'WWE 2K18' Patch 1.03 Patch Notes For PS4, XB1 And PC

WWE 2K18 released Patch 1.03 for PS4 on Friday and should be unveiling it for Xbox One and PC users shortly, per a tweet from WWE Game WWE 2K18 released Patch 1.03 for PS4 on Friday and should be unveiling it for Xbox One and PC users shortly, per a tweet from WWE Games.

The new patch focuses primarily on a few gameplay issues that were hindering the experience in a variety of modes. Here's a look at the tweet with each of the fixes detailed.

As you may have noticed, the patch also addresses a few items with Road to Glory and adds some functionality to Create-A-video. When I read the headline for CAV, my heart skipped a beat because I was hoping to read that fans could now take in-action still shots during the video editing process, or at least gain the flexibility to remove the HUD.

Unfortunately, those options are still not in the game. WWE 2K18 is by far the best looking wrestling game ever made, and it's one of the most visually stunning sports-themed titles on the market. It's a shame gamers aren't being given the tools to take action screenshots that they can share online via social media–without capturing and using some sort of separate editing software.

Hopefully, there is a way to add a picture mode or the ability to remove the HUD during CAV. If that happens, we'll see an increase in the number of cool images circulating from the social media accounts of WWE 2K content creators.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War :Most Awaited Game

Hey guys i am shubham and guess on which topic we are going to discuss?
thats right its "Middle-earth: Shadow of War "
HERE WE GO!

You Know The leaks are real! Middle-earth: Shadow of War is officially happening. The sequel to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor will call the fallen ranger Talion and ancient wraith Celebrimbor back into battle as they work against the dark reign of Sauron. This time it's, er, slightly less personal (since Talion took down the villain who killed his wife and son in the last game) but far more grand and reactive, with even more elements of the world procedurally shaped by an upgraded Nemesis system. Read on for everything we know about Shadow of War so far.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War trailer shows off the story

We're not looking at any actual gameplay footage here, but we can still try to tease out a few details about the game. For instance, the trailer spends most of its time in Mt. Doom, on the grounds of Sauron's army, and a city of Men in the middle of a siege. You also briefly see the eerie green halls of Minas Morgul. These are all potential locations for the game. And is a boss fight against that big, fire-breathing Balrog too much to ask?

Middle-earth: Shadow of War release date is set for August 2017
As soon as Middle-earth: Shadow of War was officially announced, it also had a release date, which was a nice change of pace. It will come out on August 22, 2017 in the US and on August 25, 2017 in the UK. That should give you enough time to mop up the last of your old rivals from Shadow of Mordor.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor gameplay reveal is coming soon
We'll get our first proper look at Shadow of War on March 8, according to the announcement trailer. At least it won't keep us in suspense for long.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War Nemesis system builds on the one you see in Mordor


The Nemesis system took Shadow of Mordor from "competent open-world action game" to "brilliant revenge story generator" and Shadow of War will have much more to say on the subject. According to the initial announcement, environments and other key parts of the world will be shaped by the actions you take, not just an ever-replenishing selection of orcs. We'll have to wait until the gameplay reveal to find out more about what that means, but at least we know that the Nemesis system will still be front and center.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War has a free Xbox One Project Scorpio upgrade

Theoretically, every Xbox One game will work on Xbox One Project Scorpio. But Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment specifically mentioned Microsoft's powered-up console, so you can expect some special features for Shadow of War once the untitled new system rolls out around the holiday season. If you buy a digital copy of the game on Xbox One it will also work on Scorpio and - bonus - it's a Play Anywhere game, so you'll get a copy for the Windows Store as well.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War on PS4 Pro will look handsome

WB also specifically called out PS4 Pro, so you can expect Shadow of War to take advantage of Sony's 4K-centric console as well. We still haven't seen what the game itself looks like (just some fancy pre-rendered cinematics) so we'll probably have to wait a while to hear what kinds of boosts you'll get for playing on PS4 Pro.

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One and Only NBA 2K17

Hello guys. Its shubham and i am giving review on one of my fav. Game, "NBA 2K17"

Yeah thats right. Read my post and please like my post give your reaction and comment too.

So, In NBA 2K17, though, practice is the name of the game, whether you're taking the role of "The President of Basketball" in MyCareer or working on new dribbling moves. It's brilliant in the way that it makes you feel like you're playing as a professional, but a little monotonous as well. But maybe that's the price you pay when you're as committed to realism as NBA 2K17. 

As always, I'll be addressing two different sections of NBA 2K's audience: Those who are relatively new to the series, and those who have been following the series for a while now. We'll start with a broader overview of what you can expect from NBA 2K17 and the franchise in general. 

For those who are new to the series

Above everything else, Visual Concepts takes pride in presentation. It's evident in the elaborate pregame show featuring Shaq, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith, the in-game player interviews, and the way that every arena has multiple openings. It's meant to feel like a real NBA broadcast; and in many respects, it does. 

Their crown jewel remains MyCareer: A story mode in which you create your own player and embark on the road to becoming an NBA superstar. MyCareer's presentation is full of brilliant little touches like postgame interviews with Ernie and company and live tweets highlighting your performance. You can even hang out with and go one-on-one with stars like DeMarcus Cousins on your MyCourt - a customizable hub where you can retreat and shoot baskets between games.

Above all, MyCareer's goal is to make you feel like an actual NBA player; and in that, it succeeds. It pulls back the curtain in a way that no other sports sim quite manages, whether you're getting hazed by your teammates or complaining about a loss in the locker room. It's an environment where familiar NBA stars aren't just computer-generated action figures - they're your equals. 

On that note, NBA 2K is still the only sports game to feature microtransactions outside of Ultimate Team, which has its own benefits and drawbacks. NBA 2K's in-game currency affects MyCareer and MyGM progression; and in the case of the former, feels paced in a way that turns progression into a bit of a grindfest. It also means that you have to connect to a server, which makes the flow of the interface feel clunkier than it should. 

Looking across the total package, though, it's hard not to be impressed by NBA 2K's polish, presentation, and thoughtful design. It is well ahead of its competition in a lot of respects, and has been for a while now. If you're looking for a sports game that will keep you busy throughout the year, then there's absolutely nothing better. 

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Best game Ever ( WWE 2K17)

Hey guys, I am shubham and today i am reviewing on my personally favourite game. This is the best game ever. Its.. WWE 2k17

Since the shift to current-generation consoles, 2K's WWE series has steered away from the arcade-style formula of its extensive lineage. It's clear that developers Yuke's and Visual Concepts want to forge their own unique path to a simulation style of wrestling video game, iterating further and further in this direction with each passing installment. Much like last year, matches in WWE 2K17 have a distinctly measured pace, focused on capturing the look and feel of the current WWE product as closely as possible. It's an acquired taste, for sure, and if you haven't enjoyed this deliberate style previously--and perhaps yearn for the days of old--2K17 isn’t going to change your mind.

With that being said, however, I wouldn't hesitate to call WWE 2K17 a better video game than its immediate predecessors. For one, singles matches have seen some incremental refinements that improve the ebb and flow of each contest. While the reversal system, pin/kickout mechanics, stamina management, and submission minigame remain relatively unchanged, there's some welcome fine-tuning sprinkled throughout.

Counters, for instance, now feature a much more generous timing window and come in two flavors: minor and major--with the latter eating up two reversal slots but dishing out damage to your thwarted opponent. There's also an alternative submission minigame that ditches the swiveling red and blue blocks for much more intuitive button mashing. And taunting now provides mid-match buffs, which makes sense and gives these gestures the same measure of importance they carry on TV.

For the first time in a few years, you can take the fight backstage, too. With the gorilla position, a hazardous hallway, locker room, and Authority office ready to be demolished, this isn't as gargantuan a space as it was in the halcyon days of WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, but there's no denying the joy to be had powerbombing your opponent onto a sturdy oak desk while Vince McMahon stands by, undeterred. Sure, backstage brawls are nothing groundbreaking, but it's an anarchic addition that's entirely welcome.

Similarly welcome are some of the improvements made to multi-person matches. Previously, these scuffles were a noxious mix of the chaotic and the frustrating. With everyone stuffed inside the ring at the same time, moves were constantly disrupted, and matches would extend far beyond their expiration date as one pin after another was irritatingly broken up. WWE 2K17 fixes this issue and injects a dose of realism into proceedings at the same time. Much like actual multi-person matches, the action is still mostly confined to two warring combatants. As damage is inflicted to various superstars, they'll roll out of the ring and lay on the outside to recover for a short time, making the in-ring action a lot less disorganised. Mechanically, this gives you time to regain lost stamina, but you can also cut this process short if you want to get up early and try to stop someone else from getting a three-count.

Switching between targets is, thankfully, a lot less cumbersome this year, too. A simple tap of R3 cycles through each wrestler involved in the bout, with the name of your target appearing above your wrestler's head for a short moment. Ladder matches have also seen some ease-of-use adjustments. Now, you'll never have to suffer the ignominy of setting up a ladder--only to climb it and find out it's not in the exact right position required to grab a dangling briefcase. Ladder placement is now restricted to specific positions dotted around the arena, which certainly makes things easier but does rob these matches of some spontaneity.

All of these changes, however incremental, move the needle in a positive direction. But some nagging issues still drag down the overall quality of the in-ring action. Now, I'm not expecting this series to suddenly adopt the fast-paced, arcade-style sensibilities of its forebears, but something slightly more sprightly wouldn’t be amiss, either. The pace of the action is still far too plodding, and the game is overly reliant on disconnected reversals dictating the outcome of each matchup. Maybe it's implausible, with such a bevy of moves available, to somehow coalesce the reversal system with the excellent motion-captured animation, but simply tapping a button when a prompt appears above your head feels far too rigid and detached from the action. These issues aren't game-breakers, and some will appreciate the deliberate pacing. But the series is still a long way off from being a king in the ring.

Online matches are effected by the same latency problems that have plagued the series for years. The general flow of each fight is fine, but the timing window for reversals is impacted, so kicking out of pins becomes nigh on impossible. I was constantly defeated minutes into fights purely because the timing of counters gets knocked so far out of whack that it's incredibly difficult to react with the necessary precision. In most instances, it felt like my button presses weren't even registering.

I wouldn't hesitate to call WWE 2K17 a better video game than its immediate predecessors.

The lack of 2K Showcase mode this year puts a damper on the proceedings as well. By offering a guided tour through some of the most memorable moments in WWE history, 2K Showcase was a nostalgia-fuelled romp of recreating famous matches and being treated to WWE’s wonderfully reverential video packages. It’s absence this year can’t help but strip WWE 2K17 of much of its personality, and that leaves MyCareer to pick up the slack.

Much like year’s previous, MyCareer is still an incredibly tedious slog, as you use a created fighter to wrestle your way through the roster, ever so slowly grinding your way closer and closer to a title fight. It’s bland and lacks character, neglecting all of the pomp, spectacle, and engaging storylines that encompass the actual WWE. This is an odd issue, considering how 2K’s own NBA series has embraced the idea of sporting narratives in MyCareer. Wrestling should be an obvious choice for similarly scripted stories, but WWE 2K17 is far more interested in presenting meaningless matches and monitoring T-shirt sales than in aping its real-life counterpart. Even the ability to become a Paul Heyman Guy boils down to fulfilling a few insipid objectives with minimal payoff.

One interesting aspect of MyCareer is the introduction of interactive promos. These exist elsewhere in Universe mode, but they make much more sense as a tool to shape your own created character. The aim of promos is to essentially play up your heel or face persona in order to achieve a positive or negative reaction, depending on how "smarky" the crowd is on any given night. You have four options to choose from for each stage of the promo, but these choices are incredibly vague and rarely reflect what your character is actually going to say. This proves problematic when you’re trying to lean a certain way, especially if you want your promo to be the least bit cohesive. The writing here is also terrible for the most part, which can’t help but break the immersion when Bray Wyatt says "You hate me because you ain’t me" or Brock Lesnar complains about a bad smell backstage. With no voice acting to speak of--just superstars moving their mouths to abject silence--this mechanic feels like a first draft that still needs plenty of work. I appreciate the effort, because it's about time a wrestling video game tried to capture one of the industry's most important aspects, but the implementation is lacking.

Other presentation issues persist throughout. The commentary is as atrocious as ever. It's stilted and regularly irrelevant--which some would argue is entirely true to life. Replays are universally awful, too, often showing pins rather than the moves that preceded them. And the whole game is considerably outdated. This isn't 2K's fault, mind you. At some point, the developers have to lock down their content and actually finish the game. They're just in the unenviable position of releasing a game a couple of months after a vast upheaval in the WWE, with the brand split resulting in a wave of NXT callups, new teams forming, shifting character alignments, new commentary teams, and new sets. Fortunately, if you're a stickler for accuracy, WWE 2K17's exhaustive creation suite means that many of these issues can easily be rectified, with the community already creating plenty of near-perfect new attires, wrestlers, and set designs.

No matter how you spruce it up, however, WWE 2K17 isn't the substantial leap forward I was hoping for. The in-ring action is still serviceable, and refinements to various aspects of its combat make for a more enjoyable game than in previous years. But there are still a myriad of niggling issues holding it back, and the absence of 2K Showcase only compounds these problems. If you’ve had previous reservations about this series, WWE 2K17 is unlikely to change your mind--and, at this point, it feels like 2K would be better served taking a page out of Seth Rollins' book for next year’s installment. Time to redesign, rebuild, and reclaim.

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Nioh latest review

Nioh is an immensely layered experience. Through its Dark Souls-inspired combat, you're taught the virtues of patience and the value of defense. With each death, you learn a bit more about yourself and your enemy. 

This Team Ninja production, set during a time of great social upheaval in Japan, demonstrates the studio's penchant for demanding action-driven gameplay that rewards tactics and high dexterity. And despite all the inevitable dying, Nioh is surprisingly rich with solutions to overcome its many hurdles.

Koei Tecmo's fondness for Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period is on full display in Nioh. The unusual foreign point of view of protagonist William Adams adds freshness to this familiar setting. 

Adams' real life notoriety as the first Western samurai is the kernel that allows the game to glorify him as a knowledgeable user of Japanese melee weaponry. His path to combat proficiency is partly motivated by his pursuit of antagonist and occultist Edward Kelley, also an English historical figure. 

Both are searching for Amrita, a type of magical stone abundant in Japan that is thought to have the power to turn the tide in Queen Elizabeth I's favor in her war against Spain.

Death is featured heavily, not just in the frequency of player failures but also in the war torn lands Adams explores. Many of Nioh's levels feel like you've walked into an imaginary epilogue of an Akira Kurosawa film. The extensiveness of ruin and the littering of corpses are complemented by a recurring musical theme that effectively captures the solemnness of what remains.

These devastated landscapes is also a breeding ground for hostile yokai, demons and creatures heavily inspired by Japanese folklore. Like the Onimusha and Toukiden series, Team Ninja puts their own spin on these fantastic beasts. There's great imagination on display as Adams confronts unusually agile ogres and homicidal ravens decorated like Buddhist monks. 

There's much to marvel at in the otherworldliness of the yokai's designs when you're not too busy dodging their deadly attacks.

The demands and challenges of melee combat in Nioh cannot be overstated. Assuming your character level isn't significantly higher than the recommended level of a given mission, some enemies can kill you with a single stroke. 

By the same token, there's always a chance, however unlikely, you'll clear a chapter without a scratch. At times, enemies fight with the unpredictability of a PvP match. It's normally comforting when you can recognize the beginning animations of a enemy combo. Yet there's another layer of difficulty when that foe can switch up attacks mid-combo, a common occurrence in Nioh. 

You'll sometimes wish you could compliment these enemies for their cunning--that is until you throw your controller from dying at the hands of a boss for the twentieth time.

Nioh is at its most elegant when you're engaged in a one-on-one duel. Many enemies telegraph a lot of information even before they attempt their first strike. By studying their stances, you can deduce what attacks tend to result from those poses. Their outfits also offer hints on capabilities. Sword-wielding fishermen attack with two-handed labored lunges, making them frequently open to attack. 

Decorated and well-armored veteran samurai show more discipline and attack with greater efficiency. As you gain experience with a sword, you'll have an easier time anticipating the attacks of other sword-wielders, since many use the same stances and techniques as Adams. Being able to read your enemy and emerge victorious thanks to all this visual information provides some of Nioh's most gratifying moments. Between the occasional compulsion to fight honorably and the potential for one-hit kills, Nioh is the closest a game has gotten to recapturing the unique intensity of Squaresoft's Bushido Blade series.

At its most fundamental level, survival in Nioh is about managing stamina--known in the game as ki--which determines how frequently you can attack an enemy. To complicate matters, enemies often create ki dead zones where stamina does not replenish. The beauty of Nioh is how it's chocked full of countermeasures that deal with such obstacles. In the case of these dead zones, potential solutions include stamina enhancing consumables and ki-specific weapon enhancements. 

For the most dexterous players, a quick shoulder button press after a combo can potentially boost stamina recovery. And the fact that enemies are equally limited by stamina creates tactical and exploitable opportunities one seldom encounters in these types of games. 

Like a scene straight out of a samurai film, there's a sense realism when you and a foe are huffing and temporarily immobile from stamina-depleted exhaustion. That's followed with heightened suspense, knowing that one of you will fall once you both catch your breath.

Just as enemies have tricks that extend beyond melee combat, Nioh empowers you through a wealth of resources and choices that only expands as you make progress. A single weapon is capable of over a dozen types of attacks, organized and spread across a trio of battle stances. 

You acquire new weapons through a Diablo-inspired loot drop system, where myriad stats and special effects ensure that no two weapons are alike. Five melee weapons types, a selection of firearms, and non-samurai abilities like magic can be a lot to take in. Yet given Nioh's optional quests and the ability to replay completed missions, you can take your time to get your footing and learn what tactics work for you before advancing to the next mainline chapter. And even if these resources aren't enough for you to vanquish a boss in your first or tenth attempt, level grinding works as a viable solution.

Options for success further expand with the inclusion of cooperative play, available after completing the initial chapters. This isn't co-op in the traditional sense since there's no way two friends can experience new story chapters together. In order for a guest to be eligible for a host's story mission, the guest needs to have already completed that mission. 

This, unfortunately, nerfs what could have been a stimulating session. Save for a slight increase in boss' health bars, difficulty does not ramp up in co-op. The guest, armed with information on a map's layout and the boss' tactics, can help turn a chapter that would normally take three hours into a 15-minute jaunt.

Regardless how you choose to progress, the immense variety in environments is reflected in the thoughtful pacing of what will be an 80 hour playthrough for many. Nioh doesn't escalate in intensity with every subsequent mainline mission, although the endgame is rightfully brutal. Instead, there's a rhythmic ebb and flow as you advance through the story.

 For example, after an exhausting two-chapter skirmish on a ravaged battlefield, you're greeted with a less demanding yet still challenging trek through a lush and foggy forest with enemy ninja encampments. These reprieves from the more intense missions add depth to the campaign.

Each area exudes its own sense of character not just by conveying widespread destruction in its detailed backgrounds but also by challenging you with environmental puzzles. The chapter based in the Iga, for instance, capitalizes on the region's reputation as a nest of shinobi and a playground of stealth. It's a level loaded with enough hidden doors and confusing passages that you might need graph paper to make sense of the level. 

Adding to these engrossing complexities is a section that can be literally flipped, where the floor becomes the ceiling and vice versa. And these do not take into account all the ninjas hiding around corners and behind sliding doors. Iga is just one location that showcases Nioh's impressive labyrinthine maps, of which there are many. And much like the Dark Souls games that inspired much of Nioh's level design, having a fastidious exploratory mindset helps reveal a location's many shortcuts, the discoveries of which are always satisfying.

It is though exploration that you increase your chances of finding weapons and items, often by searching through the seemingly countless corpses strewn throughout the game. The final words of the dead echo in Adams' head, often providing clues to nearby dangers. 

The fallen are additionally represented by the gravemarkers of other Nioh players with a note of their respective cause of death. These serve as warnings to the living, whether it's a hint of a nearby cliff or a difficult yokai ahead.

Although the spectre of potential failure hangs heavy over any play session, dying in Nioh is never genuinely disheartening. This is thanks in part to the various avenues of character growth and many approaches you can utilize to tackle a difficult section or boss fight. It shouldn't be surprising that the foresight and patience needed to survive a battle in Dark Souls translates well to the fundamentals of samurai combat here. 

Nioh's most invigorating and intimidating moments occur when you feel you're at equal footing with your opponent. And it's during these encounters that one careless move can result in your demise or the right string of thoughtful actions can make you feel invincible.

Sniper elite 4

There's always been something voyeuristic about sniping in video games. With a powerful rifle in hand, you're perched in some bombed-out tower overlooking a Nazi-occupied town, your crosshairs fixated squarely on the head of an enemy soldier as he strides along his designated patrol route. 

He has no idea that with one pull of the trigger, you're about to send a bullet careening through flesh and bone, snuffing out his young life in a single, gory instant. 

It's in these moments, when an unaware enemy is trained in your sights and you take a deep breath before pulling the trigger on a skull-shattering killshot, that make Rebellion's Sniper Elite such a devilish joy. Where the series has regularly faltered, however, is in the moments between these euphoric, long-range kills, where it has often been a cumbersome chore just to get around in a stealthy manner. With Sniper Elite 4, Rebellion has changed all that.

This starts with the levels themselves. In Sniper Elite 3, Rebellion abandoned the linearity of previous series entries in favour of opening things up, and Sniper Elite 4 continues that trend in grand fashion. The smallest map in Sniper Elite 4 is three times the size of the largest one seen in its predecessor, and these expansive sandboxes are brimming with open-ended objectives you can choose to complete in any way you desire and in any order you please. 

They're varied locales, too, stretching across picturesque Italian landscapes on the verge of invasion: from the sunswept isolation of a cavernous island off the coast, to the narrow confines of an opulent beachfront town, to the dense overgrowth found in the heart of a verdant forest. Each one teeming with fascists just waiting to be extinguished with a well-placed bullet.

And these massive playgrounds aren't just big for the sake of it; they grease the cogs of every other aspect of Sniper Elite 4's design. Collectibles and advantageous sniping positions are judiciously dotted around each map, encouraging you to explore, and the macabre satisfaction of sniping is increased tenfold when you're able to execute a pinpoint headshot from as far as 400 metres away. 

Sniper Elite's signature X-ray kills return in all their morbid glory here--now with even more detail--and it's a particular treat to see a bullet travel over these extensive distances before colliding with an enemy's skull, the hot lead bursting through eyeballs and sending a mixture of brain matter and skull fragments scattering onto the floor. 

This may sound tasteless, but the series' grisly ballistics are still second to none--and there's something wonderfully schlocky about rupturing an enemy's scrotum from 200 metres away.

Getting into these fruitful sniping positions isn't the chore it once was either. There's a newfound responsiveness to protagonist Karl Fairburne's movement that makes it easier to get around and stay hidden. This polishing of the underlying mechanics makes tiptoeing across these mammoth spaces enjoyable in itself. 

There's a decent degree of verticality to each map, too, and you now have the ability to utilize it by clambering up specific surfaces, jumping across gaps, and climbing in and out of windows to navigate with increased freedom--not to mention the ability to wipe out a few enemies with some stealthy ledge takedowns. Environmental kills also play a part, whether it's a convenient red barrell or a rickety-looking bridge, and foliage is often a welcome aid to keep you out of sight from curious Nazi eyes.

With the structure (or lack thereof) of its open-ended mission design, there's also a clear emphasis on experimentation. This is never more evident than with the two-pronged function of each item in your deep-pocketed arsenal. For distraction devices, this means you can switch between throwing rocks to lure enemies to a specific area, or a whistle that will bring them straight to you. Where it really gets fun, however, is with the bevy of explosives in your stockpile. Equip landmine, for example, and you can set it to detonate after one press or two. 

The former will see it explode the moment it's stood on, which is ideal for a single enemy; while the latter detonates after two steps, making it perfect for dealing with groups. Rig one up with two presses in, say, a doorway, and the delayed blast radius is liable to take out three or four enemies, rather than just the first guy to enter the room. Once you start booby trapping bodies, this devious feature really comes into its own.

Personally, I have a soft spot for the sniper rifle's secondary function: suppressed rounds. These trade dramatic bullet drop-off for silent sniper fire, giving you the flexibility to use the game's standout feature with much more frequency. This was actually an issue in Sniper Elite 3, where it often felt like there were too few chances to use the sniper rifle without alerting everyone to your position, almost encouraging you to stick with the silenced pistol. 

There are still opportunities to mask the loud crack of your rifle with malfunctioning generators or the thundering noise of Luftwaffe flying overhead, which is the ideal way to silently pop skulls. But in areas where this isn't always possible, you now have the option to snipe with far more regularity, which is key in a game built around doing just that.

If you are spotted and the bullets start flying, pulling out your Thompson and going toe-to-toe with the bloodthirsty fascists isn't as clunky or frustrating as it has been previously. There's a fluidity to the way the game shifts from stealth to action and then back again. And while its cover-based shooting is merely competent at best, its viability as a messy plan B for when things go awry is very much appreciated--which, once again, traces back to the size of the levels themselves. Every objective essentially occupies a pocket of space on these vast maps. Once you're inside one of these pockets, you can cause as much mayhem and destruction as you please, and the rest of the enemies dotted across the level will be none the wiser. This allows you to go in all guns blazing and savour each violent moment, safe in the knowledge that you won't have to worry about the rest of the mission being full of Nazis on high alert. It's a smart choice.

The AI shows a marked improvement over its predecessors in situations similar to this. They'll attempt to triangulate your position based on the sound of gunfire, and officers will command their troops to overwhelm you if they have your location locked down. Inconsistency is a common menace, though, and they're not always the brightest bunch. There were a number of occasions where I would simply circle around an area after being spotted, only to find a bundle of enemies cowering behind cover near my last known position. 

With all of their backs turned, it was easy pickings. In other instances I've killed an enemy whose body is quickly discovered by one of his buddies. Naturally, I kill him while he's examining it, which garners the attention of another guard, and you can probably tell where I'm going with this. Guard after guard after guard; each one brazenly disregarding the growing pile of corpses to wade into my line of sight.

If you want a harder challenge from the occasional bungling enemy, the “Authentic” difficulty setting strips away all of the handy assists and extends the life of the campaign with a steep learning curve. You'll probably want to skip all of the cutscenes a second time through, though. The plot is completely forgettable; a stereotypical World War II tale, with an unhinged Nazi villain, and a superweapon only our gruff American hero can stop. Some surface level details touch on the Italian resistance and the mafia's role in the war, but it never delves deep enough to be particularly enlightening or engaging as a story. Beyond the beautiful Italian landscapes, the setting isn't exploited as much as one might hope.

Multiplayer serves up a plethora of game modes spread across competitive and cooperative offerings. Control asks teams to battle for supremacy over an ever-moving control point, disregarding the sniper rifle in favour of some up-close-and-personal skirmishes. 

This sits in stark contrast to the rest of the competitive modes, which are predominantly marksman affairs. If you enjoy cautiously moving across maps with an eye open for the glint of an enemy scope, then there will be something here for you. I can't say I've ever regularly enjoyed sniping in multiplayer shooters, so entire matches based around this style of combat aren't for me.

 Killing a human player from the opposite side of a map is still immensely satisfying, but these moments are so few and far between, it was never enough to hold my attention for too long.

Survival fares much better, as up to four players work together to withstand increasingly challenging waves of enemies-- à la Horde mode. As snipers, distance is a key advantage, and it's fun finding an opportune location to seek shelter and pick off each wave of progressively difficult Nazis.

 In a unique twist, the supply box you use to replenish your ammunition also moves to a different location every few waves, forcing you to get creative with your trap placement, and discover new areas to camp out. Once mortar fire, tanks, and heavily-armoured units rain down upon you, it can get incredibly tense.

Sniper Elite 4 feels like a natural progression for this series, as Rebellion continues to refine its systems and put a greater emphasis on the long-range shooting it does so well. Its stealth and action mechanics may be simplistic, but they're functional and regularly enjoyable. 

And the maps--with their impressive scale, open-ended objectives, and clever level design--coalesce these disparate systems into a creative and fulfilling whole. There are still some issues with AI inconsistency, a bland story, and some dull competitive multiplayer, but it finally feels like this series is living up to its long-standing potential.

The Legend Of Zelda: breathe Of The Wild

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild is getting a season pass and paid DLC, and Nintendo continues to cautiously open up its development bubble to the rest of the industry. It is not entirely unexpected news: Breath of the Wild is the first Zelda game to take on some conventions of other RPGs, and there's no reason to assume that DLC can't be part of this equation as well. And yet, in a fantastically meta way, the simple fact that this is news is news. 

Important caveat/clarification: there is absolutely nothing wrong with DLC, paid or otherwise, as a concept. Plenty of games have made excellent use of the format, and developers are only getting smarter about expansion as it become standard operating procedure in the industry. Erik Kain cites The Witcher 3, but there are scads of examples from all sorts of games.  If I've got a great game on my hands, I'm generally happy to get more of it.

And so in a broad sense, I'm excited about this idea for Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild as well. As a kid, I would have lost my mind for an extra dungeon in Ocarina of Time. And yet, it gives me pause.Nintendo has long eyed the rest of the industry with caution, and it generally means that it has a tough time when it tries to reintroduce concepts that other developers have been playing with for years.  It also means, possibly, that Nintendo will begin running into some of the same issues other developers have experienced, just as it has done in the past. Here's a relevant sentence in the press release:

Immediately upon pre-purchase or purchase of the Expansion Pass, three new treasure chests will appear in the game’s Great Plateau area. One of these treasure chests will contain a shirt with a Nintendo Switch logo that Link can wear during his adventure, exclusive to the Expansion Pass.

This sounds...weird. One hopes that the rest of the items in there are a little more normal, but the presence of this sort of thing just doesn't speak to a game with a strong handle on how to manage extra content. It is possible that the presence of strange content will not damage the rest of the game in any way, but it's just as possible that it's a symptom of confusion on the part of development. 

We remember that long development times do weird things to games, especially when they cross through different development trends and hardware generations. One of the things that bothered me most about my brief time with Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild was the game's reliance on an in-game item called the "Sheika Slate," a tablet-like device that makes an obvious and now pretty awkward reference to the Wii U. I just don't feel like Nintendo is great at the always difficult balancing act of breaking the fourth wall.

And this is why it feels shaky to me: an element of a system that Nintendo is not entirely familiar with, pushed into a game that appears to be taking a lot of internal risks on its own. And it's possible that this is just the kid in me who loves Ocarina of Time more than life, and worries that the developer will never quite get there again.