Tag: Activision Blizzard

‘Overwatch’ Update: Sombra, Arcade Mode, And More Are Here!

by The_acz

Awww yeah baby!

Out of nowhere an hour ago, Blizzard just released an almost 10GB Patch for Overwatch onto Xbox One, PS4, and PC that finally makes Sombra, arcade mode, and more live! Sombra is pretty self explanatory by now, but arcade mode is a brand new mode where you can play specific special brawls from a select playlist like Lucioball and Junkenstein’s Revenge! There’s also a brand new map by the name of Ecopoint: Antarctica. Among other things are Pharah’s ability to fly forever, some changes and tweaks to Zarya, and more! Check out the full patch list right here! What are you planning on trying out first in this update? Tell us in the comments below!

Geekscape 389: Talking All Things Warcraft With Michele Morrow!

by Jonathan

Michele Morrow has been covering all aspects of Blizzard and World of Warcraft for years now on places like Nerdist, Geek And Sundry and Direct TV. So obviously, as WoW noobs, she’s the best person around to help educate us on the subject… especially after making fools of ourselves talking about the ‘Warcraft’ trailer last week! Of course, we also talk about our addictions to Fallout 4, say thank you for almost 9 years of Geekscape and discuss Michele’s Superhero Origin Story! It’s all here for you!

Main Photo Credit: Isaac Sterling

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Watch 15 Seconds Of Friday’s ‘Warcraft’ Trailer!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We still have a few days of waiting to go until the full trailer for Duncan Jones’ anticipated Warcraft finally hits the web.

Legendary clearly knows just how desperate we all are to see the Horde and Alliance in action, so following yesterday’s bad-ass poster, the studio has just release 15 seconds of this Friday’s trailer.

Aw yiss.

Take a look at the teaser below, and be sure to let us know what you think! After having a chance to chat with Duncan and see Orgrim Doomhammer up close back at SDCC, I’m beyond excited for the film, and really, really can’t wait to see the trailer. As much as I’d hope this teaser would alleviate that need, it doesn’t help at all.

Warcraft hits theatres on June 10th!

The ‘Warcraft’ Trailer Is Coming This Week, Check Out A New Poster Today!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: It’s about damned time.

It’s been a long (long) time coming, but the first officially, publically released trailer for Duncan Jones’ Warcraft is set to debut this Friday.

After having a chance to chat with Duncan and see Orgrim Doomhammer up close back at SDCC, I’m beyond excited for the film, and really, really can’t wait for that first trailer to be released.

Here’s the announcement, along with a newly released, incredibly gorgeous poster, straign from Jones himself.

Are you looking forward to Warcraft? Be sure to let us know! Warcraft hits theatres on June 10th, 2016!

‘Warcraft’, ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Get New Release Dates!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Dang.

Two films that I was really looking forward to have just received delays. Sure, they’re small delays, but delays nonetheless.

Warcraft, which was initially slated for March 2016, has received a new date of June 10th 2016. This puts it into the busy Summer movie season (showing confidence for the film, right?), and also pushes it away from the sure-to-be-a-blockbuster Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Pacific Rim 2 was originally set to release in April of 2017, and will also get a push to the Summer, hitting theatres on August 4th, 2017.

At least each push is only a few months, right? Are one are you most looking forward to? Sound out below!

Alliance

BlizzCon 2014: Heroes of the Storm Announces Closed Beta

by S.J. Borger
Heroes of the Storm: BlizzCon 2014 Line Up
Heroes of the Storm: BlizzCon 2014 Line Up

Continuing its storm of announcements at BlizzCon 2014, Blizzard announced the Closed Beta for Heroes of the Storm will be begin on January 13th, 2015.

Players can opt into the Beta through their Battle.net account on the Beta Profile Settings page. Players can also win access to Heroes via the Bring Your Friends to the Brawl Facebook app.

Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play brawler staring fan favorites characters from across the Blizzard universes. Players can customize their heroes and engage in 5 v 5 battles across a variety of battlegrounds–each one requiring a different strategy.

New characters announced at BlizzCon this year include Thrall, Jaina, the Lost Vikings, and Sylvanas; as well as two new battlegrounds, The Sky Temple and the Spider Queen.

The Lost Vikings, one of four new heroes announced at BlizzCon 2014.
The Lost Vikings, one of four new heroes announced at BlizzCon 2014.

Blizzard plans on introducing new heroes every four to six weeks, and promises a lot of consistent new content every few months once the game goes live.

Check out the intro video below to see the new heroes in action, and let us know in the comments which hero you’re most excited to play!

 

BlizzCon 2014: StarCraft II “Legacy of the Void” Official Trailer

by S.J. Borger

http://youtu.be/u-PLBTXpyKI

What do you think? Can’t wait? Can’t be bothered? Let us know in the comments!

Blizzcon 2014: Geekscape First Look at Starcraft II “Legacy of the Void”

by S.J. Borger

SUper excited about the new expansion to Starcraft II? Can’t wait to see what it will look like? Well, look no further, because we have pics straight from BlizzCon 2014, from maps to new units to character art. Why are we still talking and not showing? We don’t know!!

Character Art

Vorazun
Vorazun
Rohana
Rohana
Raynor
Raynor
Kerrigan
Kerrigan
Karax
Karax
Artanis
Artanis
Zeratul
Zeratul

Concept Art

 

SCII Legacy of the Void: Concept Art
SCII Legacy of the Void: Concept Art
SCII Legacy of the Void Art. Courtesy of Blizzard.
SCII Legacy of the Void Art. Courtesy of Blizzard.
SCII Legacy of the Void: Dark Templar Shakuras
SCII Legacy of the Void: Dark Templar Shakuras

Screenshots

 

StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras. Courtesy of Blizzard.
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras.
Courtesy of Blizzard.
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Missile Turret Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Missile Turret
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Bridge. Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Bridge. Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shaskuras War Council and Rohana
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shaskuras War Council and Rohana

What do you guys think? Super excited now? Have you checked out the trailer? Signed up for the Beta? Not impressed at all? Let us know in the comments!

BlizzCon 2014: All Your Starcraft II “Legacy of the Void” Questions Answered

by S.J. Borger

Blizzard announced “Legacy of the Void,” the highly anticipated final chapter in the Starcraft II trilogy at BlizzCon 2014, promising an ‘epic conclusion’ to Raynor, Kerrigan, Zeratul and more, as players guide the Protoss and aim to unite the three races to battle the ultimate evil that threatens all life in the universe.

We had a chance to interview Allen Dilling and Justin Thavirat, Lead Artists for “Legacy,” about Starcraft II, Kerrigan, and all things Zerg.

“We really feel like everyone’s stories will finish up in way that the players will enjoy and appreciate,” said Thavirat. “And we’re really excited about the fact that it’s stand-alone, so players can just jump in and start with ‘Legacy.’”

SCII Legacy of the Void Art. Courtesy of Blizzard.
SCII Legacy of the Void Art. Courtesy of Blizzard.

That’s right, “Legacy of the Void” will be a stand alone game—players can purchase it and play without owning, or even had played, “Wings of Liberty” or “Heart of the Swarm.”  “Legacy” will have both new strategies and units for single player play, but also two new game modes, Archon Mode, a new co-op gameplay; and Allied Commanders, an objective based co-op that allows players to take on the persona of famous commanders and play through a series of special scenarios.

“’Legacy of the Void’ will deliver the quintessential StarCraft II experience,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “The new single-player campaign will wrap up the massive story, and we’re excited to share new game modes that will open up different ways to play the game and additional units that will expand the rich strategic depth of StarCraft II multiplayer.”

StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Bridge. Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Bridge. Courtesy of Blizzard

“Legacy” has numerous changes that will require players to play much more offensively, including increasing the effectiveness of Marines and Medic, and lowering the amount of resources available on each mineral deposits or vespene gas geysers.

“The new maps and upgraded units really allow for more diverse strategies, and it also allows players to get a more in-depth look at the worlds people are coming from.” Said Dilling. “For example, you’ll finally get a chance to see a Protoss mother ship, where the whole race lives, which we’ve never done before.”

StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras. Courtesy of Blizzard.
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Shakuras.
Courtesy of Blizzard.

A number of Terran, Protoss and Zerg units are upgraded, and whole new units are being introduced for each of the races, most specifically to increase a player’s effectiveness in multi-player, including improved HERCs, Siege Tanks, Lurkers, Ravagers and more.

“We really wanted multiplayer, and the new Co-op Archon Mode, to be something that all players could enjoy, from the e-sports pros to someone who just picked up the game.” Thavirat said. “And with the upgraded units and new modes, I think players will really enjoy it.”

“Making sure that the social aspect of the game was there, with the automated Battle.net tournaments and the new modes, was a real priority for us.” Dilling added.

StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal Courtesy of Blizzard
StarCraft II Legacy of the Void: Korhal
Courtesy of Blizzard

“Legacy” will also offer new multiplayer maps and tilesets to allow the player to battle throughout the Koprulu Sector.

A release date has yet to be announced, but players can sign up for the official Beta at www.starcraft2.com. “Legacy” will be available on both PC and Mac simultaneously.

Let us know what you think in the comments. And follow SJ on twitter @sjbwrite to get all the latest Blizz updates.

BlizzCon 2014: ‘Overwatch’ Cinematic Trailer

by S.J. Borger

That’s right, hot of the presses and available for you to see right now, it’s the much teased, much rumored new Blizzard game, straight from BlizzCon 2014–you know what, we’ll stop talking and play the trailer.

http://youtu.be/t1Qw_0kvRLs

BlizzCon 2014: ‘Warcraft’ Cast Revealed

by S.J. Borger

Almost lost in the avalanche of announcements at BlizzCon 2014 today was the Warcraft cast. Never fear, though, we at Geekscape are here, battling exhaustion and bad internets, to bring you all the Blizzard news worth reporting.

And to not keep you in suspense any longer, here’s the casting (as we know it):

The Alliance

Travis Fimmel (Vikings) has been tapped to play Anduin Lothar. Yes, that Travis Fimmel and that Anduin Lothar. Lothar is known to most fans as the well-meaning, upright (maybe even a little uptight…) war hero and last true descendent of the Arathi bloodline.

Travis Fimmel will plau Aunduin Lothar in Blizzard/Legendary Pictures Warcraft movie.
Travis Fimmel will play Anduin Lothar in Blizzard/Legendary Pictures Warcraft movie.

King Llane Wrynn (grandfather to Prince Anduin Wrynn) is the ruler of the Kingdom of Azeroth during the First War (so that pretty much answers the when and the what of the movie, as the rest of cast confirms) and will be played by Dominic Cooper of Captain America: The First Avenger and Need for Speed.

Dominic Cooper will play King Llane Wrynn in Blizzard/Legendary Pictures Warcraft movie.
Dominic Cooper will play King Llane Wrynn in Blizzard/Legendary Pictures Warcraft movie.

Paula Patton (MI:5) joins the Alliance as Garona, a strong willed survivor torn between two loyalties.

Paula Patton will play Garona in the upcoming Warcraft movie.
Paula Patton will play Garona in the upcoming Warcraft movie.

Also joining the cast are Ben Foster (Lone Survivor)  as Medivh, the Guardian of Trisfal, corrupted and forsaken by the demonlord Sargeras, Ben Schnetzer as Khadgar, Medivh’s last apprentice and one of the great heros of the Alliance, and Ruth Negga (Agents of Shield) as Lady Taria, Queen of Stormwind and Llane’s great love & trusted advisor.

(l-r) Ben Foster, Ben Schnetzer and Ruth Negga have joined the Warcraft cast as Medivh, Khadgar and Lady Taria.
(l-r) Ben Foster, Ben Schnetzer and Ruth Negga have joined the Warcraft cast as Medivh, Khadgar and Lady Taria.

 

The Horde

The leading figures of the Orc Horde were announced as well.  Toby Kebbell (Planet of the Apes) as Durotan, Chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan (for the Horde!), with Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim) as Orgrim, Durotan’s right-hand man, and Clancy Brown (The Highlander) as Blackhand, the Destroyer. Rounding out the Horde announcements is Daniel Wu as Gul’Dan, the supreme Orc ruler who can’t see the dark path he is leading his people down.

Warcraft Mov cast 2
l-r Toby Kebbell, Rob Kazinsky, Clancy Brown, Daniel Wu will all appear as famous Horde leaders in the Warcraft movie.

 

While exciting news (if somewhat disappointing that only two women were named, and both as lovers/advisors…still, that’s double the number of woman roles that were announced in the first Star Wars casting announcement, so…improvement? Maybe?), there’s still a lot we don’t know about the movie…other than it comes out in 2016, and it clearly deals with the First War and the creation of the Dark Portal.

Stay tuned for more Blizzard news from BlizzCon, and let us know in the comments what you think!

 

Blizzcon 2014: World Premiere of “Overwatch”

by S.J. Borger

Blizzard, as is their want, opened up BlizzCon 2014 with a rousing, crowd-pleasing announcement: a new, team-based, pick-up-and-play, first person shooter called Overwatch.

Set in a near future earth, Overwatch follows a variety of characters (12 were available to play at Blizzcon, with vague promises of more to come), each with their own special ability, as they battle in groups of six on battlegrounds with multiple levels, allowing players to go from alley to roof to interior quickly and easily, across maps which showcase familiar but highly-stylized future locations (like a London with a hoverbus. Forget hoverboards, when are we going to get a double-decker hoverbus?).

OW110_Final

Overwatch follows disparate heroes who have found themselves without a home when the super-special-secret force known as Overwatch gets disbanded (this seems to becoming a popular backstory…see .Agents of Shield, or Watchman, or The Incredibles…well, the list goes on). Each character has strengths and weakness, which when combined into a team can ‘accomplish the incredible.’

“Overwatch is our take on a vibrant, near-future universe with amped-up characters and action-packed team-based gameplay,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With every new Blizzard game, we look at our favorite aspects of a genre and put our own spin on things. Our goal with Overwatch is to create an awesome FPS experience that’s more accessible to a much wider audience while delivering the action and depth that shooter fans love.”

Map_KingsRow

Each character has a distinct backstory, which explains both their abilities and motivation, and defines how they interact with each other and other characters in the game.

“Overwatch has a lot of story in it…about a metric ton.” Overwatch developers said at the panel after the announcement “but ultimately the narrative aspect of Overwatch is not connected to the game play. We’re trying to experiment with Overwatch, to try to make the story happen outside of the gameplay.”

While it wasn’t exactly clear how party balance will be maintained (players will be able to choose any character to play, even if that character is already being played on the same team…which leads to the ‘what if there’s six of one character?’ question), but developers were confident that issue would be resolved to allow players great freedom of choice and party balance.

An achievement system and the price point of the game are also unknowns at this time, but that doesn’t seem to be dampening interest, as the line for the demo–which is already hours long–proves.

Stay tuned for a deep dive into the 12 characters we know about, as well as review of the gameplay here at BlizzCon.

Interested? You can sign up for Beta access and follow all Overwatch news and info at www.playoverwatch.com.

Warlords of Draenor Gets Release Date and New Trailer

by S.J. Borger

After building anticipation since last year’s BlizzCon,  Blizzard announced the release date for the newest World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, at a special event last Thursday.

warlords-of-draenor-1920x1200

The expansion, which takes place 35 years prior to the current game, will drop of November 13th–just a week after this year’s BlizzCon–and is currently available for pre-order here. Player’s can purchase the digital edition for $49.99 or the deluxe edition for $69.99.

While both editions include the level 90 character boost, the deluxe edition not only includes two pets (dread raven and dread hatching), but also continues Blizzard’s trend of combining multiple products in one shiny package with a Diablo III pennant and Starcraft II portraits.

2627240-collectors

Blizzard also announced the Collectors Edition (there’s been no official price point announced, but Amazon and Gamstop show it at $90). The collectors edition includes everything in the digitial deluxe edition, as well as:

Physical DVD of the expansion
Behind-the-scene DVD and Blu-ray set
Soundtrack on CD
The Art of the Warlords of Draenor, a 160-pages of concept art, finished images, and CG images
A Blackhand mouse pad

Blizzard also released the almost-five-minute long cinematic, which you can watch below.

What do you think, readers? Can’t wait? Done with Blizzard? Waiting to see? Let us know in the comments!

Warlords of Draenor Pre-Order Now Available

by S.J. Borger

Blizzard announced yesterday that Warlords of Draenor,  its newest expansion to the behemoth MMO, World of Warcraft, can now be pre-ordered at the Blizzard website (digital versions only).

Players who pre-purchase the digital version will be able to immediately boost one character on their account to level 90–and if you want to boost more than one toon, you have the option to purchase additional level 90 upgrades (at $60/toon). Players that upgrade their pre-order to the deluxe version will unlock other in-game goodies, including a dread raven mount and dread hatchling pet.

warlords-of-draenor-1920x1200
Warlords of Draenor art.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

The retail-exclusive Collectors Edition is expected to be available for pre-order soon. The Collector’s Edition will feature all of the items included in the digital deluxe, as well as a hardcover art book, a behind the scenes two-disc blu-ray/DVD set, a CD soundtrack and a mouse pad.

Warlords of Draenor is expected to launch this Fall. The expansion sends players back in time (and back to Draenor) to battle Hellscream and his Iron Horde. WoD will feature new character models for all of the races, a Garrison building feature, and a raised level cap of 100.

The standard digital edition is $49.99; the digital deluxe is $69.99 and the Collectors Edition comes in at a not-as-bad-as-expected $89.99.

Take a look at the new WoD  cinematic featuring the level 90 boost below and let us know what you think in the comments! Are you excited? What do you think?

What’s New In ‘World Of Warcraft’ Patch 5.4, Siege of Orgrimmar?

by S.J. Borger

We’re just a week away from the launch of the newest patch to World of Warcraft, 5.4, which goes live on September 10th.

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In it, Hellscream finally breaks from the Horde of Thrall; the remaining Horde must join forces with the Alliance and embark on a Civil War which looks to change the face of Pandaria.

In the official trailer, Hellscream poisons the wells and drains the Vale of its water–taunting his enemies to come to his fortress; and threatens anyone who would rise against his ‘new horde.’ Orgrimmar, of course, is the new raid, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the new and updated content in this patch.

A complete, in-depth look at all the changes can be found here, but here are some of the things we’re most excited about:

1. Flexible Raid Difficulty: with this feature, 15 or 22 or 13 man raids are possibly. The difficulty of the encounters and player’s spell range will adjust depending upon the number of people in the raid; the loot will be somewhere between LFR and normal. Players will be able to invite Battle Tag and Real ID friends.

2. Proving Grounds: A one on one instance where a player can test their skills/spells/gear against mobs designed at five different difficulty levels. Finally a way to figure out new rotations without having to apologize the the 24 people in LFR.

3. Noodle Vendor: A player with maxed out cooking will get a quest, which once completed, allows them to set up a noodle cart and sell powerful soups to their faction.

4. New Area: Timeless Isle; New world bosses, new gear, new rewards. Also, this intriguing sentence: “The Isle is filled with secrets and mysteries, many of which dynamically become available to explorers. Keep an eye on your minimap!”

5. Significant Class Changes: Blizzard took a hard look at the classes and made some significant changes, especially to hunters and paladins.

6. Linked realms: Low population realms will now be permentantly linked, allowing players to interact with each other as if they were on the same realm.

We’ll be online bright and early next Tuesday  and get you some on-the-ground coverage of what the changes feel like. Let us know if you’re looking forward to the Siege of Orgrimmar!

Watch The Opening Cinematic For ‘StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm’!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Are you looking forward to playing through the Zerg campaign of StarCraft II? Not yet? Well, if you want to keep it that way, you better not watch this video, as its absolutely phenomenal.

 

Blizzard today revealed the opening cinematic for the upcoming StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. The company of course takes their cinematics very seriously, and this latest video is no exception.

 

Check out the video below, and get excited. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm launches on March 12th, 2013.

 

 

The Queen of Blades is gone. On the hellish planet Char, Jim Raynor harnessed the power of an ancient Xel’Naga artifact in a desperate bid to stop the zerg Swarm from overrunning the Koprulu sector, and the artifact restored Sarah Kerrigan to her human form. Without their queen to guide and unify them, the Swarm has fractured into several broods scattered throughout the Koprulu sector. One of the greatest threats to the galaxy has been neutralized… or so it seems.

Sarah Kerrigan is on the loose. Even without the terrible powers of the Queen of Blades or the might of the Swarm at her command, the former Ghost remains a foe not to be taken lightly. But if the artifact really did set her free, then why is Kerrigan seeking out zerg broods scattered throughout the Koprulu sector? What happened to Jim Raynor? Is she still pursuing her quest for vengeance, or has her transformation given Kerrigan a new purpose? Who is Sarah Kerrigan?