Square Enix’s E3 2019 showcase was dominated by a lot of familiar faces, but a couple new games were shown as well. One of those fresh reveals was Outriders, an original game from People Can Fly, the studio behind Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgement. Outriders is a sci-fi shooter that will feature online co-op gameplay for up to three players.
People Can Fly has co-developed a collection of games, including several based on an existing property, but Outriders represents a fresh departure described as “the game we have been wanting to make for years” by Studio Head Sebastian Wojciechowski. Outriders presents an opportunity for the game studio to blaze its own path.
Studio Head Sebastian Wojciechowski took the stage after the cinematic trailer, stating that players will learn more about Outriders this winter, before the game’s summer 2020 release. The developer video that followed featured multiple members of the People Can Fly staff discussing the studio’s capabilities and excitement regarding the development of Outriders. The shooter will stand out from Square Enix’s typical library of games, but will have a tougher road ahead when it releases into an industry ripe with multiplayer shooters. Being entirely dedicated to co-op gives it a strong opportunity to do so, though.
Extremely brief glimpses of Outriders seen in the developer video portray a third-person shooter perspective, monstrous creatures, and weapons with a post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Players will create their characters and set out into the world in search of a mysterious signal. Characters in the cinematic trailer also used special powers in addition to fighting enemies with guns, so players may be improving various skills in addition to gathering different weapons throughout the co-op shooter’s campaign. Outriders will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Based on the limited information shared, Outriders sounds similar to Gunfire Games’ Remnant: From The Ashes. People Can Fly’s game Bulletstorm is highly regarded for its action and intense gunplay, so Outriders should supply players with some quality combat when it releases in 2020.
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.