Weekly Recap #479 December 17th – Rumbleverse Early Access, Black Desert Class Reboot & More!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of December 17, 2021! Transcript follows.

The New War has arrived with a Sentient and Tenno Warframe hybrid, Two new characters make their way into update 2.3 for Genshin Impact, lets get ready to Rumble…verse and apparently tis the season to snowboard and snowfish in Black Desert.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of December 17th, 2021 and we’ve got another pretty packed recap so kicking it off this week…

This week, Epic Games announced that in partnership with developer Iron Galaxy, it will be publishing Rumbleverse, a free to play “brawler royale” featuring matches of 40 players. The game has a bright, wacky graphical style that’s a bit reminiscent of Fortnite, and it’s set to be available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, all with crossplay. Early access beta is set to begin on February 8th, for those who purchase Early Access Packs, so find out more about the game at the link below. I’ve also included a link down there to a great write-up from Rock Paper Shotgun from their first impressions of the game!

Meanwhile Dynamight Studios has announced its partnership with gamigo this week, revealing that Fractured Online will be published through gamigo’s platform. Fractured is a sandbox fantasy MMO featuring three races – humans, wildfolk, and demons – all with different playstyles. The game will feature a player run economy, and its combat system will be fast-paced and active with hundreds of abilities to learn. We’ve been covering Fractured MMO in the past so it’s great to see that they have a publishing partnership with one of the biggest publishers here in the West.

And Neverwinter has announced the release of its 22nd module, Dragonbone Vale.  This all new campaign will return players to the Sword Coast to stop the Cult of the Dragon from trying to undead-ify all the dragons of Faerun!  Also included in this new adventure is an all new zone to explore, a 10-player trial to conquer, and even a brand new grappling hook mechanic!  Dragonbone Vale is set to launch on January 11 on PC with console release slated for February 8.

This past weekend, Black Desert held its online community event, the CalpheON Ball, and made some new announcements. First, they revealed the new Mountain of Eternal region, a snow-capped mountain featuring new environments, quests, monsters, and features – including snowboarding and snowfishing. The newest class, Eclipse, was also showcased. Pearl Abyss also revealed that its class reboot and winter season server are coming on December 22nd for PC (January 5th for Console). That update will give a major pass on the skills and appearance of seventeen classes in order to provide a better PvP experience.

In other news, The New War is upon us in Warframe!  This new expansion has you facing off against the full force of the Sentients, a race of adaptable, replicating drones bent on total destruction.  You will have to turn old foes into allies to face this threat, and will gain access to three new playable characters, from the Grineer, Corpus, and Dax.  Experience an all new story arc dealing with Lotus and the new threats to the Tenno.  Of course, you’ve an all new Warframe to play around with, too; the Caliban is a fusion of Sentient technology and Tenno capability.  With damaging technological abilities and a passive to help teammates mitigate damage from whatever source is attacking them, the Caliban gives players a nice balance between destruction and support.

The first major update for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis has arrived!  Sandstorm Requiem gives players a whole new field to explore — the Retem Region — along with a host of new features.  Dive into chapter 2 of the main story of New Genesis as you make your way to Retem City, meeting a whole new cast of characters as you explore the deserts of the Retem region.  You’ll face off against a host of new enemies as you enjoy an increased level cap from 20 to 35, along with a host of new skills, abilities, and spells for every class. Face off against difficult world trials with your entire server to obtain fantastic rewards, and show off your achievement hunting skills with a brand new title system to display your prowess!  Sandstorm Requiem is available now for all PSO2 New Genesis players.

Meanwhile, Genshin Impact has introduced two new characters to its rosters this week, as part of the second phase of Update 2.3. First up is the five star character Arataki Itto, a Geo Claymore user that packs some powerful attacks. If you’re lucky enough to get him, he’ll make a star player on a mono Geo team for sure. Next up is the new four star character Gorou, a Geo Bow user that can offer remarkable support including defense boosting and healing his allies. This character update also includes a new weapon banner, the new Misty Dungeon: Realm of Light event, and more to see you through the winter holiday season.

War Thunder’s latest update, Winged Lions, officially introduces the nation of Israel with a hefty addition of vehicles. This includes 20 aircraft for the Israeli starting lineup, along with a total of 14 new or updated ground vehicles and six new naval vessels. Players can now take to the skies in the new Israel map, and there are new missions and changes to review, so make sure to catch up on everything to stay ahead in the game.

Keeping the updates rolling, Rogue Company  has released its Umbra update this week. The star of this update is, of course, Umbra, the newest playable rogue and 23rd to join the roster. Umbra is the first character from the Jackal Organization, a Duelist that features high-risk high-reward playstyle. Also new in this update is the limited-time mode, Battle Zone, which gives a  battle royale twist to the 4v4 mode in a round-based format. The game’s holiday event, Winter Bash, is also ongoing. Take part in special contracts to earn free cosmetics!

Hi Rez’s SMITE has also updated this week, unleashing the Titan of the Cosmos update, adding the new Greek Guardian, Atlas, to the game. Atlas utilizes his astrolabe in combat, using it to control the battlefield by moving opponents away from allies in danger, or throwing them back into the fray.  The update also commences the Yulefest event, complete with free quests and rewards, along with the new Little Helper Bastet and Infinite Oracle Morgan Le Fay skins which can be unlocked for free.

Get ready to paint your face blue and wear a kilt – Season Ten is coming to Conqueror’s Blade next week, December 21st. The tenth season will be themed around Scotland and the Highlanders! The new campaign will send players out from the Borderlands, heading toward a final showdown at Turul Varos at the end of the season. A new siege map, Broch Eastray, will offer a 10v10 battle at the historic site of the first Highlander settlement. As always the season features three new units – Bagpipers, designed to boost morale and offer healing; Claymores, sword wielding heroes that gain more defense as they attack; and Houndsmen, hunting companies that are also the first animal unit in the game. Naturally there’s also some great cosmetic rewards through the Battle Pass so make sure to check it out.

Shifting to holiday events now – The Dawning has returned again to Destiny 2. This free event marks the winter holidays and runs until January 4th. During this event you can earn Dawning Spirit by sharing gifts and baking holiday treats. Rewards this year include a new Exotic ship, the Vapoorwill Spin, the first Stasis-powered Sword, Zephyr, new ornaments and more.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to burn rubber in Rocket League since the annual holiday event Frosty Fest is back!  Get your wheels a-ringing with a brand new set, or swab your car in the warmest of flannel.  All new decals and a brand new player title can also be yours.  Plus, since this is the season for gifting, golden gifts are back, earning you items from the Zephyr, Elevation, and Vindicator sets.  Oh, and don’t worry about the decorations — Beckwith Park’s already been dressed to the spirit of it all!  Look forward to all this and the two featured LTMs of  Winter Breakaway and Spike Rush from now until January 3 in Rocket League!

And as we wrap up this week, make sure to check out your favorite games to see what holiday events are ongoing! We’ve already mentioned some, but there are many others going on, including Century: Age of Ashes hosting its first Frost & Fury Event, New World’s Winter Convergence, Fortnite’s annual Winterfest, and Crossout’s Secret Santa Operation. Even Epic Games is getting in the holiday spirit as for two weeks straight, they’ll be offering a different free game every day, so make sure to log in to the Epic Games Store daily to claim your freebie!

And finally just a friendly reminder that I will be taking off the next two weeks for the holidays myself. I’ll see you guys next time in 2022!

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!