Star Wars: The Last Jedi is finally out in theatres, with critics and fans generally lauding the latest adventures of the Skywalker clan (not to mention series newcomers such as Rey, Finn, and Poe). And while this new film does answer some of the burning questions set up in The Force Awakens, there are still more mysteries to be sifted through. And one of the biggest questions we still have is: Who exactly in Snoke?
Snoke, the puppet master behind both the First Order and Kylo Ren, was first introduced in The Force Awakens, but little was actually disclosed about his origins. We had hoped more would be revealed about the enigmatic baddie in The Last Jedi, but sadly, Kylo Ren's treachery means Snoke is no more, with the film divulging no further details about his former master.
So what do we know about Snoke? Very little, it seems, with the films themselves simply presenting Snoke as the leader of the First Order who also was extremely strong in the dark side of the Force (witness the lightning power he uses to dispel Rey in The Last Jedi). Snoke is similarly a mysterious figure in other non-film Star Wars media, so all fans are left with is speculation. By far the most popular prevailing theory is that Snoke is actually the mysterious Darth Plagueis, the never-seen Sith master of Emperor Palpatine himself.
The phenomenally popular battle royale game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds made its console debut earlier this week when it released on Xbox One, and it's already proven to be very popular on the system. Those who may be looking to jump in to PUBG but don't own an Xbox One yet will soon have a chance to pick up both at once, as Microsoft is bundling the game with its new Xbox One X for a limited-time.
Beginning December 17, those who purchase an Xbox One X in participating regions will get a copy of PUBG (which contains a download code for the game) right out of the box at no additional cost. The promotion only runs through December 31, however, so you'll have until the end of the month to score a free copy of the popular survival game with your new Xbox One X.
PUBG is available in early access on Xbox One via the Xbox Game Preview program. It costs $30 to purchase the game--the same price as the early access version on PC. However, the game doesn't perform quite as well on Xbox as it does on PC. Despite its early rough patches, PUBG already drew more than 1 million players on Xbox One in its first 48 hours.
Xbox One X launched around the world back in November. It's the most powerful console to date and costs $500. A growing number of games have been updated with 4K support and other enhancements when played on Xbox One X. Xbox One players can also purchase exclusive cosmetic item packs for PUBG, the second of which is only available from December 14-17. A new desert map called Miramar will also be added to the game in the near future.
Finding gifts for the PC gamer can be tough considering there are just so many dang peripherals out there. That's why we've done the dirty work for you and have outlined the best bang-for-the-buck keyboard, mouse, monitor and more that will serve as excellent gifts this holiday season.
Keyboard: Corsair K68 Mechanical Keyboard
A mechanical keyboard is a valuable asset to PC gamers, but they tend to come at a hefty price. Corsair offers some of the better options out on the market and for $100, the K68features everything you'd need out of a keyboard. It's water and dust resistant, so you don't need to worry about accidentally spilling drinks at your desk and destroying an expensive piece of equipment. Dedicated media keys come in clutch and the Cherry MX Red switches give you smooth, linear, and precise keystrokes.
Logitech has a great reputation when it comes to gaming mice and the G403/G703 shows why. It's a simple mouse that fits into your hand whether you use a claw grip or palm grip. Those who prefer a heavier mouse can insert the included 10 gram weight. Two side buttons are easy to hit with your thumb and the distinct tactility of the mouse buttons help with rapid clicking. The G403 uses a Pixart PWM3366 optical sensor, which is extremely precise. The wired version (G403) goes for $70, but can be found for cheaper while the wireless one (G703) will run you $100 unless it's found on sale.
For a long time, the Xbox 360 controller was the de facto controller of choice for PC gamers due to its XInput support. The Xbox One controller is even better, however, with improved joysticks. The newer variants also support Bluetooth, so you can go wireless without a dongle.
Kingston's HyperX brand found its way into PC gaming peripherals not long ago and its headsets have been highly regarded. The Cloud Alpha released this year and provides exceptional sound quality. Just as important is comfort; this headset has dense velvet-like ear pads that form nicely around your ears. The microphone is detachable so you can get it out of the way if you don't need it. HyperX's Cloud Alpha connects through a 3.5mm connection and can be used on any device that supports the audio jack. Overall, PC gamers will appreciate its sound and build quality.
There are a lot of gaming monitors on the market, but LG makes a really good one with a 21:9 aspect ratio, which will be able to give you a viewing advantage in games that support ultra wide resolutions. It also helps that it's under $200. LG's UM57 25UM57 uses a 25-inch 1080p panel that offers just five millisecond of delay. This is good enough for most gamers. It also uses an IPS display, which means it offers vibrant, realistic colors and wide viewing angles.
With the recent price drop of the Oculus Rift to $400, now is arguably the best time to get a VR headset, especially since the Rift has a more mature library that includes great games like Superhot VR, Robo Recall, Echo Arena, and more. This price also includes the Oculus Touchcontrollers, which retailed for $200 alone earlier this year. It helps that the Rift is also much easier to set up than the competing HTC Vive.
The current cryptocurrency craze has dramatically increased the prices of modern GPUs, but you can still get a good graphics card for under $200. For instance, you can find Asus' 3GB Phoenix Fan Edition GeForce GTX 1060 for $193, and it happens to be a great GPU for maxing out most games at 1080p.
Logitech's C922 webcam is great for both streaming and video calls. It has two different modes that allow you to shoot at either 1080p with 30FPS or 720p with 60FPS. The C922 also offers low-light correction, so you can use it in dim environments.
Whether you want to stream or simply want a high-quality microphone, Blue Yeti's USB microphone has you covered. It has three condenser capsules, which allow you to switch among multiple recording patterns that include cardioid, bidirectional, and omnidirectional.
In a pivotal Star Wars: The Last Jedi scene, one character urges another to "let it all die." The character is talking about relics of past generations: Jedi, Sith, rebels, empires. At times, this movie feels determined to do just that. If 2015's The Force Awakens bent over backward to be like the original movies, The Last Jedi does the same to buck your expectations. It doesn't "let it all die," but it does clear away enough of the old to set the newest Star Wars trilogy on a surprising path toward its conclusion.
The Last Jedi's determination to move forward comes with good and bad consequences. On one hand, there are genuinely shocking moments in this movie. Characters you thought were good have a dark side. Those who should be wise act foolishly, and a single decent act doesn't suddenly make a bad guy good. If you think you know which way this thing will go purely on a narrative level, you're probably wrong. For a Star Wars movie, that unpredictability is refreshing.
But The Last Jedi treats many of the series' vestiges with equal contempt, no matter how distant or relatively near in the past they are. More than one character or plot established in The Force Awakens gets unceremoniously blown up here. After Episode VII, this trilogy's path felt too familiar; now, it might go anywhere, but that's also made the whole endeavor feel shakier, like the plan might change again before it's all over. The plot being unpredictable is refreshing; axing entire storylines from The Force Awakens before they ever had a chance to pay off seems sloppy.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up more or less right where The Force Awakens left off. Rey has traveled to a distant corner of the galaxy to get Luke Skywalker back in the fight, and General Leia's Resistance alternately flees and fights the much more powerful First Order. Without the need to introduce so many new characters, The Last Jedi does what middle trilogy movies do: It lets us spend more time with those already established.
Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is still a hot-headed but skilled Resistance pilot. Finn (John Boyega) is struggling to find his place in the Resistance as a First Order deserter. Rey (Daisy Ridley) has quite a job convincing Luke (Mark Hamill) to come out of exile, while Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)--a.k.a. Ben Solo--battles his inner conflict, not to mention Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Leia (Carrie Fisher) leads the Resistance against overwhelming odds. Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is still pointless. Chewbacca chewbaccas. BB-8 is still great.
Add to this already unwieldy cast: Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico, an intensely likable Resistance maintenance worker who gets in above her head; Benicio del Toro's DJ, a thief who toes the line between good and bad; and Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo, an utterly unnecessary addition who takes screen time away from better characters.
What really doesn't help The Last Jedi is how grossly bloated it is with circuitous subplots, narrative cul-de-sacs, and detours that amount to little more than distractions. The movie's main event is actually a drawn out stalemate between Snoke's armada and Leia's pathetic forces, which probably wasn't a smart structural choice for a middle movie that would have threatened to drag even without a lengthy standoff in the middle.
Various characters on both sides give regular reports on the Resistance ships' dwindling fuel supply, which graciously serves to signal to audiences approximately how much more foot-tapping non-action remains before the movie gets good again. There are entire schemes, mutinies, and double-crosses that serve only to tread water while The Last Jedi's many moving pieces all get into place for a finale that is, admittedly, awfully grand.
That sounds grim, but The Last Jedi gets many important things right too. Like The Force Awakens, it's beautiful to behold. It's also just the right amount of funny. Even the Porgs, which drew such a following before the movie had even released, provide the right amount of cute without feeling overused.
Luke Skywalker's decades-long arc pays off in a way that Han Solo's, sadly, did not in The Force Awakens. Yet Luke's scenes never dissolve into pandering or fan service; in fact, his journey provides more surprises than any other plot in the movie. Carrie Fisher's performance comes with surprises too, although the exact details of her plot will surely cause some to wonder how much of the film was changed after the actress's death in late 2016. Regardless of whether we ever find out, The Last Jedi is a beautiful send-off for the iconic character and the actress who played her.
Most importantly, The Last Jedi provides real momentum and growth for its core characters. Poe, Rey, Finn, and Kylo were all right where we left them when the movie started, which made it easy to jump straight into the conflict. By the end, they're in very different places.
Episode VII and, now, Episode VIII have accomplished something as difficult as it is crucial: They've made us care about a new generation of Star Wars heroes. Looking toward the past in these movies has been fun and emotional, but the new trilogy was always going to live or die by what it added to the series, not what it rehashed. And the journeys of characters like Rey and Ben Solo are starting to feel as nuanced and essential as those of Han, Luke, and Leia in the original trilogy. Regardless of where it ends, that's something to admire, and despite its issues, The Last Jedi overall is as enjoyable a Star Wars film as The Force Awakens was before it.
The Good
The Bad
Characters introduced in Force Awakens continue to evolve
Bloated with unnecessary subplots and distractions
Luke and Leia's journeys and payoff
Some new characters add little
Stylistically beautiful and funny
Treads water for much of the middle
Subverts the series' established tropes and provides genuine surprises
Another week has passed, and in Destiny 2, that means Xur has arrived once again to hock his Exotic wares. Unlike his first post-Curse of Osiris appearance, however, this one is more meaningful, thanks to the release of the game's latest patch. Here's a walkthrough on how to find Xur this week and a look at what he's selling.
Xur has taken up residence in a new location for him, on the Tower. That means you'll first need to gain access to that social space in order to check out what he has for sale. In order to reach him, spawn into the Tower and head toward the northeastern part of the map, where Dead Orbit is stationed. Behind their area is a set of stairwells; start to head up those, and you'll encounter him toward one of the lower levels.
Unlike last week, none of the gear Xur is selling is exclusive to Curse of Osiris. He's got the usual selection of one Exotic weapon and one piece of Exotic armor for each class. More notably, he also has some new item types. This marks Xur's first weekend since the release of Destiny 2's 1.1.1.1 update. As a result, he now sells Three of Coins and Fated Engrams. These Three of Coins work a bit differently than those in Destiny 1, as they simply increase Exotic drop chances for four hours. Fated Engrams provide you with an Exotic item you don't already own, but you're limited to purchasing one per account each week. Here's the full Xur lineup this week:
Far Cry 5 looks to strike a balance between the familiar and the foreign. After the mountain ranges of Kyrat and the tropical charm of the Rook Islands, you could not have picked a more divergent locale than the state of Montana. Yet if you've never driven by a farm or don't know zen-like serenity of fly fishing, it takes little to no time for any Far Cry fan to get acquainted with Hope County.
If you've retained some muscle memory from forays in Far Cry 4 or even Far Cry Primal, you should be able to make small work of many of the initial missions in Far Cry 5. As before, it's largely about studying enemy patrol patterns, knowing how to read alert meters, and mastering stealth takedowns. But unless you're a Far Cry stealth savant, being able to switch gears and go in guns blazing is an equally useful skill.
Your adversaries--the followers and leaders of the Eden's Gate cult--will make sure that the further you go to retake the land from them, the stronger their fanatical pushback. Every bit of territorial takeover gets you closer to the showdown against Joseph Seed, "The Father", and leader, of Eden's Gate. But first, you have to take out his three siblings who control various regions of Hope County. This pathway to the final boss feels like a less ambitious version of the route to El Sueno in Ghost Recon: Wildlands. That doesn't imply Far Cry 5 will be a lesser experience, though between the abundance of helicopters and means to infiltrate bases from the skies, it's hard to avoid comparisons to Ubisoft's early 2017 hit. Both games even have a helicopter shooting puzzle.
Incidentally, our most recent hands-on session shed little new light on Eden's Gate, aside from the affirmation that their followers are some of the most rage-filled enemies in series history. Their idea of cleansing the land means poisoning the water system, even if it results in drugged out animals. It also means getting rid of Hope County's history, right down to its gravesites. It makes for a suitable introductory bonding session between you and optional Gun-For-Hire Grace Armstrong. You can win her over by helping fend off cultists attempting to destroy graves around her church. Whether you follow Grace's lead and snipe followers from the church tower or take the fight to ground level, there are a lot of weapon options in Far Cry 5, provided you can find or afford them.
So far, the most engrossing aspect of Ubisoft's vision of a cult-occupied county in Montana is the illusion that its creatures and citizens live and exist independent of your involvement, for better or worse. You can emerge from a forest to find a bear and a bull in a life-and-death struggle on a farm or you can drive by a couple of cultists on the road ready to execute a pair of non-believers. Obviously, and with a quick enough draw, you can affect the outcome of these conflicts--just be aware that cultists, bears, and bulls will reciprocate your hostility. If the heart of Far Cry is the cycle of recognizing, acting upon, and creating opportunities, what we've played of Far Cry 5 is a promising sample of this continuing trend of rich emergent gameplay.
It remains to be seen whether there'll be a meaningful take-away from Far Cry 5's provoking premise of religious fanaticism. This interpretation of rural America could be inviting enough to make up for the lack of a meaningful message. Even with all the cultists roaming Hope Valley, this could be the first Far Cry worth spending time in "just to hang," whether that means going fishing or taking a tractor for a spin. It's even gratifying to take a plane up and discover landmarks that are impossible to see at ground level. We didn't exactly spot Nazca Lines, but there were landmarks that could be interpreted as extra-terrestrial in nature. We're curious to see what those mean.
We're in mid-December now, and new game releases have finally slowed down a bit. If you're looking for something to occupy your weekend, though, Steam is holding a free weekend for two games. For a limited time, you can try out Homefront: The Revolution and H1Z1.
Homefront: The Revolution is a first-person shooter that centers on a story in which North Korea has conquered the United States. You have to join up with other guerrilla fighters to attempt to break the North Korean hold on the country. You can read more about it in our review here. In short: it's not an amazing game, but still has some interesting ideas and is worth trying out for free.
H1Z1, meanwhile, has morphed several times over the years. It was announced as a DayZ-like survival game, but has since been split into two titles. H1Z1 is now a Battle Royale-style game in the vein of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and in fact PlayerUnknown helped create the original version of H1Z1 before he started work on PUBG. Although H1Z1 has some notable differences from PUBG--most significantly, a much greater focus on crafting--it's nonetheless one of the better Battle Royale games out there.
Homefront will be free to play until Sunday at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 10 PM BST, while H1Z1 will be playable through December 21. If you like either title, you can buy a copy for 75% off right now. Homefront is $7.50 (originally $30) and H1Z1 is $5 (originally $20).
Following a beta earlier this month, Capcom will soon allow PlayStation 4 owners to sample the upcoming Monster Hunter: World once again. This time around, it's dumping the PlayStation Plus requirement of the first beta test, allowing everyone on PS4 to give the game a try.
World's second beta kicks off on December 22 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT (4 AM AET on December 23). It will run for a total of four days, ending at the same times on December 26 (or December 27, for those in some time zones). Although PS Plus is not required to download it, you'll presumably still need a subscription if you hope to try out the game's online multiplayer mode, although that is unconfirmed.
Capcom did not say if there would be any new content available in this second beta. Those who participated in the first test will be able to use the same client they already downloaded, so hopefully you haven't deleted it yet. Pre-loading for newcomers will begin on December 18, giving you a few days to get it downloaded before the beta begins.
Unfortunately, there's still been no word about a beta for Xbox One players. The same is also true for PC, although that comes as less of a surprise given that version doesn't have a release date and won't launch at the same time as the console versions.
A new game based on Cartoon Network's popular animated series Adventure Time is coming to home consoles and PC next year. Titled Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, the game is an open-world pirate adventure published by Bandai Namco.
In Pirates of the Enchiridion, players can take control of many fan-favorite Adventure Time characters, such as Finn, Jake, Marceline, and BMO and explore the various kingdoms of the Land of Ooo, which have been "cut off from each other" by a flood. Finn and Jake can navigate the world in their own boat and recruit other characters to be a part of their crew. You can see a gallery of some nice-looking screenshots from the game below.
Bandai Namco hasn't shared any details about Pirates of the Enchiridion's plot, but the game will feature an "original" story, and Finn and Jake will have to interrogate other characters for clues during the course of the game. Bandai Namco says the game will also boast "tactical combat" and a progression system for your heroes.
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion releases on PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC in Spring 2018. Beginning today, December 15, developer Outright Games is holding a competition to name Finn and Jake's ship in the game. You can find more details about the competition on Outright's Facebook page.
First-person shooters, survival-horror games, RPGs, adventure games, and real-time tactical strategy games; these are all genres that PC has used throughout its existence to solidify itself as one of gaming's most popular platforms. If you love to play on PC, this was a good year, as 2017 offered mastercraft executions of every genre mentioned above. Each yielded an ambitious spirit, pushing forward its respective genre with fresh ideas and mechanics, while also expanding upon what has come before. In no particular order, here are our picks for the best PC games of 2017.
Total War: Warhammer II is one of the most well-crafted strategy games in PC gaming history. With the second installment, developer The Creative Assembly has expanded the mechanics of the first, while still retaining its sandbox structure. At the same time, the game better utilizes its narrative, tapping into the decades of lore that the Warhammer franchise now consists of.
This sequel adds a sense of dynamism and urgency to a series where many players feel safe slowly creeping across the campaign map, knowing that even if their front line falls, their home cities are stoic and safe. In addition, the scale and enormity of its combat is unparalleled, especially in the Mortal Empires campaign, which combines everything from the first game with everything you see in Total War: Warhammer II. Battles are not long, arduous, drawn-out affairs, nor do they end too quickly for you to appreciate the size and force of what you're seeing.
The addition of the Vortex campaign and a wider variety of quests far exceed the experience of the original. The game also expands the formula with numerous spells and new marching monsters and units, and the resulting concoction is a strategy game that both Warhammer and Total War fans are guaranteed to love.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice leverages the strengths of video games as a medium and delivers an experience that is unlike anything else released this year. It's a bold game that explores mental health--specifically psychosis--through the lens of a character-action game wrapped in Norse mythology. The game tackles an important and often misunderstood illness, and allows you to better understand it through visual and aural presentation.
Developer Ninja Theory has a long history of developing action games that are fast and fluid in movement while also being mechanically deep and complex, but for Hellblade, the developer scaled this back somewhat. Playing Hellblade can feel rough and sluggish, but this feeds into the mind-state of its main character, Senua. Returning from self-imposed exile, the young Pict warrior grapples with her inner-demons as she attempts to save the soul of her lover, Dillon.
The act of fighting against demonic apparitions feels like a struggle, as Senua summons every ounce of energy in her body just to keep moving forward, one step at a time. And all the while voices in her head pull her in different directions, some guiding her, while others undermine and belittle her. The result is an experience that feels raw, unsettling, as well as frustrating and disempowering. It can be difficult to play but, ultimately, it's also a unique and enlightening experience.
Resident Evil 7 marks a return to form for Capcom, which reconnected with its survival-horror roots to deliver a Resident Evil that is both modern and faithful to the series' legacy.
The game casts aside the third-person perspective for first-person, and in doing so, ratchets up the nerve-wracking tension throughout the campaign. Crucially, however, it leans on the genre pillars that it both established and popularised; bullets and healing items are in short supply, and enemies require strategy and a steady hand to take down.
From the early moments of breathlessly running around the Baker home, hoping and praying not to cross paths with Jack, the psychotic patriarch of the family, to the nail-biting cat-and-mouse game in Marguerite's bug-infested cabin, and the intense fight for survival at the end, Resident Evil 7 is edge-of-your-seat gaming at its finest.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus never lets you forget who you're fighting, and why. Nazi brutality is on full display, from the blown-out, irradiated remains of Manhattan to each of the characters, who all carry mental scars if not physical ones. The far-future technology of the Nazi regime is exhilarating to partake in--high-powered laser weapons are exciting to use, after all--but it's also a grotesque display of their ruthless subjugation of all corners of the world.
That said, a tongue-in-cheek tone reminiscent of Inglourious Basterds strikes the right balance with the game's incredibly heavy subject matter. The New Colossus has a completely bonkers storyline, and it's elevated by satisfying Nazi-killing action and a self-awareness of its own dark humor. It also manages to make combat exciting without becoming a power fantasy--it's straight-up difficult, and its mechanical, heavily armored enemies can seem impossible to take down at times. But regardless of whether you take a stealthy or guns-blazing approach, you'll be rewarded with a thrilling fight once you do emerge victorious.
The most memorable thing about The New Colossus, though, is its direction. Carefully choreographed cutscenes give more gravity to an already great cast of characters, and the timing of specific moments (all spoilers) makes them all the more impactful. Wolfenstein's tense gameplay elevates this further by giving you the power to truly resist--and come out of each battle ready for another fight.
Divinity: Original Sin II snuck up on a lot of people, with buzz before it's release just simmering under the surface of the gaming community. It wasn't long after the game released that this wonderful RPG was on everyone's lips. Fascinating stories of how parties and individuals alike were solving problems and conquering dungeons, secrets and tidbits and little "did you knows" were passed between wannabe adventurers like excited children in class.
The game's story is compelling and involved, but it always encourages you to make it your own with a multitude of opportunities to experiment and choose your own path. Quests can be completed without blindly following objectives, murders can be solved by eating flesh, traps can be thwarted by talking with dogs, and quest givers can be spoken to by communicating with their ghosts. It's the stuff CRPG lovers adore, dialed up to 11.
By far the biggest attraction of Divinity: Original Sin II is the incredible amount of freedom you get, but it helps that the game is built upon a foundation of expertly designed mechanics. Being able to build up your character's abilities and equip them with numerous weapons continually fuels the desire to experiment and customize your party.
Divinity: Original Sin II is a massive accomplishment. It embodies everything that fans have come to adore about CRPGs, accommodating any and all inclinations you have to craft your own adventure. If there's any game you should play on PC this year (or in the years to come) it's Divinity: Original Sin II.
GameSpot will be unveiling its picks for the best games of the year throughout all of December. Check out our Best of 2017 hub for even more.
You can see December's full Games With Gold lineup below. January's freebies have not been announced yet but that should happen relatively soon, given the upcoming holiday. We know there won't be any more games added to the backwards compatibility catalog for the remainder of the year, as Microsoft's team is taking some time off.
Following not long after the limited-time Game Awards Flash Sale from last weekend, a new set of discounts have arrived on the PlayStation Store. With the holidays drawing near, Sony has kicked off Week 1 of its 2017 Holiday Sale, which offers a ton of discounts on PS4, PS3, and Vita titles.
Many of these deals will be available until December 19, while some will be around until just after Christmas, on December 26. As this is only the first week of the PSN Holiday Sale, Sony will presumably add another selection of discounts next week. Until then, you can see all the deals available right now on the PlayStation Store.
The latest selection of Deals with Gold are now available on Xbox One and Xbox 360. This week's lineup is fairly slim compared to what was available last week, but Xbox Live Gold members can still find a few noteworthy games on sale for both of Microsoft's consoles.
This week's Deals with Gold will only be available through 3 AM PT/6 AM ET on December 19, after which they'll be replaced by a new batch of discounts. You can see all the Xbox One and Xbox 360 games on sale this week on Major Nelson's blog.
The latest free update for Grand Theft Auto V's GTA Online mode is now available. With this installed, PC, PS4, and Xbox One players can all take on The Doomsday Heist, a brand-new online heist for GTA Online and the biggest piece of content Rockstar has rolled out for the mode to date. [Update: It turns out the update holds more than we thought, as it also includes a new Red Dead Redemption 2 tie-in mission of sorts, seen in the video above.]
Rockstar describes The Doomsday Heist as a "massive new adventure" in which players will team up to thwart "a plan so diabolical it could end life as we know it." The heist spans three acts, each of which "involves negotiating multiple ruthless Freemode prep missions, tactical setup operations, and experimental weapons and vehicles." Rockstar says that all three acts of The Doomsday Heist end in an "over-the-top finale" that will net you a hefty payoff.
In order to participate in the new heist, one of your crew members will need to own "one of the previously undisclosed IAA facilities hidden under Southern San Andreas." That will give you access to the advanced planning room that maps out how to complete each new mission. Players who own the facility also get the option to have either their own Strike Team or Orbital Cannon, a devastating weapon "capable of immolating any patch of ground that incurs your wrath."
In addition to the new heist, today's update introduces "dozens" of new weapons, vehicles, clothing options, and other content to GTA Online, such as your own Mammoth Thruster jetpack and The Avenger, a turreted aircraft capable of vertical take-off. Other new vehicles available in GTA Online now include:
Thruster (Warstock)
Deluxo (Warstock)
Stromberg (Warstock)
RCV (Warstock)
Chernobog (Warstock)
Barrage (Warstock)
Akula (Warstock)
Khanjali (Warstock)
Volatol (Warstock)
Comet Safari (Legendary Motorsport)
Ocelot Pariah (Legendary Motorsport)
Coil Raiden (Legendary Motorsport)
Ubermacht SC1 (Legendary Motorsport)
Vapid Riata (Southern San Andreas Super Autos)
Declasse Yosemite (Southern San Andreas Super Autos)
Finally, Rockstar has added eight new Achievements and Trophies to earn. The developer has brought back Criminal Mastermind challenges for all three acts of The Doomsday Heist, as well. Each finale mission also has Elite Challenge objectives for an even steeper challenge and additional rewards.
Given the game's different take on the series and the lack of Hideo Kojima's involvement, many Metal Gear fans have been skeptical of the upcoming "spin-off episode" of Metal Gear Solid V, Metal Gear Survive. Fortunately, players will have an opportunity to try the game for themselves in advance of its release, as Konami has announced a beta for the game launches next month.
Survive's beta will run from January 18-21 on both PS4 and Xbox One; there's no mention of a PC beta test, although the game is also coming to that platform. According to Konami, it will provide an opportunity "to jump into co-op mode to build, defend, and fight alongside friends online." No further specifics on what's included were shared.
Those who participate in the beta will receive bonus items in the full game. These include a FOXHOUND name plate, a Metal Gear REX head accessory, and a bandana. It's unclear if there will be a way to unlock these without having played the beta, or if they'll be available at all in the PC version.
Coinciding with this news, Konami shared the video above. It opens with producer Yuji Korekado providing an overview of the game before diving into a look at the single-player and the function that the Base Camp serves in single-player and co-op. We get a look at hunting animals, crafting, and combat, as well as how your Base Camp will periodically come under attack, forcing you to plan ahead and then defend it when necessary.
With Red Dead Redemption 2 slated for release next spring, Rockstar is ready to begin drumming up interest in the game among Grand Theft Auto V players. Following the discovery of some kind of RDR2-related content in GTA Online files, Rockstar has officially announced the details of a new crossover mission and weapon that launches today.
GTA Online players should receive an email in-game that provides a clue to help them pursue "rumors of a lost relic from the frontier." According to the dataminers' discovery, this will entail a scavenger hunt of sorts that takes players all across San Andreas to take pictures of various landmarks. Doing so will unlock a free new gun for use in GTA Online, which Rockstar has revealed is the Double-Action Revolver.
Once you get your hands on that, you'll be eligible to participate in a Headshot Challenge during Freemode. If you're able to complete that successfully, you'll get $250,000 in GTA Online and unlock the Double-Action Revolver for use in Red Dead Redemption 2. It's unclear at this point if it will be usable in RDR2's single-player, multiplayer, or both.
This scavenger hunt comes not long after the launch of the Doomsday Heist update, GTA Online's biggest update so far. In addition to the titular heist, it introduces a variety of new vehicles, cosmetics, and other new elements to GTA V's multiplayer mode. All of that is available now.
As for Red Dead Redemption 2, we know it's due out during Spring 2018, no sooner than April 1, 2018. Rockstar hasn't gotten any more specific than that, nor has it shared much about the game itself. We've gotten some trailers and screenshots, but beyond that, we're still waiting to learn more about its single-player--and any details at all about multiplayer.
Final Fantasy XIV's annual Christmas-themed event is here. The Starlight Celebration kicked off this morning, and Square Enix has detailed some of the holiday-themed items and rewards you can get during the limited-time event--including an adorable new mount.
The Starlight Celebration event began on Friday, December 15, at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET and runs through the rest of the month. You'll need to be at least level 15 to participate in the event, and completing quests will get some new Christmas-themed decorations for your home. But the best reward is the Starlight Bear, a cuddly new mount dressed like Santa. Just look at him.
Players will get the Starlight Bear mount as a reward for completing the Starlight Celebration's quest series. In addition to being adorable, the Starlight Bear knows a few unique tricks. Like your typical bear, it can fly through the air. It can also, fittingly enough, throw presents, which explode into a cloud of stars and snowflakes. You can get a look at those abilities in the screenshots above.
Other items you can get during the Starlight Celebration including four new furnishings: the Starlight Stew Set, Starlight Log Set, Starlight Sapling, and Starlight Celebration Advertisement. You can also get a Starlight Gateway music roll for your Orchestrion. The Starlight Celebration event ends at 6:59 AM PT on December 31. You can read more about it on the Final Fantasy XIV website.
Outside of a few individual game discounts, sales in the Nintendo Switch Eshop have been rare up to this point in the console's life. Now, Nintendo of America has kicked off the digital store's first big sale ahead of the holidays, and it includes discounts on a bunch of great Switch games.
The UK holiday Eshop sale ends on December 28. Nintendo hasn't specified when the North American sale ends, though it will presumably be around the same time. Both regions also have a number of Wii U and 3DS Eshop games on sale right now. You can see the full list of games that are on sale in North America here, while the UK list can be found here.
More games are out now for Nintendo Switch. It's another busy week for the hybrid console; a total of 20 titles arrive on the Eshop, the bulk of which released for the system on December 14.
Among the games available this week is Yooka-Laylee, the Banjo-Kazooie-style 3D platformer by Playtonic Games. The game makes its Switch debut several months after it released for other platforms, and it comes with all of the updates and improvements Playtonic rolled out recently, such as a new camera system and improved controls. The Switch version also boasts custom achievements, and up to four players can play Yooka-Laylee's mini-games using a single Joy-Con each. You can read more about the title in our Yooka-Laylee review.
Likewise making its Switch debut this week is Enter the Gungeon, the 2016 dungeon-crawler/bullet hell game from Devolver Digital. The game features four protagonists, each of whom has their own unique abilities. Up to two players can team up to shoot their way through procedurally generated dungeons in an effort to find the Gungeon's ultimate treasure: a gun that can kill the past.
A number of other noteworthy titles are out now, as well, such as Gorogoa, a beautiful and inventive picture puzzle game which we thought was one of the coolest games you might've missed at E3 2017. There's also Mutant Mudds Collection, a compilation of the fun platformer Mutant Mudds and its sequel, Super Challenge, as well as the Mudd Blocks puzzle game. Other releases include the latest ACA Neo Geo game, The Last Blade; the retro-style style dungeon-crawler Hammerwatch; and the clever bridge-building game Poly Bridge.
Out earlier this week was The End Is Nigh, the harrowing new platformer from the creator of Super Meat Boy. Meanwhile, the remastered classic SNES RPG Romancing SaGa 2 arrives on December 15. You can see the full list of this week's Switch releases below.
A patch is coming to Nintendo Switch's open-world RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This marks the first update for the game since it released earlier this month, and along with a few bug fixes, it makes some welcome improvements to its map. Monolith Soft head Tetsuya Takahashi detailed the forthcoming changes in a post on Nintendo's website.
The version 1.1.1 update rolls out for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 next Friday, December 22. It makes a handful of quality-of-life changes, most notably to the in-game map. "When you press the X button, the Skip Travel screen will open the map to your current location," Takahashi wrote. "We hope this will make it easier to spot Skip Travel locations and Salvage Points on the map." Additionally, you'll be able to display a 1:1 zoom on the mini-map by pressing the left control stick in.
The 1.1.1 update also adds a new easy mode to the Tiger Tiger mini-game, which is the only way to unlock more customization parts for Tora's artificial Blade, Poppi. Those who purchased Xenoblade Chronicles 2's expansion pass will also get the following set of items:
Driver Essentials Set: 10 x Rare Core Crystal, 1 x Legendary Core Crystal, 3 x Overdrive Protocol
Upgrade Parts for Poppi: 30,000 ether
Pyra's Favorite Things: 5 x Jenerossi Tea
Nia's Favourite Things: 5 x Ardainian Bear Carving
The Xenoblade Chronicles 2 expansion pass costs $30 and adds a lot of new content to the game throughout 2018, the first piece of which is a new quest that is slated to arrive sometime in January. Other content on the way to the game next year includes a new Rare Blade, a challenge battle mode, and a new story.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is available exclusively on Nintendo Switch. GameSpot awarded it a 7/10 in our Xenoblade Chronicles 2 review. Critic Peter Brown said, "[I]ts often clumsy nature keeps it from being the next groundbreaking Switch game, but Xenoblade 2 is worth pursuing if you've got enough patience to let it blossom." If you're intimidated by the game's battle system, we've put together a detailed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 combat guide.
With just days before fans can finally see a new Star Wars movie, reviews began to pour in. Critics have shared their thoughts about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the results are very encouraging. Thus far, the newest installment in the Star Wars saga has a score of 86 on Metacritic. For those keeping track, that's the highest score on the site for any Star Wars movie since 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, which is rated at a 92.
However, while the reviews for Star Wars: The Last Jediare overwhelmingly positive, that doesn't mean the movie is without its flaws. Still, it charts new territory in this 40-year-old universe. "If 2015's The Force Awakens bent over backward to be like the original movies, The Last Jedi does the same to buck your expectations," GameSpot's Michael Rougeau says in our The Last Jedi review.
Rougeau continues, "There are genuinely shocking moments in this movie. Characters you thought were good have a dark side. Those who should be wise act foolishly, and a single decent act doesn't suddenly make a bad guy good. If you think you know which way this thing will go purely on a narrative level, you're probably wrong. For a Star Wars movie, that unpredictability is refreshing."
And yet, GameSpot's review, along with several others, point out how slow and plodding the middle of the movie can be. "The film simply drags too much in the middle," Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty says. "Somewhere in the film's 152-minute running time is an amazing 90-minute movie."
One portion of the movie that sticks out is a sequence set on the casino planet Canto Bight. "The sequence looks like something out of the Star Wars prequels, which isn't necessarily an insult as the prequels had an exceptional design, it's just a very different aesthetic from the original trilogy palette," SlashFilm's Peter Sciretta explains. "I suspect the design alone will result in a divisive response, but the story on this planet is probably my least favorite aspect of the film."
Collider's Matt Goldberg agrees. "Where the film struggles the most is on Canto Bight. Taken on her own, Rose isn't a bad addition to the Star Wars mythos, and the movie definitely needs someone to play against Finn," he says. "Unfortunately, they lack the electric chemistry we saw between Finn and Rey in The Force Awakens, and their secret mission in a casino feels like it should be far more entertaining than it actually is."
Still, even though at times the middle of the movie can be slow, there's so much about the film to appreciate. From the arrival of new faces to the galaxy, to the evolution of characters introduced in The Force Awakens, to properly reintroducing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to the Star Wars universe, The Last Jedi is filled with moments that make the people filling it all the more real. Of course, given the unfortunate death of Carrie Fisher (General Leia Organa) in 2016, these moments give her character even more impact.
"There is a moment in this film that is so pure and so lovely with General Leia that it will break your heart at the same time that it fills it up with joy," Legion of Leia's Jenna Busch says.
ComicBook's Joseph Schmidt adds, "Director Rian Johnson continues the non-stop momentum of the previous film, constantly raising the stakes and opening up possibilities."
In the end, as Justin Chang of the LA Times puts it, The Last Jedi is "the first flat-out terrific Star Wars movie since 1980's The Empire Strikes Back." He continues, "It seizes upon Lucas' original dream of finding a pop vessel for his obsessions--Akira Kurosawa epics, John Ford westerns, science-fiction serials--and fulfills it with a verve and imagination all its own."
While the one review that's going to matter most to fans of the franchise will be their own after sitting down to watch the film, the critical consensus should help put everyone a bit at ease. It sounds as if there's a lot to love in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, even if it's not a perfect film.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now in theaters. Do your best to avoid spoilers until you see it.
Disclosure: Metacritic is owned by GameSpot parent company CBS Interactive.
When Nintendo first unveiled the Switch, the console's unconventional Joy-Con Grip attachment frequently drew comparisons to a puppy's face, due to the way its controller grips hung to the sides like ears. Now, Hyperkin is releasing a new accessory for the system that turns those comparisons into reality.
The Pupper Controller Attachment, as it's called, is scheduled to release next week, and as the name straightforwardly tells you, it's designed to resemble a puppy. It comes with three different mouth stickers, which you can place in the center of the grip. You can see some images of the accessory below.
The Pupper attachment also charges your Joy-Cons when they're inserted into the grip, something the standard Joy-Con grip doesn't do; Nintendo sells a separate Joy-Con Charging Grip for $30. The Pupper features a rechargeable battery and battery status indicator, and it's also USB Type-C compatible.
You can purchase the Pupper Controller Attachment on Amazon. Pre-orders for it are not yet available, but the accessory is listed to release on December 21.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
It has you play as Joseph Stallion, a former professional quarterback forced to play soccer by the Nazis. Bethesda says you can use the character's Ram Shackle ability to "smash through hordes of Nazi soldiers from the ruins of Chicago to the vastness of space!" The expansion weighs in at around 4 GB and will set you back $10 / £8 / AU $15. It's also available as part of Wolfenstein II's Freedom Chronicles season pass, which costs $25 / £18 / AU $35 and also includes a previously released bonus chapter called Episode Zero.
Two more expansions are planned for Wolfenstein II. The first of those, The Diaries of Agent Silent Death, will see you "infiltrate Nazi bunkers in California and discover the secrets of Operation San Andreas" as ex-OSS agent Jessica Valiant. The final DLC pack, meanwhile, is titled The Amazing Deeds of Captain Wilkins, and it will task you with dismantling a Nazi operation in Alaska.
We enjoyed the main campaign here at GameSpot. "The New Colossus never lets you forget who and why you're fighting," wrote critic Kallie Plagge. "Nazi brutality is on full display, from the blown-out, irradiated remains of Manhattan to each of the resistance members, who all carry mental scars if not physical ones. You're never given a chance between cutscenes, missions, and even downtime on the U-boat to lose sight of the Reich's cruelty. Wolfenstein's tense gameplay elevates this further by giving you the power to truly resist--and come out of each battle ready for another fight." Read more in our full Wolfenstein II review, or check out why we named it one of the five best Xbox One games of 2017.
PUBG is out now on Xbox One. While the port remains, for now, in early access, some fans have complained that the console version doesn't perform as well as the game's native PC edition, while others have simply been experimenting. If you plug a USB keyboard into the Xbox One version of the game, you'll find you can play the game using WASD controls and even access the same graphics settings menu as seen in the PC edition.
Simply press 'O' and the graphics menu will appear. At this point, it becomes apparent that the Xbox One version appears to be running on the PC version's "very low" settings, which may explain the issues some players have experienced. Resetera user JumPeR later discovered the Xbox One X version looks to be running at the equivalent of the PC edition's "medium" settings.
Plugging a keyboard in also allows you to move around using WASD controls, but full keyboard and mouse support seems to be absent--our mouse didn't work when we attempted to use it with the Xbox One version.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is still a ways away--but Rockstar seems to be preparing for its release already. In fact, determined fans of Grand Theft Auto V have discovered references to secret missions in the latest update that connect to RDR 2. Some of them will even grant you in-game items to use in Red Dead. [Update: Rockstar has officially announced the crossover mission.]
The Guru Team, famous for solving the UFO mystery through mining game files, discovered mentions of RDR 2 deep in GTA V's Doomsday Heist update files. Specifically, they found descriptions of a Double-Action Revolver that'll be unlocked in Red Dead if you complete a corresponding mission in GTA.
After that, they unearthed assets for a chest and a note, as well as references to Boles Overland Stagecoach Co., a company that has also appeared in previous trailers for RDR 2. Finally, they discovered the code for the mission itself--which gives a glimpse of how it'll likely work.
According to the code (which is subject to change), players will have to complete a scavenger hunt to find the six-shooter, then take photos at various places. It appears that some of those locations have long been intriguing to the GTA community. For instance, it has been speculated that an unmarked grave is an oblique reference to RDR 1--and one of the locations the Guru Team found is that grave.
None of this has been announced by Rockstar yet, and we likely won't see mention of it until closer to Red Dead's release. The game is currently scheduled for launch in Q2 2018 on PS4 and Xbox One, and although we don't know much about it, chances are it'll have "recurrent consumer spending."
If you've yet to try 2016's Hitman reboot, now could be a good time to dive in. The game's first proper chapter, set in Paris, is currently free on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In addition, developer IO has announced the game's Christmas-themed missions are going free of charge for a limited time.
The game's introduction has been free since June, but Paris marks Hitman's first fully-fledged portion, and it's a great example of what the game offers. This free version of the level includes everything you'd get if you'd paid for it, and it's free from now until January 5--though if you download it now, it will remain free for you after that date.
Hitman's Holiday Pack is also available for nothing right now after being introduced this time last year. It includes two thieves attempting to ruin Christmas by stealing everyone's presents, and it also lets you throw a brick at Santa (don't try this at home).
We enjoyed the Paris chapter here at GameSpot. Critic Peter Brown awarded it a 7/10, writing: "Hitman's a veritable playground that will delight you with its open-ended design, comical NPCs, and contract creation tools. These qualities, and the flexibility to be as hardcore or laid back as you want, are much appreciated, even if they don't disguise Hitman's lesser qualities." Read more in our Hitman Episode One review or read our verdict of the game as a whole in our Hitman review.
Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead parent publisher Take-Two Interactive has opened an indie game label and it has some big names lined up for it already. The unit is called Private Division, and it is described as a "developer-focused publisher that empowers independent studios to develop the games that they are passionate about." The company will also work with studios to help them make their games "critically and commercially successful on a global scale."
Private Division has an impressive roster already. The company will publish Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Desilets' Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, along with an unannounced RPG from Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment. Private Division will also publish an unannounced RPG from former DICE developers David Goldfarb and Ben Cousins at their new studio The Outsiders. Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto's unannounced sci-fi FPS at his studio V1 Interactive will also be published by Private Division. Take-Two acquired the space flight simulator Kerbal Space Program earlier this year, and Private Division is now the game's publisher.
Take-Two indie boss Michael Worosz said in a statement that the company has been laying the foundation for what would become Private Division for more than two years. "We see a growing number of independent studios in our industry creating high quality games based on new IP, and our focus is supporting these types of developers and projects, and ultimately bringing incredible experiences to gamers around the world," he explained.
Private Division is based in New York City and has offices in Seattle and Munich. It is Take-Two's third label, joining Rockstar Games and 2K. You're going to have to wait a while for Private Division's first releases, as none of them are currently planned for release until after March 31, 2019.
Bungie has announced Destiny 2's first-ever webcomic--and it's coming soon. The comic is titled "Fall of Osiris," and it's written by Ryan North, who wrote Marvel's The Unbreakable Squirrel Girl. Collaborating with North is Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris narrative lead Christine Thompson. The interior art was drawn by community member Ze Carlos, while the cover, which you can see below, was done by Marcio Takara (All-New Wolverine).
The comic will focus on the character Osiris. "Osiris was once the champion of the Last City. Vanguard Commander. Seeker of secrets and discoverer of wonders," reads a line from Bungie's description. "And then everything changed. How did Osiris go from hero to traitor?"
Image credit: Bungie.net
Fall of Osiris will be available for free on Bungie.net. The cover art teases that it's instalment 01, so there could be more coming later. A release date for the first issue has not been announced but Bungie says it is "coming soon."
In other Destiny 2 news, Bungie has confirmed that the holidays are coming to the game as part of an event called The Dawning. This gives the game's social spaces a wintry makeover, including the ability to have snowball fights. Additionally, the Crucible mode Mayhem is coming as part of the event, which kicks off of December 19.
Fortnite is getting into the holiday spirit. Starting today, its holiday-themed event for the PvE Save the World mode is now live, adding a whole bunch of new activities and items to try out. It's part of a bigger update that also includes some changes and additions for the Battle Royale mode.
Survive the Holidays is highlighted by a new questline that tasks you with bringing "the holiday spirit to everyone in the husk-ridden world," according to developer Epic's patch notes. You'll get a bunch of Snowflake tickets for participating in the event, which can be used to buy special items like Holiday Survival Llamas.
In addition, the update adds several, more difficult versions of certain mini-bosses. Husk, Husky, and Smasher have all been made tougher and feature randomized gameplay variations. The update also overhauls the Survive the Storm mode, which features a winter-themed map, 3-day and 7-day versions, and new enemies.
Finally, Survive the Holidays also adds new Heroes and weapons. You can now play as Sarah Claus (an Alchemist), Blitzen BASE Kyle (a Warden), Snow Stalker Jonesy (a Demolisher), and Fragment Flurry Jess (a Reclaimer). On the weapons side, you can try out a couple of new snipers and a snowball launcher.
The Battle Royale mode also gets a few winter-themed additions. You can try out the Snowball Launcher, and there'll also be a holiday Battle Bus as well as "other gifts waiting for you around the island." Epic also implemented a bunch of tweaks and changes to gameplay, which you can read about over at its website.
All of this is available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. This event marks the beginning of Fortnite Season 2, which comes with a lot of other items and activities. Buying a new Battle Pass will get you access to all the cosmetics Season 2 runs from now until February 20, and you can read all of its patch notes here.
Microsoft has launched its Year In Review website that tracks your notable Xbox One gaming accomplishments and other statistics from 2017. You can go to this page to see things like your most-played games, total number of achievements and Gamerscore earned, number of friends made, and top genres by hour.
The site also displays the most where you played the most, while it also tracks how you compare based on things like achievements earned, hours played, and more. The data range is January 1, 2017 through October 31, so if you're a big Call of Duty: WWII player, none of the stats from that game are counted since it came out in November. Still, this should be generally representative of your Xbox gaming accomplishments in 2017.
GameSpot's own year-end features continue with our countdown to the reveal of our Game of the Year recipient. Today we revealed that Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is No. 7.
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