Tag: playstation 4

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Gameplay Reveal Trailer Showcases Sandbox-Like Campaign, ‘No Russian’ Mission

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III just got a gameplay reveal trailer — a slightly misleading title, given most of the footage is loaded with cinematics. Indeed, it is focused on the campaign, which sees Captain Price and his Task Force 141 take on the Russian ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov, as he extends his grasp across the world. Publisher Activision has introduced a new non-linear campaign structure called ‘Open Combat Missions,’ memorable multiplayer maps, and a Zombies mode set in an open world. Pre-orders for the game are now live across all major platforms.

In what began as a trilogy of soft reboots, the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 trailer evokes memories of the Hunter Killer mission from the original 2011 title, where our team is submerged underwater, prepared to sneak their way into the enemy territory. While much of the action is presented stealthily, Activision stresses that there will be a level of freedom in how you decide to tackle a mission. In addition to the signature linear structure COD games are notorious for, this new iteration introduces ‘Open Combat Missions,’ which makes use of open-ended spaces to let the player decide if they want to take a stealthy approach with lights out and night-vision goggles or go in guns blazing. There’s more freedom for experimentation here — akin to a sandbox — as the game lets you replay missions with a new approach or loadout.

“Now we’re really leaning into our ability to have the engine adapt to the play style of the player. If you’re going to be totally quiet or go in guns blazing, the campaign will totally adapt and support however you want to play it,” David Swenson, creative director, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 told The Washington Post. The game even carries over some choice-based dialogue options from previous entries, but branches it out even further, so it reacts to player decisions. While revisiting a mission, if you happen to stumble upon a new sub-location, it might trigger new speech as well. The new feature is complemented by the multiplayer segment, which brings back 16 modernised maps from 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, alongside more large-scale areas such as a ‘colossal War map.’

The beloved Zombies mode also returns with an extended scope that throws you into an open world environment teeming with the undead of escalating difficulty. Taking the massive map into consideration, Modern Warfare 3 will — for the first time ever — let you team up with other squads in an all-out PvE battle. That means multiple online squads will unite in their mission to thwart the zombie invasion. Other new features include the ability to cancel sliding so you can erratically avoid enemy fire while still maintaining momentum, and content carry-over that makes it so weapons and cosmetics unlocked in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will be available in MW3, as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases November 10 across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. Pre-orders grant early access to the open beta and the ability to play the campaign up to a week early.

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Overwatch 2 Becomes Steam’s Worst-Reviewed Game of All Time

Overwatch 2 has made history by becoming the worst-reviewed game on Steam. Publisher Blizzard, which usually kept its PC games locked to the Battle.net client, brought its team-based shooter to Steam on August 10, only to be flooded with negative reviews. At the time of writing, merely nine percent of the overall ratings (111,234) are positive, with many criticising the title’s approach to locking heroes and cosmetics behind a battle pass and the cancellation of its long-advertised PvE mode. While Blizzard might have expected some backlash, this reception must’ve been eye-opening for them, given Battle.net did not have a review system in place.

With the release of season 6 ‘Invasion,’ Overwatch 2 had moved on from early access, though it still swayed from the purpose of its existence. You see, the sequel was announced to have PvE as an always-on game mode that would let players gather XP by completing story missions to level up their preferred heroes, by way of a role-playing-game. It was supposed to push its overarching lore forward, but back in May, Blizzard confirmed that it was no longer in development, instead releasing it in gradual, smaller batches as a means to flourish the co-op experience. Not only does this render the sequel useless, but the addition of a battle pass and other live-service gimmicks at the start didn’t sit well with longtime fans.

Another cool thing to note here is that nearly two-thirds of those reviews are reportedly in Simplified Chinese. As per games analyst Daniel Ahmad, Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft were the biggest PC games in China before the regional servers were shut down due to a disagreement between Blizzard and its Chinese distributor NetEase. The 14-year-old partnership was brought to an end earlier this year over new terms in the licensing agreement, which ultimately led to gamers in the country using VPNs to play those games. There haven’t been any announcements of the servers returning, and Overwatch 2’s arrival on Steam was a means for them to communicate those concerns, in addition to criticising the aforementioned changes made to the game. The reliance on VPNs also forced them to suffer slow logins and connection issues.

With these numbers in merely three days, Overwatch 2 has overtaken the Chinese card-battle game War of the Three Kingdoms as the worst-reviewed game on the platform. The former has garnered 101,826 negative reviews, at the time of writing, dropping it to an ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ tag. Blizzard also has plans to bring a selection of its other titles to Steam, which would be highly beneficial to PC players since a good majority of them hate having to switch between different accounts and clients to play their favourite games. It’s unclear which ones would be making the jump, but I really hope that the Diablo games are next.

Overwatch 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Is Still Coming to PS4 and Xbox One, Will Be a ‘Premium’ Standalone Release

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will also be out on the previous-gen PS4 and Xbox One consoles, despite rumours suggesting otherwise. Confusion about a last-gen launch arose when TheGamingRevolution, a COD content creator tweeted out a picture from the Microsoft store, which only showed the Xbox Series S/X logo — unprecedented for the franchise, but makes perfect sense when considering that every major studio is slowly trying to take advantage of the newer consoles’ hardware. However, with the game’s teaser claiming that both PlayStation generations would be getting a release, it felt unfair to the green team. As it turned out, it was just an error on the Microsoft store, which has since been updated to include Xbox One as well.

For now, the website leads to Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s store page since that’s where publisher Activision has planned a worldwide reveal, scheduled for August 17. It’s going to be an in-game event, similar to those of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Vanguard, both of which were unveiled inside the original Warzone game. An interesting thing to note here is that on Steam, Modern Warfare 3 was listed as an add-on, unlike previous reports which claimed that it would be a standalone $70 release. “As stated in numerous Activision Blizzard quarterly conference calls, Modern Warfare III is a premium release. It will be priced accordingly at $70 USD,” the publisher told reliable tipster CharlieINTEL in a prepared statement. The term ‘add-on’ had to do with how all CoD games would be packaged going forward — they’d all be accessible within the Call of Duty HQ launcher.

This also aligns with an InsiderGaming report, which claimed that beta codes for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 followed the same ‘concept ID’ as Modern Warfare 2’s — essentially, ‘last year’s game codes, just reissued.’ The central hub will display Call of Duty MW2, MW3, and Warzone on the same menu, making it more accessible to players and enabling content carry-over. It was confirmed that this year’s title would ‘Carry Forward’ weapons and cosmetic items such as operators and skins you unlocked in Modern Warfare 2. Players can also expect MW 3 content to be integrated into the battle-royale Warzone experience, while Call of Duty: Mobile has been updated to include shared progression across the mainline games. Further details on the latter will be revealed as we inch closer to Warzone Mobile’s launch.

Previous reports also mentioned that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 would get at least two beta weekends for multiplayer testing, with the first slot solely aimed at PlayStation — set to run from October 6–10. This may or may not change as Microsoft’s attempts to acquire Activision for $69 billion (about Rs. 5,72,571 crore) continue. The second beta weekend will allegedly run from October 12–16 and grants entry to Xbox and PC players as well, and there are seemingly plans for campaign early access for pre-order customers.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 releases November 10 across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Release Date Set for November 10

This year’s Call of Duty has been revealed as Modern Warfare III, and it’s coming November 10. Publisher Activision dropped a brief teaser, featuring an abstract mosaic of familiar characters from the franchise — Captain Price and Vladimir Makarov — and a voiceover saying, “Never bury your enemies alive.” There’s also the mention of ‘heads of snakes,’ which possibly alludes to the ultranationalist Russian Makarov, who also served as the main antagonist of the original MW3 (2011). Sledgehammer Games is taking the lead on developing the sequel, which is part of a trilogy of Modern Warfare soft reboots, which started back in 2019.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s release date matches a report from May, which suggested that Activision was planning a reveal sometime in early August, also implying that it was a continuation of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s arc. The publisher had originally decided against dropping a standalone title this year, skipping its annual release cycle, and instead focusing on a ‘premium expansion’ that included a campaign DLC and a classic map pack. As per Bloomberg games reporter Jason Schreier, the company had a change of heart earlier this year and decided to launch it as a full-price game. The teaser is short on details, though a recent tweet from the Call of Duty account seems to indicate that weapons and operators from Modern Warfare 2 would carry over to the sequel.

This is big news for the multiplayer crowd as they won’t have to leave behind unlocked rewards and paid items from the older instalment. The method seems quite similar to a live-service experience, which was suggested by an Activision spokesperson in 2022, so it gets regularly updated with new content. Sledgehammer Games was previously in charge of developing Call of Duty: Vanguard — received poorly — with additional support from Treyarch and Infinity Ward. The publisher rotates between these three studios for its annual releases, breaking the cycle last year and moving Treyarch’s planned title from 2023 to 2024.

Reports also claimed that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 would get at least two beta weekends for multiplayer testing, with the first one solely aimed at PlayStation — set to run from October 6–10. This special treatment may change, taking Microsoft’s ongoing buyout of Activision for $69 billion (about Rs. 5,71,316 crore) into consideration. The second beta weekend will allegedly run from October 12–16 and grants entry to Xbox and PC players, as well. Keeping in tradition, a campaign early access is also expected for pre-order customers, reportedly going live on November 2. For now, there’s no telling if MW3 would also fall under the $70 category, though the franchise will be available on PlayStation for another 10 years, at least.

Activision hasn’t confirmed platforms yet, but Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is expected to make its way to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Is Bringing Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, 21 Savage

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is bringing popular rappers into the game, in celebration of 50 years of Hip-Hop music. As part of its Season 5 update, coming August 2, Activision confirmed that Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj will be joining the game and its battle royale counterpart, Warzone 2.0, as playable operators. Other major additions include three new multiplayer maps and several ‘War Track’ packs composed of hip-hop music to listen to in-game. The studio also teased a third operator by only showing their silhouette, but Activision’s blog post reveals it’s 21 Savage. No pricing details have been confirmed at this time but like previous collaborations, they should be available to buy as separate bundles.

Minaj’s appearance in Call of Duty was, sort of, signalled in a promo video from last year, before Modern Warfare II dropped worldwide. As per the official blog post, the artist’s look is inspired by her latest alter ego ‘Red Ruby Da Sleeze,’ which coincidentally timed perfectly with the Barbie movie’s release, which led to an internet obsession with the colour pink and everything sassy. Even her assault rifle is bright pink coloured, details of which will be revealed later. Meanwhile, this marks the third in-game appearance for Snoop Dogg; he first appeared as a multiplayer announcer in Call of Duty: Ghosts and then went on to appear in Call of Duty: Vanguard and Mobile. Snoop Dogg’s rifle in the upcoming collaboration is a silenced, blue-tinted one, adorned with gold engravings that of course resemble a marijuana leaf.

Call of Duty is no stranger to weird collaborations, having recently teamed up with the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys to bring Homelander, Starlight, and Black Noir into the game — each with their own brutal finishers like laser eyes. Other fun crossovers include the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi, outfits based on the Attack on Titan anime, and even adding Godzilla to the map as part of a limited-time mode in 2022. With more brand partnerships, we can only expect more outlandish operators to flood the streets, akin to how Fortnite’s been doing it for years now.

Season 5 also brings three new multiplayer maps — Livestock, an offshore Petrov Oil Rig, and Harbor flush with fish markets and shipping areas. Be prepared for some new game modes as well, starting with Havoc, which while fashioned like a classic arena shooter, injects a random selection of modifiers that’s aimed at making gameplay frenetic. Your operator’s jump heights could be affected to simulate if they were walking on the moon, landing from high altitudes might cause a grenade-like explosion around you, and more. There are some ‘big’ capture-the-flag modes coming your way, alongside Gunfight Variants, which pits you in close-quarters 2v2 and 4v4 matchups. Expect a battle pass as well, while Warzone 2.0 adds a dirt bike and an MRAP armoured vehicle to its catalogue.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s season 5 event goes live August 2 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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Diablo IV Gets Hefty Pre-Season Patch, Upsetting the Community; Blizzard to Address Concerns in Live Stream

Diablo IV’s much-awaited season 1 update is almost upon us and ahead of that, Blizzard has rolled out a new patch for preparation. The hefty 8GB patch 1.1.0a brings a range of balance changes, fixes some bugs, and adds unique items, in addition to making permanent upgrades such as Altars of Lilith unlocks available account-wide when starting as a new character. For the uninitiated, ‘Season of the Malignant’ is set after the events of the main campaign, once you’ve defeated Lilith and unravelled the Tree of Whispers. Diablo 4 season 1 goes live tonight at 10:30pm IST in India/ July 20 at 10am PT in the US, across PC and consoles.

The Sorcerer class — spell-based — has been hit with the biggest nerf in Diablo IV season 1, with the Devouring Blaze ability’s bonus critical damage getting reduced from 10/20/30 percent to 7/14/21 percent. A unique characteristic of this ability is that the damage bonus is increased when enemies are immobilised, though it seems like Blizzard has delivered a blow to it as well. The damage numbers have now been reduced from 25/50/75 percent to 10/20/30 percent. Essentially, all classes have been nerfed, causing the Diablo IV community to be furious, one of whom expressed their frustration on the official subreddit, which at the time of writing stands at 23,600 upvotes. You can check out the entire list of Diablo IV’s latest patch notes on the official website.

Diablo IV Review

The new season was supposed to kickstart a side saga in Sanctuary — a plague that slowly spreads around, turning all living beings into bloodthirsty fiends. When the new content was announced, the developers claimed that by collecting Malignant Hearts from these beings, players would be able to create overpowered “stupid, new broken” builds that let them storm through the map, in a quest that serves the new character Cormand. However, every decision listed in the pre-season patch seems to slow down your character’s progression significantly. The Barbarian class’ Hamstring (bleed) skill now only slows down Healthy enemies, while the Necromancer’s Splintering Aspect Bone Shard damage has been reduced from the original 50–100 percent to 30–60 percent.

“We have observed that the experience bonus rewarded for killing higher level monsters escalates too fast when compared to the relative challenge involved,” a developer note from the patch note reads, essentially slowing down the progression system. During pre-season, besting a monster that’s one level higher grants a +15 percent bonus, going up to +25 percent upon killing enemies that are three levels or more above you. For those playing Diablo 4 on Nightmare difficulty (World Tier III), Helltide events have been made slower, starting with an increase in monster difficulty. The spawning demons would now be three levels higher than your character instead of two, while the Tortured Gift of Mysteries chest’s cost has increased from 175 to 250 Aberrant Cinders. In a hotfix, the studio fixed the reduced drop rate of Abberant Cinders in Helltide, which it claims was originally ‘lower than intended.’

Seeing the community backlash, Blizzard has decided to address it all in a Campfire Chat live stream session, set for Friday, July 21 at 11:30pm IST/ 11am PT in the US. The session will be streamed on the official Diablo YouTube channel, though I wouldn’t expect to see any immediate changes to the new features that make Diablo IV gameplay a ‘slog.’ Elsewhere, Adam Fletcher, community director, confirmed that Blizzard will be removing the level requirement for World Tier 3 (40) and World Tier 4 (60) that were introduced in the pre-season patch.

Diablo IV is out on PC (via Battle.net), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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EA Sports FC 24 Revealed: Release Date, Women’s Football in Ultimate Team, More

EA Sports FC 24, the newly rebranded football simulation game franchise, has been fully revealed with a release date of September 29. The date matches leaks from last week, which suggested that the game would debut in early access seven days prior — on September 22 — available to those who pre-order the Ultimate Edition. Manchester City F.C. footballer Erling Haaland was revealed as the cover star, putting in a surprise appearance at EA’s global event in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson was present, of course, delivering a lengthy monologue about his love for football, while somehow managing to not slip up a single time and accidentally blurting out the word ‘FIFA.’

In a sense, FC24 is basically the same FIFA game you’ve known for years, but with new branding and a couple of additional features that are entirely novel to the franchise. First up, EA Sports will continue to expand on the presence of women’s football in the game, by bringing them to the Ultimate Team mode for the first time. Judging by the trailer, it appears as though the division won’t be separated as men’s or women’s FUT, but rather combine the two so you can have either gender on the same team and on the pitch. The studio previously brought the National Women’s Soccer League to FIFA 23 and it seems like the trend will carry over to this new iteration, thanks to the addition of two new women’s leagues — Liga F and Frauen-Bundesliga, the main women’s leagues in Spain and Germany, respectively.

EA Sports has secured agreements with various footballing leagues to keep FC24 as true to the actual sport, bringing in hundreds of stadiums, over 19,000 players, and more than 30 official leagues including the Premier League, La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League. For the uninitiated, EA Sports ditched the FIFA brand following a financial disagreement with the footballing body, which reportedly asked for a $1 billion (about Rs. 8,216 crore) payment every four years. Electronic Arts then withdrew from the agreement, with CEO Wilson claiming that the only value it ever got from the FIFA deal was the “four letters on the box.”

An enhanced version of the Frostbite Engine serves as the foundation of the game, which boasts smoother animations and redesigned player models. HyperMotionV serves to offer realism in the game, having captured volumetric data from over 180 professional men’s and women’s football matches to deliver realistic movement. Meanwhile, PlayStyles goes beyond overall player ratings to bring to life the on-pitch abilities that are said to make players special. Each PlayStyle gives players unique capabilities you’ll see and feel that make their way of playing more ‘authentic’. The company also introduced Ultimate Team Evolutions, allowing you to upgrade players throughout the season based on individual objectives, granting additional stat boosts and skills.

EA Sports FC 24 pre-order

Pre-orders are now live, with the EA Sports FC 24’s Standard Edition offering a cover star loan player item, a male and a female ambassador loan items, Player Career Personality Points, and a 5-star coach for the manager mode. The Ultimate Edition comes with all the above bonuses, alongside seven days of early access, 4,600 FIFA Points, a UCL Ultimate Team Hero, and a Team of the Week 1 player.

EA Sports FC 24 Standard Edition starts at Rs. 3,499 on Steam and Epic Games Store for PC, and Rs. 4,499 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. FC24 Ultimate Edition is priced at Rs. 5,199 on Steam and Epic Games, and Rs. 6,499 on the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store. You can save 10 percent with EA Play on both editions on consoles.

EA Sports FC 24 system requirements

EA Sports FC 24 minimum PC requirements

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Graphics (GPU): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti (4GB) or AMD Radeon RX 570 (4GB)
  • Storage: 100GB

EA Sports FC 24 recommended PC requirements

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
  • RAM: 12GB
  • Graphics (GPU): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
  • Storage: 100GB

EA Sports FC 24 is out September 29 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and the Nintendo Switch. Pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition grants you seven-day early access from September 22.

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NBA 2K24 Will Include Cross-Play for the First Time, Coming September 8

NBA 2K24 is getting cross-play across the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions. This marks the first time in the franchise’s 25-year-long run that the feature is being added to the revered basketball sim, allowing players on different platforms to play with one another. The PC version, however, will not only be left out of that feature but won’t include ProPlay, the new animation system that “directly translates NBA footage into NBA 2K24 gameplay.” The title will feature Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant on the cover, who tragically passed away in 2020, alongside a ‘Mamba Moments’ mode that lets you relive some of his biggest moments in-game. NBA 2K24 is out September 8 on all major platforms.

“Embody one of the greatest basketball players of all time in Mamba Moments mode, recreating several of Kobe Bryant’s most dominant and captivating performances,” the website reads. Similar to the ‘Jordan Challenge’ from NBA 2K23, the mode will track the legendary shooting guard’s 20-year-long stint in the NBA while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the ProPlay feature is poised to translate real-world NBA footage into the game engine, for which developer Visual Concepts has promised more details in the future.

While it’s supposed to show the generational leap in authentic-looking gameplay, it’s weird to see PC being left out, when it’s obvious that the platform supports the ProPlay feature. The trend has been consistent since the new-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S/X consoles came out, resulting in PC players receiving last-gen versions of the game. EA Sports’ NFL Madden used to be in the same boat until last year, but this year, even the PC community is getting its entire wealth of features. In addition to ProPlay, NBA 2K24 PC players will only get to play the Neighborhood portion of its My Career mode — and no cross-play functionality, as mentioned before.

Several familiar game modes return, including the MyTeam mode — NBA 2K’s version of Ultimate Team — where you assemble a dream team via pack openings and online player card transfers and compete in various competitions. Or, you can head over to MyNBA to put on the manager’s cap and lead a team to victory in offline-based game modes. Victor Wembanyama is all set to make his Summer League debut with the San Antonio Spurs, and riding on the hype train, 2K is running a promotion that grants access to the seven-foot-tall prospect for your MyTeam lineup. It will be available to those who pre-order NBA 2K24’s 25th Anniversary Edition between July 7–14. It’s a 90-rated card and comes with a Wembanyama jersey for MyPlayer (character creation) and a Ruby Devin Booker Card.

NBA 2K24 will ship in three editions, starting with the standard Kobe Bryant Edition, which is priced at Rs. 3,999/ $59.99 on PC, and Rs. 4,399/ $59.99 on PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. Meanwhile, the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions cost Rs. 4,999/ $69.99.

Up next is the Black Mamba Edition, which adds some virtual currency and a long list of digital collectibles including a Kobe Bryant Saphire card and his shirts for My Player. This costs Rs. 5,599 (PC) and Rs. 7,499/ $99.99, across the remaining aforementioned platforms. And finally, the 25th Anniversary Edition (only available until September 10) compiles everything from the Black Mamba Edition — in-game collectibles and boosts — alongside a 12-month subscription to NBA League Pass. This is listed at Rs. 8,500 on PC, while the PlayStation and Xbox versions cost Rs. 9,800/ $150.

NBA 2K24 is out September 8, across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch.

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Diablo IV Season 1 Release Date Set for July 20: Malignant Quest Line, Broken Builds, More

Diablo IV’s much-awaited season 1 update will release July 20, nearly a month-and-a-half since the game debuted to rave reviews. Dubbed ‘Season of the Malignant,’ the update was shown off during a developer live stream, held early Friday, detailing new quests, items, and further focus on its battle pass. As the title suggests, the upcoming season introduces a brand-new questline where the realm of Sanctuary is slowly getting corrupted by a plague, turning all living things into Malignant Monsters with new powers. The chapter is set after Diablo 4’s main campaign where you bested Lilith, Daughter of Hatred, to rid Sanctuary of evil, and serves as a side story within the open world. The season starts at 10:30pm IST/ 10am PT.

As a festering curse widens its reach across Diablo IV’s Sanctuary, the player will be summoned back to Kyovashad at level 1 to meet a new character Cormand, a former priest from the Cathedral of Light, who assigns us the new task of ripping the infected hearts out the Malignant creatures and using them to raise our power. Elite monsters you find in the world have a chance of spawning as a Malignant version, who upon defeat, drops an exposed Malignant Heart. You can interact with this item to start a ritual that spawns an even more powerful version of the elite enemy, surrounded by a group of corrupted mobs. Once you kill that — yeah, it’s double the work — you earn a Caged Heart, which essentially functions like a gem that can be slotted into rings or amulets to tremendously boost your power. It’s a way for you to create “stupid, new broken builds” that the developers hope are rightfully balanced.

Diablo IV Review

During Diablo IV’s season 1, all ring and amulet drops will come with coloured sockets — red, blue, or yellow — that will only accept similarly coloured hearts’ powers. You cannot pair a red heart in a blue socket, as the game directs players to look for specific colours of items. Maybe if you’re lucky enough on your hunt, you will uncover a mysterious fourth colour of heart, which can be socketed onto any jewellery. There are a total of 32 Malignant Heart powers to collect, albeit you will run into even stronger versions of those as you keep playing the game. Any old, now useless hearts can then be broken down into crafting material that can be used to create Invokers. These can be used once you finish the Diablo IV season 1 campaign, at a Malignant Tunnel, where you can hunt for guaranteed hearts. Remember: Malignant Hearts are quite rare when looking for in the overworld.

The season 1 journey will be spread across seven chapters, each with its own set of objectives and rewards, by way of new items and Favor. The latter is crucial to progressing Diablo 4’s battle pass by helping you unlock rewards — the more Favor you earn, the more tiers you unlock. It is also worth mentioning that there are two kinds of battle passes here — a free tier where everyone can earn in-game boosts and a paid Premium Tier, where the rewards are all cosmetics. Upon launch, Diablo IV merely featured an in-game shop that simply contained skins, with the game never luring you to buy any of them. Hopefully, the trend continues as Blizzard Entertainment focuses on expanding the game in the years to come. The studio already has two expansions in active development.

Diablo IV is out on PC (via Battle.net), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

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