Far Cry 5's setting of an American county under siege seems to become more provocative as the days go by. Moving away from the tropical jungles of the South Pacific and African savannas, the series now dips its toes into the US setting of Hope County, Montana for its action-packed fish-out-of-water story. With the new locale, the series also looks to break away from the standards that past games have set, which includes a more open world to explore, deeper co-op, and a custom character to create.
In Far Cry 5, you take on the role of an unnamed Deputy--your created character--who accompanies federal marshals to arrest Joseph Seed, the leader of the Eden's Gate cult that has occupied the isolated mountain community of Hope County, Montana. With a large following of heavily armed residents at his command, Seed, "The Father", instills them with the belief that the end times are coming and only he can save them. Once you've placed him in handcuffs, things quickly go south and you find yourself outmatched against Eden's Gate. But in traditional Far Cry fashion, the Deputy finds allies in the form of the Whitetail Militia, a group of citizens who've taken up arms to resist The Father's influence and dismantle the Seed family's control of the county.
The set-up is familiar when compared to other Far Cry games: you'll be able to explore a vast map and retake enemy bases, hunt animals, stealth-kill enemies, take part in co-op, and steal an assortment of vehicles, which includes planes for the first time in the series. But because all that carnage now takes place in the US, Far Cry now carries a similar unnerving sense of uncertainty and also absurdity that feels common in today's political climate. Extremism is often rooted in isolated communities where interactions with outsiders are few and far between, and Far Cry 5 takes place in such a location. While the game features several characters of color, including some of the common enemies, its leadership and the majority of its cast are predominantly reflective of a mostly white region of America.
The distortion of American iconography isn't exactly new, and FC5 also comes at a rather interesting time for that discussion to happen. However, what made my time spent with the game more interesting was experiencing it as a person of color, with my created character reflecting that. This added an extra layer to the game. Far Cry 5's setting is already a powder keg, so playing as a person of color feels especially poignant--if somewhat appropriate. Making a person of color the central character in this absurd and equally unsettling situation created some higher personal stakes for me, while also adding more tension to minor encounters.
During one interaction with my character meeting Hurk Sr.--the father of the series' traveling side-character Hurk from Far Cry 3 and 4, and also a hard-nosed conservative--he quickly goes into a diatribe about "Obama-loving libtards" and how they'll ruin his run for Senate. He eventually tasks the Deputy with tracking down his campaign truck; standard Far Cry side-mission hijinks ensue. While this encounter is the same regardless of what character you make, experiencing it as a character of color makes it an awkward and uncomfortable talk, especially with further lines about protecting his land as a "red-blooded American gun-owner" from outsiders, which most definitely includes you.
There's a number of ways to look at this scene, but it's clear that both Hurk's dad--a confident and staunch conservative--and Far Cry 5 are a product of their respective environments. Granted, Hope County exaggerates many of America's greatest fears to the extreme. While there are plenty of moments that feel empowering for the type of character you make, it's still surprising to see how often Far Cry 5 rides the line between being unsettling and celebrating cartoonish action. There are many genuine interactions with side characters, including Jess--one of the Guns for Hire--who talks about the torture she's witnessed from "The Cook," a sadistic member of Eden's Gate. But there are also moments where you and Cheeseburger the Bear--another Gun for Hire--fight off cultists in one of the nearby lumber mills, making for an encounter that's too bizarre to take seriously.
On the surface, these ridiculous gameplay scenes would seem to weaken or trivialize the more profound moments I experienced, and in some ways they did, mostly due to how jarring some of the transitions between comedy and the more dramatic moments are--made a bit worse by some odd bugs and the general videogamey-ness of it all. However, the Far Cry series is a power fantasy as a whole, and playing as a person of color in a setting where someone like that would be marginalized--especially in a community filled with trigger-happy religious extremists--does give it some added some weight behind the generous amount of agency the game gives you to explore the landscape and leave your mark on it.
As an outsider, you'll quickly need to learn the ins and outs of Far Cry's new setting. Hope County is a sprawling environment filled with small towns, lumber mills, cattle ranches, and mountain resorts nestled within a large, dense wilderness. The rural farmlands and tiny communities are a clash between modern buildings and the old-fashioned architecture of a generation once or twice-removed, all placed within the pocket of a mountain valley. While the previous games had a fairly standard, if repetitive gameplay loop--find the tower, fill out the map, and finish the nearby objectives peppered on your display--Far Cry 5 takes a more organic approach by removing scouting towers almost entirely.
With the largest open world of the series, there's a greater focus on letting you do your thing. It's a refreshing change of pace to be able to explore at your leisure, and be rewarded for your curiosity. I was impressed with the game's scale, and exploring Hope County offered a lot of moments to learn the history of the region and many communities trying to survive in a cult-occupied county--all while trying to unify the many sane individuals left.
While it's easy to make a relatable story with a westerner in a foreign country (think Jason Brody in Far Cry 3), telling that sort of story in America--with an American protagonist--has potential for something that feels relevant and powerful. Even during those early hours, Far Cry 5--despite its more familiar setting--was still a fish-out-of-water story. The Deputy, however you make your character, is framed as an agent of change to combat the cultists in a land where American religious extremists have taken hold of an isolated town and where opposing ideologies come to a violent clash.
When Far Cry 5 gets ridiculous, it does so in bizarre yet oddly endearing ways. Despite its heavy themes, it still presents a number of dynamic systems that inspire fun and engagement. Yet that doesn't take away from the strange and disconcerting encounters that recall imagery and phrases from our current day, whether it's intentional or not. I've been an admirer of the Far Cry series for some time, and I feel like I'm more interested in seeing how the narrative turns out this time around.
Having said that, Far Cry 5 is undoubtedly a product of Trump-era America and will be viewed through that lens. Whether it succeeds in telling a story that says something interesting with its highly evocative setting, or if it just results in a story about the good heavily-armed militia beating the bad heavily-armed militia, remains to be seen. While the main story is about you dealing with The Father and Eden's Gate, the player-story you create--with your own version of the deputy--has equal relevance. Hopefully, Ubisoft will be able to tie it together in a meaningful way.
Nintendo has been on a roller coaster this century. While its dedicated handheld business has remained strong despite competition from Sony and an explosion in mobile gaming, its console business has been up and down, to say the least. GameCube, a fairly direct competitor to PlayStation 2 and Xbox, sold fewer than 22 million units. Nintendo tried something radically different with Wii and it paid off in spades, selling more than 101 million units. With Wii U, Nintendo again shied away from directly competing with the more traditional (and powerful) consoles offered by Sony and Microsoft, but this time it failed, selling fewer than 14 million units. With nearly 15 million sold already, Nintendo Switch has surpassed expectations, outsold Wii U in less than a year, and looks primed to have another tremendously successful year in 2018. How did we get here?
Switch's reveal back in October 2016 came as little surprise. A console/handheld hybrid had been heavily rumored, and to some, it appeared to be nothing more than a second attempt at Wii U that addressed its biggest flaw (the need to be tethered to a console plugged into the wall). The immediate reaction from the investment community wasn't strong; while Nintendo's stock price had recovered somewhat since its Wii U era collapse, it dropped again in the immediate wake of the announcement, and analysts doubted its appeal. Much of Wii's success stemmed from reaching a mainstream audience, attracting those who wouldn't typically buy a games console. Considering the continued surge of interest in free-to-play games, some questioned the potential of the Switch.
Nintendo certainly appeared confident, setting the system's price higher than many of us here at GameSpot predicted. Even with its premier launch game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, being available in functionally identical form on Wii U, strong sales at launch were inevitable. There's a die-hard audience out there who is going to pick up any new piece of hardware, particularly when it comes with the potential to play future Zelda, Mario, and Metroid games.
Sure enough, sales were strong right out of the gate, setting various records for the company by outselling all of its previous systems, including Wii. By the end of its launch month, it had sold 2.74 million units, despite Nintendo planning to ship only 2 million total in that timeframe. It did this in part by making the unusual--and pricey--move of shipping consoles by air in addition to sea. Clearly, the early demand was there.
There were early stumbles. We knew in advance of Switch's release that it would launch without Virtual Console or its premium online service, and Netflix--and every other streaming service--would be absent. (Streaming services are still nowhere to be seen except, oddly, for Hulu.) But in the wake of its release, supply problems (which lasted much of 2017) and technical issues threatened to upend Nintendo's momentum. A number of users reported that their dock had scratched the system's screen. Some found the dock warped the console due to extreme heat. And many of those who used the Joy-Con controllers wirelessly found the left Joy-Con would briefly lose connection with the system. The dock issues only affected some, and after a period of silence, Nintendo began quietly offering repairs for Joy-Cons to those who were impacted.
What appeared to be a potential mass recall situation blew over; despite all of this, Switch's momentum carried on. The system masterfully executes on its vision--the basic concept of being able to seamlessly move from portable to docked mode and vice versa works every bit as well as you'd hope. Just as importantly, it's somewhat quietly had one of the greatest debut years ever in terms of its game lineup. Run through a list of releases from the first year of Switch versus that of PS4 or Xbox One and it's not a crazy argument to say that Nintendo's console comes out on top. That's a fact that may have been lost on some Switch owners. Thanks to its exceedingly basic Eshop (seriously, where's the Wii shop music?), those who don't check in routinely may miss out on some quality Switch game releases.
The Eshop has been home to so many good games thanks to solid third-party support--a trouble area for Nintendo platforms in the past. While we've occasionally gotten decidedly inferior versions of multiplatform games, and some of the big-name releases of the past year haven't shown up, Switch has still amassed a very strong lineup. It's easy to naysay ports, but whether they come from Wii U (a system that few people bought) or other platforms (where people still may have missed them), the abundance of re-releases on Switch has made it easy to build up a huge library of quality games. And thanks to Switch's hybrid nature, many of these games feel like fresh experiences in handheld mode. Quick-fix games like Gonner or Graceful Explosion Machine, for instance, can be more appealing when you can easily jump in for a round. Being able to play a single day in Stardew Valley across multiple short sessions or collect one moon in Super Mario Odyssey before turning the system off transforms those games into different types of experiences that wouldn't be possible on other platforms.
Year one for Switch has not been without its flaws. Accessories--particularly the $90 dock for those wanting to connect to a second TV--feel excessively priced. The system's user interface, while pleasantly minimalist in some ways, still lacks some of the features we've been hoping to see for quite some time now: better game management and folder support, system-level rumble settings, and an activity log. Worse still is the absence of any way to back up save data; even older system like PSP (saves could be backed up to a PC) and Vita (cloud saves) offered some option, yet Switch offers nothing. Particularly for a system that is meant to be played on the go, where it could easily be dropped, the inability to do anything to protect your Breath of the Wild progress beyond developing an ironclad grip is worrisome.
Online support remains rudimentary. Voice chat support is laughable, and the system lacks any kind of messaging or invitation features at the system level. And Nintendo faces an unappealing task in asking those who have enjoyed online multiplayer for free to this point to begin paying for it after 18 months, assuming its paid online service launches in September as planned. It's been delayed multiple times now and we still know very little about it, beyond the fact that it will grant access to online multiplayer, exclusive deals, and a library of online-enabled classic games. That last point is of course the most intriguing, particularly with no sign of Virtual Console surfacing. The specifics of exactly how that will work remain to be seen but will play a large role in determining how worthwhile it is.
Despite some shortcomings, Switch's future is bright. Sales thus far have exceeded those of PS4 through a comparable period following its launch, and investors seem confident, with Nintendo's stock price doubling since Switch's release and reaching heights not seen since the Wii's heyday. And that's with good reason: Switch's handheld nature opens the door to sell multiple units per household, rather than the one-per-family you traditionally see with consoles. That may seem unimportant to you, but a larger install base can only help in convincing third parties to continue or expand their efforts on Switch.
We don't yet know if Nintendo will be able to keep up the software momentum seen in 2017--we didn't go more than a few months without a big new first-party game, and it's still kind of wild to think we got Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey in the same year. To Nintendo's credit, it does feel like it's finally inclined to open the floodgates to some extent, confirming the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 and bringing the Pokemon RPG to a non-handheld that fans have been wanting to see for years. Beyond all that, there's the unrealized, unexpected potential of the system: Labo, while not appealing to everyone, showcases functionality no one realized was possible. And we've yet to see alternate Joy-Cons that are more than just new colors. Combined with what we can hope will be a quality online service, there's good reason to feel that year one for Switch was just the start of something greater.
Sony has kicked off another sale in the US PlayStation Store, offering some big discounts on a ton of critically acclaimed PS4, PS3, and Vita titles for the next few days. If that wasn't enough incentive to pick something up from PSN this week, the company is also holding a limited-time promotion that will get you some PSN credit when you spend a certain amount of money.
From now until March 6, players who spend $100 on PSN (not including tax) will receive a code worth $15 in credit toward a future purchase. This includes full titles purchased digitally from the PlayStation Store, as well as add-on content and subscriptions for digital services like PS Plus and PlayStation Now.
Those who qualify for the $15 credit will receive it "on or before" March 16. Sony will distribute the code for the credit via email or as a system message for each of the aforementioned consoles. Sony says it will offer one $15 code per person for the duration for the promotion, and you'll need to use it by 11:59 PM PT on March 30. You can read more about the offer on the PlayStation Store website.
Another big sale is now underway on the US PlayStation Store. This week, Sony is holding a Critics' Choice sale, which offers discounts on a ton of acclaimed PS4, PS3, and Vita games through the beginning of next week.
The Critics' Choice sale runs until 11 AM ET on March 6, giving you a week to take advantage of the above deals. Sony is also holding a promotion this week that rewards players with a $15 credit if they spend $100 on the PlayStation Store. You can find the full list of games that are currently on sale on the PlayStation Store website.
This Week's PSN Deals Highlights
PS4
Assassin's Creed Origins -- $40.19 ($46.19)
Axiom Verge -- $10 ($12)
Battlefield 1 Revolution -- $19.79 ($30)
Call of Duty: WWII -- $39 ($48)
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy -- $24 ($30)
Darkest Dungeon -- $10 ($12.49)
Destiny 2 -- $33 ($42)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition -- $30
Enter the Gungeon -- $7.49 ($9)
The Flame in the Flood: Complete Edition -- $6 ($7.49)
For Honor -- $19.79 ($25.79)
Gran Turismo Sport -- $33 ($39)
Grand Theft Auto V -- $30 ($36)
Gravity Rush 2 -- $18 ($22)
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice -- $21 ($24)
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition -- $32.49 ($35)
Inside -- $8 ($10)
The Last of Us Remastered -- $10 ($12)
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is $30 ($36)
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -- $12 ($14)
Middle-earth: Shadow of War -- $37.49 ($40)
Nidhogg 2 -- $9 ($10.49)
Okami HD -- $14 ($15)
Oxenfree -- $5 ($7)
Prey -- $20 ($24)
Pyre -- $10 ($12)
Resident Evil 7: Gold Edition -- $40 ($45)
South Park: The Fractured But Whole -- $30 ($36)
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition -- $30 ($32)
Tekken 7 -- $30 ($36)
Titanfall 2 -- $6 ($15)
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy -- $20 ($24)
What Remains of Edith Finch -- $11 ($13)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition -- $20 ($25)
PS3
BlazBlue: Central Fiction -- $20 ($25)
Grand Theft Auto V -- $20 ($24)
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition -- $9 ($12)
Limbo -- $3 ($4)
Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare bundle -- $16 ($20)
[UPDATE] Nintendo has confirmed that some Switch owners' play times are "displaying incorrectly" and that it will make a further announcement regarding the issue "in the near future." In a statement to GameSpot, the company said, "Some Nintendo Switch owners' play activity information is displaying incorrectly. We are aware of the issue and we expect to have more information to share in the near future."
The original story follows below.
The Nintendo Switch is already celebrating its first anniversary in parts of the world, but some Switch owners are discovering an unpleasant surprise on the console's birthday. It appears the Switch only keeps track of your game play times for one year and has begun resetting many players' records.
As pointed out in a thread on video game forum ResetEra, play times for launch day titles are being reset on Switch profiles. GameSpot has verified the issue; as you can see in the screenshot below, our Switch now says that we first started playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild nine days ago.
This only appears to affect the play times listed in your user profile; save data for the titles in question remains unchanged, but you can no longer accurately see how many hours you've sunk into any games you first started playing on launch day. It's unclear if this is a permanent issue or if Nintendo will be able to restore the times via a system update. We have reached out to the company for comment and will report back with a response.
As the Nintendo Switch officially launched to the public on March 3, many early adopters in North America still haven't owned the console for exactly one year, so your play times should appear normally for the time being. If you care about preserving a record of your play times, now would be a good opportunity to take screenshots of your user profile before they are reset on the console.
Switch's first year has been a tremendous success for Nintendo and fans alike; the system was difficult to find in stores for much of 2017 and has already amassed an impressive library of acclaimed titles like Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and most recently, Bayonetta 2. Despite that, the console is still missing some basic features we are hoping to see, such as a proper Activity Log to keep track of your play times. This new issue only reinforces the need for one.
As the first Far Cry game set in the USA, the upcoming entry in Ubisoft's open-world shooter series has created some hot debate amongst fans and critics alike. Taking place in the fictional Hope County, nestled within the deep wilderness of Montana, the central character will come into conflict with Eden's Gate, a powerful and growing cult led by the charismatic Joseph Seed. Tackling some topics and imagery related to religious extremism and the cult of personality, Far Cry 5's narrative feels rather timely.
After spending some time playing the game at a Ubisoft press event in Livermore, CA--which included a crossbow range and tons of barbecue--we took some time to discuss what Far Cry 5 is setting out to do. In the above video, Aaron Sampson, Jean-Luc Seipke, Mike Mahardy, and Alessandro Fillari had a chat about how Far Cry 5 handles its topics and the current timing of its release, while also reveling in the sort of open-world hijinks that players would expect from the series. While the setting and politics surrounding the game are receiving much attention, the game is still what many fans of Ubisoft's open-world shooter can expect.
Along with our talks about the tone and story, Aaron and I shared some stories of a few of the side quests and events that took place during our session--including a few missions that went horribly wrong. We also got to talk about the added scope of the co-op play and just how much you push the game with a friend.
March is now underway, which means players have a slew of new titles to look forward to. In contrast to last month, which was dominated by remasters and re-releases like Shadow of the Colossus and Bayonetta 2, March is filled with some of the year's most anticipated sequels, including Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and Far Cry 5. On top of those games, players will be able to pick up some intriguing original titles like A Way Out and the crime-solving Pokemon game Detective Pikachu on 3DS this month.
Below, you can find a roundup of the biggest games set to arrive on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and 3DS in March 2018. For a full look at all of the major titles coming to each platform throughout the rest of the year, check out our comprehensive 2018 game release date list.
Kirby Star Allies (Switch) -- March 16
This month's big Switch exclusive is Kirby Star Allies, the first Kirby game developed for Nintendo's hybrid console. Like most of the puffball's previous adventures, Star Allies is a side-scrolling platformer through the colorful world of Dream Land, which is under attack by a dark new force. On top of his signature copy ability, Kirby can now toss hearts at enemies to turn them into allies, who can be controlled by up to three other players for co-op platforming.
EA's innovative co-op game, A Way Out, arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 23. Developed by Hazelight, the studio founded by the creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out puts players in the roles of Leo and Vincent, two former convicts on the lam after breaking out of prison. What makes the game unique is that it can only be played cooperatively, either locally or online, as both players need to work in tandem to outrun the police and survive outside of prison.
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4, PC) -- March 23
After several delays, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is finally slated to arrive on PS4 and PC this month. The sequel to PS3's beloved RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Revenant Kingdom takes place hundreds of years after the first game and follows the story of Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the deposed boy-king of Ding Dong Dell who sets off to found his own kingdom. The game also features a completely revamped battle system, as well as kingdom-building and real-time strategy elements.
Ubisoft's controversial new Far Cry game, Far Cry 5, arrives near the tail end of March, closing the month out in spectacular fashion. Set in Hope County, Montana, an isolated mountain region overrun by a cult of religious extremists known as Eden's Gate, the ambitious first-person shooter features a vast open world and plenty of over-the-top heroes and villains, including a murderous grizzly bear named Cheeseburger. The game also supports online co-op, allowing you to take down zealots with a friend.
As promised last week, Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil are now available on Xbox One. Each has been visually enhanced but are otherwise untouched from the original dinosaur extinction events of your youth.
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was a 1997 N64 first-person shooter and adaptation of the Acclaim Comic of the same name. The sequel, released in 1998, added a hub-based mission structure and multiplayer. Both were known for their inventive gadgetry to take down dinosaur threats, along with some pea-soup fog to compensate for the N64's lack of draw distance.
Fighting dinosaurs was always the central pitch, but the story naturally encapsulated the tone of 1990s comic books. The time-traveling Native American warrior Turok was tasked with protecting the barrier between Earth and a primitive world called the Lost Land. An evil being called the Campaigner was seeking to recreate the Chronoscepter from its scattered parts, so it fell upon Turok to stop him. The sequel brought in aliens, spaceships, and telepathic abilities for good measure.
Nightdive Studios is responsible for the remasters, having come fresh off a remaster of System Shock. The System Shock remaster team was placed on on hiatus shortly after release. The Turok games are selling for $20 apiece.
Bethesda has staked its claim on a time slot for its annual E3 showcase. This year the big event will take place Sunday, June 10 at 6:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m. ET. This continues Bethesda's trend of placing its event on the weekend directly before E3 week, which is already packed with platform-holder and publisher press conferences.
This year's announcement came in the form of a charming little papercraft motif, with the theme "Creating Something Special." It teased characters from several of the publisher's top franchises like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Dishonored–though which of those will be making a formal appearance is anyone's guess at this point. Bethesda noted that invitations and registration instructions will be coming at a later date.
EA has also started laying plans for E3 2018, with the announcement of its annual EA Play event and a tease that "the next Battlefield experience" will be there. That will take place June 9-11 at the Hollywood Palladium.
The Nintendo Switch is an undeniable success story. In its first year, the console sold faster than any other video game console in history. While the Switch has succeeded in many ways, there were a few areas where Nintendo dropped the ball. To celebrate the system's anniversary, we take a look at the problems the console faced after launch, and what we're hoping Nintendo learns from them to make the Switch's second year even better. Check it out in the video above.
The biggest issue for the Switch, post-launch, was undoubtedly connection problems with the left-Joy Con. Many players reported that the controller would desync itself when used wirelessly. Nintendo acted quickly to repair the controllers, but many users were left frustrated as they couldn't use the console the way it was intended. Other issues, like the lack of voice chat capabilities and the bizarre workaround of using your phone and a third-party dongle, persist to this day.
Two other substantial features fans have been asking for are the addition of cloud saves and a Virtual Console. At this point, all saved games are stored exclusively on the Nintendo Switch console, meaning if your Switch is damaged or goes missing, you lose all your saves too. Cloud-based saves would solve that problem, but there's still no indication the feature is coming any time soon.
The Virtual Console, on the other hand, is definitely coming...eventually. When the Wii U launched, it started receiving classic NES games less than three months later. One year after the Switch launched, we still don't have a way to play Nintendo games from previous consoles. Nintendo says those games will be available when it launches its online service, but right now, that is scheduled for September 2018. For more on the Nintendo Switch one year after its launch, check out this video on the five Wii U games that deserve a second chance, and read how the Switch is resetting play times on players after one year of gameplay.
The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 4 and one of the most highly anticipated categories is Best Director. The five directors and their films are incredibly varied, and you can watch our video above to see Mike, Greg, and Ryan debate just which director deserves the award this year. The five nominees for Best Director are:
Dunkirk - Christopher Nolan
Get Out - Jordan Peele
Lady Bird - Greta Gerwig
Phantom Thread - Paul Thomas Anderson
The Shape of Water - Guillermo del Toro
The 90th Academy Awardsare being hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The red carpet kicks off at 5 PM ET, with the ceremony itself beginning at 8 PM ET. To watch the show live, tune into ABC. The awards will also be streaming on services like Sling, YouTube TV, DirecTV, and PlayStation Vue. The ceremony will also stream live on ABC Go and the ABC app.
While Far Cry 5 is a lot of fun in solo play, the game's expanded online gameplay is likely where most players will spend their time. Co-op play is where Ubisoft's next open-world game really shines, and after the game's tutorial mission, the entirety of your time through Hope County can be played online with a friend. Whether it's diving into several stunt-driving missions, base-raiding, taking down some of the key members of Eden's Gate, or hunting animals, you can do it with a friend.
In the above video, Aaron Sampson and I got to play through Far Cry 5's opening and experience the early hours in the open world. During that time, we took part in the many activities that Hope County has to offer. But we wanted to go a bit further, so we took some time to test all sorts of stunts and features associated with co-op, and whether it could all work in ways that most players will expect.
We put together a series of tests to see how much you can push co-op play, and how the game world reacts to the presence of an additional player in-game. Things we tested include how far you and your co-op buddy can stray from one another, if the game will get harder with another player added into the mix, and what sort of progress the guest player gets to keep after leaving the session. Many of these tests required some quick-thinking and some trial-and-error, but we had fun putting it all together for you. Check out which of these hot-topics were were successes and failures.
The Academy Awards are this weekend, and while there are tons of categories celebrating interesting performances and achievements in film, one category hovers above them all: Best Picture. There are nine very different films up for Best Picture this year. Watch our video above to see Greg, Mike, and Chastity share their picks for which films they think do, and don't, deserve the crown. The nine Best Picture nominees are:
Call Me by Your Name
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Dunkirk
Darkest Hour
Get Out
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Lady Bird
The 90th Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 4 and are being hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The red carpet kicks off at 5 PM ET, with the ceremony itself beginning at 8 PM ET. To watch the show live, tune into ABC. The awards will also be streaming on services like Sling, YouTube TV, DirecTV, and PlayStation Vue. The ceremony will also stream live on ABC Go and the ABC app.
H1Z1 was in early access for quite some time (starting in 2015) and went through many phases with its survival mode and battle royale mode. But the game recently launched with an official 1.0 version along with a brand new game mode called Auto Royale. Up to 120 players are grouped into teams of four that are stuck to a car for the entire match; there's one driver and three shooters with health, weapon, and gadgets scattered across the map. In true battle royale fashion, players are forced into ever-shrinking zones by a deadly circle until one team emerges victorious. We happened to be that team (just once).
In the video above, you can watch us find varying degrees of success and get to grips with all the game's quirks and features, but ultimately win it all. Throughout our time playing H1Z1's Auto Royale, we saw what the new mode had to offer as oil slicks, smoke screens, and land mines kept us on our toes. Ramps litter the map which cars can boost through to snag pickups, escape pursuing enemy cars, or just have a good time.
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