By GameSpot Staff on Feb 28, 2018 12:24 am
Nintendo's Newest
After failing to make people fall in love with Wii U, Nintendo is back and Switch is a household name--not to mention the fastest selling console in US history. In 2017, games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey proved that Nintendo understands the strengths of its franchises and the importance of taking risks, but they are only two of the many games that have kept Switch owners entertained since the system's March launch. Already, 2018 looks like another promising year for Switch owners, and there are some great-looking games coming to the system that you won't find anywhere else. But for an overview of all the Switch games we reviewed last year, head over to our Switch review page. We've compiled a list of all the exclusive games coming to Switch in the coming months, and as new announcements are made, we will continue to update our entries with specific dates and info. If you're curious about other platforms, you can check out our features on PS4 exclusives, Xbox One exclusives, and PC exclusives. There's also a wealth of exciting games coming out in 2018 that aren't necessarily exclusive to one platform or another, so be sure to check out our individual features highlighting the most anticipated PS4 games, Xbox One games, PC games, and Switch games for a broader look at the year ahead.
Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2
At the same time that Nintendo revealed Bayonetta 3 at The Game Awards, it also confirmed a popular rumor: Bayonetta 2 and the original Bayonetta are on their way to Switch. The two games are coming early in the year on February 16. The sequel will headline the physical copy of the game, but every copy of Bayonetta 2 will include a download code for the original. Developer: PlatinumGames | Release Date: February 16 | Watch the Trailer
Kirby Star Allies
Kirby's Switch debut is a multiplayer twist on traditional Kirby action, allowing four players to party up and tackle platforming stages and boss battles using powers absorbed from lesser enemies. The game was announced at E3 2017, and was further discussed in a September 2017 Nintendo Direct. It's currently scheduled to release sometime in 2018. Developer: HAL Laboratory | Release Date: March 16 | Watch the Trailer
Runner3
The Bit.Trip games from developer Choice Provisions rank among some of the best throwback experiences of the past decade. Later this year, Nintendo Switch owners will have exclusive access to the series' newest game, Runner3, which continues the tradition of linking rhythmic timing and platforming, with plenty of new tricks promised to surprise returning players. Developer: Choice Provisions | Release Date: April 24 | Watch the Trailer
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze
Continuing the tradition of updated Wii U games that get Switch ports like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Pokken Tournament DX, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is due out for Switch on May 4. The game will add a new playable character, Funky Kong, who introduces his own unique twist on the original's platforming gameplay. Developer: Retro Studios, Monster Games | Release Date: May 4
Nintendo Labo
Nintendo Labo is a series of kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materials that are assembled in combination with the Switch and its Joy-Cons to be played with special game software and vice versa. The series' first two kits--the Variety Kit and the Robo Kit--are set to release in April. Developer: Nintendo | Release Date: April 20
Light Fingers
Light Fingers is a turn-based multiplayer board game where your goal is to gather loot and progress across the board, all while your opponents play cards and manipulate mechanical obstacles in an effort to trip you up. The game is coming to Switch sometime early in 2018. Developer: Numizmatic | Release Date: Early 2018
Mario Tennis Aces
A new Mario Tennis game from developer Camelot--the team behind the GBA game Golden Sun as well as numerous other Mario sports titles--is heading to Switch this spring. It will be the first Mario Tennis game to include a story mode Mario Tennis: Power Tour on GBA. Developer: Camelot | Release Date: Spring 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
The revamped version of Hyrule Warriors for Switch comes with all of the maps, missions, characters, and DLC from both the original Wii U release and the expanded 3DS version, including Yuga and Ravio from A Link Between Worlds. It also introduces some new content in the form of Breath of the Wild-themed costumes for Link and Zelda. Developer: Omega Force | Release Date: Q2 2018
Fire Emblem for Nintendo Switch (working title)
Fire Emblem was born on Nintendo's first console (in Japan) in 1990. But in recent years, it's been an exclusively handheld series (barring Fire Emblem Warriors) since Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn landed on Nintendo Wii almost a decade ago. Nintendo announced that a new Fire Emblem game is in the works for Switch, though little else is known beyond its broad "2018" release date. Developer: Intelligent Systems | Release Date: TBA 2018
Project Octopath Traveler (working title)
Square Enix and developer Acquire are in the home stretch of development on Project Octopath Traveler, a retro RPG that mixes 2D and 3D graphics in an effort to bridge the gap between 16-bit and HD graphics. A demo was released on the Nintendo eShop earlier this year, but the release date is still listed as "2018." Developer: Square Enix, Acquire | Release Date: TBA 2018 | Watch the Trailer
No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again
The third game in the No More Heroes series from infamous developer, Goichi "SUDA 51" Suda, is scheduled to land on Switch later this year. The debut trailer presents a revenge tale against frontman Travis, who finds himself confronted by Badman, father of Travis' first assassination target, Bad Girl. Before they get into a scuffle, both characters are drawn into a video game system. From within, they will have to confront a handful of fictional video games, supposedly inspired by real-world hits like Hotline Miami. Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture | Release Date: TBA 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Yoshi for Nintendo Switch (working title)
Yoshi's debut standalone adventure on Switch is another platformer, but Nintendo is utilizing a new art style to define the game's distinct gameplay twist. With each stage appearing similar to a diorama, you can view stages from the "front," or look behind the scenes from a new perspective to reveal the inner workings of seemingly one-sided buildings and environments. The new Yoshi game will also support two-player local co-op. Developer: Good-Feel | Release Date: TBA 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Dragon Marked For Death
The latest game from the team behind Mega Man Zero, Mega Man 9 and 10, and Azure Striker Gunvolt is coming exclusively to Switch this year. Dragon Marked for Death looks like another action-packed 2D side-scroller with intricate sprites, but Inti Creates is experimenting by adding in four-player local co-op and progression systems that give the game an action-RPG feel. Developer: Inti Creates | Release Date: TBA 2018
The World Ends With You - Final Remix
The hi-res version of Square Enix's The World Ends With You is coming to Switch, along with a "sizable" new story scenario. It was announced during January's Nintendo Direct Mini, and is due sometime in 2018. Developer: Square-Enix | Release Date: TBA 2018
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
This new brawler from NIS is heavy on fan service, but should also please fans of the classic SNK fighting series. Battles will focus entirely on the female fighters from SNK's various fighting game series. Developer: NIS/SNK | Release Date: TBA 2018
By Matt Espineli on Feb 28, 2018 12:23 am
This Year's Exclusives.exe
There's an abundance of great-looking games coming exclusively to PC this year. To help you keep track of everything, we've compiled a list of all the exclusive titles coming to PC this year. Be sure to check back often, as we'll continue to update our placeholder entries with confirmed release dates and information when new announcements are made. Thanks to all the independent developers set to launch their projects, PC platforms like Steam and GOG are set to receive hundreds of exclusive games this year. Since rounding them up would prove unwieldy, we've narrowed the field down to this list of some of the most high-profile exclusives. If you're curious about other platforms, you can check out our features on PS4 exclusives, Switch exclusives, and Xbox One exclusives. There's also a wealth of exciting games coming out in 2018 that aren't necessarily exclusive to one platform or another, so be sure to check out our individual features highlighting the most anticipated PS4 games, Xbox One games, PC games, and Switch games for a broader look at the year ahead.
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a remaster of the iconic history-based real-time strategy game from 1997. Developer: Forgotten Empires | Release Date: February 20
Hunt: Showdown
Hunt: Showdown is a competitive first-person PvP bounty hunting game with heavy PvE elements. It takes thrill of survival games and combines it with the action of a match-based shooter. Developer: Crytek | Release Date: February 22 (Early Access)
Pit People
Pit People is the latest game from the creators of Castle Crashers and Battleblock Theater. It's a turn-based, co-op game where you explore, find loot, customize your fighters, and recruit allies. Developer: The Behemoth | Release Date: March 2
Long Gone Days
Long Gone Days is a 2D RPG that follows the adventures of Rourke, a soldier who decides to abandon his post, which leads him on a journey where he'll collaborate with allies from different parts of the world to overcome the peril of an inescapable war. While a traditional RPG at its core, the game also features elements from visual novels, puzzlers, and shooters. Developer: BURA | Release Date: March 2018 (Early Access)
Agony
Agony is a first-person horror game that forces you to survive the depths of Hell. Developer: Madmind Studio | Release Date: March 30
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Pillars of Eternity II is the successor to the critically acclaimed 2015 original. It features an expansive multiclassing system, which allows players to build unique characters that tie both into personal playstyles and stories. It also gives you access to a ship that you can sail across the game's world and continually upgrade to better survive perilous encounters. Developer: Obsidian Entertainment | Release Date: April 3 | Watch the Trailer
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia is the latest spin-off game in the popular Total War franchise. In contrast to the mainline games, Thrones of Britannia is a turn-based strategy game that takes place in the aftermath of the Viking invasion of Britain. Developer: Creative Assembly | Release Date: April 19
Chuchel
Chuchel is a puzzle game developed by Jaromir Plachy & Amanita Design, the creators of Botanicula, Machinarium, and Samorost. Developer: Amanita Design | Release Date: Early 2018
Griftlands
Griftlands is the latest game by developer Klei Entertainment, the studio behind Don't Starve and Mark of the Ninja. Unlike its previous efforts, Griftlands is an action-RPG that emphasizes player choice and charting your own journey through an in-depth negotiation system. Developer: Klei Entertainment | Release Date: Early 2018
Dauntless
Dauntless is a free-to-play action-RPG that plays similarly to Capcom's popular Monster Hunter series. It takes place in a world where a cataclysmic event has torn the world apart, releasing monster-like Behemoths that prey on the surviving humans. You play as a Slayer, a special warrior tasked with taking down the Behemoths. Developer: Phoenix Labs | Release Date: Q1-Q2 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Total War: Three Kingdoms takes developer Creative Assembly's long-running real-time strategy series to the turbulent Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. Developer: Creative Assembly | Release Date: Fall 2018
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is the first numbered mainline entry in the once popular mech-sim series to be released in nearly 16 years. In keeping with MechWarrior tradition, you customize and pilot your own personal BattleMech across a new conflict set within the universe of the popular BattleTech franchise. Developer: Piranha Games | Release Date: December 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Anno 1800
Anno 1800 is the latest entry in the long-running real-time strategy Anno series. It takes the series back to the past, allowing you to build and manage metropolises during the industrial revolution. Developer: Ubisoft Blue Byte | Release Date: Winter 2018
Aquanox: Deep Descent
Aquanox: Deep Descent is a first-person shooter where you control a submarine through undersea caverns in the dystopian world of Aqua. Developer: Digital Arrow | Release Date: TBA 2018
Quake Champions
Quake Champions revives the classic Quake style of arena shooter gameplay but with a new character/class system. While not a major factor, these characters do feature their own distinct movement speeds, health pools, and a special ability. Developer: id Software | Release Date: TBA 2018 | Watch the Trailer
Underworld Ascendant
Underworld Ascendant is an action-RPG made by developers that worked on the Ultima Underworld series. Like those games, it focuses on player choice while taking you on a journey across a fantasy realm packed with danger and intrigue. Developer: Otherside Entertainment | Release Date: TBA 2018
Xenonauts 2
Xenonauts 2 is a strategy game where you command a multinational organization defending Cold War-era Earth from an alien invasion. Developer: Goldhawk Interactive | Release Date: TBA 2018
By Kevin Wong on Feb 27, 2018 11:30 pm
Professional wrestling locker rooms are notoriously difficult environments, especially for newcomers. Hazing, harassment, and general bullying are reportedly commonplace. There's an unspoken, unwritten code of etiquette that's easy to run afoul of. Forget to shake someone's hand? Disrespect a veteran by accident? You could be changing outside the locker room for the next month. Today, WWE is a publicly traded company, and with stockholders come greater scrutiny and regulation. WWE's locker room is allegedly far more professional than it used to be. But not so long ago--especially from 2003-2007--there was an unofficial Wrestler's Court, where the locker room would "try" an accused wrestler for some perceived slight or bad behavior. In theory, this was a straightforward way of settling disputes without coming to blows or getting management involved. In practice, it was often a way to screw with the weak and intimidate those who didn't have backstage clout. The Undertaker served as judge over this kangaroo court. JBL (yeah, that gem) served as prosecutor. And if the defendant was found guilty, that wrestler would be disciplined or hazed. Here are the seven most notable times that wrestlers were punished backstage (for real) either by the locker room or by management. What did these wrestlers do to deserve punishment, and what was their disciplinary sentence? Read on, and be thankful for your HR department.
7. The Miz Gets Kicked Out Of The Locker Room
The Miz is one of the best WWE superstars working today. He's a former world champion and multi-time Intercontinental champion. His ring work is solid, and his mic skills are unrivaled by anyone on the roster. But at one time, Miz was on the bottom rung of the locker room. He was a former Real World cast member, and he got into WWE by competing on the Tough Enough reality show. And because he didn't "pay his dues" on the indie circuit, he was ripe for targeting. One day, Miz was eating chicken in the locker room. Unfortunately, he got crumbs on referee Scott Armstrong's bag. Chris Benoit saw this and kicked The Miz out of the locker room. The Miz was forced to change in the hallway, and sometimes, he even changed in the arena's general bathroom, where WWE fans would occasionally catch a glimpse of him. This continued for over half a year. Then, unexpectedly, Chris Benoit died. And since it was Benoit's call to kick Miz out of the locker room (and thus, his call to let him back in), the Miz was stuck in a sort of punishment limbo. Eventually, the Undertaker noticed what was going on and invited Miz back inside.
6. Muhammad Hassan Picks Up A Bar Tab
The Muhammad Hassan character was so wrong in so many ways. A relatively inexperienced Italian-American wrestler, Marc Copani, played an Arab American who complained about prejudice. It's the sort of "ripped from the headlines" race baiting that WWE is infamous for. And if that's all it was, WWE might have even gotten away from it. Unfortunately, WWE decided to take things one step further and made Hassan an actual terrorist. On one SmackDown episode, he summoned a gang of ski-masked, camo-wearing followers, who choked the Undertaker with piano wire. This was taped on July 4, 2005, but it aired on July 7--the same day as the London bombings. Under pressure from TV executives, WWE removed Hassan from its programming. But backstage, the locker room hadn't taken well to Hassan either. He was a new guy who rocketed to main event status, which didn't endear him to any of the veteran midcarders. Hassan's finisher was the Camel Clutch, adopted from the Iron Sheik. When Eddie Guerrero used the move in a match, Hassan was convinced by Kurt Angle to confront Guerrero backstage. Hassan didn't know that Eddie's father, wrestling legend Gory Guerrero, was the one who originated the move. For this disrespect, Hassan was forced to pick up one of the wrestlers' bar tabs in Tokyo, which ran over $2000. According to Hurricane Helms, when Hassan bought shots for the wrestlers that evening, they all simultaneously poured their drinks onto the floor.
5. Melina Breaks Down In Tears
Melina, according to many of her peers, was difficult to work with. The most publicized incident stems from her relationship with fellow wrestler John Morrison. Melina felt that Trish Stratus took her spot at WrestleMania XXVII--the match ended up as John Morrison, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Trish Stratus vs. Dolph Ziggler, Layla, and Michelle McCool--and she got in Morrison's head about it. This resulted in Morrison treating Trish with disrespect the entire weekend, even while they were planning out the match. But even prior to this, Melina had backstage friction with a lot of wrestlers. In 2006, she was reportedly dragged in front of Wrestling Court to address her stuck-up behavior, including a recent incident with Sharmell. Soon afterwards, MNM--the wrestling stable she was in, along with Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro--broke up. At the time, the gossip was that the Court's "verdict" was a contributing factor to the stable's dissolution. Melina had a tough day in Court; according to Paul London, the wrestlers took bets on how long it would take for her to cry.
4. Crapping in the King's Crown
Jerry "The King" Lawler is an iconic part of WWE, thanks to his '90s feuds with the Hart family and his sexually barbed commentary during the Attitude Era. But Lawler, due to being top draw in the Memphis territories when he was younger, had a massive ego. And The Kliq (the influential backstage group that included Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Sean Waltman) decided to do something about it by taking a crap in the King's crown. Literally. They filled it to the brim. This sort of thing became such a recurring problem (even the Undertaker was rumored to have crapped in the crown) that according to Raven and the Honky Tonk Man, WWE circulated a memo asking its employees to stop doing it.
3. Enzo Amore Gets Booted Off The Tour Bus
Enzo Amore's entire character was a brash, out-of-control party animal. And according to numerous sources, this "certified G" and "bonafide stud" persona seeped into his real life behavior. Amore had a bad habit of bringing friends backstage, who would take pictures and act disruptively. And multiple people in the company--most notably Corey Graves--outwardly disliked the man and made their feelings known on WWE programming. In late 2017, Amore was reportedly kicked off a WWE tour bus by Roman Reigns for being loud and obnoxious, which prevented his fellow superstars from getting sleep. When asked about it at the beginning of this year, Amore dodged the question with a middling non-answer: "You can't kick me out of someplace I don't want to be." Two weeks later, after a graphic allegation of rape, WWE fired Amore, kicking him off the tour bus for good.
2. Chris Benoit Tortures A Newcomer
When WWE first found out that Chris Benoit, his wife, and his son were found dead in their home, the company decided to cancel Raw and air a three-hour tribute to the former world heavyweight champion. This was a hasty, poorly thought-out decision. Mere hours later, it became clear that Benoit had killed both his wife and son before committing suicide; he hanged himself from a weight machine in his basement. The Chris Benoit tribute special has never aired again and is not available on the WWE Network. But it's a fascinating document if you can find a copy online. One of the highlights is that many superstars, including CM Punk, Edge, and John Cena, recorded unscripted, personal tributes to Chris Benoit. And Triple H's tribute is particularly interesting; he describes how Benoit punished a new wrestler who was disrespectful to Shawn Michaels: "Chris made the young wrestler do 1000 squats in a row... the next day when that young wrestler couldn't bend his legs, Chris made him do 500 more." Back then, Triple H framed this anecdote as an example of how Chris valued respect. With the benefit of hindsight, it takes on a more sinister, sadistic tone.
1. Batista Eats A $100K Fine
The current PG era of WWE means that intentional bleeding, without the expressed permission of management, is strictly forbidden. But many wrestlers, who considered blood a traditional storytelling device, pushed back. And one of those wrestlers was Batista. In 2008, not long after the "no blood" policy had been implemented, Batista intentionally bled in a steel cage match with Chris Jericho. His logic was that it was an important championship match, where the title would switch hands, and thus, bleeding was the right thing to do for business. But Vince McMahon did not see it that way. He handed out fines. Jericho, Mike Chioda (the referee), and Dean Malenko (the producer) were each fined $5000. And Batista, the man who bladed, was fined $100k. Batista paid all of the fines. He felt the punishment was overly harsh, and according to him, it was the beginning of the end of his full-time wrestling career. But perhaps it all worked out in the end. Batista is one of the few wrestlers to successfully make the jump to Hollywood. He has Marvel money now, thanks to his role as Drax the Destroyer, and he doesn't need to take bumps off furniture for 12 months out of the year.
By Chris Pereira on Feb 27, 2018 04:55 pm
Fortnite's next big update has launched on all platforms, bringing new content and improvements to Battle Royale and Save the World. Players of the former mode will find that Season 3 has begun, introducing a new Battle Pass on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Along with that, there are a ton of new items to acquire. As with previous Battle Passes, this one includes a limited selection of content that anyone can unlock. The vast majority of rewards, however, are limited to players who purchase the full Battle Pass, which costs 950 V-Bucks (or just around $10). If you owned the Season 2 Battle Pass, you'll automatically get five tiers' worth of progress for free. Additional tiers can be earned by collecting stars by playing and fulfilling specific objectives, or by purchasing them with additional V-Bucks. Among the items you'll find in the premium tier of the Battle Pass are new pickaxes, skins, gliders, emotes, and much more. There's also Back Bling, which is a new category of item added as part of the 3.0.0 update alongside skydiving trails and loading screens. In the images above, you can see all of the major new items included in the Season 3 Battle Pass. Bear in mind, these are all cosmetic; nothing will actually impact gameplay directly. If you're a fan of references, though, you're in luck, as you'll find skins clearly meant to resemble the likes of John Wick and Guardians of the Galaxy's Star-Lord. In terms of playable content, Fortnite has received some new additions. Battle Royale now has a new weapon, the Hand Cannon, that uses Heavy ammo. Some notable improvements have also been made to building (which also extends to Save the World), and a 60 FPS framerate is now the default option for all console players. You can see everything the update does in the Fortnite 3.0.0 patch notes.
By Chris Pereira on Feb 27, 2018 04:42 pm
A new update has arrived for Overwatch. Blizzard has kicked off this year's edition of the Lunar New Year event, which this time around is dubbed Year of the Dog. It revamps the game's Capture the Flag mode and introduces other new features. But as is to be expected from any new update, there are a variety of new Overwatch skins and cosmetics now available in a limited-time loot box. In terms of skins, there are six Legendary ones in total: those for Hanzo, Genji, Mercy, Pharah, McCree, and Widowmaker. Additionally, there are more than 50 new items in all to get your hands on; there are new sprays, victory poses, and other cosmetics now available. The event also sees the return of the skins from last year's Lunar New Year. You can check out all of the new skins, as well as many of the new cosmetics, in the gallery above. We've also got galleries of all the recently added Blizzard World update skins, as well as the huge number of Overwatch League skins introduced earlier this year. With new skins now available, this update marks the addition of a welcome feature for those with a growing collection to show off. From the Assemble Your Team screen before a match, you can now easily change your skin. This is only accessible during the pre-match phase, no doubt to avoid having players spending time contemplating their choice when they could be helping the team, but it should still make it easier to rotate through your collection. Also new in this patch is the aforementioned CTF revamp. This sees the introduction of a new Sudden Death mode--meaning no more ties--where flags are located closer to one another. Also, throughout the match, flags are now picked up instantly, though it will be dropped when using certain abilities, like Winston's leap. Blizzard says this should all result in a more "action-packed" experience overall.
By Kallie Plagge on Feb 27, 2018 06:55 am
We'll Do It Live (Action)
Live-action versions of anime have been increasingly popular, or at least more widely talked about, in recent years. From Netflix's Death Note to Ghost in the Shell with Scarlett Johansson, more and more fan-favorite anime are getting high-profile live-action adaptations. The latest is Fullmetal Alchemist, which is now available to stream on Netflix. The Netflix library has both the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime as well as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is often considered the must-watch version. As such, we decided to compare characters, certain scenes, and that chimera between Brotherhood and the live-action film. Click ahead to see an image from the anime followed by the comparison from the live-action version. We've kept spoilers to a minimum, so you'll be fine as long as you've seen the first four or five episodes of Brotherhood. For more on Fullmetal Alchemist, be sure to read our review. You can also check out our list of the best anime available on Netflix and our top 10 anime of 2017 if you're looking for more to watch.
Edward Elric (Anime)
Ed is the titular Fullmetal Alchemist and the protagonist of the series. He has a metal arm and leg and is searching for a legendary artifact called the Philosopher's Stone, with which he hopes to restore his younger brother Al's body.
Edward Elric (Live Action)
In the film, Ed is pretty much the same, except with a glaringly bad wig.
Alphonse Elric (Anime)
Al is Ed's younger brother, and he doesn't have a body. During the brothers' failed human transmutation, Ed gave his arm to bind Al's soul to a suit of armor.
Alphonse Elric (Live Action)
Al's suit of armor is the best-looking thing in the live-action version and is true to how he appears in the series.
Winry Rockbell (Anime)
Winry is a childhood friend of Ed and Al and is Ed's love interest. She's an amateur surgeon and mechanic, and she maintains Ed's prosthetic arm and leg.
Winry Rockbell (Live Action)
Movie Winry is almost nothing like her anime counterpart. Her hairstyle is the same, but everything from her clothing (which is too feminine) to her personality (which is hard to discern due to overacting) will disappoint fans.
Lust (Anime)
Lust is a Homunculus, or a human created artificially by alchemy. She is one of the main antagonists of the series.
Lust (Live Action)
Lust looks similar in the movie, but there's a certain Hot Topic feel to her outfit that makes her look kind of silly.
Gluttony (Anime)
Gluttony is another Homunculus and antagonist of the series. He's often found eating human or animal remains and is regularly partnered with Lust.
Gluttony (Live Action)
Gluttony is somehow even creepier in live action. Maybe it's the eyes.
The Elric Brothers As Children (Anime)
After their mother, Trisha, died, Ed and Al set out to bring her back via human transmutation--a taboo in the world of alchemy.
The Elric Brothers As Children (Live Action)
The kid versions of Ed and Al are pretty similar, though it kind of looks like someone spray-painted their hair.
Transmutation Circle (Anime)
In order to perform the human transmutation, Ed and Al had to make a transmutation circle on the ground.
Transmutation Circle (Live Action)
The live-action version of the circle is similar, though it unfortunately doesn't glow.
The Gate (Anime)
As the human transmutation begins to fail, Ed finds himself at the Gate, a very important (metaphysical) location in the series.
The Gate (Live Action)
In the movie, Ed appears at the Gate in a dream, rather than through Alchemy, and he's an adult. It's an entirely separate scene from the beginning of the human transmutation and comes later in the film.
Ed and Truth (Anime)
At the Gate, Ed speaks to a mysterious figure known as Truth. Truth appears during human transmutation, which it considers an unfair exchange according to the equivalent exchange laws of alchemy.
Ed and Truth (Live Action)
The conversation between Ed and Truth is more or less the same in the movie. Truth looks extra ethereal.
Ed Loses His Leg (Anime)
Ed loses his leg during the failed human transmutation, and it's pretty brutal. Truth later takes his arm in exchange for Al's soul.
Ed Loses His Leg (Live Action)
This scene is also part of the dream sequence. Maybe it's because it would be pretty gruesome to show a real child losing his leg, but this is a flashback-bad dream combo that comes off as jarring in the film.
Trisha Elric (Anime)
As a result of the failed human transmutation, Trisha Elric returns as grotesque, deformed creature.
Trisha Elric (Live Action)
Yep, that's Trisha Elric. She's hard to make out in the film because of all the smoke.
Nina Tucker and Alexander (Anime)
Nina is the daughter of alchemist (and completely evil, horrible man) Shou Tucker. She loves her "big brothers" Ed and Al almost as much as her dog, Alexander.
Nina Tucker and Alexander (Live Action)
Nina still loves Alexander in the live-action version, but for some reason, Winry is there.
Nina Tucker and Alexander, Chimera Form (Anime)
Ed...ward...
Nina Tucker and Alexander, Chimera Form (Live Action)
Onii-chan.
By Lance Cartelli on Feb 27, 2018 06:19 am
Wakandans speak a true African language
In Black Panther, Wakandans speak Xhosa (or isiXhosa). This official South African language is spoken by more than 7 million people. The dialogue also incorporates an ancient language called Nsibidi. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler worked hard to respectfully emulate real African tribes for when creating the sets and styles of Wakanda. The Dogon tribe was heavily referenced when creating the Jabari for the film. The blanket-wearing border tribe is fashioned after the Ndebele tribe. Photo: Disney
Black Panther's casino fight scene is loaded with eggs
In a video from Vanity Fair, Director Ryan Coogler breaks down the significance of just about every moment of the casino fight scene in Black Panther. For starters, Nakia's green dress, T'Challa's black suit and Okoye's red dress pay homage to the Pan-African flag. The dress Lupita Nyong'o is wearing was actually 3-D printed, and the markings coincide with Wakandan text. If you're a Bond fan and this scene feels familiar, you're not wrong. Coogler was inspired by 007 films here. T'Challa's covert moves and tech fighting style in the scene is also much like Bond's. Photo: Disney
Here's what's next for Shuri
Shuri has so many great Easter eggs. The "sneakers" Shuri creates for T'Challa, for example, are inspired by Marty McFly's shoes in Back to the Future. When Okoye, Nakia and T'Challa bring back Agent Ross, she says "...another broken white boy for us to save." We see in the bonus scene that she's also been working to heal Bucky Barnes. There is clearly a future for Shuri. Many feel she'd make a great next Iron Man. However, if the comics are an indicator, it's more likely that she becomes the next Black Panther. We have some time to watch her grow into her legacy.
Is Deathmonger's armor a nod to Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z?
The Jaguar suit that Erik Killmonger wears is almost identical to what the character wears in the comics, but the armor he dons when he first reaches Wakanda (pictured here) is thought to be a nod to actor Michael B. Jordan's love of anime. It's very similar to to Vegeta's armor in Dragon Ball Z. Photo: Disney
Star-Lord's shirt
Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, is seen in Vol. 2 wearing a shirt that appears to have a foreign language written on it. One Reddit user cracked the code by noticing that the letters matched those from the original movie's Kyln prison. The shirt reads "Gears Shift." (Photo: Disney)
Sewn shut
While being tortured, Wade Wilson's constant yammering infuriates Ajax so much that he threatens to sew his patient's mouth shut. That is in reference to Ryan Reynolds' first appearance as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where Deadpool's mouth was completely sutured shut. (Photo: Marvel)
Deadpool's Professor X joke
During the highway scene in Deadpool, Colossus wants Wade Wilson to meet Professor X. Wilson replies, "Stewart or McAvoy? These timelines are confusing." Which makes reference to the two actors -- Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy -- who have portrayed Xavier in the X-Men saga. (Photo: 20th Century Fox)
Deadpool's obsession with Spider-Man
Deadpool doesn't say the name Spider-Man, but that doesn't mean there aren't a multitude of web-slinger references in the film. During the highway fight, a freeway exit is named "Parker Boulevard" after Peter Parker. What's more, after becoming Deadpool, Wilson says he looks like he was bitten by a radioactive shar-pei. And he refers to himself as "your friendly neighborhood pool guy." (Photo: Marvel)
Deadpool's Green Lantern references
Ryan Reynolds' return to the role of Deadpool is filled with references to his past part as DC superhero Green Lantern. In the opening credits, there's a photo of a man dressed in the Green Lantern suit. Later in the film, when Wade Wilson is undergoing "treatment" to become Deadpool, he pleads with Ajax that his suit not be green or animated. That, of course, is another dig at his disappointing Green Lantern film. (Photo: DC)
Marvel's Homage To Star Wars
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is a self-proclaimed Star Wars junkie. He recently said in an interview that he envisioned Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as its Empire Strikes Back. So in honor of a galaxy far, far away, Feige said, "Somebody gets their arm cut off in every Phase Two movie. Every single one." Here are some of the folks whose limbs didn't make the cut in Phase 2: Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy), Thor (Thor: Dark World), Bucky (Captain America: Winter Soldier), Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3), and Ulysses Klaue (Avengers: Age of Ultron). (Photo: Marvel)
I Spy Captain America
Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk were the first two films in the MCU, and they were packed with goodies. In a deleted scene from The Incredible Hulk (viewable on the DVD), Captain America can be seen in the lower left corner, frozen with his shield. It's hard to spot, but it's there. (Photo: Marvel)
"The Path of the Righteous Man..."
Here's one of the best blink-and-you-miss-it Easter eggs in any Marvel movie. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we are led to believe Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury dies. Etched on Fury's tombstone is the passage, "The path of the righteous man..." which is in reference to Jackson's famous quote from Pulp Fiction. (Photo: Marvel)
"Sir, we've found him"
Post-credits scenes are a staple of the MCU, but most people don't sit through credits. To us, that means those post-credits snippets count as Easter eggs. If you missed the tease after Iron Man 2, where Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, is finally found, then are you even really a Marvel movie fan? (Photo: Marvel)
Howard The Duck
Guardians of the Galaxy largely omitted Easter eggs that tied it to the MCU, except during the Collector's scene. One big payoff for fans was Howard the Duck. The duck, who had his own 1986 flick, also appeared in a post-credit scene. He was voiced by Seth Green. (Photo: Marvel)
A Pixar Plug
This Easter egg is for the incredibly observant. Toward the end of The Avengers, 'A113' can be seen in the upper left corner. This is an homage to Pixar, which includes 'A113' in every film. The 'A113' refers to the CalArts classroom the original Pixar team shared. (Photo: Marvel)
The Wasp Suit
One of Ant-Man's biggest Easter eggs came in a mid-credits scene that had Hank Pym reveal The Wasp suit to his daughter, Hope van Dyne. Die-hard fans who stayed for this excellent tease will have to wait for the sequel, Ant-Man and The Wasp, to see her in action. (Photo: Marvel)
Captain America Comic
In Iron Man 2, Tony Stark is rummaging through his father's things when, for a moment, an original Captain America comic book can be seen. (Photo: Marvel)
The Crimson Cowl
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the eponymous bad guy wears a red cloak, which is a call-back to his first comic book appearance as the Crimson Cowl in Avengers No. 54. (Photo: Marvel)
Captain America's Shield
Before getting his own movie, Captain America was relentlessly teased by Marvel. The biggest hints came in the first two Iron Man films, when a half-constructed shield can be seen behind Stark, and when Agent Coulson helps Stark balance out equipment with armor. (Photo: Marvel)
It's a Small World
While undercover as a security guard in Ant-Man, Luis (Michael Pena) whistles the Disney song, "It's a Small World" to seem less suspicious. Of course, Disney owns Marvel Studios. (Photo: Marvel)
Those Purple Pants Look Familiar
In a callback to the TV show, Bruce Banner is shown with the Hulk's oversized elastic purple pants in The Incredible Hulk. (Photo: Marvel)
The Leader Is Born
In The Incredible Hulk, some of the big-green beast's blood drips into an open wound of Dr. Samuel Sterns. Sharp-eyed fans may conclude that the radioactive blood turns the doctor into The Hulk's nemesis, The Leader, and they're right, though he's never called that in the film. Unfortunately, a true sequel was never made. (Photo: Marvel)
Cosmo the Spacedog
That isn't just a cute dog in a space suit. That's Cosmo the Spacedog from the Marvel Comics. Cosmo, who is a telepathic space dog in the comics, makes a brief appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy. (Photo: Marvel)
Nobody Puts A Chitauri In The Corner
Many will recognize the chitauri next to Rocket (in the Collector's trophy case) in this scene from Guardians of the Galaxy. The chitauri, of course, are the aliens who invaded New York at the end of the first Avengers film.
The Hulk Makes The News
Toward the end of Iron Man 2, Tony Stark and Nick Fury are in the midst of discussing their future world-saving plans, when one of the screens flashes a report about a battle between the Hulk and Abomination. (Photo: Marvel)
Wolverine's apartment
In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Wolverine's apartment is full of goodies to those with a keen eye. There are callbacks to the character's origins with the samurai swords and the photo of Mount Fuji. Also, your eyes don't deceive you. The brown, white and yellow curtain is hideous, but it's also a tribute to Wolverine's suit from the comics. (Photo: 20th Century Fox)
So That's The Tesseract
Prior to becoming the all-powerful weapon seen in the later films, we see a glimpse of the Tesseract in an old Howard Stark notebook in Iron Man 2.
Cocoon: The Adam Warlock Story
The Collector's trophy room also gave us a quick glimpse at what appeared to be a cocoon. But that isn't an ordinary cocoon that the Collector hoards; it's Adam Warlock's. Warlock is rumored to be a big part of Marvel's Phase 3 plans. (Photo: Marvel)
The X-Men Plane
In the first Iron Man, Tony Stark is testing out his brand-new armor, when his display shows the plans of the X-Men's SR-71 Blackbird. (Photo: Marvel)
Stan Lee Cameos
Fans of the MCU can expect two things when seeing a Marvel flick: Post-credit scenes and Stan Lee cameos. Lee, who created many of our favorite superheroes today, makes a brief appearance in every Marvel movie. Here's a video of all of Lee's cameos in any Marvel-related film. (Photo: Marvel)
The Original Hulk
Mark Ruffalo might play Bruce Banner on the screen, but the voice and grunts of the Hulk are still voiced by Lou Ferrigno, the original Hulk from the CBS television series. (Photo: Marvel)
Lou Ferrigno's Cameo
In fact, Lou Ferrigno even made a cameo as a security guard in The Incredible Hulk. (Photo: Marvel)
"Earth's Mightiest Heroes"
When Tony Stark describes the newly-formed superheroes team as "Earth's mightiest heroes," it is a direct quote -- the tagline The Avengers use in the comic books. On top of that, there's a TV show by the name of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. (Photo: Marvel)
She Looks Familiar
Christine Everhart, the journalist from Iron Man, was actually a pre-existing character in the Marvel universe. But instead of working for Vanity Fair, Everhart works for the Daily Bugle ... with a certain Peter Parker. Everhart has subsequently appeared in Iron Man 2 and a viral video, interviewing Ant-Man Scott Lang. (Photo: Marvel)
A future for Marrow?
One particular mutant that sticks out in the lab where Deadpool receives his powers is Marrow. She's the one with the bones sticking out of her back. And, more importantly, she's a member of the X-Force team. In the comics, the X-Force squad is joined by none other than Deadpool. (Photo: Marvel Comics)
The '616 Universe'
While Erik Selvig described the theory of the nine realms in Thor: The Dark World, many were looking at his chalkboard for Easter eggs. The "616 Universe," the term Marvel uses for the specific universe that houses its superheroes, can be seen in the middle of the board. The chalkboard also gives hints to the future of Marvel; the "Nexus of All Reality" could refer to a place where all the universes intersect. (Photo: Marvel)
The O.G. Human Torch
In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes see an exhibit showing a red jumpsuit. The suit is a wink to the Human Torch, the first superhero created by Marvel Comics, then known as Timely Comics. (Photo: Marvel)
I'm The Dude, Man
In the first Iron Man, Pepper Potts is looking through Obadiah Stane's computer when she discovers some files that reference the famous Jeff Bridges character, Jeffery "The Dude" Lebowski. The Dude abides. (Photo: Marvel)
"Journey Into Mystery" Billboard
Prior to the God of Thunder landing his own comic book, Thor was the star of the comic-book series "Journey Into Mystery," a phrase that happens to be plastered on a billboard in Thor. (Photo: Marvel)
The Infinity Gauntlet
Odin's trophy room in Thor gave us a sneak peak into the future of Marvel. Asgard is home to the Infinity Gauntlet, which, when combined with Infinity Stones, gives the wearer control over the entire universe. It is the apple of the eye of Thanos in the MCU. (Photo: Marvel)
"Next Time, Baby"
In Iron Man, Tony Stark's confidante, Rhodey, lays his eyes on the War Machine's silver prototype. As Stark flies off in his Iron Man suit, Rhodey gives us some foreshadowing by saying, "Next time, baby." In the Iron Man sequel, Rhodey, now played by Don Cheadle, became the War Machine. (Photo: Marvel)
Captain Winter Soldier
In two different instances, Bucky picks up and wields Captain America's shield. This is a nod to the comic books, where, as the Winter Soldier, he takes over as Captain America. Could this also be a glimpse into a future in which Chris Evans hangs up the suit for good? (Photo: Marvel)
The Avengers Tower
At the end of The Avengers, all the letters minus the 'A' have fallen off Stark Tower, which can now be viewed as the new Avengers Tower. Sorry, Tony. (Photo: Marvel)
The Avengers HQ
And speaking of that: At the end of the first Avengers flick, Pepper Potts and Tony Stark lay out the plans for the new Stark Tower. If you look closely, you'll see Iron Man has discarded those plans in favor of an Avengers Headquarters. (Photo: Marvel)
Project Pegasus
In The Avengers, documents given to Tony Stark include mentions of Project 42 and Project Pegasus. Those refer to the comic book story arc from Civil War, where Stark builds a prison for villains called Project 42 over the old Project Pegasus site. (Photo: Marvel)
Dr. Thor
In the comics, Thor goes by a human alias, Dr. Donald Blake. And in a brief frame from Thor, you can the Norse god's human ID ... with the name Donald Blake. (Photo: Marvel)
The Ten Rings
The terrorist organization that kidnaps Tony Stark in Iron Man is called the Ten Rings. This, of course, is in reference to the ten rings used by the Mandarin in the Marvel comics. Mandarin was the villain in Iron Man 3. (Photo: Marvel)
Did you say Whiplash?
While Iron Man is being chased in his first film, one of the fighter pilot's call sign is Whiplash. Conscious or not, this was a nice nod to the comic book villain Whiplash, who was portrayed by Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2. (Photo: Marvel)
The Evil Roxxon Corporation
Iron Monger, the baddie from Iron Man, wages a battle in front of the Roxxon Corporation. In the comics, Roxxon was the company responsible for the deaths of Tony Stark's parents. (Photo: Marvel)
Tony Stark, Secretary of Defense
In Iron Man 2, Tony Stark facetiously tells Senator Stern that he'd accept the position of Secretary of Defense. In the comics, Stark actually becomes the Secretary of Defense. (Photo: Marvel)
The World Tree
Before transforming into Red Skull, Johann Schmidt is in search of the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Asgardian origins of the powerful weapon are displayed behind Schmidt in the form of The World Tree. (Photo: Marvel)
Obadiah Stane's Chessmen
See that chess set? It's an Easter egg. In Iron Man and the comics, Obadiah Stane is a big chess player. So big in fact, that he formed the sinister Chessmen to battle with Tony Stark. (Photo: Marvel)
A future X-Woman
Those paying attention were able to notice a young Storm pop up when Xavier is using Cerebro in X-Men: First Class.
And X-Man
After seeing a young Storm, there is also another future X-Man who Xavier sees in Cerebro. To the left of the image is a young Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops.
Shamballa
While in Kamar-Taj, Doctor Strange is handed a piece of paper by Baron Mordo with the word "Shamballa" printed on it. (Photo: Disney)
Giant-Man
Ant-Man threw fans a curveball in Civil War when Scott Lang grew really, really big. Those who have read the comic books will know that this is Giant-Man. (Photo: Disney)
Professor X's wheelchair
After Charles Xavier says goodbye to Magneto in X-Men Apocalypse, Professor X is seen in a new wheelchair. Well, it's new to those who don't recognize it as the professor's wheelchair from the original saga. (Photo: 20th Century Fox)
Arrested Development?
The Civil War directors—Anthony and Joe Russo—won an Emmy for helming the pilot episode of "Arrested Development." During the epic airport fight scene, fans of the popular TV show might've spotted the Bluth's signature vehicle in the background. (Photo: Disney)
Wolverine's adamantium bullet
In Logan, Wolverine explains to Laura—his genetically modified "daughter"—that he carries an adamantium bullet with him in case he decides to commit suicide. Laura ends up using the bullet to kill X-24. This isn't the first time the bullet has introduced in the X-Men series. Wolverine was shot in the head with said bullet at the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Photo: 20th Century Fox
"I can do this all day"
During the climactic finale of Captain America: Civil War, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark are locked in an intense brawl when the Captain says "I can do this all day." That's the same line that Rogers proclaimed in the first Captain America film when he was getting bullied. Photo: Disney
Captain Marvel
While driving on the highway, Doctor Strange is told about a young woman who was struck by lightning. That's in reference to Captain Marvel, who will be played by Brie Larson. Photo: Disney
By Jimmy Thang on Feb 27, 2018 05:40 am
What Would The Perfect Smartphone Look Like?
While Samsung's recently unveiled S9 looks really promising on paper, it's not quite perfect. As of yet, there's really no perfect smartphone on the market. With that said, we thought it would be fun to imagine what a perfect smartphone might entail. We're not going to focus on tech specs in this gallery, since processor technology is always changing. We're also not going to get into a debate between Android versus iOS, since that's largely a matter of personal preference. Instead, we're going to come up with a wish list that's largely centered around the quintessential smartphone design.
A gorgeous, advanced display
The display would use an OLED panel that supports HDR. OLED offer the darkest blacks, and HDR provides the widest color gamut. The phone should also feature small bezels so you can get a big screen without a big body. In terms of resolution, the phone should have a high pixel per inch (PPI) density. Something around 500 PPI would suffice. We don't want it unnecessarily high, as anything higher will produce diminishing returns on a small screen and would strain battery life. Another wishlist feature we'd like to see is a panel with a high refresh rate. Most phones are locked at 60Hz, but one with a 120Hz screen would look smoother.
Dual camera with optical image stabilization
Using two high-resolution cameras, like two 13 megapixel sensors or higher, with different apertures could allow you to shoot gorgeous photos with beautiful bokeh effects. The optical image stabilization could also make videos look less jittery. It would also be amazing if the camera could shoot 4K videos at 60FPS--like the iPhone X can-- or higher. This will allow you to produce high-resolution slow motion footage.
Dust and waterproof
The highest waterproof rating there is on the market right now for a smartphone is IP68, so our ideal phone would at least have that. This would allow our phone to be submerged to a depth of 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) for up to 30 minutes. This will ensure that rainy or dusty days won't make our smartphone break a sweat.
Swappable Battery
Most smartphones don't allow you to swap out batteries, but having a removable battery is nice since it allows you to pop in a new battery to get a fully charged phone in an instant. We do have to admit that it is challenging to couple a swappable battery with a waterproof design, however.
Two front-facing speakers
While one front-facing speaker beats a bottom-firing speaker, it can't hold a candle against two front-facing speakers. That's why our perfect smartphone should have two that can offer loud, crisp stereo audio with good bass.
Great battery life
While smartphones have made great strides in processing power, battery performance has remained relatively flat over the years. As a result, the quintessential smartphone would have a big battery. Something like the 5,000mAh solution found in Asus' ZenFone 3 Zoom would help it last all day under heavy use.
Nearly indestructible screen
The perfect phone would have a nearly indestructible screen (because who hasn't dropped their phone?). As a result, a Sapphire crystal lens cover would be a good choice. While they are expensive to produce, they are scratch-resistant and offer arguably the best screen protection on the market.
Expandable storage
When you've got a camera that can shoot high-resolution photos and videos, it would be nice to have a phone with a lot of storage. The ideal phone should offer 256GB or more and offer expandable storage through a Micro SD card slot.
Robust charging options
Suffice it to say, the perfect smartphone should offer rapid charging. A USB-C port is a good, emerging option for this. In addition, it should also support rapid wireless charging.
Unlocked
The perfect phone would be unlocked, free to use on any phone carrier. This can be a godsend if you're traveling for long periods of time and want to pop in an international SIM card.
3.5mm audio jack
Many new smartphones are ditching the 3.5mm audio jack, but it's still really convenient to have in the event that you forget to charge your wireless earbuds or accidentally leave them home. Many people also use aux cables in addition to their phone's 3.5mm audio jack to listen to music in their cars.
By GameSpot Staff on Feb 27, 2018 05:36 am
Monster Hunting Tips To Be Mindful Of
Monster Hunter World is the most accessible game in the series. However, it still leaves some mechanics and systems unexplained. To help you get a knack for some of Monster Hunter World's intricacies, we've compiled 16 essential tips that we wish we knew before starting the game. Monster Hunter World is out now for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with a PC release to come later in the year. That's notable, as recent entries were limited to 3DS. The additional horsepower has allowed for a game with much larger, more beautiful environments to play in. You can read more about what to expect in our Monster Hunter World review. For more impressions of the game, check out our feature detailing 11 ways for Capcom to make the game even better than it already is. If you're eager to see some of Monster Hunter World's high-rank armor sets, then check out our galleries showcasing armor on male characters, female characters, and Palicoes. Those playing on PS4 will be able to get their hands on some exclusive gear based on Horizon Zero Dawn. We also know that new Mega Man-themed items are on the way, as well as character skins themed around Street Fighter V--and if past Monster Hunter games are any indication, this won't be the last crossover content that Capcom releases.
Decorate Your House With Creatures
You might've noticed a net in your inventory that's not terribly effective against the world's bigger denizens. However, that net can be used to capture smaller insects, birds, and lizards. These captures earn you a few research points with each creature that you catch, but more importantly, the little beasts are added to your room as potential living decorations. Even after upgrading your room, the number of pets you can display is limited, but you're free to swap them out at any time. This counts for fish as well: While you can grab fish one by one with your rod, you can grab a few at once by using your net. Be warned, though, that the net scares off every other fish in the surrounding water.
Your Palico Can Get New Gadgets
While you're probably aware that you can swap out your Palico's weapon and armor at the Smithy, you might not know that you can acquire other gadgets for your companion. The starting Vigorwasp gear is incredibly helpful--especially early in the game, since it gives you free and immediate heals. But you can find other pieces of gear that give your Palico a whole host of different benefits. To find the new equipment, you need to go out to an area on an expedition and look for Grimilkynes; the researcher in each area will help point you in the right direction. Each area has a Grimilkyne who offers a quest, with new Palico equipment as the reward. One of our favorites is the Plunderblade, which you earn from the Grimalkyne in Rotten Vale. This handy item steals additional monster parts from your prey, which gives you yet another chance to earn some of the game's rarer items (and thus craft better loot).
Always Manage Bounties In Between Missions
Don't let all that time spent picking flowers and murdering small animals go to waste. Head to the Resource Center in Astera's tradeyard between every mission to turn in completed bounties and pick up new ones. They're usually fairly easy to complete--tasks range from gathering honey, to completing hunts in specific areas--and they reward valuable armor spheres for upgrading your equipment.
Turn In Delivery Requests At The Resource Center
The Resource Center is also where you go to turn in completed delivery quests. These are the missions that require you to collect a certain amount of specific materials, usually obtained from speaking with characters in Astera who have an exclamation mark icon. Even if you have all the materials, you can't turn in the quest until you speak with the woman at the Resource Center and select the correct option in the menu. Do so whenever possible, because the rewards are often valuable, and can include new fast travel campsites.
How Investigations Work
Investigations are one of the more confusing elements that are introduced early on in Monster Hunter World, largely because their name is something of a misnomer. You're not actually "investigating" anything; these are really just side quests to hunt or capture specific monsters. That's it. The hard part is managing them. At the Resource Center in Astera's tradeyard, you can "register" a maximum of 50 investigations at any one time. Each investigation can only be attempted or completed a limited number of times, but it's easy to get more investigations through combat, or by sniffing out monster tracks, marks, and other leavings out in the world. You'll also want to periodically comb through and delete lower-level investigations that you're not interested in, so that you don't butt up against the cap. Investigations are the best option for farming specific monsters, if you want their loot to make new armor or weapons.
How Weapon Upgrade Trees Work
Even early on, when your weapon upgrade trees span barely more than a few branches, they can seem hopelessly confusing. The important part to understand is that each weapon archetype has multiple possible starting materials. The basic charge blade, for example, begins on the ore tree (the Proto Commission Axe) or the bone tree (the Bone Strongarm). Each has its own unique upgrade path, and they don't intersect. For example, if you want to make a charge blade that deals lightning damage, you need to start with the Proto Commission Axe and work your way up; meanwhile, the Bone Strongarm can lead to a water-infused charge blade. It gets way more complicated, but the most important thing to know is that you can craft new base versions of these weapons--ore, bone, or otherwise--at the smithy anytime. You can also walk back most upgrades to get your materials back (though not the zenny).
How Multiplayer Works
Playing Monster Hunter World with your friends is one of the game's main selling points, but actually hooking up for multiplayer can be a headache. The main thing to know: You need to be in the same "session" as your friends to join each other on quests. When you load up the game, you can matchmake into a session with strangers, or create your own; either way, you can then invite friends. Or you can form a "squad" (like a clan or guild) with your friends, and load into your squad's session every time you start the game. Anyone in your session can join a quest once you "post" it at a quest board or with your handler. If you want only friends to be able to join, set a password. This comes with some limitations. You can't invite your friends early on in "assigned" (story) missions; you have to view all the associated cutscenes and get to the actual monster fight first. After that, you can fire off SOS flares (to attract random players), or have friends in your session join from the quest board. If you're having more trouble connecting with people, make sure that you're in the same session by checking the player list from the options menu (make sure that everyone is the appropriate hunter rank for the quest you're attempting). Be careful: Monsters become significantly more difficult in multiplayer, and their health scales automatically for four players. Playing with only two players can actually be harder than hunting solo, so it's smart to fire off an SOS flare from the menu, once you actually start the mission to invite more players in.
Save Manually
Monster Hunter World auto-saves your progress when you do something important, like completing a quest. But it's smart to save your game manually whenever you're joining a new online session or powering down for the night. Let's say you complete a quest and then spend several minutes putzing around in Astera, upgrading weapons, registering bounties, and managing inventory. Then a friend invites you to their online session. Great--you accept their invitation, ignoring the warning about losing unsaved progress. Congrats! Unless you saved manually, you just lost 15 minutes of your life, and you'll have to do all that micromanagement again.
How To Actually Use the Insect Glaive
A lot of us first-time Monster Hunters were drawn to the Insect Glaive as our initial weapon of choice, because it's flashy and looks cool. But more than a few of us didn't discover how to use it to its full potential, until we had already slain the first few monsters. The Insect Glaive comes with a Kinsect--a giant beetle that you're supposed to aim and shoot at monsters, in order to extract one of three different buffs for yourself. Once you're happy with what it's got, you'll need to recall it in order to receive the limited-time benefits. If you're diligent, you can have all three buffs going at once, which will greatly assist in your ability to slay your foes. Send the Kinsect to a monster's feet, and you can get a white speed buff. Hit its body, and you'll get get an orange buff that boosts defence. Finally, hit its head and you'll get a red buff, which boosts your attack power--and more importantly, expands your attack strings and combo options with even more slicing and dicing! Don't even consider attacking something until you have a red buff, at the very least. Seriously--some of us can't even believe we slogged through so many monsters without knowing this. The other important thing to remember with the Insect Glaive is that you should make liberal use of the vault-jump (R2 + X on PS4, or Right Trigger + A on Xbox One). You'll have access to two different aerial attacks (which are fantastic once you have a red buff active), as well as a midair dash to cover more ground or keep your combo going. It's even possible to stay in the air indefinitely, if the conditions are right. Naturally, this ability also makes it incredibly easy to mount monsters in order to knock them down. The Insect Glaive is all about being incredibly mobile, doing great air damage, and keeping your buffs up to unleash a dizzying flurry of strikes. It's fun as hell--when you know how to use it.
You Can Swing Around On Wedge Beetles
Mounting monsters is both fun and incredibly useful, but you don't always have always a good ledge to leap from. Enter the Wedge Beetle, those glowing bugs that you may have noticed scattered around the world (which also make a very distinctive noise to notify you that they're nearby). By aiming at a Wedge Beetle with the left trigger, you can hit the Circle button (on PS4) or B button (on Xbox One) to latch onto it, allowing you to swing indefinitely before launching yourself in a direction. This is useful not just for mounting monsters, but also for navigating the world, as you can sometimes save yourself the trouble of scaling a wall--just fly on up by latching onto a Wedge Beetle.
Item And Equipment Loadouts Save Tons Of Time
One of the most time-saving (and tedium-reducing) things you can do in Monster Hunter World is save your item and equipment loadouts. This can be done from the Manage Items and Manage Equipment screens of your item box, and each loadout can be assigned a name to help you keep track of what it is. By doing this, you can establish equipment sets that work effectively when hunting specific types of monsters. This means no more scrolling through all of your items to double-check, say, whether you have something that provides more defense and resistances. Item loadouts serve a similar purpose: They not only ensure that you have everything you want to bring on a hunt, they also allow you to easily dump everything that you picked up on a previous hunt. While Monster Hunter World introduces the ability to visit your item box while you're in the field, this ensures that you never find yourself ready to capture a monster after a long fight, only to realize that you didn't bring any traps.
The Map Is A Powerful Tool
A glimpse at the map can be overwhelming, but it's incredibly helpful if you know how to use it. If you're on the trail of a monster, you can select it in the bottom-left of the map, to have your scout flies help guide you toward it. Beyond that, you can set custom waypoints anywhere on the map,and your scout flies will guide you to your destination. And the map shows quite a lot--quests and bounties that involve hunting a particular small monster or collecting honey are much easier when your scout flies can take you to the correct location.
Talk To The Chief Ecologist Often
Among the people you'll want to routinely talk to in town is the Chief Ecologist, in the Ecological Research area of Astera. Located just to your left of where you spawn (up the stairs, behind where you manage bounties and investigations), having a quick chat allows you to capitalize on any tracks and other monster evidence that you collect in the field. Picking up that stuff is incredibly helpful long-term, but speaking to the researcher is a necessary part of the process, as doing so lets you increase your Research level with that particular monster. This, in turn, allows you to check out your Hunter's Notes from the Start menu at any item, which gives you important information about monster weak points, resistances, and item drops. Higher Research levels also provide a scout fly bonus, letting you more quickly pick up a monster's trail.
The Wishlist Makes It Easy To Track Materials
Crafting everything you want requires a lot of materials--and trying to remember exactly what you need can become a hassle. Rather than waste your time running to the crafting screen to see if you finally have all the necessary parts after each hunt, setting up a wishlist ensures that you get notifications telling you both when you've picked up a material for something on your list, and when you have all the parts to start crafting.
Capturing Monsters Is The Way To Go
Capturing monsters may seem a little intimidating, particularly if you're a newcomer; it's easier and safer to just keep smacking a monster on the head with a sword than to risk death by trying to ensnare it. But the process is actually quite easy (check out our guide to capturing monsters in Monster Hunter World), and more importantly, tends to yield more rewards than killing a monster. Capturing is obviously an essential element of some quests, but even when you can get away with killing a monster, you're better off bringing some traps and tranq bombs (or tranq ammo) and capturing everything that you can.
Flash Pods Are Invaluable Against Flying Monsters
Flying monsters can be obnoxious, particularly if you're a melee weapon user. They soar into the air, often out of even the most comically large weapon's reach, and they launch deadly attacks from the sky. Launching rocks with your slinger won't do much, but the slinger can be equipped with something that is more effective: Flash Pods. These are occasionally given to you for free at the beginning of a quest, or you can craft them and bring them yourself. Either way, simply scroll through your item bar and equip the Flash Pod, and you suddenly have a great counter to flying monsters. You only get three shots, but firing one in the vicinity of a monster's face with the slinger (done by holding the left trigger and firing with the right) will stun the monster and cause it to drop out of the sky, thereby saving you from an incoming attack (and opening up an opportunity to deal some damage).
By Matt Espineli on Feb 27, 2018 05:28 am
There's a multitude armor sets to craft and equip in Monster Hunter World. Much of the gear you get is unattainable until you've sunk a significant number of hours into the game honing your skills, taking down challenging enemies, and amassing the necessary resources for crafting. Every armor set you acquire comes in two types: alpha and beta. Alpha sets come with preset skills that enhance its wearer with a series of statistical benefits, while Beta sets allow its wearer to customize what skills each piece has. In addition, each set has an entirely different look depending on the gender you choose. We've already taken a look at how high-end armor looks on male characters, as well as all the high-end Palico armor. Click ahead to check out how each high-end armor set looks like on female characters. Monster Hunter: World is out now for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with a PC release to come later in the year. That's notable, as recent entries were limited to 3DS. The additional horsepower has allowed for a game with much larger, more beautiful environments to play in. It also does a better job of introducing newcomers to the flow of playing a Monster Hunter game. You can read more about what to expect in our Monster Hunter World review. And for more impressions of the game, check out our feature detailing 11 ways to make the game even better than it already is. Those playing on PS4 will be able to get their hands on some exclusive gear based on Horizon Zero Dawn. We also know that new Mega Man-themed items are on the way, as well as character skins themed around Street Fighter V--and if past games are any indication, this won't be the last crossover content that Capcom releases.
By Miguel Concepcion on Feb 27, 2018 05:18 am
Alternative Missions
The 2018 release of Metal Gear Survive marks the first Metal Gear game since Hideo Kojima's departure from Konami. Yet it's most certainly not the first game in the franchise he hasn't helmed. While these games collectively fall short of Kojima's consistent track record, there are more gems here than duds, like Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which have each rated as well as many of the mainline Metal Gear installments on GameSpot. For better or worse, it's likely that the Metal Gear name will live on well after Metal Gear Survive. If a non-canonical spin-off with zombies sounds dubious, consider the Metal Gear pachinko slot machine game that features completely remade cutscenes from Metal Gear Solid 3. It's a proverbial CQC gut-punch with a knife twist. But as a whole, this collection of spin-offs shows Konami's penchant for trying out new game mechanics, sometimes departing from the tactical espionage action that made the franchise a success. Be sure to check back soon for our Metal Gear Survive review. It'll be coming in the next few days. For now, check out our livestream showcasing gameplay 10 hours into the campaign.
Metal Gear (NES, MS-DOS, Commodore 64)
Just as there are a dozen features the NES version preserved from the original MSX2 game, so too are there a dozen notable changes that makes the NES edition a brand-new experience. It begins right from the opening shot: the NES version has Snake parachuting--with three mystery operatives who are never seen again--in the middle of the jungle while the MSX2 game has him infiltrating underwater. There are differences in level layouts and how enemies drop loot, yet the most notable omission from the NES game was the Metal Gear tank itself--it was replaced by a super computer. Thankfully, the MSX2 version, along with Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, would appear in North America as part of the bonus content in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and later in Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.
Snake's Revenge (NES)
Given the success of Metal Gear on the NES, it wasn't surprising that an unofficial sequel targeted to Western audiences would follow. Notable alterations over the previous game included pre-equipping Snake with a knife and handgun, changes to how he communicated with his support team, and more side-scrolling areas. While it's not essential to play Snake's Revenge to appreciate the franchise, it does maintain some of the first game's emphasis on stealth and the risks of triggering an alert state.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (Game Boy Color)
Capitalizing on the runaway success of the first Metal Gear Solid, this GBC spin-off--simply titled Metal Gear Solid in the West--bridged MGS with the much older titles, stylistically speaking. It paired the static camera view of MSX games with the aesthetic appeal of Yoji Shinkawa's character designs (as well as the GBA could pull off his detailed artwork, at least). It had connections to MGS by featuring not only Solid Snake, but also Meryl Silverburgh, Mei Ling, and Roy Campbell. Its bosses, with codenames like Marionette Owl and Pyro Bison, used naming conventions similar to the specialists of Foxhound. It's also notable for referring to the playable character in the Special Missions mode as "Jack." Was this a reference to the eventual appearance of Raiden a year later in MGS2 or Big Boss himself?
Metal Gear Solid Mobile (Mobile, N-Gage)
For a non-canonical Metal Gear game, this mobile entry makes a strong case for inclusion in the franchise's official lore. It helps fill a narrative gap between MGS and MGS2, when Solid Snake and Otacon were pursuing their Metal Gear eradication goals through Philanthropy. It wasn't without its Kojima-inspired twists plus references to the character who would be revealed as Raiden. And for a game designed for the N-Gage phone, it was impressive that its mechanics and visuals weren't that far off from the original MGS.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube)
This remake of Metal Gear Solid was designed in the style of MGS2 right down to the optional first-person view and improved enemy AI. Helmed by Silicon Knights, this GameCube exclusive was so well-executed that it was easy to play along with (or if you preferred, look past) Solid Snake's reimagining as a superhuman operative who can springboard off incoming missiles. For all the new features and cutscene surprises, it was a shame the studios involved didn't take this rare opportunity to add more connective narrative tissue between MGS and MGS2, like new insights into the mysterious Patriots organization.
Metal Gear Acid (PSP)
"Turn-based card game" certainly was a drastic departure for a stealth-oriented third-person action-adventure series like Metal Gear, but it proved successful enough to warrant a sequel. Pairing tactical combat with trading cards offered its share of depth and complexity, with cards divided into categories like weapons, equipment, and actions. And it was also notable for being the first Metal Gear game to have a multiplayer component, a few months before Metal Gear Online was introduced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
Metal Gear Acid 2 (PSP)
This sequel to the first Acid kept the tactical card gameplay with new features, like cover fire and the option to dispose of cards for in-game currency. Visually, Acid 2 stood out for being the only Metal Gear with a cel-shaded art style, which was complemented with particle effects and three-dimensional equipment boxes. It was also unique for including a Solid Eye pack-in cardboard attachment that created a 3D effect even though the PSP was not designed as a 3D handheld.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops / Plus (PSP)
A rare canonical Metal Gear not directed by Kojima, Portable Ops was anticipated for being the first sequel that continued Big Boss' story from Metal Gear Solid 3. Its Comrade recruitment system signalled a departure from the solo mission designs of previous games, and narratively foreshadowed Big Boss' destiny as a military leader. Portable Ops also proved that the third-person controls of MGS3 could translate well to the PlayStation Portable, despite the handheld's lack of a right stick.
Metal Gear Touch (iOS)
Two years after the release of the hugely successful iPhone, Konami would capitalize on the touch-enabled smartphone with Metal Gear Touch. Repurposing the events of Metal Gear Solid 4 into a shooting gallery, this retelling of Old Snake's last missions was an entertaining yet non-essential tour of the locales from the PS3 game, with appearances from characters such as Raiden and the Beauty and the Beast Unit. Unfortunately, it's since been removed from the App Store--though, anyone who's previously purchased Metal Gear Touch can redownload it.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
By the conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4, no character in the franchise more deserived a spin-off than Raiden, whose lethal skill with a blade made him a perfect fit for Bayonetta developer Platinum Games, the studio behind Metal Gear Rising. He always bore similarities to the equally agile and lethal Gray Fox, so it wasn't surprising that Kojima originally envisioned this game as a story of the tragic character also known as Frank Jaeger. An equally curious fun fact was that--after settling on Raiden as the protagonist--Metal Gear Rising was intended to bridge the events of MGS2 and MGS4. Add to that the previously planned gameplay mechanic where Raiden would harness power and take information from his vanquished prey. Ultimately, Revengeance was set after MGS4, where its design and gameplay departure from the series felt appropriate in a post-Snake narrative.
Metal Gear Survive (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
If there's one thing Metal Gear Survive should be given credit for, it's for living up to its 'Survive' moniker. The unlimited stamina you could take for granted in The Phantom Pain? Gone. Not only do you start Survive with very limited stamina, you also have to continually sustain yourself with food, water, and in some cases, oxygen. These demands are stacked on top of the constant need to forage anything you can pick up for Survive's immense crafting component. It remains to be seen if its online component will have long-term appeal, but being able to experience a new Fox Engine-designed Metal Gear game is certainly its silver lining.
By GameSpot Staff on Feb 27, 2018 04:38 am
What We Wish We Knew
When you first pop into the free, competitive multiplayer Battle Royale version of Fortnite--without first buying its cooperative counterpart--you'll find a lot that doesn't get explained. Fortnite: Battle Royale has no tutorial, so it's up to players to discover its nuances, mostly through trial and error, spectating other players, and dying. The Battle Royale mode also features a whole bunch of guns, materials, structures, and items to learn about and understand, as well as how they interact with each other and the game's systems. Fortnite is full of little tricks and idiosyncrasies that aren't immediately obvious, especially with its emphasis on gathering resources and building structures as part of its combat. Once you know them, however, they'll make you a much more effective player. Here are the 12 things we wish we knew about Fortnite: Battle Royale before we started playing. If you're new to Fornite: Battle Royale, check out our beginner's tips guide, but if you're more advanced, be sure to read our advanced tips guide. You can also check out our video guide on how to build more effectively. Fortnite: Battle Royale is available as a free download for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The mode supports up to 100 players attempting to be the last person or team standing as they hunt other players and avoid being killed themselves. For more on the differences between Fortnite: Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, check out our in-depth feature discussing the two games and what sets them apart from one another. You can also check out details on Fortnite's recent Season 3 update, as well as information regarding Season 3 rewards.
Aiming Matters When Gathering Resources
Whenever you start hammering away at a wall, tree, or pile of rocks to gather resources, you'll notice that a weird blue icon appears on the thing you're smacking. That little marker turns gathering resources into something more active than just holding a button down for a few seconds. You want to move your crosshair over each new blue icon with every swing of your pickaxe. This earns you the most resources you can get with each hit, and increases your harvesting efficiency--which means you'll grab more building materials and leave yourself less vulnerable.
The Shotgun Is Highly Effective
It shouldn't always be your main weapon, but it's a pretty good idea for you to have a shotgun on-hand whenever possible--even a weak one. Fortnite's shotguns have decent range and a big spread (at least for the time being), which means they're great catch-all guns for dropping already-injured targets. Time and again, we've seen players use shotguns as the clean-up hitter of their arsenal; they might fire a rocket in the vicinity of an enemy to knock out their shield, or hit them with a rifle as they close the gap, but the shotgun is often the weapon that closes the deal. Don't be afraid to use it at close- to mid-range. And aim high, because headshots can be very painful.
Crouch And Shoot
A lot of the guns in Fortnite aren't quite as accurate as in some other shooters, and that can make for tough fights, especially when you engage players at long-range. It's possible to increase your guns' accuracy in a lot of cases, though. Whenever possible to do so safely, keep still and crouch--it'll increase your accuracy, helping you take down other players more quickly. That doesn't mean you should stop dodging and stand still in the open during a heated battle... but if you spot someone on the move and are thinking about opening fire on them, you'll have an advantage if you get low and keep still.
Build To Save Yourself From Falling
Fall damage is a big deal in Fortnite. High locations are good places to set up and watch for other players, and when you get good at building, going vertical and taking the high ground is a very effective strategy. Falling off those places can be deadly, though, since shields don't absorb fall damage. Always remember that you can save yourself by using the build menu to quickly drop structures beneath you as you fall; so long as you're close enough to the wall of a tower or a cliff, you can instantly build a floor or ramp beneath you that can stop your descent and save you from certain doom. Use this trick to quickly make your escape from fortifications when someone starts shooting at you with rockets, or when you need to descend a cliff in a hurry. It's a lot easier than trying to find items to heal yourself.
Shield Potions Are Essential
Finding good guns is one thing... but really, the best way to make it through any given fight is to find shield potions. Fortnite doesn't effectively explain how its health system works, but the handiest thing to know is that blue shield potions make you more resilient to incoming fire, and they make a world of difference in any given firefight. As you loot in Fortnite, always drink shield potions right away to fire up a shield immediately, and stockpile the potions that you can't use immediately. They're worth carrying around; your character can drink a small shield potion in about two seconds, which is just fast enough to get you back on your feet as you duck around a corner or build a few quick walls to escape from an enemy.
You Have An Inventory Screen
It's not immediately apparent if you haven't played Fortnite's Save the World mode, but you have more than just the small inventory rundown at the bottom of your screen. You can access a much bigger, more detailed inventory menu--find it by pressing Up on the directional pad if you're playing with a controller, or "I" on a keyboard--and it shows everything you're carrying, including how much ammo of each type you have. The inventory menu gives you rundowns of your guns' statistics, including effective range and damage per second, which can help you decide what to hold onto and what to toss. That's the other handy thing about the inventory menu: It offers you the option to drop weapons onto the ground. Use that to hand off guns, items, or ammo to your teammates, or just to organize your inventory so that you always play with guns and items of specific types in the same slots. The repetition of knowing where you keep heals or certain guns can make it a lot easier for you to switch in a hurry.
Use Bushes And Trees For Concealment
Fortnite's cartoonish art style means that player silhouettes are pretty obvious at a distance--especially when you add in the dust trails left by sprinting across open ground. But you can find a few good places to hide, especially if you're smart about it. While many bushes are solid, you can slip inside some of them, which mostly conceals your character and make you tough to spot at a distance. The same is true of many pine trees, which you can generally duck beneath; these offer decent concealment, especially from above. Stealth can take you a long way if you're patient and don't move too much when sneaking up on people. By the same token, don't ignore those light green bushes around you. Smart players treat them like they might always be concealing someone, especially in the endgame of a match. Putting a shot or two into a bush will quickly reveal if anyone is hiding in it: Watch for the blue flash of their shield taking damage.
Throw Up Some Walls To Protect Downed Teammates
Once you hear it, it seems like a no-brainer, but this is one of those things that's easy to forget if you're used to playing other Battle Royale games. In Fortnite, you want to try to think about how you can solve problems by building--and creating a few quick fortifications can buy you precious extra seconds while you heal a teammate who has been knocked down by gunfire. Just remember to use wood if you're currently under fire; it'll build the fastest, and it can take the most punishment from other players immediately after being deployed. If you're in a rough battle situation, though, you might need multiple layers (or you might just need to leave your friend hanging while you take out the attackers).
Open Doors (Usually) Mean A Place Has Been Looted
Savvy players know that doors can tell you a lot. An open door on a building might mean someone's inside; more often, it means that someone has at least been through that building and taken all the good stuff already. By the same token, closing doors behind you is a good way to throw off other players, or to catch the unwary in ambshes. In our experience, not only are the outer doors of untouched buildings always closed in Fortnite, but so are the inner ones. If you step into a structure that you think is full of loot and start seeing open doors between rooms, it should put you on guard--it might mean someone is lying in wait ahead. Open doors are also a good indicator of buildings that you can skip altogether, to avoid wasting time searching places that have little to offer.
Traps Are A Thing
Traps are a holdover from the cooperative campaign version of Fortnite, and they pop up in Battle Royale to change some situations significantly. You'll find them occasionally in loot drops or certain locations (like mines), and you can deploy them on structures. They don't have a ton of uses, since so much of the Battle Royale experience consists of quickly hurrying from one building to the next, looting as fast as you can--but they do come up every now and then. Traps are great for leaving behind in a seemingly unlooted building in order to ruin the day of someone following you, or to place on your towers to dissuade anyone sneaking up below you. When heading into buildings, it's good practice to stand beside the front door and look inside to check for an ambush; when you do that, take a glance upward too, to ensure you're not about to stumble into somebody else's devilish plan.
The Boogie Bomb Is The Best
If you find the elusive grenade known as the Boogie Bomb, grab it. This thing is the goofiest weapon you can add to your arsenal in Fortnite right now, and it's hilarious as well as useful. When it explodes, everyone caught in its radius is forced to start dancing for five seconds, leaving them completely vulnerable to you cruising up and taking them out. It's especially handy for when you find a couple of other players already battling it out--with one bomb and a quick trigger finger, you can humiliate your opponents, eliminate them, and steal all their stuff.
Getting Good At Building Is How You Win
Grappling with all of Fortnite's systems can be tough--especially if you're using a controller. Between switching guns and building structures, the game has a lot of buttons to keep track of, and a lot of items to switch through with the shoulder buttons. But no matter what platform they're using, the best Fortnite players are expert builders. They've trained themselves through repetition to quickly construct walls, towers, bridges, and ramps in order to save their lives in the heat of battle, or give themselves a ridiculous advantage using height and cover. Though Fortnite has a lot in common with other Battle Royale games like PUBG, building is what sets it apart. If you come to this game expecting to play it like PUBG, you're going to get shut down over and over again by players who've learned to love carpentry. Get good at farming resources quickly and erecting structures even faster, if you want to be competitive!
By GameSpot Staff on Feb 27, 2018 04:29 am
Pro Tips
Players who are keen on winning have a lot of things to keep in mind if they want to succeed in Fortnite: Battle Royale. The game marries the last-player-standing multiplayer competition of the battle royale genre with resource-gathering and building mechanics, and knowing the ins and outs of both are the only way to win. Not only do you need to outsmart and outgun other players-- you need to effectively use your building capabilities to traverse the map, fortify your positions, and beat out the competition. Players who've been around the block in Fortnite's single-player campaign have no doubt picked up a lot of tactics, strategies, and pieces of information that can help elevate them to multiplayer success. For everyone else, it can be tough to pick up on all of Fortnite's idiosyncrasies and hidden bits of information--especially since the free Battle Royale mode doesn't include a tutorial. Use these 10 tips to get an edge over the other 99 players in your Fortnite: Battle Royale match. If you're new to Fornite: Battle Royale, make sure to read our beginner's tips guide, as well as our guide covering all the things we wish we knew before playing the game. You can also check out our video guide on how to build more effectively. Fortnite: Battle Royale is available as a free download for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The mode supports up to 100 players competing to be the last person (or team) standing as they hunt other players and avoid being killed themselves. For the differences between Fortnite: Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, check out our in-depth feature discussing the two games and what sets them apart from one another. You can also check out details on Fortnite's recent Season 3 update, as well as information regarding Season 3 rewards.
Use Headphones
It really is tough to overestimate how crucial sound is in Fortnite. You'll use it to catch people sneaking up on you, zero in on enemies who are shooting at you, and track players for ambushes. You're at a disadvantage listening to the game over your computer speakers, TV speakers, or even a sound system, when compared to players who are armed with a quality pair of surround sound headphones. Sound is possibly the best tool in your arsenal in Fortnite, so make sure you're able to use it as effectively as possible.
Speed Is Key Early On
As you get the hang of the map, you'll want to move as fast as you can to find good weapons early. That starts with your jump from the game's flying party bus at the beginning of each match: If you're confident in your fighting abilities, pick a spot with lots of buildings, and dive straight for it. Avoid falling over hills and other high-elevation areas, as these will cause your glider to auto-deploy sooner than if you dive toward lower-elevation spots like water or canyons. The idea is to fall to earth as fast as you can, so that you can beat other players to the guns--and take them down. While it's good for new players to close doors behind them to protect themselves, once you're used to the flow of the game, you don't have to worry about hiding yourself nearly as much. Get into a building, find what's useful, and move on as fast as you can--the ol' "loot and scoot" approach. Acquiring high-quality guns early will set you up for success against players who have weaker gear than you, so get used to moving on to new locations quickly, and looting as much as you can as fast as you can. Just be cautious about it, so that you don't bumble into an ambush.
Don't Pick Up Everything
Among the best habits you can make as you advance your Fortnite career is to be discerning about what you pick up and what you leave behind. It's tempting to snatch up everything you come across--because you never know when you might want to switch between a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun, right? In practice, though, you'll probably use one or two guns for most of a match, unless you've got the rarer and more useful ones like sniper rifles, miniguns, and rocket launchers. Having a handful of white or green pistols that you don't intend to use will just slow you down when it comes time to switch out for better loot. Instead, make quick decisions about what you need and what you don't, and act accordingly. Stopping to manage your inventory can leave you vulnerable, so grab only what you really need, and learn to ignore the less useful loot. Also: While you have to manually pick up weapons and items, ammo gets picked up automatically... so if you're looking at a pile of loot and all you want are the bullets, save time by just running over it to avoid accidentally picking up the wrong stuff.
Double Up Your Guns For Added Damage
While you're being discerning about what guns you pick up, remember that two of the same weapon can actually be pretty useful--particularly when it comes to the pump shotgun and the bolt-action sniper rifle. By having two of these guns in adjacent inventory slots, you can avoid the wait between shotgun pumps or sniper reloads, and instead just switch to your second version of the gun to fire a second shot immediately. The quick switch can be tough to get used to, but with the power that this move affords you, it's worth training yourself to switch rather than wait to reload. It's a great way to maximize your lethality against other players.
Chop Down Trees For More Wood
Where you get your materials matters. Especially early on, you want to grab as much wood as you can manage, as it's highly useful in battles and for protection. You can bash down buildings and break up boxes for wood with your pickaxe--but as it happens, these dispense less wood than trees. Pick the right tree, and you can gather up 40-plus units of wood from a single node, quickly filling up your materials and giving you plenty to use in a pinch. Pine trees whose green portions reach close to the ground tend to be the best, but it's worth experimenting as you play, to learn where on the map you can get the most materials fastest. The same is true with other materials. Brick walls yield some brick, but piles of rocks out in the wilderness are even better. You can also get a decent haul of metal from destroying vehicles, but be wary: Sometimes, smashing up a car will set off its alarm, which can draw other players to your location.
Wood Trumps Metal (In Certain Cases)
Materials in Fortnite have a few little quirks. Generally, wood is the weakest material, while brick is a little stronger, and metal is the strongest. In practice, this means that wood structures can take the least amount of damage before they break altogether, brick structures have more health than wood, and metal structures have the most health. Heavier materials come with drawbacks, though. Brick structures take longer to build (and reach full health) than wood structures do, and metal takes the longest. Wood really shines when it comes to quickly dropping walls in the middle of a firefight. The thing is, a freshly spawned, incomplete wood wall starts with more health than a freshly spawned, incomplete brick or metal wall (100 health points for the wood, 70 for the brick or metal). That means a wood wall can save you from more shots when you're building in the heat of battle than the other two materials. The easiest way to think about it is this: A fresh wood wall will collapse after two close-range shotgun blasts when you first drop it; a brick or metal wall will collapse after only one shotgun blast. Use wood for firefights, and save your brick and metal for stronger fortifications closer to the end of a match.
Take (Or Build) The High Ground
High ground will win you fights in Fortnite, and that doesn't just mean high hills or cliffs--although these offer better vantage points in general. In firefights, practice quickly building upward as you fight enemies. You can drop walls and then ramps to protect yourself as you climb, and shooting down on other players nets you more headshots and damage, while offering you better protection. Quickly making a ramp surrounded by walls means that you can jump up and take potshots at enemies below while also making yourself extremely tough to hit. When you can, build up for the advantage... and if the other player is trying to get above you, try to get higher or force them to change locations, to take their advantage away. Just make sure to quickly pop wood walls in front of your ramps, lest the other player blast them out from under you. Hitting the bottom of a ramp will collapse it, and the damage you take from falling could cost you the fight (and the match).
Watch For (And Mark) Supply Drops
Every so often, the flying bus will drop a supply crate. The crates' drop positions are marked by blue smoke grenades on the ground, and they float down on balloons once they're dropped. These crates contain some of the best loot in the game, including the minigun and rocket launcher, so they're definitely worth your attention--but they're likely to attract other players, too. Supply drops are great places for an ambush, and one way to pin down where the drop will be is to "mark" it. Like just about everything in Fortnite, supply drops are destructible, and you can damage their balloons from afar with your gun. Doing so causes the crate's health bar to pop up, which stays on your screen even if structures or other things obstruct your line of sight to the crate itself. Marking crates means that you can more easily get to them when they hit the ground, but be ready to fight anyone else with the same idea.
Use The Storm To Your Advantage
The ever-advancing storm--the circle that constantly contracts to make the play area smaller and smaller--is a danger that you constantly need to avoid in Fortnite. It also affords some benefits, however. While the storm damages you when you're in it, for much of any given match, that damage is not immediately deadly. You can sometimes use this tactically; the edge of the storm is a great place to catch desperate players as they scramble to get to safety. Conversely, you might be able to duck through the tough-to-see-through edge early in the match to lose anyone in the eye of the storm who's battling you (although that's a tough gamble, and not for everyone). Especially in a match's endgame, the storm can be a tool as much as it is a danger. It lets you ensure that you won't be attacked from behind when you keep close to its edge. If you're more centrally located and can take up a good position, the shrinking circle can help you as it forces players to either take storm damage, or move toward you and open themselves up to attack. It's important to always stay aware of the circle--but as the match draws toward its end, keep thinking about where you can set yourself up to use the storm as a weapon against your enemies.
Complete Daily Challenges To Earn V-Bucks
V-Bucks are Fortnite's premium currency, which can be used to purchase cosmetic items to make your character wear cooler clothes or deploy more fun emotes. The best way to get an effective amount of V-Bucks is to buy them with real money. If you're willing to put in the time, it's also possible to earn a few just by playing the game--but it'll take you a while. Playing Fortnite earns you experience points based on your performance in a match, and each time you earn enough, you level up, which earns you one "Battle Star." After grabbing 10 Battle Stars, you advance to a new "tier," and at certain tiers, you unlock new emotes and other items. It's possible to earn tiers faster by completing Daily Challenges, which are listed on the Lobby screen when you log into Fortnite. Challenges require you to complete special actions, like killing a set number of players with a specific gun. Challenges give you a bunch of experience points and five Battle Stars for completing them, which can help you earn tiers a lot quicker. If you're playing for free, you can earn 100 V-Bucks roughly every 14 tiers (which isn't very much). Your return on investment is slightly better if you pony up the money to purchase the V-Bucks for a "Battle Pass," which will run you 950 V-Bucks--or a little less than $10 ($9.99 buys you 1,000 V-Bucks). The Battle Pass puts you on a different, much more rewarding tier track, allowing you to earn a lot more cosmetic gear as you level up. The Battle Pass track also includes V-Bucks, dishing out 100 V-Bucks once about every seven tiers, but it also comes with experience point boosts that can get you there quicker.
By GameSpot Staff on Feb 27, 2018 04:26 am
Tips To Build Your Chances Of Survival
Though you might be familiar with other games in the battle royale genre--games that tend to stick one player (or a small team) on a map where they fight against others to be the last one standing--Fortnite: Battle Royale is a little different. The game takes the basic premise of the genre and adds its own twist that changes everything: You can instantly construct stuff like walls and stairs, allowing you to build fortifications to protect yourself and create your own tactical advantages. Fortnite drops you onto an island with 99 other players, and the last player (or team) left alive wins. Though it's similar to games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, plenty of small differences make Fortnite into a very distinct experience. Knowing what to carry, when to shoot, and what to build are essential if you're going to be the last person alive on the island. You won't find a tutorial in Fortnite Battle Royale, so when you drop onto its island, all you have are your wits and whatever you can find along the way. Here's everything you need to know to get a strong start--and maybe survive long enough to find yourself a minigun. And if you're already a Fornite: Battle Royale veteran, check out our advanced tips guide, as well as our guide covering all the things that we wish we knew before playing the game. You can also watch our video guide on how to build more effectively. Fortnite: Battle Royale is available as a free download for PlayStation 4, Xbox One. The mode supports up to 100 players competing to be the last person (or team) standing as they hunt other players and avoid being killed themselves. For the differences between Fortnite: Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, check out our in-depth feature discussing the two games and what sets them apart from one another. You can also check out details on Fortnite's recent Season 3 update, as well as information regarding Season 3 rewards.
Pick Your Landing Zone And Avoid Other Players
Fortnite: Battle Royale starts with 100 players dropping out of a vehicle (in this case, a flying bus) onto an island below that's littered with weapons. Check your map at the outset and watch the flight path carefully--where you land is your first big decision in Fortnite, and it can help you get off to a fighting start. Your first order of business is weapons, and if you're new to the game, you'll also want to try to avoid other players. Weapons are mostly found inside buildings, so pick a drop location with a few structures, but try to avoid major settlements or towns along the flight path early on. Those places have great gear, but also attract a ton of players; you'll want to avoid a fight straight off until you've gotten a little more comfortable with the game. Usually, it's best to hold off jumping for a few seconds to pick your spot and stay away from the largest pack, which usually jumps as soon as the doors open. You can also set waypoints on your map screen, making it easier to locate any structures or settlements you've got in mind for looting. You'll start your jump by skydiving, but at any time, you can follow the onscreen prompt to deploy your glider. Flipping to your glider early will make you fall slower, allowing you to cover much more distance. Use this to get away from other likely drop points that other players might be headed to, but don't take too long--the faster you hit the ground and gear up, the better. Be sure to keep an eye out for other players dropping nearby as you head down, to avoid getting ambushed or falling into a fight. Your goal is to survive, so as you're learning the ropes, it's best to let other players take each other out, rather than go looking for a battle.
The Storm Is Your Greatest Enemy
Like PUBG, Fortnite matches are dictated by "the circle"--or, in this case, "the storm." Near the start of each match, a large circle will appear on the map in a random position, dictating the eye of the storm. Outside of this circle, the approaching clouds will damage and kill you. A timer in the corner of your screen notes when the storm will contract, creating a new, tighter circle. Over the course of the match, the storm will close in more and more, shrinking the play area on the island and forcing everyone closer together until only one (or one team) remains. This means that paying attention to the circle's location and the timer are your top priorities. You can't just run to the center of the first circle that appears in a match and stay there, because smaller circles won't always have the same center point. Often, the movement of the circle means you'll have to make a run for it to escape the storm, leaving you vulnerable to attack. Always keep the circle in mind, and know where you need to be. The best practice is to get there quickly and carefully.
Gather Resources First
When you first land on the island in Fortnite: Battle Royale, you'll be armed only with your melee pickaxe. You can fight people with it... but that's not especially effective, and will get you killed against pretty much any other weapon. The pickaxe's main use is for bashing through structures and gathering resources, the latter of which is one of the first things you want to do--provided you're far enough from other people that it won't immediately draw attention. Breaking up anything causes a commotion; for instance, you might destroy some vehicles to get a decent bounty of metal, but you risk triggering its alarm and broadcasting your location to other players. To start: Smash walls, structures, and (especially) trees, and gather yourself at least 300 units of wood. This will supply you with key materials that can keep you alive. If you switch to the building menu, you'll see that you can cycle through a few structures, like floors, roofs, walls, and stairs. You'll need resources to build those things, so gather materials quickly before taking off toward the circle. It's much safer taking time to gather materials in the early game than it will be later on, and you can smash just about anything to get the wood, brick, and metal necessary to make stuff.
Practice Building (Especially Under Fire)
With your resources in-hand, you'll want to spend your first few matches learning the ways that buildings can help you. Building structures is Fortnite's claim to fame--and using structures creatively will get you out of trouble, help you traverse the map, and provide cover in a firefight. You don't want to be building constantly, but you need to get comfortable with the system, so that you can make whatever you want as fast as possible when things get hairy. The build menu lets you choose a structure, its material, and its location very quickly. Once you click the button to start building something, it constructs itself automatically. This means that even under fire, building is a viable option: If you start to take fire, you can lay down a wall ahead of you to absorb some of the incoming bullets while you use it as cover and shoot back. Ramps get you over otherwise impassable terrain and can help you create instant high ground that give you an advantage over other players. It's a system that you definitely shouldn't sleep on, because it can give you serious advantages. Just note that structures make noise as you're constructing them, and messing around in the build menu can leave you vulnerable. Player structures are also visually very conspicuous. The various materials have their pros and cons, too; brick and metal sound like the stronger materials at first blush, but using them in construction takes longer than wood, and they can be tougher to find. In touch-and-go battle situations when you need immediate cover, wood is usually the right call, while brick and metal are better saved for endgame fortifications when you expect to be in tougher fights.
Gear Up
As soon as you hit the ground, it's time to hunt for weapons, so head into a building and grab whatever's there. All your usable items go into one of five inventory slots, located on the bottom of your screen (that goes for guns, as well as health and support items). You'll want to get armed with whatever you can find straight away--but don't be afraid to drop things in favor of better weapons. Weapons come in several varieties. You'll find close-range shotguns and long-range assault and sniper rifles, as well as pistols, SMGs, and occasionally rocket launchers and more. Weapons also have rarity classifications: Weapons with white auras around them and white icons in your inventory are the most common and also the weakest; green are uncommon and a little better; blue are rare and better still; purple are epic; orange are legendary; and gold are mythic. As a general rule, the higher the tier of the gun--and the better it is. Rarer weapons are often more accurate and more powerful, and come with add-ons like silencers or scopes. Swap out more common guns for rarer ones during the course of the match to increase your firepower. You'll find a lot of these rarer guns in treasure chests, which are hidden in buildings. These are indicated by a glowing gold light and a humming sound, but they're usually hidden behind walls that you might have to destroy (or attics that you'll need to build stairs to reach). Always try to seek out chests, as they have valuable gear--such as bandages and shield potions--as well as guns. You'll definitely need all the supplies you can get if you want to be a contender in a match's late game.
Keep Quiet
The large scope of Fortnite: Battle Royale's island means that players can spread out quite a bit. Finding other people and avoiding detection are two of your main concerns in a given match, because it's easy to get ambushed or taken out from afar. Especially as matches go on and the play area contracts, you'll be closer to players--and they'll be able to hear you moving around, building, and shooting. Sound and silence are essential tools to victory, and good speakers or headphones is highly recommended to help you get a bead on what's happening around you and locating the source of sounds. Running is a noisy way to move around, and sprinting is even louder, and even kicks up some dust behind you. You can reduce your movement sounds by crouching and moving more slowly, but note that even rotating your character creates the sound of footsteps. Doors also make a ton of racket, but in Fortnite, you'll often find it's possible to jump through a window and avoid doors entirely. You'll also want to avoid shooting unless absolutely necessary, as the sound is like raising a flag on your location--although silenced weapons help with that issue a great deal. Finally, gathering resources with your pickaxe and building stuff makes a lot of noise, often for an extended period of time. These are essential to survival at Fortnite, but always be aware that when you smash or build things, you might be giving away your location.
Don't Fight Unless You're (Pretty) Sure You Can Win
Firefights in Fortnite, as in other Battle Royale games, can start out looking like clear victories and quickly become disasters. Your greatest advantage at all times is surprise, but you only have one life to live. This crucial fact means that often, it's better to ignore another player and stay hidden (if you can't get the jump on them), rather than attack them and risk losing it all, even when you have great weapons. Aiming in Fortnite is a little harrowing as well, which can make actually hitting other players tough at any kind of range. First off, you'll want to pick the right gun for the job: Up close, even a fairly common-level shotgun can be devastating with a headshot, while further away, assault rifles and sniper rifles can take people out before they know what hit them. Take your time, line up your shots, and make sure your opponent is within range so that you take them down before they can react. Survival is your most important goal, so use discretion: If you're not confident you'll be able to take down whoever's in your sights quickly and cleanly, you're probably better off letting them go.
Be Careful In The Open
Players used to PUBG know that the game often consists of sprinting across open ground, trying to get to a closing circle. In Fortnite, moving into the open is just as harrowing, because the cartoonish art style makes you more visible at a distance--and you can't get any lower to the ground than a crouch. This means picking your path when you move in the open is an essential skill to learn, and the players who live the longest typically minimize their time in the open or move smartly to different positions to avoid getting caught. First, use structures and cover like cliffs and boulders to your advantage, to protect your back or sides and limit the areas you have to keep an eye on. Next, move quickly while in the open, and carefully and slowly when you're in cover. The human eye is built to detect movement, so you're safest when you're not in motion. You can occasionally hide among pine trees or in bushes to make yourself even tougher to spot. You'll also want to make use of Fortnite's third-person perspective to position your character to peek around corners and through doorways before you enter them, and avoid walking into an ambush (or right into someone hiding in a corner, out of your line of sight). Another quick tip: Close doors behind you. It's an easy way to make it less obvious that you're in a building, and this makes it tougher for other players to track you.
Drink Shield Potions As Soon As You Find Them
Health in Fortnite: Battle Royale is divided into two types: your player health, which is a green bar on the bottom of your screen, and your shield, which is a blue bar--each topping out at 100 points. Shield depletes before health, and when your health is gone, you're dead. You won't start the match with a shield, however, so you'll have to find one. Treasure chests are the places where you'll often find health items--and in particular, blue shield potions. These take up a space in your limited inventory, and since you won't start the match with a shield, it's usually best to drink these as soon as you find them, as your shield lasts until it takes damage. Shield potions come in two types. Larger shield potions give you 50 shield points, and can be stacked twice to double your health; smaller shield potions give you 25 shield. Only the larger potions can push you up to 100, though: If you use two small shield potions, you'll top out at 50 shield points. Note that shields won't protect you from falling damage, so take care of yourself. If you can find health items like bandages and medkits, you'll likely want to hang onto them for later use (bandages give you 15 health to a max of 75, while medkits will heal you fully). A rarer healing item called Slurp Juice--which comes in a purple bottle--replenishes your shield and gives you back health over time at a rate of one point per second for 25 seconds, making it more versatile in a sticky situation. Even rarer Chug Jugs are also extremely useful, fully restoring your health and shield, but requiring 15 seconds of your time to use.
Watch For Player Buildings
As matches wear on, you're likely to start seeing player fortifications. The good news is that player buildings are usually square, blank, obvious towers... so you'll usually see them from a distance. They're great indicators of where players are staked out, so if you ever spot a tower or other fortification, you should absolutely approach it with caution--it usually means someone's waiting with a scoped rifle, hoping to take down passersby. Often, when you're on the ground and spot a tower, it's best to keep clear of it. Usually, fortifications suggest that players are well-stocked and ready for a fight from a distance--and if they're up high, they typically have a line-of-sight advantage. If you're looking to fight someone in a tower or other structure, you're going to want strong weapons. The newly added minigun can chew up materials like wood and brick pretty well, and tough-to-find rocket launchers can absolutely devastate fortifications. You should always try to bring the right tools for the job. Fall damage can play a big part in some of these fights. If you can destroy the bottom of stairs or the supports of a tower, you might be able to collapse it altogether, so pay attention to how you can use the environment and the construction to your advantage.
Never Trust Cover
No cover in Fortnite is foolproof. Just about everything in the game is destructible--not just player-constructed fortifications. Even buildings on the map can all be wrecked with the right weapons; locations that feel safe generally aren't, and every wall can be destroyed in the middle of battle. This means that even when you're hiding out or grabbing cover in a firefight, you should always be prepared to move, strafe, run, and otherwise do your best to avoid fire. Walls won't save you--and especially late in the game, the likelihood of someone bringing along a rocket launcher or minigun to a battle increases tremendously. Those things annihilate cover pretty easily, so learn not to rely on it. Mobility is often your greatest ally, so jump and build to give yourself additional advantages in battle.
Be Careful When Looting Defeated Players
Fights in Battle Royale games are almost always close calls that fill you with adrenaline, and taking down another player always comes with a rush of relief. Don't let your guard down, though; every time you fire your gun, you announce yourself, and the loot that players drop when they die makes those locations targets for other players. Immediately after winning a fight is when you need to be extra-careful. Instead of rushing up to a dead player and going through all their gear (which can leave you very vulnerable), it's often better to take a beat, grab cover, and survey the situation. Other players might be attracted to the gunfire or spot the loot as you're on your way to grab it, allowing them to get the drop on you. Similarly, you might be able to use the dead player's loot to get the drop on them. Being careful is key to survival in Fortnite: Battle Royale--so play smart, and always expect another player lurking nearby. The same goes for the supply drops, which occasionally get ejected into the sky by the party bus as it flies overhead. The drops have great loot, but almost always attract a lot of attention, so approach them carefully.
Use This Time To Learn
Most of these tips are geared toward teaching you how to keep yourself alive in Fortnite, and it can be tempting at the start to hole up inside a building deep in the circle with the first gun you find, trying to outlast everyone else. You might even find yourself getting into the top 10 players in a match without firing a shot. It's worth it to experiment in Fortnite: Battle Royale, especially early on. Learn your capabilities and get a handle on how other people play the game. In other words: Go get yourself killed. Finding good weapon locations, discovering how to use buildings effectively, and getting used to how guns handle in firefights is all part of what it takes to win in Battle Royale games. Fortnite matches pit you against 99 other players, so the likelihood that you're going to lose is extremely high. Embrace it, and use your first matches to build skills rather than hide out in an attempt to win. You'll do better in the long run when you start to learn the ins and outs of the game, as well as what you're comfortable with and how you can best succeed. You can also spectate other players once you're dead, which can clue you in on how more experienced players approach the game--it's a highly useful learning tool.
By Array on Feb 27, 2018 03:53 am
Give Us This Day, Our Daily Tips
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. If you're more of a visual learner, be sure to check out our video version of this guide. 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. For our full thoughts about the game, read our Kingdom Come: Deliverance review. You can also watch our in-depth Kingdom Come: Deliverance discussion video where we discuss our experiences playing the game and the importance of first impressions in general. As an open-world action-RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is quite similar to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Watch our video discussing the similarities and differences between the two games.
Don't Let Food Go Stale!
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.
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