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Call of Duty Season 2 Reloaded update brings new maps, modes

Call of Duty Season 2 Reloaded is bringing tons of additional content to Vanguard and Warzone.

Activision announced via the official Call of Duty blog that Season 2 Reloaded will add a lot of content to Call of Duty: Vanguard and Warzone. This content is coming in the form of various multiplayer modes, new maps, map updates, fresh weapons, and a guest appearance from Snoop Dogg.

This new update gives Warzone’s Rebirth Island what is claimed to be “The biggest map update since the original release,” and it’s dubbed Rebirth Island Reinforced. The update significantly alters areas of the map like Stronghold and adds a new area known as Dock.

Warzone is also getting three new modes called Payload, Blood Money, and a new Resurgence Solos mode that will be featured in the weekly playlists. The update will also add Weapon Trade Stations, where players can swap their guns for other weapons.

On the Vanguard side of things, a 12-versus-12 mode based in the snowy Alps is on the way. Players will also be able to ride around with their allies in new vehicles such as motorcycles, CD12 transport vehicles, and tanks. Also, Treyarch “is set to introduce Critical Expertise and Explosives Expert Covenants, plus additional updates for Vanguard Zombies,” though not as many details were revealed about those additions.

These announcements trail the big reveal that players will have a chance to play as Snoop Dogg himself in both Vanguard and Warzone. Players will be able to unlock the current owner of Death Row Records through the Snoop Dogg Operator Bundle, which will launch at 10 a.m. PT on April 19. Snoop Dogg is also coming to Call of Duty: Mobile through a lucky drop available on April 1.

Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.

Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.

Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.

Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.

Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.