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Updates from GameSpot Image Galleries GameSpot Image Galleries In the 03/28/2018 edition: Far Cry 5 Guide: 9 Tips We Wish We Knew Before Starting Every Far Cry Game Ever Released (Including Those Weird Ports) PUBG Weapon Skins: All The New Update's Skins We've Gotten So Far Monster Hunter World: New Update Adds Deviljho Armor And Weapons The Best Nintendo Switch Games Available Now (As Of March 2018) The Best Cheap PS4 Games Available Right Now The Best Cheap Xbox One Games Out Now Super Smash Bros. Switch: 20 Characters We Want Best Cheap Nintendo Switch Games So Far The Biggest Movies to Watch in 2018 Far Cry 5 Guide: 9 Tips We Wish We Knew Before Starting By Array on Mar 27, 2018 11:30 pm While Far Cry 5 remains loyal to the series' most well-established tenets, it manages to make some big changes to exploration, progression, and combat. When you first start the game, some of these new elements may seem disorienting. To help clear the initial confusion, we've gathered nine essential tips on how to best play Far Cry 5. Got any tips that you don't see here? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check back often as we put up our final Far Cry 5 review--as well as more guides--in the coming days. Far Cry 5 launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 27. In other news, Ubisoft recently announced Far Cry 5's Season Pass, which takes you to settings like Mars and the Vietnam War. We also recently learned more about the game's microtransactions, how the campaign is playable offline, and the game's single-player campaign playtime. If You Explore the World, More Activities Will Open Up A lot has changed since the days of Far Cry 3 and 4, when you climbed towers in order to populate the map with dozens of activity icons and collectibles. In Far Cry 5, you now discover everything by simply exploring. In addition, the 3D map is now detailed enough that you can clearly see major landmarks and locations, which makes it easy to identify and mark new areas to explore. And as you're traveling, keep an eye out. Road signs reveal hunting spots, maps found inside building mark nearby buildings for you, and magazines tell you about fishing and hunting areas. If you talk to nonplayer characters, they'll tell you about nearby missions, outposts, and prepper stashes. Far Cry 5 is game that wants you to live in its world--so make sure to explore every interesting landmark or curious detail. You never know what you'll find! Complete the Side Missions for Special Unlockables Far Cry 5 ditches the repetitive, activity-based open-world structure of previous Far Cry games. For the first time in the series' history, Far Cry 5 brings in actual side missions, each with their own unique dialogue, narrative arcs, and gameplay. From simple missions like saving people from drugged up bears, to letting cows have sex to Marvin Gaye music so you can chop off their testicles for the annual Testicle Festival (yeah, that's a real thing in this game), you'll find plenty of mini-adventures to embark on. If you ever stumble upon any side missions, make sure to complete them, as you can also get some pretty sweet rewards -- like new weapons or beefed-up vehicles with guns attached to them that you can't normally find anywhere in the world. Get the Weapon Slot Skill Upgrades ASAP As in past games in the series, you want to prioritize expanding the number of weapons you can carry as soon as possible. These upgrades are acquired via the game's skill tree, as opposed to the crafting system. The sooner you can unlock these skills, the sooner you can start wreaking havoc with a more diverse set of weaponry. Get the Lockpick and Repair Torch Perks Far Cry 5 has plenty of locked doors and safes for you to open. Most times, you can find a key or combination hidden nearby, or blow a safe open with explosives. But if you want to avoid the trouble, try investing in both the Lockpick and Repair Torch skills. Both are handy for accessing hidden stashes containing weapons, ammo, or money. Heck, you can even use the Repair Torch to repair broken-down vehicles. Make Money Quickly by Hunting or Uncovering Prepper Stashes Money doesn't naturally accumulate as quickly as it does in previous Far Cry games, but you can still make a lot of money if you know what to focus on. A go-to method is hunting and skinning animals. No longer are skins used to craft things like a new wallet; instead, you sell them for direct profit. If you kill an animal with arrows or melee attacks, you'll obtain double the skins that you normally would by killing it with a gun. And when used in conjunction with the Harvest Master perk (which doubles your rewards from animals), $200 worth of feathers becomes $400, and $450 worth of cougar skins nets you $900. This comes highly recommended if you're going to resort to hunting as your main source of money-making. Aside from hunting, you should also keep an eye out for safes, which are usually inside buildings. With the Repair Torch or Locksmith perk, you can easily open them to access their valuables... but in a pinch, placing an explosive on them will also do the trick. The final method is Prepper Stashes, which are side missions that task you to solve some light environmental puzzles in exchange for a pile of loot. Whether it's by swimming across a river, shooting the lock off a door from afar, or navigating a barn full of beehives, your reward is a stack of cash, a couple of magazines that give you free Perk Points, and other goodies like new weapons. We highly recommend pursuing Prepper Stashes; not only are the rewards well worth it, but they're some of the best missions in the game. Keep an Eye on Your Vehicle's Health It's difficult to tell how much damage a vehicle can take before it's completely undrivable. A plane or truck is liable to go up in flames after a few bumps, so be prepared to abandon the driver's seat at a moment's notice. And if you can bail in time to launch your vehicle straight at an encampment of enemies, all the better. If keeping track of a vehicle's health is too much trouble, you can take a perk that allows you to make vehicles auto-repair as you drive. Otherwise, you'll have to resort to the Repair Torch perk for repairs. Mark Enemies and Place Waypoints with Your Binoculars Situational awareness is essential to your navigation through the hostile territory of Hope County. The binoculars are a useful tool, as you can use them to tag enemies, animals, and even notable interactables in the environment. If you're ever uncertain about what you can use in your immediate area to benefit your approach, your binoculars can shed light on the possibilities. You can also use them to place a waypoint onto a location in the distance--it's similar to placing beacons or stamps in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Take Advantage of Specialists Expanding upon the buddy system from Far Cry 2, Far Cry 5 features a robust cast of Specialists, which are AI-controlled allies that you can call in for combat assistance. You'll find nine Specialists throughout Hope County; to unlock them, you need to complete their associated story missions. All of their missions are marked on the map from the beginning of the game, so it's relatively easy to find them. Each Specialist has two abilities associated with them. For example, Boomer the dog can tag all nearby enemies and fetch their weapons for you, making him a both a useful scout and a very good boy. The Specialists all sport a variety of skills, so pick the ones who best support your playstyle. And if you acquire the the Leadership perk, you can have up to two Specialists following you at any given time. Lastly, each Specialist has their own perk that decreases their cooldown time, so be sure to upgrade your favorites. Utilize Guns for Hire Outside of the Specialists, you have three slots that you can fill up with Guns for Hire, which are civilians that you can save and hire. Like Specialists, they have two abilities; however, these can only be unlocked by increasing their kill count as they fight alongside you. It's also important to note that the abilities they receive are random, so if you end up not liking what they earn, you can always dismiss them and hire someone new. Every Far Cry Game Ever Released (Including Those Weird Ports) By Array on Mar 27, 2018 09:04 pm It's hard to pin down exactly what makes Far Cry so appealing. Is it the gunplay? The open-world sandbox? Perhaps the compelling villains? Or maybe it's a combination of the three. As a series, Far Cry has stood out for the ways it combines so many elements. So before we dive headlong into the latest in the series, Far Cry 5, let's look back at its predecessors and examine how Far Cry's unlikely formula has evolved in unexpected ways. For more on the latest game meanwhile, check out our Far Cry 5 review-in-progress, the game's weirdest mission, or some footage of Far Cry 5 running at max settings on PC. You can also watch our video feature on the history of Far Cry. Far Cry (PC, 2004) Released exclusively for PC, the original Far Cry--developed by Crytek--touts beautiful outdoor environments that had rarely been seen before in first-person shooters. These massive levels not only looked impressive, but they allowed you to approach combat in a variety of ways: on foot, in a jeep, on a boat, or even from the air. Large groups of enemies can be avoided entirely or lured in ambushes, which was the ideal way to play due to the enemy's impeccable aim and your fragile health reserves. Scouting out enemy camps and planning out attacks is critical, but stealth isn't always reliable. There are no melee attacks and no silenced submachine gun until a few levels in. Alerted soldiers will activate alarms and some fire flares to summon helicopters with reinforcements. There are flaws, however. Once stealth is broken, enemies always seem to know exactly where you are, a frustrating problem that's exacerbated by the lack of a manual save function. The game's plot involves ex-special forces Jack Carver, who ends up marooned on an island that he must try to escape. However, he soon finds himself dealing with the evil Dr. Kieger, whose botched genetic experiments created mutants called the Trigen. The game became a success upon release, and Ubisoft soon acquired the rights to the series from Crytek. Far Cry Instincts (Xbox, 2005) Instincts was a remake of the original Far Cry for consoles. It was originally planned for PS2 as well, but that version was ultimately canceled. Instincts' basic premise and characters are the same as in Far Cry, but levels are less open-ended and more linear due to the limitations of console hardware. There were, however, a number of changes and improvements to gameplay. Stealth is expanded upon to include a proper melee option and you can lay down traps to take out unsuspecting enemies. If you still prefer the all-guns-blazing approach, most weapons can now be dual-wielded. Finally, Instincts introduced a series of mutant powers known as Feral Abilities. These granted buffs such as increased speed, quicker health regeneration, and night vision. While overall less impressive than its PC ancestor, Far Cry Instincts still impressed for a console game of the day and sold well. Far Cry Instincts: Evolution (Xbox, 2006), Far Cry Instincts: Predator (Xbox 360, 2006), Far Cry Vengence (Wii, 2007) A slightly less well-received follow up, Far Cry Instincts: Evolution added some new weapons and vehicles, but otherwise provided more of the same. Released on the same day was Far Cry Instincts: Predator, a next-generation bundle for the Xbox 360 that packaged together Instincts and Instincts: Evolution. Finally, Evolution (the follow-up to the original Far Cry: Instincts, if you've lost track) got a Wii port called Far Cry Vengeance, which added motion controls. Far Cry 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, 2008) During the release of all these console spin-offs, a numbered Far Cry sequel was in the works. Crytek had moved on to work on Crysis, so Far Cry 2 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal. When Ubisoft surveyed players of the first game, many said they didn't find very Jack Carver very memorable or likeable. So in Far Cry 2, you pick from a group of silent protagonists. As a mercenary for hire, you fly into a fictional war-torn African country to kill an arms dealer called The Jackal. Your mission goes south after contracting malaria, leaving you near-dead and The Jackal on the loose. While not as memorable as subsequent Far Cry villains, The Jackal was the series' first true attempt at a charismatic foe. The majority of the game is about taking on missions for the two warring factions, helping out other mercenaries, and trying to surviving the harsh African environment. While not a full-on survival game, Far Cry 2 attempts to offer a more realistic experience and a tone that feels oppressive. Everything is old and falling apart. Vehicles need to be fixed regularly and guns degrade over time leading to them jamming during inopportune moments or even breaking entirely. This encourages you to spend your hard-earned diamonds on newer weapons from arms dealers rather than scavenging from dead enemies. There's also the personal maintenance you need to carry out to keep your malaria in check. You'll receive Malaria attacks randomly throughout the game and if you run out of pills then you'll need to take on special missions to get more. Outside of the warring factions' cease fire zone, everyone is hostile towards you except for a small group of fellow mercenaries. Not only do you take quests from them but you have a special buddy who will show up and help you if you die. However, your buddy can also get hurt and if you don't have any healing kits left you'll have no choice but to put them down. All of this is compounded by a punishing save system:you can only save at designated save houses, raising the stakes of each firefight as more progress could be lost at any moment. You might decide that dead buddy isn't worth loading the save for after all. Far Cry 2 is a game that wants to you live in its world. You can't simply fast travel anywhere, but instead need to take the bus to stations on the map. And while later entries have eclipsed it on a technical level, the deep brown and orange color palate of the African Savanna is a beautiful and unique setting for a game. There's a day / night cycle and impressive fire propagation tech, where wind can carry a flame across an entire field. Far Cry 2 has perhaps the most mixed reputation in the series. Some found its save system and demanding gameplay too punishing and frustrating. The random malaria attacks, while in theory a great idea, could often be an annoyance and in some cases prevent you from progressing at all. It does however have dedicated fans, who love it for its dark tone, and who still consider it to be the series' high point. In many ways Far Cry 2 created the base that future games would follow but its sequels would take a radically different approach to tone. Far Cry 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, 2012) Far Cry 3 takes its cues from the Far Cry 2 formula, once again taking place in a large open world. After criticism of the last game's hardcore mechanics, Far Cry 3 tweaks everything to offer a more fun-filled playbox. You can now save anywhere you want and instantly fast travel to previously discovered locations. Guns no longer degrade and you will gradually accrue a massive arsenal of weapons. Far Cry 3 is also a prime example of the Ubisoft world structure that we recognize today. Borrowing from the Assassin's Creed series, you'll climb radio towers to reveal the map and locations of nearby activities and outposts. Scoping out a base, tagging enemies, planning out your attack, and then executing it is a satisfying way to exert your influence upon the world. Thanks to the game's improved stealth you can take out whole bases without being detected, something that wasn't as viable in previous games. Far Cry 3's island hosts a large variety of animals that can be used to your advantage. Hunting down and skinning animals feeds into the game's crafting system, which you can utilize to upgrade the number of guns and amount of ammo you can hold, among other buffs. Introducing light RPG mechanics, completing objectives and killing enemies levels you up and puts points into an upgrade tree, which is visually represented as a growing sleeve tattoo. The game's narrative returns to a fixed protagonist named Jason Brody, a 25-year-old Californian rich kid who gets kidnapped by pirates. Much of the game's story fell flat for some players, but its main villain, Vaas, is hugely memorable. Vaas's playfully sadistic nature and memorable monologues made him one of gaming's great antagonists. While Far Cry has already been a well-known and loved in the gaming community, Far Cry 3's playful sandbox opened it up to a larger audience and made it into the massive franchise it is today. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, 2013) A standalone expansion, Blood Dragon is an 8 hour independent slice of Far Cry 3 decked out in all things '80s. Set in the dystopian future of 2007, you play as Cyber Commando Rex 'Power' Colt, voiced by '80s action star Michael Biehn. Rex must fight his way though an army of cyber soldiers and deadly blood dragons to take out his former commander, Colonel Sloan. Every aspect of Blood Dragon is a play or homage to the '80s, such as the game's scanline overlay, VHS tracking loading screen, and cheesy action movie plot featuring intentionally terrible dialogue. Completing the whole package is the excellent soundtrack from synthwave duo Power Glove, who invoke the sounds of films like Terminator and Escape from New York. Blood Dragon doesn't add anything particularly new to the Far Cry formula, but its over-the-top aesthetics and dialogue is enough to carry its short campaign. As a fun standalone experience it won people over with its '80s charm and quickly sold over 1 million copies, becoming one of Ubisoft's fastest-selling downloadable titles. Far Cry 4 (PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, PC, 2014) Released only two years after Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 carries over much of the same structure as its predecessor while offering a brand-new story and setting. Its protagonist, American-raised Ajay Ghale, returns to where he was born--the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat--to spread his mother's ashes. But in typical Far Cry fashion he gets himself involved with a rebel movement and a civil war with the Royal Army and the Kyrat King Pagan Min. After the overwhelming positivity towards the charismatic Vaas, Far Cry 4 recreated much of that success with Pagan Min. Unlike Vaas, Pagan Min is more complex, with his status as the 'bad guy' being called into question over the course of the game. It also didn't hurt to get excellent voice actor Troy Baker in to bring Min to life. Unlike the more linear narrative of Far Cry 3, 4 has branching choices that determine which member of the Golden Path rebellion you follow, leading to different missions and story paths. Far Cry 4 has a variety of ways it can conclude, including a secret ending you can trigger in the first 20 minutes of the game. Gameplay is similar to Far Cry 3 but with a couple of new additions. Thanks to the added elevation of the rocky Himalayan mountains, Ajay has a grappling hook you can use to scale certain cliffs, and he acquires a small helicopter that lets you go almost anywhere on the map. Or you can choose to take the scenic route aboard an elephant. Expanding on previous games' outposts, there are four major fortresses the player must capture in Far Cry 4. While these larger, tougher camps can still be done solo, you are also given the option to bring in a co-op buddy to help you take them down. The explosive mayhem of Far Cry is greatly enhanced with a buddy, but you can't do any story missions co-op and player two won't carry over any progress back to their game. Far Cry 4 sold well and was praised as an improvement over 3 but some were disappointed in how it felt merely like more of the same, which is understandable given the short time gap between the two games. Far Cry Primal (PS4, Xbox One, PC, 2016) There's something to be said about Far Cry's willingness to try new and interesting settings with each new game and the peak of this is Far Cry Primal. Set in 10,000 B.C., you play as a primitive human tribe's hunter, seeking revenge on a tribe of cannibals that destroyed his village. It's impressive the lengths Ubisoft went for the authenticity of the setting, going so far as to invent their own dialect based on a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Without any guns, combat has greater focus on melee but otherwise many of the Far Cry staples fit right in. You're still climbing towers to reveal the map and taking over camps to unlock new activities. The newest change is the ability to tame and summon animals. Birds can scout out camps and tag enemies for you, and a sabertooth tiger can rush in with you during an attack. The response to Far Cry Primal was a rather mixed one. Some love the game's unique setting and enjoyed the ability to tame animals. Others feel it was simply another Far Cry with a different skin. Being released only a year-and-a-half after Far Cry 4, the fatigue people were already starting to feel towards the series grew even stronger. Ubisoft would give the series a longer break before it would return. Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One, PC, 2018) Announced in 2017 and releasing on March 27, 2018, Far Cry 5 takes the series to the USA in fictional Hope County, Montana. The area has been taken over by a militia doomsday cult run by Joseph Seed who has established himself has a religious figurehead. For the first time you get to create your own protagonist, and you must then team up with the locals to help them take back their homes. The timing of Far Cry 5's setting and themes created quite a stir given the current political climate of the US. Ubisoft's says there's no connection with current political events, but it understands that comparisons will inevitably be drawn. The gameplay expands co-op further than we saw in Far Cry 4, and when not playing with another human, there are AI buddies you can summon to assist you. These include Nick the pilot or animals such as Boomer the dog and a bear named Cheeseburger. Towers have been removed, with new sections of the map unlocked by simply exploring and talking to the area's cast of characters. Otherwise, Far Cry 5 provides much of the same fun Far Cry we've all gotten to know. For 14 years, Far Cry as a series has evolved and changed in dramatic ways. It's not afraid to try new and weird settings, and even though its narratives have never been top-notch, they typically feature interesting and compelling characters. It continues to push its open-world sandbox and expand upon the freedom of player expression though gameplay. Everyone loves Far Cry for their own reasons, and lets hope the series continues to push forward and evolve in the future. PUBG Weapon Skins: All The New Update's Skins We've Gotten So Far By Chris Pereira on Mar 27, 2018 07:16 pm PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds continues to grow. A new update has added a brand-new cosmetic option to further differentiate your character from everyone else on the battlefield. A weapons skin system is being introduced that allows you to obtain new looks for your guns from the newly introduced Triumph and Raider crates. Following a very brief run in an update for the PC version's test server, the weapon skins are now available in the live game. These skins are obtained through two different means. The first route is with Triumph Crates, which are a new type of loot box that can be obtained from the random box option starting at 700 BP each week. These are opened with Weapon Cosmetic keys, which are sold for money on the Steam market. Alternatively, you can get skins through Raider Crates, which have their own purchase option separate from the random crate option and don't require a key to open. They start at 1200 BP. It is possible to get duplicate skins from these crates, even for those that you've paid money in order to open. Test server players are allotted a free batch of keys and crates to open; of the 19 we checked out, we got 14 unique skins. You'll also get a free SCAR-L skin Year One skin to celebrate the game's one-year anniversary, provided you log in before maintenance scheduled during the first week of May. To manage all of this, there's a new area in the Customization menu allowing you to look at each gun and the skins you've acquired, and to let you equip those that you want to use. You can check out all of the ones we've obtained so far above, along with a few that developer PUBG Corp. showed off. Free SCAR-L Year One skin Monster Hunter World: New Update Adds Deviljho Armor And Weapons By Chris Pereira on Mar 27, 2018 03:40 pm The much-anticipated release of Deviljho in Monster Hunter World has finally happened. A new update for the PS4 and Xbox One RPG adds a new monster for players to contend with. With Deviljho now available, you'll have an enemy with new weaknesses and attack patterns to deal with. If you're brave enough to take it on, you can collect its parts and then craft new gear--including both weapons and armor. To find Deviljho, you'll need to have advanced far enough in the story. You'll begin to uncover its tracks on expeditions, just as you would other new High Rank monsters, and eventually receive a special assignment called The Food Chain Dominator, which allows you to target the beast. This update adds a new Deviljho weapon for each weapon type, so you'll have something to strive for regardless of what you wield. Additionally, there are two new High Rank Deviljho armor sets to get your hands on. The Alpha version will provide you with the following skills: Attack Boost (Level 4) Handicraft (3) Partbreaker (3) Latent Power (3) Speed Eating (3) The Beta set offers fewer skills; the key difference between the two is that Beta provides more flexibility with the decorations you can equip. Here's what beta offers: Attack Boost (4) Latent Power (3) Speed Eating (3) Partbreaker (1) You can check out images of all the weapons and male armor above; we're working on acquiring the female armor and will update once we've gotten it. You'll need to be prepared to take on Deviljho, who's among the tougher enemies to face. The monster is now available on both PS4 and Xbox One alongside a suite of weapon balance changes, adjustments to address online griefing while carving, and more. There will be more armor to hunt down in the near future, as crossover gear with other games are on the way. The Best Nintendo Switch Games Available Now (As Of March 2018) By Matt Espineli on Mar 27, 2018 04:21 am The Best Switch Games So Far The release of the Nintendo Switch a little over a year ago marked the beginning of an amazing year for Nintendo. With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as its major launch title, the Switch quickly rose to the top of console sales charts and dramatically increased Nintendo's revenue. And in the year since its launch, there has been no shortage of fantastic games coming to the hybrid console, from huge first-party games like Mario and Splatoon to indie darlings like Owlboy and Celeste. The library only seems to be expanding and improving with every consecutive release. In this gallery, we're taking a look back at Switch games that received a score of 8 or higher on GameSpot since the console's release. That includes reviews for new games and updates to reviews of older games that were ported to Switch. Check out our choices for the best games released on the Switch. And with the console's library continuing to expand, make sure to check back often as we update this feature over the coming weeks and months. See Also: All Switch Games by Average GameSpot Score All Switch Games by Average Member Score Best Switch Action Games Best Switch Driving/Racing Games Best Switch Role-Playing Games Best Switch Shooters Best Switch Sports Games For an analysis of Nintendo Switch's first year, be sure to read our feature discussing the console's various successes and failures. In addition, you can also check out our features detailing all the Wii U games we ported to Switch, 13 things we still want to see from the console, and the best Switch games under $20. Bayonetta 2 -- 10/10 "But it's a challenge you'll want to experience again as soon as you put down the controller. Bayonetta 2's combat is so expertly constructed, and its presentation so joyously insane, that you'd have to try so very hard to get bored of it all. In a year filled with the promise of ever more elaborate experiences on all the shiny new hardware, that Bayonetta 2--a homage to classic game design and escapism--should be the most fun I've had playing a game all year is unexpected. But maybe it shouldn't have been. After all, its predecessor still stands as one of the finest games of its genre. To have surpassed that with Bayonetta 2, and to have created a game that will be remembered as an absolute classic, is nothing short of astonishing." [Read the review] -- Mark Walton Celeste -- 9/10 "It's a testament to convincing writing and ingenious design that after playing Celeste I felt like I'd been on the same journey as Madeline. Her struggle is one made easy to empathize with, her low points painful to watch, and her high notes exhilarating to experience. Her tale is delicately told and beautifully illustrated, confidently coalescing with the satisfying, empowering game it lies within. Not bad for a game about climbing a mountain." [Read the full review] -- Oscar Dayus, Staff Writer Dragon Quest Builders -- 8/10 "The excellence of Dragon Quest Builders illustrates the versatility of this 30-year-old franchise as much as it speaks to the engrossing appeal of Minecraft-inspired creation. The story-advancing draw of quests goes hand-in-hand with the depth of a crafting system that cleverly uses monster drops as some of the game's building tools. Whether you want to focus on completing assignments or build with no specific purpose, the game is feature-rich enough to suck up untold hours, even if this happens to be your first Dragon Quest experience." [Read the review] -- Miguel Concepcion, Editor The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- 8/10 "The original version of Skyrim is still an immense, engrossing RPG, and the quality, number, and variety of its quests makes it as easy to become lost in its world as ever. With the addition of Zelda-themed gear that's actually useful--and the fact that you can play anywhere--the Switch version of Skyrim is a great excuse to revisit a much-loved RPG." [Read the full review] -- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor Golf Story -- 8/10 "It can take a little while for the narrative to ramp up in Golf Story and for you to feel like you've really cultivated the skills of a champion, but based on the sheer scope of what the game delivers, there's likely something for everyone to enjoy whether their shtick is mini-golfing or terrorising delinquents with frisbees. It has successfully captured the trappings of yesteryear's RPGs, and the witticisms and idiosyncrasies of the characters you encounter are a great palate cleanser between rounds. Switch has had a swathe of indies hit its eShop recently, but if you're looking for something that'll give you satisfaction in terms of an interesting story and a rewarding mechanic, then Golf Story is certainly par for the course." [Read the full review] -- Ginny Woo Gorogoa -- 8/10 "Few games take the concept of altering reality to as artistic a level as Gorogoa. This labor of love made chiefly by one developer is a gorgeous and intriguing puzzle game that works because of its stunning art and intelligent puzzle design. Far from a traditional game, Gorogoa is a slow and methodical trip into the surreal." [Read the full review] -- Jason D'Aprile The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -- 10/10 "No matter how gorgeous its environments are, how clever its enemies are, and how tricky its puzzles get, the fact that Breath of the Wild continues to surprise you with newfound rules and possibilities after dozens of hours is by far its most valuable quality. It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created." [Read the full review] -- Peter Brown, Reviews Editor Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle -- 9/10 "Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle exudes off-beat optimism that never dissolves. It's a consistent delight, no matter how challenging the road becomes, because Kingdom Battle's unique turn-based tactics system is in every way a pleasure to engage with. Coupled with the annoyingly infectious allure of Rabbids, and the always delightful, colorful world of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is an implausibly engrossing formula that is positively challenging and endlessly charming." [Read the full review] -- Edmond Tran, Editor Mario Kart 8 Deluxe -- 9/10 "For Mario Kart fans, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe might look like more of the same with small Double Dash-inspired tweaks. But thanks to a series of updates both big and almost unseen, it's the version of Mario Kart to get. If you don't own a Wii U or skipped out on Mario Kart 8 the first time around--or even if you've played it before--Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is worth your time. It plays beautifully on Switch in both handheld and docked mode, and its core racing is as exciting as ever. And, most notably, it completely revamps the original's lackluster Battle Mode, rounding out an already great racing game." [Read the full review] -- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor Mr. Shifty -- 8/10 "Mr. Shifty isn't a huge game in terms of length, but the three- to four-hour campaign is ample. It's like a shot of adrenalin, offering an exciting, intense experience, and it's easy to forgive the game's performance flaws when it so consistently makes you feel like a badass." [Read the full review] -- James O'Connor NBA 2K18 -- 8/10 "NBA 2K18 is a hardcore sports simulation. If you want to get good, you have to put in the work. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to improve your skills no matter how you want to play. And the fact that there's so much to do is a bonus, because on the court, NBA 2K18 is also an amazingly well-crafted experience." [Read the full review] -- Seth Macy Night in the Woods -- 9/10 "From beginning to end to epilogue, Night in the Woods is ultimately open to individual interpretation. How you relate to it depends on your own experiences and choices, including Mae's dialogue and who you decide to spend time with. Though its charming and angsty story works well on its own merits, it's special because of how it prioritizes conveying emotion over telling a straight narrative." [Read the review] -- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor Owlboy -- 9/10 "Owlboy is consistently charming and surprising, and when its final act doubles down on every front, it's bittersweet to see it end. As you relish the outcome of the final battle and watch the closing cutscene, you can't help but reflect on the beginning of your adventure and how far the world and its inhabitants have come. You'll never be able to play Owlboy for the first time again, but the memories of its magic moments stick with you. This is more than a treat for fans of old-school games; Owlboy is a heartfelt experience that will touch anyone with an affinity for great art and storytelling." [Read the review] -- Peter Brown, Senior Reviews Editor Pac-Man: Championship Edition 2 Plus -- 8/10 "Pac-Man: Championship Edition 2 creates an exciting dynamic where ghosts are still dangerous, but the overall game is more forgiving than the original--and it's more entertaining as a result. Arcade ports tend to be games we play in short bursts--mostly for the nostalgia factor. Pac-Man: Championship Edition 2 certainly relies on that nostalgia to a point, but it handles the classic game in a way that plays with expectations to surprise you. It's the same game enhanced in the right directions to be make an old concept fun, innovative, and challenging all over again." [Read the review] -- Jason D'Aprile Puyo Puyo Tetris -- 8/10 "Overflowing with colorful personality, Puyo Puyo Tetris revels in its weirdness. It provides solid versions of both puzzle games and merges the two in bizarre, frantic ways that adds a fresh dash of style to these long-running series. With an array of game variations spanning single-player, along with on- and offline multiplayer, it's an incredibly meaty package that should satisfy gamers for a long time to come." [Read the full review] -- Jason D'Aprile Rive -- 8/10 "Rive is demanding, but it pushes the kind of near-thoughtless play that shoot-em-ups strive to achieve. When faced with an onslaught of enemies and environmental hazards, you'll have to think fast or die. Rive also doesn't run all that long, but what's here is excellent, top-notch action, and the game delivers some of the most memorable moments in a shoot-em-up in years." [Read the full review] -- Daniel Starkey Rocket League -- 9/10 "For people new to the game, they have a lot to look forward to regardless, as it's one of the most fascinating sports games in memory. Nevermind if you don't like soccer or couldn't care less about the growing esports community. Rocket League is a unique game that redefines the concept of what a sports game can be, and Psyonix continues to support it with new content on a regular basis. It's been around for a while, but now that it's on Switch, there's no better time to give it a shot." [Read the full review] -- Peter Brown, Reviews Editor Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment -- 8/10 "Specter of Torment is a finely-crafted 2D platformer that is satisfying in all respects. Simply controlling Specter Knight--flying through the air and slicing through enemies--is a joy in itself, and being able to push your ability to control these skills in overcoming the game's cleverly-designed and challenging levels is always an exhilarating feeling. Specter of Torment is a focussed, polished, and satisfyingly challenging game that's well worth experiencing whether or not you've had the pleasure of playing Shovel Knight." [Read the full review] -- Edmond Tran, Editor Sonic Mania -- 9/10 "Sonic Mania methodically uses its sentimental appeal to great effect, but in the process, it heals the wounds inflicted by its most disappointing predecessors and surpasses the series' best with its smart and interpretive design. An excellent 2D platformer, Sonic Mania goes beyond expectations, managing to be not only a proper evolution of the series' iconic formula, but the best Sonic game ever made." [Read the full review] -- Matt Espineli, Associate Editor Splatoon 2 -- 8/10 "At first glance, Splatoon 2 seems very similar to the first game. But all the small changes, and even the bigger ones in single player and League Battles, make for a fresh take on the already unique shooter. If you played a lot of the original, the sequel has enough to keep you coming back, and if you're new to the game, it's a fantastic place to jump in." [Read the full review] -- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor Stardew Valley -- 9/10 "The sheer number of things to accomplish in Stardew Valley can keep you interested beyond the original three in-game years you need to reach the end of your story--you may just want to start over rather than continue on. You'll work quite hard to gather enough money for your first horse, so that you can quickly move to the mines to get a mineral to complete a bundle at the community center. It's all centered around whatever it is you want to accomplish that day. And that's truly what makes Stardew Valley such a lovely experience, it encourages you to go out and be the best you can be, in whichever task that brings you the most joy. Stardew Valley motivates naturally, with blissful optimism." [Read the full review] -- Mary Kish SteamWorld Dig 2 -- 9/10 "Every advancement Dig 2 makes to its story and mechanics strengthens your initiative to progress. There's an overwhelming sense of momentum that runs through the adventure; as if developer Image & Form sifted the original in a pan, removing its redundancies while expanding upon what made it so fun to persistently play. In your quest to acquire every upgrade and explore every nook and cranny, there's no shortage of hidden collectables to discover. And with post-game content that unlocks after you unearth every secret, the desire to keep digging intensifies. Dig 2 manages to not only be an exceptional successor, but a great adventure in its own right. Where the first game was a diamond in the rough, Dig 2 is a polished jewel." [Read the full review] -- Matt Espineli, Associate Editor Super Mario Odyssey -- 10/10 "Odyssey is sustained beyond its major milestones not only through colorful worlds and hidden challenges, but through the sheer joy of controlling Mario, who's never felt more responsive or dynamic in action. Even with everything new that's been introduced, Nintendo's forward-thinking platformer retains the series' classic handcrafted appeal, which is even more impressive when you realize how densely packed each kingdom is. Mario's latest outing is big, bold, and bursting with new ideas, and like Breath of the Wild, is another instance of Nintendo going above and beyond to redefine our expectations. It's a shining example of refined creativity, and another crown jewel for Switch that is without equal." [Read the full review] -- Peter Brown, Reviews Editor The Best Cheap PS4 Games Available Right Now By GameSpot Staff on Mar 27, 2018 04:13 am PlayStation 4 is now more than four years old, and in that time it's amassed a substantial library of games. It was difficult to keep up with all of the quality releases even if you were onboard from day one; for those who have picked up a PS4 late, the number of games now available can be positively overwhelming. You're unlikely to ever play everything PS4 has to offer, but we're here to help you ensure you play some worthwhile games without breaking the bank. As is to be expected from a system that's now several years old, there's a wide array of games that can be picked up for quite cheap. We're highlighting many of the best games that can be had for no more than $20 on the US PlayStation Store. Be sure to let us know your recommendations in the comments below. 2018 is poised to grow the PS4's library even further, with high-profile releases like God of War, Spider-Man, and Red Dead Redemption 2 on the way alongside a variety of lesser-known hidden gems that you should be excited for this year. Nex Machina Nex Machina developer Housemarque has been focused almost exclusively on twin-stick shooters for the last decade. Starting with Super Stardust HD and running through games like Resogun and Dead Nation, it's experimented with different spins on the genre. Nex Machina feels like the culmination of those efforts, offering intense, high-octane action that constantly has you analyzing your surroundings and your options for disposing of enemies. It's an incredibly fun and satisfying experience to pick up and play, but it also features a variety of wrinkles and secrets for high-score chasers. Add in the gorgeous, neon-infused visuals, and you've got the finest output of Housemarque to date--which makes it all the more upsetting that the studio has decided to shift gears and go in a different direction. Still, you won't find a better example of its work than Nex Machina. | Chris Pereira Journey Plenty of games have stunning graphics, or heart-wrenching stories, or interactivity that stands head and shoulders above other offerings. Journey manages to have all of those and still amounts to more than the sum of its parts. Between traversing glittering sand and soaring to new heights with the help of your mystical scarf, you'll uncover hidden murals that hint at the game's story. For all that it does, Journey is also commendable for the conventions it abandons. The game does away with traditional dialogue and narration, preferring instead to let players interpret the adventure for themselves through sights and sounds. You won't need to experience it alone, though. In most cases you'll share your journey with another player-controlled character who you communicate with only through audible chirps. While the turmoil of accidentally losing your new friend hits hard as the environment becomes more threatening, finding them again and keeping them close in times of hardship is an unforgettable emotional experience. The unmistakable style in developer Thatgamecompany's design colliding with Austin Wintory's enchanting soundtrack makes Journey a unique experience that can't be missed. | Jess McDonell Sonic Mania Created by members of the Sonic fan-hack community under Sega's watch, Sonic Mania exudes passion and reverence in its recreation of nostalgic visuals, sounds, and level designs. But the game isn't content with senselessly regurgitating the past; rather, it expands upon the familiar with new ideas of its own and delivers plenty of inventive concepts that diversify and build upon the series' fast-paced level design. Sonic Mania is smart and interpretive in its approach, leveraging the strengths of its design and visuals to craft not only the best Sonic game ever made, but an amazing platforming experience overall. If you've enjoyed Sonic at any point in your life, you owe it to yourself to play Sonic Mania. And even if you're not a longtime fan, the fast-paced platforming on display is a fantastic introduction to Sega's beloved blue blur. | Matt Espineli Fez Despite being nearly six years old, Fez is still worth playing today. While it initially presents itself as a 2D game, it quickly reveals a third dimension and unfolds into something truly special as a result. You can rotate the game's seemingly 2D environments in 90-degree increments, which allows you to bring elements from the background into the foreground, often to reveal a hidden path. It's a tricky system to wrap your head around at first, but with a simple selection of puzzles to get you going, you can pick it up in no time. From this point on, Fez pushes you to contort your problem-solving techniques as it escalates to truly complex brain teasers that introduce cryptic symbols to match the ever-more-mysterious atmosphere. It's one of the few truly unique games around, and with the sequel cancelled long ago, it seems that will be the case for the foreseeable future. | Peter Brown Axiom Verge Axiom Verge is another take on the Metroidvania style, but it distinguishes itself through its wide variety of weapons and tools--most notably, the Address Disruptor, which affects the environment and each enemy type in different ways. It's also a game with an impressive sense of scale and no shortage of secrets to uncover, encouraging multiple playthroughs. Add in an excellent soundtrack and tantalizing story, and there's a lot to like here. | Chris Pereira Bloodborne The beauty of video games is how you're able to set foot in worlds you'd never want to visit in real life. Such is the case with Yharnam, the central locale of From Software's Bloodborne. You're a visitor and a hunter in a land without hope. Practically all its inhabitants are possessed with a zombie-like affliction and they want you dead. Still, every locale is inviting in its own haunting and disturbing ways; the more oppressive the environment, the more engrossing Bloodborne feels. The surrounding European-inspired architecture is as thoroughly pervasive as it is detailed. Between the gothic spires and array of imaginative melee weapons, Bloodborne often feels like an unofficial successor to Castlevania. Its enemies range from spectral maidens to more frighteningly supernatural creatures that bear much of the game's H.P. Lovecraft influence. And even if its gameplay and brutal combat borrows heavily from the studio's marquee series, Dark Souls, Bloodborne still manages to stand on its own. Bloodborne's backstories are less opaque than that of Dark Souls' mysteries, but that doesn't make this PlayStation 4 exclusive any less intriguing. | Miguel Concepcion Undertale Undertale watches you. It knows you through your actions. You don't have to hurt anyone, but you can hurt everyone. The consequences are hardly laid bare, but they are always alluded to in this retro-style RPG by independent developer Toby Fox. Undertale is both a culmination of the most chilling creepypasta and the most adorable, lovable characters you could imagine. It's all wrapped into a throwback turn-based RPG that incorporates dialogue trees in combat with elements of the bullet hell style for its combat. One of Undertale's greatest achievements is its ability to portray emotion and frame scenes through writing and an old-school art style. However, the most impactful piece of the puzzle is music: Its soundtrack evokes such a strong emotional response that very few games capture. The cozy, heartwarming jingle that plays in Snowdin town makes you wish you could chill at the local bar Grillby's with its diverse community of monsters. Papyrus' theme is equal parts silly and catchy, perfectly encapsulating the character himself. Hotland's tense, foreboding rhythm gets an electronic remix in a later stage that empowers you to push forward. The list goes on, but the point is that Undertale's masterful use of music becomes inseparable from the story it tells. It's a sort of love letter to Earthbound, but Toby Fox crafted a game that should be respected in its own right. Very few games evoke heartbreak, terror, and joy as powerfully as Undertale in such a short period of time; and in that regard, it's one of the best independent games ever made. | Michael Higham Overcooked Overcooked is like a Mario Party mini-game blown up into its own standalone experience in the best way possible. It's a game that becomes exponentially better when played with at least one other person. What starts out as a relatively tame game where you help each other chop some vegetables and get them served on a plate becomes a frantic rush to put out fires, get ingredients distributed between two moving vehicles, and other ridiculous scenarios. | Chris Pereira Iconoclasts There's no shortage of Metroidvania titles out there, but Iconoclasts stands tall as much more than a simple game about exploring the world while solving puzzles and fighting bosses. Sure, you swing a wrench that can interact with objects and whack enemies over the head, but the magic of this game goes far deeper than the tools at your disposal. Iconoclasts is a story about conflict: science vs. religion, nature vs. technology, old vs. young. And that serves as an incredible backdrop for dynamic characters that extend far beyond their 16-bit look. It's worth playing just to see where they--and you, as the mechanic Robin--end up. | Tony Wilson Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain You may have heard that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the final Metal Gear game to feature the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima, has flaws. The last chunk of the game involves replaying earlier missions with small tweaks, and certain late-game story content was consigned to a special edition bonus feature. Despite all of that, The Phantom Pain stands as a seminal example of what an open-world action game can be. While still retaining much of what makes a Metal Gear game so distinct, it presents players with a vast open world and the ability to tackle its challenges in many, many ways. The mechanics of Ground Zeroes have been fine-tuned, and you can leverage them in a multitude of ways as you take part in the game's consistently excellent, thrilling missions. Just as enjoyable are the emergent hijinks you'll encounter along the way, and all of this is made better by the consistent progression of building up your own personal army. Although it's undoubtedly an experience best played after playing making your way through the prior games, The Phantom Pain is a game that everyone should ultimately try. It holds up now, even after a few years; all that's changed is the price tag. | Chris Pereira Celeste Celeste may look like another pixelated platformer with a youthful protagonist, but it quickly transforms into a brutal, tightly orchestrated gauntlet of death that only the best players can master. It challenges you to traverse spike-lined caverns with a modest selection of skills, with alternate pathways that push your mettle even further as you strive to acquire every last hidden item. You will die hundreds of times, but with quick restarts and a catchy soundtrack, there's never any downtime to wallow in defeat, only a new opportunity to show the game what you're made of. The action and difficulty curve are accompanied by a surprisingly engaging story that adds just the right amount of context to make your arduous journey feel justified, and to solidify Celeste as one of the biggest surprises so far of 2018. | Peter Brown Shovel Knight This is admittedly a bit of a cheat, as you're best off buying Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes all three of the campaigns released so far (and more content to come) for $25. But just $10 will get you a single campaign which is more than worth the price of entry. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment puts you in the shoes of one of the main game's antagonists, Specter Knight, as he takes his own unique journey through the same levels featured in the original game. As with Plague Knight's campaign, the unique mechanics at play here (like the dash attack) make for a much different experience. You would be best-served by starting with the base Shovel Knight campaign, but whichever version you play, you'll be treated to a modern take on retro platformers that bests many of the classics it draws inspiration from. | Chris Pereira Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection If there was one first-party PlayStation 3 series that was deemed essential, Uncharted would be it. The Tomb Raider-inspired mix of treasure hunting, puzzle solving, and gunplay was a fitting match for Naughty Dog's penchant for character-driven action-adventure games. Every installment has it share of large set-piece moments, but these dramatic sections do not overshadow the games' engaging journeys of Nathan Drake and his many collaborators. And even though Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is considered by many as the series' high point, the first and third games are nonetheless rich in delightful archeological discoveries and engrossing battles. Experiencing the first three games remastered on the PlayStation 4 is a no-brainer, especially when Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection was handled by Bluepoint Games, the studio responsible for the recent Shadow of the Colossus remake. Upgrading this trilogy to 60 frames per second alone is enough to command the attention of any Uncharted fan, let alone any fan of the genre. The addition of a photo mode, improved textures, and new Trophies only sweetens the deal. | Miguel Concepcion Bastion Supergiant Games' debut, Bastion, set the stage for everything else the developer created. This isometric action RPG tells a gripping story of a world destroyed by a catastrophic event referred to as The Calamity in the city of Caelondia. You control Bastion's protagonist, The Kid, who is led by the charismatic narrator named Rucks in a journey to piece the city back together. Very few survivors are left, and hostile monsters litter Caelondia, which is the impetus to put a varied arsenal of melee and projectile weapons to use. The Bastion acts as a sort of home base that slowly comes together as you progress and collect cores at the end of each level. Rucks' deep, instantly recognizable voice (that of Logan Cunningham) adds a level of grandeur to the story that's superbly supported by a truly remarkable soundtrack (by Darren Korb) that's vaguely Celtic, Western, and trip-hop all at the same time. Bastion's fantastical hand-painted art style (by Jen Zee) breathes life into a world nearly devoid of it, torn apart by a conflict of different cultures. These elements came to be staples of Supergiant's work, and Bastion is still a sterling example of the team's ability to craft a game that's both fun and heartfelt. | Michael Higham Transistor Transistor, the follow-up to Bastion, would take many of the striking features of that game (like the hand-painted art style, for one) but twist them for a sci-fi, cyberpunk tale. Red was a singer who had her voice physically stolen in an attack on the city of Cloudbank, and she's the one you control in this unique isometric action RPG. The Transistor, a sword-like weapon that killed a man in the attack, becomes Red's tool for fighting back against an army of robots known as The Process, controlled by an evil collective known as The Camerata. Yes, it has a lot going on, but that's how it is with Supergiant's games. The Transistor glows and speaks; it trapped the consciousness and voice of the man it was used to kill, which means this dead man becomes Red's companion throughout the game, similar to the narrator in Bastion (also voiced by Logan Cunningham). What sets Transistor apart is that it incorporates a layer of strategy on top of the action RPG gameplay. There are countless permutations to Red's movesets since each individual move, or functions, can be mixed with another to create an attack which can be used to make short work of enemies that took over your neon-lit city. You also get to pause the action for a limited timeframe to craft a plan of attack and come up with clever ways to string together functions. Not only does Transistor's soundtrack stand out for its folk-tinged electronica, but it's the focal point for characterization and acts as a driving force from start to finish. Music is at the forefront and Darren Korb's vision for complementing the futuristic world is fully realized, which makes Transistor an absolute joy to play. | Michael Higham Pyre Pyre, the latest from Supergiant Games, diverges from the action RPG gameplay the studio is known for. The fantastical, hand-painted art by Jen Zee returns. A western, electronic, trip-hop fusion soundtrack from Darren Korb also makes a comeback. But instead of controlling a single protagonist who destroys the enemies in their path in search of answers, Pyre revolves around a mystical sport that's played in an underworld populated by those who've been exiled from the normal world. You are The Reader, found in Purgatory (where reading is forbidden) by a band of exiles who befriend you. The Rites are rituals of sport that determine your worth, and this is where the meat of the gameplay happens. In a Rite, you assemble a team of three from a pool of allies you meet along the way. You face another team of three and fight for the single orb placed in the contained arena with the objective of dunking or shooting the orb into the other team's goal (or Pyre). Only one player from each team can move at any given moment. Each type of player has a varied skillset that can make the sport easier, depending on your playstyle. It sounds like a bit much at first, but once you get a hang of the flow, there's just nothing quite like it. Many have described it as Rocket League meets Dota meets Transistor. Outside of sick orb dunks is the intriguing visual novel-style story about sacrifice and the ties that bind. | Michael Higham Jamestown+ Vertical arcade shoot-em-ups typically deal with far-flung futures where an ace pilot is defending Earth from a swarm of technologically advanced aliens. By taking place in an alternate timeline where Mars was colonized by England in the 17th Century, Jamestown immediately sets itself apart from its peers. The unique, tongue-in-cheek setting goes a long way to make the game enjoyable, but it's the excellent gameplay that makes Jamestown easy to recommend. You have multiple attack ships to choose from, each with their own weapon loadouts and special abilities. They are easy to control and feel distinct enough that you won't mind replaying levels to extend your time with the game, all the while combatting cleverly constructed swarms of enemy ships that gradually escalate from level to level. It's not as punishing as most games in its genre, but the progress you make as you inch your way towards the conclusion feels rewarding nonetheless. | Peter Brown Thimbleweed Park Point-and-click adventure games have experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, and Thimbleweed Park--from adventure game legends Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick--is a prime example. The X-Files-inspired journey puts you in the role of two FBI agents that bear more than a passing resemblance to the classic TV show as you relive the glory days of adventure games. Playing on any console means dealing with a gamepad-based control scheme (as opposed to the more natural mouse controls on PC), but Switch makes up for this with touchscreen support when played in handheld mode. | Chris Pereira Thumper Although it's a game arguably best-suited for VR, Thumper is an incredible experience however you play it. It provides a unique blend of rhythm-based gameplay and action--what the developer calls "rhythm violence"--that provides a far more intense version of the basic mechanics you see in other rhythm games. With an incredible soundtrack and levels well-suited to chasing high scores, Thumper is a game with the potential to stick around on your home screen for a long time. | Chris Pereira Inside Playdead games won the admiration of its now-large audience when it released Limbo, a slow-paced puzzle-platformer that relied heavily on the use of light and negative space. For the studio's follow-up, Inside, it delivered yet another somber world to explore. It presents a tale that unfolds effortlessly before your eyes as you advance from one scene to the next, with nary a word from any of its characters. Through the power of inference and suggestion, you realize the infiltration of a malicious organization and bear witness to its sinister deeds. Inside will test your ability to think creatively, but it's the narrative--and the way it's delivered--that makes it a game worth playing. Inside reinforces the notion that, sometimes, less is more. | Peter Brown Crypt of the NecroDancer Roguelikes (or at least roguelike elements) have been one of the most popular trends in gaming over the past handful of years, but few have taken as interesting of an approach to the genre as Crypt of the NecroDancer. It tasks players with navigating a dungeon to the beat of the music. Rather than simply move in the direction you wish or attack the enemy that's in your path, you and your enemies' actions are tied directly to the (always excellent) soundtrack. It's essential that you always be doing something--not taking an action at the next beat resets your combo, meaning you'll earn less gold or deal less damage, depending on the items you've acquired. Particularly as the music becomes more fast-paced, this lends a real sense of tension and excitement to every moment: you need to constantly be considering your next action while accounting for how nearby enemies will react to your movements. It's an experience with few points of comparison, but it's nonetheless one that you'll certainly want to try. | Chris Pereira SteamWorld Dig 2 The first SteamWorld Dig was most notable for its distinct blend of mining mechanics and Metroid-style exploration, but it ended right as it began to come into its own. Its sequel is twice as long and puts that added runtime to good use, as both the story and mechanics are given time to flourish. The game put you in control of a steambot named Dorothy searching for her missing friend, Rusty--the protagonist of the first game. There's a surprising sense of momentum that runs through the adventure; it's as if developer Image & Form sifted the original in a pan, removing its redundancies while expanding upon what made mining treasure and exploring so fun in the first place. The result is a brilliant and varied evolution of the first game that not only expands upon its hybrid formula but presents it in its best light. Where the first game was a diamond in the rough, SteamWorld Dig 2 is a polished jewel. | Matt Espineli The Best Cheap Xbox One Games Out Now By Kallie Plagge on Mar 27, 2018 04:11 am High Quality, Low Price Xbox One has been around for over four years now, but the 4K-capable Xbox One X has only been around for a few months. Whether you're a day-one adopter or new to Xbox, it can be difficult to sift through the store and figure out what to play. And yes, there are jokes about how Xbox One doesn't have any games, but that's not true! There's plenty to play on Xbox, and your options are good even if you're on a budget. From newer indies to discounted AAA games, we've picked out the best games you can get for $20 or under (around £16) on the Xbox store. This only reflects digital prices; there are games you can get on sale at other retailers, but these games are consistently this affordable. For more games on a budget, see our roundups of the best cheap games on PS4 and on Switch. And make sure to check out our gallery of the Xbox One exclusive games confirmed for 2018 as well as the biggest Xbox One games of 2018 for everything coming to the console. Celeste -- $20 / £16 Celeste may look like another pixelated platformer with a youthful protagonist, but it quickly transforms into a brutal, tightly orchestrated gauntlet of death that only the best players can master. It challenges you to traverse spike-lined caverns with a modest selection of skills, with alternate pathways that push your mettle even further as you strive to acquire every last hidden item. You will die hundreds of times, but with quick restarts and a catchy soundtrack, there's never any downtime to wallow in defeat, only a new opportunity to show the game what you're made of. The action and difficulty curve are accompanied by a surprisingly engaging story that adds just the right amount of context to make your arduous journey feel justified, and to solidify Celeste as one of the biggest surprises so far of 2018. | Peter Brown Inside -- $20 / £16 Playdead games won the admiration of its now-large audience when it released Limbo, a slow-paced puzzle-platformer that relied heavily on the use of light and negative space. For the studio's follow-up, Inside, it delivered yet another somber world to explore. It presents a tale that unfolds effortlessly before your eyes as you advance from one scene to the next, with nary a word from any of its characters. Through the power of inference and suggestion, you realize the infiltration of a malicious organization and bear witness to its sinister deeds. Inside will test your ability to think creatively, but it's the narrative--and the way it's delivered--that makes it a game worth playing. Inside reinforces the notion that, sometimes, less is more. | Peter Brown The Sexy Brutale -- $20 / £16 The Sexy Brutale is a quirky little puzzle game co-developed by Tequila Works, the studio behind beautiful adventure game Rime. Its essentially Groundhog Day: The Game--you play through the same day over and over, but with each runthrough you learn more about the creepy mansion you find yourself in. After seeing one character shoot another, you might go and find the gun and prevent the bloody murder by replacing real bullets with blanks. A number of these murders are interconnected--solving one puzzle might prevent one murder, but that could change another branch of time elsewhere in the house. There's no way of preventing every murder in one go, but discovering and tinkering with the different timelines is where the fun lies.And with it being playable on Switch, you can live the same day countless times anywhere you want. Suffice it to say, we've played it over and over again--groundhog day indeed. | Matt Espineli Halo 5: Guardians -- $20 / £15 Halo 5: Guardians is the biggest and boldest Halo game ever. The campaign tells an intriguing story where Master Chief is could potentially be the bad guy, and another team is tasked to hunt him down. Though the overall narrative did not exactly pay off, the campaign pushed the franchise forward with its more open level design that offered a new feeling of freedom. On the multiplayer side, Halo 5 is arguably the series' strongest offering to date. The core modes like Arena are there and have never been better, and Forge mode has allowed modders to create some truly incredible creations. But what's more exciting is the 24-player Warzone mode, which gives Halo's multiplayer a sense of scale that it never had before--and it's a lot of fun. At $20 (or free with an Xbox Game Pass subscription), Halo 5 is absolutely worth checking out. | Eddie Makuch Crypt of the NecroDancer -- $15 / £12 Roguelikes (or at least roguelike elements) have been one of the most popular trends in gaming over the past handful of years, but few have taken as interesting of an approach to the genre as Crypt of the NecroDancer. It tasks players with navigating a dungeon to the beat of the music. Rather than simply move in the direction you wish or attack the enemy that's in your path, you and your enemies' actions are tied directly to the (always excellent) soundtrack. It's essential that you always be doing something--not taking an action at the next beat resets your combo, meaning you'll earn less gold or deal less damage, depending on the items you've acquired. Particularly as the music becomes more fast-paced, this lends a real sense of tension and excitement to every moment: you need to constantly be considering your next action while accounting for how nearby enemies will react to your movements. It's an experience with few points of comparison, but it's nonetheless one that you'll certainly want to try. | Chris Pereira Enter the Gungeon -- $15 / £11 Being a roguelike-style shooter, Enter the Gungeon naturally draws comparisons to games like The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne. And while that does offer a decent starting point for understanding what to expect, Enter the Gungeon manages to rise above being a pale imitator. It feels fantastic, with a dodge-roll ability that allows you to satisfyingly evade damage with a well-timed use. There are ridiculous weapons, such as those that fire bees or a gun that shoots guns which themselves fire bullets. The well-crafted procedurally generated environments help to keep each run feeling fresh, as do the wide variety of items and secrets to uncover along the way. And co-op support makes for an especially fun, chaotic experience (although it's unfortunate that the second player isn't able to play as the different characters that the main player has access to). The entire game is also overflowing with personality and color, making for an experience that is as fun to look at as is to play. | Chris Pereira Stardew Valley -- $15 / £12 Originally released on PC, hit farming sim Stardew Valley has made its way to console with very few compromises (aside from the lack of mods, if that's something you care about). It's an excellent take on the Harvest Moon formula, with a laid-back small-town atmosphere, tons of work to do, and bachelors and bachelorettes to date. But the valley also has its mysteries, and the added intrigue makes it easy to pick up, hard to put down, and rewarding day after day. Even though it has nothing to do with the Harvest Moon franchise, it's easily the best "Harvest Moon" game in years. | Kallie Plagge Sonic Mania -- $20 / £16 Created by members of the Sonic fan-hack community under Sega's watch, Sonic Mania exudes passion and reverence in its recreation of nostalgic visuals, sounds, and level designs. But the game isn't content with senselessly regurgitating the past; rather, it expands upon the familiar with new ideas of its own and delivers plenty of inventive concepts that diversify and build upon the series' fast-paced level design. Sonic Mania is smart and interpretive in its approach, leveraging the strengths of its design and visuals to craft not only the best Sonic game ever made, but an amazing platforming experience overall. If you've enjoyed Sonic at any point in your life, you owe it to yourself to play Sonic Mania. And even if you're not a longtime fan, the fast-paced platforming on display is a fantastic introduction to Sega's beloved blue blur. | Matt Espineli Overcooked -- $17 / £13 Overcooked is like a Mario Party mini-game blown up into its own standalone experience in the best way possible. It's a game that becomes exponentially better when played with at least one other person. What starts out as a relatively tame game where you help each other chop some vegetables and get them served on a plate becomes a frantic rush to put out fires, get ingredients distributed between two moving vehicles, and other ridiculous scenarios. | Chris Pereira Thimbleweed Park -- $20 / £17 Point-and-click adventure games have experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, and Thimbleweed Park--from adventure game legends Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick--is a prime example. The X-Files-inspired journey puts you in the role of two FBI agents that bear more than a passing resemblance to the classic TV show as you relive the glory days of adventure games. Playing on any console means dealing with a gamepad-based control scheme (as opposed to the more natural mouse controls on PC), but Switch makes up for this with touchscreen support when played in handheld mode. | Chris Pereira Thumper -- $20 / £16 Although it's a game arguably best-suited for VR, Thumper is an incredible experience however you play it. It provides a unique blend of rhythm-based gameplay and action--what the developer calls "rhythm violence"--that provides a far more intense version of the basic mechanics you see in other rhythm games. With an incredible soundtrack and levels well-suited to chasing high scores, Thumper is a game with the potential to stick around on your home screen for a long time. | Chris Pereira Axiom Verge -- $20 / £16 Axiom Verge is another take on the Metroidvania style, but it distinguishes itself through its wide variety of weapons and tools--most notably, the Address Disruptor, which affects the environment and each enemy type in different ways. It's also a game with an impressive sense of scale and no shortage of secrets to uncover, encouraging multiple playthroughs. Add in an excellent soundtrack and tantalizing story, and there's a lot to like here. | Chris Pereira Bastion -- $15 / £12 Supergiant Games' debut, Bastion, set the stage for everything else the developer created. This isometric action RPG tells a gripping story of a world destroyed by a catastrophic event referred to as The Calamity in the city of Caelondia. You control Bastion's protagonist, The Kid, who is led by the charismatic narrator named Rucks in a journey to piece the city back together. Very few survivors are left, and hostile monsters litter Caelondia, which is the impetus to put a varied arsenal of melee and projectile weapons to use. The Bastion acts as a sort of home base that slowly comes together as you progress and collect cores at the end of each level.Rucks' deep, instantly recognizable voice (that of Logan Cunningham) adds a level of grandeur to the story that's superbly supported by a truly remarkable soundtrack (by Darren Korb) that's vaguely Celtic, Western, and trip-hop all at the same time. Bastion's fantastical hand-painted art style (by Jen Zee) breathes life into a world nearly devoid of it, torn apart by a conflict of different cultures. These elements came to be staples of Supergiant's work, and Bastion is still a sterling example of the team's ability to craft a game that's both fun and heartfelt. | Michael Higham Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain -- $20 (not discounted in UK) You may have heard that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the final Metal Gear game to feature the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima, has flaws. The last chunk of the game involves replaying earlier missions with small tweaks, and certain late-game story content was consigned to a special edition bonus feature. Despite all of that, The Phantom Pain stands as a seminal example of what an open-world action game can be. While still retaining much of what makes a Metal Gear game so distinct, it presents players with a vast open world and the ability to tackle its challenges in many, many ways.The mechanics of Ground Zeroes have been fine-tuned, and you can leverage them in a multitude of ways as you take part in the game's consistently excellent, thrilling missions. Just as enjoyable are the emergent hijinks you'll encounter along the way, and all of this is made better by the consistent progression of building up your own personal army. Although it's undoubtedly an experience best played after playing making your way through the prior games, The Phantom Pain is a game that everyone should ultimately try. It holds up now, even after a few years; all that's changed is the price tag. | Chris Pereira Super Smash Bros. Switch: 20 Characters We Want By GameSpot Staff on Mar 27, 2018 03:31 am Dream Fighters Nintendo recently made an exciting announcement: Super Smash Bros. is officially coming to Nintendo Switch. And that's not all; the game is coming in 2018. Naturally, this has us pretty excited, and we're already speculating which characters we want to be on the game's roster. While characters who have been in past entries, like Ice Climbers and Star Wolf, are obvious choices for us, we're also eager to see characters from other Nintendo franchises and third-party games make appearances. Here are the 20 characters we want to see the most in Super Smash Bros. on Switch. As of yet, we don't know if this an updated version of Super Smash Bros. Wii U or a brand-new game. If it is a port, it could follow the model of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. There are plenty of other Wii U titles that deserve a second chance on Switch as well--you can see some of the ones we want most here--but Smash Bros. is undoubtedly the most obvious candidate. Nintendo has remained ambiguous about what form this game will take. Which characters do you want to see in Smash Bros. for Switch? Let us know in the comments below. In recent news, a Super Smash Bros. Switch tournament is going to be held at this year's E3. For more on the recent Nintendo news, check out GameSpot's roundup of all the recent Nindies Nintendo Direct news and our roundup of all the mid-March Nintendo Direct news, which includes release dates for some of the most exciting upcoming Switch and 3DS games. Captain Toad Super Smash Bros. rosters are generally dominated by the expected heroes and villains. What I want to see is another character like Animal Crossing's Villager who is a little more unconventional. Captain Toad may seem harmless, but the idea of him transforming into a fighter who can go toe-to-toe with Bowser, Ganon, or precious Mario (you know Captain Toad hates him and his proclivity for jumping and hogging the spotlight) would get me more interested in the Switch edition of Smash than anything else. While sure to be just one part of an expansive roster, making Captain Toad playable in Smash would help to provide Switch's Treasure Tracker re-release with some additional attention. He may not have the makings of a prototypical fighter, but to me that's what would make him more interesting. I'd be curious to see how Nintendo finds a workaround for his inability to jump--maybe he could throw his backpack into the air before leaping. He has a variety of tools and abilities at his disposal in Treasure Tracker (a pickaxe, an off-screen turnip gun, the ability to pull things out of the ground) that could be leveraged as weapons in Smash. And imagining a matching Treasure Tracker stage--one that messes with camera perspectives--is even more exciting. Captain Toad may not have the glitz and glamor of other names, but his unique nature would make him a worthwhile member of the roster. | Chris Pereira Crash Bandicoot Crash never made it into PlayStation All Stars, but he deserves a chance to throw down. With the N. Sane trilogy making its way to Switch, I think it's time for everyone's favorite marsupial to do the same. Crash's moveset is so easy to envision: spinning attacks, throwing wumpa fruit, and a Final Smash that slaps a golden Aku Aku mask on his face, charging him up like some kind of Australian Super Saiyan. If Crash were added to the roster, elements of his games could also be incorporated into the Smash universe. Maybe a standard mask could be picked up by anyone. Maybe the game's signature crates could be added to Smash's group of containers like barrels and party balls. One thing's for sure: making Crash a playable character should also mean Coco joining as an assist trophy. Let's talk stages. The Crash Bandicoot series has been all over the world, from the Great Wall of China to Ancient Egypt to a crazy techno-centric future. Why not take the "warped" mentality of Crash 3 and have fighters bounce between those crazy locations? I can already picture Neo Cortex floating around in the background of the outer space phase of the map. | Tony Wilson Toon Zelda/Tetra The Smash Bros. series has seen many Links: Young Link, Toon Link, regular Link, and now, what looks like Breath of the Wild Link. But there's only one Zelda. Zelda/Sheik is one of the standout characters, of course, but it's time for something new. Tetra is a badass pirate queen with a sword, and her Princess Zelda transformation has a bow with light arrows--among other possible weapons. (Her Hyrule Warriors incarnation has a pistol, for example.) She's scrappy, she's sassy, her pirate ship is already a Smash stage, and she already has an Amiibo. Even if she didn't transform like her standard counterpart, Tetra or Toon Zelda would both make sense among the ranks of the top Smash fighters. And it's about time. Plus, I just really want Wind Waker HD to come to Switch. | Kallie Plagge Ice Climbers The Ice Climbers were introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee as representatives of the NES era of Nintendo's history. As a single entity, Popo and Nana were different from the other fighters; if the NPC-controlled Ice Climber was knocked out, you could still fight, just without team moves. Fighting as them was just really...well, cool. Popo and Nana got shafted in Smash 4. Supposedly cut due to the 3DS' limited processing power (and the fact that there probably won't be another game in their series soon, if ever, so they weren't a high priority), the Ice Climbers only appeared as a trophy. But the Switch solves one of those problems, at least! And if what Masahiro Sakurai says is true, and the Ice Climbers were fully functional in the Wii U version, it's not too much to ask to bring them back in the next Super Smash Bros. | Kallie Plagge Geno Since his debut in Super Mario RPG, fans have been clamoring for ♡♪!? (also known as Geno for those who struggle to pronounce his true name). While a true Super Mario RPG sequel will likely never happen, there is hope for the badass Star Road warrior to appear in Smash. When Nintendo started to release character announcement trailers for the Wii U and 3DS versions, I'd sit on the edge of my seat hoping he'd be revealed every time. When it came to the final DLC character reveal, Nintendo found a way to get my hopes up, only to crush them instantly. They showed off Geno, but not the way anyone wanted. We were told Geno was available...but as a Mii Gunner costume. While I was happy to see they acknowledged his existence, it was still disappointing to see he was still not a playable fighter. If he were to be added, he'd make an excellent ranged fighter and a welcome roster addition compared to the influx of sword-based fighters in recent games. Geno Beam (or even Geno Flash) would be perfect as a charge attack and Geno Whirl could be used similar to Samus's missile with the side-B attack. For a Final Smash, Geno Blast would look gorgeous as rays of light come flashing down to devastate his opponents.While I know deep down that it's a long shot, I'm still hoping that somehow he'll find his way onto the roster. With the inclusion of Square Enix's Cloud in the most recent version, the door is now open for Geno. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting his arrival. | Gajan Kulasingham Isaac One of the most exciting aspects of every Super Smash Bros. release is seeing which forgotten Nintendo characters the developers have plucked from obscurity and added to the roster. Not only is it fun to see old mascots completely reimagined on a modern console, but in many cases, an appearance in Smash Bros. heralds a revival for their series--as was the case with Kid Icarus after Pit appeared in Brawl. While Golden Sun may not be as well-known as some of Nintendo's other franchises, I'd still love to see its main protagonist, Isaac, join the fray. Despite his brief tenure in the spotlight (only three Golden Sun games have been released thus far, the latest of which starred not Isaac but his son, Matthew), Isaac is perfectly suited for Smash Bros. thanks to his special abilities. As an Adept, he's capable of wielding Psynergy, magic-like abilities that would form the basis of his moveset. To further set him apart from other fighters, he could equip different Djinn during a match, which would alter the Psynergy spells at his disposal. And for his Final Smash, Isaac could call upon one of Golden Sun's many other over-the-top summons, such as Judgment, to deliver a devastating, screen-consuming attack. Moreover, Isaac isn't a complete stranger to Smash Bros.; he appeared as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, so it would hardly be a stretch for him to make the leap to playable character. The Smash series may already have a glut of swordsmen on its roster, but I think Isaac has enough unique skills in his repertoire to make a great addition--and if it would help pave the way for a new Golden Sun game on Switch, so much the better. | Kevin Knezevic King K. Rool For every great hero, there is a villain that helps define them. For Batman, there is the Joker. For Mario, there is Bowser. And for Donkey Kong, there is King K. Rool. The Kremlings leader has been around since Donkey Kong Country and has frequently opposed the Kongs. Being such an iconic foe to a popular Nintendo character makes his absence in Smash Bros quite perplexing. If King K. Rool were to be added, he'd easily be classified as a heavyweight character--of which there is a significant need in the Smash Bros. games. With so many smaller, faster characters in the game, adding more powerhouse fighters would definitely be a welcome addition. He'd even have a vast array of costume options based off his various appearances in the DK Country games, such as Kaptain K. Rool, Baron K. Roolenstein, and King Krusha K. Rool. As for attacks, he has a wide amount of gadgets at his disposal, which could be attached to his basic attacks. This could make him a fun powerhouse character capable of dealing significant melee damage up close but also have the option of utilizing ranged attacks. I'd be excited to see him added, but I'm honestly surprised he hasn't been in a Smash game already. | Gajan Kulasingham Crono The Chrono series, outside of the thoroughly excellent DS re-release and the not-so-good PC port, has been silent for a long time. But aside from the business and development reasons that the seminal RPG only received one semi-sequel in Chrono Cross, a character crossover with the next Smash Bros. actually makes some weird sense. The biggest argument for Crono is that Cloud was playable in Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. The protagonist from Final Fantasy VII is a staunchly third-party character from a Final Fantasy game that never came to a Nintendo console, so there's at least a precedent for that level of crossover. The Final Fantasy VII Remake gives a reason to elevate Cloud's profile (so maybe Aeris or Tifa would be a more-likely candidate). But Crono is such an outstanding character from developer Square's past and its long-running relationship with Nintendo. The other reason that Cloud makes a good fit is that, despite being yet another character with a sword, his reliance on multi-character attacks mean that he'd have his own unique identity, moveset, and visual flair. Crono is a long shot character, especially since unlike Final Fantasy, there isn't an official high-definition 3D model of the character available. But who would've guessed that Cloud, Ryu, and Bayonetta would ever be in a Smash game? | Justin Haywald Professor Layton The austere professor with his oversized hat may sound like an odd fit for Smash, but as an iconic representative of puzzle gaming on the DS, Professor Layton is long overdue for a spot on the SSB roster. The best examples for how Layton would work in a fighter is Phoenix Wright, who made an appearance in various Vs. Capcom fighting games, or a character like the peaceful Animal Crossing Villager. Not having a ready-made assortment of combat abilities doesn't rule out their effectiveness in a wacky game like Smash. And as we've seen from several of Layton's adventures, he's an accomplished fencer, so he's ready to throw down with a weapon when the situation calls for it. And Layton could also introduce fun, interactive stages that play off his previous adventures. Hand-drawn village backgrounds that open up to unlock puzzles, and maybe the characters on the screen would have to try to solve some of the simpler ones in order to avoid hazards from hitting everyone one the screen. Layton has been a dream addition to Smash for me for a long time, and figuring out how he'd fit into the game doesn't feel like a terribly difficult puzzle. | Justin Haywald Ridley As Samus Aran's arch-nemesis, the Space Pirate leader Ridley seems like a perfect candidate to go head-to-head with the Metroid hunter in the Smash Bros. arena as a playable fighter. Aside from the intergalactic bounty hunter and the Metroids that she hunts, the fire-breathing boss is one of the most recognizable characters in the series--who seems to always survive the last battle by the skin of its razor-sharp teeth. Despite never having been playable, Ridley has already made several appearances in past Smash games, most notably as a boss in Brawl's Subspace Emissary story mode. It's about time that Samus' nemesis became a playable character, and Ridley's fighting style, which is focused on fast, hard-hitting moves, along with a large set of wings that give it great speed and agility, can make Ridley a welcome change from the other heavy-set characters like King Dedede, Bowser, and DK. Moreover, Ridley's many appearances throughout the Metroid series also opens up the opportunity to let players choose from different incarnations of the character. I mean, who wouldn't want the chance to play as the cybernetically enhanced Meta-Ridley to battle Samus in one of the Metroid-inspired levels? | Alessandro Fillari Tharja Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS has no shortage of Fire Emblem characters. To be honest, by the time Corrin and Roy rolled around as DLC I was starting to get sick of them, however, Tharja could add something unique to the roster. Unlike Roy, Marth, Lucina, and Ike, Tharja is a Dark Mage and she could specialize in ranged-attack spells. Sure, Corrin and Robin had a fair amount of medium-range attacks, but in most cases, you'd still want to keep your foes close. Tharja could utilize a flashy set of dark spells to deliver powerful blows from afar, and quick on her feet to escape close range fighters. The likelihood of Tharja coming to Smash is slim, but I think she would add much more character and personality to the roster than Robin and Corrin did. | Jake Dekker Kass While Breath of the Wild was very much Link's show, there was one character who always knew how to make his presence known throughout the young(ish) champion's quest throughout Hyrule--and it always started off with the faint sound of an accordion in the distance. Kass, the traveling storyteller, could spin a memorable yarn about Hyrule's past, but I'd like to think he can also hold his own in a fight against other Nintendo characters. While we don't ever see Kass fight, that certainly hasn't stopped Nintendo from turning normally passive characters--like Wii Fit Trainer or R.O.B.--into powerhouses on the battlefield. As a member of the bird-like Rito tribe, Kass has the natural gift of flight, potentially making him an agile character in a fight. However, his true gifts lie with his accordion and oratory talents. Much like in Breath of the Wild, Kass can use the power of song to grab the attention of anyone nearby as they listen to him tell the tale of the surrounding environment. While this may seem a bit gimmicky, Super Smash Bros. tends to shine most when it comes to characters that has a specific purpose. And often times, those characters prove their worth and find an audience among fans. And I for one think that Kass has the potential to prove himself on the battlefield. | Alessandro Fillari Waluigi If Waluigi can't get his own game, he should at least be added to the Super Smash Bros. roster. Wario has been playable in two previous Smash games, but Luigi's rival, Waluigi, has never been included. Now is the time. Waluigi has already made appearances in Smash as a collectible trophy and assist trophy, and in Brawl, Luigi has a black and purple color swap to make him look similar to his arch-rival. If he's already a part of the Smash universe, then making him playable is an easy transition. Smash Bros. on the 3DS and Wii U had plenty of Nintendo heroes on their rosters and not enough villains. The Switch version's roster could only benefit from adding another fun, fan-favorite antagonist like Waluigi to liven things up with his personal brand of mischief. Throughout the years, his popularity has only been growing. He's sassy, cunning, relatably self-hating, skilled, and ridiculous. Just think about how campy and glorious his taunt would be. It's Waluigi time. | Chastity Vicencio Shovel Knight Shovel Knight hits things with a shovel. I want to hit Kirby with a shovel. Honestly, it's as simple as that. Shovel Knight has been one of the best 2D throwback platformers in recent years, a game that perfectly captures the spirit of the NES era while making smart tweaks to make it more palatable for modern sensibilities. That's an excellent fit for a fighting game that oozes Nintendo spirit if you ask me. The game features a wide variety of upgrades that Shovel Knight (who can be male or female) can utilize to take down foes, so there's more than enough options to make Shovel Knight a distinctly interesting Smash character if brute shovel force isn't enough. And look--he's already got an Amiibo, so that's basically his ticket to ride. It's Shovelling Time! | Edmond Tran Rex Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was one of Nintendo's biggest games of 2017, so it would only be fitting to see it represented in the newly revealed Super Smash Bros. for Switch. Naturally, the most logical choice for a Smash fighter from the game would be its protagonist, Rex, but just as in his own adventure, he should come with a few Blades in tow to make him a truly unique addition to the roster. Whereas Shulk (Smash Bros.' other resident Xenoblade character) is able to use the Monado to grant himself different buffs, Rex could derive his abilities from the Blade he currently has equipped. Like Pokemon Trainer from Brawl, he could swap between the Blades during a match, with each granting him a different set of special attacks. Of course, Pyra would be his primary Blade, but he could also have two others--such as Roc and Nia--at his disposal, just as in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And for his Final Smash, Pyra could transform into Mythra to rain down a powerful Sacred Arrow attack over the entire field. Not only would Rex be a fun addition to the roster, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 would make a fitting basis for a new stage. The game is filled with beautiful vistas and fantastical fauna, which could make for some rather interesting stage hazards--imagine having a match interrupted by a powerful Named Monster that forces all players to temporarily team up with each other to take down. As the face of one of Nintendo's most ambitious Switch games to date, Rex certainly deserves a spot on the Smash roster. | Kevin Knezevic Falco This might seem like an odd pick considering Falco will most likely be in the game, but as a diehard Melee fan, I want the Falco of old. Super Smash Bros. Melee is my most played game of all time, and Falco was my main man...err...bird. I liked him because of his side-A attack, which acted as a super strong KO kick that would send players flying off stages at moderate percentages. Newer revisions of Falco changed his kick to a much less effective arm-swinging swipe move, which isn't nearly as potent. Falco's shine was also very useful in Melee. Players could use it to perform combos, but later revisions had the shine shoot out of him, which removed these abilities. He's just not the same. As a die-hard old-school Falco fan, I just want Nintendo to return Falco to his glory days. | Jimmy Thang Star Wolf Even though Melee is my most-played game of all time, I didn't particularly care for Brawl when it came out. I didn't like the slower pace of the game, and the inclusion of tripping didn't help either. One character that I did love, however, was Star Wolf. His skillset matched with my playstyle perfectly. He has a strong side-A that could finish people, decent recovery moves, an effective arial game, and is equipped with a stunning projectile laser. I was dismayed to hear that he wouldn't be in the Wii U version, considering Nintendo doesn't often remove characters from Smash. I'm hoping Star Wolf makes a comeback and retains his moves. | Jimmy Thang Snake Super Smash Bros. has always a been cool way to have a bunch of your favorite Nintendo characters fight it out, and the idea easily invites other game characters to join the fight. But back in 2008 my wildest dream came true. Often said as a joke amongst my friends I always wanted a character from Metal Gear, my all time favorite series, to show up and that is exactly what I got with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It was show time. Snake is an interesting character mostly due to the fact that he is one of few realistic-looking individuals in a roster of cartoon-y ones. He pulls a lot of his attacks from Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2, but a lot of his mannerisms come from Metal Gear Solid 3. He is a very range-heavy character, but if someone gets in close, he still has a lot of great tools at his disposal to even the playing field. He is a fun character to play with lots of tricks, and I really enjoy all of the small details they put in for fans of the MGS series. They could even incorporate some new stuff from MGSV; maybe just change him to be Punished Snake! From his silly codec taunt conversations about all of the characters to his vast arsenal of weapons rivaling any of the metal Gear games, Snake deserves to come back to Smash. | Ben Janca Porky Minch Technically, Porky has already made an appearance in Super Smash Bros.; in Brawl, he was one of the boss characters that Ness and Lucas face while fighting in the Subspace Emissary. But that only proves that he make an excellent addition to the fighting game roster. Although Giygas is the Big Bad in Earthbound, Porky is the malevolent being's willing accomplice. And as the Earthbound sequel, Mother 3, shows, Porky is a resourceful villain who's able to rise above his previous failures to become even more powerful and dangerous. And his appearance in Smash could also bridge the gap between his sniveling uselessness in Earthbound and his powerful but decaying form in Mother 3--a Porky that's just coming into his own powers but also relies on sophisticated gadgetry to pummel his foes. Most of all, I just want Porky in the game so that there's another direct Nintendo connection to the Earthbound/Mother series. I still haven't given up hope of a Western release of Mother 3...and the Switch would be the perfect console to get that long-awaited port. | Justin Haywald The Champions Of Hyrule The reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. on Switch all but confirmed that Link from Breath of the Wild will be in the game. But I hope Nintendo will include more Breath of the Wild characters, like the Champions: Revali, Daruk, Urbosa, and Mipha. It would be awesome to see them all added into the game as four separate characters, but realistically, I could see Nintendo making them a single character slot--similar to Pokemon Trainer from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Having the ability to play and freely switch between Revali, Daruk, Urbosa, and Mipha sounds complicated to implement. After all, having access to four separate movesets seems like it would be both a mechanical and balancing nightmare, but I'm holding out for the possibility of the Champions being playable. Imagine launching an opponent upwards into the air with Revali's Gale, and then switching to Daruk to smash them down with his Boulder Breaker. You could even have Mipha revive you if you happen to accidentally get launched out of a stage. There are a ton of cool possibilities available for the Champions, and given Breath of the Wild's financial and critical success, they ought to be put in the game in some form. At the very least, I hope Nintendo incorporates their moves into Breath of the Wild Link's moveset, or creates an entire stage devoted to them and their Divine Beasts. | Matt Espineli Best Cheap Nintendo Switch Games So Far By Array on Mar 27, 2018 03:20 am Quality Games On A Budget Nintendo Switch recently turned a year old, and already the system has no shortage of quality games to play. Even before a flurry of big-name third-party ports release for the system--Bayonetta 2, Skyrim, L.A. Noire, and Doom--there were already a ton of worthwhile options on Switch. There are Nintendo's flagship titles, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 2, and a variety of other Switch games you may have missed. Beyond that, though, there's a burgeoning selection of games that cost no more than $20 on Eshop. These budget-priced games are not a concept exclusive to Switch, nor is this system the only place to find many of them. But given the system's only a year in, it's incredible how the platform is bursting at the seams with games to play. Particularly, if you're just getting a system now, it can be hard to find things to play, in part because the Eshop needs some work. In the gallery above, we're highlighting Switch games that are available for no more than $20 on the Eshop. This is far from a comprehensive list, but if you're looking for a cheap Switch game to pick up, you can't go wrong with any of these options. Many are not Switch exclusives, but it's often the best platform to play them on, thanks to newly added features or the sheer convenience of having a version you can play both on a TV and on the go. These games are presented in no particular order; they're simply titles that are worth a look. While you're here, check out our features detailing all the Wii U games we ported to Switch, 13 things we still want to see from the console, and the best games on the console as of 2018. Celeste ($20 / £18) Celeste is a magical game that will challenge you in a multitude of ways. Its platforming is really, really hard, and you'll likely get frustrated at your fumbling fingers for failing a jump or at your slow brain for not figuring out how to get to the next safe zone. But when you get to that checkpoint, it's satisfying to know your fingers and brain aren't, in fact, useless. More than its platforming, though, Celeste's story is challenging. The main protagonist, Madeline, is faced with a horrible journey--both climbing a mountain and battling her own mind--and at times it's not easy to watch her suffer. The game's writing is such that it's easy to project that suffering onto yourself, and that can make it tough to face playing the next level. But you should absolutely do so, because it's a story with an ending worth the struggle and a cast of characters so endearing you'll be rooting for them to succeed. Just expect to fail a few leaps of faith along the way. The Sexy Brutale ($20 / £18) The Sexy Brutale is a quirky little puzzle game co-developed by Tequila Works, the studio behind beautiful adventure game Rime. Its essentially Groundhog Day: The Game--you play through the same day over and over, but with each runthrough you learn more about the creepy mansion you find yourself in. After seeing one character shoot another, you might go and find the gun and prevent the bloody murder by replacing real bullets with blanks. A number of these murders are interconnected--solving one puzzle might prevent one murder, but that could change another branch of time elsewhere in the house. There's no way of preventing every murder in one go, but discovering and tinkering with the different timelines is where the fun lies. And with it being playable on Switch, you can live the same day countless times anywhere you want. Suffice to say, we've played it over and over again--groundhog day indeed. Crypt of the NecroDancer ($20 / £18) Roguelikes (or at least roguelike elements) have been one of the most popular trends in gaming over the past handful of years, but few have taken as interesting of an approach to the genre as Crypt of the NecroDancer. Originally released on PC and other platforms before making its way to Switch in 2018, NecroDancer tasks players with navigating a dungeon to the beat of the music. Rather than simply move in the direction you wish or attack the enemy that's in your path, you and your enemies' actions are tied directly to the (always excellent) soundtrack. It's essential that you always be doing something--not taking an action at the next beat resets your combo, meaning you'll earn less gold or deal less damage, depending on the items you've acquired. Particularly as the music becomes more fast-paced, this lends a real sense of tension and excitement to every moment: you need to constantly be considering your next action while accounting for how nearby enemies will react to your movements. It's an experience with few points of comparison, but it's nonetheless one that you'll certainly want to try. Battle Chef Brigade ($20 / £18) Battle Chef Brigade puts you in control of an aspiring young chef named Mina as she fights to become the best cook in the land. But this isn't your typical cooking game; rather than choose from pre-set ingredients in front of you to make a simple dish, you actually have to hunt and gather them yourself, making use of Devil May Cry-like battle system to eliminate them in the wild. You then have to take what you gather back to your kitchen, throw it in a pot, and cook it in a match three mini-game. F rame this within an Iron Chef-like cook off where the clock is ticking against you and you'll have an idea of what you're getting into. The juxtaposition between the two core mechanics of hunting and cooking make for a tense, fast-paced experience that's both memorable and fulfilling. Enter the Gungeon ($15 / £11) Being a roguelike-style shooter, Enter the Gungeon naturally draws comparisons to games like The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne. And while that does offer a decent starting point for understanding what to expect, Enter the Gungeon manages to rise above being a pale imitator. It feels fantastic, with a dodge-roll ability that allows you to satisfyingly evade damage with a well-timed use. There are ridiculous weapons, such as those that fire bees or a gun that shoots guns which themselves fire bullets. The well-crafted procedurally generated environments help to keep each run feeling fresh, as do the wide variety of items and secrets to uncover along the way. And co-op support makes for an especially fun, chaotic experience (although it's unfortunate that the second player isn't able to play as the different characters that the main player has access to). The entire game is also overflowing with personality and color, making for an experience that is as fun to look at as is to play. Furi ($20 / £18) Fans of Japanese action games will instantly love Furi, as it utilizes a twitch-based combat similar to fan-favorite games in the genre, like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. Its premise is simple: you play as a nameless silver-haired swordsman who must fight his way out of imprisonment, facing off against a gauntlet of deadly bosses. Aside from its striking presentation, Furi's most memorable quality is its fast and frenetic combat, which is punchy, nuanced, and elegantly simple. It combines mechanics from both hack-and-slash games and shoot 'em ups, challenging you to handle switching between gameplay styles at a moment's notice in the midst of a fight. If you're a sucker for challenging action games, Furi should be at the top of your list for $20 Switch games to buy. SteamWorld Dig 2 ($20 / £15) SteamWorld Dig 2 expands on its predecessor in a number of welcome ways. It looks much nicer, with a better soundtrack and more interesting story, but it also expands on progression. A new mod system allows you to tailor your character to your particular style, and the varied environments provide an incentive to keep digging and new challenges to contend with. Digging your way through blocks remains an enjoyable gameplay mechanic, and particularly with optional waypoints disabled, exploring the depths of this world is a real treat. Read our SteamWorld Dig 2 review Picross S ($8 / £7.19) Switch's entry in the Picross series, Picross S, doesn't do anything radically new, and it doesn't have to. It offers the straightforward, streamlined pleasure of its sudoku/nonogram-style gameplay on the go. It's the kind of game that's perfect to have loaded up on Switch--you can easily jump in for a quick puzzle (or eight) while you're on the go or in between sessions of other games. There's plenty to do with 300 puzzles, and simultaneous two-player multiplayer support gives you a way to ease newcomers into the series. Stardew Valley ($15 / £11) Like many other games on this list, Stardew Valley feels particularly well-suited to the portable nature of Switch. The system makes it easy to boot up the game for a quick day on the farm no matter where you are, and the controls work surprisingly well--though they could still use some refinement (possibly through the addition of touch controls, which are absent). The game remains a charming take on the Harvest Moon formula and provides a nice, peaceful complement to many of the more action-oriented games on Switch--particularly in lieu of a new Animal Crossing. Read our Stardew Valley review Golf Story ($15 / £13.49) Even if you're not a fan of the real-world sport, there's an undeniable appeal to golf games. Golf Story goes beyond simply letting you hit the links, though, taking the form of a traditional RPG that just happens to revolve around golfing. It features a charming story and a delightful, reactive world to explore, along with some trademark Australian humor. Read our Golf Story review Sonic Mania ($20 / £16) Sonic Mania marks the latest attempt to recapture the 2D glory days of the Sonic franchise, and it more than succeeds. Fantastic level design and a real sense of speed help to scratch that nostalgic itch, but it also stands as a solid game among its contemporaries. Our review goes so far as to even say it might very well be the best Sonic game ever. In light of Sonic Forces' deficiencies, at least Sonic fans have good Sonic game to play on the system. Read our Sonic Mania review Overcooked ($20 / £18) Multiplayer games that can be played with a single Joy-Con are a real treat--wherever you go with the system, you're able to easily play together with another person. And that's good news for Overcooked, a game that becomes exponentially better when played with at least one other person. What starts out as a relatively tame game where you help each other chop some vegetables and get them served on a plate becomes a frantic rush to put out fires, get ingredients distributed between two moving vehicles, and other ridiculous scenarios. Read our Overcooked review Thimbleweed Park ($20 / £15) Point-and-click adventure games have experienced something of a renaissance in recent years, and Thimbleweed Park--from adventure game legends Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick--is a prime example. The X-Files-inspired journey puts you in the role of two FBI agents that bear more than a passing resemblance to the classic TV show as you relive the glory days of adventure games. Playing on any console means dealing with a gamepad-based control scheme (as opposed to the more natural mouse controls on PC), but Switch makes up for this with touchscreen support when played in handheld mode. Read our Thimbleweed Park review Retro City Rampage DX ($15 / £13) A throwback GTA Online mode aside, Grand Theft Auto has long since moved on from the classic top-down perspective of its earliest games. Retro City Rampage carries on that legacy, offering an open-world crime game in 8-bit style. What could have easily been a mere GTA clone, however, is distinguished with copious pop culture references and a distinctly arcade-style feel to its gameplay. This DX edition offers additional content not seen in the original version of the game. Read our Retro City Rampage review Fast RMX ($20 / £17) The likelihood of a new F-Zero game doesn't seem terribly high, but Fast RMX is the next best thing. It offers a similar style of high-speed, futuristic racing, with support for local and online multiplayer (including single Joy-Con play) and wide variety of levels. It's also a good-looking game, running at 1080p and 60 FPS. Read our Fast RMX review World of Goo ($10 / £9) It's been around for years, and the Switch version doesn't bring any new content to the table, but now is as good a time as any to play World of Goo if you haven't already. Its construction-based puzzles that task you with creating structures and other objects to fulfill a variety of objectives are still as well designed as ever, making this a worthwhile addition to your Switch library. The one noteworthy distinction with this edition is the addition of local co-op multiplayer (absent from most other platforms); it's also one of the few games to put the Joy-Con's IR pointer to use. Read our World of Goo review Little Inferno ($10 / £9) Another of Tomorrow Corporation's game, Little Inferno also doesn't bring anything new to the table for Switch if you're playing by yourself. But if you have a friend, it introduces a new local co-op multiplayer mode not seen on other platforms. For the uninitiated, Little Inferno involves throwing stuff into a furnace and watching it burn for cash (which is then used to buy more stuff to burn). Despite that simple premise, there is a deeper puzzle system at work here where you have to burn different combinations of objects together to fulfill certain requirement. It's relatively short but features a surprisingly intriguing story and has a cat plushie that poops when burned, so it really checks all the boxes. Read our Little Inferno review Gonner ($10 / £9) Switch's portable nature lends itself well to quick, pick-up-and-play roguelike games. Gonner is an ideal example, blending procedural generation with action-platforming as you blast your way through countless enemies. With a distinct visual style and seemingly endless replayability, it's another great match with the platform. Graceful Explosion Machine ($13 / £10) Shoot-em-ups are not well-represented on Switch, but Graceful Explosion Machine nicely fills that void. Rather than presenting you with an endless stream of foes, it presents confined, handcrafted levels and a variety of distinct weapons with which to dispatch your enemies. Dealing with weapon cooldowns and figuring out the ideal order in which to deal with enemies becomes a game unto itself, and this all takes place within the confines of a cute, colorful world. Severed ($15 / £12) Severed is one of the few games on Switch that can only be played in handheld mode, due to its mandatory touchscreen controls. It's a dungeon crawler with a twist, as you're tasked with slicing your way through enemies you encounter by swiping on the screen. But beyond the enjoyable gameplay and slick visual style, Severed's story is the real highlight, as you experience the tale of a one-armed warrior named Sasha. Read our Severed review Shovel Knight ($10-$25 / £9-£22.49) This is admittedly a bit of a cheat, as you're best off buying Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes all three of the campaigns released so far (and more content to come) for $25. But just $10 will get you a single campaign which is more than worth the price of entry. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment puts you in the shoes of one of the main game's antagonists, Specter Knight, as he takes his own unique journey through the same levels featured in the original game. As with Plague Knight's campaign, the unique mechanics at play here (like the dash attack) make for a much different experience. You would be best-served by starting with the base Shovel Knight campaign, but whichever version you play, you'll be treated to a modern take on retro platformers that bests many of the classics it draws inspiration from. Read our Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment review Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together ($20 / £18) Snipperclips was overshadowed at launch by the hype around The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it remains one of--if not the--best multiplayer games on Switch. Although it can be played solo, cooperative play is where Snipperclips truly shines. You work together to solve relatively simple challenges--get this ball into the basket; pop some balloons--by overlapping your characters and cutting chunks out of one another. This allows you to shape your partner into a tool that can be used for the task at hand. There's little else like it, on Switch or elsewhere. One thing to note is the new Snipperclips Plus version, which offers additional content; owners of the base game will be able to purchase its additions as DLC. Read our Snipperclips review Thumper ($20/£16) Although it's a game arguably best-suited for VR, Thumper is an incredible experience however you play it. It provides a unique blend of rhythm-based gameplay and action--what the developer calls "rhythm violence"--that provides a far more intense version of the basic mechanics you see in other rhythm games. With an incredible soundtrack and levels well-suited to chasing high scores, Thumper is a game with the potential to stick around on your Switch's home screen for a long time. Read our Thumper review Axiom Verge ($20 / £15) Axiom Verge is another take on the Metroidvania style, but it distinguishes itself through its wide variety of weapons and tools--most notably, the Address Disruptor, which affects the environment and each enemy type in different ways. It's also a game with an impressive sense of scale and no shortage of secrets to uncover, encouraging multiple playthroughs. Add in an excellent soundtrack and tantalizing story, and there's a lot to like here. Read our Axiom Verge review The Biggest Movies to Watch in 2018 By Dan Auty on Mar 27, 2018 03:15 am We're nearly three months through 2018, and in terms of cinema, there's already been a mix of huge hits, critical smashes, and inevitably, a few disappointments. Black Panther has smashed records and is still going strong in theaters, and there's another Marvel movie--Avengers: Infinity War- only a few weeks from release. The second Star Wars spin-off soon arrives in the shape of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which will focus on the early adventures of the iconic space smuggler, and Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in the sixth Mission: Impossible movie, Fallout. Beyond these big tentpole franchises, other crowd-pleasing favourites are set to return. There's more dinosaur action in the Jurassic World sequel, two more films in the X-Men universe, DC's Aquaman, and several movies from cinema's busiest star, Dwayne Johnson.The first of Sony's Spider-Man spin-offs arrives in the shape of Venom, we'll find out if there's life in the Predator franchise, and the classic Halloween series returns just in time for, well, Halloween. So with nine months of the year to go, here's what to watch for in 2018... Ready Player One The acclaimed 2012 novel Ready Player One focuses upon a teenager who enters a virtual reality world to try to win the ultimate game, and it is packed with pop culture references to the 1980s. Who better to adapt the film version than Steven Spielberg, who defined '80s Hollywood as much as any filmmaker? Reviews have been strong and it looks spectacular, but don't expect to see much of Spielberg's own work in there. "I've cut most of my movies out," he said last year. "I was very happy to see there was enough without me that made the '80s a great time to grow up. I think one of the reasons I decided to make the movie was that it brought me back to the '80s and lets me do anything I want, except for with my own movies." Release date: March 30 A Quiet Place This creepy-looking horror movie is the second film directed by former Office star John Krasinski (who will also be seen next year in Amazon's Jack Ryan reboot). It's got a great premise--a family forced to communicate using sign language to avoid some mysterious supernatural evil attracted to sound--and a seriously spooky trailer. Krasinski stars alongside his real-life wife Emily Blunt. Release date: April 6 Rampage One of several movies that will star the ever-busy Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 2018, this is an adaptation of the classic '80s arcade game. Johnson plays a scientist who must face dozens of huge, crazed mutated animals as they run amok across America. From the trailers so far it looks the wild stuff, as our hero does battle with marauding wolves, crocodiles, and gorillas. Rampage is directed by Johnson's San Andreas director Brad Peyton and also stars Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Release date: April 20 Super Troopers 2 Hitting theaters on the very appropriate date of April 20, Super Troopers 2 is the crowd-funded sequel to the cult 2001 comedy. All the key members of the Broken Lizard comedy team return for this second movie, which sees the hapless Vermont troopers sent to the Canadian border, to a town that was thought to be Canadian soil but is actually part of the US. "We essentially have to impose US law on a bunch of Canadians that aren't at all happy about it," Broken Lizard member Paul Soter said about the movie. Release date: April 20 Avengers: Infinity War Black Panther is amazing and Ant-Man and the Wasp looks like huge fun, but it's Avengers: Infinity War that promises to be the defining Marvel movie of 2018. The culmination of a decade of interconnected superhero storytelling, the movie will feature every major hero from the MCU to date in a fight to stop the evil Thanos and the universe-threatening Infinity Stones. Captain America: Civil War proved that directors Joe and Anthony Russo are adept at juggling multiple characters, and if the first trailer is anything to go by, this will easily be the most spectacular Marvel movie to date. Until Avengers 4 arrives in 2019 that is. Release date: April 27 Solo: A Star Wars Story The second Star Wars spin-off has been marked by much behind-the-scenes turmoil, with original directors Chris Lord and Phil Miller being replaced during production by Ron Howard, leading to months of extensive reshoots. But last year's Rogue One emerged unscathed after similar production problems, and Howard is an experienced veteran of dozens of crowd-pleasing movies. The adventures of a young Han Solo is something that Star Wars fans have wanted to see for decades, and with a hugely talented supporting cast (Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton) backing up Alden Ehrenreich (Han) and Donald Glover (Lando), we're excited for this one. Release date: May 25 Deadpool 2 Deadpool was one of the 2016's biggest cinematic surprises--not only was it the most successful R-rated movie of all time, it outgrossed every other movie in the X-Men universe. So expectations are high for the sequel. The movie lost original director Tim Miller early on due to creative disagreements with star/producer Ryan Reynolds. But with John Wick co-director David Leitch on board and a cast that includes the return of Morena Baccarat, T.J. Miller, and Brianna Hildebrand, including the much-anticipated movie debuts of Josh Brolin's Cable and Zazie Beetz's Domino, everything is in place for bigger, badder, and more outrageous follow-up. The marketing campaign has refused to play by the rules; expect the movie to do the same. Release date: June 1 Ocean's Eight The long-awaited reboot of the hit heist comedy series, Ocean's Eight showcases an all-female team, led by Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean from the previous trilogy. She assisted by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Helen Bonham Carter, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling, and the first trailer suggests that it will match the fast-moving funny style of the earlier movies. It's directed by Gary Ross (The Hunger Games). Release date: June 8 The Incredibles 2 Pixar's long-awaited sequel to its 2004 superhero family smash The Incredibles was originally set for a 2019 release but having switched places with Toy Story 4, we now get it a whole year earlier. Although the first teaser gives little away, we do know a few plot details. At Disney's D23 convention this summer, director Brad Bird revealed that the movie take place immediately after the end of the first movie, and will focus more on Elastigirl's superhero adventures, while Mr. Incredible is now a stay-at-home dad, trying to deal with the increasingly powerful baby Jack-Jack. Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, and Samuel L. Jackson all reprise their roles, with Toy Story veteran John Ratzenberger playing the villainous Underminer. Release date: June 15, 2018 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Jurassic World wasn't just the fourth part in a series of big dinosaur movies; it was an absolute box office monster, and currently stands as the fourth biggest film of all time. For the follow-up, acclaimed Spanish filmmaker J. A. Bayona takes over from Colin Trevorrow, who remains on-board as producer and co-writer. Meanwhile Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles. Trevorrow has described the movie as a "Spanish horror thriller"(in reference to Bayona's earlier hit Mama) but most exciting is the return of Jeff Goldblum, who starred in Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park way back in 1993. Release date: June 22 Sicario: Day of the Soldado The drug cartel thriller Sicario was one of the most gripping movies of recent years, and hopes are high for this follow-up. Director Denis Villeneuve and star Emily Blunt aren't returning, but the movie is in good hands. Director Stefano Sollima is best known for the brilliant Italian crime drama series Gomorrha, and Benicio Del Toro is set to reprise his role as a former undercover agent turned morally ambiguous enforcer Alejandro. This time the movie focuses on attempts by the CIA to incite an all-out war between rival drug gangs in Mexico; writer Taylor Sheridan has said that "if Sicario is a film about the militarization of police and that blending over, this is removing the policing aspect from it." Release date: June 29 The First Purge The Purge series has proved to be one of the most successful horror franchises of recent years, and expectations are high for this fourth entry. The First Purge looks set to continue the mix of scares, action, and biting social commentary, and while we're yet to see any footage, the first poster certainly suggests that its satirical bite remains as strong as ever. As the title indicates, it's a prequel that looks at the creation of the single night of legalised crime known as The Purge. Release date: July 4 Ant-Man and The Wasp The first Ant-Man was a welcome contrast to the likes of The Avengers and Captain America: Civil War. As much of a heist comedy as a superhero movie, it featured a winning lead role from Paul Rudd and put the emphasis much more on character and humor than huge CG-driven action sequences. With Avengers: Infinity War due in May, Ant-Man and the Wasp should be a good follow-up two months later. Evangeline Lily reprises her role as Hope Van Dyne, who now fights alongside Ant-Man as The Wasp, with Michael Douglas and Michael Pfeiffer as her parents. We don't know what direction the movie will go in this time, just that director Peyton Reed promises "an entirely different genre template." Release date: July 6 The Nun James Wan's The Conjuring was one of most successful horror movies of recent years, inspiring not only a prequel, but two spin-offs focusing on spooky doll Annabelle. The latest movie in this horror series is The Nun. It's set before the other four movies in the series so far, and focuses on the investigation into the earlier life (and death) of Valak, the terrifying demon nun from The Conjuring 2. Wan co-wrote the screenplay, and it's directed by Corin Hardy, who previously helmed the acclaimed low-budget shocker The Hallow and is about to start shooting the remake of The Crow. Expect plenty of scares. Release date: July 13 Skyscraper Another of Dwayne Johnson's 2018 action epics, this China-set thriller stars Johnson as a retired FBI hostage rescue agent who now works as a security assessor for the world's biggest skyscraper. While the first trailer doesn't reveal the specific dangers he must face while working in the world's most advanced building, we know they involve explosions, shooting, and lots of jumping. That said, it looks a bit less comedic than many of The Rock's other movies, as evidenced by the fact he has a prosthetic leg and a greying beard. All will be revealed in July. Release date: July 13 Mission Impossible 6: Fallout The Mission: Impossible series might be more than 20-years old, but on-set injuries aside, star Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down. Fallout sees Rogue Nation's Chris McQuarrie return to the directors chair, with Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, and Alec Baldwin all reprising their roles from previous movies. Superman star Henry Cavill joins the cast, as does his controversial moustache. Expect plenty of insane action. Release date: July 27 The Meg Based on the best-selling 1997 novel, this big-budget shark thriller has been in development for several years and finally arrives this summer. Expendables star Jason Statham plays an expert diver who faces off against a 70-foot monster shark which is causing mayhem off the coast of China. The recent shark movie The Shallows was a great small-scale thriller with a limited location, but with a budget in excess of $150 million, expect The Meg to deliver something way more spectacular. Release date: August 10 Slender Man Slender Man is the fictional horror character that first appeared as a viral internet myth in 2009 and has gone onto become a notable part of modern pop culture. It's somewhat surprising that it's taken nearly a decade for an official Slender Man movie to be made, but 2018 finally sees Hollywood's take on this urban legend. The movie's first trailer makes it looks like a pretty traditional teen horror movie, with disappearing kids, freaky long-haired children, spooky woods, and lots of weird, quickly cut imagery. But there are plenty of horror fans who have been waiting a long time to see the character on screen, and director Sylvian White is not a newcomer to the genre, having previously directed such horror TV shows such as The Originals and Sleepy Hollow. Release date: August 24 The Predator Although the original Predator is an '80s action classic, the movies that have followed have ranged from interesting but flawed (Predator 2) to completely terrible (Alien vs Predator). The Predator is writer/director Shane Black's attempt to get the franchise back on track. Black's impressive resume ranges from writing Lethal Weapon to directing Iron Man 3, and as a young actor he even had a role in original Predator. We're yet to see any footage from the movie, but the plot details we know so far suggest that it will focus upon a group of traumatised prisoners who do battle with Predators in a suburban setting. Black himself has said that he only agreed to make the film if he could do it on a big, blockbuster scale, while still delivering the sci-fi horror goods. Release date: September 14 Venom Although the deal between Disney and Sony has ensured that Spider-Man is currently part of the former's Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie right to the character ultimately remain with Sony. As a result, the studio is launching its own interconnected universe of characters from the canon of Spidey comic-books. Venom is first up; it stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a photographer who ends up with superpowers after he is taken over by the alien parasite of title. It's directed by Zombieland's Ruben Fleischer, and the impressive supporting cast includes Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, and Riz Ahmed. Release date: October 4 First Man Given Neil Armstrong is the most famous astronaut ever, it's surprising that he's never had his own biopic until now. First Man is set between 1961 and 1969 and tells the story of Armstrong's preparations for his history-changing journey to the moon. It stars Ryan Gosling as the man himself and is helmed by Gosling's La La Land director Damien Chazelle. The impressive cast also includes Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal, and Pablo Schreiber. Release date: October 12 Halloween The Halloween series might be one of longest-running and most profitable horror franchises in movie history, but most fans would agree that every entry hasn't necessarily been a good one. The last time Michael Myers stalked the screen was in Rob Zombie's hugely divisive remakes a decade ago, but now, on the 40th anniversary of John Carpenter's original movie, the killer also known as The Shape is back. Plot details for this latest Halloween are under wraps, but it's got an impressive pedigree. It's directed by acclaimed indie auteur David Gordon Green and produced by Blumhouse Films, which has scored major successes in recent years with the likes of Get Out, Paranormal Activity, and the Purge movies. Original star Jamie Lee Curtis returns, and if that wasn't enough, Carpenter himself is creatively involved and potentially providing another iconic soundtrack. Could this be the Halloween reboot that finally gets it right? Release date: October 19 X-Men: Dark Phoenix There were rumours that after the relatively disappointing box office results of X-Men: Apocalypse, Fox was looking reboot the entire X-franchise. But that's proved not be the case, and all the regular cast are returning for the long awaited adaptation of the the classic Dark Phoenix storyline from Marvel's comic books. The story was tackled in a half-hearted way in 2006's X-Men: the Last Stand, but with the franchise's long-time writer/producer Simon Kinberg making his directing debut, hopes are the high that Dark Phoenix will really do the story justice. Release date: November 2 The Grinch The classic Dr. Seuss story How the Grinch Saved Christmas was adapted into a hit Jim Carrey movie 18 years ago, and a new animated version hits the screen in November. Doctor Strange and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch will provide the voice of the Holiday-hating title character, and the first trailer arrived last week. The movie was actually meant to be released last year, but the trailer is colourful and fun and the movie will hopefully be worth the wait. Release date: November 9 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald The Harry Potter series might have finished in 2011, but the wider movie universe goes from strength to strength. The success of 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them led to the announcement of a further four movies, the first of which arrives in November. Eddie Redmayne returns as Newt Scamander, with Jude Law as the young Dumbledore, who enlists the help of Newt to help defeat the dark wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). David Yates directs once more, from a screenplay by Potter creator JK Rowling. Release date: November 16 Widows Ocean's Eight isn't the only high-profile heist movie coming our way in 2018. Widows is the latest film from Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave) and is written by Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn. The movies focuses on four women whose husbands are killed in a failed heist, who then decide to finish the job themselves. It's based on a British TV show of the same name from the 1980s, and the star-studded cast includes Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya. Films like 12 Years and Shame proved that McQueen can deliver prestigious, acclaimed dramas, so hopes are high that he is equally adept at making edgy crime thrillers. Release date: November 18 Creed 2 While most thought that the legendary movie boxer Rocky Balboa had finally hung up his gloves, the 2015 spin-off Creed not only gave the character one of his finest movies, it paved the way for director Ryan Coogler to get the job of directing Marvel's wildly successful Black Panther. Coogler won't be back for the sequel, but star Michael B. Jordan is, once again playing the son of the original movies' Apollo Creed. Rocky creator and star Sylvester Stallone is back too, as both co-star and co-writer. Steven Caple Jr. directs this time, and it's rumoured that Creed 2 will bring back another iconic character from the original series--Rocky IV's Russian powerhouse Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Release date: November 21 Ralph Breaks the Internet The 2012 animated comedy Wreck-It Ralph was a critical and commercial hit, and the sequel arrives in November. It focuses on the arcade game villain-turned-hero of the title, who this time enters the internet after the arcade his game lives in goes online. John C. Reilly is the voice of Ralph, with Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Taraji P. Henson, and James Corden also part of the voice cast. Release date: November 21 Aquaman The DC universe has had a bumpy ride so far, with only Wonder Woman connecting with both audiences and critics. But there's every reason to be hopeful that Aquaman could do the same. Director James Wan is a skilled genre operator, whether delivering crowd-pleasing horror (Saw, The Conjuring) or blockbuster action (Furious 7), and there's a killer cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Willem Defoe, Nicole Kidman, and '80s action icon Dolph Lungren, plus Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Amber Heard as Mera. Wan recently debunked the rumour that the film would be overstuffed with multiple villains, and promises an "emotional and powerful" origin movie. Release date: December 21 Recent Articles: Marvel Films: How Much Money Did They Make At The Box Office? The Best Cosplay From Wondercon 2018 Avengers: Infinity War: Who's Going To Die, And Who's Going To Live? Every Netflix Original Series Released In 2018 So Far Every Netflix Original Movie Released In 2018 So Far You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website. https://Gamefeed.us10.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=b01828b2bfdd2acf079c9de40&id=55a5ab23e0&e=96854223cb&c=db230ec476 Gamefeed https://Gamefeed.us10.list-manage.com/profile?u=b01828b2bfdd2acf079c9de40&id=55a5ab23e0&e=96854223cb demo-mailchimp-gamefeed15032015@mailcatch.com VCard: Gamefeed Gamefeed Mumbai, Mh 400001 Add us to your address book