Put this one in your scope

In today's contest you can win a Switch copy of Sniper Elite 4!

Switches be portin'! Or ports be Switchin'! One of those two. What I'm trying to say is the Switch gets a lot of cool ports, including today's faire: Sniper Elite 4. So, you know what that means: Contest time! Win yourself a copy of this portable ??port and snipe those smelly Nazis from the toilet.

It's still the 1940s, and there's still plenty of Nazis to be sniped. The acclaimed tactical shooting franchise takes the wa??r to Ital??y, where the Axis powers are trying to conduct their wartime strategy. Sucks for them -- you're an elite sniper, and you're probably gonna kill most of them. Snipe your way through Italia and give the Allies the boost they need to knock out ol' shitstache, himself.

• An expansive campaign set in WW2 Italy
• Genre-defining sniping featuring advanced ballistics and boundless strategy
• Trademark X-Ray kill cams, including melee and explosive takedowns
• Iconic WW2 weaponry; sniper rifles, pistols, SMGs, traps, grenades and more
• Upgrade and customize your skills and weaponry as you progress
• Tactical traversal mechanics; climb, hang, shimmy and leap across maps
• Co-op and multiplayer modes across local wireless and online play

Shoot Nazis on the toilet. Need I say more?

To enter to win, comment be??low telling us your favorite Switch game to play on the john. If you ??want to pretend you've never done that, you can substitute for favorite Switch game to play while not in front of your TV. But let's be honest, folks -- we've all marked our consoles. Buyer beware to anyone who buys one used!

We have five Switch NA copies to give away; we'll draw winners next Monday. Please comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file -- new users can sign up here. Be sure to check out Nintendo Enthusiast to score on another opportunity to win!

Sniper Elite 4 is available now via the eShop.

The post Contest: Win Sniper Elite 4 for Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Alter history even more than Marty McFly

The main appeal of historical grand strategy games is to answer those gnawing questions that keep history buffs awake at night. What if the Germans had continued their full march towards Stalingrad instead of splitting off for Leningrad in an attempt?? for a moral victory? What if France and England, disregarding all human emotion enforced the Treaty of Versailles in the 1930s instead of following a policy of ??appeasement?

Hearts of Iron IV developers Paradox Development Studio understand these niche nerd desires and continue to develop DLC to help my people get some sleep at night. Their latest DLC, titled Battle for the Bosporus will focus its eye on the Aegean and Black sea powers of Turkey, Greece????, and Bulgaria.

With a focus tree for each of the three powers, Battle for the Bosporus will give you the choice of following history, or carving your own path. Along with new focus trees, there will be new voic??e-overs for the three powers, alo??ng with new unit art for the Balkan and Turkish armies.

Knowing full well that the Battle for the Bosporus is a smaller DLC, Paradox has priced it at $9.99/£7.19/€9.99 with plans for it to be released on October 15. As is the case with these smaller packs, there are no plans for any new features to be brought to the base game, so if you want to br??ing back the Ottoman Empire then you're going to have to pay up!

The post Newest Hearts of Iron 4 DLC f?ocuses on th?e Black and Aegean sea appeared first on Destructoid.

A D-Day prequel

Gearbox has made a lot of games over the last two decades, many of them divisive in the reactions they receive. Perhaps the most unassailable are the Brothers in Arms titles, a series with a realistic approach to telling stories from World War II. While there's an audience for a new Brothers in Arms video game, it seems as though its next stories will be told in a differen???t format.

In an exclusive reveal from The Hollywood Reporter, Gearbox and showrunner Scott Rosenbaum are teaming up to produce a Brothers in Arms television adaption. The project is in early days, as there's not yet a director or network s?igned on. It's said that producers are hoping t?o land an "ambitious broadcast partner that shares their big ideas for the show."

The initial story arc for Brothers in Arms will focus on a WWII narrative that isn't necessarily well-known. It'll tell the story of an operation called "Exercise Tiger," which was a ?rehearsal for the impending Normandy invasion. Exercise Tiger took place on the beaches of England, and went catastrophically wrong. Between confusion that led to friendly fire incidents and an ambush from Nazi Germany, nearly 800 American troops were killed. Exercise Tiger was initially kept classified so as to not tip off Axis forces about Normandy plans.

It seems as though the concept for a Brothers in Arms TV series comes directly from Gearbox. Rosenbaum says "Almost all the World War II shows that crossed my desk very much felt like I’d seen them before. When Gearbox came to me and I learned about Exercise Tiger and a series about all the classified elements of the war, it became very exciting to me." Military dramas that highlight the ca??maraderie forged by war certainly isn't a concept that's unique to Brothers in Arms, but the br?anding makes more sense if ??Gearbox was the one to pitch the idea.

'B??rothers in Arms' TV Adaption in the ??Works (Exclusive) [The Hollywood Reporter]

The post Gearbox is turning Broth?ers in Arms into a TV show appeared first on Destructoid.

Quit Stalin, and start Patton your deck!

Today's contest features premium unlocks for WWII card game KARDS.

I fought in the Great War, ya know. I me?an, it was in about 800,000 different video games and not real life, ?but it still counts. While they definitely shot each other in dubya dubya too, they also played a lot of cards. See where this is going?

KARDS is a WWII-i??nspired card game that just added a new content drop to its Steam Early Access period. As far as WWII games go that's super unique, isn't it?! We've got some keys to unlock everything it currently has to offer, so read on to find out how to win!

Read some info about the g??ame to get all hot and bothe??red about it, why don't ya?

Independent game developer 1939 Games today revealed that K??ARDS "Allegiance," the enormous first expansion for its WWII game, will drop o?nto PC Early Access on December 10 on Steam. This free update introduces 150 additional cards as well as two new ally nations, France and Italy. Ally nations are specifically designed to be played alongside one of the game's five existing nations to enhance their offensive and defensive capabilities. Offering players a wealth of strategic possibilities, the KARDS Allegiance expansion will be an automatic update for all KARDS players on launch day.

The existing nations also get some juicy new toys to play with including 22 extra cards for each. These cards bolster existing strategies as well as take them in fresh directions. New ground is being broken with the addition of mechanics such ?as units that cannot be targeted by enemy orders and orders that have two different effects to choose from when played.

KARDS: Allegiance Key Features

• 150 new cards to change the tide of battle, including 20 Elite cards
• Two ally nations, France and Italy, each with unique play styles
• Authentic and period-appropriate card keeps the wartime feel
• 45 percent off discount for players who pre-order the 50-pack Allegiance Bundle

Cards confuse me,?? which is why I'?m ranked dead last internationally in Solitaire.

In today's contest, we're giving ??away bundles unlocking the full game and all its current decks available in the purchase area of the store. That'll save you the time and money of grinding for cards and backgrounds, because we're nice like that.

To enter to win. use the widget below to leave your name an?d email address. You can click around in there for additional ways to earn entries, so have some fun!

We have three PC keys to give away; ??winners will be drawn Monday, December 16.

KARDS is free to play and available now on Steam. Hit up PC Invasion for more chances to score a key.

Dtoid Conte??st: Unlock your full arsenal?? in WWII-themed card game KARDS

The post Contest: Unlock yo??ur full arsenal in WWII-themed card game KARDS appeared first on Destructoid.

Viva La Résistance

While air strikes and naval embargoes are the bread that hold a war effort together, wars are won with boots on the ground. But what do you do when the only boots allowed in an area are that of your enemy? That is where spies and resistance movements step up to the plate. Soon, fans of the World War II simulator Hearts of Iron IV will be ab??le to employ a spy network of their own.

The new expansion La Résistance will bring a hefty amount of specialized mechanics and content to Hearts of Iron IV. Along with an expanded focus tree for France and both Nationalist and Republican Spain, there will be a more in-depth campaign for the Spanish civil war that threatens to spill over into neighboring states. Mechanics wise, the expansion will bring in spies that help you uncover your ?enemies secrets, as well as the ability to collaborate with resistance networks. The most interesting new mechanic for me is the ability to crack enem??y codes in battle, giving you a tactical boost on the battlefield.

No date or price has been announced for La Résistance but sometime Q2 2020 would be my best guess as of now. Hearts of Iron IV is available now for PC.

The post New Hearts of Iron 4 expansion will bring spies and espion?age to the war effort appeared first on Destructoid.

Coming next year

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany invading Poland in "retaliation" for numerous false flag attacks - perpetrated by the?? Nazis against themselves - then blamed on Poland. After years of unchecked aggression, blatant disregard for the Treaty of Versailles, and anti-Semitic laws and rhetoric, Hitler plunged the western world into war. Eventua?lly, the Soviet Union joined the assault on Poland who, unable to defend against two militaristic superpowers, capitulated in a little over a month.

The Invasion of Poland, while the straw that broke the camel's back, is a period of World War II that is rarely explored in fiction, let alone gaming. Polish development team MS Games are looking to rectify that fact by setting their game Land of War: The Beginning in Poland during t?he month-long ill-fated ??defense.

In the game, players wil?l take on the role of Private Piotr Kowalski, who starts off at the Battle of Mokra, one of the rare victories for the Polish. Through the campaign you will follow Private Kowalski from battle to battle facing off against snipers and the dreaded Panzer tanks, possibly changing the course of history.

As much as it would be amazing to have a revisionist history game where Nazi punks are told to f--k off, I do hope that historical accuracy is left intact. We don't get many depress??ing games, let alone shooters, and to show the tragedy and sacrifice of the Polish people and military could be an amazing memorial to those that were lost.

Land of War: The Beginning is expected to release sometime in 2020 for PC via Steam. There is?? also the possibility of ports for other platforms in the future??.

The post Land of War: The B?eginning will be the first shooter to focus on the defense of Poland in World War II appeared first on Destructoid.

Name was not intended to be a political statement

DICE recently released a premium avatar for Battlefield V in the form of German officer Wilhelm Franke. A ruthless allied killing machine, Franke had the unfortunate coincidence of being named after a real-life figure from history. During World War II, Wilhelm Franke was a resistance fighter that fought against the Nazi regime and was eventually arrested by the Gestapo in 1944. That is the complete opposite of BFV's avatar an??d has rightfully stirred up some controversy from fans.

Speaking to Vice, EA offered a statement saying, "We've become aware that one of the names of our Elites, Wilhelm Franke??, shares the name of a real-life resistance member in Germany during the Second World War. We want to apologize as we certainly didn't mean any disrespect to him. We are in the process now of changing t??he name."

They continued, claiming, "The aforementioned Elite, Wilhelm Franke, whose name we're changing is not a Nazi, but a German soldier similar to ones we already have in the game. In Battlefield V, we're not making ?any political statements in relation to the real-life ??events of WWII and there are no swastikas in the game." This is despite the fact that the change was sparked by political connotations and that World War II was one of the world's fiercest political conflicts.

I honestly have no problem with the change and I do believe EA is telling the truth here. ??It seems DICE didn't do its research well enough and happened upon the name of a real figure by coincidenc??e. Still, don't sit there and say a WWII game isn't political. There is no possible way you can say that with a straight face, even if you "removed" Nazis from the experience.

EA Is Changing the Name of a Nazi in 'Battlefield V' That Belonged to a Real-Life Resistance Fighter [Vice]

Wie Battlefield 5 einen Antifaschisten zum Nazi macht: Der seltsame Fall des Wilhelm Frank????e [Archaeogames]

The post EA set to change the name of Battlefield V’s controversial DLC officer appeared first on Destructoid.

A not so disco inferno

In today's episode of Impulse, I'm joined by my good friend Justin Moore to discuss our brief time spent in Battlefield's first crack at the battle royale genre known as Firestorm! After putting in a solid couple of hours this past week, we've come back from it feeling more disinterested?? than burned.

Firestorm certainty isn't bad, hell, it's a solid mode and great addition to Battlefield V -- I just don't think it'll be as hot as the name suggests. This mostly boils down to the fact Firestorm doesn't do much different from other games within the genre and it also handles other things far more poorly (such as matchmaking and the ??terrible looting system).

It's certainly a looker, though, as it's easily the best looking game within battle royale thanks to the Frostbite Engine. Combine this with vehicles, destructible environments, and objectives -- it does play to Battlefield's strengths.

Ultimately, it's still nice to have a game that takes a more grounded approach to the genre outside of PUBG and Call of Duty's Blackout. But, I can't help but feel like this mode would have been much more appreciated at launch and that Apex Legends easily stole the?? show this year when it comes to battle royale games?.

The post Toda??y on Impulse, we give our first impressions on?? Battlefield V Firestorm appeared first on Destructoid.

Take to the not-so-friendly skies

Put on your flying cap and scarf for today's contest: Win a Switch copy of Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight.

As I said in the lead-in, I think every pilot should have a leather cap and long, red scarf. If they don't, I refuse to get on their plane. It's as simple as that. You wouldn't go to a barber shop? if they weren't wearing a pinstriped apron, or receive services from a plumber who wasn't showing the crack of his butt -- so why should you settle for any less from your pilots?

So if you win a Switch copy of Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight, I must insist you prove you own these things to receive your key. Look, I don't make the rules, I ju-- actually, I do make? the rules.

Use your eyes and heart to read this description:

In Warplanes: WW2 ?Dogfight, you take control of over 30 historical airplanes -- from classic fighters to light and heavy bombers. The Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster, II-2 "Shturmovik," La-5FN, Ju-87 "Stuka," and Fw 200 "Condor" are just some of the many beautiful machines you can fly, repaint, customize and upgrade.

Play through varied missions in each of the available campaigns: experience deadly encounters with enemy fighters; protect ground structures from bombers; fight over the s??ea to weaken enemy navy; and pilot bombers to destroy strategic targets. These are only a few examples of a dozen mission types you will exper??ience in the beautiful landscapes of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Pick the best planes and pilots for the job, and fly over the icy Russian tundra or the sunny deserts of Egypt.

Build your base -- construct additi??onal hangars and structures for your pilots and crew. Ensure their safety by building anti-aircraft artillery and barrage balloons. Develop your management ski??lls to cut costs and manage your unit more efficiently, and become the ultimate squadron leader.

Appropriat??e pilot dress is very, very impo?rtant to me.

To enter to win your?? copy, tell us below what profession's outfit is most important to you. Aside of pilots, of course. Lik??e if a doctor doesn't have one of those headband things with the shiny disc on the front, I refuse to let him or her examine my prostate. Look, I don't make the rules, I ju-- oh, yeah, I make these rules, too.

I actually didn't make these rules, though. We have three Switch keys to give out. They're for North American eShop accounts, only. Winners will be drawn on Wednesday, February 27. Don't have an account? Sign up here so you can discuss professional attire with us!

Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight is available now for Nintendo Switch. Head over to Nintendo Enthusiast for more chances to win!

The post Contest: Win Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight for Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Operation Bagration is a go

Last year I was given the opportunity to see a behind-closed-doors demo of Eugen Systems' World War II tactical strategy game Steel Division II. What I saw there left me wa??nting and waiting for?? more. At the time, the only thing close to a release date that I could pry out of them was "2019." Today I can officially begin my countdown clock because Steel Division II launches on April 4.

I have to say, this doesn't have the same gravity as when Steel Division: Normandy '44 launched on June 6, the same day that Operation Overlord, the mission you undertook in-game, launched. There's a silver lining though as we get it earlier than if they waited for Operation Bagration's launch date in late June. The game's release will come with some incentives both for pre-orders as well as returning strategists from Normandy '44.

Taking a page from recent strategy game releases, there are four different tiers of pre-orders for generalissimos to choose from. With prices ranging from $39.99 to $79.99, all pre-orders come with 10 free post-launch DLC packs, exclusive units, as well as access to the beta. For those who want to shell out the extra cash, there are various season passes that give extras catering to both the behind-the-scenes fan and history buff alike. Here's a full breakdown on each package.

What is more exciting to me is the fact that anyone who owns Steel Division: Normandy '44 before launch will be able to deploy select units from the first game in Steel Division II's multiplayer. There will be more than 350 units from four nations that were used in Operatio?n Overlord available for deployment. The best part about this pack is that it's completely free for returning users. Sure, it's completely histo?ry-breaking to see American troops in Soviet territory, but it's bound to create some interesting multiplayer battles.

Steel Division II will be available April 4 for Windows PC.

The post Defend glo??rious motherland and outsmart Nazis when S??teel Division II launches in April appeared first on Destructoid.

50 on 50 battles

Just when you thought World War II shooters were dead and buried, out comes another one. Publisher Team17 has announced that online, massive scale, team-based first-person shooter Hell Let Loose will be hitting early access in early 2019. Being developed by brand new studio Black Matter, the game is set to be a semi-realistic, ultra-gritty take on the last great war? with gigantic 50 on 50 matches.

Players will battle with their teams on 1:1 scale maps utilizing historically accurate firearms, over 20 different vehicles and even be taking orders from a player-control?led commander. Mixed in with the expected first-person gunplay is a tactical map that will allow a single person to issue commands and orders to their team and possibly turn the tides of war in their favor.

The title is currently slated for release on PC only. No firm window has been given for its Steam launch, but you can already check out the Steam store page to stay up to date on news.

Team 17 to publish hundred-player WW2 shooter Hell Let Loose [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The post H??ell Let Loose shows World War II shooters are back en vogue appeared first on Destructoid.

Cloverlord

For the longest time, I didn't think that Overlord would release. Not because it was in production hell or anything like that, but because it was a part of J. J. Abrams Cloverfield universe and those movies can be announced years in advance before eventually releasing and disappointing audiences worldwide. Thankfully, Overlord was taken out of the Cloverfield universe because it was "too different." It was th??en treated as a normal ?movie. It had a normal announcement earlier in the year, had a normal trailer release, and... here we are. 

That's really all of the interesting facts I have about Overlord for you. Now, for your reading pleasure, here are several paragraphs where I proceed to gush over how Overlord rocks HARD. 

Overlord
Director: Julius Avery
Release Date: November 9, 2018
Rated: R

Overlord is a tale of two vastly different genres smashed into one movie. For the first half, we follow a small group of paratroopers in World War II that are tasked with bombing a radio tower so that the Allied forces can invade Normandy and begin the D-Day invasion. The mission goes spectacularly wrong in the first five minutes with nearly all of them dying gruesome deaths, but once the surviving soldiers make it to a small French village under the control of the Nazis, things start to get weird. Villagers are taken in the middle of the night, corpses are stolen by the Nazi??s, and the Nazis seem really eager to burn their own soldiers that come out of their base. So the soldiers then decide to investigate what the hell the Nazis are doing to the villagers while also maintaining their original goal of blowing up the radio to??wer. 

I'm finding it really hard to describe why Overlord is such an awesome movie, not because I can't find the words to describe it, but it's a movie that sells itself on its action and its premise. What are the Nazis up to? Well if they want a thousand year Reich, then they're going to need soldiers that can fight for a thousand years, so we get Nazi zombies! Only the zombies don't show up until the halfway point. For the first half, if I didn't tell you that the movie was leading to Nazi zombies, then you would think that you're watching Hacksaw Ridge, only for it to become Evil Dead 2, and I mean that as the highest of compliments.

From the very beginning, the movie hits you like a ton of bricks. Outside of a brief introduction, you're thrown right into the action without any restraints. People are burned alive, blown up, and shot at like they were fish in a barrel. It's unmistakably a war movie, but slowly it morphs into an ultra-violent gore fest straight out of a 70's B-movie. However, even when it shifts into a grindhouse movie, it still maintains its serious tone. There are never any wink-to-the-camera moments or ironic jokes. Overlord plays it??s premise deadly straight, wh??ich only adds to its charm.

Normally there'd be a disconnect between the two styles. It's hard to go from grounded war movie to "Let's blow up some zombies," but Overlord does it slowly and naturally. We're not just shown Nazi zombies and sud??denly they become the big bad guy. Instead, we see bizarre experimentations done by the Nazis, deliciously grotesque body horror, an introduction to a mysterious serum that our heroes have no idea what it does, and once everyone naturally pieces together what all of these clues mean, then we get to see the zombies in action. And yes, these zombies are actually scary. 

These aren't your Night of the Living Dead slow-moving kind of zombies. They're fast. They're aggressive. They regenerate. Worst of al?l, they're intelligent. Just running into one zombie is enough to terrify our heroes, let alone an entire facility of these monsters. When we finally do get the action soaked second half, it is truly a treat to behold with blood oozing everywhere, bone-chilling screams, and action that only gets better as the movie builds to its climax.

There's not much else to Overlord. There's no grand unifying statement on war besides "Nazis suck!" The characters never get a chance to develop outside of their stereotypes. There's the New Yorker, the young one, their gruff leader, the soldier with a heart of gold, the lady, and the rapist Nazi commander. They're stock roles, but telling a compelling story isn't the point of Overlord. The ma?in goal is to entertai??n with gallons of blood and buckets of bullets, and it does that in spades. 

Sometimes you just want to have fun watching a movie. You don't need an intricate plot or complex characters to have a good time. Sometimes you just need to see a man walk into a room and curb stomp a zombie to death. Sometimes you want to see a zombie get shot at, thrown against a wall, blown up, and impaled and still be able to deliver a scenery-chewing monologue about the glory of?? Nazi immortality. Most importantly, sometimes you wann?a sit back and watch a movie that isn't afraid to have a damn good time.

No, Overlord isn't going to win any Oscars any time soon, but I had a stupid grin on my face the entire time and loved every second of it. This is the kind of dumb, shlocky horror movie that they don't release into theatres anymore. Grab some friends as I did, grab a big tub of popcorn, ?and let the good times roll. 

The post Review: Overlord appeared first on Destructoid.

Planes, trains, and automobiles

[UPDATE 3: We've got more codes! We added 350 to Dtoid and 150 to PC Invasion, so keep claiming!]

[UPDATE 2: We're all out of codes here at Dtoid and over at PCI! Check out Gamnesia -- they've got 70 left as of this update!]

[UPDATE 1: Looks like we're running low on keys on Dtoid! Check out PC Invasion and Gamnesia to see if they have any left!]

Alright folks, listen up -- we've got 500 PC keys to give away for the Naval Battles Closed Beta in War Thunder. Are you one of the millions of players around the world who's already had a taste of War Thunder? Well whether you're just a cadet or a five-star general, you can get in on the closed?? beta going on now through October.

Stand at attention, everyone, a?nd get your key before they're gon??e!

War Thunder is the free-to-play MMO that has attracted over 20 million players worldwide. In War Thunder, aircraft, ground forces and naval ships collaborate in realistic competitive battles. You can choose from over 1,000 vehicles and an extensive variety of combat situations many of which are exclusive. You can find y??ourself blasting your pursuers from a bomber turret, defending your teammates on the ground from an air raid with anti-aircraft guns, shooting down enemy planes with a firestorm from multiple rocket launchers, or trying to sink an enemy warship with a torpedo from a fast attack boat.

In conjunction with the upcoming 1.81 update, The Valkyries, that will add combat helicopters and two new locations, Gaijin Entertainment is doing an exclusive beta for their Naval Battles campaign. Codes will give access to War Thunder's Naval Battles Closed Beta along with the "Full Ahead" decal. Players will be able to start unlocking the ships' research tree, upgrade the ships, and participate in Naval Battles (combined with aviation). Fleet is now available for three nations - USA, Germany and USSR - with about 60 ships in tot?al from torpedo boats to light cruisers. A special horizontal research system will allow players to quickly explore exactly the class of ships that they are most interested in. The CBT of Naval forces is available in special events "Naval battles" (Events and Tournaments tab in th??e game).

To claim your PC beta key, use the widget below. Note that you must have a Gaijin Account, and it must be redeemed through the Gaijin website. You must redeem your key by September 30, 2018 in order to participate. The beta period will end someti??me in October.

War Thunder is available now on PlayStation?? 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windo?ws, macOS, Linux, and Nvidia Shield.

The post Giveaway: We’ve got 500 keys for the War Thunder Naval Beta appeared first on Destructoid.

Live your best Generalissimo life

This week I was able to get a behind the scenes look at the work Eugen Systems has been putting into their upcoming World War II strategy game Steel Division II. From the onset of the demo, when game director Alexis Le Dressay said that they were looking to make the sequel more historically focused, I knew I was in for a treat. What was revealed makes me think Eugen Systems heard every issue I had with the first Steel Division and addressed it perfectly.

The demo (which was hosted by Le Dressay and Pierre?-Yves Navetat, marketing and communications manager for Eugen) mostly focused on the new features that are coming to the game. The core tactical gameplay will stick around, but it's being bolstered and supported by a new dynamic strategic campaign that will help players get a better?? feel for what it was like in the war rooms of Eastern Europe in the summer of 1944.

Taking place along the Eastern front, Steel Division II will bring the military triumph of the Soviet Union's Operation Bagration to a western audience that hasn't seen many praises of the Soviet offensive. The campaign? starts on June 22nd, 1944, the day Operation Bagration started. The operation was the Soviet contribution to the Allied effort, in the summer of 1944, to bring about the end of the war by Christmas by closing in on all fronts.

At the onset of the operation, you are stretched along a 1000km front and pushing west towards Germ??any. The demo started four days after the beginning of the operation as the Soviet Union moved towards Minsk. Le Dressay, who was play?ing the demo, had control of four Soviet divisions that were assaulting two German divisions.

Unlike the first game, where you just got told where you were going and a briefing along the way to your tactical battle, Steel Division II allows you to step into the boots of a Four-Star General and move units around a map in a turn-based strategic mode. The units can all move different lengths depending on how mobile they are and the terrain they are attempti?ng to traverse. Turns take half of your available daylight?, leaving you with two turns before a new day dawns. Since speed is the key, it helps to move along roads where travel is fastest, but that can leave you open to stretching your armies, unable to reinforce each other should one encounter the enemy.

In the Dynamic Strategic Campaign mode, all units are labeled using NATO joint military symbology. Because I lack a life, I know how to read these icons, but for others it might be a tad overwhelming. To make it easier for people who value social interaction above understanding historical tactics maps, each of the units are given a value in assault, armored, and artillery. With these values, you can know which units to keep near the front and those you want to lag behind a bit. The best thing is that the choice i??s all yours.

At the end of each of your turns, the enemy is allowed to move in response to your actions. A fog of war exists, so there may be some enemies hiding just out of your eyesight that could come in an ambush you if you aren't careful. You can send scout units out, but in my demo Le Dressay accidentally sent his scouts too far and they were left stranded from possible reinforcements for half a day. As I watched this mode unfold, it reminded me a lot of tabletop wargaming and the popular World War II strategy game Burden of Command.

As you move your units towards your objectives you will encounter enemies defending key points such as smaller towns and bridges. You can resolve these encounters by either going into the tactical mode and playing out the battle like you could in the first game, or you can choose to have the battle auto-r??esolved. Whichever method you decide, you can only choose five units to bring into the battle, and when you can deploy them all depends on how far they are from the battleground.

Battles still move in phases but unlike the first game where they tiered phases based on unit strength, in Steel Division II you are able to pull any unit you want at any time of the battle, so long as they can reach the battle in time. So you could hypothetically lead with your strongest unit in the first phase to give the Germans a taste of their own Blitzkrieg, but it leaves them open to getting overrun without reinforcement to back them up. If you are overrun in the first or second phase, the battle is considered a complete loss and you can't receive your second or third reinforcements appropriately. With all this choice you are given enough rope to hang? yourself with and in the context of strategy gaming that's a beautiful thing.

Spe??aking on why he wanted to bring another strategic layer into the game, Le Dressay said: "it is impossible to do a very interesting tactical game if you don't have a good idea of what is happening at a strategic decision level." A fellow fan of the grand strategy genre, Le Dressay spoke on how he found it frustrating that the genre had abstract battle mechanics and wanted to bring some of the genre into Eugen's proven tactical strategy track record. With this new implementation, it seems that Le Dressay and his team are on the warpath to creating the ultimate strategy game by allowing you to apply your military knowledge to every level of Opera?tion Bagration.

As stated earlier, not many changes were made to the tactical battles as of the current demo, but one big change is that you can now zoom in on your units to get a ground-level view of the battlefield. This includes being able to see the historically accurate terrain and get a better feel for enemy sightlines as well as giving off a very tabletop miniature feel. As we watched the Soviet tanks roll down towards Minsk from a vantage point? on top of a hill, I had visions of screaming at the enemy AI about how I'd read their book.

Another cosmetic change that was made to the game is that there was much more detail put into the character and vehicle models. Pulling from historic designs on both sides of th?e war, painstaking detail has been put into the models to make even the savviest miniature fan a little bit jealous.

To conclude the demo, Le Dressay reiterated that the number one goal of this game was to make a game for military history fans. From the dynamic strategic campaign map using actual German military intelligence maps to making every unit that was available along the eastern front usable in multiplayer, Steel Division II is meant to revive history in a? way only gaming can.

When pressed about a possible release date, Eugen gave a vague release window of 2019, but made sure to mention that this wasn't concrete. While you wait, you can sign up for the newsletter. How will I pass the time? Oh, you know just listening to this on repeat while breaking in my ushanka, wistfully dreaming of when I can actually get my hands on the game. ?Until then, dasvidaniya comrades!

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Johnny Cash's worst nightmare

In a new trailer loaded with an incredible amount of PR speak, we've finally gotten some details on how Battlefield V's battle royale mode will play out. Those hoping for something akin to PUBG or Fortnite will be saddened, as "Firestorm" (the official name for the mode) will be limited to 16 four-man teams for a total of 64 players. The trailer does promise that the map will be "the largest Battlefield map ever" and include everything players hav??e come to e??xpect from the series.

Along with that, there is information about how the "Tides of War" service will ??work. Beginning with "The Fall of Europe" at launch, this service will introduce a free new campaign every few months for players to partake in. The second chapter, which is still unnamed, will take place in Greece and focus on a completely different f?ront of World War II.

The last bit was some new campaign DLC called "Under No Flag." This has players assume the role of a British criminal deep within enemy territory in Northern Africa. Yo?u'll need to make use of his special skills to escape and that is about all we know. It seems the campaign will be continually updated with post-launch content, so look forward to that after buying ?the game on October 19.

This is Battlefield V [Battlefield via YouTube]

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Goose step it on back to Germany ya fascists

The first Steel Division was tantamount to a dream come true for World War II military history enthusiasts such as myself. Boasting detailed recreations of European cities where major battles took place, as well as historically accurate armed forces groups, Steel Division: Normandy 44 was all I could have asked for in concept. In execution, it left a few things to be desired but overall the comple?te package was well worth the minor frustrations.

One of my grievances was that the game solely focused on the invasion of the Western front by the Allies in the Spring and Summer of 1944. Granted, when you make a game that is so detailed, developers are going to have to hone in on a small part of the larger war and let's be honest, if you're going to do any part of the European theater, why not do the part where America contributed the most? But what about the other regions where the Allies turned the tide against the Nazis? Eugen Systems is rising to the challenge and bringing strategy gamers to the Eastern front in Steel Division II.

As well as bringing us more real-time tactical strategic gameplay, Steel Division II will attempt to improve upon the base game's mechanics with a new turn-based campaign mechanic. This new mechanic will take place out of the regular real-time battles and have you moving divisions along your front lines. You get a glimpse of the map in action from about 0:18 - 0:26 in the newest trailer? above.

Along with the g??ameplay additions, there will be changes made to the division deck-building aspects as well as the art style with the aims of creating a more realistic and immersive experience. Returning are the online 10v10 battles as well as the historic attention to detail for over 600 units across 18 different divisi?ons from both the Soviet and German armed forces.

While no release window is planned yet, I suspect this will be available sometime in early 2019. This is also going to be the first game Eugen plans to ??self-publish, a nice little milestone ??for the RTS veterans.

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Beta exceeded EA's expectations

Reaction to last month's Battlefield V closed alpha has been so positive that EA is planning for more "hands-on opportunities" ahead of the game's October launch. The publisher announced the news in a financial call, today, with CEO Andrew Wilson proclaiming, "The ‘Battlefield 5’ beta results exceeded our expectations. The feedback was?? highly positive with players able to fee?l the advancements that DICE has focused on for the gameplay. This type of early play opportunity is now foundational to our development process."

According to Wilson, the beta had around three times the amount of anticipated players active. While we are already aware of a beta period going on in September, this new quote likely means players will get another chance to experience the title before launch (either with another beta session or a demo). Whenever that happens is s???till unknown.

EA Plans More ‘Hands-On Opportunities’ for ‘Battlefield 5’ Prior to Launch [Variety]

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Just like the ones your grandfather fought

Now here's a movie that'll make you feel like you're in the 1970s exploitation era yet again. Producer J.J. Abrams and his company Bad Robot are bringing you Overlord, an intense horror-thriller about World War II American paratroopers who stumble into some Nazi sci-fi shenanigans.? And boy, do these shenanigans ??look gross and gnarly.

The rock music gives it a lighter and grindhouse-like tone, and the trailer contains flamethrowers, body horror, and my favorite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and general MCU) character Leo Fitz. Good on you, ?Fitz! Too bad you'll probably die a horribly gruesome death at the hand of Nazi mad s?cientists!

Overlord was theorized as being a third secret Cloverfield sequel, but Abrams has denied it, saying that a "true Cloverfield sequel" was in the works. The tone certainly seems to suggest that this film is unrelated. Still, the Cloverfield franchise has been known to surprise, and since The Cloverfield Paradox gave the series the versatility to work across all eras of time, there still could be a chance that the movie will introduce some Cloverfield elements as a plot twist of sorts. Next thing you know, Bad Robot will be turning a movie that has already been released into a secret Cloverfield movie.

Overlord is releasing in theaters on November 9.

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Tre-five-or Noah

[Update: EA has confirmed to Kotaku that Battlefield V will not feature any loot boxes.]

EA held a reveal event for Battlefield V today and confirmed a whole lot of details. For one, the game will be returning to World War 2 and giving us the classic Axis vs Allies story we've seen a hundred times before. In addition to that, Battlefield V will have a campaign mode and co-op support, though I'm not entirely certain if co-op is a separate mode. The real bombshell was that BFV will not be sporting a "Premium Pass," so all ad??ditional maps and modes will be free.

Curiously, BFV doesn't seem to have a battle royale mode. This could end up getting revealed at E3 to shock everyone, but there wasn't much time given to any of the multiplayer modes coming in BFV apart from co-op. In fact, a whole lot of details, in general, weren't really talked about. We know that weapon and vehicle customization is going to play a big part and there was talk of things like an "overhauled movement system" and a "family focus within the campaign." Is BFV's campaign Deadpool 2?

The other big thing that EA talked about was the "Tides of War" mini-campaign thing. I'm not sure if this is the actu??al single-player component or not, but there w?as a descriptor of "Evolving Live Service Journey" that made me a little weary. I don't think I can take yet another game with endless amounts of content. Parts of Scandinavia and Africa were also shown, so this doesn't seem to be limited to the European front.

As for any tidbits about characters or settings, we mostly have speculation. I'm going to assume this is an alternative history story like Battlefield 1 since? the lady in the trailer is sporting a prosthetic arm. There is also a shot of an enemy with a samurai sword, which could confirm the Pacific Theater as a part of this game. You can see for yourself in the trailer, which doesn't show off a lot of gameplay.

Battlefield V will be heading to PS4, Xbox One and PC. The game will launch on?? October 16 for the "Deluxe Edition" and October 19 for the standard version.

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The wheels of war keep on turning

Electronic Arts has just dropped a new teaser trailer for the upcoming Battlefield V, although the trailer itself is pretty uneventful and short, it does confirm World War II as the new setting. During a short sequence within the teaser itself, the HUD is displayed at the top of the screen, showing the British Union Jack ?and the German Iron Cross, confirming the period.

Notably, the HUD has been slightly redesigned from Battlefield 1, with the health bar now positioned to the bottom midd??le, as oppos??ed to the bottom right. Other than this, though, not much else was shown.

I'm kinda shocked they didn't go with Vietnam as the setting, considering the "V" in the title. But, lately, the branding of these games has been all over the place. At least it's not as bad as Medal of Honor: Warfighter. I don't think anything will ever top that.

A full reveal stream is planned for Battlefield V on Wednesday, May 23 at 1:00 pm PDT and will be available on Twitch, Mixer, YouTube, and the official website.

Battlefield [Twitter]

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A miniature museum at home

World War II is a staple in the gaming community. For years all we had were Nazis to shoot because it is harder to find a more universal evil than Nazis. Unfortunately, since most of those games were shooters the stories amounted to little more than to move you from battle to battle so that you had more Nazis to shoot at. Games that eschewed the shooting and instead dove into the human story of World War II are few and far between, so when one of the community members here sent me the Steam page for Attentat 1942, my first thought was that it was about damn time someone did thi?s.

My real conundrum with writing this review is how does one even begin to handle a game about one of the most atrocious periods in modern human history? It's not like I can say this game is a barrel of laughs or a joy to play b?ecause it isn't. It is filled to the brim with the horrors of Nazi-occupied Europe, and while the personal stories are fictionalized, the gnawing reminder that these stories are based on countless real-life stories makes the game both uncomfortable and almost n?ecessary to play.

Attentat 1942 (PC [Reviewed], Mac)
Developer: Charles University, and the Czech Academy of Sciences
Publisher: Charles University, and the Czech Academy of Sciences
Released: October 31, 2017
MSRP: $10.99

Attentat 1942 is centered around the Nazi Germany Protectorate of Bohem??ia and Moravia, which prior to and after the war was known as the Czech Republic. The game starts out with the announcement of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the protectorate's leader, by Czech resistance fighters. The assassination sets off a wave of repr?isals by the Nazis including razing two villages, thousands of executions, and even more arrests and deportations to concentration camps.

As the player character, you are the grandson or granddaughter of a dying man who was arrested during the Heydrich reprisals. The game starts off with you helping your grandmother clean up her house when you come across some mementos from the war. What follows is your quest to figure out why your grandfather was arrested and in general learn more about him before he passes. Gameplay-wise, Attentat 1942 is a full-motion video adventure ??game, mixed with some visual novel segments as well as a few mini-games that involve you using previously gained information and wits to solve light puzzle elements.

For some people this game might be boring since it is a lot of listening and reading. It almost feels like Attentat 1942 belongs in a museum as part of an interactive exhibit because it does a lot of talking to you while not giving you many opportuniti??es to interact. The few times that you do get to interact are through mini-games that have you doing such things as hiding potentially contraband items before the Gestapo can find them, or writing an article for a local newspaper using predetermined statem?ents that you put together. It's not exactly riveting gameplay but the source material wouldn't really work with anything else.

The bulk of the story is told through full-motion interviews where you ask questions to people who survived the atrocities. The intervie?ws move in a conversation tree format so it is possible to miss some information but you are given the opportunity to redo the interviews provided you have done well on some of the earlier interviews and puzzles. The acting is beli??evable and on the whole pretty good. It is nice to have the actors speaking in their characters' native tongue rather than truly break immersion by speaking in English. There is some great character exploration as well as a few twists and turns that keep you questioning everything you've been told.

A little suspension of disbelief is needed when the props that are being used for the fictionalized elements are all made using the same white paper with the scribbly black art style that the visual novel segments are drawn in. The most egregious of these moments comes when one of the ?characters looks at their? Star of David patch, which is made of white paper. Not a deal-breaker but for a stickler for historical accuracy and production design like myself, it stood out.

For those of you that want to dive a little deeper into the real-world history that surrounds the story, the in-game encyclopedia is a wonderful addition. Every time an incident or organization of note is mentioned in the game, a little pop-up indicates that new encyclopedia entry has been added to your game. These encyclopedia e??ntries are great little insights into the finer points of the story. They aren't necessary to read to complete the game but are definitely welcomed by people like myself who love to dive into history.

If like me, you have a love of history, Attentat 1942 will be a treasure not only for a fresh perspective on a widely reported period of time but also for the amount ??of work that you can see the developers put into making sure their story fit within the confine??s of history. It won't be a joyous or happy ride but in the end, it makes for an enlightening experience that uses the medium of gaming to educate in ways that only it can.

A little side note, but revenues from the game are invested to continue research and science into the field of Czechoslovakian history, so if you wanna see more historical ??games like this then support them with your wallet.

_{[This unscored review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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In the Season Pass! YAY!

Call of Duty: WWII is looking to recapture the lost fan base from the older titles by going back to the series' roots. Just putting the game in World War 2 wasn't enough as Activision has announced that the most iconic map from the original game, Carentan, will be making a come back for WWII. Sadly, it isn't as simple as just incl??uding the remade map.

To get access to Carentan, you'll need to buy the season pass. As Activision puts it, "The Season Pass for Call of Duty: WWII is alre?ady bursting at the seams, but the addi??tion of Carentan puts it over the top." Completely over the top, if you ask me!

If you aren't familiar with the map, let this clip from The Office explain why this is so important.

I actually spent quite a lot of time playing Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2 online back in the day. The inclusion of the "Kill Cam" was such a big deal in 2003, as it gave you an idea of where players might be camping to take easy shots. I also just really liked the feel of the guns in the classic titles, something that hasn't been the same since Call of Duty 4. Hopefully this new entry actually lives u??p to its hype.

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Fascinating!

Game Informer's September issue has revealed juicy details about the upcoming Call of Duty: WWII, including mission details and new aspects of the game. Players will get the opportunity to impersonate a Nazi Soldier, take part in an allied campaign set in France, as well as fight through the forests of Rhineland. You'll even get to pretend you're in Saving Private Ryan and play through the events of D-Day for the millionth time!

In a mission named “Wolf's Den,” players will get the opportunity to relive the events of Spock in the season 2 episode 21 of Star Trek and impersonate a Nazi soldier in order to infiltrate a German base. Accord??ing to the article, the mission will have players attempting to blend in with other Nazi soldiers and remain undetected.

According to Game Informer, the game will also very much attempt to replicate the tone of Saving Private Ryan, starting with the D-Day landing operation on the beaches of Normandy. The game will be set all across Europe, from France to the Hurtgen Forest along the Rhine in an attempt to reach Berlin.

Sledgehammer Games boss Michael Condrey also discussed w??ith Game Informer the use of Nazi icons within the game. According to him, the studio had debated the topic for a long while, but decided that only the campaign will have any Nazi iconography like the swastika. However, the multiplayer and zombies mode will not.

"It was important for us to balance the authenticity of the game and era, and the dar??k notes that come with the genocide that the Nazis brought to bear," he said. "We need to balance and respect?? that but also recognize this is a piece of entertainment and not dishonor the loss of life that happened there."

Call of Duty: WWII will be releasing November 3, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Those who pre-ordered the game will get access to an exclusive beta, coming to PS4 first ??on August 25 and then Xbox One on September 1.

In Call of Duty: WW2 you fight through D-Day and imper??sonate a ??Nazi soldier [VideoGamer]

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