Ahead of it’s upcoming October 12th release date, the latest Call of Duty game has dropped a new trailer. At this stage most of the game is a known quantity, especially after the multiplayer and blackout mode beta. All the Black Ops staples are present and accounted for, including plenty of gadgets, a big multiplayer emphasis and a zombie mode.
The Good and the Bad
Hype around the Blackout PUBG clone battle royal mode is very high, especially from the PC gamer crowd with many online stating it’s the only reason they’ll be getting the game. It’s not all roses though, there is some controversy around the server performance, especially in the early game when there is potentially up to 88 players on the map. The server tick rate (the rate at which the server sends and receives updates) starts at just 10Hz before jumping to 20Hz once a few players have died and there is less action to track.
To compare this against a faster paced competitive shooter, CS:GO has a variable tick rate with the pro’s playing between 64 and 128hz. (that means 64-128 server updates per second)
So lets cross our fingers and toes that the launch goes smoothly and there is plenty of servers on day one to keep up with what will undoubtedly be a tremendous amount of players trying to get in to a blackout match.
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Upcoming Game Releases
Call of Duty isn’t your cup of tea? There is plenty of other big releases right around the corner. We’re sure any gamer can find something in the list below to get excited for.
With the release of Battlefield V and Call of Duty Black Ops 4 inching ever closer, it’s time to take a closer look at this year’s hook. Video games, much like pop music, is a hit driven industry. Wildly popular trends start with a single smash hit then a mad rush to try and improve upon the winning formula. There was an era in which it felt every second game had some sort of Zombies in it. Shortly before that an era of WW2 shooters and most recently, it’s battle royale.
With two blockbuster shooters due to land soon, Black Ops 4 and Battlefield V are all aboard the PUGB train. Love it or hate it, with battle royale being a big part of both upcoming games, lets see how they compare.
What is Battle Royale Exactly?
The term was initially made popular by a film of the same name from the year 2000. 9th graders were left on a deserted island with nothing more than a map, food and various weapons. Of course the last one left standing could leave the island, but break the rules and your explosive collar goes BOOM.
Sound familiar? Hunger Games? Running Man? The Condemned? Well it wasn’t a new concept. Films and books had covered it before in some form or fashion but it was this time the name stuck.
Strip out the food and explosive collars, replace 9th graders with a blend of bland random characters and what do you get? Well, the biggest game of the last year, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (aka PUBG).
So in a nut-shell, Battle Royale in a game is just some form of last man standing survival. Typically with some form of ever shrinking map to keep up the intensity.
Blackout Vs Firestorm
Blackout is what the Call of Duty team are calling their PUBG copy while Battlefield is calling theirs Firestorm. While the two share a lot with their formula, there’s also a lot to split them. Lets take a look at some of the key differences;
The Setting
Blackout is set in a near future Black Ops universe with (yep, you guessed it!) AI controlled zombies. On the other hand Firestorm is of course set during WW2. The name comes from the ring of fire slowly creeping in from the edges of the map.
Player Count
Firestorm is currently set to feature 16 teams of 4 players each to reach a total of up to 64 players. Blackout is launching at 80 and developers haven’t ruled out adjusting that number up or down.
The Release Date
Blackout is set to hit October 12th with a beta going live on the 14th of September. Meanwhile Firestorm’s beta kicked off today and runs through to the 11th with the full game set for November 20th.
The Hardware Requirements
At this stage we only know the BETA hardware requirements and they are of course subject to change before release.
Graphics card : Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB or better
Available Disk Space : 50GB
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Recommended Requirements
OS: Windows 10 64 Bit
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k / i5 8500 or Better
RAM: 12GB RAM
HDD: 25GB HD space
Video: GTX 1060 6GB or better
Keep in mind these ‘Recommended‘ settings are typically to allow for medium graphics presets at 1080p, don’t expect set the game to ultra and rock it at 4K if you only meet the requirements above.
While we don’t have any proper benchmark results of the final game yet, we would suspect at max graphics presets you will need a pretty beefy GPU to keep up. Not to mention Battlefield’s ray tracing implementation exclusive to the new range of RTX GPUs due at the of the month.
Is your gaming PC ready?
In the meantime, if you’re thinking your old gaming rig might need an upgrade to get the most of out either of these gorgeous games, you know what to do. Head on over to our custom gaming PC store page and configure your next dream gaming PC today. Build, tested & delivered to your door so your ready to join the fight on release day.
Of course as always, you know for a fact that the PC version of the game will be the definitive. With the best graphics and mouse / keyboard controls the old consoles will be a far cry from the PC versions glory. There are plenty more details yet to be released so stayed tuned for updates if you’re at all interested in either of these two games.
It’s quickly becoming one of the most anticipated PC games on the horizon. Cyberpunk 2077 is CD Projekt RED’s ‘Blade Runner’ style sci-fi RPG taking the internet by storm. The Polish developers behind the Witcher have shifted gears to sci-fi and it looks amazing. Think Dues Ex in a gorgeous new engine and on the scale of the Witcher 3.
Announced back in 2013, the game is finally edging closer to a firm release date. It’s unlikely to be this year but with a bit of luck we’ll get our hands on it in the first half of 2019. In a recent interview the team behind the game proudly announced the it was playable from start to finish and they are just working on the final assets, testing and optimization.
Just a couple of days ago, the official YouTube channel for the game uploaded a whooping 48 minutes of game play. Showing of a lot of the core mechanics and giving you an idea of the overall look and feel of the final product this video does not disappoint, even this early before release.
Just a quick warning before clicking play! This is definitely an adult themed game from start to finish, and we don’t mean just the violence. View discretion is advised.
Cyberpunk 2077 Game Play Reveal.
In just a matter of 48 hours this VERY long game play video has racked up almost 7 million views. That’s amazing, doubly so when you check the re-actions online. Even the notoriously vile ‘YouTube comments’ are extremely positive.
Battlefield V is right around the corner and everyone is talking about this single player RPG without a release date. We’re also happy to report the game’s lead development platform is the PC #pcmasterrate. So of course as usual the PC edition will be the definitive version of the game!
Do you think your gaming rig is up to the challenge of running Cyberpunk 2077? We will have to wait until closer to launch before we see the official hardware requirements. However judging from the video above and previous versions of the game engine (Witcher 3) we can take a guess. It’s fair to say if you want to crank up the graphics settings, this will be a game to truly put your gaming PC to the test.
So if you’re gaming PC is a little behind the times but you don’t want to miss out of Cyberpunk 2077 in all it’s glory, maybe it’s time to start thinking about a upgrade. Don’t worry, you have plenty of time. Just keep an eye out for the release announcement and head on over to our custom gaming PC builder.
Battle Royale games have been all the rage since PUBG burst on to the scene and took the PC gamer world by storm. Yes there as a lot of similar open world survival games but the addition of an ever shrinking map and no respawns really set it apart.
Now there is a ton of copy cat’s, most notably Fortnite, the up coming Call of Duty Black Ops game and even possibility a Battlefield V game mode. Any why not right? It’s hugely popular, undeniably fun and every game is going to deviate slightly to try and deliver a slightly new experience.
Well flying under the radar of big up coming game releases, the developers of Dying Light have been working on a new free to play addition to the genre coming out in just under a month from today! The best part is, it’s not your typical Battle Royal clone.
So what is it exactly?
At the start of the round you get dropped off by a helicopter to random point on the map and that’s almost where the similarities end.
Instead of an ever shrinking playable area and only other players on the prowl, bad blood pits you against hordes or Zombies as well and makes you scavenge the map to collect samples from hives. For every sample they collect they level up and get bonus attributes like health, speed and damage.
Once any player reaches the top level, they can call in an escape chopper. Of course in doing so you alert every player still alive to the chopper’s landing position and the round culminates in a mad dash to the chopper to escape where the last player left standing in the pickup zone after it arrives wins.
Sounds like fun right? But wait, there’s more. The game is running in the same gorgeous game engine as the previous Dying light games with a huge array of different Zombie types and weapons. Just as with the previous games in the series, there is a big focus on melee weapons and a very well polished fluid parkour system allowing the player to traverse the map quickly and efficiently ‘mirror’s edge’ style.
Weapons include grenades, molotovs, bow and arrows plus a host of blunt and bladed melee weapons, all with different attack speeds and damage ratings.
Checkout this 12 minute play through with Ian from Eurogamer at this weeks GamesCom event in Germany.
The Take Away
Free to Play
Stand alone, early access coming to Steam in September
12 Player PVP + PVE (Zombies)
With so many big new releases creeping up right around the corner, is it time you retired your old rig and got yourself a new one? Checkout our 100% custom gaming PCs at our store page over at www.evatech.com.au
With a PC release date of November 13th creeping up fast, the team at IO Interactive have released a new trailer for latest Hitman game titled ‘How to Hitman, part 1’. With a name like that, we can expect a few more.
Boasting a bigger better larger scale version of the previous Hitman game, fans of the genre will very familiar with the word shown off in the latest video, with the level on display looking like a Formula 1 race track where a driver is your target.
Scale a drainage pipe to slap a guy in the face with a fish after kicking his buddy off the roof? Yep, Agent 47 is back.
If you missed the previous Hitman game from 2016 you can now play 2 full story mode missions for FREE on Steam before you decide if you want to buy the whole thing or just cherry pick episode packs for $6.99 each to get your fill while you wait for Hitman 2.
While we expect the game to be running in an upgraded and tweaked version of the original engine, the increase in scale suggests an increase in the hardware requirements you’ll need to keep a smooth frame rate up in large crowds. If your gaming rig is getting a little old and could use an upgrade checkout our custom gaming PC range at our store pay today and get one delivered before it’s too late!
![48 Minutes of Cyberpunk 2077 PC Gameplay [NSFW]](https://evatech.com.au/news/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cyberpunk-2077-screenshots-3.jpg)
