Helldivers, ready yourselves: a new expansion launches in just over a week that will take the fight to the Terminids. Get ready to spread democracy to these insect-infested hive worlds. Into the Unjust launches September 2 and throws players into uncharted territories, executing missions on Terminid home planets where the bugs have the advantage.
Some missions will send squads deep underground where the Super Destroyer can’t support them, and that means Strategems won’t be nearly as effective, and redeployments will be limited. These missions will up the difficulty, but things aren’t much easier on the surface.
New enemies like the Dragonroach pose a threat from the skies, and there are other, even more powerful enemies waiting to be discovered. Some foes can burrow underground and launch surprise attacks, so don’t assume you’re safe just because you don’t see anything. That’s how they get you.
Of course, the expansion comes with the new Dust Devils Warbond, and that means brand-new weapons to help exterminate the bugs. First up is the AR-2 Coyote, an assault rifle that sets enemies ablaze. The G-7 Pineapple frag grenade is perfect for wiping out clusters of bugs at once, while the S-11 Speargun fires a sturdy projectile that releases poisonous gas on impact.
There’s also the EAT-700 Expendable Napalm, a single-use missile that releases cluster bombs, and the MS-11 Solo Silo that puts all the power of a Hellpod in the hands of a Helldiver.
The missions start on September 2, but the Dust Devils Warbond follows two days later on September 4.
The timing is perfect. With Helldivers’ ranks getting a fresh infusion with Xbox players starting today, the recruits will have just enough time to get the hang of their weapons before throwing themselves into the meat grinder. Just remember: even if you fall, every death is a sacrifice in the name of spreading democracy.
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.