The Beta for the MOBA Shooter Second Wavehas been announced for PC and Xbox. The beta will run from October 6th to the 16th. Now I got to play an early version at GDC and got in for the Alpha and loved every second of it. Even though the versions I’ve tried were rough, they were enough to keep me excited for Second Wave’s release. I understand that it is too early to judge since we don’t have a finished product, but I see the potential.
Second Wave will be playable on PC, Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and IOS and Android devices. It is essentially Overwatch, but more anime-inspired. I just hope Second Wind isn’t as toxic as Overwatch has become. I loved playing support and can’t wait to hop back in and play some more. This game is fun, and worth trying if you enjoy the genre, so make sure you wishlist the game on Steam and join the Discord to stay on top of all the news.
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I just received my press pass to attend GDC! If you like what I do and want to help me out, consider buying me the coffee I’ll need to get me through the week.
The Diablo 4 developers just did an update livestream and it wasn’t too informative. The biggest takeaway from the stream is that we got dates for the Beta later this month. If you have preordered the game at any level, you will be able to play during the early access beta on March 17 from 7 am pst to March 20 at noon pst. Players will only get to play the barbarian, rogue, and sorcerer classes. For everyone who wishes to try the game before buying the game, the open beta is on the following weekend, March 24, 7 am pst – March 27, 12 pm pst. The open beta will give players access to all playable characters. The beta will be on PC and console with preloads available closer to launch. If you have a friend, Diablo 4 has couch co-op so long as both players have a Battlenet account.
Images are screen shots from the stream
It is important to note that while your progress in the early access beta carries over to the open beta, your progress will not carry over to full release. This restriction is because the first season will start shortly after the launch, and the developers wanted everyone to have the same advantages. There will be a few achievements that will carry over to full release. You can earn a couple of titles by playing through the game, which will also be available at launch, and a cute cosmetic you can only get from maxing out a character during the beta.
Make sure you make enough time to earn this cute little guy!
The max level for the beta is 25, and you will be allowed to create ten characters. Make sure you take as much time as you need with the character creation because your character will be featured in the cinematics. The beta will also have four world boss events. Make sure you check the schedule and location on the game’s socials or blog so you can participate. World bosses are 12-player events that do not need a party to enjoy. You should be able to participate so long as you are at the appropriate level. I like that Diablo 4 will have more of an MMO feel than 3. As you unlock more towns and strongholds, you will start seeing people running around the map like in Diablo Immortal, but hopefully with fewer predatory microtransactions.
Ashava will be the world boss for the beta
There wasn’t too much else to the stream. The rest of the stream focuses on how to play Diablo 4. Unless you’ve never played an RPG, the livestream isn’t worth your time.
I will be playing the open beta because I love Diablo, but $70 to preorder isn’t in my budget at the moment. I am a bit upset that a game this expensive also has a $10 season pass. While the season passes won’t affect gameplay, I don’t want to pay $70+ to play a game and an additional $40 a year to look cool. Season passes seem to be the norm now. What can be done?
The Synced beta is now live until January 15, 2023. Sign-ups are open on the Synced official page or through Steam.
Images and video taken from the game
Synced is a 3rd person looter-shooter survival game where you must travel over a post-apocalyptic landscape fighting monsters called Nanos. Synced is another zombie hoard game with a pet mechanic that I found interesting. The beta offers two modes of play: a hoard Co-op PVE survival mode and a PVP mode that needs more love. The PVE mode has you in a team of three as you move from checkpoint to checkpoint collecting weapons and upgrades and killing everything in between. PVP has you pit against another team as you fight over resources. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get into PVP mode and won’t be able to speak on that experience.
To start, you select a Runner and a Nano Companion. Runners are survivors with unique abilities, and Nanos are the robot pets that help you in battle. The flavor of runner only really changes the type of grenade you get to use, but the nano you choose plays differently. I liked using the Crusher nano because he was bulky and hit hard. I found the pet mechanic easy to manage and a lot of fun. I loved the feeling of dropping down a giant onto the battlefield to take off agro and do my bidding. I will eventually try the other Nanos, but at the moment, Crusher is bae. During matches, you can find better weapons and earn currency to exchange for upgrades like in any other survival game. Upgrades are randomly generated, but I found the RNG to be fair.
Synced has a leveling system where you are able to unlock better weapons, upgrades, and characters as you finish matches and quests. At the moment there is a holiday event where you can earn skins for your character.
I am having a lot of fun with this game. The gameplay is smooth, and I haven’t found any bugs. The graphics and the concept are interesting. My only complaint is that wait times can be bad depending on when you play. During peak times, you can get into a PVE match pretty quickly, but I have yet to try their PVP mode. I have a feeling that PVE is going to be where I am going to spend a lot more of my time anyways. If you are looking for a game to play, check out the Synced beta. It’s fun, it’s free, and it is looking very promising.
