RDO: Hunt Two Legendary Moose, Claim Login Bonuses, and More

This week in Red Dead Online, stalk the Legendary Snowflake Moose and Knight Moose, claim special login bonuses, and more.

Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition – The Final Preview

Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition rounds out the tune-ups and modernizing the legendary RTS trilogy has been treated to over the course of the last couple years. And like the two Definitive Editions before it, the focus seems to be on preserving the original experience as faithfully as possible. There is a smattering of fresh content, like the timed tutorial “Art of War” challenges and some new historical battles. But for the most part, it’s the Age of Empires 3 you remember, except prettier and a bit more informed about the era it portrays. Some of the biggest changes you’ll notice if you played the original concern the two North American nations originally added in the Warchiefs expansion. Previously called the Iroquois and the Sioux, they have been given more specific and culturally appropriate names that they would actually use to describe themselves: the Haudenosaunee and the Lakota. A message when you first load up the game lets you know they’ve done away with “inaccurate or stereotypical depictions” and “created new voice over using native speakers” after consulting living members of these nations. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/28/age-of-empires-3-definitive-edition-adds-new-game-modes-and-makes-adjustments-for-historical-accurate"] I don’t know nearly enough about the languages and cultures being portrayed to judge the differences on a basis of accuracy, but the new lines sound great. And the changes go as far as tweaking unique units and bonuses for each faction, so it’s not purely cosmetic. I’m sure it was a lot of work to make these adjustments and ensure that the factions still feel balanced, so I applaud the effort.

FROM THE ANDES TO THE BALTIC

We also get two completely new factions – one from each side of the Atlantic. The powerful Inca Empire gets highly defensible unique trading posts, swift infantry, and their priestesses can convert enemy units to your side in classic “Wololo!” fashion, an ability that was originally excluded altogether from Age of Empires 3. Their population buildings produce food passively, so you don’t have to worry as much about hunting and agriculture as much the longer a match goes on. And their Bolas Warriors have an attack that can slow down enemy units, making their fleet-footed Chimu Runners even harder for your opponents to deal with. The Swedes are the new European faction, with aggressive Carolean infantry that can deal damage at range or with a death-defying melee charge. They also get highly maneuverable leather cannons and Hakkapelit cavalry to make them the masters of combined arms that they were at the height of their imperial power. They have a housing building called a Torp which can be placed next to any natural resource, and it will harvest that resource automatically without the use of settlers. This makes playing as the Swedes feel like a rugged frontier expedition. They’re also ideal for making use of mercenary contracts, as they get a discount on cost and the amount of time it takes them to spawn. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20095773&captions=true"] I’m a little disappointed that there isn’t much new story content to go around, though all of the campaigns from the original game and its expansions are present and fully remastered with improved graphics and sound. The characters don’t look exactly modern. Even compared to much older RTS games like the original Company of Heroes, this Definitive Edition comes across as still a bit dated. But it’s obviously a huge improvement over the original nonetheless. In particular, the new physics features are a lot of fun to watch. A cannonball plowing through an infantry formation will send the poor sods ragdolling through the air spectacularly. Individual pieces of roofing and crossbeam will break and tumble realistically as you attack walls and other structures. The lighting, reflections, particle effects, and terrain textures stand out, and you can play in full 4K resolution if you have the hardware for it.

MAKE HISTORY

The new historical battles present some fun challenges and a bit of single-player action for those who aren’t already tempted by the skirmish mode or replaying old campaigns. The Algiers 1516 scenario, for instance, requires you to break through a Spanish naval blockade as an optional objective to be able to ship in any reinforcements from your home city. It’s clear that the team put some thought into creating new, interesting challenges using these vintage mechanics. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/14/age-of-empires-4-gameplay-trailer-x019"] The Art of War scenarios feel more like a fancy tutorial than anything else. They’re a great place to start if you haven’t played Age of Empires 3 before or need a reminder of the mechanics. Some focus on running your economy and others on fighting battles. Each has bronze, silver, and gold medals to earn if you really want to condition a specific skill. But it doesn’t really take that long to master them all, so it’s not exactly a feature you’ll be coming back to again and again once you get the basic ideas down.

A NEW AGE

Age of Empires 3 has long been the black sheep of the trilogy, at least in that it never captured the hearts and minds of the RTS faithful as completely as its two predecessors. But it still holds up as an interesting base builder with a huge degree of diversity between its European, Asian, and American factions. A deep, satisfying deck builder system lets you customize the toolkit you set sail and conquer with, providing a long-term incentive to level up your home city and unlock new cards. Sprucing up the graphics and audio caught my attention. The new and revised factions made me want to stay awhile. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Leana Hafer is a contributor to IGN. Talk strategy games and/or history with her on Twitter at @AsaTJ.

The Walking Dead: Onslaught Review

Stepping into the shoes of fan favorite Walking Dead characters like Daryl Dixon, Rick Grimes, Michonne Hawthorne, and Carol Peletier through the magic of VR certainly has its moments. The Walking Dead: Onslaught doesn’t offer nearly as nuanced an experience as its spinoff counterpart Saints & Sinners from earlier this year, but by focusing much more on the action and channeling popular elements of AMC’s TV series, it aims to scratch a different itch altogether. Weirdly, though, a lot of its mechanics don’t feel built for VR, and it never does much to contribute to Walking Dead lore. So it’s just fine if you’re here for a good old-fashioned zombie-themed arcade shooter with a lot of guts and only a few brains.

The developers at Survios don’t waste any time getting the action going. From the very first moment, Onslaught plops you into a rescue mission, hands you a hefty gun, and shows you a nice, big, shambling herd of walkers to shoot at. That’s what Onslaught is all about, and aside from some item collection, it never really moves beyond it. This is disappointing, because the premise is something I’ve wanted to experience for quite a long time as a lapsed The Walking Dead TV series fan, and this scaled-down implementation really does feel like more of a generic zombie game with a little extra walker skin stretched over it. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-walking-dead-onslaught-screenshots&captions=true"]

Onslaught is split into two major modes: a short five-hour story campaign starring Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, and an infinitely replayable Supply Run mode where you grab as much loot as you can while outrunning an impenetrable wall of walkers. In both modes, you spend a large portion of time running up to items and grabbing them, which racks up a score that gradually unlocks new survivors and introduces new side quests, which really only boil down to rote fetch quests. They’re linked together in that progression through the main story is gated by how many survivors you’ve recruited overall, so Supply Run mode is clearly there to serve as a loot treadmill that buffers out the length of the campaign. It does double as a fun way to test out your newest and best weapons, though, so it’s generally the acceptable kind of padding.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20simple%20action%20of%20pushing%20through%20an%20entire%20swarm%20of%20them%20got%20my%20heart%20pumping%20at%20the%20best%20moments."]Of course, the Supply Run mode can be great fun if you just want to run around and slice through a bunch of shambling undead. The key is that Survios has made walkers genuinely fun to kill. You can grab them by the neck and go with the ol’ one-two face stab, or you can shoot them until their limbs fall off. You can also lop off their individual limbs with a katana or a fire axe. Either way, there’s usually a lot of them around you at once, and the simple action of pushing through an entire swarm of them got my heart pumping at the best moments. That said, this is no survival game, and because of that it never really builds up any meaningful tension or dread. While Saints & Sinners makes you worry about your weapons breaking down or ammo running out at the worst possible time, scarcity isn’t a problem in Onslaught. There’s no backpack or physics-based objects to finagle with either, which ironically takes a lot away from the clumsiness-fueled tension that made surviving Saints & Sinners such a joy in VR. In fact, I never came remotely close to getting killed, so I have no idea what happens when you die. The most dangerous position I found myself in was when I stood across a room full of zombies from an important door, and even then I just brainlessly stabbed my way through and went on with my business. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=a143b9a1-4bf4-4525-91a3-9d9894eb2a30"]

In its favor, Onslaught has a nice variety of comfort and movement options that each feel well-paced for VR play. You can walk around like you would in other VR games such as Asgard’s Wrath and Saints & Sinners, or you can go with teleportation or even an arm-swinger mode. There is an offering of convenience here that goes above and beyond, and it’s refreshing to see. The arm-swinger mode, which literally makes you move when you swing your arms, is just as fun and appropriately-placed here as it is in arena games like GORN or Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20entirely%20possible%20to%20clear%20a%20room%20of%20walkers%20by%20hastily%20stabbing%20your%20way%20through%20it."]What’s less fun is the way in which Onslaught attempts to offset its lack of challenge by making your guns feel underpowered. It’s to the point where you can unload several bullets into a walker’s head, only to have them get back up again (if you’re on higher difficulty levels). That’s pretty annoying and doesn’t feel true to the way walkers work on the show. Worse still, the reload process feels archaic and janky: instead of the traditional and satisfying interactivity of manually inserting a magazine and pulling back the slide, you just push a button and watch an animation in which your character does it for you at their own glacial pace. It looks okay, but it really slows down the natural pace of ranged combat we see in most VR shooters. Luckily, the gun “feel” is pretty good; aiming and firing feels right, and each firearm—including the shotgun—packs the punch you’d expect from its real-life equivalent. Weapons are quickly selected and switched out in a radial menu that even slows the action down to a halt while you choose. Partially because of that, melee weapons end up being some of the most powerful and useful in Onslaught. Between reloads, you can rapidly whip out your trusty knife and the toughest walkers go down with a single well-placed thrust to the nasal cavity. Since weapons don’t break and there’s no stamina system, it’s entirely possible to clear a room of walkers by hastily stabbing your way through it. This does feel great for a little while, but it grows repetitive and tiring by the end. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-walking-dead-best-daryl-and-carol-moments&captions=true"]

Collecting items is fundamental to progressing through Onslaught’s campaign, but it doesn’t feel good to do. To pick up an item, you simply point and tap the trigger button to make it disappear into an invisible inventory slot. That’s something that’s expected in a traditional game but really hurts the immersion in VR. It makes Onslaught’s world feel static by comparison to what we’ve come to expect after experiencing games like Saints & Sinners and Half-Life: Alyx. Adding to this disappointment is the fact that the world is flavorless. There are no physics objects or clear inventory management system here, and much of the level design itself feels clunky. Obstacles and corridors are often placed in such a way that it’s unclear how to move through them, and I quickly noticed how many of the same decorations and buildings are reused in each level.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Alexandria%20is%20modeled%20exactly%20as%20it%20appears%20on%20TV%2C%20right%20down%20to%20the%20row%20of%20townhouses%20and%20that%20one%20solar%20panel."]To its credit, it’s great that the items you collect have some interesting uses. You can spend resources on upgrades for Alexandria, which serves as the primary hub town. It’s modeled exactly as it appears on TV, with some good attention to detail, right down to the row of townhouses and that one solar panel. The upgrades that you buy there in the form of structures like the Town Hall and the Forge can generously improve crucial stats like your max health and how much ammo you find, making them well worth the cost. And it’s a nice touch to see the buildings change as you improve them. On top of that, you can invest in upgrading your weapons and making them even more satisfyingly deadly. All of this looks and sounds just fine for a VR game in 2020, but the character performances and writing are mostly lacklustre and stale. Without ruining anything, Onslaught doesn’t seem to have that much to say or add to the The Walking Dead TV universe, and there are plenty of times where the delivery of its inconsequential story feels uninspired. The best writing easily goes to Eugene, played by the show’s Josh McDermitt. His awkward one-liners are as consistently well-delivered as fans will expect from him.

Pokemon Home Link to Pokemon Go Will Arrive This Year

The Pokemon Company has announced that a link between Pokemon Go and Pokemon Home will be set up "before the end of 2020". This will allow the transfer of Pokemon between the mobile Pokemon Go app and the Pokemon Sword and Shield Nintendo Switch games. Revealed by Pokemon Company President and CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, the link will enable Pokemon caught in Pokemon Go to "set off on an adventure in the world of Pokemon Sword and Shield by way of Pokemon Home." There's more to the system than just that, too. If you send a Pokemon from Pokemon Go to Pokemon Home, you'll be able to open a Mystery Box in Pokemon Go. Opening the box will cause the mythical Pokemon Meltan to appear on the map within the Pokemon Go app. In addition, you'll also receive a mystery gift in Pokemon Home which contains a special Melmetal capable of Gigantamaxing, for use in Pokemon Sword and Shield. The announcement came as part of an update video about Pokemon Sword and Shield, which also revealed the Crown Tundra DLC release date. This news is breaking... 

Pokemon Sword & Shield: Crown Tundra DLC October Release Date Revealed

The Crown Tundra expansion for Pokemon Sword & Shield will be released on October 22. The Crown Tundra is a snowy new open area being added to the world of Sword & Shield, adding new characters, Pokemon and quests. You'll be able to explore Pokemon Dens, and meet every legendary Pokemon in the series so far – as well as a brand new mythical Pokemon, and new forms of the original legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/29/pokemon-sword-and-shield-crown-tundra-expansion-pass-trailer"] Dynamax Adventures will let you join 3 other trainers to explore caves and take on battles against Dynamax Pokemon. The brief clips we've seen point to choices of route that take you past different Pokemon types. The Galarian Star Tournament will also be added to the game, an endgame event allowing you to battle alongside and against trainers from throughout Sword and Shield. The tournament should offer new story and character elements that weren't available in the main game. On November 6, you'll also be able to buy bundled versions of Pokemon Sword and Shield, alongside their respective expansion passes. No price was given for the bundled version. To celebrate the Crown Tundra announcement, you'll also be able to catch eight versions of Ash's Pikachu, wearing a variety of different caps – each unlocked by passwords that are entered in-game. Password will be available in "various places", but the first – for Pikachu wearing Ash Ketchum's original cap – is P1KACHUGET. Developing...

Call of Duty Modern Warfare & Warzone: Full Season 6 Details Revealed

Season 6 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has arrived, bringing with it a new fast-travel system for Warzone as well as new operators, cosmetics, multiplayer maps and modes and so much more. You can check out the full Season 6 patch notes over on the Call of Duty blog, but we've also pinned down all of the key changes below. The update is 19.3 GB on PS4, 22.66 GB on Xbox One and 57 GB / 25.5 GB on PC depending on whether you own Modern Warfare or just Warzone. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=call-of-duty-warzone-season-6-images&captions=true"]

Warzone Season 6 - Map Changes

• Subway Fast Travel: A metro has been added to Verdansk, described as a "dynamic fast travel system" that allows players to jump between existing points of interest. A number of Metro stations have been placed in the map which squads can investigate to find items and catch trains to move around the map. Safety standards dictate that the cars will not transport players to stations outside of the safe zone, and they also won't move if there is conflict on board. Activision notes that these new underground areas are "prime spots for ambushes."

Warzone Season 6 - New Mode, Weapons and War Tracks

• Armored Royale Mode: This new Warzone game mode outfits every team with a turret-toting armoured cargo truck. If the truck is destroyed, the team cannot respawn, and the last team standing wins, truck or no truck.
• New Weapon Pickups: The supply crate weapon rotation has once again been changed. This time around players will see "a combination of familiar armaments and new blueprints," including six Common, 10 Uncommon, 13 Rare, 18 Epic and 24 Legendary variants to discover.
• Licensed War Tracks: New licensed War Tracks can be picked up as free tiers in the new battle pass, including Jack Harlow's "WHATS POPPIN" and "Grindin" by Clipse.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/23/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-warzone-season-six-cinematic-trailer"]

Multiplayer Season 6 - New Maps

• Station (Gunfight Map): Abandoned military cargo trains litter this "rural Kastovia train station" which players can clamber on top of and hide between, bringing new verticality to Gunfight.
• Broadcast (6v6 Map): Based on the TV station in the 'Charlie Don't Surf' mission from 2007's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, this new map caters to CQB play with its many tight corridors.
• Tank Factory (6v6 and 10v10 Map): This new map will change depending on the size of the lobby, with two large buildings, a tank factory and a warehouse, available for players to battle through.
• Verdansk Riverside (Ground War Map): This suburb near the frozen Gora River has been brought to Modern Warfare multiplayer for the first time.

Multiplayer Season 6 - New Modes and Challenges

• Killstreak Confirmed Mode: This spin on the popular Kill Confirmed mode makes it so that you can earn killstreaks by collecting dog tags.
• Gun Game TDM Mode: This new mode is a Team Deathmatch spin on Gun Game, where your weapon cycles after every kill, as two teams battle to reach the target score.
• Headquarters Firefight Mode: This spin on Headquarters makes it so enemy respawns are disabled when Headquarters are captured, doling out points for holding the objective.
• Hardpoint Hills and Kills Mode: Similarly, this spin on Hardpoint provides team score to players who hold objectives, as well as wiping out enemies.
• Trials and Officer Challenge Ribbons: Nine trials have been added with Season Six, including a Juggernaut Trial, Quad/ Helicopter Races and Free Roam side missions. New Officer Challenge ribbons have also been brought to the game to help players rank up.

Season 6 Battle Pass

• Instant Unlocks: Upon purchase of the new Battle Pass you'll get access to the Farah Operator, a character from Modern Warfare's campaign. You'll also get an XP Boost, the "Poloski" skin for Minotaur and the "Gilded Arm" assault rifle blueprint.
• New Weapons: Players will unlock the bolt-action SP-R208 marksman rifle at Tier 15, and the 9x39 suppressed AS-VAL assault rifle at Tier 31.
• New Unlocks: Other unlocks in the Battle Pass include skins for Gaz, Domino and Bale, a screwdrivers Combat Knife blueprint and numerous vehicle skins. There's also Edward, a pet bat finishing move that explodes the enemy's head.
• Tier 100 Unlocks: At Tier 100 you'll unlock the Nikolai Operator, a VSS rifle blueprint, a Halloween-themed vehicle skin and a Season 6 emblem.

Season 6 Zombie Bundle

• Undead Forces: A new store bundle has also been brought to the game, including a Hellhound finishing move, a Syd skin and a mini zombie charm.

You can see a roadmap for further Season 6 updates below: [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Xbox Series X: 1TB SSD Offers 802GB of Usable Storage Space

Xbox Series X has 802GB of usable storage space in its in-built 1TB SSD, reserving almost 200GB for the operating system and essential system files. In IGN's hands-on preview of Xbox Series X, we showed off the storage space of a base Xbox Series X unit with no apps or games installed, showing the 802GB limit. This is actually an improvement on Xbox One X, which allowed for 780.9GB from its 1TB hard drive. You can check out the storage management screen in the video below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/28/xbox-series-x-hands-on-load-times-quick-resume-and-compatibility"] Game sizes are likely to be a major talking point in the coming generation, with storage costs creeping upwards throughout the lifespan of Xbox One and PS4, particularly with the advent of 4K resolutions. AAA games now require tens, and occasionally hundreds, of gigabytes of storage space – and with the increased quality of Series X games, it's a trend likely to continue. Perhaps the most notable large game right now is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. After today's Season 6 update, the full game install takes up around 192 GB on Xbox One – meaning you're looking at almost a quarter of the available SSD space take up by a single game. That said, we can't fully account for how that will change on Series X, with Xbox Velocity Architecture apparently set to reduce game sizes. Xbox Series S games will also apparently come in around 30% smaller than on Xbox Series X, although the lower powered console only has a 512GB SSD. Using the (expensive) Seagate 1TB expansion drive adds 920GB of usable space to the Series X, and USB 3.1 external hard drives can also be used to store games – but the latter option means stored games won't receive the benefits of the Xbox Velocity Architecture, which should improve load times and performance. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Xbox Series X retails at $499 USD / £449 / $749 AUD, while Xbox Series S comes in at $299 USD / £249.99 / $499 AUD. Both Xbox Series consoles will be released on November 10. Despite Xbox preorders selling out amid widespread retailer issues, Microsoft says more Xbox Series X and S units will be available when the console launches on November 10, following "record-breaking demand". [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.