Microsoft is hoping to entice gamers with a hot new deal on the company’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service and there are some upcoming new additions to the library that sweeten the deal further. April’s Xbox Game Pass lineup includes the additions of Prey, Monster Hunter: World, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, Life is Strange: Episode 2, Resident Evil 5, and The Golf Club 2.
Available now, gamers can purchase a three-month Xbox Game Pass subscription for $1. The deal works for new and inactive members, so no one’s left out, and it will be available until May 13, 2018. Since it runs for such a long time, you’ll be able to dig into all of the new additions coming to the service this month before deciding if you want to continue at regular price.
Monster Hunter: World earned four stars in our review and is one of the more dense offerings to hit the extensive library. Fully invested players shouldn’t be surprised if they surpass 100 hours as they collect items, craft, and battle it out with a large cast of creatures. Prey also received a four-star rating and is a more linear experience, though it is ripe with content Arkane Studios added post-launch. In addition to the main story set on the space station Talos I, the Mooncrash expansion adds a rogue-like escape mission while Typhon Hunter adds an asymmetrical multiplayer mode where five Mimics chase one human player.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier and Life is Strange: Episode 2 slow things down a bit with some story-driven adventures and you can turn things right back up with a buddy in Resident Evil 5’s full campaign before finally winding down with The Gold Club 2.
In addition to the new titles coming throughout April, PC players can look forward to experiencing the major Halo titles for the first time as part of the Xbox Game Pass. The titles are due to be released one by one so that the developers can avoid any technical issues, and test flights for Reach are going live later this month. If you’re interested in participating, you have to be a Halo Insider member.
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.