Tag: PS4

Anthem Is Hard-Crashing On Playstation 4


Anthem on PS4 may be more of a hazard than previously known.

A growing number of users on the official Reddit have begun reporting issues regarding Anthem not just crashing, but completely shutting down their Playstation 4. The thread has garnered a number of confirmations from other players noting that the system treats the shutdown as though the player had pulled the power cable.

“When encountering a crash or game error, sometimes I get booted to the main menu or out of the game completely to the PS4 dashboard. But twice now when trying to matchmake my PS4 has completely turned off. Don’t worry about the loot patch ffs, sort the bugs out first please”

For their part, Sony is apparently still denying refunds to a large portion of people despite the game being broken, possibly to the extent of risking damage to consoles. EA/Bioware are apparently aware of the problem but have not released a statement.

Source: Reddit

Beta Perspective: Realm Royale On Playstation 4


I’ve been spending most of my PS4 time over the past couple of months playing H1Z1 and now Realm Royale, and I have to say I find the Battle Royale genre far more enjoyable on the consoles than on PC. Maybe it’s because of the rampant cheating on PC, maybe it’s because I’m 30 and my reflexes just don’t hold up on a platform where the base can shoot a hair off of a fly from two miles away. Regardless, I’m enjoying myself.

Realm Royale is Hi-Rez Studios loading the style and gameplay elements of Paladins into a cannon and firing it at PUBG. While the base gameplay elements will be familiar to those who have played other games in the genre, Realm Royale is carving a niche all of its own. On the familiar side, you have up to 100 players jumping from a flying bus on to a giant island where they must battle either alone or part of teams in order to be the last person/team standing. Each player starts with a melee weapon and must scrounge around for better quality items so that they may rain down death upon whoever happens to get in their crosshair.

I haven’t played Realm Royale on PC in about a year, so my knowledge of that version is too far out of date to make comparisons. While the base concept is the same, Realm Royale has quite a bit that sets it apart from the competition in terms of meta gaming and quality of life features.

Before the round begins, the first thing you’ll do is choose a class. There are four classes, each with their own perks and weaknesses, such as the assassin gaining 300 health on each kill and the warrior having a higher maximum health and dealing more damage with melee weapons. Each round in Realm Royale starts with you jumping out of the bus and careening down to a spot of your choosing. The goal from here on out is a prolonged arms race in which you travel about the countryside, opening chests, grabbing weapons, and murdering anyone who happens to cross paths. As time progresses, a circle of fog gradually encircles the map, restricting the play field until one person is left standing.

One quality of life feature I like about Realm Royale is that everyone has a mount, accessible with a simple d-pad click. In games like H1Z1 where your starting location is predetermined, it’s possible to get screwed because the game stuck you in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the map with little access to weapons or transportation, leaving you to spend the round just barely keeping ahead of the fog if at all. In Realm Royale, you always have the ability to get where you need to go and fast, and the map is populated enough that you’ll have no problem amassing an arsenal. The balance to this convenience is that you can be knocked off the mount with a single hit.

In addition to your pistols, rifles, shotguns, and magic staffs, player power is also strengthened by picking up various runes and powers scattered around the world. Powers can vary in usefulness, such as one that turns you invisible for a short period of time, one that grants temporary flight, concussion grenades, incendiary grenades, shields, health, etc. Runes, meanwhile, are passive powers that can give you a hell of an advantage on the field, offering perks like regenerating shields, making survival as a chicken easier, and resisting knockback.

Even death in Realm Royale is handled differently. Most battle royale games have a knock-down mechanic in squad modes, where you aren’t instantly killed but instead are knocked out and can be revived by a teammate. In Realm Royale, losing your HP (even in solo) means turning into a chicken that can run and jump around. If you manage to survive until the timer hits zero, you’ll get back into the fight with a certain amount of health. If you are killed as a chicken, or you get turned three times, you’re out of the match. Certain runes found during gameplay can increase your speed, your health, and decrease the timer while in chicken mode, giving survival a strategy all on its own.

The benefit of this is that you rarely get that sudden game over that accompanies other similar titles just because someone with an epic sniper rifle managed to blow your head off through an open window. It also makes encounters with multiple people all the more dangerous, as you can be easily popped while chasing after the player you’ve just chickened, or similarly being the first to go down may present an opportunity to escape and recuperate while everyone turns the guns on each other.

Another thing Realm Royale has going for it is the ability to break down weapons you come across and use shards at forges to craft new items. The catch is that each forge can craft one of each category: health, armor, weapon, runes, ability, and revival (squad mode) so you can’t amass shards and use them to bulk up on potions. The crafting forge takes time and makes sound, which can mast incoming players. It also displays a timer that can be seen by other people, so you can tell when someone is waiting inside. You don’t need to be physically near the forge in order for the time to count down, so you can easily start the queue and hop off to a vantage point to stay safe.

There are also nuggets that you’ll find by looting chests, killing players, and making rank. Nuggets are the in-game currency for Realm Royale, usable to buy cosmetics from the in-game shop. Gaining generally less than a dozen per game, and considering that most rewards are in the realm of thousands of nuggets, it’s a feature that isn’t even worth paying attention to.

I do like that Realm Royale’s battle pass seems to be very easy to level up, I have personally managed one level about every 1-2 matches, but that the game also rewards you with crowns. The first battle pass costs 750 crowns and can reward about 1,100 crowns if you manage to level it up all the way. By this logic, it should be possible to heavily discount or get the next pass completely free, depending on how many crowns you obtain during the course of the season.

The season does not indicate when it ends, however, or if crowns can be used for the next season. I contact Hi-Rez about these details and have not received an answer.

One aspect of Realm Royale I find odd is the inclusion of bot players, mostly because they aren’t indicated as such and Hi-Rez to my understanding and research doesn’t acknowledge their presence in the game. I’ve been playing shooters for more than twenty years, I can generally recognize when a game is using bots by their very obvious behavior. Realm Royale is clearly using bots, as I was able to repeatedly confuse bots causing them to go into animation loops or completely break, being unable to properly walk through a door or constantly moving back and forth on the same spot of land making movements that a normal player shouldn’t be capable of.

Let me be clear on this: I’m not against bots being in a battle royale game, I just find Hi-Rez’s actions surrounding their implementation to be strange. I reached out to Hi-Rez for an official comment and despite stating that I would receive an answer over a week ago, I have not. I will update this piece if I do receive a comment on the season pass questions or regarding bots.

My only real gripe with Realm Royale right now is in relation to a certain unbalanced pistol that can be found/crafted in-game. The poison/fire pistol is severely unbalanced, extremely powerful, and can basically win you a match. The weapon is trash and going up against anyone with one is guaranteed to ruin your mood.

Sony Accidentally Leaks Game Stats For Top PS4 Titles


Like most digital storefronts, Sony likes to keep its actual sales numbers hidden from the general public. That task became a bit harder this week when a promotion meant to celebrate player achievements in their games accidentally made public more data than was intended.

Sony’s My PS4 Life is a fun way of showing off your achievements on Playstation, it tells you how many hours you’ve invested, your top games, and even your rarest achievement and how many other players have it, among other details. What it also made public, however, was the number of players who had earned certain achievements. Coupled with the factor that Playstation displays the percentage of players who have earned said achievement, and it’s pretty easy to get a rough estimate on the number of people who have purchased/played said game.

The website Gamstat has set up to turn those stats into general figures, and the results aren’t all that surprising. Top played games on the PS4 include Grand Theft Auto V along with the last four iterations of Fifa, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Rocket League, and Fortnite. Fallout 76 has pulled about 407,000 players on the console.

The data isn’t exact science, as PS4 trophy figures around up to the .1%, but it does give a good idea as to how each game sold.

(Source: Reddit)

[Not Massive] Steam Users Are Angry Over Early Tomb Raider Discounts


Shadow of the Tomb Raider is currently on sale and customers aren’t happy.

The third and final installment in the latest Tomb Raider reboot series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider launched on PC on September 14 to pretty favorable reviews and Steam numbers. This week, the game was discounted 34% off on October 16, 47% off for the Croft edition bundle that contains extra DLC. Since the sale began, the game has been bombed by negative reviews citing the game’s sale price. So why the issue?

Normally sales would be a great thing, but early adopters are not happy about Shadow of the Tomb Raider going on such a deep discount a month after launch and not even during a heavy sale period for Steam. More specifically, many of the negative reviews appear to be coming out of China where players are expressing frustration between two major topics: That the game is going on sale so soon after launch and of long wait times to import the game into China adding to the fact that the game is on sale so soon after many received their copies. In short, people feel burned that Square Enix discounted the game so heavily and so quickly after launch.

It seems more than likely that Square Enix is offering this deal because sales from Shadow of the Tomb Raider have been far less than anticipated. Back in September, Eurogamer noted that Shadow’s physical sales in the UK were down 70% from 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, a more troubling idea considering that Tomb Raider initially launched just on the Xbox and this time around launched on all three major systems (PS4, Xbox One, PC) simultaneously. It also doesn’t help that Shadow cost about $100 million to make. Not a good sign.

Oddly enough, Amazon has the Playstation 4 edition of Shadow of the Tomb Raider on sale for $44.95, a 25% discount, while the Xbox version is only 5% off at $57. I guess we know which version sold better.

We fully expect Square Enix to comment on Shadow’s sales as the company has been pretty forthcoming about its opinions in the past.

Dark Eclipse Launches On PS4: First VR Moba Game


Dark Eclipse, the first PS VR MOBA title, launches today in North America and Europe from SUNSOFT as a free download on the Playstation store. Developer is looking to shake up the genre by pitting two players against one another in head-to-head matches, each player controlling a team of three leaders, each with unique skills and abilities, along with the power to recruit soldiers who level up during the match. The ultimate goal, as usual with the genre, is to conquer your enemy’s base.

“We created DARK ECLIPSE to capture the MOBA genre’s competitive magic, while restructuring many of its core elements to take advantage of VR’s unique capabilities,” said Shohei Sakakibara, Producer and Project Leader at SUNSOFT. “We’re dedicated to fostering an active community and making DARK ECLIPSE VR’s first competitive gaming phenomenon with a legitimate esports fanbase.”

Leaders can be purchased with in-game currency or through the Playstation Store starter packs. The base game is available for free on the Playstation Store.

(Source: SUNSOFT press release)

H1Z1 Invites PS4 Players To Play A Game of Snipey Shotty


H1Z1 rolls out its latest update this week introducing players to the Arcade mode, limited time events that throw a wrench into the proverbial hornets nest and change the way you play. This week and next week sees the introduction of Shotties and Snipers which is exactly what it sounds like: The only weapons available are shotguns and snipers.

The future of H1Z1 includes new leaderboards for season 2, new weapons for all ranges, and new daily challenges.

(Source: Daybreak press release)

It’s Choring Time: TERA Releases Checklist For Server Merger (PS4/Xbox)


TERA is merging servers, and if you log in over the next week you can get your hands on five free character slots either in preparation for the move or to preserve more of your alts. In preparation for the movie, En Masse Entertainment has posted the following checklist of instructions to make sure you’re ready for the move. Check out the list below and click the link for more information.

  • Claim your 5 Additional Character Slots between August 13 and August 20.
  • Apply your Additional Character Slots to the server where you have the most characters (to accommodate your characters from other servers of that type) and note the total number of Character Slots you have here.
  • Identify characters on any server that you don’t need, save any important items and gold they might have, then delete them until the total number of active characters remaining on that server type is equal to or less than the total amount of Character Slots you just noted above.
  • Confirm that any Guild you might be a part of has more than two members. (If a guild drops below two members for any reason—such as characters being removed during the merge—the Guild will disband.) Or if you think it might not, remove your valuables from the guild bank.
  • Remove any items you have listed with the Trade Broker.
  • Come up with several backup character names, in case any of your favorite names are already taken on your new server.

(Source: TERA)

H1Z1 Launches On Playstation 4


The day is here: H1Z1 has finally launched as free to play on Playstation 4. Launch day brings with it a new content drop, introducing two new weapons (an RPG and a sniper rifle), a new vehicle (the five-man ARV) and new launch bundles as well. H1Z1 on Playstation 4 was built from the ground up for consoles, streamlining the interface, control scheme, and inventory for faster paced games that feel at home on the console’s controller.

“Everyone here at Daybreak Games is thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response to H1Z1’s debut on PS4,” said H1Z1 Producer Terrence Yee. “Ten million new players in our first month in Open Beta is an incredible milestone, and our entire development team has worked tirelessly to build on that early success. We’re beyond excited to officially launch H1Z1 on PS4—this is our fully realized vision for battle royale on console.”

Today also marks the launch of the first season battle pass. Playstation gamers can unlock up to 30 rewards from three tiers (free, premium, PS+) for completing missions and leveling up. The battle pass sells for $5.49 USD.

(Source: H1Z1 Press Release)

 

H1Z1 Strikes 1.5 Million Playstation 4 Systems


H1Z1 has officially hit the Playstation 4 and in the 24 hours since open beta began more than 1.5 million players have downloaded the game to their system.

“This is an incredible milestone and we want to thank all of our player who helped make this possible,” said H1Z1 Producer Terrence Yee. “We believe we’ve found the right balance for battle royale on console and players have responded positively to our reimagining of H1Z1. We will continue to refine the game based on feedback from Open Beta to ensure the best experience possible for our actively growing community.”

Redesigned for the PS4, H1Z1 features more weapons, a reworked user interface, and faster paced gameplay. The open beta can be downloaded for free on Playstation.

(Source: H1Z1 Press Release)

H1Z1 Orders More Hardware To Deal With PS4 Overload


The H1Z1 open beta has arrived on Playstation 4 today, and many of you trying to log in may be unlucky enough to find yourself getting stopped at the door. Daybreak Game Company has announced via Twitter that 200,000+ concurrent users are trying to get online and the servers are having some trouble keeping up. As a result, more hardware is being spun up to accommodate the extra server load.

Daybreak has asked that players hold on tight while the servers stabilize.

(Source: H1Z1)