Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Solid 5 took the fan-beloved series to new heights with its shift to an open-world structure, but the road to release was anything but smooth. The turbulent development led to the infamous Kojima Konami breakup, putting a big question mark on the future of the franchise. Konami tried to take the game’s foundations and create another makeshift zombie open world out of it with Metal Gear Survive, but it was a spectacular failure. A barren open-world, repetitive missions, and uninteresting progression mechanics were some of the biggest issues that plague Survive’s gameplay loop – making it a really boring time.

Agents of Mayhem is Volition’s newest game and has been out since August. The game recently received a new update that adds a number of changes to gameplay while also adding enhancements to the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro versions of the game. As the game wasn’t well received by either critics or even fans of the Saints Row games, Volition has been trying to figure out what went wrong with their newest title and has been hard at work in trying to improve the game.

Moreover, there have been specific enhancements added for the Xbox One X version. HDR support will be added for the console, a feature already available on the PS4, PS4 Pro and PC versions. Additionally, the Xbox One X version of the game will also receive improvements which are already available on the PS4 Pro and will run at a higher resolution. The game on the Xbox One X  will also make use of higher resolution cubemaps for enhanced reflections.

Apart from these exclusive improvements, both the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro versions of the game have received a number of shared enhancements as well which you can read below:

XBOX ONE X AND PLAYSTATION 4 PRO ENHANCEMENTS

• Render particles are now at full screen resolution instead of half-resolution
• Highest LOD of all meshes are used regardless of distance
• Higher resolution shadow maps
• Higher quality volumetric fog
• Increased the maximum cap on spawned peds from 40 to 60

It’s rough times for Volition these days. The studio has been dealing with the fallout of the high profile flop that was Agents of Mayhem, its single player spin off on its long running Saints Row property, leading to severe layoffs. However, it seems like there may yet be hope for the troubled studio.

Long time studio veteran Jim Boone, who left the studio last year to work with Riot Games (the folks who bring us League of Legends), and who had worked at the studio for 22 years before leaving, is returning to it again.

“Man, did I miss the guys,” Boone told GamesIndustry. “I go pretty far back with these guys, even on the publishing side. As you can imagine, the kind of relationships that you form with everyone are pretty strong. I missed them. I loved what I was doing when I left. I kept thinking about what the guys were doing, slaving away on Agents of Mayhem… and it felt kind of weird that I wasn’t part of that. So being able to come back, and work with everyone on the next step was pretty exciting for me. It felt like something I couldn’t turn down.”

Boone went on to confirm that the studio acknowledges Agents of Mayhem‘s underperformance (though, I mean, it’s not like they have much of a choice there). It will be interesting to see how Volition plans to recover from this- they are a talented studio that makes fun games, and it would be a shame to see them go. Thankfully, they have Boone in their corner, which is hopefully going to be a boost to their chances of survival.

Agents of Mayhem is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Quantum Break

Many stories that deal with time travel tend to become their own convoluted messes of paradoxes and twists. Quantum Break kind of suffered from this but still managed to maintain its thrills. Then we got to the ending where sympathetic antagonist Paul Serene was blamed for everything and Jack was asked to join Monarch. The hilarious part is that Jack actually sees two paths, much like how Paul did before making decisions. Then the game ends before we see his choice. And no, this won’t be the last cliff-hangar ending on this list.

Developer Volition has had a strong run with its Saints Row franchise, most notably Saints Row The Third and Saints Row IV – and looked to repeat this success with Agents of Mayhem. Unfortunately, following the game’s disappointing critical and commercial reaction, it seems that there have been lay-offs at the studio.

Sources speaking to Kotaku noted that “over 30 people” were laid off. Apparently publisher Deep Silver wasn’t happy with the game’s sales and studio general manager Dan Cermack was apparently one of those laid off.

Keep in mind that neither Volition nor Deep Silver has confirmed these lay-offs or why they occurred. An official comment could arrive sooner or later but it’s safe to say that Agents of Mayhem won’t be getting a sequel anytime soon. What this says about the future of the Saints Row franchise remains to be seen.

At launch, Agents of Mayhem was criticized for its bland action, repetitive gameplay and uneven humour. You can read our official review to see what we thought.

Agents of Mayhem is an open world game- worse, it is a western AAA open world game, which means there are loads of stuff scattered around all over the place.

We know that most people won’t bother doing that- but you, brave soul, will. You will try and aim for a full 100% completion rate in this game after all- that is why we are here to help you. In this guide, we help you gain some of them in this game.

HOW TO UNLOCK RELIC TRADING COMPANY POSTS

• Level up your agency
• Once you reach a certain level, you unlock the Requisitions department which will unlock Relic outposts on the map
• Capturing Relic outposts gets you $180 per minute

INTEL

There are two main ways of earning Intel in the game- Recon Run missions (can be repeated and are easy, but with very small yields), and Hostage Rescue objectives (similar to Recon Run).

Taking down Legion Controlled Outposts also nets intel, usually 30-40 at a time- so that is what you want to try for whenever you can.

REGION KEYS

• Reach Level 8
• Unlock Global Conflict
• Send agents around the world to capture Regions
• Capturing Regions gets you their keys

WARP POINTS

Warp points help you quick travel around the world- what’s not to like? Of course, you need to discover them first. You will find the warp points in the Northeastern, Northwestern, Southeastern and Southwestern parts of the map.

Agents of Mayhem isn’t necessarily a hard game, but no one ever said no to tipping the odds in your favor some more, did it? Sadly, the game exists in the modern era, and cheat codes are now a thing of the past- that said,  glitches, or ones that are simply taking advantage of unintended consequences of how a game is designed, do exist, and in this guide, we walk you through some of those.

INFINITE CHESTS

The thing with Agents of Mayhem is that it does not have any persistence or permanence for its open world- so leaving an area and returning to it causes that area to revert to its previous state. In other words, if you were to find an area with a number of chests, you could open them all, leave the area, come back, and open the all again, getting bonuses and loot endlessly. The video below shows this in action.

CHEATS

Nine cheats have been released for the PC version of the game. They grant the following:

• Infinite Health
• Infinite Shield
• No Reload
• Set Cash
• Set Cores
• Set Scrap
• Set Machine Parts
• Set Elemental Fragments
• Set Intel

Feel free to download them for yourself by visiting here, but bear in mind you alone are responsible for the results.

FAST XP, MONEY, AND LOOT

Like any RPG, the three main currencies in Agents of Mayhem are EXP, money, and loot- so getting a lot of them will always be beneficial for you. This video below shows you how to get a lot of EXP, money, and loot, and quickly.

Agents of Mayhem, like any other modern open world game of its ilk, lets players obtain new vehicles to use in the overworld- but you don’t get them by buying them from NPCs. Instead, instead you need to find their blueprints and components, and then construct them for yourself.

This is already annoying, but Agents of Mayhem makes it even more so by not having a set spawn for the blueprints and components- they appear randomly throughout the map for some asinine reason. So. Here we are.

First, let’s look at the weapons you can get from these blueprints and components:

• Hammerhead
• Attrazione
• Pulse
• Enforcer
• Torch
• Mockingbird
• Eiswolf
• Neuron
• Mongoose
• Scorpion

Okay, now for some advice on trying your best to get the components and blueprints:

• Make sure to beat the Hammersmith in the Vehicle Bay of the ARK to be able to actually obtain the vehicles once you acquire them.
• Open every chest you see
• Get the upgrades that let you scan a larger area, and the ones that let you scan for chests in an area
• Complete loads of side-quests (specifically Mayhem Deliveries)
• Complete Global Conflicts

Agents of Mayhem offers 49 Achievements (plus a Platinum Trophy if you are playing on PS4)- right, so that’s a lot. As with a lot of other things in the game, that is a lot to keep track of, and assuming you are  Trophy/Achievement hunter or completionist, this can gnaw away at you on the inside.

Unless… unless you decide to do the sensible thing and use your guide to figure out how to get these Achievements/Trophies for yourself. You get peace of mind, and we get… well, we got you to read this guide I worked on, so I guess we can chalk that up as a win. In this guide, we list these out, and where possible, also include videos so you know exactly what to do.

Fire Up the Wayback Machine 
Use mission replay to replay and complete 3 missions.

Contested Location 
Take over each type of Emplacement Location.

Alert Level Wipe 
Complete LEGION Alert Level by defeating the LEGION captain.

Stop the Drop 
Destroy a Drop Pod Launcher Emplacement.

Hate this Thing 
Destroy a hate machine emplacement.

Chill Out 
Destroy an Ice Barrage Emplacement.

Dominator Dominated 
Destroy a Gravity Dominator.

Not this Fracking Thing 
Destroy a Dark Matter Fracking Station.

Not Technically a Golem… 
Destroy a golem in the open world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydz-_rRV8ZY

What’s the Password? 
Enter a secret room inside a LEGION lair.

Three’s Company 
Fully deck out Carnage a Trois in their signature outfits.

Next Up: Action Figures! 
Fully deck out Franchise Force in their signature outfits.

Bombshells 
Fully deck out the Bombshells in their signature outfit.

#SquadGoals 
Fully deck out Firing Squad in their signature outfits.

Designated Driver 
Call in an agent vehicle for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W15ieduODVY

Pimp Your Ride 
Build your first vehicle through blueprints.

LEGION Roadkill 
Run over LEGION personnel 10 times.

A Full Circle 
Complete a 360 in the air while in a vehicle.

Spreading MAYHEM 
Deploy your first agent to any LEGION region.

Contract Thriller 
Complete 15 Connected Contracts.

Contract Killer 
Complete 30 MAYHEM & Agent Contracts.

X Marks the Spot 
Find and open a large loot chest.

Accessories Sold Separately 
Use Gremlin Tech for the first time.

Go-Go-Gadget! 
Equip your first gadget onto any agent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYxYiRRMEJE

Crystalized 
Equip an Upgrade Core to any agent.

Bling Bling 
Swap out an agents weapon with a new look.

Long Jump 
Jump an agent vehicle 50 meters in one jump.

Hack the Planet 
Unlock and complete all standard VR room training programs.

More Like FUNgeon, Amirite? 
Complete a LEGION lair for the first time in Seoul.

Jump Around 
Hit 10 jumps in the city.

Shard Shark 
Collect all collectible Shards in game.

All the Bells and Whistles 
Fully upgrade all areas of the ARK.

Hello, Ladies 
Collect all agent vehicles.

Hardcore Gamer 
Complete all Operations on Difficulty Level 7+.

Globally Offensive 
Complete the Moscow Global Offensive.

Super Agent 
Reach level 40 on any agent.

Get Personal 
Complete all agent personal missions and get all agents to level 20.

Warp Points Acquired 
Unlock 5 warp points via open world gameplay.

Smells Like Home 
Warp into the ARK for the first time.

That Went Poorly 
Complete “Operation: Spin-off”.

Space Laser: OFFLINE 
Complete “Operation: Heaven Sent”.

You Got Gaunt! 
Complete “Operation: Star Power”.

Wedding Crasher 
Complete “Operation: Machine Man”.

Broken Hearts Club 
Complete “Operation: Red Queen”.

Through the Looking Glass 
Complete “Operation: Madhouse”.

Fall of Babylon 
Complete “Operation: Damocles”.

District Control 
Take over an Outpost from LEGION.

Secrets Within Secrets 
Enter a secret room, inside a secret room, inside a LEGION lair.

Status #1337 
Get 15 all perfect Hacks.

Agents of Mayhem is a game that was full of potential but one that wasn’t fully realized by Volition. Despite being a fun, super hero action title, the game got a few things wrong due to its repetetive mission structure and unbalanced level design. But from a graphical standpoint, Agents of Mayhem has managed to surprise us, at least in regards to what is happening in the immediate vicinity of the player.

Traditionally speaking, players do not associate Volition with high end graphics that set new benchmarks and Agents of Mayhem doesn’t change that. However, what stands out throughout the gameplay experience are the particle effects and the engine’s destruction simulation. And you can expect a ton of destruction in this game resulting into some breathtaking particle effects. Whether it’s the player shooting bullets or a vehicle being blown to bits, the on screen effects can be quite mesmerizing. And although the destruction effects aren’t up to the level of say, the Frostbite engine, the effects match up quite well with the semi-cel shaded art style the game employs.

Agents of Mayhem uses a rather unique style for telling its story. Instead of focusing on in-engine cutscenes, it emphasizes on comic style cutscenes. This kind of effect really works well with the theme of the game and fans of the game will really appreciate Volition for going the extra mile to get this done.

Unfortunately, other than what is in your immediate visibility, the rest of the world feels quite flat, specially when you are looking at it from the top of a building. Vehicles feel like cardboard boxes and NPCs are quite less. The world feels quite empty at times. And this to be honest is quite disappointing.

On the base PS4 and Xbox One front, we see a target resolution of 1080p and 30 frames per second, and both versions see very little impact to performance. However, it’ the PS4 build that sees the most benefits as far as console versions goes. Agents of Mayhem is a PS4 Pro enhanced title and Volition have implemented a couple of features that push it beyond the base PS4 version. There is a decent amount of boost to level of detail along with 16X Anisotropic Filtering compared to 4X on the base PS4. This results into much more detailed and sharper texture work.

The PS4 Pro’s extra power also allowed the developers to implement higher quality shadow effects along with better resolution for particle effects which makes them look even more better that the base versions. There is also an improvement in NPCs and vehicle density. However, the biggest improvement comes in the form of frame rate boost. The game runs at an unlocked frame rate up to 60fps. Now this is completely subjective and some players may not appreciate the unlocked frame rate, but we found the game to be much better in this mode. It would have been nice if Volition would have pushed for a complete locked 60fps experience but given the on screen action the game aims for, we doubt it would have achieved that without taking a big hit to the resolution.

At the end of the day, Agents of Mayhem is a decent looking game on consoles. It certainly doen’t set new graphical benchmarks and its flat world design doesn’t do any favors to gameplay, but its solid visual effects along with some fun filled gameplay will definitely attract new players.