But as always, I will condense as much as I can so you can read it during your busy schedule.

• First of all, all of the gear will be making a return in the same three categories: Hats, Shoes, and Shirts.
• New weapon variations were shown off like the Clash Blaster, the Flingza Roller, the Goo Tuber, and the Dapple Duelies.
• New sub weapons were also shown off like the Autobombs and Toxic Mist.
• Then the new special weapons were given a proper demonstration.
• You can now skip through Sheldon's long weapon descriptions.
• Turf Wars and all three of the ranked battle modes will be making a comeback, but all of the ranked battle modes will now keep track of separate ranks instead of all sharing the same one.
• A bunch of new arenas were shown off with some updated ones returning from the previous game such as Port Mackerel and Moray Towers.
• All battle maps and ranked modes will now rotate out ever 2 hours instead of every 4 like in the previous game.
• The tower in the Tower Control game will now stop at designated checkpoints throughout the match.
• It is now possible to raise your rank by more than one letter grade if you played exceptionally well in a match.
• Squad battles will be making a return.
• Customizing your gear's ability slots is now much easier and new abilities were shown off.
• The new Salmon Run horde mode of was shown to only be playable during predetermined times.
• New Salmonids were shown off like the Steel Eel and Fly Fish.
• There are some pieces of equipment that can only be won from Salmon Run.
• A new version of Splatnet will be coming to smart devices through Nintendo Switch's online service.
• The new amiibo will be used like memory cards to save your gear and weapon loadouts which can then be used to summon a "friend" you can take pictures with at the in-game Plaza.
• Splatoon 1's graffiti mode will be coming back without the need for Miiverse.
• Lan play is possible for more intense battles with minimal lag.
• A rhythm-based arcade game will be available to play using the music from the game.
• Some info about the Single-Player mode was shown off, but nothing new to report other than the fact that Marie refers to you as Agent 4.
• New content like maps, gear and weapons will be coming to the game over the course of around a year through free updates. One of these updates will include a brand new weapon type called the Splat Brella which is a close range scattershot that doubles as a shield, and another one called the Bubble Blower which makes large floating ink mines.
• With Callie and Marie being designated to the single player mode, two new pop idols named Pearl and Marina will be giving the player the news and will host the new Splat Fests.
• Splat Fests can now be played with players on your friend list.
• And finally, the game's first Splat Fest will go live on July 15 between the hours of 3pm - 7pm PT through a special demo from the Switch eShop. The theme will be cake VS Ice Cream.

So that's all I have to report today. I definitely can't wait for this game as I loved the original Splatoon quite a bit. I just hope I have time to play more Splat Fests this time around, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Where do I begin? Lawbreakers is an arena shooter that really brings downright fun to the table. It is slightly reminiscent of old school shooters of its genre like Quake or Unreal Tournament, with a modern shooter twist to it. Lawbreakers can be summed up in a couple of words: dazzling, but lacks a bit of luster (hopefully these things will be fixed by the time of the full release). But where does it fail? Where does it succeed? Well first off, Lawbreakers fails at a couple of things that I noticed right away.

CONS:

For one, the classes seem to be really unbalanced as of now. I started off playing as the assassin and being completely new started cleaning house without even knowing how to effectively use my specials. The reason being is that the two daggers you have seem to have a ton more reach then they should. All the other classes are okay and have problems but they work to how you would expect.

Another is the game mode they offered for the often beta, which was great except for one detail. For all of you that don't know, this game mode is charging a battery that both teams need to fight over and who ever charges this battery first will win. This is where the problem lies. In this game mode the battery cannot lose charge. So say red team has the battery charged at 98%, but the blue team comes in with three of the Titans, come busting down your door and all activate their special and shock the shit out of everyone, steal the battery bring it back to their base and by the time everyone has spawned they've already won. Might seem unlikely but it happens!

PROS:

Now for the positives! One thing I would like to say is to say how thankful I am to Boss Key Productions for really working with the Alpha community and listening to the problems we have had and actually fixing them to our satisfaction. Sure there is a ton more that still really needs to be fixed, but just seeing the forum and seeing them to respond to almost every single one of the pleas is fucking amazing. You guys should really pat yourselves on the back.

Another thing, the game's atmosphere is goddamn gorgeous. The visuals are amazing, everything is animated very well, you name it and it looks great! The only thing I would say that is wrong with the visuals is the more photo-realistic art direction than one more cartoon-like which would have made the game a lot more timeless. It would have fit the game a lot more in my personal opinion.

The game-play is great. Shooting at your foes, finding a way to sling behind them with your grappling hook and go for the kill is so much fun. I have to admit here that over time I really start getting angry with PvP games. This one however really didn't do that. I was very shocked at myself that I wasn't getting mad at the game; everything really seemed like it was all out of good fun! Honestly I really like that about this game because when you die, you can only really blame yourself for what happened because there are so many ways to avoid death. There are heath stations on the map where you can stand in and get healed to get back into the fight. There are also so many different ways to escape combat that you know you cannot handle alone. Zero-G is where the game gets fucking crazy now. There are these anti-gravity zones that seem to randomly appear through out the arena and really change up the way combat works. Almost all the classes have one special dedicated to how you move. This really comes into play as you are drifting about in zero-g, you really have to rely on that to keep you moving and dance your way around your foes before you run out of juice. When the cool-down starts you feel hopeless. Just trying to defend yourself in any way you can 'til you can get the hell out of there.

Verdict:

Overall, while I enjoyed my experience with the alpha, there are a lot of minor adjustments that do NEED to be fixed. I would really recommend this game to be tried as of now. Boss Key said there will be more Alpha tests down the road! So while you can, I would try to squeeze your way into that Alpha before it's to late! Expect a better review when it's released!

JUST A HEADS UP
Unlike my past reviews, this one contains major spoilers to the game's rebooted story.
If you do not wish to be spoiled on the game's altered plot, please stop reading now.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Now as I was saying, Star Fox Zero has been completely rebooted and everything in it was re-imagined from scratch. Shigeru Miyamoto has even described it has being neither a sequel or a prequel, so I guess that would be an apt enough description. The game for the most part has the same design as the previous games where you would either fly down a predetermined path and shoot anything that impedes your progress, or have free-range flight where you need to actively hunt down your targets. But an additional level element was added to the game to make it feel a little more cinematic: Target Mode, where the target enemy is always the focus on the TV screen. This is where the game's new control gimmicks come into play.

Unlike Star Fox 64 or Star Fox Assault, Star Fox Zero has a brand new control scheme that tries to take advantage of the Wii U GamePad as much as possible. The GamePad's screen always has a first person view from the cockpit of the Arwing, the radio transmissions from your squad-mates and enemies only come from the GamePad's speakers, and aiming the targeting reticle is primarily done with the GamePad's gyro sensor. In addition to these GamePad gimmicks, the controls were mixed up a bit as well in an attempt to try and emulate the controls of a fighter jet (all steering is on the left stick, thrusters and rolling is on the right stick, and the ship's guns and bombs are on the ZR and R buttons respectively). And if that wasn't enough, there are three vehicles that each have different controls with two of them having the ability to transform which alters their controls even further. With these new controls and gimmicks, it makes the game feel a bit awkward and confusing to play, especially during the Target Mode segments where the camera focuses entirely on the enemy. It all makes it feel not fun...AT FIRST.

You see, this game had a very unusual form of Stockholm Syndrome on me. After I did a few missions in the game (about 2 hours worth) and played through some of the alternate paths, it all suddenly clicked for me and the controls finally started to make sense. From that point on, I was starting to enjoy the game much more than I was previously. The action was fast and exciting, the varied gameplay styles were a nice change of pace, and the environments were creative and colorful. I was even able to finally enjoy the music as well as most of them were remade from Star Fox 64. The amiibo features were also quite fun; playing as the Retro and Black Arwings gave the game a new challenge to it I was hoping for. It's just a shame that after I had gotten used to the controls that there is no multiplayer (local OR online) outside of the local Co-Op Mode (which is basically a Han & Chewie mode where one pilots the ship and the other mans the guns).

Now the story and level progression is where this game takes an unprecedented turn. Unlike Star Fox 64 which is where Zero gets most of its inspiration, the game is mostly linear with branching paths having little to no impact on the ending of the game. This is a rather big oversight as Star Fox 64 had a great reward system where in most stages if you did an unknown additional task during the level such as killing a certain number of enemies before the end or by keeping a certain character alive, you were given the opportunity to take a harder path which would lead to the true final battle and the canon ending of the game. Because that is no longer the case, there is now a lack of motivation to unlock the alternate paths (even though I did it anyway). In addition to this, many of the stages from the original game have been renamed, removed or completely changed to fit the new story. The Nebulae Sectors are now Alpha, Beta, and Gamma instead of X, Y, and Z; Area 6 has been replaced with a new Sector which appears to be a black hole called Sector Omega; Aquas, Katina, Macbeth, and Bolse are completely absent; and the biggest offender, Venom has been reduced to the size of a small moon and remodeled to be a Death Star like device. This last bit right here is why I can safely say that Zero is a reboot and not a re-imagining; it makes the plot of Star Fox Command completely null and void. That being said, I still really liked the level design and I loved the boss fights.

Now the post-game content is probably where a lot of players will get the most enjoyment assuming they stuck around long enough to beat the game. Finishing the main story once will unlock Arcade Mode which is a one sitting play-through of the game with no system map, and only ONE life. You can collect three gold rings to store an extra life for later, but they unfortunately don't stack. That means, one extra life is all you can keep at any one time. This, and the fact that the game keeps track of your high-score and all of the different flight paths you take during a single run is what Miyamoto was talking about when he and Platinum were trying to make the game as replayable as possible. And every time I beat it, I can't help but shed a tear whenever I see that dedication to Iwata in the credits.

All in all, Star Fox Zero is quite fun, but only after you get the hang of the controls. As such, I will not be giving this game a star score like I usually do since it is very much an acquired taste due to the steep learning curve. The remade story completely changed the timeline for the earlier made games, but if Nintendo were to continue the series, I'm sure they could figure out how to reintroduce old characters and worlds. Now the physical version of the game also came with Star Fox Guard as a bonus, but I'll cover that another time. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Military shooters are no stranger to World War II, Vietnam, modern day terrorist insurgency, and even the far off future, but what about World War I? Well Verdun has come to consoles to show that you don't need gimmicky gadgets and killstreaks to make a great shooter, but will the transition from PC to console affect the quality of the game?

Being that Verdun is multiplayer only, you would think that there is no story. That isn't necessarily true. The story of Verdun is WWI itself. Now that may sound like a cop out for writing an actual story, and it is and it isn't. During loading screens, there will be a short paragraph either stating little known facts about WWI or quickly summarizing the battle that was fought in real life on each map you are loading into.

Although I am already fairly well versed in the history of the first world war, I still found these loading screens to be incredibly interesting and overall helped bring the maps to life. If you aren't too familiar with the actual history of WWI, then Verdun is a great starting point to get you interested as well as being nearly 100% accurate. Who would have thought that a gritty first person shooter could be considered an educational game?

A game touting itself with a realistic setting and story needs equally realistic gameplay. Thankfully, Verdun delivers precisely that. In an industry where firearms have the penetration power of an airsoft gun on Viagra, it's so refreshing to play a first person shooter where guns behave how they're supposed to. Your enemies will go down in only one or two shots depending on the gun, and so will you. The amount of recoil each weapon gives off seems to be accurate to their real life counterparts, and they just seem like they have a certain weight to them while moving around.

You will have 3 game modes to choose from: Attrition, Rifle Deathmatch, and Squad Defense. Attrition is similar to team deathmatch in that whichever team gets the most kills wins, but in Verdun, each team has a set amount of "tickets." Whenever a player is killed, a ticket is deducted. The team with tickets remaining wins. Rifle Deathmatch is the standard free for all where there are no teams and everyone must kill everyone. Squad Defense is similar to any horde mode in other games. You and 3 other players must defend various positions on a map from waves of the enemy AI. This is the only mode that can be played solo. Attrition quickly became my favorite since it's the closest to an actual battle in WW1. Squad Defense was my least favorite due to the enemy artificial intelligence lacking any intelligence.

It may not seem like it, but Verdun is actually a tactics based game. Each team and subsequent squad have to work together to win. The team that has players running around trying to shoot everything that moves is very noticeable and will quickly lose to a well coordinated team. Your best option would be to use a headset as the leader of a squad to issue orders to other players, but you can also issue orders in game. Not everyone listens though, so you could be the only one working hard for victory whilst everyone else on your squad is running around looking for enemies.

Picking your squad, class, and weapons can be a bit of a pain. To do so, you must first pick which squad you want to join, choose which squadmate you want to play as, choose your weapon for said squadmate, then you can play. Problems arise when you want to play as a certain squad member or use a certain weapon, and another player is already using them. You can ask them in game if you can play as that character, but you will more than likely be ignored. It's not a horrible system, but perhaps being original isn't the best option in this sense. Creating a loadout for whichever team you're on has proven to be tried and true.

Artillery and phosgene gas mix things up in the heat of battle. As soon as you either hear or see the tell tale signs of artillery coming down, it's time to run, usually into the longing arms of your enemy. Same goes for running into phosgene gas, but you has a gas mask to help in that situation. The only drawback is that the mask significantly obstructs your view. I'd say that's better than destroying your lungs and dying painfully though. The frame rate does suffer a bit due to both of these. Whenever artillery rains down or you find yourself in a yellow cloud, there will be noticeable dips. Nothing too severe, but something worth noting and looking out for.

Verdun actually looks fantastic for an indie game. Weapons, clothing, and items look incredibly realistic, the firearms especially. The amount of "little details" is a work of beauty as well. Whenever you reload, you can actually see your character press the magazine release, watch the magazine release slide into the gun, and pull the magazine out. I've never seen that level of detail in a first person shooter before. I was actually so impressed that I had to constantly reload to take the best possible screenshot. See for yourself. Being able to turn off the HUD entirely to either take screenshots or to add to the realism is a welcome touch that more developers should consider implementing.

Sadly, environments don't get the same level of detail though. Dirt, grass, and foliage look alright, nothing special, but you can't inflict any damage to them. And I'm not talking about there not being destructible environments, which there aren't. I'm talking about just cosmetic details. Shooting anything in the environment won't yield a little cosmetic bullet hole. It may only be me, but that's something that really stuck out to me in an otherwise gorgeous game. An exception also comes in the form of the fire effects for the flame thrower. The fire looks so bad that it actually affects gameplay because it's often too hard to tell where your flames are going and how close you need to be to your enemies. Explosion, screen, smoke, and gas effects all look great as well. The blemishes the graphics have aren't enough to poison the well though. Verdun can be just pure eye candy at times.

Now just how authentic is this realistic WWI first person shooter? In a word: very. All weapons and armors are all period accurate and associate with the right military and nationality.

You won't find an American soldier with a German weapon here. Each nationality speaks the correct language and you can even shout orders to your teammates in that language.

Every map is based off a real battle fought in The Great War. The trenches give off claustrophobic feelings that triggers a sense of paranoia that an enemy could be right behind you at any moment. Given how authentic Verdun is, there is no flashy over the top action. Almost every battle will be in a trench whilst attacking or defending a part of the map. This will no doubt be a turnoff to those looking for cheap thrills, but those of you that can take the time to appreciate the authenticity of Verdun are in for a great and original time.

Verdun was already a fantastic game on PC, so it's a pleasure to see it translated near perfectly to consoles. Verdun doesn't need lensflare, dubstep, or cartoonishly over the top action to be a great game set in World War I. As cliche as it sounds, Verdun has a heart and soul that will be nearly impossible to recreate by another game. Simply put, Verdun is well worth your time.

If you liked the fast paced, retro, ultra violent challenges that the first Hotline Miami had to offer then I assume you'll love Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number even more. Hotline Miami 2 comes with a revamped soundtrack that still holds the style of the prequels music and it gets you super pumped at times. The most notable thing about Hotline Miami 2 is the expansion on the game's lore. In the first Hotline Miami the player was left to make inferences and the only real bit of story occurred towards the game's ending. The story in Hotline Miami 2 gives insight on the first game and expands even more and ends up becoming a crazy existential crisis that leaves you feeling like you just got round housed by your own mother, assuming yo momma is fat. In Hotline Miami 2 the story is in depth and takes place over many different characters, locations, and time periods. The levels are also a lot bigger so if you like challenging fast paced game play Hotline Miami 2 delivers even better than it's predecessor. The story in this game is one of the things that kept me motivated to keep playing. Even after all the dying in each level finding out what came next in the story compelled me to keep trying.

A sample of the awesome soundtrack.

If there was anything negative I had to say about Hotline Miami 2 it would be that sometimes the rooms within the level are far too big and cause a lot of stress and anger. But with a cool head you can still enjoy the game.For those of you who are new to Hotline Miami I have one tip for you, and that is to not get angry. Dying is a very big part of this game and there's no health bars. One bullet and one hit can kill you faster than you can say, "What the hell was that?" One more thing that slightly upset me would be that the creators of the game got rid of masks and replaced them with the multiple characters. There is still variety, and even more depth to the game because of the new characters, but it still doesn't have the classic Hotline Miami feel without the multiple masks that added more of a challenge to the game and allowed you to mix up your play style. Another thing that let me down personally is that the main character from Hotline Miami 2's prequel : Jacket is only shown briefly and is not playable.

If you do find yourself looking for more of a challenge you can try out the hard mode that unlocks after you beat the game for the first time. Hard mode adds in extra special enemies, and gives them a better reaction time which is harder to get around than it sounds.  Hard mode also flips each levels layout which makes each level feel refreshed and new. There's also an added secret in hard mode that will put things in perspective. For those of you reading who have played Hotline Miami 2's prequel you should keep your eyes peeled for secrets and Easter Eggs to get more of an insight on the game's story line.

A small peek at the game's play style.

All in all I'd give Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number an 8.5/10  As no other game has made me feel like more of a badass killing machine than this one.

• Shooters: Continually sprays ink as long as the fire button is held down. Comes in several different varieties that have different firing patterns and effects.
• Chargers: Long range weapon that fires further the longer the gun is charged from holding the fire button. Some of these also come with scopes for more accurate aiming.
• Rollers: Paints the ground with ink as you run as long as the fire button is held down. Can also throw ink a short distance in front of you so you can get higher platforms.
• Sloshers: Hurls large quantities of ink in an arcing pattering an average distance in front of you. Can be used like a mortar to aim over barriers that an opponent is hiding behind.
  
• Splatling: A gatling gun type weapon that rapidly fires ink an incredible distance in front of you after a short wind-up period. Not all that effective at spreading ink, but very useful for crowd control.
  

• Splat Bombs: Tetrahedron-shaped ink grenades that explode shortly after landing.
• Burst Bombs: Ink filled water balloons that explode on impact.
• Ink Mines: Explodes when in close proximity to an opponent.
• Disruptors: Hinders the speed and abilities of the affected target.
• Point Sensors: Tags an enemy with a tracking marker for a short time.
• Splash Walls: Acts as a wall and shield that only you and your teammates can pass through unaffected.
• Seekers: Can lock onto a target and chase them down trailing ink of your color behind them.
• Suction Bombs: Works similarly to the Splat Bombs, but can latch onto walls and ceilings with its suction cup.
• Squid Beakons: Gives you up to three one-time-use jump points so you can quickly get back into the fray.
• Sprinklers: Sprays a small area around it with ink until it is destroyed or until a new one is thrown.

• Bomb Rush: Allows you to throw bombs repeatedly without spending ink.
• Bubbler: Activates an impenetrable shield that can be shared with your teammates if they touch you.
• Echolocator: Tags ALL opponents with a tracking marker no matter how far away from each other they are.
• Inkzooka: Powerful rocket-launcher type weapon that fires mini ink tornadoes that plow through multiple targets.
• Killer Wail: Spreads no ink, but obliterates any opponent in a straight line in front of it.
• Kraken: Transforms you into the invincible Kraken which lays ink behind it as it swims and changes its jump into a strong attack.
• Inkstrike: A powerful nuke-like weapon that creates a towering cyclone of ink at wherever you tap on the Gamepad's screen.

• Regular Battles (For Fun)

1. Turf War: The purpose of this game mode is to cover the ground with as much of your own color of ink as possible in three minutes. Any ink sprayed onto walls and any opponents knocked out do not count toward your final score and your win/lose ratio is not recorded at the end of the match. This game mode is also the primary way to gain money for purchasing clothes and weapons, and experience that levels up your currently equipped clothes and your character allowing you to equip higher-leveled weapons.

• Ranked Battles (For Glory)

1. Splat Zones: This game mode is much like a territories match where you and your teammates try to take control of an area (or two) by spraying the enclosed area with ink and keeping control of it until your timer runs out or whoever has the least time left when the match timer runs out. Losing control of a zone to the enemy team adds a penalty timer onto your main one and it must run out before you can start lowering your time again.
2. Tower Control: This game mode is more like King of the Hill, but with a twist. You need to take control of a tower in the center of the map by standing on top of it, but once you gain control of it, it will start to slowly make its way to a location near the opposing team's spawn point. You win once the tower reaches its destination, or whoever got the tower closest when the time runs out.
3. Rainmaker: A Capture the Flag style game mode where you need to free a powerful dragonfish shaped weapon called the Rainmaker from an orb in the center of the map and carry it to a designated platform near the opponent's base. As long as you are carrying the Rainmaker, you cannot super-jump, your running and swimming speed are reduced, and you are visible while swimming. You are also subjected to a sixty second timer in which if you fail to deliver the weapon to the opponent's base before the timer runs out, you will explode in the opponent's ink color. However, you can use the Rainmaker like a stronger, chargeable Inkzooka to help you get to the opponent's base a little more easily. Secondary win conditions are the same as in Tower Control.

Two maps for each mode are only available to play at any one time and are rotated out every four hours according to an online clock that the game pings when connected to the internet. While the Regular Battles are a lot of fun to be had, the Ranked Battles (which can only be played after you reach level 10) are more geared for hardcore players as your rank will go up or down based on your wins and losses. The cash and experience you receive if you win the match is based on your score in the match and much better than in the Regular Battles, but if you happen to lose, you receive absolutely nothing. This game mode would probably best be played after you max out your inkling's level and equipment so you would have less to ultimately lose. Also, once your level reaches 20, you can add more bonus slots to weaker pieces of clothing that you like by talking to Spyke and paying him 30,000 in cash, or with a Super Sea Snail that you can win from Splat Fest.

Overall, Splatoon was a very nice surprise from Nintendo. They don't make many new big-name IP's any more, but when they do, they never seem to fail. Everything about the game is so perfectly polished and well designed. The gameplay is easy to pick up, the music is unique and fun to listen to, the game modes are varied enough that it rarely gets stale, and in order to improve the pacing and to artificially inflate the length of the game, content locked away on the disc (like new weapons and stages) gets released for free at specific dates along the game's lifespan via an online calendar. While this is a bit unorthodox, it is a smart way to keep the game from getting stale early in its life. SO, now I have one final question to ask you.

ARE YOU A KID, OR A SQUID?

But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score:

After the unfortunate cancellation of Rainbow 6: Patriots, many fans worried if there would be complications with their beloved series. Between September 24th and October 4th, fans were able to play a closed beta of Rainbow Six: Siege and give feedback to developer and publisher Ubisoft. The version of the closed beta I got to play was on the Xbox One.

It's important to remember this was only the beta and most of everything shown is subject to change, but how much will exactly change by release has yet to be seen. With that being said, there's an issue with the graphics right off the bat.

Upon booting up the game and getting into a match it's clear that there was pretty noticeable graphical downgrade from the E3 footage. The graphics in the Siege beta weren't bad by any means, but it's still rather unfortunate that they weren't nowhere near as pretty as early footage from E3. Siege runs at 1080p on PS4 and 900p on Xbox One.

In my time with the beta, I never ran into any issues with the graphics and the frame rate remained consistent, for the most part. The graphics were passable but, like I said before, they aren't anything that will blow you away.

Without the support of dedicated servers, the beta for Siege suffers from frequent lag and difficulties joining games. I encountered more error messages and (what felt like) near infinite loading screens than actual game time. This is a serious issue that needs to be fixed by launch.

The gameplay in Siege is where I believe most people will have split opinions on. Hardened Rainbow Six fans that have been following the franchise for a while will probably the miss the more tactical team-based gameplay of previous entries, whereas, newcomers and fans open to innovation will probably be happier with Siege's faster paced action oriented gameplay.

The two multiplayer modes offered in the beta (other than Terrorist hunt) are both Offensive and Defensive modes that are essentially take over a bomb planted by the Defense. It was actually pretty fun playing on defense and barricading the area of the bomb in an effort to keep the Offensive team out.

The problem with this though is that, in most of my game time, players did not care about the bomb and simply only wanted to kill the entire enemy team before they were killed. This especially went with people who didn't use mics.

No matter the player you might be, it is absolutely essential to play with friends that have mics or random people with mics. There is no other way of communication and it's almost a death sentence to play without mics, at least for the offensive team. Defense doesn't necessarily need mics, but it's better with them.

There were actually only 2 times where my team and I distracted the enemy team, stealthily made our way to the bomb, and defused it. I would complain more about the lack of stealth and players wanting to kill everyone rather than going for the objective, but that may be more of a gameplay style for Ghost Recon.

The classes (or in this case, "Operators") were seriously disappointing. In previous Rainbow Six games you could customize your character's individual armor pieces and clothing, but in Siege you don't get to do any of that.

Instead, you choose your Operator (after unlocking them with points), choose which gun you are most likely to use the most (you can change it any time in the menus), and then you get to customize that; that's it. The reasoning behind the absence of character customization is beyond me, but it's still severely disappointing nonetheless.

The variety of guns is about standard in what you'll find in most shooters. You have assault rifles, sub machine guns, shotguns, and handguns. Nothing really stood out to me, besides the shields. The shields can either be your best friend or worst nightmare.

Only a few classes on the Offensive team can use a shield, but all that team needs is one player in a shield class to tip the odds unfairly in their favor. The only way to kill a player using a shield is to shoot them from the side or the back. This makes it easy for them to rush into a room and kill everyone with their handgun and their teammates following behind.

Many walls, windows, floors, and ceilings in the environment are destructible. Creating your own door ways and flanking the enemy is a welcome addition to Rainbow Six; just don't expect the same destructibility of the Battlefield series.

The unique cover system that was found in Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is gone, and now has simplified it to a lean feature. While aiming down the sights, players can click in either left or right stick and lean left or right. It was an interesting feature, but I rarely found myself using it.

As a long time Rainbow Six fan, I have to say that I'm intrigued to see Siege in action at launch. Nothing in the beta really worried me about the overall quality of the game, but there were features in the beta that saddened me by being absent.

If Ubisoft listens to players and fixes the aforementioned problems with Siege, then Siege will have the capability to rival the current FPS giants that have, arguably saturated the market. I wish Ubisoft a good luck in the endeavors.

Stay tuned with us here at novoGamer for future Rainbow Six news.

After mixed fan reactions from Halo 4 and the rocky start to the Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries have released the second entry of Halo's "Reclaimer Saga" in hopes of reigniting the franchise into a new age. Do they succeed? Let's find out.

Developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox One, Halo 5: Guardians was looking to be one of the biggest entries in the Halo series due to the sheer volume of marketing and advertisement. With a seemingly heavier emphasis on story, multiplayer, and gameplay as a whole, what could possibly go wrong?

Fans and newcomers alike will feel right at home with the gameplay, but hardcore Halo fans will be more in for a shock. The controls remain ultimately the same with the except of buttons like crouch and grenades being default mapped to other buttons.

Now, by default, you are able to press the B button and thrust out of harms way. You are also able to sprint and melee boost yourself into an enemy. Keep in mind though, your shields and health don't regenerate while you sprint or use your thrusters.

Remember when I said fans were in for a shock? Well, if you haven't heard already, you now are able to aim down the sights of almost every gun. This definitely does change up gameplay a little bit. It works similarly to how aiming down the sights for the magnum and sniper in previous Halo games did. Once you are shot when looking down the sights, you are forced back out into hip fire. It's just as jarring when it happens as it was before in other Halo games.

Aiming down the sights was something that I, and most veteran Halo fans, were most worried about in fear of Halo taking another step closer to Call of Duty, but it actually works well. On smaller Arena maps you probably won't find yourself using the "smart scope", but on larger Warzone maps you will be constantly using them since players could be entire Arena map sizes away.

This is the most refined Halo gameplay we have ever seen. We can only hope that the gameplay stays as near perfect as it is here for future Halo titles. Further "innovation" to the gameplay may only harm the gameplay as a whole.

Normally, I'd talk about the story before the multiplayer of a game, but this time I wanted to talk about the positives before I get into the negatives; since the negatives are pretty serious.

Halo 5's multiplayer is one of, if not the, best multiplayers in the Halo series. While, not all the modes are in yet, Arena and Warzone are still absolutely fantastic on their own. Almost all the game modes feel fast paced and you always feel on edge since you almost always feel exposed. The absence of beloved game modes like Big Team Battle is a shame, but they should be patched in future updates.

Arena feels like a compilation of Halo's pure, uncut classic 4v4 multiplayer at its finest, whereas Warzone is brand new to Halo and is a very welcome addition. In Warzone, you and your team are dropped on a large map with a list of changing objectives for you and your team to complete before the enemy team does. The goal is to garner more points than the enemy and the first team to reach 1000 wins. Taking over bases and defeating bosses can shift points drastically in the heat of battle. Warzone feels a lot like Planetside 2, but on a much smaller scale.

Halo 5's multiplayer isn't perfect though. Now, there are new features such as REQ cards and REQ points. After leveling up or completing challenges, you get points to buy REQ packs that allow you to use certain weapons and vehicles in Warzone. After completing certain objectives and getting kills in Warzone, you rank up your REQ points to use said guns and vehicle cards. What was wrong with having vehicles scattered around the map and having loadouts? REQ cards just make everything needlessly complicated and sometimes makes Warzone a grinding chore to be able to use certain cards.

Only two Halo multiplayers have ever made me genuinely feel as if I were really a Spartan fighting along side friends. The first was Halo: Reach, and now the second is Halo 5. Warzone especially exasperated this feeling. Another welcome comeback is the return of Spartan armor customization. While, not as deep as Reach, the armor customization is still rather deep. You have the ability to change your Spartan's helmet, armor, and visor color with over 100 options each.

Now here is where things begin falling apart, the story. Where Halo 5 has one of the best multiplayers in the series, it also has one of the worst stories in the series. Promotional material and other advertisements would lead you to believe that Halo 5's story is about Spartan Locke having to hunt down Master Chief for one reason or another, but that isn't it at all.

Without getting into spoilers, it's confusing, but the actual story is Spartan Locke and Master Chief going their own ways to stop a certain villain from continuing to do villainy things. It's that simple, but 343i try to make it needlessly confusing to make it feel deep and force players to become emotionally invested. 343i also completely lie to players by advertising Halo 5 as this "fall of a hero" and "hunter becomes the hunted" story, but it isn't at all that.

Halo 5 features 15 story missions (all playable in co-op) with only 3 of those missions where you play as Master Chief. That's like having a Batman game where you only play as Batman for 20% of the game. This would be excusable if Spartan Locke was a likable character, but he's not. Locke is the same gruff and tough character that we've been playing as in every military shooter since 2005. During Halo 4, you could see that Chief was becoming human again. It would have been nice to see 343i add more to that, but they don't. Instead, 343i seem more focused on trying to force Locke down our throats as the "newer and cooler Master Chief".

I tried my hardest to care about the story, but I found that to be incredibly difficult. Especially because you are almost required to read and watch separate media to understand the story in Halo 5. How Locke and Buck become Spartans and what happened to the Didact aren't explained unless you watch Halo: Nightfall and read the comics. Want to know why Master Chief seems to have a long history with his Blue team? Well, too bad. You have to buy the Deluxe Bundle of Halo 5 to watch "The Fall of Reach" to know all the characters because they aren't fleshed out in the slightest in the game. This was probably the biggest shock to me because Halo has always had great stories and the only prerequisites you needed was to have played through the previous installments.

How long were previous Halo stories? About 8 - 10 hours depending on the difficulty, wouldn't you say? Well, Halo 5's story takes, on average, 5 hours to complete on Normal. That is absolutely unacceptable for a campaign length, let alone a Halo campaign. I played through Guardians on Legendary (the hardest difficulty) solo and managed to complete it in 5 hours 37 minutes, and I was taking my time.

If it's any consolation, Chief's missions are much better laid out with more open levels for flanking and organized co-op take downs. Whereas, Locke's missions are much more linear with little alternate paths to take. But the overall campaign feel of Halo 5 gives me the vibe that 343i were more interested in making a Call of Duty game rather than a Halo game.

Ever notice that solo Marvel movies (solo Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America movies) only exist to set up the next Avengers movie? That is exactly what Halo 5 feels like. Halo 5 seems to be the "filler" game in the Reclaimer Saga to set up Halo 6.

I wish I could talk more about the villain and why it ultimately hurts, not only the story of Halo 5, but the stories of almost every Halo game prior to Guardians, but those would be spoilers and that's a discussion for another time.

Can an amazing multiplayer save a incredibly underwhelming and sub par story? Well, the choice is up to you, but I don't believe it can. Before you say anything, yes, Halo has always been more multiplayer focused, but the story has also always been a strong point of the series. It makes you wonder why 343 Industries seemed to be so proud of the story they created when it's really just a story Bungie could have written in an afternoon on a bad day.

The multiplayer is really what saves Halo 5 as an overall package. 343i were lucky enough to refine Halo's gameplay and craft a multiplayer that is definitely worthy of your time, but at the sacrifice of a good and enjoyably story. If you feel comfortable paying full price for an enjoyable multiplayer experience then, by all means, pick up Halo 5, but if you are a veteran Halo fan and wanted more from the latest entry in this genre defining series, then you may want to hold off.

(Disclaimer: Like before, any and all content that this game's beta contains may be changed or altered in its final release. Please keep this fact in consideration while reading.)

So first of all, what can I say that hasn't already been said? Each of the 70 stages and 9 bosses have their own unique challenge to them witch gradually increase in difficulty as you play. But I did have one major problem with one stage and one stage only: 5-7. Every regular stage before and after it were perfectly fine and a lot of fun when it came to their difficulty relative to where it was placed in the game, but this stage in particular was severely unbalanced. I get that the game is still in beta and is currently being tested for bugs, but when I'm subjected to a bullet hell while avoiding mines AND those thwomp-like enemies for nearly an hour where every other stage took roughly 5 minutes (bosses at no more than 10 minutes), it starts to feel more like a chore. The only other gripe I had with the game is that some of the achievements didn't proc when they were supposed to, but that didn't bother me too much. I've never been big on collecting achievements in games.

Now that one stage didn't ruin my experience of this wonderfully crafted game. It would take a helluva lot more than one bad stage to make me hate a video game; I'm not that petty. So like I said, my overall opinion was largely unchanged. And now that I've beaten the game, I feel that I can properly score this game like I have in every other review I've done. So until next time, I'll be seeing you.

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(Disclaimer: Any and all content that this game's beta contains may be changed or altered in its final release. Please keep this fact in consideration while reading.)

The story is wacky, but simple. A young but passionate baseball player named Sally hits a homerun so hard that the ball speeds through space and crashes into an alien planet so forcefully that it makes a crater upon impact. As such the aliens get pissed and invade earth to exact their revenge. So Sally takes it upon herself to fend off the invaders with her trusty bat and ball. It gives of that early 90's style of creativity that you don't see very much. The story doesn't make much sense, but it doesn't have to as the gameplay is what matters most. I love games like this because the surreal plot makes for some interesting mechanics due to the setting that the story gave it. Most game companies don't seem to grasp this any more.

Now as for the game's controls, they are very responsive and I can't seem to find anything wrong with them. You hit the ball into the blocks and aliens on top half of the screen, you grab power-ups that you can activate at any time to make completing the stage easier, and you can slide along the ground to temporarily become invulnerable to enemy fire. You only get three strikes (HP) before you're out though, but I think that's more than fair considering that the game's challenge scales at a natural pace and you don't fail if the ball ever touches the ground; Instead you just lose the score combo you've built up to that point. I never felt like the game was unfairly difficult in the 5 stages that the beta offered at the time.

Now while there were so few levels in the beta itself, it did offer a level editor which I tried out to a fair extent. Now while it wasn't the most intuitive level editor I've used, I never found myself frustrated on how to use it. It was very easy to learn and placing blocks and enemies was quite painless because the whole system was tile-based. Now I have no idea if sharing levels will be a feature that will be added to it any time in the future, but I sincerely hope that the developers will at least consider it.

Overall, I had a ton of fun with what little was presented to me. The music was extremely well composed and had a Sega-like feel to it, the graphics and spritework was expertly made and was vibrantly colored, and the fact that it's gamepad compatible is just icing on the cake. I was especially impressed by the fact that it was made in Unity as the sheer abundance of crappy Unity-made games makes ones like Aliens Go Home Run! shine as a result. There are a few bugs here and there but due to it still being in its testing phase, that's to be expected. I personally can't wait until the full version of this game is completely finished and released on April 2nd, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

One game that I have not been able to stop playing is Gunjack 2: End of Shift. It's a sequel to the critically acclaimed and best-selling VR shooter Gunjack. It originally was a game that was made for the Oculus in 2015, though now you can get the game for every major VR headset besides Daydream.

The game takes place in what is called the EVE Universe, where you are a turret gunner in the dangerous Outer Ring of New Eden. Though you don't fight for power or for money, you fight just to see another day protecting the Kubera and it's precious cargo.

The reason why I like Gunjack 2 over other VR shooter games I've played is that the game takes advantage of the full capability of Daydream's controller by using the track pad swipe technology to select your load outs. Along with understanding that it's better to not have the option of using "where you look is how you aim." The controls are very fluid and works perfectly for this type of game.

This game is stunning. For a mobile game I think this is one of the best VR experience I've had so far this year. The game makes you feel what it's like to be a turret gunner in this EVE Universe. It uses the 180° game play to its full advantage. You would think all VR shooters would be the same. Though you are sadly mistaken.

Besides a really fun and we'll thought out campaign mode. I have found myself playing the game solely on the games replay factor of daily and weekly challenges. Every day there are three new challenges based on difficulty from easy to hard. I frequently play all three, though the easy challenge at level 13 was the same agonizing hardship you faced on level 2 hard, where you had no load out, you had to kill to keep your health from automatically dropping, and one unshielded hit means you're dead. The challenges are a great way to level up quickly, along with unlocking cool guns and other load outs.

I think the fine folks over at CCP Games did a great job of being their EVE Universe to life with Gunjack 2. You may have passed this game up thinking that no mobile game is worth $12. Well I think I've gotten my $12 worth with just the daily and weekly challenges alone.

Now compared to the first Splatoon, the gameplay is virtually unchanged. There are still many of the same main weapons making a return from the previous iteration, but in this game, two new weapon types make their first appearance: The Dualies, dual wielded pistols that give you the ability to perform a dodge-roll; and the Brella, a combination scattergun and shield which can be launched forward trailing ink behind it. In addition to this some new sub weapons were introduced, but that is nothing when you find out that EVERY special attack from the first game has been replaced with one of many brand new ones. These new specials force the player to think of brand new strategies that were not possible in the first game, and I for one welcome them.

Now when playing online, the stage rotation now updates every 2 hours instead of every 4 allowing for more varied arenas more often. Some stages are updated ones that have returned from the previous game, but most of them are brand new with some special exclusive stages that are only available to play during the game's occasional Spatfests, which are time exclusive parties to see which of 2 selectable teams is better in a themed competition.

When online you can play your normal Turf Wars and Ranked Battles like in the previous installment, but now you have 3 ranks for ranked battles; one for each mode. In addition to this, some elements from the battles have been updated. For instance: In Tower Control, you now have to pass by a certain number of check points before the tower can reach its final destination; and in Rainmaker, the rainmaker itself has been upgraded from being a chargable inkzooka to something more like a grenade launcher. Plus now if you want to play Squad Battles, you now have to have a minimum rank of B- to play them as it has been renamed to League Battles and now has its own unique stage rotation separate from the normal ranked battles.

The real star of the show here though is the game's new hoard mode: Salmon Run. In this game mode you and 3 other players will play cooperatively with a random set of loaned weapons to collect golden power eggs from the mutated salmonids living in the toxic waters just off the coast of Inkopolis. Now unfortunately this game mode can't be played whenever you want as it is on this bafflingly asinine clock where it is only open for about 12 to 24 hours every other day, but when it CAN be played I think I can safely say that this is probably my favorite of the game modes available and the unique rewards that come with it certainly more than make up for it.

Now like the previous game, there is a single-player story campaign. In this story we find out that Splatoon 2 takes place 2 years after the events of the first game. You have been chosen by Marie of the Squid Sisters to help her recover the once again stolen Great Zapfish and rescue her missing cousin Callie, the other half of the Squid Sisters. You will learn the game's basics in this mode and it will progressively become more difficult the further you get into the game, but now you can unlock and use any of the nine main weapon types found in online multiplayer and will also have more than double the number collectibles to find with some of them only found in the hub world.

And finally, the dojo from the previous game (which is was the local multiplayer game mode) has been completely removed in favor of a new local multiplayer mode called The Shoal. Instead of it being where you and one other person compete to see who can pop the most balloons before the time expires, it now is just a simple local wireless or LAN mode where 4-8 players can compete against each other in either a regular combat match, or a game of Salmon Run.

Overall, I love all the new content that was introduced and little improvements that were made here and there. You can now customize your hairstyle and leg-wear, the amiibo make a return as a way to save you loadout preferences, you can now assign specific abilities to equipment (assuming you have enough ability chunks), and I especially like that you can now have the ability to buy bonuses like double money or XP from the newly added food truck in the square. To some, the online mode, AKA the main focus of the game, may feel like "more of the same" but that isn't always bad thing. This game did everything right when it comes to sequels: Fix what was broken, and build upon what was already good. I just hope that some day in the future they remove the limitations from Salmon Run, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

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First off let's recap the lore of the game: Samus is a bounty hunter well known for her heroic exploits against a massive group of interstellar terrorists known as Space Pirates who in turn were most well known for using an alien species known as Metroids as both a bio-weapon and organic energy source. After her climactic battle with them and Mother Brain on the planet Zebes, she became the one the Galactic Federation turned to when things started to become too difficult to control; Think along the lines of a one man SWAT team. After a botched recon mission to the planet SR388 in order to collect a living Metroid sample, the federation concluded that the Metroids were too dangerous to be left alive and called for Samus to commit mass genocide against the entire species. Not overly complicated and just interesting enough to keep your attention.

Now the gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. You have your usual move, jump and shoot actions plus Samus's unique ability to curl into a ball, but in this entry you have three new abilities that alter the feel of the game quite significantly: free aiming in full 360 degrees, a melee counter-attack, and the brand new Aeion abilities. Aeion let Samus perform special skills like revealing breakable blocks or slowing down time. All of these new abilities are just what the series needed to evolve the gameplay of the 2D entries further. Plus once you get the hang of the melee counter, you feel like a real bad-ass, especially against the larger enemies.

As for everything else in this game, it hits all of the marks I was hoping for a remake of game that did not age well. The music is fantastic and captures the atmosphere of the world extremely well, the gameplay and exploration is top notch and incredibly responsive and I love how many classic abilities make a return with brand new functions like the Spider-Spark and Grapple Lasso, and as for the ultimate goal in the game, it is exactly the same as what it was in the original; slay every metroid on the planet. This can range from relatively easy to quite a hefty challenge, but if you're having trouble you can scan a compatible amiibo to give you reserve tanks or the location of the metroid nearest to you.

Overall, I was initially skeptical about Mercury Steam developing a game in one of my favorite game series, especially after the lukewarm reception that Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate got from the fans. But my fears were eased when I played the game to 100% completion as this was probably one of the best 2D Metroid games I've played since I first experienced Super Metroid. Nintendo has successfully revived a series I long thought might be forever dormant and I can't wait for more in the coming years. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

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The narrative of the game is you are Ikk, who is on a journey to cheer up his only friend, Sally who is a giant landbound whale. While being mentored by Death (who supplies you with multitudes of abilities, along with an arsenal of guns, and ammo) you traverse an ever-changing land full of unwieldy creatures who don't appreciate your trespassing or Sally the whale.

The definition of insanity is doing the same exact thing and expecting different results. GoNNER definitely embodies the insane; just like The Binding of Isaac there is no ‚ÄúCareer Mode‚; though there are randomly generated levels that gets progressively harder as you vanquish your enemies one by one.

If you think you're getting the hang of the game, knock yourself down a few pegs as you try the latest daily challenge. I've made it a few levels in on a good day though there are some days that are just ragetastic where I can't even get past the first level. This game will leave you embarrassed, while crying live on twitch to a thousand followers retweeting the clip of you punching your green screen.

If you thought Edmund Mcmillen or Bennett Foddy where the only sadists in the indie game business well meet Ditto; he has been making indie games at his gaming studio Art in Heart for what looks like a good while now. With eight games he self released on itch.io, GoNNER is his first game being released with (Un)publisher Raw Fury getting it to the masses. If this Ditto’s Super Meat Boy or Qwop, I can't wait to see what he follows this amazing piece of art up with which has become one of my new loves and hates.

GoNNER is definitely one of the best indie games on the Nintendo eShop that went under my radar; And from what Raw Fury is putting out, they are the publisher that could be putting out my favorite Indie games for the Switch. 2018 is looking like another great year for the small developers making great games.

When I boot up the game, I first noticed something that completely threw me off; The "confirm" and "cancel" buttons, which on most controllers is normally "A" and "B" respectively, were swapped. This small detail (even though I could fix it in the options) made me realize that this was not going to be good. The loading times are absolutely abysmal as well. As you all know, this game was in development for three years. Any game that was being worked on for that freaking long should not have loading screens that last for 15-20 seconds, even if it is just so the game can respawn you at your last checkpoint. However the gameplay itself was at least pretty good. It had that simplistic style that you would expect from a Mega Man successor, but with a few things added, such as dashing and the "Xel" mechanic (pronounced cell), to give it a more modern feel. The story wasn't too bad either and I liked the personalities of the other Mighty Numbers, especially Mighty No 6. They gave the game some much needed personality.

How it looked and sounded was an entirely different beast altogether. The stage designs were pretty basic; not exactly bad, but not all that impressive either. The enemy designs were also okay, but they didn't really leave an impression on me. Also, I believe this should be brought to attention; in the Mining Facility stage when you are being chased by the gigantic drill, the FPS drops to an astoundingly horrendous 3-4FPS until I got to the next section. This one instance I encountered is absolutely inexcusable considering the length of the game's development cycle. Another thing I ran into that completely ruined the immersion for me happened in the DLC stage where a piece of the game's script wasn't properly replaced. I wish I could comment on the music though; even at it's maximum volume it was much too quiet for me to hear. This game's lack of polish is so disappointing, and the fact that this game got over $4 Million and it didn't even fulfill all of its stretch goals is a disgrace to the series it was trying to emulate.

Now the extras are a bit of an odd case. Because I purchased the physical version, it came with the Ray DLC and a small artbook. The artbook is nice, but it's pretty short. The Ray DLC adds a new stage for Beck, and a new playable character that has her own unique play style that is VERY different from the main campaign. This is all well and good, but the difficulty of the game was already unfair enough without the additional challenge that playing as Ray provides. The extra challenge missions are also nice, but ultimately they don't really add much as the game can be finished in roughly two hours; the credits alone are almost twice that length! I didn't even bother with the online race challenge and the online leader boards are really unnecessary for a game of this type.

Overall this game had a lot potential and I had fun when the game worked, but unless Comcept ever decides to goes back in and fix every glaring problem it has, I seriously doubt that this game will ever live up to the legacy that is Mega Man. This "Better than nothing" stuff that everyone is saying is just us lying to ourselves. Comcept, AND Inafune, have a lot to learn if they ever intend to make more games any time in the future. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

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But as always, if you're pressed for time I'll recap the news to the best of my ability. So let's get started.

• First they showed off that the arms that the player can equip have different weights that affect how they work in battle. I.E. heavier arms move more slowly, but pack more of a wallop whereas lighter arms are weak, but travel quickly. In addition each arm also have different attributes that activate when fully charged like Fire, Ice, or Electricity.
• Next they showed off the ten fighters that will be in the game revealing three new fighters in the process: Kid Cobra, an athletic snake-like fighter; Byte & Barq, a robotic cop with a robodog teammate; and Twintelle, a movie star who's hair does the fighting for her.
• The Versus game modes were shown off being a standard Fight, a 2-on-2 mode where you're tethered to your teammate, V-Ball which is volleyball with a twist, Hoops in which you grab your opponent and dunk them into the basketball hoop for points, Skillshot which is basically a shooting range type affair, and an arcade-like 1-on-100 mode where you're pitted against an army of weaker opponents one after the other.
• In order to get more arms to use in battle, you spend your fight winnings on the Arms Getter which is like a sideways crane game mixed in with the Skillshot game that was mentioned before. Duplicate arms collected are greater in strength than the previous ones you collected.
• The other modes were shown off next being Grand Prix, a single-player ladder climb that is a staple to many fighting games, Party Match an online mode for the game for up to 20 players per lobby (or 8 per lobby for local multiplayer), and Ranked Matches where you fight 1-on-1 online for glory.
• In addition to the content that was revealed right now, it was also confirmed that the game would be getting new fighters, stages, and arms as free updates throughout the life of the game.
• And finally, from May 26-28 and June 2-4 a free demo of the game will be available to try from the Switch eShop called the ARMS Global Testpunch.

That was all the info that was announced for ARMS, but the video didn't end there. As a surprise addition to the end of the Direct, brand new info for the single-player campaign for Splatoon 2 was revealed. Marie of The Squid Sisters appears to be the person you talk to do the missions and it appears that Sheldon of Ammo Knights from the first game supplies you with new weapons to be used against some of the new enemy types. Not much else was shown off besides a piece of art promoting the single player story. So until then, I'll be seeing you.