The new season of Fortnite has officially launched, and the battle royale mode has received a mech vehicle that’s sure to cause headaches for unsuspecting players. Not only will you have to deal with the driver, but also a passenger armed with powerful missiles.
First off, what Epic Games is dubbing “the B.R.U.T.E. vehicle” is available in battle royale mode. The driver controls the movement of the vehicle, while the passenger is responsible for taking out targets using a missile launcher and shotgun. It’s designed for two people to use simultaneously, but you can also operate it on your own if you’re comfortable swapping between the two positions on the fly. The missile launcher is particularly devastating, shooting a salvo of 10 missiles at once, and you can use an overshield to temporarily protect against incoming attacks.
As the driver, you actually aren’t completely defenseless, though. You can step on enemies and structures below you, instantly harvesting materials from things you destroy. You can also use a dash maneuver and a “super jump,” so you won’t be a sitting duck for players hoping to get a few easy explosive kills.
The mech has already been met with its detractors, however, who have called the suit overpowered and believe it threatens the balance of the game. Reddit threads have popped up, bemoaning the decision to include both the shotgun and the missile launcher, and for offering the vehicle in competitive modes. Knowing Epic Games, changes could come quickly to appease those who are upset, perhaps at least in terms of removing them from competitive play. Others even suggested only putting it in a limited-time mode.
Several weapons have been vaulted for Season X, as well. These include the Baller, Quad Crasher, Flint Knock Pistol, Shadow Bomb, Semi-Auto Sniper, Tactical Assault Rifle, Mounted Turret, and Air Strike. We certainly hope you weren’t relying on one or two of those to carry yourself to victory.
The fabric of space and time itself has also been disrupted on the island. New “Rift Zones” are available, offering access to areas that were previously lost. Epic Games hinted that the world could continue to change by the day, so you are encouraged to play continuously in order to see everything that’s hidden.
Season X includes more than 100 rewards in its Battle Pass, which still costs 950 V-Bucks. Once you reach the 100 tier, you will get the Ultimate Knight Outfit, and Epic Games is also giving you the ability to gift the Battle Pass to a friend until August 15. You’ll need a good teammate to use the B.R.U.T.E. effectively, after all!
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.