The beta for Fallout 76 is now pre-loading for Xbox One, and Bethesda has announced when you can expect to get in if you're lucky enough to be part of the very first wave. The initial session will take place on Tuesday, October 23 from 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT to 11 PM ET / 8 PM PT.
As previously detailed, Bethesda will be running individual targeted time frames for players to access the beta. The idea is that this will force more players together at a specific time to stress test and put the game through its paces. Sessions will typically last 4-8 hours in a given day, and then the beta will be inoperable again until the next session. The process will repeat over again until November 14.
A beta code is available to anyone who pre-ordered the game across Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4. Pre-loading is only available on Xbox One for now, since the PC and PS4 betas will begin on October 30. You'll receive a code with your physical pre-order to enter into the accounts page, or you'll be entered into the pool automatically if you pre-order a digital copy. Note that those codes don't grant you access. Rather, they put you into the potential pool of players to get a distribution code later, since Bethesda is rolling out the invites in waves.
Bethesda plans to let to keep your progress from the beta through to the full game. Pre-ordering also will get you 500 Atoms, the in-game currency, for purchasing cosmetic items in the shop.
Fallout 76 is due out on November 14. For more details, check out our guide to everything we know.
The arrival of the weekend brings with it a new appearance by Xur in Destiny 2. Players with and without the Forsaken expansion can now check in with the mysterious merchant for a refreshed slate of Exotic items he has for purchase. Here's where to find him and what he has for sale.
Not long after his last trip to Io, he's returned to this moon of Jupiter once again. He's taken up residence in his standard spot in Giant's Scar. Spawn in at that landing zone and make your way forward through the building in front of you, and then follow the path to the left. Just up on a hill, you'll find a small cave he's hanging out in.
Festival of the Lost and Iron Banner may be underway, but there's nothing unusual about Xur's lineup of items. He has a piece of Exotic armor for each class, as well as one weapon: Crimson, the hand cannon. This is an excellent gun, firing a three-round burst and featuring the Cruel Remedy perk, which heals you when you get a kill and refills the magazine when you get a precision kill.
On the armor side, Hunters can pick up The Dragon's Shadow chest armor, which reloads your guns and provides a speed and handling buff after a dodge. Warlocks get the Crown of Tempests helmet, which speeds up arc ability recovery when you get arc ability kills. And Titans can get the Ashen Wake gauntlets, which improve fusion grenades by letting you throw them faster and causing them to explode on impact.
The full lineup and prices are as follows:
Xur Exotic Items (October 19-23)
Crimson (Exotic hand cannon) -- 29 Legendary Shards
Crown of Tempests (Exotic Warlock helmet) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Ashen Wake (Exotic Titan gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Also from Xur, you can pick up a Five of Swords challenge card for adding modifiers to Nightfall strikes (which is needed to do the weekly Powerful gear challenge to score over 100,000 in the Nightfall). Additionally, he has the Fated Engram, which is pricey at 97 Legendary Shards but is guaranteed to decrypt into a Year One Exotic you don't already have.
As noted above, Xur's lineup may not be thrilling (though Crimson genuinely is great), but there's plenty else happening in the game. You can get curated Iron Banner rewards from taking part in the Crucible mode, and we're still in the first week of the three-week-long Halloween event, Festival of the Lost. This features a new activity called the Haunted Forest that's fun and offers a path to a 600 Power level auto rifle called Horror Story--just be careful when going for the chest at the end.
Fallout 76 's release is a month away, but some players will have a chance to try the new multiplayer-focused take on the series very soon. Following the recent pre-beta stress test, Bethesda is kicking off the Fallout 76 beta on Xbox One on October 23 (before expanding it to PS4 and PC the following week), and those who've qualified will be able to pre-load it right now.
The Fallout 76 beta is open exclusively to those who've pre-ordered the game, so if you want to jump in, you'll need to reserve Fallout 76 on your platform of choice. Not everyone who pre-orders will get into the beta right away, however, as Bethesda will gradually invite more players in waves. You'll also need to have an Xbox Live Gold or PS Plus subscription in order to participate.
As Bethesda details on its FAQ page, to download the beta, you'll first need to find the redemption code on your pre-order receipt or in the email confirmation you received. After that, you'll need to log in to Bethesda's website, then input the code using the link on the FAQ. Once that is completed, Bethesda says it will send an email with further instructions.
The first beta session is scheduled to begin on October 23 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET and run until 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET. No further dates and times have been announced yet, but Bethesda says it will be running during "targeted time frames." According to the developer, the purpose of the beta is to "stress test and break the game," so players should expect some hiccups along the way. The beta will go on until shortly before the game's launch next month.
Fallout 76 releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 14. Unlike previous installments in the series, 76 is an always-online RPG with an emphasis on multiplayer, which we found makes for a very different kind of Fallout game. You can learn more about the title in our roundup of everything we know about Fallout 76.
There's a new Halloween in theaters, bringing fans back to the world of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode in Haddonfield. Though it's been 40 years since the first movie became a smash hit, the popularity of the Halloween franchise has never really lessened, even if the quality of the movie did over time.
In the new film, it's clear that those behind-the-scenes are massive fans of what's come before as they take many opportunities to pay tribute to not only the original film, but the sequels that came in the years that followed. With keen eyes, the GameSpot staff walked into the new Halloween, ready to catch each and every Easter egg director David Gordon Green hid in the new movie, from nods to Michael's original killings to even a Season of the Witch shoutout.
Were you able to catch all of the Easter eggs and references concealed in the new Halloween, some of which were hiding in plain sight all along? Take a look at our gallery and let us know in the comments which reference was your favorite--or if we somehow missed one.
The later Halloween movies tried to establish more backstory for Michael Myers, including that he was actually Laurie Strode's long lost brother, much to fans' chagrin. The new movie simultaneously acknowledges and debunks that development during an early conversation between Allyson and her friends, when she tells them that the brother rumor is just something someone made up.
2. By Today's Standards
In the same scene, Allyson's friend Dave points out that by today's standards, one guy killing a handful of people with a knife isn't even that big a deal. From the character's perspective, many more people than that die in terrorist attacks and mass shootings on a regular basis. But in a meta sense, this conversation is an acknowledgment of the fact that, despite its iconic status, the original Halloween is tame by today's horror standards. Note that the conversation is punctuated by Allyson and Vicky telling Dave to shut the f*** up.
3. The Music
Obviously Halloween's main theme music is the same as the iconic music in the original, but did you know that John Carpenter actually came back to work on the music for this movie too? You can thank him (as well as his son Cody Carpenter and Daniel A. Davies) for the throbbing synths that accompany those familiar piano notes.
4. The Opening Credits
The font and style of the opening credits are a direct nod to the original's aesthetic. You'll know if you have any fans in your theater based on the crowd's reaction to the big orange text appearing on the screen.
5. The Pumpkin
The pumpkin that appears during the credits, too, is a reference to the original. This time around, instead of simply slowly zooming in on a lit jack-o-lantern, the credits first show a decaying pumpkin regenerating--signifying Michael Myers, and the Halloween franchise itself, coming back to life.
6. "The New Loomis"
Dr. Loomis played an important role in several movies in the series, including the original. From Laurie's perspective, Haluk Bilginer's character Dr. Sartain is "the new Loomis" in the sense that he's Michael's physician now. But in a meta sense, Sartain also fulfills a similar character role in the new Halloween--at least, at first.
7. The Final Girl
Another trope the original Halloween fully embraced is the "final girl." Laurie Strode, as the shy, pure, "good girl," is the only one to survive The Shape's onslaught. In the new Halloween, the character herself acknowledges the trope when she points out to her granddaughter Allyson that she was once on the honor roll as well. The original movie's trauma changed her forever--just as this movie's events no doubt changed Allyson.
8. "I Saw Him. I Saw The Shape"
For script reasons, Michael Myers actor Nick Castle was originally credited as "The Shape" back in 1978. The name was never used in the original movie, but Laurie Strode says it during the dinner scene in the new film. "I saw him," she says. "I saw The Shape." And in the credits, Castle is once again referred to as "The Shape."
9. Return Of Castle
Original Michael Myers actor Nick Castle actually returned to the role for this movie. That's him in shots where Michael has his mask off and you can see a grey-haired, balding man with a beard. For other shots, especially more physically demanding ones (Castle is 71 years old), James Jude Courtney played The Shape.
10. Found Footage
The shots of six-year-old Michael murdering his own sister in a flashback are actually just footage from the original movie--the 1978 film's opening scene, in fact.
11. "Pure Evil"
The concept that Michael Myers is something other than human first comes from Dr. Loomis when he's trying to explain what the sheriff in Haddonfield is dealing with. Loomis says that what he found behind Michael's eyes as he was trying to treat him was "something purely and simply evil." Loomis isn't the only person to say Michael is pure evil, as the concept that it's impossible to reason with him comes up again in 2018. Forty years later, all of Loomis' warnings are borne out once again.
12. "The Boogeyman"
While Michael is stalking around Haddonfield early in the 1978 Halloween, the movie introduces Tommy, the young kid Laurie is babysitting later that evening. Young Tommy is hassled by other kids at school, who tell him the Boogeyman is going to get him. Laurie, the extremely responsible teenager that she is, continually reassures Tommy that there's no such thing as the Boogeyman--until Michael shows up and throws that idea out the window. Referring to Michael as the literal Boogeyman continues 40 years later when the Shape returns to Haddonfield.
13. Happy Halloween from Silver Shamrock
Some fans spotted this reference in trailers for the new Halloween, however this is a great nod to cult classic Halloween III: Season of the Witch. In one scene with kids trick-or-treating, there are some children on the streets wearing what are clearly the masks from that film--a skeleton, a pumpkin, and a witch. Hopefully, they didn't all go home and have their faces rot when they saw the Silver Shamrock commercial.
14. A Familiar Tune
There's one audio callback to the original film that would be incredibly easy to miss. In fact, it was Halloween director David Gordon Green who pointed it out to us. "In the original film, there's a scene where Laurie is walking down the sidewalk and she's singing a song to herself," he said at the movie's junket. "It says, 'I wish I had you all alone. Just the two of us.' They couldn't afford the rights to the song, so Jamie and John freestyled that song on the set and that became that. And then I had a band write the version of the song. And then when the boy and his father are driving the truck to the bus crash, that song was playing on the radio."
15. Hanging Around
What might be the biggest and most shocking kill of the 1978 movie is when Michael takes out Bob, the boyfriend of Laurie's friend Lynda, immediately after the couple have sex in the bed of the parents of one of the kids Laurie is babysitting on Halloween. The big kill: Michael pins Bob to a wall with a butcher knife, demonstrating his ridiculous, unstoppable strength. That kill gets revisited 40 years later when Dave, the boyfriend of babysitter Vicky, runs off to fight Michael with a butcher's knife of his own. When we next see Dave, he's knifed to a wall, Bob-style.
16. The Babysitter Murders
Babysitters getting murdered is, of course, a big part of Halloween--in fact, the movie was originally going to be called The Babysitter Murders. The original movie sees Laurie being hunted by Michael, but while she escapes, her friends Annie (who is babysitting) and Lynda (who takes advantage of her friends babysitting to get a free place to have sex with her boyfriend) aren't so lucky. Returning 40 years later, Michael murders a few people indiscriminately in Haddonfield, but he still makes sure to add babysitter Vicky and her boyfriend to the body count.
17. Trapped In The Closet
There might be no more iconic a moment than when Laurie hides in a closet in the 1978 Halloween, and Michael comes crashing through the slatted doors, getting closer and closer. For some reason, Laurie outfitted her entire house with closets that sport the thin, easily-punched-through slatted doors in her adult years. When Michael comes calling, there's an extended scene of Laurie checking those familiar closets for her prey.
18. Laundry Day
During Michael's rampage through Haddonfield, there's a pointed, lingering shot of some laundry hanging on lines outside the house where Vicky is babysitting. This raises many questions, such as who still hang-dries laundry in 2018, and how they expect that laundry to ever dry if it's hanging out there all night collecting dew. More importantly, it's a callback to Michael's creepy wanderings in the original, where he spends some time hidden among laundry.
19. Good Students
The discussion of fate in Allyson's class is a direct parallel to Laurie in class, discussing the same topic, in the first movie, although they're referring to different authors. Allyson is also in the same seat as far as the positioning in the class, so she can look out the window and see creepiness outside.
20. F To Pay Respects
The cemetery scene in the new Halloween is a reference to the original, when Loomis stops by and finds Judith Myers' headstone gone. The groundskeeper blames it on some pesky youths, but it's implied that Michael took it for some reason. By the time we return to the cemetery 40 years later, it's been replaced. Maybe the cops found it when they arrested him after the events of the first film.
Speaking of which...
21. The One Big Retcon
The new Halloween is utterly faithful to the original, except in one major way: Michael Myers was never captured in the first movie. You can view this as a retcon, or as something that simply happened offscreen, after the credits rolled. Myers was presumably injured after escaping at the end of the movie, so it's easy to imagine him being apprehended.
22. Now You See Me, Now You Don't
The other massive reference that will elicit cheers from fans in the audience is the scene where Michael and Laurie are fighting in her house. When she falls out the window, only to disappear when Michael briefly looks away, it's a direct homage to the ending of the original Halloween.
23. KS
Laurie has a rifle in her gun closet with the letters "KS" engraved on it. After Judy Greer's character, Karen, goes straight to that rifle when it's time to arm herself, it's easy to infer what the letters stand for: Karen Strode.
24. "Happy Halloween Michael"
Laurie says this to Michael as she emerges from the shadows after her daughter Karen shoots him in the face. She's referring to both the name of the movie, and the holiday on which it's set. lol
25. The Prankster Returns
While Michael is first and foremost a murdering psychopath, he also has a sense of humor. In the first film, he gets under a white bedsheet and puts on Bob's glasses, pretending to be a ghost. Lynda assumed he's her boyfriend--until he kills her. This time around, Michael instead hides one of his victims under a similar bedsheet ghost costume, leaving them to become a grisly discovery.
2018's new Halloween is now in theaters. it screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and the reviews are in; find out what we thought in our review below. Beyond that, we've got a look at the series' most brutal kills, and we've ranked every Halloween film. But does the new Halloween hold a candle to the original? Read on.
Remember when fans were worried that Danny McBride and David Gordon Green--the guys behind HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down--would ruin the Halloween franchise by trying to make it funny? Well, the newest chapter in the Michael Myers saga--which is technically only the second, since it ignores all other sequels--is definitely the funniest film in the franchise. But surprisingly, it's also the perfect continuation to the story begun in the original Halloween 40 years ago.
Yes, it's been 40 years since Michael Myers put on a mask and terrorized the town of Haddonfield, Illinois as "The Shape," and he hasn't done much since then. Played by the original actor Nick Castle, as well as newcomer James Jude Courtney, Myers hasn't spoken a word in the 40 years he's apparently been incarcerated at the movie's start. Not even when two podcasters--or "investigative journalists," as they refer to themselves--present him with the iconic mask in an attempt to get a reaction does Michael stir. This is a return to form (or shape) for Michael. No longer the brother of Laurie Strode, as was established in sequels to the original, he is back to being a force of pure evil who commits random acts of violence with no cause or reason. Green, who directs with co-writer McBride, treats the character with utmost respect, like a larger-than-life force that deserves your complete attention and fear.
Castle and Courtney, who seamlessly share the role of The Shape, don't miss a beat with their performances, as this is the most terrifying Michael has been since 1978. It helps that Green and McBride have made this one mean and nasty Halloween movie. It surpasses the body count of John Carpenter's original even before Michael gets to Haddonfield, and we see kills involving knives going through throats, lethal headbutts, and more.
Meanwhile, the core of the story focuses on Laurie Strode. Jamie Lee Curtis gives what is perhaps the best performance of her career in the role that first gave her the spotlight. She effortlessly steps back into Laurie's shoes, evolving the trauma and psychological damage Myers inflicted on her all those years ago. Yes, she is a complete and absolute badass in this film, as she is now the hunter and no longer the hunted. However, she is no Sarah Connor. She is a broken woman who hasn't been able to let go of that fateful Halloween night.
Strode now lives in a fortified house in the middle of the woods and spends every day shooting at target dummies, preparing for the day when her paranoia finally bears fruit. Of course, it doesn't take long before Myers escapes and finds his way to Haddonfield, where he obsesses over finishing the job he started 40 years earlier.
Despite the gravity of Halloween's themes, and the gory and violent fun audiences expect from a slasher, McBride and Green infuse the script with their signature sense of humor, and surprisingly, it actually works. Every side character gets a moment to shine, and the jokes never feel out of place, especially when coming from soon-to-be breakout star Jibrail Nantambu. Nantambu plays the only character who has any idea what's going on in the film--he never makes a stupid choice (it's a slasher, so naturally, characters make a lot of stupid choices) and provides insightful meta commentary about the horror tropes on display.
Speaking of meta, Halloween pokes fun at every single film in the franchise, all while paying homage to its predecessors. There are references to Silver Shamrock, tributes to Halloween 2, and a fun cameo or two. The film also comments on this being a pseudo remake of the original, but in modern times. For example, when discussing the original babysitter killings from the first film, a character remarks that five dead people isn't too much "by today's standards." Green has fun with the idea of Laurie being prepared for Michael by playing with role reversal throughout the film. One instance in particular got the audience at the world premiere cheering so hard, the next three lines of dialogue were inaudible.
If there's one problem with Halloween, it's that it never uses Laurie's granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and Allyson's mom Karen (Judy Greer) to their full potential. Thankfully, it isn't a big issue, as Laurie's story is compelling enough on its own. And those missing the magic Carpenter touch will be delighted to know that the film is keen on using silence to increase the tension, and there is a 5-minute-long single-shot sequence that is a marvel to watch, even if it's quite brutal. Green may not have a ton of experience filming horror, but he sure knows how to create nail-biting tension at the right moments.
John Carpenter returns to score the film with the help of his son, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies. Yes, you do hear the classic Halloween theme, and Carpenter even uses a slower version of the theme at several key moments. Carpenter also uses a whole new style of synth rock that pulsates and beats like a heart and will have everyone in the audience on the edge of their seat while also making them pre-order the soundtrack as soon as they leave the theater.
Halloween doesn't reinvent the wheel or create a new subgenre of horror. What it does is take the best parts of all the films in the franchise, and deliver the ultimate companion piece to Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece. It's a film that not only has something to say about trauma and PTSD, but also delivers a bloody, fun time at the theater. Will Michael Myers return again? Who knows, but we sure as hell welcome him home.
The Good
The Bad
Laurie Strode is a more complex character, yet a total badass
Side characters are slightly underused
Michael Myers is scarier than ever
The fantastic score that will get your heart beating
A much-welcomed sense of humor and meta commentary
Horror on television isn't a new thing by any means. However, in the past decade, TV networks took a chance on more adult content that, at one time, was deemed "too mature" for the general audience. With networks like AMC and FX crafting series that appeal more to adults, these channels become the go-to place for action, comedy, and even horror.
Whether you like a classic ghost story, a murderous rampage by some slasher in a mask, something spooky from space, or a story that shakes you to your core, there is something currently on TV for you. And with the rise in streaming services, there are new budding shows from Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, and more you'll need to add to your queue.
We took a look at television series dating all the way back to the 1950s to find some of the best horror shows that have ever hit the airwaves. Here are the 13 best, listed in no particular order.
Netflix has made a few attempts at creating a successful horror TV series, but none of them have caught on, until now. The Haunting Of Hill House is the streaming service's first real success in the genre. The first season follows a fragmented family as they are confronted by the literal ghosts of their past, after growing up in an extremely haunted house.
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990-2000)
Many episodes may have not aged exceptionally well, but the Nickelodeon series Are You Afraid of the Dark managed to scare a whole generation of kids during the '90s. The show followed the Midnight Society, who told each other scary stories by a campfire. As you can see above, some of the imagery from the series is hard to forget.
Tales From the Crypt (1989-1996)
Much like Are You Afraid of the Dark, Tales From the Crypt featured new horrifying stories every week, but because it aired on HBO, the series could get away with a whole lot more than the Nickelodeon show. The most memorable part of the series was the Cryptkeeper, who introduced each story in a ghoulish way.
True Blood (2008-2014)
HBO's True Blood mixed horror and romance with a bit of tongue-in-cheek quirkiness. The series followed a young woman who falls in love with a vampire and learns about his world. However, there's also a whole lot of death and gore to satisfy many horror fans. There's a whole season dedicated to werewolves as well.
Supernatural (2005- )
About to head into its 13th season, Supernatural is currently the CW's longest running series. The show follows two brothers who lost their mother to a supernatural force. The two join forces and hunt down monsters and other things that go bump in the night. If crazy monsters are your thing, then Supernatural is right up your alley.
Black Mirror (2011- )
Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 series--which now airs on Netflix--isn't about terrifying monsters or supernatural forces. It centers around technology that isn't too far off in the future and how it can change our lives for better or worse. Whether it's being hunted by a man in a black mask with a rifle (seen above) or being trapped inside a horror video game with no way out, Black Mirror plays to our deepest fears without the cheap jump scares.
Good luck sleeping tonight after seeing the picture of The Host from X-Files. While the Fox series primarily focused on government conspiracies, the show was filled with terrifying moments and monsters, like the 1996 episode "Home," which followed the inbred Peacock family and is by far the most disturbing episode of the series.
Stranger Things (2016- )
Season 1 of Stranger Things took the world by storm, following a group of kids during the '80s who are trying to find their missing friend, who is trapped in the Upside Down. With Season 2 coming to Netflix on October 27, fans can't wait to see what terrifying monsters the creators have in store for them next.
Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
Showtime and Sky's series Penny Dreadful took well-known literary characters and presented them in a whole new, terrifying light. The series featured Dorian Grey, Dracula, Van Helsing, and more exploring the dark origins in Victorian England. Sadly, the series came to an abrupt end after Season 3, but luckily for you, every episode is currently on Netflix.
Channel Zero (2016- )
Syfy's Channel Zero was born out of creepypasta horror stories, and each season adapts one of the stories for television. The series has a dark tone that is frightening and unsettling, and there are plenty of moments you simply cannot unsee, like whatever is going on in the image above. Season 4 of the series is returning on Friday, October 26 at 11 PM ET, just in time for Halloween. This year's installment is titled "The Dream Door," and it's based on the creepypasta called "Hidden Door."
What's crazy about this season is that there will be a new episode every night between October 26 and Halloween. Additionally, all six episodes of the new season will be available on October 26 on VOD.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
The first successful horror television series was CBS's The Twilight Zone, which originally ran for five seasons. Each episode featured a new story weaving fantasy, science-fiction, and horror together. The series had some iconic television moments, like a man seeing a monster on the wing of his plane.
Hannibal (2013-2015)
While Season 4 of the series isn't a sure thing yet, NBC's Hannibal took the lovable cannibal from Silence of the Lambs to give him a different type of origin story. Hannibal is a psychiatrist who manipulates the FBI--by working with them--so they don't find out he's actually a cannibalistic serial killer.
The Walking Dead (2010- )
AMC's The Walking Dead is one of the best revivals of the zombie genre. Based on the Skybound/Image comic series, the series follows Rick Grimes and his counterparts, as they traverse a world where zombies have destroyed mankind. The horror doesn't always come from the zombies though. It stems from mankind's struggle to survive in a wasteland, which usually leads to people committing horrific crimes.
American Horror Story (2011- )
Finally, there is FX's American Horror Story. Each season tells a different terrifying tale, featuring the same cast as brand-new characters. The series has covered ghosts, aliens, witches, and even freakshows in the past. Currently, the series title "Apocalypse" is airing, which revolves around witches and the end of the world.
A movie franchise doesn't last 40 years without being great. However, it also doesn't last 40 years without at least a few duds mixed in. If ever you needed proof of that, look no further than the Halloween films.
Some entries in the franchise that follow the psychotic killer Michael Myers are wonderful, others… not so much. After all, for every Laurie Strode, there's a Busta Rhymes, ready to roundhouse kick Michael because, evidently, the rapper is also secretly a ninja.
With Halloween headed back to theaters, I undertook the insane task of rewatching all 10 of the original films, including Rob Zombie's two remakes, to give them a definitive ranking. The new movie is even included for good measure, giving you the opportunity to see just where each entry in the Halloween franchise ranks, as far as quality is concerned.
If you're looking for even more Halloween content, make sure to check out our review of the new film, as well as an explanation of why it's ignoring all of the sequels, regardless of their quality. Additionally, you should definitely take a look at what star Jamie Lee Curtis has to say about the unsung hero on the franchise, producer and co-writer Debra Hill.
11. Halloween: Resurrection
It's the movie that killed a franchise, in a way. Halloween: Resurrection was the last stand of the original Michael Myers until the 2018 film. This movie is trash and should be regarded as such. When a Halloween movie resorts to having Michael Myers battling Kung Fu master Busta Rhymes, it's time to call it a day and move on.
There are a couple moments that might make you think there's something to this film--its focus on young people hunting for fame, or the rising obsession with reality TV, for instance--but this is just a brainless end of a once-great franchise. Trick or treat, mother f***er, indeed.
10. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
There's no way around this. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is bad. It's not just bad, it's awful. It's not Busta Rhymes awful, but it did make a jump to the supernatural realm by linking Michael's inability to be killed to a cult that wants to control him. Guess how well that goes?
By this point, it was overwhelmingly clear that the Halloween franchise was running on fumes. This is a film so convoluted that, if not for Myers, it would make no sense that it's set in the Halloween franchise. It makes it easy to see why the next movie retconned all of it's events, along with two other films.
9. Halloween II (2009)
If Rob Zombie knows how to make anything, it's a Rob Zombie movie. His second Halloween, which picks up two years after the first, introduced the idea of Michael having visions of his mother telling him he has to kill Laurie to reunite the Myers family once and for all.
In doing so, the movie is loaded with even more grisly murders and the same dark and dirty look of the first film. It also gave Laurie the same hallucinations Michael was having, right down to their mother appearing with a white horse. Whether that means she's simply having the same psychotic visions she is or if something supernatural is at play, who knows?
The film ends with Michael dead and Laurie in a psychiatric hospital, continuing to have visions of her mother. Rob Zombie doesn't do happy endings, even if we've suffered through a truly disturbing movie that has none of the fun of a Halloween movie anywhere in sight.
8. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
One of the biggest sins of Halloween 5 was completely disregarding the twist at the end of the fourth movie, in which Jamie becomes a killer herself after surviving the attacks of her deranged uncle Michael Myers.
Instead, Revenge picks up a year later after Jamie has become mute and committed to a psychiatric hospital following everything that happened in the first film. She did, however, somehow gain a psychic link with Michael.
This film was the first sign, really, that the franchise was running out of steam. By 1989, the slasher subgenre was starting to dwindle, and Halloween was going with it. Granted, Michael never went to space or Manhattan like his Friday the 13th counterpart Jason Voorhees, but Revenge is just an uninspired film that doesn't really breathe any new life into the series.
7. Halloween (2007)
What is there to say about Rob Zombie's Halloween reboot? It did the only thing nobody really asked for in giving Michael Myers a lengthy backstory, explaining how he became the unstoppable killer--an abusive family, bullies, and a generally awful life for a child. This humanized Michael in a way no other movie in the franchise had, which ruins a lot of the mystique surrounding him.
Still, it included some creative kills and interesting moments--as well as a young boy's obsession with masks--and turned them into a movie that was so vicious that it was often hard to watch. And if you're keeping track, Zombie also worked in the plot of Michael and Laurie being siblings, first introduced in the original Halloween II.
6. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
There's a lot to love about H20. The most important thing being the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. However, it's also the first Halloween movie to arrive after Scream changed the game and reignited the slasher subgenre's popularity. This movie features a young and popular cast--Michelle Williams, Josh Hartnett, and LL Cool J--all appear and a song by Creed pops up during the end credits. This is an incredibly late-'90s movie.
It's the return of Laurie, though, essentially erasing Halloween 4-6, that makes H20 interesting. In a way, it's a template for what the 2018 film is doing, showing the world what became of Laurie after the events of the first film. Now she's an alcoholic living under an assumed identity, waiting for the day Michael comes back.
Unfortunately, outside of Curtis, there's nothing truly remarkable about the movie. It's a fairly by-the-numbers slasher film that fixed a lot of the issues in previous franchise entries, but without bringing enough to the table that was new.
5. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
After the world was less than impressed with a Halloween movie featuring no Michael Myers--in Season of the Witch--it's hard to blame anyone for resurrecting the character. Unfortunately, the one thing working against the film was a complete lack of Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode.
Instead, Halloween 4 introduced a little girl named Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), who was the daughter of a now-dead Laurie that had been adopted. It essentially kicked off a Halloween tale for a new generation, 10 years after the first film. And, honestly, it's not bad. Michael hunting a child as the last link to his family is an interesting hook and the movie manages to have some creative kills and truly scary moments. It was also the last bit of good Halloweens before things for bad for nearly a decade.
4. Halloween II (1981)
Halloween II is an interesting film. While it was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, it sometimes feels like a sequel to their movie is the last thing either of them were interested in. It's an angrier movie than the first Halloween and relies on a lot of the over-the-top gore, making it feel very out of step with the original. Halloween II also introduced an element that could go on to play a role in the nine films that followed--Laurie is Michael's sister.
Still, even though it's far more extreme in tone than the original, Halloween II feels truer to the first movie than any of the sequels that followed. That's likely due, in no small part, to Hill and Carpenter's involvement. That said, the movie seemingly blows Michael up at the end, killing him once and for all. Given how uninterested the pair were in doing a sequel, it makes sense that they'd want to finally dispatch him before a potential third Michael Myers movie was ordered--not that any of his deaths ever stopped him.
3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Season of the Witch is the true oddity. It's the only film that doesn't feature Michael Myers--outside of a commercial for the original Halloween seen on a TV--and instead follows the incredibly realistic story of a novelty mask company using mystic powers from Stonehenge to create masks that kill the children who wear them on Halloween.
Alright, it's an admittedly weird movie. It's the right kind of weird, though, as producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill attempted to create something entirely new with the Halloween franchise, shifting it into more of an anthology series.
Instead of a slasher like its predecessors, Season of the Witch relies on science fiction elements--yes, there are robots--and other horror elements for its scares, creating something entirely new. Without Michael Myers, though, audiences simply didn't care, which is a major disappointment. Season of the Witch is a great horror film and easily one of the Halloween franchises best entries.
2. Halloween (2018)
Don't ask us how, but they actually did it. Resurrecting a long-dead franchise should be impossible, but the new Halloween did it so well that it's actually the second best entry of the bunch. It achieves that by simply ignoring all of the bad that came in the litany of Halloween films over the years.
In the new Halloween, Michael never fought Busta Rhymes, Laurie was never his sister, the thorn mark doesn't exist, and Laurie never had a kid named Jamie--or John for that matter. This film returns the franchise to what it was, a psychopathic killer on the loose that leaves nobody safe. That is, of course, until he crosses paths with Laurie one more time, 40 years after they first met, and setting them up for quite a showdown.
The new Halloween is everything so many of us wished any of the seven original sequels would be. It's scary, true to the original film, and forwards the story in a realistic way--at least, realistic by Halloween standards. After all, while Freddy Krueger hunts his prey in the dream world and Jason Voorhees just might be an immortal who can also teleport, Michael was based in reality at first. He was simply a psychopath with a knife, and that's what the new film makes him once again.
1. Halloween (1978)
Honestly, the original Halloween gave birth to the slasher craze. It wasn't the first film in the subgenre, but it was the one that launched a million knockoffs and copycats. None of them though, not even the subsequent Halloween films, were able to match it. It introduced Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as a realistic teenage girl fighting against the randomness and chaos that was her attacker Michael Myers.
While the movies that followed muddied that idea by deciding Michael was Laurie's sister, what makes this movie so scary is they have no connection. Michael is simply a psychopath whose goal is to kill, and Laurie is in his way. The 1978 installment of Halloween isn't just the gold standard of the franchise, it's the gold standard of slasher cinema as a whole.
By Anonymous on Oct 19, 2018 11:30 pm (Presented by League of Legends) Just why do cosplayers choose to cosplay? The answer often involves much more than a simple desire to dress up as your favorite character.
The newly released Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix has an unexpected tie to another story about a grizzled vigilante with a five o'clock shadow battling the forces of evil, while possibly grappling with their own dark side: Mass Effect 3. Fans noticed that one of Netflix's recaps for the Daredevil story so far slips in what could be considered a Mass Effect Easter egg--one that instantly transports fans of the game back to that moment when the Reapers came close to wiping out Earth.
That Easter egg is the song "Leaving Earth," by composer Clint Mansell, from the early portion of Mass Effect 3. The song is a master class in the "sad piano music" category of songs from video game soundtracks. In the game, it plays as the Reapers arrive for their invasion of Earth, and the player character, Commander Shepard, is forced to evacuate. The plan to stop the threat requires Shepard to help the rest of the galaxy, but that requires the painful choice of leaving everyone still stuck on Earth to fend for themselves. A kid gets blown up. It's sad.
Redditor Sons-of-N7 pointed out that a portion the song appears in Netflix's recap for Daredevil Season 2, which is pretty fitting--it's a very "dark night of the soul" kind of song, and that was a very "dark night of the soul" season of Daredevil. Although to be fair, all the Daredevil seasons are like that.
If you're somehow unable to remember the very best track in the entirety of Mass Effect 3, here's a refresher. You might have heard it in other movies, TV shows, or commercials, as it gets licensed for other works fairly regularly.
The song even popped up in a Key and Peele sketch to punctuate a hilariously sad punchline (it's right at the end).
Mass Effect 3 isn't the only video game whose music popped up in Daredevil. Another Redditor, 5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_12_6) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/12.0 Safari/605.1.15","sr_id":4645555,"sr_name":"Daredevil","embed_id":30961916426,"embed_version":"0.1","embed_type":"comment","embed_control":true,"embed_host_url":"https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/10/19/marvels-daredevil-has-spider-man-ps4-easter-egg/","comment_edited":false,"comment_deleted":false,"uuid":"df59c1dd-1d33-4f87-8d59-cfb6b7ea3019","embed_ts_created":"2018-10-19T13:35:59.530Z","redirect_url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/Daredevil/comments/9phg3z/lmao_the_recap_uses_mass_effect_3s_leaving_earth/e81xbm2/?utm_term=30961916426&utm_name=f02ca34c-6770-4b98-844c-fb9d0b6cd62d&utm_content=timestamp&utm_source=embed&utm_medium=comment_embed&context=3","redirect_type":"timestamp","redirect_dest":"www.reddit.com","redirect_thing_id":"30961916426"}&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Daredevil/comments/9phg3z/lmao_the_recap_uses_mass_effect_3s_leaving_earth/e81xbm2/?utm_term=30961916426&utm_name=f02ca34c-6770-4b98-844c-fb9d0b6cd62d&utm_content=timestamp&utm_source=embed&utm_medium=comment_embed&context=3">ShieldRune5847, pointed out that a track from the recently released Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4 made it into the second episode of Daredevil Season 3. Turns out, Daredevil's composer, John Paesano, is pretty good at this Marvel thing--he also composed the music for Spider-Man.
Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man launched to a warm reception, but fans of the PS4 exclusive have long been clamoring for a New Game Plus mode. In September 2018, Insomniac teased that the mode was in the works, and now the developer has revealed New Game Plus is on its way.
In a tweet, Insomniac said that New Game Plus is "coming soon" as a part of Update 1.07. Although the patch was initially announced to launch on October 17, Insomniac has since clarified that is not the case. [Update: Insomniac has since confirmed that Update 1.07 will release prior to The Heist, which is scheduled for October 23.]
The Heist is the first piece of a three-part DLC expansion called The City That Never Sleeps. According to Insomniac, the DLC adds new story missions where a robbery "entangles Spider-Man and MJ with an old flame from Peter Parker's past, Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat." Felicia is a part of a side-quest in Marvel's Spider-Man, but only appears in recorded messages. This DLC marks her first major role in the game.
The Heist also adds a new faction of enemies for Spidey to take on, as well as more challenges to complete and PlayStation Trophies to earn. Three new suits--Scarlet Spider II, Resilient, and Spider-UK--will also be added. Spider-Man enthusiasts might recognize these suits from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show and Spider-Verse comic book series. The Peter Parker from Marvel's Spider-Man recently joined the expanded Spider-Verse in Spider-Geddon and his suit shows up in the upcoming Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film.
Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox continues to slowly push forward, and if you've been keeping up with any of the movie news from the Fox camp, you've noticed drastic changes from movies originally under the Fox banner. Why is this happening, though? Well, Disney and Fox are putting some separation between their releases as 2019 is stacked.
The most notable of these changes came from the next movie in the X-Men franchise, which was originally going to release on February 14. Two days after the first trailer came out, the movie was pushed back to June 7. This happened because another Fox movie, Alita: Battle Angel was pushed from December 21, 2018, a week after another CG fantasy/adventure, Mortal Engines, was set to release.
Everything between 21st Century Fox and Disney is expected to finalize soon, and according to THR, Dark Phoenix could be first film under the Disney banner. Additionally, Disney's plan is to release everything Fox already has in production or wrapping up.
After months of shifting dates, here's what the post-Fox-buyout release schedule looks like for Disney. There are a few other dates, which aren't included on the list, where Disney has a date saved as an "Untitled Project." There are plenty of those titles for 2020, which we all know will be numerous Marvel Studios films and at least on Star Wars movie.
The Combined Disney and Fox release schedule for 2019 and beyond:
2019:
The Kid Who Would Be King (Jan. 25)
Alita: Battle Angel (Feb. 14)
Captain Marvel (Mar. 8)
Dumbo (Mar. 29)
Avengers 4 (May 3)
Aladdin (May 24)
Dark Phoenix (Jun. 7) -Possibly first Fox movie under the Disney banner
Toy Story 4 (Jun. 21)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Jul 5)
Stuber (Jul. 12)
The Lion King (Jul. 19)
New Mutants (Aug. 2)
Artemis Fowl (Aug. 9)
Spies in Disguise (Sept. 13)
The Woman in the Window (Oct. 4)
Jungle Cruise (Oct. 11)
Noelle (Nov. 7)
Kingsman 3 (Nov. 8)
Frozen 2 (Nov 27)
Star Wars: Episode IX (Dec. 20)
The Call of the Wild (Dec. 25)
2020:
Mulan (Mar. 27)
Maleficent (May 29)
Death on the Nile--sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (Oct. 2)
What truly distinguishes SoulCalibur from its genre contemporaries is a pervading sense of adventure. It tells a grand tale of knights and ninjas, axe-wielding goliaths and pirate warriors, all struggling over mythical weapons of good and evil. It accents this with a rousing orchestral score and grandiose narrations about entwined destinies and inescapable fates. Sure, deep and rewarding mechanics are at the heart of every good fighting game--and SoulCalibur VI certainly has that--but for this series, adventure has always been the soul.
That spirit of adventure is most evident in SoulCalibur VI's two story modes. Libra of Souls is the meatier of the two and takes inspiration from SoulCalibur II's beloved Weapon Master Mode. It's part fighting game, part role-playing game, part Dungeons & Dragons campaign; you create and customize your own unique fighter using options that, while serviceable, aren't nearly as robust as the ones in Bandai Namco's other fighter, Tekken 7. From there you embark on a journey that will take you across the world, and along the way you'll cross paths--and swords--with both named characters and generically named bit-parters.
Libra of Souls tells its story primarily through text, but it's all surprisingly engaging, with dialogue and descriptions setting the stage for the inevitable fight and giving even its throwaway opponents a bit of flavour. The story's conceit for making you travel around the world is that you're "malfested" with an evil energy and must absorb Astral Fissures to stay alive. Although you're ushered between main quest missions, various side-quests pop up around you, with NPCs asking for a hand solving their problems. Naturally, the solution each time is a sword-swinging contest, but the game does a valiant job of world building along the way to give texture to its fantasy universe. You'll learn that Ceylon is a major producer of cinnamon, which is favoured by royalty and thus very precious, and that hamlets are being decimated by a rampaging Azure Knight with a thirst for souls. You'll meet a would-be entrepreneur who, while affable, is mostly after handouts; a weaponsmith who is looking to impress the royal family to win a contract; and a priestess who doubts her abilities, among others.
Completing these missions rewards you with experience that levels you up, and this is where the RPG hooks are strongest. As you grow, you'll be able to use stronger weapons that have different visual styles and properties. Enemies also become hardier and, on top of that, special battle conditions spice up fights. These may make one type of attack more effective while decreasing the strength of others, thus forcing you to diversify your skillset within the battle system. Another wrinkle to the RPG mechanics is the ability to select a food item to take into battle. These bestow bonuses such as increased counter damage, a boost to health at the start of a new round, or extra experience for a win, to name a few. If you'd rather let someone else do the dirty work, you can visit the Mercenaries Guild and hire a fighter, outfit them with a weapon and food, then send them into battle. At best the AI will secure a victory; at worst they'll knock off some health from the enemy before you step in.
There are also little touches in Libra of Souls that reinforce the idea that you're a wandering warrior on an epic journey. One of them is an indicator at the top of the world map that ticks down the years as you progress, establishing a passage of time as you bounce between locations and fights in rapid succession. Another is the decision-making moments, some of which will simply dictate how you act towards a character, while others will weigh your soul towards good or evil, impact the story, and decide how the ending battle plays out. The eventual consequence of your actions is small, but it's a neat way to give you a tiny bit of authorship in the story.
The main issue with Libra of Souls is the ratio of storytelling to actual gameplay. The mode is very text-heavy, which would be less of a problem if its battles weren't so quick. In the hands of a capable fighting game player, many enemies can be dispatched within as little as 10 seconds, which means time spent in Libra of Souls is heavily skewed toward reading over fighting. And although the loading screens before and after battles are quite short, they can become increasingly tedious. The mode is also lacking in variety, so beyond the occasional battle condition, it does very little to keep you on your toes. For the most part, applying an aggressive strategy will see you emerge victorious.
The second mode, Soul Chronicles, is a more typical take on a fighting game story but is still expansive and has an interesting approach to laying out its narrative. It features a main story that chronicles what happens with the legendary Soul Edge but supplements this with 19 character-specific campaigns, drilling down on what they're doing while the broader story takes place. Although they're heavily reliant on static artwork, they're fully voiced and the artwork itself has an eye-catching, sketch-like style. There's a microcosm of Libra of Souls' issues here too, though, as battles can be over in the blink of an eye, and that means more hitting buttons to advance text.
Nevertheless, Libra of Souls and Soul Chronicle make for a satisfying single-player offering, with the former lasting upwards of eight hours and the latter taking around four. Idiosyncrasies aside, both give you plenty to do and provide a comprehensive, engrossing story throughout. By the time it's over, you'll have travelled the world, met a variety of colorful characters, and fought all manner of strange creatures. Quite the adventure.
SoulCalibur VI doesn't demand hours of study and experimentation ... you can pick up a controller and feel like you're competent in no time
The beauty of SoulCalibur's gameplay is its simplicity, and in that respect SoulCalibur VI is a bit like rock-paper-scissors. At its most superficial, the rules of engagement are simple and the pace of battles means decision-making is based on instinct as much as considered tactics and being reactive. Admittedly, the same can be said of most fighting games, but unlike them SoulCalibur VI doesn't demand hours of study and experimentation to do this; you can pick up a controller and feel like you're competent in no time. Although there are complicated systems and techniques to consider, an inability to interact with them doesn't loom over you. Before long vertical attacks will reveal themselves as powerful but slow, you'll quickly realise that horizontal attacks interrupt sidesteps and are a safe way to apply pressure, and kicks are a nice balance of the two but with limited range. It takes little time to internalize those fundamentals, and so their intricacies become apparent quicker than in most fighting games. Throw in blocking and movement, both of which are intuitive, and the pick-up-and-play factor becomes a key strength of SoulCalibur VI.
The surface simplicity belies more complex systems beneath, and SoulCalibur VI is mechanically dense. It layers systems from throughout the series on top of each other so even veterans will need to examine the individual pieces and figure out how they fit together. Although each character has a relatively limited range of attacks, the eight-way run movement lets you modify them. Attacks also land at different heights--high, mid, and low--and in turn blocking becomes a three-tiered system. More confident players can react to an attack by executing a last-second Guard Impact to repel and leave their opponent open, but a staggered player can retaliate with a Reversal Impact--a reversal reversal.
From there it only gets more complicated. Reversal Edge is a special stance that will counter incoming attacks at any height. It's executed with a single button and the longer it's held the more attacks it can absorb. This makes defending against an onslaught of attacks really easy, but the ease of execution means it also steps on the toes of the more skill-based Guard Impact. Reversal Edge seems to be aimed at casual players as, while a successful Guard Impact places the initiator in a more advantageous position, Reversal Edge establishes a neutral playfield by initiating a clash. Here the action slows, the camera swoops in close, and the two fighters effectively bet on what the other player will do and counter it. This is a useful way to create some breathing room when being smothered, but the guessing game leads to a feeling of randomness that can be frustrating. The workaround here is to land an unblockable break attack to stop a Reversal Edge.
Beyond that there are Critical Edges, which are the game's equivalent of super moves. These are governed by the Soul Gauge, which is built up by attacking, defending, and taking damage. Once one level is attained, it can be spent on executing an incredibly powerful and outlandish cinematic attack. A Soul Gauge can also be spent on a Soul Charge, a comeback state of sorts that opens a separate set of moves up for a character to use, powers up normal attacks, and makes them cause damage to blocking opponents for a brief period.
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Those are just a few of the systems in SoulCalibur VI, so for those that want to become students of the game, it offers plenty to learn. However, at times it can also feel needlessly complex. This is likely a symptom of creating a collection of systems that give the hardcore fighting game players the depth they crave while also enabling casual players to stand their ground against them. On paper that might seem like a good approach, but the end result is a construction that is at odds with itself, as if built out of both K-Nex and Lego--the simpler parts undermine the complex ones, and although it works, it's inelegant. A good player with an understanding of all the systems will almost always triumph over someone only making use of the basic ones, so the biggest issue this superfluousness presents is that it makes the path from casual to expert a little less appealing to walk. That complexity is overwhelming when it doesn't need to be, and if there are simpler and easier options there's less incentive to dig beneath the surface.
As with most fighting games, it'll be some time before overly powerful characters or dubious strategies emerge online, if at all. However, from a network perspective SoulCalibur VI's online modes are stable. We played a number of matches online in ranked and casual and had no trouble finding other players, connecting, and having smooth fights. In casual mode, you can search for a room based on customizable parameters such as skill level, round count, region, and language. You can also specify if custom characters are allowed. Alternatively, you can establish your own room and invite others to join or have it open to anyone.
In ranked mode you select your character and style from a pop-up menu, forgoing the need to go into the game's normal selection screen. There's also the option to pick connection status, region, and preferred starting side, for those that want it. If you're looking to learn and refine your skills, the replay channel is handy for rewatching your own saved matches, as well as finding recent replays from the community to favorite and watch. A nice touch is the ability to see who won the match, so if you want to see how to play a character successfully it's easy to do so. Overall, SoulCalibur VI's online suite is fairly no-frills, sticking to the basics but doing them well.
SoulCalibur VI is a fighting game that's easy to recommend. Like all the best titles in the genre, it has a low barrier to entry and high skill ceiling. For those looking to get in a few games with friends it's welcoming and immediately enjoyable. For those committed to ploughing the depths of its systems to get tournament ready, it has plenty to unpack and understand. Better still, those that want to play alone will find SoulCalibur VI has some of the most substantial single-player content in any fighting game today.
As a continuation of the Black Ops subseries, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 both benefits from and is limited by its past. All three of its major modes--multiplayer, Zombies, and the new battle royale mode Blackout--pull from and build upon previous games. Multiplayer is largely successful in its mix of old and new, while Zombies struggles more with dated elements. Blackout, though, strikes an excellent balance, putting a clever Call of Duty spin on a genre entirely new to the series.
While Black Ops 4 doesn't have a traditional single-player campaign, it does have a helpful set of character-focused tutorial missions. Called Specialist HQ, it introduces you to each of the 10 multiplayer Specialists one by one, taking you through their unique abilities and a practice multiplayer match. It does have a bit of a story and some gorgeous (and gory) cutscenes threading each mission together, but it's all in service of getting you acquainted with the new Specialist mechanics--which is well worth the three or so hours it takes, since some of those mechanics appear in Blackout as well. One mission even weaves in a bit of general Zombies training, an unexpected but welcome touch that helps make the largely separate modes feel a little more cohesive.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is the most straightforward of the modes, and Black Ops 4 attempts to be more tactical than previous entries. The wall-running and thrust-jumping of Black Ops 3 is gone, replaced with weighty, grounded movement, and healing is now manual and on a cooldown timer. The combination forces you to be more thoughtful about your positioning, since you can't just jet and dodge enemy fire until your health regenerates--you need to make sure you have adequate cover and time to heal yourself in your immediate vicinity. This encourages a slightly slower, more cautious pace on an individual level, and it's refreshing to play it smart instead of just fast. But time-to-kill is still low and respawning still near-instant, ensuring that matches don't stagnate.
The more tactical feel extends to the Specialists, which build upon those introduced in Black Ops 3. Each has a unique weapon and equipment with a specific combat focus, like area control or high damage output. Each Specialist's weapon is tied to a longer cooldown and functions as a superpowered attack (or defensive ability, in some cases), while their equipment varies from a special grenade to trip mines and other gear with a clear strategic purpose. This includes roles other than offensive ones--there's even a pseudo-healer Specialist, Crash--and it's a change that gives multiplayer more variety.
Certain Specialists and strategies are more useful in some game types than others, though. Area control is best for objective-based modes like Domination, for example, and far less effective in the more scattered Team Deathmatch. Generally, your choice of Specialist and your team's composition won't matter in any mode if you aren't skilled in basic shooting and positioning, even if you're in a more defensive or supporting role. This means you can play selfishly and still emerge victorious, which works well for those of us who often solo queue and would rather not risk trying to communicate with randoms. But it can also make playing support-focused Specialists less rewarding if you aren't working as a team, since your efforts are useless if your teammates don't take advantage of them. It's a surprisingly good balance overall, though, giving you the flexibility to be only as tactical as you want or are able to be and enjoy the match regardless.
The map design, too, facilitates that flexibility. Each map has areas perfect for different Specialists to take advantage of, like blind corners where Nomad's trip mines can take enemies by surprise or high ceilings where Recon can shoot and hide his Sensor Dart that reveals enemies on your radar. But the long and narrow three-lane structure each map is built on is a strong foundation for more traditional shooting as well, with both long sightlines good for sniper and tactical rifles and tight spaces for close-range automatic weapons.
The Specialist strategies are best showcased in the new Control, an objective-based mode in which each team, one attacking and one defending, shares 25 lives. You win by either exhausting all of the enemy team's lives or gaining or maintaining control of the two objectives. A defensive Specialist like Torque, who has Razor Wire perfect for placement under windows and a Barricade "weapon" for extra cover, is a great option if you're trying to hold an objective, for example. An offensive Specialist, on the other hand, can aim to wipe out the enemy team.
Zombies
Black Ops 4's Zombies is as broad as it is deep, with two separate storylines across three maps (or four if you have the Black Ops pass included in the game's special editions). The first two, IX and Voyage of Despair, are part of the brand-new Chaos story, while Blood of the Dead and Classified round out the selection of maps to make up the returning Aether story. All of them follow the familiar Zombies formula--fighting waves of the undead, saving money to access better weapons and new areas, and uncovering wacky secrets and puzzles along the way--but each has its own quirks that take time and effort to discover.
The Chaos maps are strong aesthetically, with rich level design and clever puzzles to match--draining water that has seeped into the Titanic's depths so you don't drown while searching for other secrets, for example. Like previous Zombies maps, a lot of the fun comes from figuring out how the map ticks while also trying not to die, and both IX and Voyage of Despair have the complex layouts that lend themselves to thorough yet hectic exploration. Voyage is a personal favorite, with narrow, creepy hallways and presumably drowned zombies that have water gushing from their heads.
On the Aether side, Blood of the Dead is based on Black Ops 2's Mob of the Dead, while Classified is a reimagination of Black Ops' Five. Although they're definitely familiar, there are still surprises to entertain returning players--some puzzles don't unlock what you expect them to unlock, for example. However, the Ultimus crew hasn't aged particularly well, even considering that each of them is stereotyped to the extreme. The jokes just don't land anymore, especially Takeo's overdone Japanese accent where Ls are replaced with Rs at every opportunity. In Blood of the Dead it's distracting, but in Classified, lines about the Emperor and eating sushi are just plain offensive. You'll also hear these same lines every time you start a new run, which doesn't help.
On top of the already hefty amount of Zombies content, Black Ops 4 introduces a new mode of fighting the undead, Rush. It's a much faster-paced version of Zombies where you don't have to do any thinking or puzzle-solving; you're just there to kill them horde-style. There's no money, so you don't need to save up to buy a weapon or unlock a door. You're instead told which area will have the next Rush wave, and you're directed from room to room as you go. It's too intense to be a tutorial, per se, but it's a great way to familiarize yourself with the map, test weapons, and plan where to go next if you get stuck in Classic mode.
Blackout
The third and most exciting of Black Ops 4's three main sections is, of course, Blackout. Like other battle royale games, Call of Duty's take puts 100 players on one map with the goal of being the last person or squad standing, and a collapsing circle of death forces you in closer and closer proximity. It's unlike anything Call of Duty has done before, and slight alterations to its mechanics, like the addition of bullet drop on some weapons, help it adapt to the very different gameplay style.
Brilliantly, experience in both multiplayer and Zombies benefits you in Blackout. Perks and Specialist equipment can be looted during a match, and knowing how to both use and counter them can give you an advantage. There are also zombie-infested areas that offer powerful loot at the risk of attracting human players to your position, and that PvE twist in particular helps distinguish Blackout from the likes of PUBG. A successful Blackout round can last over 20 minutes, so if you're impatient or more used to Call of Duty's shorter multiplayer formats, seeking out zombies and causing a ruckus mid-match is a great way to see more action.
The map itself is also distinctly Call of Duty, filled with references to previous games, including the fan favorite Nuketown. Vibrant and varied design makes each region stand out from the next, and the map as a whole is easy to navigate as a result. That in turn facilitates the strategic movement and positioning necessary to succeed; it's easy to pivot if a lot of other people are nearby, for example, if you know where you are in relation to the next-best loot area.
The combination of Call of Duty-specific mechanics with PUBG-style health, loot, and shooting systems is executed well, with quality-of-life improvements to UI--notably, you can quick-equip weapon attachments without going into your menu. The twists are balanced, too, and the Specialist equipment in particular doesn't make things feel unfair. Like in multiplayer, you can ignore anything you don't want to bother with, and survival ultimately comes down to your situational awareness, your skill with various weapons, and a bit of luck with looting and the circle. That makes victory feel earned and, as a result, immensely gratifying--Blackout definitely captures the tense, shaky excitement that makes battle royale such a popular genre.
Black Ops 4 isn't short on content, and its three main modes are substantial. Multiplayer introduces more tactical mechanics without forcing you into them, and it largely strikes a good balance. Zombies has multiple deep, secret-filled maps to explore, though its returning characters don't hold up and prove distracting. Finally, Blackout pushes Call of Duty in an entirely new direction, making use of aspects from both multiplayer and Zombies for a take on the battle royale genre that stands on its own. Sure, there isn't a traditional single-player campaign, but with the depth and breadth of what is there, Black Ops 4 doesn't need it.
We've had a few glimpses at Spidey's new suit from the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home, but the most extensive look yet came from Jimmy Kimmel Live. Actor Tom Holland stopped by the show sporting the fashionable new red-and-black suit to promote the film with a short comedy bit.
Holland retained his Peter Parker American accent through the whole scene, even when stepping outside the meta-fiction to talk about the movie's release next summer. The routine covers the problem of web fluid shortages, the limits of his Spidey Sense, and even the dark end to Avengers: Infinity War. Asked by Kimmel to explain his presence in Far From Home, Holland hastily makes an excuse about Thanos robbing a bank and exits. No, you're not going to get that particular plot resolution from a late-night talk show.
Spider-Man: Far From Home will be the first movie in the Marvel cinematic universe after Avengers 4, which will presumably resolve the cliffhanger left by the end of Infinity War that Kimmel referenced. It will actually be the third in a packed schedule for MCU movies, after Captain Marvel and Avengers.
But it's not the only Spider-Man film in production. On December 14 we'll be getting Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated feature that has criss-crossing Spider-people from different dimensions: Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and even Spider-Ham.
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