Destiny 2 is one of the best shooters to release in 2017, and if you’re like us, you’ve already sunk dozens of hours into its campaign, competitive multiplayer, and cooperative missions. However, for those who haven’t suited up their Guardian quite yet, a free trial might change your mind.
Starting Tuesday, November 28, Bungie and Activision are releasing a free trial version of Destiny 2 for all available platforms. In this version of the game, players can explore two of the game’s destinations: the European Dead Zone on Earth and the moon Titan. Within these two destinations, they can access campaign missions and adventures.
Trial players can also access the Farm social space and take part in competitive multiplayer matches in the Crucible. Multiplayer is restricted to quickplay playlists during the free trial, but players can still join a clan and earn clan experience. Progressions in the free trial of Destiny 2 is capped at level 7, but players can carry over their progress to the full game when it is purchased.
Speculation of a free trial began when keen-eyed Destiny 2 players spotted an in-game emblem called “Mentor of Light” last week. In order to use it, one must “guide a trial player.” At the time, there was no trial available in Destiny 2.
This free trial works in Destiny 2‘s favor, as the game’s character progression could draw someone in after only playing for a day or two. The original game also had a free trial, but there has been a much more positive critical reception for the sequel.
The first paid expansion for the game, Curse of Osiris, is scheduled to launch on December 5. The expansion includes eight new missions taking place in a simulated region called the “Infinite Forest,” and it will include a remixed version of the Leviathan raid from the base game as well as new competitive and cooperative content. It’s available for free to those who bought the expansion pass. The second unnamed expansion is scheduled to launch next spring, and if Bungie’s release schedule resembles the first game, it’s likely we will get another major expansion next autumn.
Destiny 2 is available now for Buy Now , Buy Now , and Buy Now .
Update: The body and title have been adjusted to reflect the official announcement from Bungie and Activision.
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.