Since its launch on PC and last-generation consoles in 2013, Payday 2 has proven to be one of the more popular co-op shooters around. Considering that, it's perhaps unsurprising to see it make its way to Nintendo's hugely popular new platform. But given the game's largely online nature, it also raises questions about how well this version retains Payday 2's established charms. The answer is simple: not well. Yes, it's still Payday 2--full of all the sass, swearing, and swelling dubstep you remember--but almost every aspect is outdated or diminished in some way.
Payday 2 is a first-person shooter about pulling off big heists, then using the money from those jobs to buy weapons and equipment to better tackle the harder heists that lay ahead. Heists can range from a simple smash-and-grab at a local jewelry store to an elaborate, three-day plan set across numerous locations to bring down a drug and weapons cartel.
Using the aptly named Crime.net--the in-game database where mission contracts are offered--you sign up to each mission, set your loadout, and plan your approach. Some missions also offer the illusion of stealth, but stealth in Payday 2 rarely lasts for long. Every mission largely descends into a violent shootout at some point, but thankfully the variety in core mission structure is such that this isn't a problem. It's one of the game's ultimate strengths, and that, at least, hasn't changed in this edition.
Team up with other capable players and you'll see why people are still playing Payday 2 despite its age: it can be very fun, if chaotic. Playing with a full room of up to three other players speeds up the game immensely, giving the heists a sense of urgency that's missing when you're forced to play solo. Although it's hindered by the Switch's frustrating lack of voice chat, your teammates' status is conveyed in the UI, so it doesn't take much to see whether they're in trouble or not.
Every heist is built with teamwork in mind, so if you're playing on the go or without an internet connection to link up with other players, you'll be stuck completing many of the more elaborate and laborious tasks with AI cohorts, which rarely goes well.
While not outright obstacles, the AI can be utterly useless. These accomplices never engage in mission tasks. They won't help you pick up loot or unlock doors, nor will they help you restart the drill you're breaking into the vault with when it inevitably fails. They take a couple of seconds to react to enemy fire, and also never place down any support equipment. Occasionally, they'll even fail to revive you, instead standing over you until the counter hits zero and you're put into custody, effectively a respawn counter. And unless you've taken a hostage that can be used to negotiate your release, you'll fail the mission and get nothing. It can be downright disheartening at the best of times. The worst part about this is some of these exact problems have been fixed via patches for other versions of the game.
Exclusive to this version is Joy--a new character sporting unique gear and weapons--but in all other respects this version of Payday 2 is outdated. It's missing some weapons, heists, masks, and numerous patches that helped improve other versions of the game. It does have a handful of never-before-seen heists, but existing players hoping to enjoy the fruits of past updates on a new platform will be disappointed when they see what's missing.
Visually, Payday 2 is a bit of a rollercoaster on Switch. In handheld mode, it runs at 720p, at 30 FPS. On one hand, the game looks pretty good given the handheld hardware at play, but it's also nowhere near the standard seen on even now-outdated consoles. It's generally quite dark, and it can be tough to see where you're going in some of the nighttime missions. Lining up long-range shots is also tough on the smaller screen, and when out in some of the larger, more open environments, the frame rate can take some serious dips. But it's a much better experience overall when compared to playing in docked mode, which, at 1080p on a big screen, emphasizes the game's grungier textures. Everything from environments and characters to weapons--even the menus--looks woefully dated and suffers from greater slowdown than when played undocked.
Visuals aren't the only important factor when deciding whether to play handheld or in docked mode, though. Ignoring performance, the game easily feels best when played with the Pro controller. Playing with Joy-Cons can be a little awkward, with the small and cumbersome analog sticks making it difficult to line up some of your shots. Part of this is alleviated by automatic reticle snapping when aiming down sights, at least.
Ultimately it doesn't matter which way you decide to play; you're having to compromise somehow, which is the story of Payday 2 on the Switch. It is an entirely functional video game that (in most respects) looks, feels and plays like Payday 2, and given the right circumstances, can also be a bit of fun. But given how readily available it is on other platforms and the concessions made with this version, it doesn't highlight Payday 2's unique brand of shooting and looting the way other platforms have for years.
The Total War series continues to go strong after nearly 20 years, but it didn't start out as a no-brainer success story. The debut title, Shogun: Total War, was released in 2000 by Creative Assembly, a developer that was not exactly known for its experience with the strategy genre.
Prior to Shogun's release, many of the studio's previous titles had been based on rugby and cricket. And while the past two decades have seen it try its hands at some different types of games--it developed 2014 horror game Alien: Isolation, for instance--it has almost exclusively focused on strategy games with Total War in the title.
In the video above, we dive into the history of the Total War series, which now consists of more than a dozen games. We look primarily at the core entries in the series, which have often been based on historical settings--although recent years have also brought Warhammer-inspired entries, which we also explore. Although the games share a familiar underpinning, Creative Assembly has managed to introduce wrinkles to keep the series fresh across so many titles, thanks in part to shifting between radically different settings.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Arc System Works has been a mainstay of the fighting game community since the release of the original Guilty Gear. After its recent success with Dragon Ball FighterZ, the developers are looking to their immediate future with BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, with grander plans to expand their audience. In BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, launching June 5 in North America, characters from Persona 4 Arena, RWBY, Under Night: In-Birth--and of course BlazBlue--will face off in fast-paced tag battles. Launching with 20 characters, along with another 20 set for post-launch DLC, Cross Tag Battle, pulls from a number of games from Arc's past while also bringing in some first-timers to the fray.
Using a more accessible gameplay setup designed around a traditional controller, Cross Tag Battle incorporates many of the characters from their respective games into a fighting game that's easy to pick up, but challenging to master. We had the opportunity to chat with president and founder of Arc System Works Minoru Kidooka, BlazBlue creator Toshimichi Mori, and Guilty Gear director Daisuke Ishiwatari, they spoke about their plans to expand in the future, and how they want to dominate the Evo fighting game tournament in the years to come.
Arc System Works has been around for sometime, celebrating 30 years in 2018. Can you talk about how it was like seeing the developer grow over the years, and how things are looking at the moment?
Minoru Kidooka: Being the 30th anniversary for us, it's all really thanks to our fans. The fans recognize us for our fighting games, but there are a lot of other games we've made in the past as well. But their passion for our games have kept us going for many years. This game is one of the pinnacles of our 30 years, but we've also opened a new North American office, along with the success of Dragon Ball FighterZ. We didn't expect to do this all at once, but we want to move forward in big ways. We're always thinking about how we're going to survive for the next ten to 30 years--so in a way, this anniversary for us a new start for us to continue growing.
Toshimichi Mori: Thank you for recognizing the 30th anniversary, and we'd also like to add that it's the tenth anniversary for BlazBlue, and the twentieth anniversary for Guilty Gear. So it's really a great time for these characters in the game. But at the same time, this game isn't necessarily the end-product of our years making fighting games, more of like the first step of something more.
Can you talk about how you went about incorporating all these characters into Cross Tag Battle? Especially considering that they all come from different titles with their own unique combat mechanics.
Mori: There was originally a controller set-up called the Stylish Mode for earlier Arc System works games; that was the basis for the Persona games. The Stylish Mode is the basis for the combat mechanics in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle as well. But for this, we feature characters from other games and we had to completely redo the controls. It took time to design how to bring in RWBY [characters], the first time these in a game, but we were able to get it to work after some time. Under Night characters were a bit of a challenge, as their mechanics were set and had to be redesigned to fit our game.
That's not to say that the game is easy, far from it. While you can do a number of moves pretty quickly, the number of ways to execute them in combos and tag mechanics is quite complex. It should be quite fun to see how players take advantage of the mechanics.
In addition to the anniversary, Arc System Works will have three unique titles present during the Evo 2018 fighting game tournament, which is a rare honor as most developers have just one game. Do you have comments about that?
Kidooka: Yes, we've got three titles at EVO, and that's exciting. Guilty Gear Xrd, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and Dragon Ball FighterZ--which we developed with Bandai Namco. That's all exciting, but we want to dominate EVO entirely. Maybe in 10 years. [Laughs] Last year, we had a booth at EVO for everyone to come visit, and it was a big success for us.
Daisuke Ishiwatari: As you know, Arc System Works' titles over the years have been mostly fighting games, and with big titles like Street Fighter and Tekken on the market, we've been mostly focused on offering more niche titles that offer a bit more originality. While we have a dedicated following, they're still niche games. So moving forward, we want to bring in more fans to understand the Arc System Style.
Kidooka: This year, we'll be trying to figure out how to make our games more user-friendly and how we can become closer to the fans. It's really an honor to have three games at EVO. But oftentimes, we find that it's mostly Japanese players making it to the finals. With the new American office, we want to expand our user base. We want to someday see Western players make it to the finals with our games. That will show that we've made the games more approachable. We want a more global user base, and we'll be working hard to make that happen.
Looking back, are there any games that stand out over the years as your favorites? Whether you simply liked working on them or because they represent something greater for you.
Kidooka: I have two answers, because I'm currently president, but I also started out as a programmer. The foundation of this company is Guilty Gear, and that came out for the PlayStation. That took three years to make, and there was a big discussion to figure out whether or not to make it 2D or 3D. We settled on 2D and there were comments from other developers asking why we were making it 2D instead of 3D. 20 years later, and the franchise is still alive and well with many fans all over the world. As president, releasing the original Guilty Gear was very important for me.
But as a programmer, there were a lot of nightmares I don't want to revisit. But I will say that the first project for Arc System Works was the Master System port for Double Dragon, and now today, we own the IP. In the future, Double Dragon is definitely an IP we'd love to use.
Metal Gear Survive is demanding, oppressive, obtuse, and not what most people would traditionally think of as "fun." I've played for hours and haven't achieved anything meaningful. My most dependable method of defeating the zombie-like Wanderers littered around its barren world is still poking at them with a sharp stick from the other side of a chain link fence. And I spend the majority of my time throwing up because I drank dirty water and contracted a horrible stomach bug.
And yet, I keep coming back to it. Not just because I'm obligated to soldier on and review the game, but because on the other side of the desperation and stress is a small nugget of satisfaction; the sweet release of endorphins that comes with completing an objective. I'm the rat pushing a button for a food pellet, and by god I can't stop.
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This manipulation of human psychology as game design has always been a tenet of role-playing games, but it has become a pervasive part of most genres of late. Metal Gear Survive pushes it to its most ruthless, demanding extremes to make good on its classification as an action game focused on survival.
The game is set shortly after the attack on Mother Base in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. During this siege, a wormhole into a parallel world appears, sucking in a chunk of Mother Base, along with the members of Snake's Diamond Dogs and the attacking XOF forces. Your character is seemingly killed or rendered unconscious while defending Mother Base, but is brought back by an enigmatic UN scientist and constantly frowning Laurence Fishburne look-alike named Goodluck.
Upon waking up, you're told you've been infected by a parasite that has overrun Dite, the world on the other side of the aforementioned wormhole. Your mission is to travel there to seek out a cure for yourself, and also find out what has become of your comrades, including a close friend. In typical Metal Gear Solid fashion, there's more to Goodluck than meets the eye, and since the parasite that transforms people into Wanderers first showed up during the Vietnam War, there's some questions around its true nature too. Dite also happens to have a special crystalised resource called Kuban, which can be extracted from Wanderers and harvested from the environment.
From the moment you land in Dite, you're on the back foot. Survive wants you to know that success in this hellscape will come through struggling and pushing forward in the face of overwhelming adversity, and to that end the game tracks hunger, thirst, and oxygen on-screen. These ever-visible bars are constantly depleting, counting down to death if not kept topped up. The food and water needed to replenish them are scarce, and even the act of seeking them out expends resources in a way that will make you pause and really think about if it's all worth it. It's a grueling grind where the material rewards offer just a fleeting respite.
But all this also serves to intensify that rush of satisfaction you get when you manage to complete a mission or successfully take a trip to gather edible herbs, meat, or dirty water that has a good chance of making you sick. By stacking the odds so heavily against you, these successes--big or small--feel like an act of defiance.
By stacking the odds so heavily against you, successes--big or small--feel like an act of defiance
The narrative is advanced by taking on main missions that send you into a distant, poisonous cloud of dust that envelops your home base. There you're tasked with recovering data that can restore Vergil, the AI that ran previous missions into Dite, to full functionality and, hopefully, help track down a cure and return everyone home. These operations usually send the player into Wanderer-infested territory, where Survive's rudimentary combat comes into play. The Phantom Pain felt like the meeting of slick, refined combat mechanics and enemy behaviour that was dynamic, reactive, and very often surprising, Survive--in its opening hours--feels restrictive and lethargic, and its enemies do little to challenge you outside of attacking in large groups.
Since you're burning resources, be it recovery items, stamina, or weapon durability, engaging them is usually a fruitless endeavour. The Kuban energy that can be harvested from Wanderers is the only reason to actually take them on, and since Kuban is used to craft items as well as level up the character and unlock perks that improve stats or add combat moves, it's a good one. But the smarter player will isolate straggling Wanderers and bring them down by either approaching from behind to deliver a one-hit kill, jabbing them in the big crystal weak points located where their heads should be, or firing an arrow at them from a distance. It's not very exciting.
Of course, I'm still early in the game, so there's plenty of room for it to develop into something more, especially as additional enemy types are introduced and I gain access to advanced weaponry. The game certainly is motioning towards this, as I recently encountered the larger Bomber enemy type, which has a less opportune weak point and a giant pustule on its head that would probably have exploded had I stuck around to find out.
The set-piece moments thus far have been when I've tried to activate wormhole transporters, which enable Survive's equivalent of fast travel. Doing this summons a wave of Wanderers to your location, and at this point the game becomes about building fortifications and holding off advancements long enough for the machine to power up and release a wave of energy that wipes them out. To its credit, these moments are tense, high-octane bouts of action that involve running between locations, managing enemy numbers, setting up barriers, and maintaining your own health and stamina.
Given that Metal Gear Survive only became playable to press on its launch day, I haven't played enough to deliver a more comprehensive review. There are other aspects to its gameplay that haven't had the time to properly develop: the base building, crafting, and online multiplayer for example. And there are also characters who are slowly appearing that need the chance to grow before I can make a judgment on them.
I'm still playing Metal Gear Survive and formulating my thoughts, but, from the outset, there's something strangely compelling about it, despite the fact it's designed to treat players so harshly. Fundamentally, the loop of exploring, scavenging, and marginally improving your existence in Dite is satisfying. That, in essence, is the core of all survival games and what has drawn people to titles like Don't Starve, Subnautica, Terraria, and even Stardew Valley. In that respect, Survive succeeds in what it sets out to achieve--it's perhaps one of the most hardcore survival games available. But there's also room for it to grow into something more and put its unique stamp on the genre.
Metal Gear Survive's high-profile baggage, and the fact that it is created from the building blocks of a much different experience, provide more to consider and analyse. I'm going to stick with it and in the coming days will deliver a finalised review. For now though, if the idea of a brutal game where you scavenge and fight for survival sounds like the way you want to spend your gaming hours, it's worth considering.
Pokemon Go's second Community Day is here. The real-world event takes place today, February 24, and will give players around the world another opportunity to earn in-game bonuses and obtain a rare Pokemon with a special move.
Unlike past real-world events for Pokemon Go, Community Day isn't localized at a specific venue; rather, the event takes place during a set window of time, which will differ depending upon your region. In the US, the Community Day kicks off at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET and runs until 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET, while Europe's event begins at 10 AM GMT and concludes at 1 PM GMT.
During the event hours, players will earn triple the normal amount of Stardust for any Pokemon they capture, while Lure Modules will last for three hours. Additionally, each Community Day features a particular rare Pokemon, which will spawn in greater numbers and is capable of learning an exclusive move that it can't normally use in Pokemon Go. This time around, the featured Pokemon is the Dragon-type Dratini.
For the duration of the Community Day, players will encounter increased swarms of Dratini. If you manage to evolve its evolution, Dragonair, into a Dragonite during the event, the Pokemon will learn the powerful Dragon-type attack Draco Meteor. This applies to any Dragonair you own, even ones that were obtained prior to this month's Community Day. However, the Pokemon will only learn Draco Meteor if it evolves during the event hours.
In addition to this month's Community Day, players still have an opportunity to capture Pokemon Go's latest Legendary Pokemon, Rayquaza. The powerful Gen 3 Dragon-type will appear in Raid Battles at Gyms until March 16. Rayquaza arrived earlier this month alongside a new batch of Gen 3 Pokemon, which also included Salamence, Metagross, and Altaria. In addition to Rayquaza, players also have another chance to catch Kyogre and Groudon as part of Pokemon Go Legendary Week, which is underway now.
In Kingdom Come: Deliverance, there are a multitude of mechanics to understand and master. At times the game alludes to them, but the majority of the time, you're left to figure them out on your own through experimentation. With so many veiled intricacies and secrets, we've compiled 9 tips to help you on your journey through medieval Kingdom of Bohemia.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is out now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It's the debut game from developer Warhorse Studios. It's been in development for a long time; it was originally Kickstarted back in 2014, and you can check out our 2014 preview of Kingdom Come here.
As you'd expect, food is an essential resource to have on you at all times, but like real food, it can go stale and eventually become rotten (with the exception of dried meats and fruits). But otherwise, every crust of bread and stray apple you collect will turn rotten if you aren't paying attention, so keep an eye on the appropriate meter when browsing your inventory for a bite to eat.
Prioritize Saving
Saving often may seem like a trivial thing to point out for a guide like this, but during our first few hours spent with the game, we were shocked by how paramount it is to do so. Kingdom Come is (at launch) prone to occasional quest-breaking bugs, so saving at regular intervals ensures that you'll only have to backtrack a few minutes should something force you to reload a save. If you're wealthy enough to afford plenty of Savior Schnapps, you should have no problem saving whenever you're feeling satisfied with your progress, but otherwise keep a mental map of nearby beds so you can easily save for free whenever you feel the time is right. Just don't overdo the save-by-sleep method; Henry is only allowed so many hours of sleep per day and you may need those hours for healing purposes.
Use Blunt Weapons Against Plate Armor
When battling foes suited in plate armor, you'll notice that sharp blades are generally ineffective, unless you're strategically targeting the unprotected areas near forearms, legs, and faces. However, there are times when you're facing enemies that are completely decked out from head-to-toe in armor. In these instances, try using a blunt weapon instead, as it'll deal more consistent damage than a sharp blade.
You Don't Always Have To Fight With Honor
When approaching an enemy, try peppering them with arrows before they notice, or dropping them with a shot to the eye (especially if they don't have a helmet). Also, you can quickly damage foot soldiers with handheld weapons while on horseback. For example, you can fire an arrow at an enemy while continually keeping your distance from them. These tactics may not be the most flashy, but they can be effective during the beginning when you lack the swords and shields needed to stand a chance.
Keep Your Sword Sharp
If you want to increase your odds of survival in battle, keeping your sword sharp is essential. To sharpen your blade, head to any Blacksmith and look for the nearby Grindstone. The directions from there vary depending on the control scheme you're using.
On a controller, repeatedly press the left shoulder button to spin up the stone wheel. When it's at the appropriate speed, lower your sword using the right shoulder button and use the right stick to tilt the blade up and down until sparks begin to fly--the indication that you've found the ideal angle. Then, use the left analog stick to move the angled blade across the stone.
If you're playing on PC, use the spacebar to rotate the grindstone, and the mouse scroll wheel to manage the pressure of the blade on the surface. The mouse itself dictates the angle position of your blade.
Disguise Yourself to Sneak Into Enemy Camps
Want to enter a Cuman or Bandit camp without getting attacked? Try stealing their armor and posing as one of them. However, be careful they don't get suspicious, since if they ask you what's going on and you haven't learned their language yet, they'll easily see through your disguise. Keep your interactions few and far between while in disguise, and only commit the crime when you're sure nobody else is watching.
Dress For The Occasion
People in Kingdom Come: Deliverance are quick to judge a book by its cover. Imagine that Henry, our humble hero, is a book. If you're having trouble convincing a noble or a merchant to get what you want, try sprucing your cover. Take a bath or wear nice clothes; this will help in gaining their favor and increasing your odds of success. If you're having trouble talking to more low-class citizens, then try wearing beggars' clothing and spending time exploring to dirty yourself up and get on their level.
If All Else Fails, Surrender
If you're nearing death during an intense sword fight, some enemies will let you surrender, which is particularly useful if you haven't saved your game in a long time. While you might walk away with your pride and flesh wounded, at least you won't lose your progress.
However, during the prologue in Skalitz, never agree to surrender when accused of a crime. You do not escape jail and collect $200. You die.
Learn To Read
Throughout your adventure in the Kingdom of Bohemia, you'll often run into scholars. While they don't have much to offer you in terms of advancing your skills on their own, they can teach you how to read. Got a bunch of books accumulating in your inventory? Now you can read them to acquire bonuses to your various skills, like combat and alchemy.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance has frequently drawn comparisons to Elder Scrolls games like Skyrim, and while that's apt to some degree--they are expansive, open-world games that present you with a great deal of freedom--there are other areas where they greatly differ. There's of course the complete absence of anything magical in Kingdom Come, which seeks to deliver a world based more in history than fantasy, but combat is also quite different.
Put simply, there's a lot more to account for during a fight in Kingdom Come. There's much more going on than simply hacking away with your weapon--you have to bear in mind the type of armor your enemy is wearing, the type of damage your weapon deals, and more if you hope to be truly effective.
In the video above, we walk you through some tips on how to excel at combat in Kingdom Come. We look at the different weapon types, leveraging combos to deal extra damage, pulling off perfect blocks and master strikes, and some other useful tidbits. One thing you'll want to always do is stay on the move, both to keep your opponents off-balance and to ensure you're in proper position to attack. Unlike many games, you'll be unable to swing your weapon if doing so would cause it to go through a nearby wall.
Kingdom Come launched recently on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It's an experience not without its faults, but those don't necessarily mean it's worth overlooking. As our Kingdom Come review states, "It's an impressive and unflinching look at the medieval era that transports you inside the compelling story of a real person caught in the middle of a civil war. As such, this is one of those rare, memorable games that stays with you long after you stop playing. While quirks and bugs can certainly be frustrating, none of these issues interfere much with the unique and captivating nature of the overall experience."
Persona fans have a new reason to be hyped up for the upcoming rhythm game spin-offs; Japan's PlayStation Blog has revealed that both Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night will be PSVR compatible. There were no details as to what exactly the virtual reality portions entail, just an addendum on the blog post saying that these games will support PSVR. All we can really do is use our imagination, and at least hope that we'll get to either stand atop Tartarus as we watch Mitsuru and Akihiko bust their moves, or get down with Morgana and Makoto at Shibuya Crossing.
Persona 3 originally released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, but also had a re-release with Persona 3: FES that added new content. Persona 3 Portable came to PSP in 2010, which added the option to play as a female lead where dialogue, social links, and characters were improved to fit the new protagonist. With the new dancing game, we see the return of our old friends from Gekkoukan High School, but with all new 3D character models in the same vein as Catherine and Persona 5. Many of the songs we know and love are included in the game along with some new tracks and remixes.
The ultra-stylish Persona 5 came to the West last year and featured one of the greatest original soundtracks in games. Series composer Shoji Meguro fused several genres like acid-jazz, metal, and downtempo to create music that was both unique and empowering. It's no surprise that a rhythm game was going to follow; we definitely saw it coming. Plenty of amazing songs from the game make their way into the Dancing Star Night tracklist in addition to new remixes.
Both games will not have a traditional story campaign, but there will be a mode that features original settings and character interactions. However, developer and publisher Atlus hasn't revealed much of the new mode.
Those that buy the "Persona Dancing All-Star Triple Pack" for PS4 will get both new games in addition to a downloadable version of 2015's Persona 4: Dancing All Night, which was previously a PS Vita exclusive.
For more details on both games, you can read our previous article covering the different editions available and what's included, and their full tracklists. Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night are set to release in Japan on May 24 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. There's currently no release date or window for North America and Europe.
Video cards might be incredibly expensive right now due to the cryptocurrency mining bonanza, but a few options for the other key component to a good gaming PC are going for cheap right now. Both flagship consumer CPUs from AMD and Intel are on sale for well below MSRP. The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X can be snagged on Ebay via Newegg for $300 USD, and the Intel Core i7-8700K is available on Walmart for $313.
The Ryzen 7 1800X CPU, which released in March 2017, sports eight cores and 16 threads and is the top-end processor to show off AMD's new Zen architecture at the consumer level. It runs a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and a boost clock speed of 4.0GHz, but it's capable of reaching higher frequencies given the right cooling system and hardware configuration. Note that only motherboards with the X370, X300, or B350 chipset allow for unlocked overclocking. The 1800X originally launched at $500 and it was an example of unprecedented value by offering more CPU cores at an affordable price. Now it's even more cost-effective at just $300.
Intel's 8th generation of Core CPUs (Coffee Lake) was the company's answer to AMD's Ryzen family. With the Core i7-8700K, Intel bumped up the core count of its consumer flagship processor (from four to six) for the first time since the Core line started in 2008. In terms of performance, the 8700K made noticeable strides in terms of performance from past generations by virtue of being a six-core 12-thread CPU. Its base clock speed sits at 3.7GHz, and it can bump one core up to 4.7GHz or two cores to 4.6GHz through Intel's Turbo Boost technology. However, the CPU requires motherboards with a Z370 chipset, which means the 8700K is not compatible with any previous motherboard. The 8700K launched in October last year for with an MSRP of $360; now on sale for $313, it's one of the better deals we've seen for this processor.
Both CPUs prove to be great for gaming, although Ryzen CPUs tend to fall a bit behind their Intel counterparts in benchmarks. AMD does offer a higher core count for a lower price, which makes Ryzen an attractive option for those who multitask and do a lot of video production/encoding and image rendering. If you want to learn more about how these CPU perform, be sure to read through our Ryzen 7 1800X review and Core i7-8700K review.
When Warcraft, the live-action movie based on the MMORPG video game series and novels, arrived in theaters in 2016, it was neither the box office or critical hit that many had been hoping for. Now, nearly two years later, the movie's director is explaining why that may be the case.
In an interview with Syfy to promote his new Netflix movie Mute--which is also being hailed as something less than a smash hit--Duncan Jones is very open about the troubling production. From the sound of it, filming of the movie sounds incredibly contentious.
"Warcraft was a political minefield as far as filmmaking goes. And I think a lot of the rewriting in that, over the course of making the movie was really, really difficult and at times disheartening," he says. "Just being forced to make changes and compromises just due to the politics and the nature of that film. So, that was a real heart-wrencher. But I've learned a lot and I've become more mature and able to deal with those kinds of situations because I've been through it now. But at the time, that felt pretty traumatic."
At the heart of the issue, Jones believes, was turmoil at Legendary Pictures--the studio producingWarcraft. "It was mainly studio politics. You know, Legendary had an incredibly turbulent period while we were making Warcraft," he says. "They were associated with Warner Bros. They left Warner Bros. and joined Universal. They were sold to Wanda, this Chinese conglomerate. They lost or replaced a number of their producing staff halfway through our movie."
Jones also points out the importance of the Warcraft brand to Blizzard, the studio behind the game. "We were also working with Blizzard, who understandably were very careful about what happened with the movie because their bread and butter was the game Warcraft, which was bringing in a billion dollars a year for them," he explains. While he admits that the movie's returns would likely be "small potatoes" compared to what Blizzard makes from subscriptions to the game, it was still very protective of its brand. "It was really a very active political landscape," he says.
Still, the experience of making Warcraft hasn't necessarily turned Jones off to doing approaching another big-budget property. However, he would certainly approach it in a different way. "I'm a lot wiser now," he says.
Although there's no new mainline Fable game announced, you can return to the land of Albion right now. Fable Fortune, the collectible card game based on the fantasy series, has fully launched on Xbox One and PC.
Fable Fortune has been playable through Microsoft's Game Preview program since last summer, but developers Mediatonic and Flaming Fowl launched the 1.0 version of the game this week. As with other collectible card games, Fable Fortune is free to play, but it offers additional card packs for purchase.
For the launch version of the game, the developers have also added a bunch of new features and implemented changes. These include Achievements, co-op voice chat, new cards, and deck-building tips. Additionally, low-cost cards have been rebalanced to reduce their effectiveness in swinging the course of a match.
Finally, the developers are also holding a bunch of temporary events to provide rewards like double XP and free cards. There will be a new event each week for the next five weeks; you can read more about Fable Fortune's upcoming events here.
Metal Gear Survive launched earlier this week, and Konami has just revealed some of its upcoming plans for the game. Specifically, a new cooperative mission type, Rescue Mission, is coming to the game next month.
These missions will give players an additional way to team up beyond simply exploring the game's world and completing Salvage Missions. The Rescues task you and your team with fighting into enemy territory and saving soldiers in need. According to the publisher, they'll require a "whole new level of cooperation" above Salvage Missions, although Konami has said little about them beyond this.
The mission type will be added to the game in March. In the meantime, Konami will offer a Daily Mission from the current set of co-op missions that offer greater rewards and special modifiers. One of these battle conditions is called HellFire, which appears to light all of the enemies on fire. There's also a special weekly mission to complete.
Every year, the Academy Awards honor the best movies of the year, as well as the visionaries and actors behind them. Also, every time, we all scramble to try and watch a bunch of the nominated films before they come out. The biggest problem is trying to find every movie, especially when you're not sure which ones are in theaters and which ones are available to stream.
The 90th Academy Awards--more commonly known as the Oscars--is coming to ABC on Sunday, March 4 at 8PM ET/5PM PT, and before you sit down to watch the show, you're probably wondering where you can buy, rent, or stream some of nominated films. While there are a lot of different services to choose from, most people use one or two, whether it's streaming with subscription services like Netflix, Amazon, or HBO or buying and renting movies through iTunes, Google Play, or Vudu. Here is where you can watch and buy every nominated film for the 2018 Academy Awards.
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail
Nominated For: Documentary (Feature)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Fandango, Google, iTunes, Vudu
Where To Watch: Amazon Prime
All The Money In The World
Nominated For: Actor in a supporting role (Christopher Plummer)
Where To Watch: In theaters
Baby Driver
Nominated For: Film editing, Sound editing, Sound mixing
Where To Buy: Amazon, Fandango, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store, and PSN
Beauty and the Beast
Nominated For: Costume design, Production design
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, Fandango, iTunes, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Where To Watch: Netflix
The Big Sick
Nominated For: Writing (Original screenplay)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Nominated For: Actress in a leading role (Margot Robbie), Actress in a supporting role (Allison Janney), Film editing
Where To Watch: In theaters
Icarus
Nominated For: Documentary (Feature)
Where To Watch: Netflix
Knife Skills
Nominated For: Documentary (Short Subject)
Where To Buy: Amazon, iTunes, Google Play
Kong: Skull Island
Nominated For: Visual effects
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Where To Watch: HBO Go, HBO Now
Lady Bird
Nominated For: Best picture, Actress in a leading role (Saoirse Ronan), Actress in a supporting role (Laurie Metcalf), Directing, Writing (Original screenplay)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Last Men in Aleppo
Nominated For: Documentary (Feature)
Where To Buy: Amazon, and iTunes
Where To Watch: Netflix
Logan
Nominated For: Writing (Adapted screenplay)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Where To Watch: HBO Go, HBO Now
Lou
Nominated For: Animated (Short)
Where To Buy: Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, and Vudu
Loving Vincent
Nominated For: Animated (Feature)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Marshall
Nominated For: Music (Original song)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Molly's Game
Nominated For: Writing (Adapted screenplay)
Where To Watch: In theaters
Mudbound
Nominated For: Actress in a supporting role (Mary J. Blige), Cinematography, Music (Original song), Writing (Adapted screenplay)
Where To Watch: Netflix
My Nephew Emmett
Nominated For: Short Film (Live Action)
Where To Watch: Currently unavailable
Negative Space
Nominated For: Animated (Short)
Where To Watch: Currently unavailable
Phantom Thread
Nominated For: Best picture, Actor in a leading role (Daniel Day-Lewis), Actress in a supporting role (Lesley Manville), Costume design, Directing, Music (Original score)
Where To Watch: In theaters
The Post
Nominated For: Best picture, Actress in a leading role (Meryl Streep)
Where To Watch: In theaters
Revolting Rhymes
Nominated For: Animated (Short)
Where To Buy: Amazon
Where To Watch: Netflix
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Nominated For: Actor in a leading role (Denzel Washington)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
The Shape of Water
Nominated For: Best picture, Actress in a leading role (Sally Hawkins), Actor in a supporting role (Richard Jenkins), Actress in a supporting role (Octavia Spencer), Cinematography, Costume design, Directing, Film editing, Music (Original score), Production design, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects
Nominated For: Best picture, Actress in a leading role (Frances McDormand), Actor in a supporting role (Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell), Film editing, Music (Original score), Writing (Original screenplay)
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Traffic Stop
Nominated For: Documentary (Short Subject)
Where To Watch: HBO Now
Victoria & Abdul
Nominated For: Costume design
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
War of the Planet of the Apes
Nominated For: Visual effects
Where To Buy: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Fandango, Vudu, PSN, and Microsoft Store
Throughout the history of film, female heroes have proven to be some of the most fierce icons of the action genre. With the upcoming release of Tomb Raider, based on the 2013 reboot of the video game franchise, Alicia Vikander hopes to add one more hero to that list as Lara Croft.
Unlike the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie, which was based on the first video game, this new movie is looking back at Lara Croft's origin and the role they played in the adventurer she becomes. As Vikander explains, while speaking at Tomb Raider's press junket, it's the best way to introduce the world to her Lara.
"If you have the origin story, then that's a way for us to get to know our character, to feel for them, to relate to them on a more human level," she says. "I thought it was wonderful that I could play a young woman who's still trying to find her footing in the world..."
Just as important to Vikander, though, was showing audiences that anyone could be a hero--not just those with superpowers. "What I loved was that when I met [director] Roar [Uthaug] and Graham [King] and the producers, the fact that we wanted the actions sequences that were going to be a big part of this film kind of be set in a reality," she says. "Would you buy that this young girl could beat this bigger, stronger man? We then, storywise, integrated that she's a physical being--[she] trains in MMA and is a bicycle courier. I wanted her to be a strong girl."
Of course, to portray it, Vikander had to become that physical being herself. According to King, Vikander trained hard in the gym every single day throughout production to keep herself in peak physical condition. It's a transformation he likens to another iconic big-screen heroine. "I would actually put her performance along Sigourney [Weaver] when she did Aliens," he says.
Speaking to GameSpot, he elaborates. "She committed in a huge way. She was excited from an early stage. She has a lot of ideas, which I love. Actors should have a lot of ideas," King says. "She was so committed in the transformation of her physically and mentally. She's in every scene in the movie, I think, apart from maybe one or two. She worked her butt off every single day in the most extreme heat in Africa."
Whether the work Vikander and the movie's creative team put into bringing Lara Croft to life was worth it is something audiences will have to decide. Luckily they won't have to wait long. Tomb Raider hits theaters on March 16.
For all the advancements that have been made in gaming, one element that remains in place is the character-select screen. Talk to someone who played games years ago--whether it was Super Mario Bros. 2, Street Fighter II, or any number of games--and you'll likely see them reminisce about the time spent on those screens agonizing over their character choice.
While they're most commonly associated with fighting games, that genre is hardly the only to be home to them, as evidenced by games like Mario 2 to Team Fortress 2 to countless MMOs. And although perhaps not as prominent as they once were, character-select screens are still present in many games today.
In the video above, we've put together a nostalgia-inducing run through a number of the most memorable such screens. You should get a sense for how they've changed over the years, from the basics of the aforementioned Mario to more modern examples, like Overwatch and Injustice 2.
What character-select screens do you remember most fondly? Let us know in the comments below!
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