The reveal of Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds was a highlight of the The Game Awards 2018. The studio has built up a solid reputation over the years for crafting creative and engrossing narrative-heavy RPGs, and if nothing else, The Outer Worlds shows many signs of being directly inspired by recent entries in the Fallout series, one of which--New Vegas--was developed by Obsidian less than a decade ago. The Outer Worlds is also the brainchild of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, two creatives with a storied history in PC gaming. Their most notable chapter by far? When they and a small band of collaborators created the original Fallout in the mid '90s. But after following up with Fallout 2, they've had to watch while Bethesda took the series in its own direction--despite being at Obsidian now, neither Cain nor Boyarsky were working there at the time of New Vegas' development.
We recently published a deeper dive into The Outer Worlds that speaks to a behind-closed-doors demo, covering aspects of the game's story, character progression, and combat. In the interview below, we get into the mindset of the two co-directors. It's obvious from the start that they have Fallout on the brain, lending credence to the suspicion that The Outer Worlds bears some striking similarities.
On the other hand, it also veers away from the grime and dirt of a post-apocalyptic Earth in favor a world with vitality. For as much as they are exploring ideas that likely, in some fashion, link back to their days making Fallout, Cain and Boyarsky are most excited about heading into uncharted territory.
Continue reading to hear their thoughts on reuniting after years and games apart, and where they hope to take their audience when The Outer Worlds releases on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2019.
What was the feeling in your gut leading up to this reveal?
Tim Cain: We just really wanted to show it. We have all these things that are funny or cool, but we couldn't talk about it.
Leonard Boyarsky: We are very happy with where it's at. We think it looks great, we think it plays great. It's what we wanted to make when we started it, but at the same time you never know how people are going to react. To be able to finally show it and see how people react is cathartic.
I think I've seen you [Boyarsky] quoted online as saying this is a "dream project." What aspect of this, would you say, is the dream?
Leonard Boyarsky
Boyarsky: Oh, it's definitely working with Tim! [laughter] No, but it is though; that is exactly what I meant. I worked on a couple games before Fallout, and Tim worked on a couple games before Fallout, but that was pretty much our start of working on games that we have creative control over. We created Fallout from scratch, we basically had complete creative control and did whatever we wanted to--same thing with Arcanum. It had been a really long time since we created an IP from scratch. We're really good friends, we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses really well. Not many people are fortunate enough to find that kind of person to work with in their careers, and we were lucky that it was very early in our careers and we have this really great synergy when we get together and start doing this stuff.
We've never really made a pure sci-fi game. Fallout was sci-fi, but it was more post-apocalyptic than sci-fi. So it was one of these things where we're really big fans of science fiction; I personally love fantasy, but I much prefer science fiction if I have to choose between them. So it was weird that we'd never gotten around to do one, and when this opportunity came up it was like, "Yes, I can work with Tim again and we can create an IP from scratch!" It was basically this laundry list of things that I thought...that the next game I wanted to work on would be if I could say "here's the stuff I want to do," and this was it.
If you can really put yourself back in your own shoes in the '90s, compared to today, what aspect of your current responsibilities do you love, and what do you miss from those times that you worked in an attic, and…
Boyarsky: Well for me I still love the things I loved then, creating a world from scratch, it's just the best part about this. I love creating unique worlds with a unique feel and a unique look. The thing I do have to say I miss is that when we made Fallout and Arcanum, it was a very small team. We got to do all the stuff we're doing now but we also got to do…Tim did programming, I did design, like a lot of art on Fallout. I was the lead artist and the art director, and I was also doing like havlf the animations in the game, modelling stuff, texture mapping. I didn't end up scripting on that one, but I scripted in Arcanum. Working on those small teams you end up having your hand in everything.
For [The Outer Worlds] we are much more directors. It's our vision, but we have a lot of very talented and wonderful people that we're working with who have done things that, especially from an art standpoint, I don't know that I would have brought it in that direction, but in a good way. We pointed them in a direction and they ran in directions that we never could have anticipated. In a way that's very rewarding because you feel like you gave people a germ of an idea and they got to make it their own and it comes back to you and you see what people have done. But on the other hand, I'm not in there doing that every day. I'm making sure people are heading to the right destination and fulfilling our vision of the game. I've been able to do some writing, some hands-on art direction, but for the most part a lot of people are doing the actual nuts-and-bolts work that we used to do on a day-to-day basis.
Tim Cain
Cain: Plus, one thing, in the '90s you could do things no one had ever done before because everything was so young and it was a bit of a Wild West of an industry. Now every time you think of something and you look, it's like, "Oh, this game did it. This indie game did it five years ago." It's hard to think of something that is completely original.
We managed to put some things in here that I've never seen done in a game. In that way, I kinda miss that…the sky was the limit back then. If you could think about it, you could do it.
Boyarsky: Well a perfect example of that is, when we made Arcanum, I didn't even really know what steampunk was. Now there is like every kind of punk there is. When we started talking about this game and the setting we had to be very careful not to fall into this pre-defined thing that has been done before. That's very important to us. We didn't want people to look at it and know exactly what this is, because people didn't do that with Fallout because nobody had seen something like that before. Between now and then, there's been every kind of mish mash of different styles. I mean, hopefully people took inspiration for Fallout for some of that stuff.
Cain: We didn't want to make Tolkien with machine guns. One thing I've done, every time I ship a game I write a postmortem, just for myself; it doesn't get published. I write a postmortem of everything I think went right and wrong, and I also keep notes whenever I have an idea. So I went through them for this game and found some ideas from a few years ago that I'd like to try out. And here's what I thought went wrong with Temple, or Vampire, or Fallout.
I even write, I probably shouldn't, but every time I play a Fallout game I write a postmortem for it. I have a postmortem for Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and New Vegas, even though I didn't work on them. So I read through all those notes, to recall what I thought they did right and what I thought they did wrong. And that influenced a lot of what I'm doing with this game.
How often, if ever, do industry trends or audience demands seep into your priorities?
Boyarsky: A lot less than we probably should. [laughter] We've always been really interested in making the games that we don't think are out there. Maybe there's a good reason why some of them aren't out there.
Cain: We always like to joke, "Let's just make the games we like, and hopefully people will play them." We have been trying to understand what people have been asking for. I know when we put our combat system together, it was really important that it be an RPG, but people really want…
Boyarsky: Yeah but it's less of a thing where we go, "Look at what people are looking for." We really don't want people to be saying, "Wow, this is a great RPG, you know the combat is just okay, but the RPG stuff is great."
One of our goals is that we want combat to be fun. Obviously our combat isn't going to be as good as Call of Duty because that's not what we are here to do. So, in that aspect when we set out to do something like that, well then what would people think is a fun combat system? What do people want from a combat system that they would consider fun? I think we've been in that mode for years, but I'm not sure that we've ever focused on those things as much as we have with this one.
I think it's much more a matter of, I don't want to say age, but just the length of time doing this. Earlier on Tim was saying that when we set out to make this thing that's a conglomeration of '50s and Road Warrior and pulp sci-fi, that wasn't something that people had done before, or the aspect of it where it's very gray morality and you could play anyway you wanted to play. With those things, because as Tim said that was a time when it was the Wild West where nobody had done that stuff before, now we have to look at what hasn't been served. We don't want to just rehash old ground. That's how we look at what people might want or what needs to be done in other games. Sometimes it might even inform, I don't want to say negative, but it might reinforce the opposite.
Like, a lot of games are going towards cinematic storytelling, but to do that you have to have a voiced protagonist. One of our main goals here, as with all of the games we made together, we want people to be able to play this game any way they want to play. We want the person who wants to play as the upstanding, righteous hero who would never do anything a little bit gray to have fun and role-play the way they want to, as much as the person who wants to play the psychopath that wants to kill everyone in their way. Both of those should be fun. But if we picked a voice for you or a character for you that was premade, then no matter how much we let you tweak it, it still feels like there's a part of it that wasn't decided by me. I think it's both things: What do we think is really cool that hasn't been done, but what are things that people are doing? Do we want to take that, or do we want to keep it more old-school because this is what we get from it?
It's hard to deny that "Elseworlds" is going to mean big things for Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. It's a crossover event loaded with firsts, from a visit to Gotham City and the arrival of Batwoman (Ruby Rose), to a trip to Smallville and the introduction of Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch). One of the most exciting firsts, though, is the first meeting between Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), The Flash (Grant Gustin), and Green Arrow (Stephen Amell).
As you can see in the clip below, which GameSpot and TV Guide are debuting exclusively, the iconic moment is also a bit confusing. Thanks to whatever is going on with "Elseworlds," Barry and Oliver have switched bodies, leaving the Green Arrow with speedster abilities and The Flash with a great talent for archery. Still, even with the identity crisis, this is a very cool moment.
And, of course, it's also a little funny. Upon realizing they're in the presence of Superman, Oliver quicky puffs out his chest and is immediately called on it by Barry. Something tells us watching these two navigate whatever is happening to them is going to be very entertaining.
What this clip doesn't show, however, is the superheroes in their costumes. As we've seen from the massive collection of photos released for the three-night event, though, there will be plenty of costumed action, including Amell suited up as The Flash and Gustin wearing Green Arrow's hood. Fans will also get to see Superman in a black suit for reasons that have yet to be revealed.
Based on everything we've seen so far, "Elseworlds" looks like the biggest and craziest crossover yet. You're not going to want to miss this event. "Elseworlds" kicks off Sunday, December 9, and concludes on Tuesday, December 11, on The CW.
Ring of Honor's Jay Lethal is on top of the world right now: He's ROH World Champion, has what will be an epic match with Cody coming up on December 14 at Final Battle, and has a backlog of video games he needs to catch up on. However, Lethal is a huge Pokemon fan and has plenty of tips on how to catch those pesky pocket monsters in Pokemon Go.
Lethal travels quite a bit as a professional wrestler, and in doing so, ends up playing a whole lot of Pokemon Go while travelling the world. Of course, a champion like Lethal is going to have some tips to catch them all. "Number one tip from Lethal is you gotta just be lucky, which is the way I live my life," he jokingly told GameSpot.
Photo credit: Ring of Honor
"I think you gotta load it with berries," Lethal continued. "I really haven't had too many issues where I had trouble catching anything. Although there's some nightmare stories of my buddy, he just couldn't catch anything. I've gotten lucky too because I got a couple shiny Eevees too. Back when they were doing a shiny Eevee program. I got maybe 20 of them. But my buddy who's always next to me and in the same spots that I was, he didn't get any."
Lethal explained that he loves using psychic type Pokemon in the game, with Abra and Kadabra being his favorites. He's not much of an electric type player, which may explain why he attacked a Pikachu statue. "I actually have a picture of me super kicking a Pikachu," Lethal recounted. "There was a little Pikachu statue in Miami. Some convention I was there for, and there was a Pikachu, and I said I'll take a picture. And I pretended to super kick it, and that was my profile picture for awhile."
Photo credit: Ring of Honor
When it comes to collecting or attacking Pokemon or just life in general, Lethal's tip remains to just be lucky. "There are plenty of other wrestlers out there who I feel are better than me. There's always someone better, but I've been lucky with the opportunities presented to me. I've been in the right place at the right time to be Ring of Honor World Champion for the second time. To get to do some of the things I've done: hang out with Lanny Poffo, talk to the Macho Man, work with Ric Flair, meet Hulk Hogan, wrestle Kurt Angle live on pay-per-view. I've just been very, very lucky, and I've had a great wrestling career so far. I really feel like I won the lottery. Yeah, to say that my biggest tip, not only for Pokemon go but for life is to be lucky is an understatement."
You can see Jay Lethal defend his world title against The Elite member Cody next week at Ring of Honor's Final Battle PPV, which airs live from New York City on Friday, December 14. The show will start at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on PPV, free for HonorClub VIPs, a 50% discount for HonorClub Standard, and on FITE TV. Check out ROH Wrestling or the ROH app for more details.
For more on Jay Lethal, check out our full interview from earlier this year, where the champ discusses playing Nintendo Switch and his infamous segment with Ric Flair.
The landscape of multiplayer games has changed significantly as more developers take on the games-as-a-service approach. So many multiplayer games look and feel much different in their current states compared to the launch product as new content, balance tweaks, and seasonal events transform the original experience. It's what entices player bases to stick around for the long-haul and how these games continue to stay relevant well after release.
So, with our Best Evolving Multiplayer Games category, we look back at five games that underwent meaningful changes in 2018 and highlight what made these great experiences even better. For this category, initial release date and status as a final product were not factors, but rather our criteria was based on what made these games stand out and how they went above and beyond in the calendar year. In no particular order, the following are the five best evolving multiplayer games of 2018.
Ubisoft has been ambitious with its approach to sustaining its tactical first-person shooter Rainbow Six: Siege, and it's been paying dividends big time. Following a mild launch in 2015, Ubisoft stuck with it by serving the player base with constant patches and major content drops which helped elevate the game's great foundation. In 2018 alone, Rainbow Six Siege had four major content updates: Chimera, Para Bellum, Grim Sky, and Wind Bastion. Collectively, these updates brought eight operators, two new maps, major map changes, and numerous tweaks to how existing equipment and operators work. Ubisoft has been able to maintain a delicate balance even when introducing additional operators who bring new abilities and tactics to the table.
No two matches are the same with environmental destruction, countless tactical possibilities, and unique in-match situations. Siege continues to thrive by supporting its community, being transparent with its roadmap, and delivering a distinct, deep competitive shooter experience that keeps on giving.
If you had to point to the biggest story in all of games in 2018, you'd point to Fortnite. The free-to-play battle royale game has become a cultural phenomenon with the largest active play base in all of games, and propelled Epic Games to new heights of success. Fortnite separates itself from the pack by incorporating the building elements from the original Save The World mode which leads to so many tactical possibilities and unpredictable combat scenarios. But its rise in 2018 can be attributed to the impactful changes that come with each new season. Fortnite has been running on seasons which are broken into 10-week increments (its currently on season seven), and in this year alone, we've seen significant changes to the map, new weapons, different modes, inventive challenges, and wacky twists (like the limited time event that let you play as Marvel villain Thanos and use the Infinity Gauntlet to tear up opponents).
Sure, Fortnite still only has one map, but large swaths of it are hardly recognizable from its original layout as they've been reworked to fit a loose narrative that comes with each season. At one point rifts appeared that teleported players across the map, at another, a mysterious meteor came down to obliterate a whole town, and the swamp area eventually turned into a desert paradise. Fortnite has gone in so many different and intriguing directions already,, and it just keeps growing.
Since its release in 2016, Overwatch established itself as a premier competitive shooter. It might not be much of a surprise considering Blizzard's pedigree and history of finely crafting multiplayer experiences, but it was its first foray into first-person shooters. In 2018, Overwatch continued the tradition of seasonal festivities with new character skins, thematic changes to it presentation, and occasional modes to fit the event. For example, the annual Summer Games took place in Overwatch with its vaguely-Olympic theme and included new cosmetics and the return of Lucio Ball, the 3-on-3 Rocket League-esque game mode. Lunar New Year and brought a whole assortment of creative skins, and the Winter Wonderland event is happening this month. Overwatch Archive: Retribution brought back the four-player cooperative PvE mode from last year's Uprising, but made some tweaks and offered new pieces of narrative. And of course, new heroes are always changing how the game is played; 2018 introduced Brigitte, Wrecking Ball, and Ashe, all characters with their own backstories and unique abilities. Between its updates, additional content, and competitive spirit, Overwatch isn't slowing down any time soon.
Warframe is a prime example of how a game can completely transform itself into something greater over time. The free-to-play cooperative third-person shooter had two expansions in 2018, designated The Sacrifice and Fortuna. These updates delivered a slew of content and reworked several elements of the core game. The Sacrifice in particular had a whole solo-only campaign questline and rewarded players with the Excalibur Umbra warframe. However, Fortuna brought more significant changes to the game by introducing an entirely new open-world planet to explore with a neon-lit city below its snowy surface. Traversal also changed with the K-Drive hoverboard which players can customize to zip around the surface in fashion. For the more quiet moments, Fortuna has fishing and mining, and the new hunting activity. It's Warframe's biggest expansion yet that's on PC and will soon be on PS4 and Xbox One. Speaking of platforms, Warframe is now available on Nintendo Switch; although it's made some concessions to run properly, there's nothing quite like it on that console-handheld hybrid.
They say there's no such thing as a free lunch, but whoever said that obviously doesn't play PC games. While you can't eat them, games often go free for a limited time on Steam. Case in point: this weekend you can grab the real-time strategy game Company of Heroes 2 for free. It's yours to keep and play forever, no strings attached.
Company of Heroes 2 is a WWII-set RTS that first launched in 2013 (its fifth anniversary is the reason for the giveaway). The single-player campaign puts you in the boots of a Soviet commander in the Red Army tasked with pushing back against German invaders. Enemy forces aren't all you have to worry about, as inclement weather can kill off your troops just as easily as a mortar team. The game also features meaty multiplayer modes that pit you against either AI or real opponents online.
In our Company of Heroes 2 review, Kevin VanOrd awarded the game 7.5/10, writing, "This is not a real-time strategy revolution, but a fun revival of enduring mechanics that pulls you into the trenches of the eastern front... Its barrage of online and offline skirmishes doesn't always hit its mark. But when it finds its target, Company of Heroes 2 delivers a loud and mighty payload."
If you try it and enjoy it, you can also pick up three of the DLC mission packs for 75% off, bringing them down to just a few bucks each. Company of Heroes 2 goes back up to regular price on December 10, so make sure to grab your free game by then.
After a long hiatus, Capcom is bringing the Devil May Cry series back to its core storyline and set of characters in serious style. Set for a worldwide release on March 8, 2019 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Devil May Cry 5 is the next major entry in the series, bringing back a sense of style and action that the series helped popularize since its debut in 2001. With multiple playable characters, new weapons systems, and a surprising number of callbacks to previous games, DMC5 looks to be the game that many long-time fans have been waiting for.
Though we're still a few months away, we're still in the dark regarding the new game and what it's setting out to do with its current outing. Ever since its first reveal back at E3 2018, there was a lot to take in, so we've broken things down to a few key points. Here's everything we know about Capcom's upcoming return to stylish-action with Devil May Cry 5.
Devil May Cry 5 is an upcoming action-adventure game. Developed by Capcom, the long-running DMC series has always been about fast, stylish action while using a variety of unique weapons. Over the last 16 years, the series has gone on to inspire a particular brand of action gameplay, where fast-paced action and challenging battles go hand-in-hand. With every game, the stakes and scope of the series has grown, and DMC5 looks to the most detailed and elaborate entry yet.
DMC5 seeks to continue that tradition of stylish action by telling the next major story in the series. With three playable characters--Dante, Nero, and the newcomer V--you'll go through a main story slashing and shooting demons and other monsters. Running on the RE Engine, the same framework powering Resident Evil 7 and the Resident Evil 2 remake, the game will feature the most detailed and richly realized visuals the series has seen yet. According to the developers, DMC5 will be the biggest game in the series, and seeks to incorporate a number of new features and innovations into the core gameplay.
When Does It Release And How Can I Catch Up?
DMC5's release date on PC, PS4, and Xbox One is set for March 8, 2019. If you want to catch up and play the previous games, you can check out the DMC HD Collection compiling the first three games on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Also, DMC4 Special Edition is available on the same platforms and offers a revised take on the game with a total of five unique characters to play as. DmC: Definitive Edition, an update of Ninja Theory's reboot, is also an excellent entry in the series. If you're interested in checking that out, the Definitive Edition is available on PS4 and Xbox One (no PC release, unfortunately).
The Reveal Trailer
After years of rumors and speculation, Devil May Cry 5 made its debut during Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference. The trailer began with an enigmatic voice-over talking over widespread carnage and bloodshed as a result of a demonic invasion. Afterward, we finally saw the return of Nero, riding around in his mobile headquarters with a neon blue Devil May Cry logo on the side. The trailer ended with a tease of Dante riding along on an strange, demonic motorcycle--giving a familiar smirk to the viewer.
Can I Start With This Game?
Though this game references storylines and characters from across the 17 year history, it's totally possible to jump straight into DMC5. Just like with previous games, there will be digest material to help you get up to speed. But more importantly, the game will work as a standalone title, and won't require you to know every single character and their relationships. With that said, the game's plot will make more of an impact if you're familiar with the series.
What's New In DMC5?
Though many details about DMC5 are still under wraps, the game focuses on offering the same thrilling moments of action--with some added twists. In addition to new weapons and tweaks to existing characters, DMC5 will also feature a new training level called the Void mode. In this practice area, which can be pulled up in between missions, you'll be sucked into a space that allows you to experiment with the different moves and weapons you have available for the three playable characters. Pulling from Capcom's wealth of experience from fighting games, you can apply a whole set of options to your sparring partner--adjusting AI, attack damage, and other options--allowing you to get a feel for what your character can do.
How Does Nero Play?
Returning from DMC4, Nero is one of the main leads in DMC5. However, some things have changed since his first appearance that was quickly apparent from watching the debut trailer. For starters, his primary moveset is largely the same, using his Blue Rose revolver and Red Queen sword in tandem, which can charged up for extra damage. However, the Devil Bringer from the previous game--allowing him to yank and grapple enemies from afar--is gone, and he'll now have to rely on the new Devil Breaker system.
Crafted by series newcomer Nico, who works as a shopkeeper in their mobile headquarters, you'll be able to purchase upgrades and new items from her--including new Devil Breakers. Essentially, Devil Breakers are disposable arms that offer Nero different skills and modifiers to his moveset. For instance, the Gerbera arm will allow Nero to fire off projectile lasers, the Tomboy will amplify Nero's sword and gun strength (at the cost of disabling lock-on), and the Buster Arm will function similarly to his original Devil Bringer. There is a tradeoff to having these weapons, unfortunately. The arms are extremely fragile and will break once you've taken enough damage from enemies or if you want to switch over to another weapon--destroying the equipped arm. However, there are plenty of arms scattered around the levels, allowing to find a new one fairly easily.
Where Does DMC5 Fit In The Series Timeline?
Devil May Cry 5 is a direct sequel to the events of DMC4, which saw Nero and Dante face off against Sanctus and the Order of Sparda. While the previous games only seldom referenced past events, opting to keep things more in the moment, DMC5 will have some direct callbacks to past games--even explaining who crafted some of Dante's iconic weapons. Interestingly enough, Devil May Cry 2 will also play into the canon despite having been largely dismissed by fans and the developers in past years. Here's the current chronological order for the series.
DMC5 is a continuation of the story prior to Ninja Theory's reboot. Though DmC: Devil May Cry ended at a point that hinted at a another game, the upcoming DMC title is a direct sequel to 2008's Devil May Cry 4. There are no plans to continue on with Ninja Theory's reboot.
The Gamescom 2018 Trailer
In this new trailer, we got to see more of Nero in action--including his time-stopping devil breaker Ragtime--while also getting a peak at Dante's new weapons and moveset. During the debut trailer, we got a tease at Dante riding a motorcycle, which is a constant throughout the series, but this video showed that it also serves a new weapon for him, called the Cavaliere-B. The weaponized motorcycle turns into two large chainsaws, allowing him to combo back and forth into the vehicle and weapon forms.
Is There A Demo?
Yes, the demo for DMC5 is out now on Xbox One. This demo, the same build from Gamescom 2018 and PAX West 2018, is a short mission with Nero fighting his way through the streets, culminating in a boss fight against Goliath. Unfortunately, it's only available at this time on Xbox One as an exclusive. However, in the months leading up to the release, a second demo will be made available for fans on multiple platforms.
How Does Co-Op Play Work?
Revealed during The Game Awards 2018, DMC5 will offer a feature called the Cameo System, allowing players to team up online. Interestingly enough, this is the second time that co-op has appeared in the series--the first appearance being in Devil May Cry 3 during a particular boss battle. Throughout the campaign, certain stages will allow for players to choose from multiple character to play as. If you're online, then you'll load into the same stage with another player who's picked a different character, and you'll be able to complete the level together. After the level's completion, you can even rate the style of their performance. If you're offline, then the game's AI will control the other players instead.
How Does Dante Play?
The original devil hunter makes a comeback, and he's exactly how you remember him from previous games. With the largest arsenal of weapons, Dante will be able to swap between a variety of swords, gauntlets, and other firearms on the fly--all while taking advantage of his signature devil trigger, which greatly amplifies his core damage and restores any lost health. After defeating major bosses throughout the game, Dante will acquire a new weapon for him to take advantage of, adding another deadly tool to his set.
One of the newer innovations for Dante is the option to customize specific loadouts for his weapons. In the pre-mission menu, you can pick and choose which weapons you want to bring with you in mission. If you want to come in fully armed--with up to four melee and firearms each--then you can do so. But if you're feeling more traditional and want to stick with one melee and firearm, you can do that too.
Are There Microtransactions?
During TGS 2018, we learned from our demo that DMC5 will feature a form of microtransactions for players to take advantage of. Using a similar method from Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, these purchases will only allow you access to Red Orbs--DMC's currency--and they won't throw the game's balance out of whack, according to Capcom. Many of the major abilities and upgrades you can find are tied to the story, thus requiring you to earn access to them.
Will There Be Post-Launch Updates?
During the recent news drop during The Game Awards 2018, Capcom revealed plans to release the game's survival mode Bloody Palace the month after launch. Since DMC2, Bloody Palace has been one of the game's toughest challenges, pushing players to fight through 100 floors of enemies. During certain milestones after completing 10 or so floors, you'll face off against a returning boss from the campaign. At launch, the Bloody Palace won't be available, and it'll arrive as a free update in April 2019.
The TGS 2018 Trailer
In the most recent trailer, we saw Dante and Nero revealing more of their respective movesets and weapons. The original devil hunter also shows off a brand-new weapon known as the Balrog. This close-range, brawler-focused weapon features two distinct fighting modes channeling punches and kicks. At the end of the trailer, we also got another tease of the elusive third playable character referred to as V.
How Does V Play?
During the reveal of the new trailer at The Game Awards 2018, we finally saw gameplay of DMC5's new playable character V in action. In a stark contrast from Dante and Nero, V's combat skills focus primarily on his demonic familiars--returning DMC1 monsters Shadow, Griffon, and Nightmare. In the gameplay footage, we saw the character summon demons to fight against, with him staying at a distance as the beasts conjure up spikes, strike at close-range, and fire large energy beams against the enemies.
However when it comes down to it, V is still capable of fighting at close-range. With his cane, he can finish off weakened demons and mount some of the larger beasts as well. Also, V is capable of using several fake out teleport attacks to lure enemies in to strike them from behind. This character is certainly a big change from the others, and it'll be interesting to see just how different his moveset becomes when he gains additional moves and abilities.
Is There A Special Edition?
Capcom plans to offer deluxe editions of Devil May Cry 5 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Digital Deluxe Edition (priced at $80) comes with the full game, four unique Devil Breakers for Nero--including Mega Man's mega-buster--DLC song packs, and alternate color-schemes for characters and weapons. The US will also get a special Collector's Edition ($150) that comes with the Deluxe version, an artbook, enamel pins, a bumper sticker, and special model of the Nico's motorhome. You can read more about these in our DMC5 pre-order guide.
However, if you're looking for the ultimate way to experience Devil May Cry 5, then you may to check out the Japan-only Limited Edition. Cost upwards of $8600, this edition comes with the deluxe edition and a replica leather jacket modeled after Dante's threads in-game. If you're a die-hard fan that won't miss spending several thousand dollars for video-game memorabilia, then you want to invest in this edition of the game.
We've finally got a trailer for the highly anticipated (or dreaded, depending on who you ask) Avengers 4, now revealed to be titled Avengers: Endgame, which means it's time for a GameSpot tradition: a brand-new roundup of all the latest, greatest, and most terrifying updates about the film.
With the power of obsessive fandom and uncomfortable attention to detail, news, every leaked detail, and every potential plot point, from character costume and code name changes to the ever evolving list of Snap-related casualties. We've got questions. We've got theories. We've got your most recent rundown, complete with facts and figures, for the biggest MCU film yet.
We really are in the Endgame now
Despite some trolling from the Russos who said in an interview that the title of Avengers 4 was not a line from Infinity War, it turns out its been sitting right in front of our faces this whole time. As Doctor Strange explained while on Titan, he only saw one potential outcome in which the Avengers were successful against Thanos and, apparently, part of achieving that outcome meant sacrificing the Time Stone. "We're in the endgame now," if only we'd known how literal that was back in April.
The release date was moved up a full week
Originally slated for a May 3rd release, the trailer drop and poster confirmed one pleasant surprise. Endgame is coming to theaters a week earlier on April 26, 2019.
We only see a small portion of the movie's massive cast
The casts of Infinity War, and subsequently Endgame, are some of the biggest ever attempted by a franchise--and we only see a tiny fraction of what's in store for us in this trailer. The core team of Avengers is made up of some familiar faces. Here's who we've got confirmed so far:
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton
Karen Gillan as Nebula
Missing from the trailer are some known Infinity War survivors like Don Cheadle Rhodey and Danai Gurira's Okoye.
Steve Rogers shaved, and that sucks
We knew this day would come, but we didn't expect it to be so soon. The Endgame trailer feature an exclusively clean shaven Captain America. RIP to the best beard in cinematic history, taken from us much too soon.
Hawkeye is Ronin now, really
We've had some theories about this going for a while, but the trailer solidified it. Clint Barton has left his Hawkeye persona behind, and taken on the decidedly more Batman-esque Ronin identity, complete with a rain-slicked fight scene on the streets of Tokyo and a cool looking katana.
Tony has taken over the Milano, and it doesn't look good
Tony and Nebula were the last remaining survivors on Titan after Thanos' snap, and it looks like they've taken the Guardians' ship, the Milano, to hightail it out of there. Unfortunately, as Tony explains, he's run out of food and water, and is rapidly running out of air. Where Nebula is during this process is a mystery.
Scott Lang made it out of the Quantum Realm, but we don't know how
Last seen in Ant-Man & The Wasp's post credits scene being well and truly stranded within the Quantum Realm, the trailer shows Scott arriving at the Avengers compound looking as though nothing happened. How'd he make it out and, more importantly, what does that mean for Steve and Natasha's vaguely referenced plan? Your guess is as good as ours.
Steve and Nat do have a plan, though--and it's critical
In a trailer full of bleak, ominous lines, Steve Rogers brings the drama. "This plan is going to work," Natasha says, to which he replies, "I know it is, because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't." What plan are they talking about? Did they come up with it all on their own or did they have help from the other survivors? We know Thor is still around, but Okoye, Rocket, and Rhodey are all conspicuously absent from the trailer.
Shuri may have been dusted
Bruce Banner briefly surveys a wall of photos, featuring Scott, Shuri, and Peter Parker. Given the (admittedly limited) context, it seems like the photos could be of people who are considered missing, meaning Shuri would have sadly been dusted after Infinity War. We didn't see her after her brief encounter with the Black Order while she was working with Vision, so it's certainly a possibility. The only other commonality the photos share is a connection to science--though Scott's is dubious at best--so there may still be hope.
It's safe to say the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remaster was a success in the eyes of publisher Activision. But while fans enjoyed reliving their memories of the 32-bit platformers, many also wanted a similarly remade version of the 1999 kart racer starring every gamer's favorite bandicoot. Their wishes have been granted: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is slated to release June 21 for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
This version of the game is rebuilt from the asphalt up and includes everything that came in the original game, plus new karts and tracks. Also, the whole thing has modern graphics, online play, and new character- and kart-customization options.
If you're ready to lock down a copy of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled for yourself, you probably want to know about the pre-order bonuses, different editions, where it's available, and how much it costs. Let's dive into the specifics.
Pre-Order Bonuses
If you pre-order Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled from the PlayStation Store, you'll get a Crash avatar, a Coco Racer avatar, and a Crash Team Racing pre-order PS4 theme.
Pre-order from the Microsoft Store, and you'll get a "bonus in-game item" (presumably to be announced later) and a Crash Head Xbox One avatar mask.
Standard Edition
The standard edition doesn't have any fancy collectibles or digital pack-ins, but the game is all you really need anyway.
No retailers have the Switch edition available for pre-order yet. We'll add it here when it appears.
Nitros Oxide Edition
While you can unlock Nitros Oxide and his kart as in-game rewards from Adventure Mode in the standard edition, the digital-only Nitros Oxide Edition comes with them unlocked from the start. It also comes with a Nitros character skin and kart, as well as character skins for Crash, Coco, and Neo Cortex, plus "additional digital content to be announced later." If that's worth $20 extra to you, this is the edition you'll want.
It's quite exciting to say that Crackdown 3 is almost here. After continuous delays and development hiccups, the Microsoft exclusive open-world action game will launch early in 2019 for Xbox One and PC. It was first announced at E3 2014 and simply revealed to be a follow up in the franchise using a similar art style with a cooperative campaign and multiplayer. Since then, Crackdown 3 faced numerous delays, but Microsoft has continued to show off the game and put out trailers to showcase its new destruction technology for multiplayer made possible with cloud-based computing.
While that's all been nice to hear, we're more than ready to see it in action and get our hands on one of Microsoft's most anticipated games of this generation. So, we've rounded up everything we know about Crackdown 3 to get you prepared for what appears to be a wild ride.
For those unfamiliar, Crackdown 3 is an open-world third-person action game that focuses on large-scale environmental destruction. In past games, you played as an agent possessing superhuman capabilities, like immense strength to pick up cars and toss them at enemies or throw incredibly powerful punches. Traversing the open world was also made easy with the ability to jump high off the ground and leap great distances. An arsenal of assault rifles, rocket launchers, and more let you obliterate anything in sight--all in the name of justice. All that good stuff is returning in the new game as you're put in the shoes of new main character Commander Jaxon.
A look at the neon-lit city skyline of New Providence.
The series has historically used a cel-shaded art style that made it look like a graphic novel in motion. This style is returning in even higher fidelity, especially notable with the improvements made to environmental destruction model and the scope of its open world. A sci-fi aesthetic means bright neon lights litter the city skylines and high-tech equipment (like cars that transform into tanks) will be toys for wreaking havoc in either single-player or multiplayer scenarios.
What's Multiplayer Like?
During the X018 Showcase event, Crackdown 3 was shown to have a multiplayer ecosystem called Wrecking Zone, which pits teams of five against each other in a fully destructible arenas specifically built to be torn down by players. Two maps called Blackout Zone and Nova Station, and two game modes called Territories and Agent Station, were shown off during the reveal. You'll also be able to customize your own Agent with cosmetics, but the extent of that hasn't been detailed. Not much else has been said about the specifics of Wrecking Zone.
A cooperative campaign will be part of the package as well; you'll be able to team up with friends to take down well-defended crime bosses, though few details have been laid out about the actual structure of these missions.
What's The Deal With The Cloud?
Cloud computing has been touted as the key to pulling off full-scale environmental destruction. Physics calculations are intense and impossible for local console hardware alone to support Crackdown 3's scope. So, those calculations are distributed to multiple cloud servers regardless of what platform you play on. As a consequence, full-scale destruction is only available to multiplayer sessions since players would have to be connected online to utilize the cloud servers.
What's Up With All Those Delays?
Announced in 2014, Crackdown 3 was originally set to launch sometime in 2016, but was pushed back to November 2017. It was then pushed to an unspecified date in Fall 2018, then finally solidified to release in February 2019.
Microsoft came out and said that Crackdown 3 was announced a little too early. The development process has been a bumpy road, evident in the series of delays that the game has faced and the ever-changing status of the certain studios on the project. Sumo Digital is heading up development and was in collaboration with Reagent Games, but earlier this year it was confirmed that Reagent Games and series creator Dave Jones are no longer involved in Crackdown 3. Jones had also founded Cloudgine, which was doing tech for the game, but following acquisition by Epic Games, it's unclear how much it has affected the final product.
In a tweet about Crackdown 3 in September 2018, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said that he had been playing a full version of the game but that there was still more work that needed to be done. However, that February 2019 release date still seems solid at this point.
How Will The Xbox One X Improve The Game?
As expected, the power of the Xbox One X hardware will be put to good use in Crackdown 3. It'll have support for 4K resolution and HDR, and back in E3 2017, executive producer Peter Connelly said that there will be better textures, effects, and draw distances on the more powerful console.
How Much Terry Crews Will There Be?
The answer is likely to be: not enough. The main protagonist Commander Jaxon is voiced by Terry Crews, so we're expecting plenty of his emphatic delivery and personality to come through. He's been at the center of Crackdown 3's trailers and marketing push, some of which have been hilarious and inline with Crews' charismatic persona.
Do I Need To Play The Previous Games?
While you can expect references and connections to previous games, Crackdown 3 will tell a new, separate story of its own. But if you are interested in the original Crackdown, it's available as an Xbox One backward compatible game. Unfortunately, Crackdown 2 has yet to be made backwards compatible.
When Is It Launching? How Can I Get The Game?
As it stands, Crackdown 3 is set to launch on February 15, 2019. Pre-orders are currently open for the game, though there are currently no bonuses or special editions yet. Subscribers of Xbox Game Pass will have access to the game on launch day at no extra cost.
In addition, Crackdown 3 is an Xbox Play Anywhere game, so regardless of how you purchase it, you'll be able to play it on Xbox One consoles or Windows 10 PCs.
Marvel Studios has been very cagey about revealing the title of the final Avengers movie and the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War. Thanks to a new trailer we've thoroughly broken down, we now finally know the movie is titled Avengers: Endgame, and the title itself is a pretty good indication why Marvel took so long to reveal it. It's a pretty big hint about where the final movie is going and a key piece of story information from Avengers: Infinity War.
"Endgame" is a major hint that confirms things fans have been suspecting since Infinity War was released. It's a direct reference to a line spoken by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) on Titan near the end of the film, when he tells Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), "We're in the endgame now." Strange's line immediately follows the heroes' defeat at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) moments earlier, when Strange gave up the Time Stone, the last of the six Infinity Stones, in exchange for Thanos sparing Tony's life.
It's a major moment in Infinity War for a lot of reasons. First of all, Strange said earlier in the movie in no uncertain terms that he would not, under any circumstances, trade the Time Stone to save the lives of the other heroes. He tells Tony that if it comes down to his life, the life of Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Strange's life, or anyone else's, and the Time Stone, the Time Stone wins--because Thanos' goal is to wipe out half the life in the entire universe, and no single life is worth the potential damage.
So it's not just a major moment when Strange saves Tony's life by giving Thanos the Time Stone; it's the exact opposite of what Strange said he'd do under the circumstances. Something changed between when Tony and Peter saved Strange from Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) and when they finally fought Thanos.
That something is that Strange used the Time Stone to view potential futures. While Tony, Peter, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are developing a plan to stop Thanos, Strange uses the power of the stone to view more than 14 million potential outcomes to the battle. When he's asked if the heroes are successful in any of those futures, Strange has a cryptic and troubling answer: They only win in one.
But as fans have suspected ever since, that means that Strange's actions are part of a larger plan--the circumstances required to bring that one possible future in which Thanos is defeated into existence. So when Strange tells Tony, "We're in the endgame," he definitely means that the battle isn't over, even though Tony thinks he and the others just lost. This is a step in Strange's plan, and there's a lot more yet to come.
The fact that the follow-up to Infinity War is called Endgame all but confirms the idea that Strange's actions, and those of everyone else, were part of what we might call his overall "plan," or at least the circumstances needed to stop Thanos. Obviously, Strange turning over the Time Stone to Thanos was part of that as well, and we can further extrapolate that Thanos needed to "win" in Infinity War in order for the heroes to eventually defeat him. The battle is still raging, and this is Strange's endgame.
Of course, we still don't know the particulars of how the Avengers will stop Thanos and undo the destruction he's wrought. There are plenty of theories based on the Avengers: Endgame trailer, though, and the fates of some characters are still up in the air. We also know that Captain Marvel will probably play a major role, giving the post-credits stinger in Infinity War and the fact that her origin movie is the final Marvel Cinematic Universe film before Endgame releases on April 26. And the trailer suggests that Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), will also be essential to the story. We last saw him lost in the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, but he shows up in the Endgame trailer with the van that contained a shrunk-down quantum tunnel--so it seems likely the quantum realm will be part of the plan to stop Thanos, too. Check out all the rest of our Avengers: Endgame coverage for everything you need to know.
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