Weekly Recap #368 July 12th – Warframe, Kingdom Under Fire 2, New LOTR MMO & More!
Warframe’s News and Videos from TennoCon 2019: 0:25
First up, there’s a ton of news coming out of TennoCon, the massive convention celebrating Warframe! To name a few things, the new Squadlink feature will allow groups of players to call on other squads of players for additional help in multi-objective space missions by having them lower enemy shields, steal valuable data, and more. Players will also be able to steal and command enemy ships using Archwings. There’s also a huge graphics overhaul coming to the game to ensure that Warframe is setting a new standard in visuals for free to play games. Finally, there was a movie-quality cinematic introduction to Warframe shown off at the convention directed by Dan Trachtenberg (who has worked on 10 Cloverfield Lane, Black Mirror: Playtest, The Boys, and Uncharted). This stunning re-imagination of the game’s introductory story presents Trachtenberg’s and Digital Extremes’ vision of an older era in the Warframe universe. In the Old War — the Orokin Era — when the original Warframes rebelled against their Orokin masters, flashback scenes depict them in the battle against Dax Warriors in action scenes with proto-Grineer soldiers looming in the background. The new intro brings new narrative context and intense cinematic action to the Warframe universe like never before, totally worth checking out now.
Bless Unelashed Releases New Dungeons Trailer and Beta Dates: 1:38
Bandai Namco showed off the dangerous dungeons coming to their upcoming Xbox One Exclusive Bless Unleashed. In addition to the new trailer, they’ve announced that a closed beta test will begin on July 11th, which will last until the 25th and will have a level cap of 22. Players who make it into the test will have access to a variety of dungeons in the beta such as Kobold Lair (Level 18), Harpy Queen’s Nest (Level 22), and several of the 2-Player Arena Challenges, such as Emperor of Roots (Level 10), and Gnoll Chiefs (Level 20). If you want to guarantee your spot in the test, head on over to our sister site, OnRPG.com where we’re giving away closed beta keys! Just click the link in the description to claim yours before they’re all gone.
Bless Unleashed Closed Beta Key Giveaway (July 11th- July 15th)
SMITE: SPL Mid-Season Invitational Thoughts: 2:19
While you’re clicking around our sites, you Smite fans will want to stop in at MMOHuts.com and check out the Mid-Season Invitational analysis done by our lead writer, Jason. There’s a breakdown of the teams participating in the event as well as his predictions for placements!
SMITE: Mid-Season Patch Notes Discussion: 2:35
In another bit of SMITE news, the mid-season patch notes have been released! Some changes include more bans for ranked mode alongside the unveiling of a new Arthurian item tree! The new tree of items is built around ultimate abilities with the Tier 3 items being centered around particular classes and playstyles. For example, the Fail-Not item gives hunters a buff after they use their ultimate that allows their next ability to mark their target and increase their chance of being critically hit by 15% for 10 seconds. The mage focused item grants a free no-cooldown skill after the player’s ultimate has been used, but the ability will only hit for 70% of its normal damage. In addition to the new item tree, several other items have been buffed including Spear of Desolation, Ethereal Staff, Jade Emperor’s Crown and plenty more. Gods like Anhur, Apollo, Ares, Chaac, Isis, Nemesis, Odin and Ravana were all buffed, while Ah Muzen Cab, Fafnir, Freya, Merlin, Ne Zha and Zeus all saw some nerfs. Arguably the biggest winner of the lot was Nike, whose passive and abilities were completely rebuilt into a kit that will be much more fun to play. For the full breakdown of the mid-season patch, you can check the notes linked in the description.
Kingdom Under Fire 2’s Publishing Rights Acquired by Gameforge: 3:45
Gameforge, publisher of games like Elsword, AION, and Tera have announced that they officially acquired the publishing rights to Kingdom Under Fire 2 from Blueside. This latest offering in the Kingdom Under Fire series will be available to Western MMO fans later this year on PC. Kingdom Under Fire 2 was originally released in 2008, and is both an MMO and RTS game for a fascinating hybrid titled with unbelievable scale. Set in a world where three powerful factions (the Human Alliance, Dark Legion, and Encablossians) compete for control of the land of Bersia, players choose from a variety of hero classes, and build them up, or also command armies as tacticians. Kingdom Under Fire 2 takes place 50 years after the events of Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders and features an immersive multiplayer story campaign that can be experienced online multiplayer. So it’s a bit of an older game but it should be fun to see it come to the west under a great new publisher.
Neverwinter’s ‘Uprising’ Update Adds New Playable Race – the Gith: 4:40
Perfect World announced their seventeenth module for Neverwinter this past week, entitled Uprising. This update, which hits PC on August 13th and consoles at a later date, is set in the Forgotten Realms and adds an all new playable race in the Gith. The Gith are psionic warriors who are seeking retribution against the vile Illithid intruding on Halaster Blackcloak’s Undermountain. The story will culminate in a 10-player Endgame Trial against Halaster himself. The update also adds fresh PVP content, a new renovation for Protector’s Enclave, and a newly re-worked early game experience. There’s also a fashion system overhaul to keep players looking their best, and the ‘Tales of Old’ event will bring back dungeons of the past to ensure players have more content than ever before to take on.
Hearthstone Begins ‘Fire Fest-E.V.I.L.’ This Week: 5:31
The League of E.V.I.L. has hit Blackrock Mountain in Hearthstone with the launch of the Fire Fest – E.V.I.L event. From now until July 31st, players can participate in a trio of new Tavern Brawls and earn rewards for doing so. This event will also give players the chance to reveal cards from the upcoming Saviors of Uldum set; to do this, players must defeat a combined 25 million bosses in the tavern brawls within the first two weeks. At 25 percent toward this goal, a new card will be revealed. At 50 and 75 percent, another card will be revealed as well. Finally, when the goal is met, a new Legendary card will be revealed. There’s also new Legendary quests to unlock each day for the first week of the event.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Legend of Cao Cao (Tactics) Hits PC in July: 6:16
The timeless strategy classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Legend of Cao Cao (Tactics) is headed for PC on July 24th, 2019! To celebrate, Nexon is holding a registration event at the website linked in the description below. Those who pre-register will receive exclusive rewards which will be available in the game after it’s live on July 24th. In addition to this, Nexon is also holding a pre-launch video event and a Facebook Chatbot event. More information on these events can be found on the pre-registration page.
Dauntless Details ‘Fortune & Glory’ Content Update: 6:45
Phoenix Labs has a new update hitting Dauntless, which will arrive on July 16th, entitled Fortune & Glory. Fortune & Glory also marks the beginning of the “High Skies” season in Dauntless. This update will hit all platforms at the same time and brings a new Trials experience, a new Hunt Pass and more. The Trials experience is a new gameplay offering from Lady Luck, who is an enigmatic figure in Ramsgate. With her comes a mysterious island, and these Trials will pit adventurous Slayers against dangerous, modified Behemoths. With these also comes all-new environmental challenges, such as terrain-transforming pests. The clock is ticking on these hunts, and it’s up to the challengers to prove they have what it takes. Trials are split into two difficulty levels: “Normal” and “Dauntless.” Completing “Normal” difficulty Trials nets Slayers with Steel Marks, used to purchase unique rewards such as weapon mods and alternate special attacks while completing “Dauntless” difficulty Trials rewards Slayers with Gilded Marks: currency used to purchase exclusive cosmetic rewards that showcase more advanced accomplishments. Both Steel and Gilded Marks are exclusive to Lady Luck’s shop, and can only be earned through Trials.
Lord of the Rings MMO in Development by Amazon and Leyou: 7:53
Amazon Game Studios revealed this past week that they will be working with Leyou Technologies, and Middle-earth Enterprises to develop and publish a free-to-play MMO based in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. No release date has been given as of yet, however. This MMO will be set in the Middle-earth portrayed in the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and will offer a new immersive experience for the world of Tolkien. This MMO however, is a separate entity from The Lord of the Rings series heading to Prime Video. Amazon Game Studios and Leyou will jointly develop the game for PC and consoles, and Amazon Game Studios will market and publish the title globally with the exception of China, which will be managed by Leyou. The collaboration brings together Amazon’s game technology and talented MMO developers, and Leyou’s expertise in designing free-to-play games and operating live-service games. There isn’t any footage released of this game just yet so what you see playing in the background here is lord of the rings online which is a completely different game of course.
Heavy Metal Machines Revs Up for Season 5 – Rockaway Beach: 8:51
Heavy Metal Machines is taking to the beach in Season 5 with their new Rockaway Beach theme! More than 100 rewards await, as well as new songs to enjoy, an emote mechanic, and of course, a new pilot named Vulture! Vulture is formerly a member of a bounty hunting motorcycle gang who tried to cheat death by transforming himself into a Golem. He’s an Interceptor who specializes in dealing lethal damage by combining his weapons with proper timing. There’s also a new Metal League edition is coming on August 10th that will feature competitive play for cash prizes.
Dual Universe Kicks Off Alpha 2 with Industry Features and Talent System: 9:27
Novaquark is proud to announce their second playable Alpha PHase for the sci-fi civilization-building MMO, Dual Universe is now live. Alpha 2 builds upon the community requests with some amazing new content and expands the player-driven economy. On top of the updates in November, Alpha 2 updates the game’s economy, with the ability to mass-produce and barter goods. This is combined with an already fully-editable world, creating a world that is fully created by the players. From ships, outposts, cities, and soon enough, space stations. Industry gameplay really shakes up Dual Universe, so players can create their own fully-functioning factories with the aim of mass-producing goods. This will challenge players to create complex production lines and optimize their efficiency as greatly as possible, in order to increase their profits. This isn’t the only change in Alpha 2 though – the in-depth Talent system also drops with it. This will let players acquire new skills and develop their characters. The Virtual Projector will open up further creation options, so players can build from a template, and import existing 3D models as holograms, acting as a sort of virtual support. Decent amount of changes and the game is still early alpha.
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