103T
he iceberg cometh,
smashing into the
Fortnite island and
changing things up
massively for
Season 7 of the battle
royale. The island has
updated, and now has more
spots to chill than ever –
and we mean that literally.
Polar Peak, Frosty Flights,
and Happy Hamlet are
among the highlights of the
new icy biome in the
south-west of the map,
where things can get a bitslippy and slidy. It’s not the
first major addition to the
island, which has become
a real mix of environments
providing a varied game,
that nonetheless remains
focused on a single core
playing experience.
Magnetic ziplines have
been introduced, creating
some extra ways tonavigate up and down steep
terrain. The X-4 Stormwing
Plane adds an aerial vehicle
for the first time, allowing
for dogfights and for your
squad to hang on the wings.
The update wouldn’t be
complete without a new
battle pass, which now has
wraps to customise gun
skins, and new costumes.live games THE MONTH IN...
EVENTS’Twas the season to be
jolly, and there were luckily
plenty of games to get
jolly in while chowing down
on mince pies and cheesy
snacks. Luckily Team OPM
stockpiled enough to see us
through a few sessions.You’ve got to
kick off the
season by
wrapping up warm, and
that applies in-game too. It
was great to see the Winter
Solstice customisations
return to Warframe,
ensuring some elegant
looks. The Overwatch Winter
Wonderland once again
added some great seasonal
Legendary skins, which we
mostly failed to track down,
but were killed by. Stealing
the show was the Krampus
Junkrat, which made us feel
all sorts of new emotions.
Our questing
was just as
tinged with
the red and whites. The
wonderfully bizarre Q’s
Winter Wonderland in Star
Trek Online was a highlight.
And as always we had to
participate in the Starlight
Festival in Final Fantasy XIV,
where the Not-So-Silent
Night quest kicked off some
choral delights and sent us
choir singing, decked out
in appropriate duds. Eva
Levante made a return in
the Destiny 2 The Dawning
winter event, where we
became her elf and teamed
up to deliver presents to all
our bestie NPCs.@MrOscarTKRISE OF THE VALKYRIE
A brand-new class finally comes
to TERA on PS4: the Valkyrie. It’s
a highly action-focused class in a
very action-centric MMO. Combos
are critical in this fast-paced free-
to-play MMORPG, and with their
runeglaive the Valkyrie can juggle
enemies dragoon-style. Reading
this before 25 Jan? Log in before
that date to get a free character
slot to ensure you have room to
start fighting as the Valkyrie.ONE STEP BEYOND
Elite Dangerous’ Beyond season
has wrapped up with the release
of Beyond – Chapter Four. Free
to all Elite Dangerous players, it
brings in new multiplayer features,
two more ships, and introduces
“advanced mining techniques”.
The addition of squadrons makes
it easier than ever to take part in
community-led goals, and the new
exploration tools should help keep
you better informed.FUTURE GHOST
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
Wildlands has a special crossover
event for Special Operation 3 – the
third major update for Wildlands
Year 2. The two-part special
mission featured Mitchell and Kozak
from Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
New Vanguard and Sharpshooter
classes inspired by the characters
also joined Ghost War mode.
Despite the ghoulish name,
Wildlands is far from dead.Fortnite’s cold shoulder
Season 7 brings big changes to the battle royale
THE ISLAND HAS BECOME A
REAL MIX OF ENVIRONMENTS
PROVIDING A VARIED GAME.CHARACTER UPDATE EVENTSEASON
GET CREATIVE
A third game mode has been
added to Fortnite – Creative
mode. The pressure’s off, as you
are free to experiment, build,
and have fun on your own island
with friends. How nice!