITE – The Reaping event is back. Catch daily bonuses until November 1st, from special avatars and emotes to bonus battle points and gems. There’s also sales on spooky themed chests, and weekly deals on skins including Infernal Lord Zeus and Mummified Izanami. Definitely a great time to get some good deals. The trailer for this though is cringeworthy, you’ve been warned.

6:57 Epic Games Store Free Games This Week

Finally let’s talk about this week’s free games on the Epic Game Store. There are two themed games up this week: Costume Quest 2, a sequel to Costume Quest from Double Fine which features kids using Halloween costumes to transform and defeat the bad guys. And the second game is Layers of Fear 2, a first person horror game set on an ocean liner with plenty of psychological horror to keep you creeped out from a developer team experienced in providing incredible horror games on PC. That should keep you creeped out between now and Halloween at least.

But with that said, that’s about it for all the major news and announcements for this week. Be sure to stay safe, and keep your families healthy! Like always you can find more information on the news topics, linked in the description below, feel free to discuss the news or even more news in the comments below and don’t forget to like, subscribe, wash your hands a bunch, hit that little bell icon to get notifications and of course share this video! But until next time guys that’s going to be it for me… I’m JamesBl0nde… see ya out there gamers!