Fortnite season 2 is finally here, and battle royale will never be the same. After the longest season in battle royale history, Epic Games released the most anticipated update yet for the game. Players can now enjoy this massive new offering, complete with a new battle pass to unlock, skins to equip, and an official collaboration with Deadpool.
The theme of season two is “Top Secret”, as teased recently. It’s not literally a secret, though; that’s just the name of the season. As part of the theme, players can pick a side between Ghost or Shadow and the new secret agent skins will be affected by that. From a skin that is quite unabashedly a very buff cat man to the long-awaited return of Peely, but with a snazzy tuxedo suit.
The theme of secret agents is all over the season 2 island, with new locations such as The Agency taking up residence in the middle of the map. There, players will find a helipad that hints at a new vehicle later this season and plenty of treasure chests. There is also a hidden shark base that leads underground with unfamiliar areas to explore.
The lore of season 2 has two agencies battling it out against one another: Ghost and Shadow. Players can pick a side between the two side by pledging allegiance with their skins earned in the new battle pass. All but one skin in the battle pass — more on that one in a moment — have a neutral form along with Ghost and Shadow versions.
For the most part, the Ghost version will be a lighter variant while the Shadow one will be darker. In the case of swole cat Meowscles, he can be a tabby, white, or black cat. Players can even unlock an official Deadpool skin over the course of season two. The options are great in this Top Secret season but none more so than Maya.
Maya is the first skin you will unlock if you purchase the premium battle pass in the game. She is unlike any other skin in Fortnite to date, due to the sheer possibility of customizing her. There is a new challenge every week for unlocking new options for tailoring her to your liking, such as hairstyle, color, and more.
The catch is that each decision you make is permanent so that your Maya is wholly unique compared to someone else’s. Epic Games claims there are 3.8 million different combinations you could make.
A new season of battle royale wouldn’t be complete without some new and returning weapons to use in your arsenal. Players can use the boom bow to explode enemies with arrows, C4 explosives to catch players off guard, and the Drum Gun to deal quick damage.
There is a new mechanic as well in Shakedowns. One problem with fighting in this game is that you won’t always know where every enemy is. While you might take out one party member, the rest of the team could be hiding somewhere else and get the drop on you. Shakedowns allow you to pick up a downed enemy and get the location of their still living teammates.
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.