Category: Xbox

We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!

Escape from a Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland in Metro Exodus, Available Now on Xbox One
With its blend of deadly combat and stealth, exploration and survival horror, and in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created, it’s time to strap on your protective mask and enter the epic, story-driven world of Metro Exodus on Xbox One… Read more

It’s Time for Savings on All Things Xbox
For the love of gaming, we are sharing Xbox One deals on consoles, accessories, and more! Starting February 17, you can save $50 on any Xbox One bundle, including Xbox One X, the world’s most powerful console, and Xbox One S, the best value in gaming and entertainment… Read more

8 Things You Need to Know When Starting Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn is now available on Xbox One and enhanced for Xbox One X. This time around, the adventure takes place in a superbloom-covered post-apocalypse that’s as vibrant as it is chaotic, but a healthy coating of pink flowers and graffiti isn’t the only thing that’s different… Read more

Pipe Push Paradise’s Puzzle Purgatory Comes to Xbox One
Hey! I’m Corey Martin. My pal Teodoro Zamudio and I made a small open-world puzzle game called Pipe Push Paradise, which I’m very excited to say will be available to download for Xbox One today! ‘Thinky’ puzzle games so seldom get console releases, and I’m proud to be a small part of changing that… Read more

Play Anthem Today on Xbox One with EA Access
Prepare to climb into a javelin of your very own, rocket across the skies, plunge into the watery depths, and join in unforgettable battles. You can enter the beautiful and dangerous world of Anthem days before its worldwide February 22 launch by becoming an EA Access member… Read more

Gears of War: New Line of Collectibles and Books to Debut at New York Toy Fair
Since its 2006 debut, Gears of War has established itself as one of the best-selling and most iconic video game franchises of all time, known for acclaimed gameplay, compelling characters, and visceral action. Now, with three new Gears of War games in development… Read more

Crackdown 3 Launches Worldwide Today with Xbox Game Pass
It’s time to step up your boom, Agents! Crackdown 3 is now available with Xbox Game Pass on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. In the latest entry in the Crackdown franchise, longtime fans will feel right at home in the quest to take back New Providence… Read more

Soar to New Heights with The King’s Bird Today on Xbox One
I co-founded Serenity Forge along with a couple of friends a few years ago; and since then we’ve co-developed games like Where the Water Tastes Like Wine and the upcoming Once Upon a Coma, as well as ported and published games like… Read more

Free Play Days: NBA 2K19 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Here’s this weekend’s all-star lineup for Free Play Days! Xbox Live Gold members can celebrate all-star weekend with NBA 2K19 and play Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege in-between matches of the Six Invitational for free. The Free Play Days event begins… Read more

Get Famous with Your Sims on Xbox One
It’s time to fulfill your Sims’ dreams of becoming famous! Now you can be crazy famous, like millions of fans, crazy awesome mansion, movie star famous — today’s the day your Sims will get that chance. The Sims 4 Get Famous expansion pack is available now on Xbox One… Read more

Make a Date with the Black Desert Open Beta February 14 – 17
This Valentine’s Day, you’re invited to gear up for Black Desert’s final open beta – click here to sign up on Xbox One. From February 14 12:00 a.m. PST to February 17 11:59 p.m. PST, Black Desert will be available for all North America and European players with Xbox Live Gold… Read more

Xbox Game Pass Brings the Boom to Extra Butter
Gamers and sneaker enthusiasts rejoice! Xbox Game Pass and Extra Butter are working together to celebrate the launch of Crackdown 3 with games, shoes, and an in-store sweepstakes. We’ve set up demo stations at Extra Butter’s Lower East Side location in New York City… Read more

Games to Fall in Love with on Xbox Game Pass
With Xbox Game Pass there’s no shortage of games for you to fall in love with this Valentine’s Day. From sailing to driving to jumping, even combine harvesting, there’s bound to be room in your heart for a few of these titles. We’ve highlighted some of our Xbox Game Pass… Read more

Tips & Tricks for the Fast-Paced Arena Brawler Hyper Jam
On behalf of the Bit Dragon team, I am thrilled to announce that Hyper Jam has launched on Xbox One and is available for purchase right now on the Microsoft Store! For those of you who don’t know, Hyper Jam is a fast-paced arena brawler featuring a killer synthwave soundtrack… Read more

Inside Xbox One X Enhanced: Kingdom Hearts III
Many of gaming’s most compelling stories come from those who’ve helped to create our favorite Xbox One games. In our Inside Xbox One X Enhanced series, these creators will share the behind-the-scenes accounts of the work involved in enhancing these epic games for Xbox One X… Read more

The Evoland Series: From Game Jam Project to Worldwide Success
Hello, time traveler! I’m Nicolas, lead game developer at Shiro Games, a French independent studio. We released Evoland and Evoland 2 on PC few years ago and we’re now introducing the Evoland Legendary Edition on Xbox One which includes both titles… Read more

Xbox Sessions: Terry Crews Steps Up His Boom as Commander Jaxon in Crackdown 3
Terry Crews can do anything – he’s a talented actor, an activist, artist, and a former professional football player. He’s a man of many strengths (and muscles), but how are his gaming skills while playing as his in-game character, Commander Isaiah Jaxon, in the upcoming Crackdown 3? Tune-in to the next episode of Xbox Sessions, airing Thursday, February 14 at 4 p.m. PST on the Mixer Xbox Channel, Twitch Xbox Channel, and the Xbox YouTube Channel to find out! Ahead of Crackdown 3’s February 15… Read more

Adventure FPS Away: Journey to the Unexpected Available Now on Xbox One
Hello everyone! Away: Journey to the Unexpected is a colorful first-person adventure game with rogue-lite elements, heavily inspired by anime from our childhood, and it’s available today on Xbox One. The game has evolved quite a bit since its prototype…. Read more

Jump Force Tips and Tricks
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here! Those of you who have pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of Jump Force get early access to the game starting tomorrow, February 12! We know that you’re excited to jump right into battle alongside your favorite manga heroes… Read more

R.B.I. Baseball 19 Coming to Xbox One March 5, Pre-Order Today
Today is an exciting day for MLB fans. Not only are pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training, but R.B.I. Baseball 19 will launch March 5 on Xbox One and is available for pre-order on the Microsoft Store. Baseball is back, Spring is right around the corner… Read more

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for February 19 – 22
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to… Read more

Creating the Turned-Based RPG Dark Quest 2
Dark Quest 2 is a turn-based RPG inspired by legendary board game Hero Quest. The core idea of the game was to make a board game system while understanding that you are making a video game and not a board game… Read more

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

Related:
Escape from a Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland in Metro Exodus, Available Now on Xbox One
It’s Time for Savings on All Things Xbox
8 Things You Need to Know When Starting Far Cry New Dawn

With its blend of deadly combat and stealth, exploration and survival horror, and in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created, it’s time to strap on your protective mask and enter the epic, story-driven world of Metro Exodus on Xbox One.

Featuring a gripping story and classic Metro gameplay with new huge, non-linear levels, you’ll experience a unique blend of sandbox exploration and survival horror across a beautiful and hostile world as you eke out a living in this apocalyptic Russian wilderness, brought to life with stunning day/night cycles and dynamic weather.

It’s in the world that you’ll have to scavenge and craft in the field to customize your arsenal of hand-made weaponry and engage human and mutant foes alike in thrilling tactical combat. But you won’t have to survive in this hostile world alone. Your choices throughout Metro Exodus will determine the fate of your companions as your decisions will have consequences if you’ll make it out alive.

To equip players for an immersive experience as they trek across the ravaged Russian landscape, why not pick up the Xbox One X Metro Saga bundle, which includes full-game downloads of Metro 2033 Redux, Metro: Last Light Redux, and Metro Exodus, so you can jump into the haunting tale of humanity’s survival from the very beginning. And as an Xbox Game Pass member, you can play Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux today to get caught up on the rich backstory of Metro Exodus.

Enhanced for Xbox One X in 4K Ultra HD and with HDR support, Metro Exodus will take players on a journey through vast sandbox levels packed with apocalyptic creatures across four beautiful but hostile seasons. Experience it today on Xbox One.

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

Related:
It’s Time for Savings on All Things Xbox
8 Things You Need to Know When Starting Far Cry New Dawn
Play Anthem Today on Xbox One with EA Access

Far Cry New Dawn is now available on Xbox One and enhanced for Xbox One X. This time around, the adventure takes place in a superbloom-covered post-apocalypse that’s as vibrant as it is chaotic, but a healthy coating of pink flowers and graffiti isn’t the only thing that’s different about Hope County. To help you get the lay of the brightly colored land, we’ve assembled eight things you need to know before you venture out into the post-apocalypse either by yourself or with a co-op buddy.

Live Long and Prosper(ity)

Nearly everything you’ll do in Far Cry New Dawn begins and ends with your homebase, Prosperity. Here, you’ll take on missions, get to know the locals, upgrade your gear, and even travel outside of Hope County on Expeditions. When you first arrive in Prosperity, you’ll be tasked with heading out to find local Specialists to help you upgrade your homebase. These Specialists won’t go out into the wilderness with you to fight back against the Highwaymen. Instead, they’ll take up residence in Prosperity and allow you to upgrade everything, from weapons to vehicles to explosives.

Using the most valuable resource in the apocalypse, ethanol, you’ll upgrade stations around Prosperity that will provide you with the means to improve your gear. Upgrading your Workbench allows you to craft more powerful weapons, improving your Garage will improve the quality of vehicles available to you, and buffing your Training Camp strengthens your Guns for Hire. And then there’s the Healing Garden, Explosives Lab, Infirmary, and Cartography station; the people in Prosperity are eager to lend a hand against the Highwaymen.

Build Your Roster

While the Specialists needed to build up Prosperity are clearly marked on your map, Guns for Hire are not. If you want to take out the Highwaymen with Hurk, Pastor Jerome, or Timber the adorable genius dog by your side, you’ll have to explore Hope County and take on side missions from captured Outposts. Want Nana, the sniper, to take out your enemies from afar? Or Horatio the massive boar to bulldoze Highwaymen? You’re going to have to find them.

Travel the World

After you earn enough ethanol, you’ll gain access to Expeditions, earning the ability to leave Hope County for smash-and-grab missions at Highwaymen strongholds across the country. Expeditions are missions that take you to a wide variety of memorable locales across the US, including abandoned amusement parks, stranded aircraft carriers, and desert canyons, among others. They are rollicking and raucous adventures, with more enemies to outwit, special packages to search for, and mad dashes through heavy fire to an extraction point once you’ve grabbed your prize.

Expeditions are also excellent ways to acquire many of the resources you’ll need to upgrade and craft your gear. Just make sure you have a varied arsenal for the job. It’s best to try and go in as quietly as possible because once you grab the target package, a GPS tracker attached to it will notify the Highwaymen of your exact position, at which point you’ll have plenty of enemies on your tail and will need all the stopping power you can get. And as an added bonus, upgrading Prosperity’s Expeditions station also means upgrading your helicopter, which opens up the ability for you to fast travel around Hope County.

Level Up

You may notice that your rank one (white) assault rifle isn’t doing much damage to those rank two (blue) enemies and is barely tickling those rank three (purple) and four (gold) baddies. That’s because in Far Cry New Dawn everything, from weapons to vehicles to enemies and wildlife, has ranks. They’re also packing health bars so you can see exactly how effective your weapons are on your current target. If you find yourself up against some Highwaymen that are more than one rank above you, it’s best to retreat and wait until you’ve upgraded your arsenal to take them down. You’ll also need to spend some Perk Points on the Advanced, Expert, and Master Takedown perks if you want to be able to stealthily take down enemies that are rank two and above (which you definitely want to do).

Loot Everything

You’ll likely notice that new weapons and vehicles aren’t exactly coming fresh off the supply line in the post-apocalypse, that means that if you want a new Saw Launcher, sniper rifle, or truck, you’ll need to craft it using various crafting materials. Collecting resources like components, gears, springs, copper, and titanium is your ticket to better gear. Fortunately, locations now show you how much of a coveted resource they hide, so you’ll know just how many rolls of duct tape to look for before packing up and moving on to the next spot.

As mentioned above, you won’t get far without ethanol. While you won’t find it just lying around like you will other resources, there are a few reliable ways to acquire it. The first, and most efficient, is by clearing Highwaymen Outposts. Defeat all the Highwaymen at a particular Outpost, and you’ll claim it for yourself and earn a healthy dose of ethanol – and if you take the Outpost down without triggering alarms or being spotted, you’ll earn even more for your troubles.

While wandering the open world of Hope County, you’ll occasionally see nearby Supply Drops falling from the sky; if you chase them down and claim them before any nearby Highwaymen, you’ll net yourself additional resources, including ethanol. Also, be on the lookout for ethanol truck shipments moving from Outpost to Outpost; successfully highjack one and return it to one of your Outposts or Prosperity, and you’ll secure more ethanol for your cause.

Perks of the Apocalypse

Make sure you’re not so busy upgrading Prosperity, your weapons, and your vehicles that you neglect your Perks. Like Far Cry games of the past, Perks allow you to expand your capabilities and do things like grapple up to high points, hold more weapons, perform takedowns on tougher enemies, and repair broken vehicles. You’ll naturally unlock Perk Points through your progress, but there are a few ways to earn some more. Head to the Challenges menu to find weapon, exploration, hunting, and kill challenges that you can complete for bonus Perk Points (simply killing a bunch of enemies with every new weapon you find is a great way to grab Perk Points early on).

You’ll also be able to get Perk Points by completing Treasure Hunts. Marked with a diamond symbol, Treasure Hunts will task you with solving an environmental puzzle; success will earn you three Perk Points and a nice bundle of resources. Lastly, Highwaymen across Hope County are terrorizing civilians and kidnapping them; save a civilian caught in a tricky situation, and you’ll earn yourself another Perk Point.

Scavenge Outposts and Expeditions

Once you take out an Outpost or complete an Expedition, you’ll have the option to scavenge it, essentially abandoning it to the Highwaymen. Doing so will get you a small dose of ethanol, but also means that the Highwaymen will reclaim the area and repopulate it with tougher enemies and more alarms. At that point, braving the tougher challenge you’ve created and reclaiming the Outpost will earn you even better rewards. Just be sure not to tackle a challenge too early; trying to take down an Outpost or Expedition that’s ranked above your current weapon loadout will likely result in your premature death.

Also, if you set off an alarm at any scavenged Outpost, you’ll trigger the arrival of an Enforcer, a rank four enemy that will make short work of you if you’re packing inferior weaponry. Moral of the story: Scavenging Outposts and taking on higher-rank Expeditions can be lucrative, but be sure your arsenal matches the difficulty rank or you’re in for a rough ride.

What’s that Beeping Sound?

Highwaymen vehicles – with their steel cages, LMG turrets, and graffiti paint jobs – may look like a tempting ride, but beware: if you enter or even approach a Highwaymen ride and hear a beeping sound, it’s best to distance yourself from it as quickly as possible. The beeping indicates the vehicle is booby-trapped and rigged to explode any second, and the blast is enough to kill both you and your Gun for Hire if they’re anywhere near you. If you’d rather not worry about blowing up anytime you get behind the wheel of a car, it might be worth investing in the Hotwire Perk, which will automatically disable Highwaymen booby traps.

Far Cry New Dawn is available now on Xbox One for $39.99 on the Microsoft Store. And if you haven’t played Far Cry 5 yet, you can purchase both games as part of the Far Cry New Dawn Complete Edition and Ultimate Edition bundles.

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

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Play Anthem Today on Xbox One with EA Access
Next Week on Xbox: New Games for February 19 – 22
Soar to New Heights with The King’s Bird Today on Xbox One