Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

After Fallout 76 launched early, it did fall down (76). In the wee hours of today, following its ‘official’ launch at midnight worldwide, Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic multiplayer sandbox experienced a bit of server meltdown, causing disconnection problems for some players. Oh sure, maybe you can survive the irradiated wastelands and the griefers trying to nuke your base, but you can’t run from technical issues. Thankfully, Bethesda say the problem was corrected and it ssshould now be running smoothly. But you, player dear, if you want to tweak things like the field of view angle and depth of field effect, you’ll need to get your hands dirty yourself.

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NieR:Automata™ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Nic Rueben)

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Warning: Contains spoilers.>

The first robot to be built in Japan, in 1929, was named Gakutensoku, meaning learning from the laws of nature . Its creator, biologist Makoto Nishimura, would later say of his mechanical progeny: If one considers humans as the children of nature, artificial humans created by the hand of man are thus nature s grandchildren. The robot was unveiled at Emperor Hirohito s ascension ceremony and later taken on tour. At one show was novelist Hiroshi Aramata, who wrote that when the machine shook its head it was as if to express the agony of creation.

To the android 9S , when we first meet him in Nier: Automata, such agony would be unthinkable.

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FlatOut - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

THQ Nordic have gobbled up yet more studios, today announcing they’ve bought Bugbear Entertainment and Coffee Stain Studios. Bugbear are the smash-happy Finnish studio behind racing games including Wreckfest and the first three FlatOuts, while Coffee Stain made FPS tower defence series Sanctum and wack ’em up Goat Simulator as well as publishing games including Deep Rock Galatic. It sounds like they broadly plan to have the studios continue to do their things, with Bugbear making roughhousing racers and Coffee Stain both making and publishing games.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Ewan Wilson)

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It has become increasingly difficult to play games that aren t about the end of the world. The apocalypse and its chaotic aftermath has grown into a collective obsession. We seem to have a cultural fascination, desire, perhaps even lust, to see things burn, violently breaking with the past. Even games that weren t originally about living in the end times, like Minecraft, have been twisted into apocalyptic shapes.

Minecraft s 2b2t server is notorious for its unprecedented levels of destruction (and for its offensiveness). It offers players a neverending sandbox that s existed for almost five years, with no rules . That s half a decade of Armageddon. This is gaming s ultimate badlands, a fiery place of eternal apocalypse where the bombs are other people.

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Fallout 4 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dave Irwin)

Appalachia is still a lovely place to pitch up a tent and take in some breathtaking views, but in Fallout 76, it’s not at its best. After all, it did just have nuclear bombs explode in its vicinity, much like the rest of America. Still, you have to make do, and your handy tool for all your building needs is the “C.A.M.P.” or the “Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform”. This allows you to make your base of operations, as long as it’s on a flat surface and not anywhere near established buildings. Some locations however are much better than others, so this guide will show you how to move your CAMP in a time of crisis, as well as the essential buildings you should make to get started. (more…)

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice Bell)

After our end of the world festivities, we at RPS have counted our living. I have wired Brendy’s head into the workings of a fun retro robot, Alice O has presumably taken to the high seas like in Waterworld, and we are roasting Matt Cox’s limbs for sustenance while he’s on a press trip and can’t complain about it. Break open the spam, because it’s time for a Post-Apocalypse party! Thank goodness we prepared some more themed articles, just in case. We’ve always been optimistic types.

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HITMAN™ 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (James Pickard)

The Isle of Sg il is the sixth and final mission in Hitman 2, sending Agent 47 to a remote island in the North Atlantic where a gathering of the global elite is being hosted by The Ark Society. This is the stage where IO Interactive goes full Illuminati confirmed; followers in ridiculous attire performing cultist rituals to bring about a new age of existence, and secret meetings between the world s biggest players to decide the fate of all of us. It is frankly ludicrous, but it also makes for one heightened finale. You may start as a lowly guest at the event, but our Hitman 2 Isle of Sg il guide will help you rise to the top.

Hitman 2 Isle of Sg il walkthrough

If you are just starting out, you might want to familiarise yourself with some tips on starting load-outs how to be an effective assassin in our [cms-block] hub. But for everything else associated with the mission in the Isle of Sg il, read on.

In “The Ark Society” mission, your objective is to eliminate Zoe and Sophia Washington: Two sisters who have quickly risen to the top of the Providence organisation. The young operatives have lived the life of pampered socialites thanks to their family s money, which makes their ascension to the top of an uber-elite secret society nepotism at its absolute peak. Once they re dealt with, you also have the optional objective of assisting in the extraction of the Constant the current leader of Providence. Something I would recommend you do.

The Isle of Sg il itself is more-or-less taken up completely by an ancient castle that The Ark Society has converted into their own massive headquarters/event space. It s spread across multiple floors and requires you to be of an increasingly higher standing to make it onto subsequent floors without being harangued by the guards or simply shot. It means the level relies extremely heavily on disguises if you want to make stress free progress. See something that looks fancier than what you currently have? You want that.

As you slowly move through the castle, you ll find various places where you can bump into both Zoe or Sophia. There will also be a number of scheduled events you can crash to make your assassination attempt. Considering the status you need to be on each floor, each area is severely gated, so your access to certain opportunities is limited by the clothes you re wearing. You might also bump into the Constant every so often. Make sure he comes to no harm at least until you ve extracted him later.

Isle of Sg il targets: Zoe Washington, Sophia Washington

The first sister, Zoe, appears to be the flamboyant show-woman of the pair and so you can end her life in a couple of glorious misadventures. The standout possibility is during a ritual she plans to partake in that will involve setting an effigy on fire with her inside. If you re the one doing the final checks to make sure a trap door opens below for her to escape, she might go up in flames with the statue. You can also take a more direct approach and fire a cannon yes, a cannon at her while she s inside.

Zoe also enjoys getting involved in the recruitment process for Ark Society members. You can try and weasel your way into the group by collecting 10 commemorative tokens hidden around the castle. Present them to Zoe and she ll take you to a one-on-one interrogation featuring a lie detector and electroshock machine. Perhaps she ll be the one in for a shock.

On the other hand, Sophie Washington appears to be the dealer and negotiator of the two. She s found in the upper floors of the castle, mostly trying to broker an agreement between important council members of The Ark Society. Only one person is disagreeing with the current motion and causing unnecessary delays. You can make things tenser by disguising yourself as the dissident and shouting down her ideas again. Sophie will show a darker side and threaten you with torture in an iron maiden, but you can shove her inside first before you run to the hills (Sorry).

Meanwhile, a rare Aztec necklace is on display in the Gallery of the castle. If you can steal it, you can show it off to Sophia more up close and personal, but she might find it fits a little too tightly around her neck. You should also keep in mind that you are on an island in the middle of the ocean with a vast castle that stretches up many floors. Someone could accidentally take a tumble off the edge at any time.

How to extract the Constant from the Isle of Sg il

This is an optional objective once you ve assassinated Zoe and Sophia Washington, but something you ll want to do if you re a completionist. Undoubtedly the easiest way to extract the Constant is to acquire one of the killswitches to an explosive device in his neck. One is held by Zoe and the other is held by Sophia. You can pick it up from their bodies if you kill either one in a place where you can frisk them afterwards, enabling you to coerce the Constant to follow you all the way to the extraction point. He ll painfully monologue all the way down to the pier, but it gets the job done.

Isle of Sg il points of interest

Lower Courtyard – This is a big open area you ll reach after making your way up from the starting point at the pier. The main crowd are gathered here waiting to head up to watch Zoe s rebirth ceremony, so you can grab a drink with them and listen to some music while you wait.

Stronghold Showroom – On the left side opposite the stage in the Lower Courtyard is a showroom for one of the cult s apocalypse bunkers. This fancy underground box will set you back a cool $99 million for the privilege, but you ll only want the tour to get the commemorative coin inside.

Patron s Lounge – On the right side opposite the stage in the Lower Courtyard is a small lounge where some guests are chatting. You can overhear a discussion about an initiation ritual, which will put you on your way towards completing the Finals Club mission story.

Upper Courtyard – These grounds will host Zoe Washington s fiery rebirth ceremony. You ll know you re there when you see the giant Wicker Man-esque statue. You can force your way through the crowds to find a hidden entrance to the rest of the castle. Better yet, hang a left immediately after you reach the top of the ramp to sneak around the back where you can start the A Phoenix from the Ashes mission story and tinker with the statue s safety hatch.

Chapel – This section of the castle is off-limits unless you re well disguised. You ll need to go up here to find the Master of Ceremonies, as well as the CCTV hub if you need to erase any security footage.

Gallery – After you pass through the VIP area at the back of the Upper Courtyard you ll reach the Gallery, which is showing off some of The Ark Society s rarest art and relics. You might be able to spot the Mona Lisa, but the most important one is the Aztec necklace in the centre as it plays a vital part in the It Belongs In A Museum mission story if you re brave and clever enough to steal it.

Architect s Lounge – Further up in the castle is this more exclusive lounge for the organisation s more esteemed members. There s not much exciting to see or do here outside of another security room and a handful of new disguise possibilities to get you further up the castle. Sophia Washington often walks through this area too.

Conclave – Where the elusive members of The Ark Society council meet. Naturally, they all sit around in a circle in some fancy chairs and sip champagne while deciding the fate of the world. Good luck trying to get in here without a disguise, but when you do it s especially fun if you can clothe yourself as one of the council members to disrupt their votes.

Penthouse – Right at the top of the castle. The Washington s glass penthouse is rather minimalist, offering little more than a fancy table and chairs and some decorative suits of armour. Oh, and there s an imposing iron maiden torture device too. What possible use could Agent 47 have for that?

Isle of Sg il disguises

Initiate – Sitting at the bottom rung of the ladder in The Ark Society are the wannabe initiates. You can find one of them wandering the Lower Courtyard, but the easiest disguise to obtain is in the far corner of the Upper Courtyard. The wearer here will often wander away from the crowds where you can take him out easily.

Custodian – A pair of custodians are working below the giant effigy in the Upper Courtyard. Sneak into their room by making an immediate left as you reach the Upper Courtyard and slip through the window. You can distract one by turning off the generator, subdue them both, hide them in the nearby container and pick up your new duds.

Master of Ceremonies – You ll find him panicking in The Chapel about his role in the ceremony. Get yourself up there, steal his schedule on the table and he ll go into even more of a state as he tries to find it. Then you ll be able to take him out quietly and slip into his ridiculous outfit.

Ark Member – There s many of these around but the easiest to get is in the VIP area above the Upper Courtyard. Down at the far end on the ramparts, you ll find one alone right in front of the container to hide his body in after you ve taken the disguise.

Event staff – On the second floor of the Memorial Room to the right of the Gallery you ll find an event staff member guarding a fairly innocuous door. If you lure him inside by activating the hoover you can steal his uniform.

Castle staff – Continue out onto the balcony from where you can steal the event staff disguise and you can climb a beam to the floor above. If you deactivate the fuse box on that higher balcony, a member of the castle staff will come and investigate. Subdue them and take the disguise, though don t forget to flip the fuses back on or someone else will investigate the area.

Jebediah Block – You can find him on the roof of the Armoury under heavy guard and pacing with rage. Some exceptional timing needed to get this one easily. You ll need to distract one guard with the generator as Block and a second guard moves away from his wine glass. When there s a gap, slip some poison into the glass and move back into cover. When Block has a drink, he ll go to the edge of the roof and spew forth where you can subdue him and take the disguise. Phew!

Isle of Sg il items

Rat poison – There s some under the effigy in the custodian s control room, or you can find some casually lying on the table in the VIP lounge.

Cannonball – You can find one in the corner of the lower level of The Chapel where two guards are patrolling. It s by a huge hole in the wall. You can use Instincts to make it easier to see.

Castle master key – This is way up in the Penthouse. Find it sitting on the table.

Killswitch – Both sisters hold one of these detonators for the tiny bomb inside The Constant. If you kill either of them, they ll drop it and you can use it to encourage him to follow you off the island without a fight.

Commemorative coins – There are 30 of these hidden across the island and in the pockets of various attendees.

Aztec necklace – Found in the centre of the Gallery under very heavy security. You ll need to deactivate the alarms, clear the room and break through the glass case to get it out.

Hitman 2 Isle of Sg il tips

  • Disguises are vitally important for making your way further up into the castle. The higher you go, the higher the status you need to represent in order not to be shot on sight, so always have an eye out for an easy mark who has some fancier robes you can nick.
  • If you really want to go in your suit, make sure you take advantage of the crumbling architecture and exterior walls for places to clamber up or slip through. You can reach some surprising heights from these treacherous paths alone.
  • As the building is so ancient, there are lots of small peepholes you can use to get vision on some of the castle s more restricted areas.
  • Consider each area of the castle as its own mini sandbox. It’s made pretty clear which parts you have access to, so look for alternative paths up or if you can disguise yourself better to make progress
  • Unless you’re with Sophia Washington, you’ll have to be frisked to reach some areas of the castle, so make sure all illegal items are stashed or dropped before you follow her.

You’ve done it – you’ve completed Hitman 2. Congratulations! Now all that’s left to do is replay the previous levels, including the previous level [cms-block], looking for interesting new ways to assassinate your targets or complete some of the game’s more obscure challenges. Wait, would you look at that, I’ve been doing the very same thing myself and you can find everything I’ve discovered so far in our [cms-block] if you’re looking for a few tips or ideas.

Elegy for a Dead World - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Giada Zavarise)

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Elegy for a Dead World is what happens when a story starts too late. When no hero appears to defeat the evil aliens, to assassinate the corrupted president, to warn the world about the impending natural catastrophe. All that remains is silence, ruins, and a morbid curiosity to know how it all went down. The game lets you walk through the ruins of three different planets, but you can’t interact with the environment in any way. Those worlds are already dead: no NPCs to rescue, no quests to complete, no monsters to kill. There s nothing to do but write about what you see. You can go freeform, and write whatever (and whenever) you want. Or you can choose a starting prompt, and let the game fill the ruins with phrases to tweak and complete. After completing your tale, it gives you options to share it. You can publish it within the game itself, or export it to a web page.

Or you could write it up for RPS, I guess.

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The Flame in the Flood - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice Bell)

>I really really really> like The Flame In The Flood. I am terrible at it, rarely reaching even the mid stage of the river, but I love it. The flood of the title is one that has swept through America, swelling the banks of a regular river until it s a wide and treacherous one. Only small islands of safety are left – an old fish bait shop, a homestead, a patch of wilderness – and they re not even always safe. Sometimes there s a big angry boar or a starving wolf.

The flame is you. And your little dog.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

Overwatch‘s latest diabolical duo – bandit queen Ashe and her mechanised manservant Bob – have sailed through public testing with ease, and are now live on the regular servers for the game. While there’s still two weeks until they’ll allow them into competitive, ranked play, they’re available for use in every other mode right now. She’s a mid-range precision damage-dealer with a powerful grenade attack and a shotgun that lets her rocket-jump or push enemies off ledges. He’s a summon-type ultimate that also counts as an extra team member. Together, they do crimes.

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