Mass Effect: Andromeda isn't officially slated to arrive until March 21, but EA/Origin Access subscribers on Xbox One and PC can play early, with EA saying the pre-release period will begin on March 16. As it turns out, the Origin Access trial on PC is actually starting today, it seems.
PCGamesN found evidence that suggests the Origin Access trial begins today at 2:30 PM PT, which comes out to 5:30 PM ET and 9:30 PM GMT. Whether or not the Xbox One EA Access trial will also start today remains to be seen. GameSpot has contacted Electronic Arts in an attempt to get more details.
Andromeda's 10-hour EA/Origin Access trial lets you try the campaign and multiplayer. The single-player is limited, though you can play as much multiplayer as you want within the 10 hours.
In other news, BioWare today announced a companion app for Andromeda's multiplayer. Apex HQ, as it's called, will track your progression in the mode, displaying information like which characters you've unlocked and what items and rewards you've collected.
The app launches on March 20 for iOS and Android devices.
GameSpot will have a lot more on Andromeda in the coming days. The first part of our new video series, The Story of Mass Effect: Andromeda, airs this Saturday, March 18. You can watch a trailer above.
Today's livestream, the second in a series of three, focused on updated activities and new ways to acquire items. Many of these activities center around acquiring a Treasure of Ages, which is a new box that contains everything Destiny's Live team has ever released. With it, you'll be able to pick up all of the past armor, emblems, emotes, masks, ships, and ornaments you might have missed out on, including Desolate Taken Armor, Spektar armor, and the ghost version of Ghost. Opening a Treasure of Ages also gives you a chance to earn brand-new items, including armor that will be revealed during next week's stream.
In addition to activity rewards, you can purchase a Treasure of Ages from Eververse. Alternatively, you can seek out specific things you've missed through the updated Silver Dust kiosk, where you can directly purchase specific ornaments and other things mission from your collection. If you have any Silver Dust left over, you can freely spend it here--there won't be more items coming to Destiny in the future to save it for.
As seen in the stream (watch a replay below), you'll kick off the Age of Triumph event by talking to The Speaker to receive a new quest that consists of about 12 steps. The first part of this sends you into the new Weekly Story playlist, which is a 380 Light level activity. This spares you the trouble of having to get online every day to play the Daily Story Mission, as it brings together every story mission from the game and allows you to play them in one playlist at your leisure. Each week will feature a specific selection of missions--such as those from Venus and Mars, or the Earth and Moon--with various modifiers, which is something that hasn't been done with story missions in quite a while. Your first five completions for the week each provide 20 Legendary Marks, with the first also netting you a Treasure of Ages.
Two more Treasure of Ages can be obtained for free each week--one for your first completion of the Siva Crisis Heroic playlist and one for the Weekly Crucible. That provides you with a total of three free boxes per week.
Another updated activity is the 380 Light level Weekly Nightfall Strike playlist. Scoring is enabled and the Nightfall buff has returned, letting you show off in the Tower and gain an XP boost for the rest of the week by completing it. A new modifier is also being introduced called Daybreak, which makes all combatants tougher but provides players with the equivalent of Crucible's Mayhem buff, where your various cooldowns are much faster. This will be available once every four weeks, although it'll also be turned on for a six-week stretch in July and August where you'll really be able to go wild.
Finally, Challenge of the Elders is being raised to 390 Light level. Your first three completions of the week provide 10 Legendary Marks each, and this activity doesn't replace the existing version, which you'll still find on the Reef node.
Bungie will host its third and final stream devoted to Age of Triumph next Wednesday, March 22, where it'll reveal the event's new armor, among other things; last week's talked about reviving old raids.
The update itself is slated to arrive the following week, on March 28. It's meant to serve as a final hurrah for the game before the launch of its sequel this fall.
[UPDATE] The broadcast is starting now. You can watch it via the embed below, while we're rounding up some of the key points in the bullet point list below.
Will add new weapons, including assault rifles and pistols.
More vanity items as well, including some based on the Last of Us in-game comic Savage Starlight.
A new version of the King of the Hill mode is included. The first team to reach the point cap will then have to capture one more hill, the Victory Hill, giving the losing team one more chance.
New taunts.
People who buy any Uncharted Points earn VIP status, which gives you a 40 percent boost on Relics, up from 20 percent.
The update was going to include a new map, but some "last-minute" performance issues meant that it's going to be delayed. It's coming "very soon."
New Boosters added to Survival mode.
A new personal stats page will let you see all of your multiplayer achievements.
The Classic mode will be tested again in Uncharted 4's beta test playlist in the future.
Naughty Dog is considering a "medley" playlist that would include multiple game modes.
There is one more major update coming to Uncharted 4 after this one.
The original story is below.
Naughty Dog will announce the next free multiplayer expansion for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End during a livestream today. As announced previously, the broadcast starts at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET / 6 PM GMT and can be seen in its entirety through Naughty Dog's Twitch channel, which is embedded above.
During the broadcast, Naughty Dog will provide an overview of the content and show it off. The studio will also answer fan questions, while gaming personality SanchoWest will appear.
The new Uncharted 4 DLC will include "new weapons, vanity items, and more," Naughty Dog said. The update that adds the new content is coming soon; a release date may be announced during the stream.
All of the games include new features and content, starting with a "rewind" feature where you can skip back in time by holding down a button. There is also a new time attack mode with leaderboards where players can compete for the fastest times on a given course. The rewind feature does not work in time attack mode. Additionally, the games feature a Boss Rush mode where players can skip directly to boss battles; the rewind feature also does not work with this.
Additionally, concept art, music, and "other fun extras" for the games are included with the Disney Afternoon Collection, Capcom said in its announcement.
The compilation is priced at $20 for all systems, though it wasn't mentioned if the game will be available physically, digitally, or both.
People attending WonderCon in Los Angeles (March 31-April 2) can play the Disney Afternoon Collection at Capcom's booth on the show floor.
Following its launch on PC via the Windows Store in 2016, Dead Rising 4 arrived this week on Steam. The $60 game comes with all of the previously released updates, including My Bloody Valentine, which added the Hard and Blackest Friday difficulty options. The Street Fighter costume pack is also included.
PC players on Steam can also pick up the Dead Rising 4 DLC pass ($20), which includes the Stocking Stuffer Holiday Pack, which came out last year, as well as the upcoming expansions Frank Rising and Super Ultra Dead Rising 4: Mini Golf.
In other news about Dead Rising 4, Capcom management recently acknowledged the game's mixed critical reaction. "Compared to the series up to now, this game was made more approachable in order to allow a wider audience to enjoy it," the company said. "However, there was a wider range of opinions for the new game."
"Dead Rising's zombie-slaughtering formula has started to wear a bit thin after all these years, especially since its combat remains largely routine," reviewer Scott Butterworth said. "The surprisingly well-crafted story, wild new combo weapons, and expansive open world elements, however, turn Dead Rising 4 into an over-the-top piece of popcorn entertainment that captures the series' best elements."
Dead Rising 4 originally launched in December 2016 for Xbox One and PC. Capcom is expecting the game to ship 2 million units by the end of March, though no sales figures have been divulged as of yet.
Items called Korok seeds are scattered throughout The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In addition to exchanging them for increased inventory space, collecting all 900 earns you a special reward.
Reddit user xFateAwaitsx achieved this seemingly impossible task and discovered that the reward may not be what you expect. Scroll down to find out what it is (via Kotaku).
The character Hestu gives you "Hestu's Gift." Its official description reads, "A gift of friendship given to you by Hestu. It smells pretty bad." As you can see in the image here on Reddit, it is shaped like (and may actually be) poop.
"It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience," reviewer Peter Brown said. "Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created."
The first of April's free PlayStation Plus games has been revealed, and it's a newly debuting game on PS4.
Drawn to Death, the new game from God of War and Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe, will launch as a free title to PlayStation Plus members on April 4. Those who don't have Plus can pick it up on that date for $20.
Sony didn't share the rest of April's free Plus lineup; that likely won't be announced until later this month. March's freebies, which include Tearaway Unfolded and Disc Jam, can be downloaded right now.
To celebrate the forthcoming release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, EA and Harmonix have teamed up for Rock Band 4 items based on the spacefaring RPG.
Harmonix showed them off in a tweet (via IGN). They include a totally rad-looking Mass Effect-inspired guitar and an outfit based on the spacesuit from BioWare's RPG. The items are due to arrive this week.
GameSpot will have a lot more on Andromeda in the coming days. The first part of our new video series, The Story of Mass Effect: Andromeda, airs this Saturday, March 18. You can watch a trailer below.
LawBreakers is the work of Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski and his team at Boss Key Studios. The game channels the style and mechanics of Quake-style multiplayer first person shooters, combining fast-paced shooting with gravity-defying maneuvers. It features distinctive ways to eliminate the opposition through its wide array of characters, who each come equipped with their own special weapons and skills. But the game has a lot to prove if it wants to stand a chance against its contemporary competitors.
The last time the public got to play the LawBreakers was when it went into alpha nearly a year ago. After a long wait, it's finally returning in a closed beta coming later this month. We recently got the opportunity to catch up with Bleszinski and Boss Key Studios COO Arjan Brussee to discuss what's coming, how they create characters, and their attitude towards esports.
GameSpot: It has been nearly a year since the LawBreakers alpha. What new stuff can we expect from the upcoming beta?
Cliff Bleszinski: The alpha was what it was; it was the appetizer for what we wanted the game to be. When I was playing with the alpha's four available classes, it was fun. But it wasn't fun for really extended periods of time, because the choices were limited. In the beta, things feel more robust; you'll more often ask yourself: "How do I want to play?" The big reason why is because there are three new classes to play: the Juggernaut, the Gunslinger, and the Battle Medic.
The Juggernaut is a close-quarters-combat tank that can close the gap by sprinting and leaping up into the air, and then smashing down onto foes below.
The Gunslinger dual-wields; his left gun is semi-automatic, while his right gun can deliver a charged shot he can use to snipe enemies from across the map. He also has an omni-directional blink ability.
Then there's the Battle Medic. I wanted to make a medic class that I'd want to play as. When it comes to a support class, the elephant in the room is always Overwatch. I told my team, "We're not going to out-Mercy Mercy." Overwatch is a great game; I play Pharah and my wife mains Mercy. When we work together, we can be pretty devastating, but I never want to be the person following another with a healing beam. When it comes to support classes in our game, we're much more "fire and forget." When you're playing the Juggernaut, you drop your shield and get back to shooting. When you're playing as the Battle Medic, you send out a healing drone but get back to flying with your jetpack, unleashing hell on everyone below with artillery fire.
That's our M.O. with LawBreakers: Don't do the same exact thing that everyone else is doing. We'd rather be our own game and be different.
When you're working on a new character and you're having trouble honing in how to make them feel distinct and different, what is that process like?
CB: It's a lot of arguing, playtests, and conversations. Honestly, we're still figuring out that process out. Some of our classes were conceptualized quickly and easily, like the Wraith and the Harrier. But other classes, like the Battle Medic, took us a year of iteration in order to get right. It really depends on the character and what we're going for, so there's no real formula for that kind of stuff.
Arjan Brussee: It's one of the most difficult processes of development. We try to manage it, but every time, there's something that stops us in our tracks. Every character we create has so much depth, sporting multiple abilities and weapon types. At times, it feels like a character is like multiple characters at once. And it's like holy crap, Battlefield only had like four classes to deal with. We've got nine characters playable at launch that each need to stand out from one another, so It's frustrating to balance it all, but it's gratifying when you figure out how to pull it off.
CB: Yeah, one of the things that also slows the team down is that many of our designers and programmers pull too much from classic MOBA archetypes. It's like, "Dude, don't apply that philosophy directly to here. I want to have a healer that can actually beat up the big guys sometimes."
A major point that I make is that a lot of MOBAs and character-based shooters often make you feel like you chose the wrong character. I'll run around a corner and see another character I absolutely have no shot at defeating. In LawBreakers, if you play as the low-health Battle Medic and you're up against a Juggernaut trying to close the gap, you can pop up in the air and unleash artillery fire to wear them down. I like providing these David and Goliath-type situations where the smaller, squishier characters can beat larger, beefier opponents, and vice versa.
You've touched on this in the past, but what's your attitude towards esports?
CB: I think saying a game is going to be an esport is like saying after your first date with someone that you're going to marry them. It's like, "Alright, calm down. Let's work through this for a little while. Let's build the relationship up, let's meet the parents, and let's see how compatible we are in various areas. Let's walk before we run." I'm asked that esports question a lot, and it's the same answer for me. I would love for nothing more than for there to be pro LawBreakers teams and jerseys for sale, and kids making more money than some of our employees. But the key to doing that is for us to first be a shooter's shooter. We're not just a game that has RPG elements with some shooting. We are the kind of game that I hope Counter-Strike players or Battlefield players will gravitate towards.
One of the unique aspects that set you apart from something like Overwatch is the gravitational mechanics. I'm curious if we're going to see more of that type of gameplay in other maps or in new characters or in different modes?
CB: We're all about slowly introducing gravity mechanics. We've introduced microgravity in the past, and in our Vertigo map, we've implemented spherical gravity. We want to give players time to get used to using their tools, like the grappling hook and the jump jets, under these conditions. But look forward to future maps and characters getting even crazier. If we keep pushing it, we might be able to create a map that's a full-on Inception hallway. But one thing at a time! I think the trick is to not make people sick.
Yeah, that's tricky. But at least you're not a VR game, because that'd be even tougher.
CB: VR is very near and dear to me. I have a few ideas I'd love to play with, but again the friction point is getting VR installed. Sony's got a great headset but still it's kind of clunky. The price point is also an issue, and there's a lot of shovelware on VR right now. You see a lot of crappy Unity games where it's like, 'Oh look I'm throwing a can.' Yeah, big deal right?
There are no real games, and part of the reason why is this catch 22 of VR platform holders finding funding. You can't make a really deep, great game arguably in VR for like a million bucks. So you've gotta really pony it up; you need to pony up. To me, the first example of a real VR game is Robo Recall, Oculus' collaboration with Epic. It's a wave shooter, but goddamn it looks good. That's the kind of stuff that needs to happen, as opposed to more friggin' roller coasters' POVs and things like that. There are also horror VR games, which YouTubers love. But to me, if I want to tear the headset off, you fucked up. Developers often say, "Oh, you got sick in my VR experience, you just don't have VR sea legs." No, you made a terrible VR experience that made people puke.
There's a lot more to it, but that's a handful of things that are preventing VR from exploding in a good way.
To circle back to LawBreakers, I'm curious what the biggest argument was within the team when it came to creating characters. What are the hardest challenges to resolve as a team?
CB: For me, it's about creating memorable characters. Sometimes I'd work up a description for a character and we'd give it to a concept artist, and we'd get back a cool person in armor. But I kept asking, "How can I better describe this person?" When we created Hellion, I was like, "Let's have a double amputee who lost her legs in combat, but she's still swinging around with a grappling hook and fighting people." We had an employee at the time that was an amputee and we talked to her about how we could depict that and what the logistics of having prosthetics is like. It was a fascinating learning experience that enhanced the design of the character.
Then there's the element of silhouette too. Instead of creating a medic character with a weapon that looks like every other gun, we decided to put two drones over their shoulder, so you can better spot them in the distance. We try to emphasize what makes a character unique while giving them a distinct silhouette.
That's our M.O. with LawBreakers: Don't do the same exact thing that everyone else is doing.
AB: For me, it's always, "How do you box in that creative process?" Because sometimes we're going so fast that we don't have enough time. For example, we might design a character but only have time to playtest them once. Or we might have a character that's really great, but then our team keeps changing things until the last minute. And by that time, the model is already made and the effects and sounds are already set, and then someone on the team wants to change the character's gun. There are so many cool ideas, but we have to always be thinking, "How do we get this set in stone and shipped in time?"
You both clearly have a deep love for the game's backstory and the ideas behind its characters. Is there going to be much storytelling within the game? Or will we see visual storytelling that you only discern from looking at the characters?
CB: It's definitely the way they look. It's also the animations you see when you select them. For example, Kintaro, one of the Enforcers, is a cocky Japanese guy who's a party boy; when you highlight him, he's wearing a kimono and has a magazine open, but then he tosses it and points at you with a smirk on his face. When you have a game like this, you have a precious few seconds to display a character's personality. You can't have them giving a soliloquy or monologue halfway through the match, where they're waxing poetically about their father or something like that. To reinforce a character's memorability, you have to come from like five different angles in order for people to get to know them.
What would you say is your biggest anxiety and the thing you're most excited for players to see going into the beta?
CB: My biggest anxiety is people seeing what sets us apart from the other games. People like to pattern match and dismiss things; they see character abilities and they go, "Oh you're Overwatch." First off, look at the way we look, we don't look like Overwatch at all. Just get your hands-on with the game and give it an honest shake. That's the beauty of a beta and alpha; you're free to try it.
Everybody who's had chance to play, especially here, has been like, "Oh, wow. Okay, this is different." Getting that word out through folks such as yourself, as well as our publisher Nexon, will make that clearer. There's also keeping in touch with streamers, YouTubers, social media, etc. You really have to go above and beyond in order to get them to pay attention. And there's also making sure everything works on launch.
But I'm most excited about seeing the entire team's reaction. As we develop the game, the team can sometimes feel way too close to it. When people get their hands on the game, I know they're going to dig it. Last night, I stayed up chatting with the fans for a little while until about 12:30 AM. By the time I got back, I couldn't sleep because it was like, "Oh my god. This is crazy. It's happening." I wish that some of that excitement would rub off on the team; hopefully it will in the beta.
With the beta coming out so soon, what's your best piece of advice to anybody that's about to dive into the beta?
CB: Aim.
[laughs] Okay, aside from the obvious.
CB: My point about that is that in these types of shooters, you get an ultimate ability that kills the whole opposing team. You don't have to do anything; it's a win button. I don't want to do that in LawBreakers. I want it to require a certain amount of skill to pull off. The big thing is look up, pay attention, and switch up your tactics. Try all the different roles and make sure your buddies do, too. Learn how they interact and connect together.
AB: I was also going to say look up, but we were also noticing a lot of people here were playing a class and only using the base weapon, pressing the left mouse button to fire. But you also have a right mouse button! You also have the ability to fire your weapon and abilities backwards. You have all these weapons at your disposal, but people don't even try them, especially in their first hour. They just want to switch characters because spending too much time is too in-depth for them. But there's a lot of stuff to learn; there's actually a help screen where you can look at details about the mechanics.
But I'd say to players to experiment with what's available to you. At the show, I've seen people do stuff that I've never seen before. There's definitely a lot to understand that people hopefully can dig into and spend a lot of time with.
For more on LawBreakers, check out the news and features below.
Blade Runner 2049 arrives later this year, and it has been revealed that one of most iconic characters from the original movie is returning. Edward James Olmos, who played Gaff in 1982's Blade Runner, will reprise his role in the sequel.
Speaking to The Trend Talk Show, Olmos confirmed that he would once more play the enigmatic cop. "This is the first time that I'm telling the whole world, that yes, I am going to be Gaff in Blade Runner 2049," he said, via Digital Spy. "I signed a seven-page non-disclosure contract. I did, my manager did, my agent did, everybody did. I couldn't talk about it."
Olmos, who is also known for his lead role in the Battlestar Galactica reboot series, went on to explain that he won't be on screen that much. "Well, it's not about Gaff, but it's about someone who is going to try to find out certain things about us back then," he said. "My role is like it was in the original--that time I only had four scenes, in this I only have one. But again, it's a poignant little scene."
Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Jared Leto, and Robin Wright. It's directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival). A first teaser was released in December--check it out here.
Crytek's virtual reality game Robinson: The Journey, in which you explore an alien world filled with dinosaurs and other creatures, has received a permanent price drop for PlayStation VR.
Crytek also today kicked off a new video series in which it chronicles the creation and production of Robinson: The Journey. As you'll see, virtual reality development is not the same as traditional game production. You can see the first episode in the video embed above.
"Robinson: the Journey is one of the most immersive, engaging games to hit PSVR, but it suffers from its short length and reliance on vague objectives," reviewer D'Aprile said. "Still, the sheer visual splendor and moments of legitimately awesome sights make it an engaging experience. Crytek has taken their usual flair for gorgeous visuals and made a world worth stepping into."
A new trailer for Pixar's next movie, the music-themed Coco, has arrived.
Directed by Toy Story 3's Lee Unkrich, the movie follows the story of a boy, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez), who wants to be a musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). After a "mysterious chain of events," Miguel gets pulled into the Land of the Dead where he goes on an adventure with a "charming trickster" named Hector (voice of Gael Garcia Bernal) to learn more about his family history.
Coco is co-directed by Monsters University's Adrian Molina and produced by Toy Story 3's Darla K. Anderson. The movie opens on November 22, the day before Thanksgiving Day.
It's one of two Pixar movies planned for release this year, following Cars 3 in June.
Mothergunship is the follow-up to Tower of Guns, the 2014 PC roguelike shooter that later released on Xbox One and PS4 (where it debuted as a PlayStation Plus game). The new game maintains the same basic style of gameplay but meaningfully addresses its predecessor's shortcomings in a number of welcome ways.
Like Tower of Guns, Mothergunship is a first-person shooter that approximates a bullet-hell game. You'll be faced with huge crowds of enemies--and a positively ridiculous number of bullets. (This is true to the point of becoming comical, as is the case when you face off against the Turret Wall, a huge boss made up of dozens of turrets that each fire multiple shots.) It's a proposition which, even after hours of playing Tower of Guns, remains a delightful challenge in first-person.
For as much as I enjoyed the Tower of Guns, it was far from perfect. That shouldn't come as a surprise, given that developer Terrible Posture's Joe Mirabello describes it as a "very one-person experiment kind of game." After it became more successful than he anticipated and he established a good relationship with Grip Digital, which handled the console ports, the two decided to seize the opportunity to address fans' complaints.
"Basically, all of the things that people really didn't like about Tower of Guns, I was paying attention," he told GameSpot at PAX East. "This is like, okay, what can we take that worked well, how can we make it better, what can we take from feedback to Tower of Guns, what kind of things would make the entire game a more fun experience, and basically how can we make as good of a game as we can out of it?"
As novel as the concept of Tower of Guns was, its actual movement and shooting left something to be desired. My enjoyment with that game stemmed more from the novelty of its first-person bullet-hell style and its secret-laden levels more than the actual gunplay and movement.
"There were some lessons that we learned, like the idea of this bullet-hell first-person shooter gameplay, people seemed to really respond to that," Mirabello said. "Or the idea that you could get like 60 jumps and jump around like crazy and you're airborne half the time, you had tons and tons of firepower on you; people really seemed to respond to that. So we really wanted to hone in on that and refine it."
And that's precisely what Mothergunship does. A quick look at gameplay suggested that my issues with Tower of Gun's less-than-smooth gameplay had been resolved, a notion that was confirmed as soon as I got my hands on the keyboard and mouse. Mothergunship feels much more fluid than its predecessor, and the guns feel much better.
That's fortunate, because the lineup of weapons is a real highlight here. Mothergunship features an impressive weapon-crafting system. The brief time I spent customizing a gun revealed an intuitive process for installing parts that you discover while playing. The possibilities are as ridiculous as you'd expect for a game where you might be faced with hundreds of incoming bullets: example weapons include a 12-barrel gun that fires homing rockets, a lightning shotgun, and one with a fish tank on top.
"You can basically attach anything to the gun in any place," Mirabello explained. "The only limits are that the barrels need to face forward and the pieces need to physically fit."
Crafting itself doesn't cost any money, but there are resource considerations to take into account with your design. Adding on parts increases the amount of ammo--which takes the form of a regenerating energy meter--that the gun requires to fire. So while you're free to construct your own BFG equivalent, you'll need to do so knowing that it may leave you unable to fire again for a short while. "It will be a cost-benefit analysis of whether or not it's wise to put it on your gun because it may cost more to fire," Mirabello said.
The ability to dual-wield a second gun opens the door to have two different types of weapons that complement one another. In the version of the game that was playable at PAX East, a single energy meter was used to power both of your weapons. The development team suspected it might need to offer each weapon its own energy bar, and seeing people play the game at the event confirmed as much, so that change will be made for the final game.
"That way you can build a crazy gun in your right hand and a much more lightweight gun to fire while the other one's recharging in your other hand," Mirabello said.
Levels need to be completed in a single life, and death sends you back to a base that Mirabello compares to that of a game like Darkest Dungeon. Whereas Tower of Guns hewed closer to being a proper roguelike, only letting you permanently unlock different weapons you could choose from to start your run, Mothergunship provides more persistence. From your headquarters, Mirabello says, "You'll be able to upgrade your player's abilities, increase your basic stats, as well as craft crazy guns, trade with your friends, or choose what to do next."
What's next doesn't have to be another mission of the story, where you're working toward destroying the eponymous Mothergunship. Aside from having more variety in the types of weapons at your disposal, you'll also have more ways to play. There's an endless mode and daily seeds to provide you with a different, identical challenge that all players can face that day.
Most exciting of all is the option to play the game cooperatively, although I wasn't able to try this for myself. Mirabello didn't offer much insight into how Mothergunship's difficulty compensates for playing with more than one player except to say it features a "very dynamic difficulty" and that players can "affect whether or not [it] goes up or down in quite a few ways."
It's not often that a sequel comes along that so thoroughly checks off every item on your personal wishlist for it. With Mothergunship, Terrible Posture looks to be taking a fantastic concept and fleshing it out in all the right ways.
A new update for Square Enix's stealth-assassination game, Hitman, has arrived.
The March Update, as it's called, includes gameplay improvements and bug fixes, while support for simplified Chinese language is also added, but only on PC. In terms of fixes, the update should clear out "rare" problems that could lead to crashes or instability. The patch also fixes a problem that could cause an NPC to "teleport away when they are burning." Whoa.
Additionally, Square Enix has provided an outline of what's coming to Hitman in March, including a new Elusive target, 10 new featured contracts, and one Escalation contract in Bangkok. Check out the image above to see a full rundown of what's on tap for Hitman in March.
We've added full menu and subtitle support for Simplified Chinese on PC.
Performance
We've fixed some rare issues that could cause the game to crash or be unstable.
Missing Exits
We've fixed an issue that could prevent exit points from appearing after killing the target(s).
Paris Suspend
We've fixed an issue that could cause guards and targets in Paris to suspend their routines, after specific player actions.
Subdue Prompt
We've fixed an issue that could cause the 'subdue' prompt to disappear when an NPC is picking up an item or when they are close to a wall.
Scoring Adjustment
We've fixed an issue where the 'Never Spotted' bonus was not awarded in certain cases.
Sapienza Lab
We've fixed an issue that could cause 47 to be 'spotted' in the Sapienza Lab, even whilst 'blending in'.
Hokkaido Landscape
We've fixed a rare issue that could cause 47 to fall 'out of world' in Hokkaido.
Contracts Search Favorites
The Contract Tile now displays an icon to show whether that contract has been added to 'My Favorites.'
Sticky Pistol (Escalation)
We've fixed an issue where the 'Sticky Pistol' countdown would expire, despite 47 having the pistol equipped on a ledge.
The Incarnation Non-Accident
We've fixed an issue in the 'Meiko Incarnation' Escalation where dumping an NPC in a specific area would not result in an accident kill.
Disappearing Act
We've fixed an issue that could cause a holstered large weapon to be lost when activating the diorama in Paris.
Fire Safety
We've fixed an issue that could cause NPCs to teleport away when they are burning.
HDR Launcher
We've fixed an issue where the 'HDR' option could not be enabled in the game's launcher on AMD cards.
Sun Spots (HDR)
We've fixed an issue that could cause black pixels to appear around bright light sources when HDR is enabled.
Additional
We've also fixed other minor issues involving AI dialogue, audio and VO consistency, escalation completion marks and we've slightly reworded some menu text to make it more consistent.
Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series has some of the best, most memorable music in all of gaming. Music from the series is performed live as part of the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour, and now, the group has announced new tour dates for the Americas and Europe.
Added to the concert this year is a new movement from Skyward Sword and an "updated overture," while the Ballad of the Wind Fish returns. In a statement, Jason Michael Paul, the president of the Symphony of the Goddesses touring company, said the group is going "all-out" this year to celebrate the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
This is the fourth season of Symphony of the Goddesses. The two-hour concert features performances by a 66-member orchestra and 24-person choir. "Reimagined" songs from Zelda games such as A Link Between Worlds, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, and Skyward Sword are performed during the show across its five movements.
A video of Zelda gameplay is shown during the concert, synced up with the music.
You can see the 2017 Symphony of the Goddesses tour schedule below, with links to buy tickets, as shared in a press release. There are promo codes available as well that you can use to save on ticket prices. More details about the show can be found on the event's website.
Star Wars: Rogue One director Gareth Edwards has shared some new insight into the movie's alternate ending and talked about the possibility of Lucasfilm releasing it someday.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW BELOW.
Speaking to Slashfilm, Edwards said the original ending was simply too long. In the original cut, the transmission tower on Scarif was separate from the main base. Jyn and her squadmates needed to run across the beach and scale the tower to deliver the plans to the Death Star.
"In cutting the film, it just felt too long," Edwards said. "We had to find ways to compress the third act, which was quite long as it was. And one real, fast, brutal solution was to put the tower in the base, so they don't have to run across the beach and do all of that stuff to get there. That became a decision that eliminated the shots you see in the trailer of the back of Cassian and Jyn and the AT-ATs. That was some of the reinvention that happened. It was all to do with compression."
While it might have been fun to see this extended action sequence, it was ultimately too long and did a disservice to the movie, Edwards said.
"You can't outstay your welcome," he explained. "We've all sat in a movie, and even if you love a film, there's that moment where you want to look at your watch, or you feel like, 'Okay, I hope it ends soon.' You don't want the audience thinking that. You don't want them to lag. If you feel that when you watch something back, you need to find a way to tighten it somewhere. That was a big win for a compression."
Asked if Lucasfilm will ever release this alternate ending, Edwards said, "That's a decision way above me! I don't think there's any plans to do it."
All the main characters die at the end of Rogue One, which was not Edwards' original idea. He said in a previous interview that he did not think Lucasfilm would be okay with killing everyone off, and initially mapped the movie out with the main cast surviving.
"We thought we weren't going to be allowed to [kill all the main characters], but [Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy] and everyone at Disney were like, 'Yeah it makes sense. I guess they have to because they're not in A New Hope,'" Edwards said.
The System Shock series started all the way back in 1994, with a sequel to follow in 1999. It's been nearly 18 years since that last release, but another, System Shock 3, is due to come out at some point soon. Now, Payday 2 developer Starbreeze has announced that it has signed a deal with the threequel's developer OtherSide Entertainment--which is headed up by Deus Ex creator Warren Spector--to publish the game and bring it "to PC and other platforms."
"System Shock is one of those iconic franchises in the history of games that still gets my blood going and Mr. Spector is one of the founding fathers of the modern action-RPG" said Bo Andersson-Klint, Starbreeze's CEO. "We're greatly looking forward to bringing System Shock 3 to players worldwide in our collaboration with OtherSide Entertainment and Warren Spector's team. I'll be first in line to play."
It's not clear what the publisher means by "other platforms," but it might suggest that the third title in the series could come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in addition to PC. When contacted for comment about what platforms the announcement might refer to, Starbreeze simply replied, "Other exact platforms are still pending; we'll share more news about System Shock 3 in the future."
As part of the deal, "Starbreeze will be able to recoup 120 percent of its full investment including marketing costs," with the company's share of revenues becoming 50 percent after that point is reached. OtherSide will retain 100 percent of System Shock 3's rights, meanwhile.
The Aquaman movie is to be directed by James Wan, who previously helmed such smashes as Furious 7 and the Conjuring movies. Wan is location scouting for the 2018 release, and posted some images of the incredible-looking places that are being considered for the movie. Check them out below, and see more on Wan's Instagram page.:
Aquaman will star Jason Momoa as the King of Atlantis, while Amber Heard is to portray Mera, the Queen of the Sea. In December, Patrick Wilson was cast as Orm Marius, Aquaman's villainous half-brother.
Both Momoa and Heard will feature in this year's Justice League prior to Aquaman. Earlier this month, director Zack Snyder revealed some vfx test footage of Aquaman's underwater lair--check it out here.
In an interview last year, Wan explained why he was drawn to Aquaman. "I love the possibility of creating a whole new world," he said. "I've always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom.
"I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him! What it allows me to do: I think people are a lot less precious with him than, let's say, you were doing a Spider-Man or a Batman or whatever."
With Disney's new Beauty and the Beast set to hit theaters this Friday, some of the stars are doing the late night TV circuit to promote the film. LeFou actor Josh Gad appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon last night and shared a story about his horse and how it wouldn't always cooperate during filming.
The horse's name is Buddy, but he was no friend to Gad. For the scene where he and Gaston (Luke Evans) rode into town, Gad's horse actually "moonwalked" backwards, Gad recalled, while Evans' steed had no problems. Things got worse. Gad's horse then galloped through the village set, apparently coming close to crashing into Belle actress Emma Watson. "And then the horse-trainer, literally [with] tears in his eyes, comes up to me and says, 'I'm so sorry; I've never seen that happen before.'"
In a second clip, Gad talked about how his children were terrified to see their father's face on the LeFou Beauty and the Beast poster. "It's like an overweight Jack Nicholson," Gad said about how his character looks in the poster. Gad and Fallon then do some pretty excellent Jack Nicholson impressions.
[UPDATE] Bleszinski clarified his comments, explaining on Twitter that, "There's not a lot of 'real' games for VR; too many 'gimmick' experiences [at the moment]."
I've said it before and I'll say it again - there's not a lot of "real" games for VR, too many "gimmick" experiences ATM. That's the quote.
Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski has "a few ideas" for what he might do with virtual reality, but don't expect his studio, Boss Key, to release a VR game anytime soon.
Speaking to GameSpot, Bleszinski said one of the problems with VR today is that the install base is not big enough. Additionally, the current versions of the headsets leave something to be desired, while developers are facing steep costs, he said.
"VR is very near and dear to me. I have a few ideas I'd love to play with, but again the friction point is getting VR installed," he explained. "Sony's got a great headset but still it's kind of clunky, the price point, there's a lot of shovelware on VR right now. A lot of crappy Unity games where it's like, 'Oh look I'm throwing a can.' Yeah, big deal right? No actual real games, and part of that is this catch 22 of a lot of the proper platform-holders of VR finding funding. You can't make a really deep, great game arguably in VR for like a million bucks. So you've gotta really pony it up."
One example of a "real VR game," Bleszinski said, is Epic's Robo Recall, which was announced at the Game Developers Conference last month.
"Yeah, it's a wave shooter but, goddamn it looks good," Bleszinski said. "The controls are perfect and they really knocked it out of the park. That's the kind of stuff that needs to happen, as opposed to more friggin' roller coasters and things like that. There's also jump scare games that YouTubers want to do. So there's a lot more to it, but there's like six things right now that are really preventing VR from really exploding in a good way."
Will VR ever become mainstream? Bleszinski thinks it could happen, but not soon.
"I think there's enough people in Silicon Valley and beyond that have deep enough pockets to ride this out the long haul," he said. "I think [Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg] saw the potential in Oculus in realizing like the first time I did touch demo and [Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey] was standing across from me as a VR ghost, even though he's in the other room. That's when it gets magical. If I could play catch with my niece in California, that's pretty magical ... but we've gotta start pushing through and working through it all."
"Sony's got a great headset but still it's kind of clunky" -- Bleszinski
Another example of a great VR game is Ubisoft's Eagle Flight, according to Bleszinski. It delivers on a dream many people have of flying--and this can be an affecting, emotional experience.
"The story I like to tell people is when I did Eagle Flight and my wife was in the other room and I was just gushing making these kid sounds like, 'he-he-he-he-he-he,' and I handed her headset, and she was like, 'Why's it all wet?' I'm like, 'Because it moved me to tears.' It's like I've had that dream since I was six years old, of actually flying like an eagle."
Bleszinski's current project is the PC shooter LawBreakers, which enters closed beta this week. Keep checking back with GameSpot in the days ahead for more from our conversation with the developer.
The teaser image does not appear to contain any clues about the reveal. It's the same image that NetherRealm has used for many of its previous teases.
Injustice 2's roster already features a lot of famous DC heroes and villains, including Batman, Superman, Catwoman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Poison Ivy. You can see all of the game's confirmed characters here.
Injustice 2 launches for PS4 and Xbox One on May 16. In other news, an Injustice 2 mobile game has been announced. Additionally, NetherRealm recently discussed the game's gear system--read GameSpot's interview feature below to learn more about it.
It's March 15, which means today is the last day that you can pick up some of March 2017's free Games With Gold titles for Xbox One and Xbox 360 at the low, low price of free.
On Xbox One, now is your last chance to grab the racing game Project Cars, while Xbox 360 owners have until the end of the day to pick up Borderlands 2. That game plays on Xbox One through backwards compatibility.
Starting on March 16, the 4v1 monster-hunting game Evolve will become free on Xbox One, with the shoot-em-up Heavy Weapon going free on Xbox 360. Layers of Fear is free on Xbox One all month.
You can see the full Games With Gold schedule for March below. April's lineup has not been announced.
In other news, Microsoft has rolled out the latest weekly deals on Xbox Live, featuring discounts on a lot of Ubisoft games. You can see a roundup of the deals here.
DC fans awaiting the standalone Batman movie will have to wait a little longer. It has been reported that the film, which is being called The Batman and will star Ben Affleck, won't start production until 2018.
Variety reporter Justin Kroll took to Twitter to explain that director Matt Reeves' work on the upcoming War for the Planet of the Apes means that he won't even start pre-production on the The Batman until this summer:
Hearing Matt Reeves contracted to work on APES till at least end of June, so production on BATMAN likely not starting till 2018
It had previously been rumoured that The Batman could be released in Summer 2018. Affleck was originally slated to direct the movie, as well as co-write and star. However, in January he stepped down as director, stating: "There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions. Performing this role demands focus, passion, and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require."
Warner Bros. is reportedly planning a reboot of hit 1999 sci-fi movie The Matrix.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros. is "in the early stages of developing a relaunch of The Matrix," with Zak Penn in talks to write a first draft. Penn previously co-wrote X-Men: The Last Stand's script and worked on the story of Avengers Assemble, among other projects.
Additionally, Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four, Creed, Black Panther) is being lined up to star in the reboot, though there is apparently a long way to go before anything is finalized. The Wachowskis, the siblings who wrote and directed the original and its sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, are not currently involved in the nascent project, though Warner Bros. reportedly want the directorial pair on board to some extent, even if it's just to give their blessings for the reboot to go ahead.
The original trilogy's producer, Joel Silver, is reportedly keen to be involved, but The Hollywood Reporter says Warner Bros. is wary of getting the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon producer on board because of his rumored strained relationship with the Wachowskis.
Representatives for Warner Bros., the Wachowskis, and Silver all declined to comment.
The Matrix was released in 1999 to universal acclaim, winning four Academy Awards and generating over $450 million at the worldwide box office. Reloaded and Revolutions received good and mixed reviews, respectively.
All three films starred Keanu Reeves as main protagonist Neo. Reeves was most recently seen in John Wick: Chapter 2, and while promoting that film he told Yahoo Movies that he'd be open to doing another Matrix film, but only if the Wachowskis were involved. "They would have to write it and direct it," he told the site. "And then we'd see what the story is, but yeah, I dunno, that'd be weird, but why not?"
However, it is reported that Warner Bros. wants a fresh start for the franchise and would therefore seek out a new director and star.
BlizzCon 2017 is coming this November. Today, Blizzard announced that tickets to the show will go on sale starting in April. The first batch of tickets will become available on April 5, at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET. The second batch will be available to buy days later, on Saturday, April 8, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM PT.
Tickets cost $200 each before fees.
Blizzard is also holding another BlizzCon Benefit Dinner, on November 2, to support the Children's Hospital of Orange County. Tickets for this event are priced at $750 each and go on sale on April 12 at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET right here.
"Attendees will have a chance to talk games, swap stories, and share a drink or two with Blizzard developers and community representatives, and Blizzard will donate the net proceeds to the hospital," Blizzard explained in its announcement.
Also coming back this year is the Blizzard Virtual Ticket. However, Blizzard did not announce pricing or availability for this, though those details will come in time.
BlizzCon 2017 will be held November 3-4 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
"BlizzCon will be here again before we know it, and we're looking forward to catching up with the community, taking in the awesome esports action, and showing everyone what we've been working on," Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement. "We're already hard at work making this year's show an unforgettable experience--we can't wait to see everyone there."
Specifics are being held back for now, but Blizzard did confirm that BlizzCon 2017 attendees will get to play Blizzard games and attend panels and Q&A sessions with developers. There will also presumably be a concert; last year, "Weird Al" Yankovic performed.
According to new box office estimates, Disney's new live-action Beauty and the Beast is eyeing an opening where it makes between $215 million and $245 million worldwide for its first weekend.
According to Deadline, which supplied the numbers, that would make it the biggest March opening ever worldwide, surpassing The Hunger Games ($211.8 million) and Alice In Wonderland ($210.1 million).
In the US alone, Beauty and the Beast is projected to bring in over $120 million, according to previously disclosed estimates. Bear in mind that box office estimates are not always accurate.
Beauty and the Beast, which is a-telling of the 1991 animated classic, opens in theaters this Friday, March 17. The original was nominated for Best Picture (a first for an animated movie) and ended up winning two Oscars, including Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
Emma Watson stars in Beauty and the Beast as Belle, while Dan Stevens plays Beast. The movie also features Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou. Ian McKellan plays Cogsworth and Ewan McGregor portrays Lumiere. You can watch a clip of Watson singing "Belle" right here.
It is just the latest live-action adaptation of a classic Disney film, following Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Alice in Wonderland.
Another round of sales have arrived on the PlayStation Store, including a 2-for-1 promotion.
From now until April 11, select PS4 games are buy one, get one free on PSN. These include Gone Home, Firewatch, 100 ft Robot Golf, Amplitude, The Banner Saga 2, and Invisible Inc. Everything that's featured costs $20. You can check out the full list of games here, or you'll be notified about the promotion if you add a qualifying game to your cart.
Firewatch
A Batman sale brings the price of Arkham Knight down to $10, Arkham Asylum to $6, and Arkham Origins to $8 (on Vita) or $10 (the Deluxe Edition on PS3). Lego Batman 3 also drops to $6 on all platforms, with tons of Batman games' DLC also dropping in price.
This week you'll also find Steep or Rise of the Tomb Raider for $30 each, and numerous Persona games remain on sale, including the PS3 edition of Persona 4 for $5.
"We all had dinner last night, and we were all saying we should go do different things," Benioff said, as reported by BuzzFeed (via GamesRadar). "The characters who maybe will survive--there's always going to be this temptation to keep doing it… to do the spinoff show or do the sequel show and everything. And I think HBO might well do one."
He added that he would be excited to watch a Game of Thrones spinoff, which he said could be "great." Given his previous comments, it's unlikely that he would be involved, though he does have some ideas.
"I think it's better for them to get new blood in with new visions," Benioff said, potentially referencing new behind-the-scenes talent.
"One of the great things about what [George R.R. Martin] did is he didn't just build a story; he built a world with so many characters and such a rich, detailed history behind it," the pair explained at the time. "There are a lot of different ways you could go with it; we just really haven't had time to really think through the details of it because we're so focused on getting the show made."
Season 7, which contains seven episodes, premieres on July 16. The eighth and final season will contain six episodes, though there is no word yet on when they will air.
Cooperative action game Warframe will soon receive some new merchandise featuring some beautiful original artwork, developer Digital Extremes announced today.
First up is a 2xLP vinyl album featuring 24 songs from the Warframe soundtrack. The music has been remastered for this release, and the album art was done by noted artist Patricio Betteo. It will go up for sale this Friday, March 17, for $36.
Additionally, there will be a series of limited-edition 6"x6" Giclee prints that also feature some fantastic artwork from Betteo (see one of Excalibur below). On Friday, you can order either a complete set of all 32 or a mystery bag of five, although purchasing the full set gets you three bonus pieces. The set of five goes for $55, while the full set's price was not shared. Whatever you might be interested in, these truly are limited-edition, as you'll only have through April 23 to order them. After that date, they won't be produced again.
Finally, six different enamel pins go on sale on Friday, each featuring a different Warframe. These sell for $10 each. Pictures of everything can be seen above.
All of this is being sold through iam8bit, which has offered exclusive video game merchandise like the excellent Rez Infinite vinyl album. Specific release dates weren't shared for any of the items, but they're all slated to ship during the second quarter (April - June).
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