March is finally here, which means starting today, more free PC games are available for Amazon and Twitch Prime members. Until March 31, you can download these four games at no cost: Star Vikings Forever, The King's Bird, Kabounce, and Snake Pass.
Star Vikings Forever is a lengthy puzzle RPG about space vikings that fight evil intergalactic space snails. The King's Bird is an artsy platformer that utilizes gliding and requires maintaining your momentum to navigate many challenges. Brush up on your pinball skills with Kabounce, a multiplayer experience from the perspective of the ball itself where you try to hit bumpers to claim points for your team. In unique platformer Snake Pass, you're asked to "think like a snake" as you solve puzzles, which involves slithering into small spaces, coiling around bamboo to climb, and more.
To claim these deals, you just have to make sure your Amazon account is linked to Twitch. Every month there's a new round of free games, and Twitch also gives away free in-game loot and other digital content for Prime members on an ongoing basis.
It's been nearly two years since there was any news about the potential sequel to the Tom Cruise-starring Edge of Tomorrow, but it seems the project is moving forward again. It has been reported that Warner is developing a follow-up to the 2014 sci-fi action movie.
According to Deadline, writer Matthew Robinson (Monster Trucks, The Invention of Lying) has been hired to work on the script after successfully pitching a story idea to the studio. The site states that the intention is for Cruise to reprise his role as reluctant soldier William Cage, along with co-star Emily Blunt and director Doug Liman.
Liman had previously spoken about his hopes to make a sequel, and in 2017 stated he had an "amazing" story for a sequel that was "way better than the first film." However, Deadline now states that work on this earlier version stalled and Robinson's story will be an entirely new take.
The Edge of Tomorrow sequel doesn't have a release date, and don't expect to see it anytime soon. Cruise will be seen next year in the Top Gun sequel Maverick, which will be followed by Mission Impossible 7 and 8, which are to be shot back-to-back and will release in 2021 and 2022. Blunt is also lined up to star in the horror sequel A Quiet Place 2, which arrives in May 2020.
Edge of Tomorrow was an adaptation of the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill, and was a hit with both audiences and critics. It grossed more than $370 million worldwide and currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90%.
Time is running out to catch a Shiny Meltan in Pokemon Go. As part of the game's ongoing Meltan event, Niantic is giving players their first chance to find the Shiny version of the new Mythical Pokemon, but it's only scheduled to appear until March 4.
To catch Meltan in Pokemon Go, you'll need to have the Mystery Box--an item you get in the mobile game when you transfer a Pokemon to either Let's Go Pikachu or Eevee on Switch. Once the box is opened, Meltan will spawn in the wild for 30 minutes. After that, the box will close, and you'll typically need to wait a week before you can repeat the process.
As part of this event, you'll have a chance of finding a Shiny Meltan in the wild when you open the Mystery Box. As you can see above, the Shiny variant has a slightly darker head than a typical Meltan, as well as a blue (rather than red) tail. On top of that, the time you need to wait to reopen the Mystery Box has been reduced for the event, allowing you to find Meltan much more quickly than before.
Meltan is the only non-Kanto Pokemon that can be transferred from Go to Let's Go, allowing you to use it in the Switch games. Moreover, Meltan is the only Mythical Pokemon capable of evolving, and if you evolve a Shiny Meltan, it'll retain its special coloration as Melmetal. You can read more on how to catch the Mythical Pokemon in our Meltan guide.
Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee launched for Nintendo Switch in November 2018, while a new pair of Pokemon titles--Sword and Shield--are coming to the console late this year. It's unclear if they'll have any compatibility with Pokemon Go, but they appear to be much more traditional takes on the series than the Let's Go games. You can read more about the newly announced titles in our roundup of everything we know about Pokemon Sword and Shield.
The next reset marks the start of Destiny 2's sixth season, the Season of the Drifter. That makes this weekend's return of Xur, Emissary of the Nine, the last time you'll buy Year One Exotics from Xur before the reset, and a great chance to get something shiny to hold yourself over before the Destiny 2 grind kicks up again with the next part of its Annual Pass.
Head to Nessus this weekend to find Xur, who is hanging out in the Watcher's Grave area. From the transmat zone where you load into the area, head north and look up--Xur is waiting on one of the giant tree branches and you'll need to climb to reach him.
The gun Xur has on offer this week is The Colony, a powerful grenade launcher that often sees a lot of use in the Crucible. Instead of regular grenades, it fires tiny robot insects that crawl along the ground in the direction you fire, homing in on enemies and blowing them up. The Colony is great for competitive play thanks to its grenades' ability to find their targets.
Xur also carries three pieces of Exotic armor each week, and in this haul Titans will find the leg armor dubbed Peacekeepers. These boots automatically reload your SMGs when holstered, improves their handling and your movement speed when you're using them, and allows you to ready them instantly. Hunters can snag Knucklehead Radar, another great Crucible item. The helmet maintains your radar even when you're aiming down sights and gives you improved radar when crouching, increasing your situational awareness in battle pretty significantly. For Warlocks, there's Claws of Ahamkara, a pair of gauntlets that offer you an additional melee charge.
Here are all the Exotics Xur offers this week and what they'll cost you:
The Colony (Exotic pulse rifle) -- 29 Legendary Shards
Peacekeepers (Exotic Titan leg armor) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Claws of Ahamkara (Exotic Warlock gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary Shards
You can also buy a Fated Engram, if you can afford it. Dropping 97 Legendary Shards on the item will grant you one Year One Exotic you don't already have for that character. Xur also offers the Five of Swords challenge card for free, which allows you to add difficulty modifiers that increase your score in Nightfall runs.
Destiny 2's Season of the Drifter brings two new activities for players to try. First up is Gambit Prime, a more intense, one-round version of the competitive mode that came with Forsaken. Once you've played a little Gambit Prime, you'll also get access to The Reckoning, a pinnacle player-vs.-environment activity that'll offer a bunch of new rewards. The Reckoning has three tiers that'll unlock over the course of March, according to Destiny 2's full Season 6 roadmap.
This weekend's free Steam deals include two space-inspired adventures. The first is Space Engineers, an open-world game where you explore the galaxy and build spaceships, outposts, space stations, and more, all while gathering resources to survive. The game left Steam Early Access yesterday after more than five years, and not only is it 20% off on Steam, you can play it for free this weekend.
Space Engineers combines engineering and construction gameplay with themes of survival and exploration. The developers created a "realistic, volumetric-based physics engine," which basically means this game is similar to Minecraft in that everything you see can be used, altered, or destroyed.
"Space Engineers is inspired by reality and by how things work," the developers shared on the game's official website. "Think about modern-day NASA technology extrapolated 60 years into the future. Space Engineers strives to follow the laws of physics and doesn't use technologies that wouldn't be feasible in the near future."
Both single and multiplayer modes are available, and a four-pack of the game is 20% off as well if you want to explore the galaxy with friends.
Offworld Trading Company is another game to check out this weekend, as its multiplayer mode is now permanently free. The game is about space economic warfare, where you strategize around supply and demand to ultimately gain dominance over every other player's trading company. From resource management to black market sabotage, the game requires you to make quick, difficult decisions that can make or break your strategy.
In our review, we gave Offworld Trading Company a 9/10, and it also made our list of the top games of 2016 as one of the best strategy games of the year. Even though direct combat plays no role, the gameplay is far from boring, with real-time multiplayer matches that are intense.
"Matches are vicious, and the scales often tip dramatically," wrote GameSpot's Edmond Tran. "Nobody would have ever thought a game centered around capitalism could get your heartrate up so high, but Offworld Trading Company succeeds with its truly unique, wonderfully-executed concept."
As a plus, the core game is also 70% for the next week, so if you decide you're a fan after trying free multiplayer mode, you can snag the game for just $6 until March 7.
Nintendo is releasing a new set of playable characters for Mario Tennis Aces. Beginning today, March 1, the mayor of New Donk City, Pauline, is making her debut in the Switch tennis games, while two classic Mario villains will join the roster in the next couple of months.
As with Aces' previous DLC characters, players can unlock Pauline by playing at least one match in the game's Online Tournament mode this month, while everyone else will automatically get her after April 1. As you can see in the trailer above, Pauline is a speedy character, and her Special Shot has her delivering a powerful smash from atop New Donk City Hall.
Pauline arrives alongside Aces' 2.3.0 update, which also kicks off a new Co-op Challenge called Shy Guy Train Tussle. Following Pauline, two more classic Mario enemies will be added to the game's roster: Magikoopa and Dry Bones. The former will be available in April, while the latter is set to arrive in May.
This marks Pauline's first appearance in a Mario sports game, but she's actually one of the earliest characters in the Mario series. She's best known for being the damsel-in-distress in the original arcade Donkey Kong game, a role she'd later reprise in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. Most recently, she made an appearance in Super Mario Odyssey and even canonically sings that game's theme song, "Jump Up, Super Star!"
Nintendo has introduced a number of new characters to Mario Tennis Aces since its launch last June, including Shy Guy, Diddy Kong, Petey Piranha, and Luma. The most recent addition was the classic Super Mario 3 mid-boss Boom Boom, who joined the roster in February.
By Anonymous on Mar 01, 2019 09:30 pm The Dirty Arty timeline has been a total disaster for Rob and Jake, and this week is no different. They once again venture into another alternate universe and introduce us all to a dirty new character in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Walking Dead might not be the immense ratings hit it once was, but it's still popular enough for AMC to be developing further spin-offs and movies alongside the main series. Last year, it was announced that a series of Walking Dead movies were in the works, and now it has been confirmed that a new spin-off show is being developed.
As reported by to Deadline, AMC revealed the news via its quarterly earnings call. While AMC CEO Josh Sapan didn't provide any specific details about the new show, he did state that a new Walking Dead spin-off was in "active development."
"We're not at a stage where we'll be announcing its plans to premiere," he said "But we have hired creative people that have pitched story outlines. We feel very good about the development of that series."
If a new Walking Dead spin-off happens, it will join Fear the Walking Dead, which is set during the early months of the zombie apocalypse and premiered in 2015. The fifth season is due later this year.
In terms of the Walking Dead movies, they were announced in November last year and are expected to focus on the character of Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln. Lincoln left the main show at the start of the current ninth season, but Walking Dead chief content officer Scott Gimple confirmed that he will return for the films, along with co-star Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays Jadis. It is unknown when they are likely to be released, but the first movie is expected to start filming in 2019.
Current audience numbers for The Walking Dead are nowhere near the numbers it enjoyed in 2014, when the Season 5 premiere became the most watched cable show of all time. Nevertheless, it is still the most popular drama on cable, and as The Wrap notes, its audience decline is in line with a fall in cable viewers across the board.
Dead or Alive 6's release date has finally arrived, and the fighting game is available now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. All the talk in the lead up to launch was about how developer Team Ninja was toning down the series' traditional oversexualized look to help ease newcomers in to the franchise. But has Team Ninja followed up on that claim and, crucially, is the game any good?
GameSpot's Dead or Alive 6 review-in-progress says it's a mixed bag but ultimately a good choice for those looking to get into fighting games. To help you get a wider view of critical opinion, we've roundup up a bunch of reviews for you below. You can also check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for the full picture on Dead or Alive 6's critical reception.
Game: Dead or Alive 6
Developer / Publisher: Team Ninja / Koei Tecmo
Release date: out now
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Price: $60 / £55 / AU $100
GameSpot -- 7/10 (Review-In-Progress)
"DoA6 is a fun, engaging fighter with great-feeling, easy-to-pick-up combat, a strong sense of visual style, and a lot of personality. If you're looking for a new fighting game to learn the ins and outs of--or perhaps a nice entry into the 3D side of fighting games--DoA6 is a fighter of choice." -- Heidi Kemps [Full review]
Eurogamer -- No Score
"Accessibility and tutorials cannot compensate for what is, ultimately, a fighting game that feels out of the loop and out of time. Dead or Alive 6 won't make a dent on the competitive fighting game community, and I can't see it expanding its modest fanbase, either. I can't help but struggle to understand those who get horny from this game when the internet in all its glory is a mobile phone tap away. I mean, there's sexier stuff made out of Source Filmmaker - probably involving the Dead or Alive girls - than is in this game. Dead or Alive 6 stumbles into 2019 like a drunken uncle staggers onto the dancefloor at a wedding: past it and likely to embarrass." -- Wesley Yin-Poole [Full review]
IGN -- 8.0/10 (Review-In-Progress)
"Dead or Alive 6 makes a strong case for the franchise's fundamental combat by making it easier to understand what sets it apart from other fighters, other than its infamous 'jiggle physics.' The story campaign is disjointed but it and the other training modes serve as effective instruction for getting new players up to speed for online combat quickly, and the new Break Hold and Break Blow moves give you a way out even when you seem locked into an endless juggle of doom." -- Mike Epstein [Full review]
Trusted Reviews -- 3.5/5
"Dead or Alive 6 is an enjoyable fighter, with a lot going for it. Koei Tecmo has looked back on the series' somewhat juvenile history and decided it's time to grow up. Well, sort of. Sexualised fan-service is still here if you're willing to dig for it, and some of the character designs might rub you the wrong way, but it's far from a deal-breaker and no longer defines what DOA is all about. A robust combat system, plentiful characters and a meaningful progression system combine to create a worthwhile fighter that I'd recommend checking out. It certainly isn't the finest the genre has to offer, but it does more than enough to stand out." -- Jade King [Full review]
US Gamer -- 3/5
"Dead or Alive 6 carries much of the franchise's risque DNA, but shows a bit more initial restraint. The more revealing costumes are unlockable and the jiggle physics tend towards a bit more realism now. Combat remains accessible, but new moves like the Break Blow and evasion add new layers for DOA vets. Dead or Alive 6 could use a little more graphical polish and its netcode needs to be better, but it's a pretty good fighter all around." -- Mike Williams [Full review]
In the cutthroat world of fighting games, Dead or Alive has consistently proven that it's a solid contender. From its arcade debut in 1996, the series has made a name for itself with striking visuals, fun and memorable characters, and engaging fighting action, carrying the series along through some of the genre's darkest days. Now, Dead or Alive finds itself in one of the most crowded markets the genre has ever seen. Dead or Alive 6 still has the chops to stand out after all this time--though it does slightly stumble along the way.
When you first boot up Dead or Alive 6, you're greeted by a close-up of one of the game's many characters, staring you straight in the face as you navigate through the initial set of menus. It's an early glimpse at DoA6's graphical prowess, as you get to see one of the cast members before they step into the ring and turn into a bruised and battered brawler. The way the fighters themselves sustain visual damage during a fight is quite impressive. There's dirt, torn clothing, and flying sweat--even some of the heavier hits leave a little bit of blood, transforming every match into a fierce brawl. Thankfully, if you find these effects distasteful or distracting, there's also the option to turn them off. Combined with the flashy character costumes and colorful, elaborate arenas, DoA6 is a game with a distinct visual flair.
But the game's appeal is more than surface-level. DoA6 delivers solid, satisfying combat with its own twists. New to the franchise is a Break Gauge that fills as you deal or receive damage with your blows--a mechanic that's been seen in many other fighting games. There are a few things you can do with this shiny new gauge, thanks to a newly added "special" button that puts it to use: An offensive sidestep into an attack by pressing up or down in tandem with the special button, do a "Break Hold" universal hold counterattack by pressing back and the special button. Finally, you can execute a powerful "Break Blow" by either pressing towards the opponent and the special, or automatically at the end of a four-hit special button auto-combo, assuming the Break Gauge is full. These Break Blows are incredibly flashy, packing a serious punch both in lifebar and visual damage to the opponent. It's hard not to feel a bit demoralized when you're watching your fighter get physically wrecked by a secret ninja skill or a fist to an extremely vulnerable face--but it's super rewarding to push that same humiliation onto your foe.
The Break Gauge is a great addition to the game, as it's easy to understand and doesn't require a lot of execution beyond knowing when to use each special technique. All of these techniques are useful; the sidestep attacks can screw up somebody fishing for you to mess up a hold counter, the Break Hold can take some of the guesswork out of hold counters (and counter an opponent's Break Blow), and Break Blows just look cool and satisfying as hell… well, provided you can land them.
But the Break Blows aren't the only flashy thing about DoA6's combat. The series is known for having some pretty wild combat arenas, and DoA6's lush battlefields might be some of the craziest yet. They include a dilapidated theme park overrun by dinosaurs, a moss-encrusted battleship being assaulted by an angry kraken, and a multi-car pile-up with some very volatile vehicles that might go kaboom when someone touches them. These stages are littered with specific danger zones that both play an amusing cinematic and deal extra combat damage to an enemy when you send them flying into one with a well-placed blow. In some cases, you can even pull off unique combos with the aid of danger zones; the aforementioned dinosaur stage features an angry pterodactyl mama who will hoist a fighter into the air before dropping them again, setting them up for a big juggle combo. Alas, while the really nutty stages are quite memorable, most are a lot more sedate, and the stage selection as a whole feels somewhat lacking.
DoA6 also offers plenty of minor tweaks to the moment-to-moment gameplay, and options to make the game more beginner-friendly (such as simplifying the game's hold counterattack system inputs), but the most important thing is that the fighting just feels good. The rock-paper-scissors element of the holds-throws-attacks balance works nicely into gameplay with smooth animation that feeds into a seamless flow of combat. Every character offers something unique in terms of their fighting style, but once you have the basics down, it's not too hard to learn another character if you're not feeling who you're currently playing with. And while I'm not terribly fond of the designs of the two new characters (street brawler Diego is terribly generic, and blue-haired anime teen scientist NiCO looks like she belongs in a different game entirely), they both bring something new to the table in terms of their combat abilities.
Where DoA6 falters, however, is in its single-player content. Story Mode isn't too bad; the cinematics mostly use the in-game graphics engine, further showcasing DoA6's strong visuals, and the game wisely has an optional tutorial feature that teaches you basic strings for each character you'll assume control of so you're not thrust into blind combat. However, the weird multi-timeline presentation is a mess both in terms of interface and storytelling, leading to a confusing series of events that oscillates wildly between serious drama and goofy comedy.
Then there's the other big single-player mode, DOA Quest: a series of themed battles that offer in-game rewards, like parts for new character costumes and in-game money used to purchase and view extra story content. By completing sub-objectives in these battles-- like landing a specific attack a certain number of times or beating a quest within a time limit--you earn additional rewards and unlock more quests to attempt.
DoA6 also offers plenty of minor tweaks to the moment-to-moment gameplay, and options to make the game more beginner-friendly, but the most important thing is that the fighting just feels good.
DOA Quest isn't a bad idea on its own, but the game's grindy, frustrating unlock system turns a fine little challenge mode into an absolute chore. The main thing you'll want to use DOA Quest (and other single-player modes like Arcade Mode) for is unlocking character costumes and customization options, of which there are many. However, you'll soon discover that when you earn points that go towards unlocking new outfits, you have absolutely no say in where they will go. You could earn 300 costume points in a quest featuring Zack, for example, and those points you earn would go towards unlocking a random costume for Hayabusa instead--meaning you invested time and effort to earn partial rewards for a character you potentially don't care about. This happens a lot. To add insult to injury, even when you do get enough points to open up a costume for a character, you still have to pay earned in-game money to actually buy and wear it. It's an extremely ill-thought-out grind that sucks all of the reward out of playing single-player.
As of the time of this writing, the game's online servers haven't gone live, so we are waiting to see how the game's netcode and online interface stacks up before finalizing the review. For the time being, though, we can say that DoA6 is a fun, engaging fighter with great-feeling, easy-to-pick-up combat, a strong sense of visual style, and a lot of personality. If you're looking for a new fighting game to learn the ins and outs of--or perhaps a nice entry into the 3D side of fighting games--DoA6 is a fighter of choice.
The second trailer for Hellboy is here. The movie is a reboot of Guillermo Del Toro's action fantasy series, based on Mike Mignola's comic books. Stranger Things star David Harbour plays the titular demonic hero, and the movie hits theaters in April.
December's first trailer suggested that the film would be more comedic than many fans were expecting, but this new Red Band promo delivers the dark, violent goods. It's packed with gore, bad language, and apocalyptic action, and also reveals Milla Jovovich's evil Blood Queen for the first time. Which isn't to say it's not funny too--this Hellboy is still a wise-cracking badass. Check it out above.
Hellboy releases on April 12, 2019. It also stars Ian McShane as Professor Broom, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, and Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimo. Marshall is best known for his work on Game of Thrones and the recent Netflix show Lost in Space, plus movies like Doomsday and The Descent.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Harbour explained that the movie isn't an origin story--as when the film starts, Hellboy is already working for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development. "It's not an origin story, but it's his coming to terms with where he came from," he said. "He's been Hellboy for a long time, but there's a new turn of events at the start of the film, where people start to bring up the fact that he might bring about the end of the world, and it's really the first time he's heard anything like that. The question that comes up in the movie is where does he really belong?"
Pokemon Sword and Shield were revealed this week as the next Pokemon games for Nintendo Switch. However, it seems the games were teased in 2018--just nobody noticed at the time.
Pokemon director Junichi Masuda tweeted an image of himself back in October holding everyday objects posing as a sword and shield. Of course, it was unlikely anyone could have figured out at the time he was referring to the new Pokemon games, but it's still amusing to look back on this now-obvious clue.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are to be released in "late 2019." The games are set in a new region named Galar, which looks to be similar in appearance to Britain. The three starter creatures were shown off in Nintendo's Pokemon Direct presentation; they are a grass monkey named Grookey, a fire bunny named Scorbunny, and a sad water lizard, Sobble. Gameplay was shown in the Direct but was not detailed extensively, though it seems like the new games will bring back random encounters, among other things. We've rounded up the big takeaways from what we've seen so far to help you get a handle on what to expect.
By Anonymous on Mar 01, 2019 10:48 am Hellboy releases in theaters April 12, 2019. Starring David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, and Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Penelope Mitchell, with Daniel Dae Kim.
By Anonymous on Mar 01, 2019 10:38 am Negan makes his appearance in Tekken 7's second season pass. Bringing a brute mix of combos and reversals we go on a rampage leveling up the tiers in Treasure Mode up to 3rd Dan. Captured on PC.
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