Fortnitemares 2022 is officially underway, and it’s packed full of Halloween-themed fun for battle royale fans. Along with this year’s spooky skins and map changes, you can now get your hands on the brand-new Howler Claws so that you can hunt your opponents to slice and dice them like the werewolf you were always meant to be. In this brief guide, we’ll share where you can get the Howler Claws and how they work.

Where to get the Howler Claws and how they work

The Howler Claws can be found by performing the Ritual emote at one of the Alteration Altars found throughout the map during the Fortnitemares event. After you’re done with the emote, you’ll be rewarded with the claws, which you’ll need to equip from an inventory slot to use in order to make use of the abilities they bestow.

Below you can find a map of all Alteration Altar locations, which includes the following spots, all of them suspiciously chromed:

Chromejam Junction (formerly Logjam Junction)Shiny Sound (formerly Sleepy Sound)Lustrous LagoonReality Tree (three Altars total here)Flutter BarnShimmering ShrineCloudy CondosAll Fortnite Alteration Altars

For starters, you can howl using the Wolfscent Ability to grant you the supernatural power to track nearby foes, giving you all of the info you need to catch them off guard. If there aren’t any nearby enemies, however, the cooldown will reset immediately so that you’ll hopefully have the power available when you need it again. When a nearby enemy is tracking you with the claws equipped, you’ll be made aware of it with an increasingly loud heartbeat, so keep the volume up on your headphones to keep in the know.

Secondly, you’ll be able to slash enemies with the claws using a four-combo melee attack for some fairly solid damage. This is a great option when forced into close-quarters combat, and it’s pretty fun to boot. You can even perform a double jump that lets you air-slash opponents when you land on them. That’s one way to live out your Wolverine fantasies.

For more on Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 4, read up on the Goo Gun weapon and check out our Herald boss fight guide.

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Minecraft has announced its next big update for 2023. So far only referred to as update 1.20, it’ll bring camels, craftable bamboo items, new default skins, and more to vanilla Minecraft, as reported by Eurogamer. Unlike past updates, the upcoming one doesn’t have a name yet, and to avoid overpromising has only revealed new features that will definitely make it into the game.

The new update was announced at Minecraft Live over the weekend, with the Minecraft team adding first and foremost that it has decided not to reveal planned features for the update unless they’re definitely being implemented–adding that there has been a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver in past updates. As such only a few new additions have been announced, with the promise of more to be revealed through the rest of the year.

The hosts started the Minecraft Live presentation by revealing seven new default skins that will join the two already in the game, Minecraft Steve and Alex. The new skins are designed with further diversity in mind, allowing players to pick a default they feel better represents them as a person.

The hosts revealed that camels would be added as a new mount in the update. The desert-dwelling creature will be found wandering the sands or clustered around desert villages, and will be the first Minecraft mount that will be able to seat two riders. Instead of having a vertical jump like horses, camels will have more of a horizontal dash. The update will also add a new cactus block which will enable players to breed camels, and a new saddle.

The update will also add bamboo planks, which can be crafted from bamboo and used to make a new kind of block, as well as standard building pieces, and a new bamboo raft. The raft, as the presenters explained, works the same as Minecraft’s standard boat, but allows for a new, adventurous aesthetic that players may appreciate from a roleplay perspective.

Other new items being added include a chiseled bookshelf that can be used to store books, as well as a group of hanging signs with different chain shapes depending on what the sign is being attached to. The Mojang team has promised more will be revealed later for this update, which will be out sometime in 2023.

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Electronic Arts has confirmed it is shutting down the online servers for a number of games in the near future, including the beloved Mirror’s Edge. EA disclosed all of the games that will be scaled back or shut down completely on its website.

Starting this off is not a complete shutdown but a change for The Sims 4. On October 18, The Sims 4 Deluxe Edition will be removed from the Play List for EA Play members, replaced by The Sims 4 EA Play Edition. Also on this day, The Sims 4 Bundle is leaving the Play List and will be replaced by The Sims 4 EA Play Pro Edition.

Next up, Army of Two: The 40th Day and Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel–they will each lose their online services on October 20. The multiplayer screenshot server for Dragon Age Origins will go dark on that day, too.

Then on November 9, EA will close the network services for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 for PS3 and Xbox 360 and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for Xbox 360, including the Kane’s Wrath expansion. Mercenaries 2 for PS3 and Xbox 360 will lose network services that day as well.

On November 30, EA will shut down online servers for the racing game Onrush. Shifting to December, Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings and Super Mega Baseball 3 for Amazon’s Luna service will each close on December 15.

Finally, the original Mirror’s Edge will have its online servers shut down on January 19, 2023. This is also the day that Shank 2, NBA Jam On Fire Edition, and Gatling Gears’ online features will be shut off for good.

EA said the decision to scale back online features or modes or retire games completely is “never easy” but it becomes necessary as newer games are released.

“The development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into our games, their features, and modes almost as much as the players, and it is hard to see one retired,” EA said.

EA has a number of big games set for release soon, including Need for Speed Unbound in December and the Dead Space remake in January 2023.

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Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is the sequel to the surprise crossover tactics game Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Sparks of Hope brings more Rabbid versions of Mario characters, a galactic setting, and more tactical possibilities to the fray. Its predecessor was a critical hit, what are critics saying about the sequel?

Reviews are largely positive, citing the game’s innovative movement mechanics and thoughtful expansion of the original’s strengths. The GameSpot review of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is forthcoming, but in the meantime, you can check out our hands-on video preview.

For a more comprehensive picture of reviews, check out GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic.

Game: Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of HopePlatforms: Nintendo SwitchDeveloper: UbisoftRelease Date: October 20Price: $60

IGN – 9/10

“Even though Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle surprised us all with its smart XCOM-style tactics in Nintendo clothing, this followup maintains its best ideas but reinvents itself to the point where it immediately feels very different. It’s bigger and better in nearly every way, with a more freeform and customizable take on combat and an almost completely rethought overworld that’s much less linear and absolutely packed with puzzles. The story’s all over the place and the Switch can’t always handle everything smoothly, but it’s a fantastic game that can be played as either an enjoyable cakewalk or a deep, demanding tactical challenge, all while maintaining its zany sense of humor.” — Dan Stapleton [Full review]

GamesHub – 5/5

“Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a game that feels alive – in every corner of its world. In every quick-thinking, fast-paced battle. This is a story buoyed by slapstick antics, a real sense of humour, and a fuzzy feeling of joy. While the game may be a close cousin of Kingdom Battle, it goes much further, with larger, more vibrant worlds to explore, more complex combat tactics, and a real sense of ambition that’ll bring players from sweeping high peaks to shadowy, gnarled gardens.” — Leah J. Williams [Full review]

Video Games Chronicle – 4/5

“It’s easy to look at the Mario + Rabbids games as a test. Nintendo is willing to give the keys to the face of video games off to another developer outside of the big N’s shadow. If Ubisoft was to mess this series up, it could close that forbidden door forever. Thankfully, with more than its fair share of challenging, engaging gameplay, great visuals and an absolute powerhouse of a score, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope should, fittingly, fill other developers with hope that Nintendo will let them at the IP gold mine.” — Jordan Middler [Full review]

VG247 – 4/5

“Sparks of Hope is instantly more welcoming to newcomers to the genre, and the changes don’t stop there. Combat itself is far more fluid than we had before. Each character in your party (the number and options change as you move through the game) is free to move within a set area as much as they like until they fire their main weapon or run out of action points. Enemy-targeting is still handled by selecting the foe you want to aim at, and you’ll need to pay attention to the cover you leave your characters in before the enemies take their turn, but the whole thing feel less rigid, which is never a term that should be associated with a Mario game. It’s great.” — Tom Orry [Full review]

Digital Trends – 4/5

“Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope shines thanks to its reworked tactics, which make way for some of the best turn economy I’ve seen in the genre to date. Though it doesn’t fix all of its predecessor’s issues, it’s a worthy follow-up that ranks among the Nintendo Switch’s very best exclusives.” — Giovanni Colantonio [Full review]

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A patent filing by Activision Blizzard is exploring the idea of using machine learning technology to create custom soundtracks for players, which can potentially be used to enhance game experiences. As spotted by Exputer, the “Dynamically generating and modulating music based on gaming events, player profiles, and/or player reactions” filing details how artificial intelligence can be used to create a more dynamic sense of immersion in a video game, using variables to compose music on the fly.

“There is a need for systems and methods that generate and modulate music unique to individual players,” the patent filing reads, describing specific scenarios for how the software will change a user experience. One such example would be in a boss fight, where even if the player is easily overpowering a high-level antagonist, the music will be dynamically modulated to create a more intense atmosphere. According to the patent filing, the system could influence a “player’s success or failure during gameplay and that uses the correlation to improve the player’s performance in future gameplay.”

Illustrated audio magic

As for how it all works, Activision has described how the software will essentially read the room of its player, examine the “mood” of the location, and then modulate audio segments into various styles using machine learning models in conjunction with other techniques. The core idea is that the music generated will enhance the overall enjoyment of a player by subtly making encounters more thrilling and less frustrating.

“By automating the process of what kind of music is being played and how the music is modulated, the video game may become more immersive, become more enjoyable and provide players with a wide variety of customizable features in order to enhance the overall user experience,” Activision explained. Curiously, the patent filing mostly deals with scenarios for multiplayer games, but it does mention that the technology could be “applicable for single player and offline games” as well.

Video games have made tremendous advancements in terms of visual performance over the years, but only a handful of games have used music to enhance their design. One recent example would be Metal: Hellsinger, an FPS that combines run-and-gun brutality with a heavy metal soundtrack that guides your action. The internal system for that game has been a big hit, and fans will be able to eventually add their own tracks into it when custom music modding tools arrive in the future.

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