Written by Mary Joaquin
Welcome to the Weekly Round-Up!
Every week, we cover the latest in the gaming world. The future looks bright for triple-A titles with BioWare’s Mass Effect remaster and Ubisoft’s new season announcements.
Honoring beloved classics came the weekdays with Prodeus’s Doom-like gameplay, Yakuza: Like a Dragon releasing on more platforms, and Hitman’s 20th anniversary. Building more hype for future releases are Arkane with Deathloop’s confirmed release and Stardew Valley’s near-complete update.
Let’s get right into it!
On Saturday, Nov 7, BioWare announced the remaster of the Mass Effect trilogy on N7 Day 2020.
Officially titled Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the bundle is strictly a remaster, as to “modernize the experience”, according to a post by Casey Hudson, VP and Studio GM of BioWare.
“Having the opportunity to remaster the trilogy means that the fruits of a decade of our work will live on, and will be experienced better and clearer than ever before,” she added.
The bundle consists of all original content and DLCs with bonus equipment and will be playable on Xbox One, PS4, PC, with additional improvements on Xbox Series X and PS5.
It is slated for a Spring 2021 release.
On Sunday, Nov 8, Ubisoft revealed details on Operation Neon Dawn, Rainbow Six Siege’s Year 5 fourth season.
The new update will introduce a new Defender, Aruni, equipped with a Surya Gate gadget, and a P10 Roni submachine gun or MK 14 EBR marksman rifle as primary weapons and a PRB92 sidearm.
Operation Neon Dawn also features a reworked Skyscraper map and updates to select characters’ gadgets.
According to Eurogamer, it will also bring new accessibility features such as Voice to Text and Text to Voice in its chat channel, and game help such as Narration and Hints.
On Monday, Nov 9, Prodeus released on Steam Early Access.
The FPS game features a unique art-style—a combination of 3D art and retro rendering—and the classic shooter game’s visual effects and blood and dismemberment system.
“This is the Boomer Shooter you’ve been waiting for,” reads its description.
Prodeus will be on Early Access for up to a year, with a playable 3-5 hour single-player campaign and level editor where one can share their maps in the game’s community workshop.
TechRaptor has lauded the game in its review, calling it “a better Doom than Doom”.
BONUS NEWS: EGD Collective was first formed on this day four years ago. Happy anniversary, EGD!
On Tuesday, Nov 10, Yakuza: Like a Dragon released worldwide on additional platforms.
Previously released exclusively in Japan last Jan 16 on PS4, Like A Dragon is the first to not feature the previous titles’ lead character, Kazuma Kiryu, the game introduces Ichiban Kasuga.
Plagued by a false accusation and a betrayal, Ichiban goes on a journey to become a hero alongside other outcasts, such as a rogue cop, homeless ex-nurse, and a hostess on a mission.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is available on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam, with a PS5 release planned Mar 2 2021.
On Wednesday, Nov 11, Hitman celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Announcing the milestone in a blog post, IO Interactive also revealed that the franchise has amassed 70 million lifetime players from its seven game titles.
“We are honoured to have such a strong community of players, fans and partners that have helped us to continue making games, building on Agent 47’s legacy and providing hours and hours of enjoyment in the last 20 years,” says the commemoration post.
IO Interactive also promised to share more about the upcoming Hitman 3 releasing late January 2021 in the following months.
On Thursday, Nov 12, Deathloop confirmed its May 21 2021 release date.
Originally planned for a holiday 2020 release, the new date was leaked the day before by a New Zealand PS Store listing. Developer Arkane Studios cited its new work-from-home adjustments as the reason for its delay back in August.
The FPS shooter will launch in May for the PS5 and PC, with GamesRadar+ noting that there has been no word yet on other platforms since Microsoft bought Bethesda earlier this year.
According to Eurogamer, Microsoft will uphold prior established deals but will be handled on a case-by-case basis for future releases.
On Friday, Nov 13, ConcernedApe announced that Stardew Valley’s 1.5 update is in its “home stretch”.
“...It’s a very big update so there is a lot of polishing and bug fixing necessary so there is a lot of polishing and bug fixing necessary to make sure it’s ready,” said Eric Barone on Twitter.
According to GamesRadar+, the update has been highly anticipated by players as it had been confirmed back in October that split-screen co-op will be included.
A timeframe for its release has not yet been specified.
EGD’s Weekly Round-Up gives a quick look into the newest in the games industry. From triple-A games and indie titles to events and gamer tech, the Weekly Round-Up covers all and more every week. Join the EGD Community Server to discuss the latest news!