Dirty Bomb's "Containment War" update goes live this week

Dirty Bomb Containment War

Dirty Bomb is a free-to-play online shooter set in a near-future London, which has been abandoned in the wake of some mysterious disaster. Now, various private military companies do battle to seize control of the vast wealth left behind, turning the shell of the city into "the Merc Capital of the World." It's a thin setup for a game, but as shooters go it's actually pretty good; in fact, we declared in August that you should be playing it. All of which brings us to the point: Containment War, the biggest update to Dirty Bomb since it went into open beta this summer, is out on October 28.

Containment War adds new maps, including the massive Dome map for Objective and Stopwatch modes, fully implements Execution Mode, and brings in a new mercenary named Stoker who can resupply teammates with a deployable ammo station. "Limited-edition" Containment War loadout cards will be available for 30 days following the release of the update, and anyone who plays the game between October 28 and November 4 will also permanently unlock the recently-released medic, Phoenix, at no charge. Players who have already unlocked Phoenix will be given two Elite Cases and an Obsidian Loadout Card for Phoenix instead.

The only downside to Containment War as far as I can see is that Execution Mode really isn't as cool as it sounds. It's a best-of-ten contest in which one team attempts to plant a bomb and blow up an objective while the other tries to prevent it, which strikes me as almost identical to Counter-Strike's Bomb Defusal mode. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but feels disappointingly lacking in actual in executions.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in FPS
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Fragpunk
Somebody finally figured out casual Counter-Strike
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
A plastic duck dressed like a circus weightlifter
The 5th highest-rated game on Steam in 2022 is back with a multiplayer sequel
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director
Ciri in The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 won't be out until sometime in 2027 at the soonest, CD Projekt says