By Anonymous on Feb 16, 2019 12:20 am Age Of Wonders: Planetfall gives you the chance to create your base and utilize strategy to your advantage in defending against opposing forces while expanding your territory. Here's what it looks like on PC.
Now that Netflix has released the first season of Umbrella Academy, adapted from comic books by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá, some things have become very clear. First and foremost, executive producer Steve Blackman has taken some very large swings away from the comic's canon to create a show that is very similar, but can also stand on its own. More importantly, though, Season 1 ends on a massive cliffhanger that practically demands Netflix renew the series immediately. If you have yet to watch all of umbrella Academy Season 1, stop reading now, because we're going to talk spoilers.
The season ends with the end of the world, in one particularly surprising twist. Though Season 1 is based largely on the Apocalypse Suite graphic novel, it ends pretty differently. They don't stop the end of the world, Vanya (Ellen Page) isn't shot in the head after going full-on White Violin, and they all jump back in time to some point that has yet to be revealed.
This all sets up some very interesting possibilities for Season 2, as the team--one can only assume--tries to stop the world from ending (again). Of course, that's all going to depend on what time period they end up in.
Why make such a drastic change to the Apocalypse Suite ending, though? As Blackman told GameSpot, it's all about setting up a story that's still to come. "From a purely TV point of view, I wanted to leave you with a cliffhanger that you would have to come back to see what happens; you have to know what happens to this family," he said. "You've seen [Episode] 10, so they zap out just before the apocalypse with no idea where they are or what's happened to them. So that was a big part of it."
Just as important as the Umbrella Academy recruits hopefully saving the world, though, is what they're going to do with their sister. Vanya is far more powerful than any of them could dream of being. And after she embraced that power and unleashed it on the world, becoming the White Violin, her journey from here becomes an interesting one because it's new territory.
In the comics, this is essentially where Vanya's story ends. She was left paralyzed after Apocalypse Suite and didn't play a major role in the stories that followed. Blackman, though, chose to keep her in play by instead having the gun simply fired next to her head, with the sound knocking her unconscious. "I wanted to see her make it to the very end and then see what happens to her after into hopefully Season 2," he explained.
As for what Page sees her character doing in potential future episodes, she's excited by both possibilities for Vanya--good and evil. "I'm really excited for whatever. I've loved both," she said of the two sides of the character's personality. "I'm not quite sure the certain ideas of what's going to happen, if there's potential for another season and whatnot. But I just really love the character. So I'm happy with whatever that turns into. But it was fun just walking around and blowing up s***."
And while the end of Season 1 may have veered far away from the comics, that doesn't mean it's going to disregard the rest of the show's canon. As Way explained of the three graphic novels thus far, "Those exist for Steve to have material to draw from and kind of do what he wants to do with them."
For Blackman, those stories that have already been told, like Apocalypse Suite in Season 1, are a good launching pad for what they want the TV show to become. "I mean, that's a lot of material around to use," he admitted. "It's great because it just adds to the color of the show. It's fun to take their stuff and springboard off of it to translate to TV."
What do you want from Umbrella Academy Season 2? Sound off in the comments!
The Dragon Prince is a show that started strong, but left a lot to be desired given the short length of its first season. It introduced an intriguing world and some fun characters, but spent so much time establishing its lore that the plot took a back seat until the last few episodes. Season 2 turns out to be much the same: Once again, after a slow, but promising start, The Dragon Prince seems like it will finally start gaining some momentum--next season, that is.
When we last saw Prince Callum, Prince Ezran, and the elven assassin Reyla, they were on the run from the kingdom of Katolis to return the magical dragon egg when it suddenly hatched. Hot on their trail were Claudia, a dark magic user, and Soren, her bone-headed brother who intended on returning the two princes back home against their will. It was an action-packed finale to what was otherwise a slow burn of a first season, and while Season 2 picks up immediately after, it feels like the show immediately hits the brakes, focusing on establishing character motivations as opposed to pushing the plot forward.
While that's certainly a disappointment, it's not such a bad thing this time around. With another set of nine episodes focused on more buildup, almost every character was given a chance to begin a unique arc for themselves. Callum, for example, dealing with the repercussions of breaking the Primal stone, cannot cast magic anymore and struggles with whether or not he'll turn to the dark arts to compensate. Ezran, a child himself, must act as the main guardian of the recently hatched dragon, Zym, while he reels from the news that he is next in line to become king. They don't make too many strides forward in their quest to bring Zym back to his mother, but they make up for it with character growth that sets up their goals and challenges for the seasons to come.
Extra attention was even given to some of the side characters as well, in particular the siblings, Claudia and Soren, who were tasked with tracking down the two princes last season. We spend a good amount of episodes with them, which is fantastic because their chemistry together rivals that of the main characters. Soren is still as burly and brash as ever, but time is taken to show us a bit more about what drives him to be the best, while Claudia begins to face the repercussions of her proclivity with dark magic. Viren, the main antagonist of the series so far, also gets mixed up in his own side story, showing us his insecurities and reasons for wanting to go to war with the elves. There's some disturbing implications that come with it, and considering the season begins with Aunt Amaya literally smacking two elves into a pit of lava, I can't wait to see if the show will continue to get darker.
One highly requested (and much needed) change to The Dragon Prince was adding more frames of animation to its quieter, dialogue focused scenes. While it could still use some work, I'm happy to say that there isn't one scene this time around that reminded me of the sometimes borderline stop-motion animation that plagued the first season. Fight scenes are still as exciting and creatively choreographed as ever, and just like last season, scenes of serenity give us some beautiful vistas showcasing the lush world these characters inhabit. Just like the first season, it wasn't uncommon for me to pause the show and just stare at some of the visuals. Its sense of humor is still very much intact as well, occasionally catching me off guard with that trademark Avatar: The Last Airbender-esque humor.
There are a couple of issues lingering on from the first season that continue to hold the show back, however. Ezran is still an extremely underdeveloped character. He's given more to do this season, which helps, but he's still criminally underused as one of the show's three main characters. His contributions to conversations usually amount to no more than naivete as a form of comic relief, and don't give any insight into his feelings until the last episode. That grievance can be amplified by some of actor Sasha Rojen's dialogue delivery as well, which sometimes comes off as flat. On that same note, Reyla, who arguably experienced the most growth in Season 1, was given very little to do this time around. She gets into all the fights and can clash with the best of them, but we already knew that about her. While I can respect that her spotlight was taken away to give other characters a chance to shine, it's a shame the only thing we learn about her this season is that she's working on overcoming her aversion to boats.
While there have been missteps here and there while The Dragon Prince begins its journey, I can't fault it too much this time around considering the amount of care the writers are putting into each character. When the first season ended, I wasn't sure whether or not I would be excited to continue watching because it wasn't quite enough to get me fully invested. While I'm still patiently waiting to see where the story takes the characters, I can't wait to see where the characters will take the story. Yes, it's disappointing that the characters have barely gotten any closer to completing their goal, but the quality time we spent with them this season was anything but filler. With battle lines being drawn and allegiances tested, everything is poised to fan the flames of the plot. It still hasn't taken off quite yet, but when The Dragon Prince returns, I'm confident it will soar.
It's not hard to draw up comparisons when you're talking about Netflix's Umbrella Academy. Its ten episode season is going to call to mind all sorts of things--FX's surrealist X-Men show Legion for one, Wes Anderson films for another, some Bryan Fuller-flavored flair with just a dash of Tim Burton--and while those comparisons are all earned in their own ways, none of them do the full picture justice. The bottom line is Umbrella Academy really is just that weird--which probably isn't a huge surprise to anyone who's read the multi-part comic book source material by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba. There was no way this show was ever going to angle for your typical superhero fair, which is really what makes it so much fun.
In lieu of villain punching or day saving, this is a superhero show with full on dance montages, hidden in-scene title card reveals, and CGI effects that are just-this-side of retro. The story hopscotches back and forth between past, present and future, sometimes by way of literal time travel, sometimes by way of flashbacks. There's a talking chimpanzee in a suit who wears a monocle and a robot nanny called "Mom" who resembles a prototypical 1950s housewife (designed by a man, naturally). It can be a lot to keep track of, but don't let that put you off--Umbrella Academy throws a lot at the wall, but most everything sticks.
It's difficult to really distill exactly what the show is about in any specific sense without giving too much away, but here's the short version. It's set in a world where several dozen children were born around the world at the same time on the same day to women who were, until that moment, not pregnant. An eccentric billionaire adventurer named Reginald Hargreeves adopted seven--they turned out to have superpowers, and he molded them into a sort of trainee superhero team called--you guessed it--the Umbrella Academy. There's Luther (Tom Hopper), a muscle bound strong man with a leadership complex; Diego (David Castaneda), a Batman-like knife thrower; Klaus (Robert Sheehan), an addict who can speak to the dead; Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), an actress who can warp reality; Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), a time traveling teleporter stuck in a child's body; and finally Vanya (Ellen Page) an outsider who thinks she's a normal girl; and Ben, who died as a child.
Unfortunately, Hargreeves lacked skills in the fatherhood department and only really managed to produce a group of horribly adjusted, dysfunctional adults rather than a well oiled team of heroes. That's where the show picks up: with the kids all grown up and having long since gone their separate ways only to be brought back to their childhood home after Sir Reginald's untimely and mysterious death, forced to confront their traumatic childhoods and rebuild bridges with one another.
Oh, and the world might be ending in less than a week. There's that, too. So there's a bit of a ticking clock on the whole "reconciliation" thing.
Page's Vanya and Gallagher's Five are ostensibly the "main" characters, but Umbrella Academy is at its best when it focuses equally on every Hargreeves protege, giving them a chance to stand in the spotlight--which happens in a pretty balanced way across all ten episodes. Sheehan in particular manages to steal scene after scene by pouring unexpected layers and emotion into the typically flakey, over-the-top Klaus.
And then there are the villains, a set of time traveling assassins named Hazel (Cameron Britton) and Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) who serve to add a whole new level of eccentricity to the mix, peppering in gleeful ultraviolence with sci-fi absurdity. They kill without remorse while wearing cartoon animal masks and are usually flanked by hordes of anonymous foot soldiers as cannon fodder. It really is just chaos whenever they're around--but Britton especially is a grounding force to prevent things from going too far off the rails. Hazel's hilarious, almost Charlie Brown-like depression is a total delight.
Umbrella Academy stumbles a few times in the pacing department, teasing reveals too long before paying them off, tipping hands a bit too soon, allowing certain story beats to occupy moments while other, more interesting beats should be given precedence. Coupled with the already experimental tone and look, that means it probably won't be a show for everyone--but for the people who are down for the ride, it's well worth the time.
Today feels like my birthday. My two favorite worlds have collided: wrestling and DC Comics. Announced at New York Toy Fair, from the Javits Center, DC Collectibles revealed its newest set of seven-inch action figures, and they are fantastic.
Inspired by the world of lucha libre--Mexican professional wrestling--the Lucha Explosiva line takes DC characters you know and love and reimagines them as luchadors. The trinity is here--Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman--and they have a few villains from their rogues gallery to fight: Metallo II, Cheetah, and Deathstroke. Thus far, these are the coolest-looking figures to be revealed at the toy convention. DC Collectibles always produces some unique and high-quality action figures that are exceptionally imaginative. No, I'm not just saying that as a wrestling or DC fan.
This line will be available this August, but price points have not been announced yet.
The latest PlayStation Store sale offers discounts on games that are critically acclaimed. The Critics Choice sale gives you a chance to catch up with some highly rated triple-A PS4 games you may have missed, or smaller gems that were given accolades. As usual, PlayStation Plus members get a little extra off the discounted prices.
For those still using Sony's older hardware, this sale even features a handful of deals on PS3 and PlayStation Vita. This comes as Sony is offering its last PlayStation Plus freebies for those two systems, though it is giving away increased cloud save storage for Plus members on PS4 instead.
This sale will last through March 1 at 8 AM PT, so get your final purchases in by then. Check below for some of our picks for the best deals, and head to the PlayStation Store to make your purchases.
Abzu -- $12 / $10 with Plus
Banner Saga Trilogy -- $35 / $30 with Plus
Battlefield 1 & Titanfall 2 bundle -- $20 / $15 with Plus
Battlefield 5 -- $30 / $24 with Plus
Burnout Paradise Remastered -- $8 / $6 with Plus
Call of Duty WW2 Gold -- $30 / $24 with Plus
Celeste -- $14 / $12 with Plus
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy -- $28 / $24 with Plus
Diablo 3 Eternal Collection -- $30 / $20 with Plus
Grand Theft Auto 5 -- $18 / $15 with Plus
Guacamelee 2 -- $14 / $12 with Plus
Red Dead Redemption 2 -- $44 / $40 with Plus
Shadow of the Tomb Raider -- $36 / $30 with Plus
Spyro Reignited Trilogy -- $34 / $30 with Plus
Tacoma -- $10 / $7 with Plus
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- $16 / $12 with Plus
Unravel 2 -- $10 / $8 with Plus
Valkyria Chronicles 4 -- $42 / $30 with Plus
Watch Dogs 2 -- $21 / $15 with Plus
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus -- $30 / $20 with Plus
Reveals of this year's newest toys from various companies are all happening from Toy Fair right now, which is located in New York City's Javits Center. Funko kicked off Friday morning with a few announcements of what Pop collectors can expect in the upcoming year.
Funko has a Pop figure for any fandom, and that includes music, and this batch of collectibles reaches into the past, the present, and across oceans. Coming straight from the '90s, you can now pick up Pops of Backstreet Boys and NSync, and have them battle to see who is the greatest boy band of the late '90s. Speaking of boy bands, there are now Pops of South Korea's biggest pop group, BTS. This latest batch is diverse, reaching many different genres within music.
As of this writing, all the collectibles shown below are listed as "Coming Soon." Release dates and price points have not yet been listed. Until then, check out Funko's musical batch of Toy Fair reveals.
Friday in Destiny 2 means the arrival of Xur, Emissary of the Nine, with a slate of super-rare Exotics to sell. This week we find Xur hanging out in the solar system in the middle of the Crimson Days Valentine's Day event, and he brought a few items you might want to take with you into the Crucible for its special Doubles mode.
You can locate Xur this week on Earth in the EDZ, in the Winding Cove region. Drop at the Winding Cove spawn point and head north to the edge of the area, where you can climb up to a crashed fallen ship. Xur is standing by and waiting for you just beside it.
And as always, Xur is packing four items from the Year One collection of Exotics: a weapon and three pieces of armor, one for each character class. For weapons this week, you can nab Sunshot, a powerful Solar hand cannon whose shots explode on impact. Enemies that get damaged by Sunshot are highlighted to make them easier to take down, making it handy for blowing up multiple enemies in the Crucible--something you might want to consider if you're working on Doubles matches for Crimson Days this weekend.
For armor, Xur brought the Actium War Rig chest armor for Titans, which is another handy Crucible item. It reloads your auto rifles from your reserves as you fire, allowing you to fire away at those unlucky enemy Guardians for longer. Hunters get the Lucky Raspberry chest armor, which enhances your Arc Bolt grenades' chaining ability and comes with a chance to recharge your grenades when you use them. Finally, for Warlocks there's the Skull of Dire Ahamkara helmet, which is useful for players who like to throw Nova Bombs. It makes you more resilient while executing your Nova Bomb super, while kills with Nova Bomb recharge super energy. Check out the full slate of what Xur's offering below:
Sunshot (Exotic hand cannon) -- 29 Legendary Shards
Also available from Xur is the Fated engram. This costs a whopping 97 Legendary shards but will decrypt into a Year One Exotic you don't already own (assuming you haven't collected them all). While pricey, it's a reliable way to fill out your Exotic collection. Additionally, Xur has the Five of Swords challenge card that lets you add modifiers to Nightfall Strikes.
This week's Crimson Days event focuses on two-player activities in the Crucible, where you can snag a few spiffy rewards, including a new Sparrow, a new Legendary bow, and a chocolate ghost shell. The event wraps up with the next weekly reset on February 19. It gets replaced by another Iron Banner competitive mode for the Crucible, and if you're still looking to grab some of Season 5's Iron Banner armor, you'll want to get busy starting Tuesday--it's the last Iron Banner of the Season of the Forge. Destiny 2's next season, the Season of the Drifter, starts on March 5.
New York Toy Fair has kicked off at the Javits Center, and companies have already begun revealing their products for the upcoming year. Pop culture giant Funko unleashed a new wave of Pop! and 5 Star figures on the world on Friday morning.
This time around, Funko has put the focus on anime and animation with this latest round of reveals. From American staples such as the Simpsons to Scooby Doo to anime favorites like My Hero Academia and Yu Yu Hakusho, there is something for everyone here, unless you hate animation. There are even early designs for Netflix's Castlevania series to check out as well.
As of this writing, all the collectibles shown below are listed as "Coming Soon." Release dates and price points have not yet been listed. Until then, check out Funko's first batch of Toy Fair reveals.
Anthem isn't officially in wide release until next week, but members of EA's various membership programs can play it starting today (provided you don't encounter server problems). If you're a member of EA Access on Xbox One, or Origin Access on PC, you can access the game in one way or another right now.
With the game now being live, some players have reported server issues, and EA Help has responded that it is aware of the problem and working on resolving it. That means that even if you are a member of an Access program, you may not be able to jump in right away. Specifically, the errors include those telling players that matchmaking has failed and that no server has been found or is currently unavailable.
EA has also outlined the slightly convoluted steps to finding the trial itself on the EA Access hub. You'll need to go through the hub, rather than the EA Access area of the My Games and Apps section.
Open the hub and refresh it (LT, RT, and Y).
Go to Anthem.
View the game.
Click the 3 dots and select Play Trial.
Both Access programs offer a 10% discount for purchases, but the two offer a different level of early access. The EA Access program offers only a 10-hour trial with progress that will carry over into the main game if you choose to purchase it. Origin Access also offers a 10-hour trial, but if you're a Premier member you can just begin playing the full game early. PlayStation 4 has no Access program--at least not yet.
As part of the lead-up to Anthem's release, EA partnered with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp to create an original short film that takes place in the universe. If you're curious how Anthem will last you in the long-term, check out BioWare's roadmap for endgame content. And if you just need help navigating the world of pre-orders, bonuses, and special editions, read our pre-order guide. Anthem will be available for everyone on February 22.
Last month, the upcoming standalone Batman movie was finally given a release date and official title of The Batman. The one thing that wasn't announced by Warner or director Matt Reeves was who will be playing Batman. It has long been rumored that Ben Affleck is quitting the role, and now the star has confirmed the news.
As reported by comicbook.com, Affleck appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he was asked if it was true he is stepping down at Batman. "Yeah, I am," he said. "I have decided... I tried to direct a version of it, worked with a really good screenwriter, but couldn't come up with a version. Couldn't crack it. So I thought it was time to let someone else take a shot at it and they got some really good people."
The Batman was first announced back in 2016, with Affleck attached to star, co-write, and direct. He initially stepped down as director when Reeves came on board, and soon after it was reported that Affleck's script had been abandoned. While Affleck never stated that he was leaving the role, last year it was reported that Reeves' movie will feature a much younger Bruce Wayne. In addition, last month Affleck retweeted Deadline's story that he would no longer play the role.
The Batman hits theaters on June 25, 2021. Last month, Reeves hinted at what fans could expect from the film. "It's very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale," he said. "It's told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it's going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It's more Batman in his detective mode than we've seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He's supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and that's not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been."
In related news, DC also recently announced the release date of the next Suicide Squad movie. It's simply titled The Suicide Squad, and is not a sequel to the 2017 movie, but a new version written by James Gunn. Gunn was hired by DC to work on the script in October, following his departure from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn is also in negotiations to direct, and that it will "take the franchise in a new direction with a mostly all-new cast of characters and actors."
The Division 2 is just under a month away, leaving plenty of time to get in your pre-orders. If you plan on exploring the burned-out husk of Washington DC on PC, you can get a free game for putting your order in early.
Ubisoft announced that pre-orders on PC will get to choose one of three games: Ghost Recon Wildlands, Far Cry Primal, or Watch Dogs 2. All pre-orders made before March 14 will be eligible, and the offer works retroactively if you've already pre-ordered. You can head over to the offer page to redeem your code. If you're undecided, you have until March 31 to make a selection.
The games themselves will become playable on March 15, alongside The Division 2 launch date. Presumably this is so unscrupulous types can't snag a free game and then cancel their pre-order.
Ubisoft also recently announced that an open beta is coming for The Division 2, running from March 1-4 on all platforms. That would leave you plenty of time to sample and decide if you want to take part in the pre-order offer. Taking part in the beta will get you a DC Patriot weapon skin, and if you complete the Invaded mission you get a Capitol Hill arm patch.
This game takes place in the wreckage of a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, following a bio-engineered epidemic that began in New York City. For more details, check out everything we know and some of our favorite new features. Ubisoft has also detailed its plans for the endgame, and it will be releasing free DLC well after launch.
Season 7 of Fortnite is quickly approaching its conclusion and will end on February 28. As is customary for Epic's wildly popular battle royale title, the transition into Season 8 will seemingly be through some sort of calamitous event. For the last few weeks players have been reporting the occurrence of earthquakes, but now it seems things are escalating, with cracks in the landmass emerging.
Seeing these cracks in the earth form is very much a case of being in the right place at the right time, but some players have captured the phenomenon and posted videos of it online. There's also a dedicated website that features a countdown to the next appearance, so you can at least get yourself into the right spot to see one first-hand.
These cracks in the island will likely continue to appear with increasing frequency and severity. What that means for Season 8 remains to be seen, but it could be that Epic is looking to drastically change the island by breaking pieces of it off. Although a start date for Fortnite Season 8 hasn't officially been confirmed, a set of Overtime Challenges introduced as part of update 7.40 will expire on February 27, leading many to speculate that Season 8 could kick off on February 28.
Interestingly, the Overtime Challenges also provide players with an opportunity to get a free Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass. All they need to do to claim a Battle Pass for free is complete 13 of the challenges included in the event between now and February 27. The first batch of Overtime Challenges are available now, and you can learn more about the event as well as see the challenges here.
If you still have outstanding challenges from this season, take a look at our complete Fortnite Season 7 challenges roundup, which compiles all the tips and guides we've written for Season 7's trickier challenges. Use that and you'll have them all done in no time.
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