Month: September 2020

By now you’ve almost definitely heard of Among Us, the exceedingly popular deception-based party game that’s netted several millions of downloads in the last few months alone. While Among Us is enjoying massive success–no doubt due to lockdown, its accessible crossplay support, and the fact that it’s free to play–it isn’t the only game of its kind. If you’re on the hunt for similar social deduction games that boast a fine balance between cooperation and deception and can be played online, no contact necessary, check out some of our favorites in the roundup below.

Push the Button (Jackbox Party Pack 6)

Platforms: PC/Mac/Linux (Steam, Humble, Epic Games), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

Like Among Us, Jackbox Party Pack 6‘s Push the Button is a social deception game that supports 4-10 players. It’s also set in space and separates teams into humans and aliens. The humans’ goal is to identify the aliens and eject them from the ship while the aliens work to sabotage those plans and get the humans to misidentify each other. I prefer Push the Button to Among Us for its more humorous minigames and deliberation sessions. In one minigame, players have to draw a picture based on a prompt, but the aliens are given a slightly different prompt. If an alien “hacks” one of the tests, a human player might be given an alien prompt, which could bring them under scrutiny from their teammates.

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Despite being plagued with release and production delays, Disney+’s Marvel Cinematic Universe projects are still very much moving forward. The upcoming Ms. Marvel TV show has found its lead in newcomer Iman Vellani who, will be taking on the role of Kamala Khan, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The news comes shortly after another MCU Disney+ project, She-Hulk, found its lead in Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany.

Kamala Khan, who recently took center stage in the Avengers video game, has become a massively popular character in the Marvel universe following her debut in 2013. A Muslim teenager from New Jersey, Kamala was introduced as a passionate superhero fan. Kamala initially believed herself to be just a regular girl, but when an attack from the Inhumans covered parts of the globe in mutagenic “Terrigen Mists,” Kamala learned that there was a secret locked deep within her DNA. The mists triggered a transformation in her that activated a superpower to grow and change her body’s size or “embiggen, as she puts it.”

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After detailing the Zombies mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, publisher Activision has confirmed the game type supports cross-play.

In a detailed blog post that revealed information about Zombies, Activision said squads in the mode can be “formed across platforms and generations, marking the first time in franchise history this co-op mode is available via cross-play.” Regardless of whether players are on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, or Xbox Series S/Series X, everyone can play together in Black Ops Cold War.

Though the blog doesn’t explicitly state it, the Zombies mode is also likely to include cross-progression support just as the rest of Black Ops Cold War does. Activision confirmed that a player’s progress will be tied to their Activision account. This feature lets players freely switch between platforms, taking their save data to the console of their choosing. The same should be the case for Zombies data.

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Ah yes, Among Us, the latest game that’s taking over our social feeds and seizing our memes. Back in 2018, it was a way to connect with my friends back home and realize they’re all still really bad liars, but have the most infectious giggles when they get caught and know I can’t whoop their asses–I miss them very much. So with all that experience in catching liars, I’m here to help all you bad liars become better imposters.

Admittedly, it’s a bit tough to guide folks through Among Us because success revolves around social interaction, not necessarily being good at a certain game mechanic or grasping deep gameplay systems. There are optimal ways to manipulate your environment or understand how certain tasks work, but when it comes down to identifying the imposter or defending yourself from being ejected from the crew, you have to be ready to speak up. This may not be ideal for some players, so take what you feel comfortable with from this guide.

Depending on the rules, Among Us pits a number of innocent crewmates against one or two secret imposters, but lumps them all into one group of up to 10 players. Crewmates need to complete a number of tasks across the map before imposters kill enough of them, and imposters need to be clever about how they blend in and commit murders. Everyone deliberates when a dead body is reported or when an emergency meeting is called, and can subsequently vote on who to eject from the group, in hopes of ridding the crew of its imposters.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is bringing back its Zombies mode with a soft reboot, but it will still feature some familiar characters and locales. In fact, according to the announcement, the mode will take place on the very first Zombies map.

The “Nacht der Untoten” map is coming back from Call of Duty: World at War. That was the first game to feature the Zombies mode, and it was a secret mode that would become unlocked after finishing the campaign. This time it’s being revised to fit the new Cold War setting. You’ll see the outpost as it looks in the 1980s instead of the ’40s, and it’s been significantly expanded to include the lab that houses Die Maschine and the outdoor area surrounding the lab.

The story will bring back a familiar character, as well. Grigori Weaver from the original Black Ops will lead a CIA-backed team, codenamed Requiem. Weaver’s team is investigating a bunker which has also attracted the attention of the Soviet clandestine force Omega Group. Activision promises the story of Zombies will unfold slowly over time, but this refreshed version of Zombies won’t necessarily tie neatly into the previous canon.

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Activision reportedly banned around 20,000 Call of Duty Warzone cheaters as the game’s Season 6 update began.

A report from Vice citing an Activision spokesperson and “people familiar with the matter” says that the publisher issued a ban wave on Monday, with some terminations related to the use of a popular cheating program called EngineOwning.

The EngineOwning website now lists its Modern Warfare 2019 cheat as “detected” suggesting that Activision has successfully halted its use in-game, wiping the accounts of thousands of cheaters in the process.

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The Vice report specifically mentions the case of streamer Nick ‘Wagnificent’ Wagner, whose account was permanently banned in the middle of a livestream. Sources told Vice that Wagner was using the now-detected cheat in Warzone, which resulted in his ban.

Back in April, Activision banned over 50,000 accounts for cheating, noting that “Warzone has zero-tolerance for cheaters.” The game’s developer Infinity Ward also warned that “more banwaves” were coming in July.

In other Warzone news, check out our article covering all the details you need to know about the bumper Season 6 update, which arrived in the game this week on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.