Sea of Thieves developer Rare has scrapped plans for a proposed change, after harsh feedback from the community and a realization that their messaging around it was confusing. The "Death Cost" was included as a coming update in a set of release notes, suggesting that the Captain of the Ferry of the Damned would charge a small fee for each death.
The community was not pleased and let Rare know, loudly enough that producer Joe Neate issued a mea culpa and let fans know the Death Cost won't be coming after all.
Letting everyone know we've heard the feedback and the proposed 'Death Cost' in #SeaOfThieves is, well, dead. We messed up with the messaging around this, and it's now gone. Thanks for the honest feedback & discussion on this. https://t.co/83pYg5HPbq
The release notes have been updated as well. It's careful to note that the plan was never to charge players for PvP deaths, since it would have such an impact on player experience. But it also echoed Neate's point that the team fumbled the messaging.
"We understand that this addition to the release notes was a little confusing, and in the future we will ensure that any future updates we discuss give you a better understanding of how and why we're implementing it," the notes read. "Sea of Thieves is constantly evolving, and any feature we will test, monitor data and listen to your feedback to ensure we're making the right decisions."
That spirit of constant evolution is needed, as we've found it fun but in need of more content so far. The team has shown themselves to be pretty nimble, issuing a comedic "day one patch" just for kicks. You can try swashing some buckles for free with a 14-day trial of the Xbox Games Pass, which will get a new batch in April. Before you heave ho, be sure to check out some tips for landlubbers.
GameSpot and CNET have teamed up to give you a chance to win an Xbox One, SCUF Infinity1 controller, and PUBG crate. Competition ends March 31, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Two (2) winners will receive: Xbox One and SCUF Infinity1 controller
One (1) winner will receive: PUBG crate with a custom Xbox One controller
Those looking for some sweet deals on PC hardware are in luck as Amazon has launched a sale that covers pre-built systems, gaming monitors, headsets, keyboards, mice, and core components (CPUs, a PSU, and storage drives). These deals offer deep discounts and you can check out everything that is included in this Amazon sale here.
While there aren't any reasonably priced video cards, given their skyrocketed value due to cryptocurrency mining, there are other options to get your hands on a new gaming PC without breaking the bank. The Acer Predator Helios 300 packs a 6GB GTX 1060 video card with 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU for $950 ($150 off). MSI has its own offering with a thin profile laptop equipped with a GTX 1050 Ti, i7-7700HQ, and 8GB of RAM for $800 ($300 off). CyberPowerPC's Game Master desktop comes with a Ryzen 7 1700X CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an AMD RX 580 for $800 ($230 off).
There are plenty of monitors to choose from whether you're ready for 4K resolution or want to go with a high refresh rate panel. ViewSonic has a simple 22-inch 1080p monitor for $95 ($25 off), a 27-inch 1080p 144Hz monitor with FreeSync for $280 ($60 off), and a very fast 25-inch 1080p 240Hz FreeSync monitor for $320 ($130 off). Acer is offering a 27-inch 1080p 144Hz FreeSync display for $220 and 28-inch 4K monitor with FreeSync for $280 ($70 off).
If you're in the market for new peripherals, a Ffew of these headsets, keyboards, or mice might catch your eye. Logitech's G233 Prodigy is going for $40.37 ($39.63 off) and G633 Artemis Spectrum is at $70 ($80 off); Razer has its Kraken 7.1 V2 headset at $75 ($25 off). The HyperX Alloy Elite RGB keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches is at $130 ($40 off), and Razer's Blackwidow X Chroma Mercury Edition with clicky Razer Green switches are going for $120 ($30 off). Logitech is offering the G610 Orion Red keyboard with Cherry MX red swithes for only $60 ($60 off) and the wireless G613 mechanical keyboard with Romer-G switches for just $70 ($80 off). The Corsair M65 Pro RGB mouse is currently $40 ($20 off) while the Razer Lancehead Tournament Mercury Edition is $60 ($20 off).
A few of the items on discount for Amazon's PC hardware sale.
In addition to systems, monitors, peripherals, and core components, the Elgato Stream Deck is currently $100 ($50 off); this device is a handy tool for streamers and video producers. Plenty of high-end routers can also be seen in the full sale page on Amazon. You can see all the items laid out in the listing below:
Systems
MSI GL62M 7 Rex Laptop - $800
CyberPowerPC Gamer Master Desktop - $800
Acer Predator Helios 300 Laptop - $949
Monitors
22-inch ViewSonic 1080p VX2252MH - $95
27-inch Acer KG271 1080p 144Hz with FreeSync - $220
28-inch Acer KG281K 4K with FreeSync - $280
27-inch ViewSonic 1080p 144Hz XG2701 with FreeSync - $280
25-inch ViewSonic 1080p 240Hz with FreeSync - $320
Headsets
Logitech G233 Prodigy - $40.37
Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum - $70
Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 - $75
Keyboards
Logitech G610 Orion Red - $60
Logitech G613 Wireless Mechanical - $70
Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Mercury Edition - $120
HyperX Alloy Elite RGB, Cherry MX Blue - $130
Mice
Corsair M65 Pro RGB - $40
Razer Invicta Mercury Edition mousepad - $50
Razer Lancehead Tournament Mercury Edition - $60
CPUs, Motherboard, PSU
EVGA SuperNOVA 650-watt 80+ Gold power supply - $70
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 - $150
Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero AM4 motherboard - $200
Intel Core i7-7700K - $280
Drives
WD MyPassport X 2TB External HDD USB 3.0 - $63
WD Black 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD - $80
WD MyPassport 4TB External HDD USB 3.0 - $120
WD Black 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD - $153
Miscellaneous
Elgato Stream Deck - $100
Linksys AC1200 MAX WiFi Range Extender - $60
Linksys AC1900 Dual Band Wireless Router - $105
Netgear R7500-200NAS Nighthawk X4 Router - $140
Linksys WRT AC3200 Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router - $180
Far Cry 5's release is upon us, and like its most recent predecessor, it's available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. While the game features PS4 Pro and Xbox One X enhancements, as always the top-tier visual experience will be had on PC--though you'll need some high-end hardware to make that happen.
In the video above, you can see Far Cry 5 running at Ultra settings on PC, which is as high as you crank things up. (We'll have a 4K version coming soon for those with a display to check that out.) You'll get to see a wide range of gameplay, as we deal with an outpost, do some driving, and then take part in a story mission where you have to defend a prison.
Far Cry 5 supports a broad range of hardware on PC; Ubisoft provides a set of minimum requirements that will let you run the game at 720p on Low presets with an i5-2400 or FX-6300 and a GTX 670 or R9 270. However, for a 4K 60 FPS experience, you'll need far more (which is a pricey proposition, thanks to cryptocurrency): Ubisoft recommends an i7-6700K or Ryzen 7 1700X and a GTX 1080 SLI or RX Vega 56 CFX. You can see the full list of required and recommended specs below.
Anyone who pays attention to the PC world knows that there are so many new games that release on computers every week, and aside from the really huge releases, it's hard to tell whether you might enjoy something or not. That's where STEAM PUNKS comes in--we're taking some of that guesswork away, and showing you the best hidden gems we find.
This week, Edmond takes a look at unforgiving shooter Synthetik, a rougelite where firing your gun is the hardest, and most satisfying part of the game. He also throws some spare change at mech strategy/shooter hybrid Armed to the Gears, and we ponder the perceptions of cost being an indication of quality.
Speaking of cost and quality, Jess plays free adventure game Traum and has a great, if not horrifying, time. She then gets slothful with her own hybrid pick of Lazy Galaxy, an RTS/idle clicker mashup that is taking unattended computers across the galaxy by storm!
Have you been playing any fantastic new PC games that we missed? We want to hear about them! Let us know on Twitter: @EdmondTran + @JessMcDonell
For better or worse, Sea of Thieves is a game that grants players a lot of freedom. While there are quests and goals, you aren't led by the hand with an objective marker from one place to the next. You can go where you want and do what you want, but with that level of flexibility, actually getting started can be a bit overwhelming.
That's where we come in. With the Xbox One and PC game now available, we've put together some advice on exactly how to get started. In the video above, we explain what to do when you first get into the game and highlight the differences between the three faction: Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, and Order of Souls. You'll see us take on a quest for the Order of Souls to hunt down a captain, and we run through the basics of piloting a ship--a process that's more involved than simply grabbing hold of the wheel and hitting the accelerator.
Sea of Thieves is the latest game from Rare. It's a console exclusive on Xbox One, though digital copies enjoy Play Anywhere support, meaning you can play it on both Xbox One and PC. More notably, it's the first game to launch day and date through Xbox Game Pass. In other words, you don't actually have to purchase the game to play it--for as long as you're a Game Pass member, you'll be able to play.
The game's launch has unfortunately been less than smooth for many people. Numerous launch issues have impacted the game, including those which prevent players from getting online to play and some that cause a delay before receiving rewards. Rare has acknowledged the problems on its website and says it's working to resolve them, but fixes may take some time.
Each month, Netflix's original programming library grows by leaps and bounds. However, with the good comes the bad. As streaming agreements end, a long list of movies and TV shows is pulled from the service every month.
April is no different, and some of these movies leaving Netflix are going to hurt. The most notable titles departing the service are Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. Though the four films encapsulate the law of diminishing returns perfectly--with 1997's Batman & Robin widely considered the worst film adventure for the Caped Crusader yet--having them all in one place for a massive binge is comforting. Instead, you'll just have to make due watching Tommy Wiseau's Joker audition tape several dozen times.
Other titles leaving Netflix include 30 Days of Night, American Pie, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Pursuit of Happyness. Additionally, the comedy special John Mulaney: New in Town will be departing on April 1, with the Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop disappearing on April 22.
There was a wealth of amazing games to play in 2017. However, it seems 2018 is primed with its own roster of exciting new games, including big-budget adventures like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Sea of Thieves, Kingdom Hearts III, Crackdown 3, and a whole lot more. To help you keep track of all the games coming out, we've compiled all the release dates for the biggest ones confirmed to come out in 2018 so far.
Be sure to check back often as we update this article with more release dates or any potential changes to any of the dates below. And if you're eager to figure out the release dates from games last year, you can also reference our feature on the game release dates of 2017.
Below you can find a list of the biggest games that don't have explicit release dates but are confirmed to release sometime this year. There are also games listed that we expect to launch in 2018. We'll be moving each of these games into the release date sections above as soon as official dates are announced.
Microtransactions are a contentious subject. Despite being included in virtually every big triple-A release these days, the specific implementation varies greatly, and until we see just how they work in any given game, they can be a big concern for fans. With Far Cry 5's release finally here, we've taken a look at just how they're used in the video above.
Ubisoft confirmed in advance of launch that Far Cry 5 would include microtransactions. Executive producer Dan Hay was insistent that they would not serve to inhibit players' progress, saying, "We've set the game up to be generous. We've set the game up so...nothing is locked [away]. You can go out and explore, and the game will reward you for your exploration."
Indeed, as we see in the video, real-world money can be used to buy a premium currency called Silver Bars. These can then only be used to purchase a variety of cosmetic skins for weapons (with identical stats to non-skinned versions), vehicles, and players themselves. The latter option is seemingly only of use when playing co-op or the Arcade mode, given that Far Cry 5 is a first-person game where you won't really see the way you look.
All of these items can also be purchased from the currency you earn by playing the game. In other words, you only really need to invest in Silver Bars if you're short on time or in an urgent rush to secure a fancier look for you or your gear. One curious thing worth pointing out is that this isn't made abundantly clear--while Silver Bar and in-game currency prices are listed when you visit a store in the game world, accessing the store from the pause menu only presents you with Silver Bar prices.
Far Cry 5 pits you in a hopeless scenario: trapped in the middle of the Montanan wilderness, in a community run by a charismatic cult leader, with no help coming. It's a daunting task, but with a little help you can start dismantling the organization and picking off the fine salt-of-the-earth folks who want to murder you.
Far Cry veterans are sure to recognize some basic mechanics and tools from their previous battles against isolated despots, but this fifth numbered installment actually changes it up a bit. For starters, Ubisoft has abandoned its ubiquitous tower-climbing mechanic for more natural discovery from exploration.
The experience system has been similarly overhauled in favor of a Perks system that rewards you for completing certain tasks. That may leave you wondering which perks to pursue first, but that really depends on how you want to play. If you're a survivalist, you may want to immediately go for the Harvest Master or Repair Touch so you can get the most out of your resources. Harvest Master is especially handy for making money, which can be more scarce in this game. If you're more of a stealthy killer, try going for the Grapple to climb easily and Locksmith to access areas.
Check out the video above for our full slate of tips, including some other Perks to prioritize and how to make the most bang for your buck. Sometimes literally. Far Cry 5 releases on March 27 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
March is now underway, which means players have a slew of new titles to look forward to. In contrast to last month, which was dominated by remasters and re-releases like Shadow of the Colossus and Bayonetta 2, March is filled with some of the year's most anticipated sequels, including Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and Far Cry 5. On top of those games, players will be able to pick up some intriguing original titles like A Way Out and the crime-solving Pokemon game Detective Pikachu on 3DS this month.
Below, you can find a roundup of the biggest games set to arrive on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and 3DS in March 2018. For a full look at all of the major titles coming to each platform throughout the rest of the year, check out our comprehensive 2018 game release date list.
Kirby Star Allies (Switch) -- March 16
This month's big Switch exclusive is Kirby Star Allies, the first Kirby game developed for Nintendo's hybrid console. Like most of the puffball's previous adventures, Star Allies is a side-scrolling platformer through the colorful world of Dream Land, which is under attack by a dark new force. On top of his signature copy ability, Kirby can now toss hearts at enemies to turn them into allies, who can be controlled by up to three other players for co-op platforming.
EA's innovative co-op game, A Way Out, arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 23. Developed by Hazelight, the studio founded by the creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out puts players in the roles of Leo and Vincent, two former convicts on the lam after breaking out of prison. What makes the game unique is that it can only be played cooperatively, either locally or online, as both players need to work in tandem to outrun the police and survive outside of prison.
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4, PC) -- March 23
After several delays, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is finally slated to arrive on PS4 and PC this month. The sequel to PS3's beloved RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Revenant Kingdom takes place hundreds of years after the first game and follows the story of Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, the deposed boy-king of Ding Dong Dell who sets off to found his own kingdom. The game also features a completely revamped battle system, as well as kingdom-building and real-time strategy elements.
Ubisoft's controversial new Far Cry game, Far Cry 5, arrives near the tail end of March, closing the month out in spectacular fashion. Set in Hope County, Montana, an isolated mountain region overrun by a cult of religious extremists known as Eden's Gate, the ambitious first-person shooter features a vast open world and plenty of over-the-top heroes and villains, including a murderous grizzly bear named Cheeseburger. The game also supports online co-op, allowing you to take down zealots with a friend.
Another update is on the way soon to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on PC. Developer PUBG Corp. has deployed a new build of the game to the test server, giving players a chance to try out a new weapon skin system and other features before they roll out for the live game soon.
The weapon skin system, as you can gather from its name, gives players the ability to customize their weapons' appearance. Players will be able to acquire different skins for their guns through new types of loot boxes, which can then be applied to the weapons through the Customization menu.
Skins will be available from two new types of loot boxes: Triumph and Raider. The former is a random, weekly crate that can only be opened with real-money keys; the latter is a type of non-random loot box that doesn't require a key to unlock. However, it is possible to get duplicate weapon skins, even from the premium loot boxes. You can take a look at some of the skins we've acquired so far in the gallery below.
PUBG Corp. has also announced it will implement region-locking measures in the game. "One of the solutions we are considering is operating servers so that only those players who reside in that region can connect and play," PUBG Corp. wrote in a post on the Steam forums. "Through this new approach we are aiming to provide a better gameplay experience as it will improve network issues and help with linguistic barriers."
In addition to that, the forthcoming update addresses a handful of bugs. PUBG Corp. will deploy the update to the live game later tonight, March 26, during a four-hour round of server maintenance beginning at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET. In the meantime, you can find the full patch notes for PUBG's update #8 on Steam.
I've always been a little embarrassed to admit that I could never get into God of War games. When the first installment came out in 2005 and received critical acclaim, I was naturally intrigued. I love hack and slash games, and as Devil May Cry fan I devoured Dante's Awakening earlier that year, but despite a number of solid attempts, including its sequels, God of War never got its hooks in deep enough to drag me past the first couple of hours.
There was a major problem for me: Kratos' signature dual chain-blades didn't feel satisfying to use. I was used to hitting square and seeing a direct correlation to Dante's individual slashes as he cleaved through an enemy. I could see a distinct impact on screen, hear it in my ears, and feel it in my controller. When I hit square with Kratos, I saw a wild flurry of orange and the sound of rattling chains, and there was little sense of impact or contact other than a ticking combo meter. The distant camera only diminished this sensation further, and despite the series' spectacular set pieces, it wasn't what I wanted out of a combat-heavy game. It didn't help that I never had an affinity towards Greek mythology.
Knowing all this about me, it may annoy you to learn that I recently had a chance to play the new God of War on PS4. While series purists may have initially balked at the dramatic change in style, I'm happy to report (to myself, if no-one else) that after two hours, this is definitely a game I want to keep playing.
With its over-the-shoulder perspective and new default weapon, I was immediately taken with the changes in combat. Kratos' axe is more purposeful than it is flashy, meaning one button press issues a single strike, and the close perspective means that the impact of each blow is clearly felt. Though the new God of War uncharacteristically begins with somber, quiet moments before very slowly escalating, the new, satisfying feel of its combat was evident to me from the first few low-stakes encounters.
The broad mechanics are similar to existing God of War games--Light and heavy attacks can be combined with the analog stick to execute a number of different combo strings. You may have also heard about the joys of being able to throw Kratos' axe, and recall it back to your hand just as easily. With just these basic starting tools and some light experimentation, I was able to find a few combos that I had a lot of fun executing, like knocking enemies into the air after a combo string and finishing them by immediately throwing your axe into them.
I could also perform some basic crowd control by using the axe to freeze an enemy in place, and go to town on his buddy with Kratos' bare knuckles. Attacking unarmed was something I was surprised to discover I could do, and soon became my favorite thing--especially as someone who plays Dark Souls with fist weapons. The feeling of embodying a god like Kratos and using his raw power to knock out monsters felt really good, and its audiovisual feedback, with visible screen shakes and meaty thuds, were so satisfying that I preferred to put my axe away whenever I had a good handle of the situation.
There's a stun mechanic that gives preference to unarmed blows, too. Rapid weapon attacks or regular punches build up an enemy's stun meter, and when filled Kratos can execute violent takedowns. These were initially fun to watch, but performing these over and over again got a little tedious. I preferred my own loop of standing and waiting for an enemy attack, parrying it (which is hugely satisfying in its own right) to open them up, and smacking them with a hand-to-hand combo that eventually sent them flying back into other enemies, or forcefully into a wall for extra damage. Some of the incredible, cinematic boss fights I experienced had powerful, earthshaking interstitial moments that recalled Asura's Wrath--an over-the-top Capcom beat-em-up game, which I loved.
With the new God of War focussing on Uncharted-like character interactions, and a Horizon-like gear system, many people I've spoken to have mentioned that the combat is really the only part of the game that reminds them of classic God of War. But to me, the combat reminds me more of The Last of Us, and the impactful feeling of smacking an infected with a plank of wood. You could say that God of War distinctly feels like a Sony game, an amalgamation of mechanics and narrative elements that have defined the success of the company's major first-party titles over the last few years, fused together to create its own stylistic genre.
The new God of War doesn't feel like the old God of War, and I can empathize with series devotees who might be bothered by that. But for the first time, God of War is a game that excites me--the combat finally feels good, the Naughty Dog inspired character moments work well so far, and I can definitely get behind its lore shift to a grounded version of Nordic mythology. I can't say whether existing fans will still be on the bandwagon, but I feel like I'm finally ready to join the Kratos Fan Club.
At the end of the March 19 episode of Raw, WWE debuted one of the best and weirdest things the company has ever produced: The Ultimate Deletion. For those who watch Raw on a DVR, you may have missed the entire event, as Ultimate Deletion ran almost 15 minutes after the Monday night show was supposed to end. Luckily, WWE has finally posted the entire segment, uncut, on YouTube, which you can see below.
In the video, Bray Wyatt heads to the Hardy compound to fight Matt Hardy. However, Wyatt must deal with Vanguard One, a drone that can project a holographic image of Hardy; the Mower of Lawns, a lawnmower; and Skarsgard, a dilapidated boat that's painted gold. The insane match took place in numerous locations throughout Hardy's property, two of which had wrestling rings. All of this happened over the span of 17 minutes.
Believe it or not, the segment, which wasn't nearly as slick or polished as the rest of WWE's productions, tied together the past couple of years of Bray Wyatt's storylines. Wrestlers and fans alike loved the piece, which helped give Bray Wyatt a push in the right direction.
The Ultimate Deletion was a new spin on the Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy segment Final Deletion from 2016, which originally aired on TNA Impact. Playing off the once "broken" now "woken" Matt Hardy character, both segments take the viewer on a trip through his bizarre world. Essentially, these videos are pure fun and a breath of fresh air to the wrestling industry, which--at times--can take itself a bit too seriously.
There is no news yet as to what's going to happen to Bray Wyatt or if we'll get more Deletion videos, but the March 26 episode of Raw should shed some light on what's to come, leading into Wrestlemania.
While not as meaty as a new trailer, Marvel has released some new promotional materials for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. A series of posters have been published online, each featuring a handful of the many characters set to star in the upcoming film.
Each poster prominently features one character in addition to showcasing a few others, and they're all themed around the color scheme of one of the Infinity Stones, which are central to Infinity War's conflict with Thanos. The posters don't reveal new information, but they do provide a look at many--but not all--of the cast members and how their characters look going into Infinity War. And in case you're holding out hope, no, there's no Ant-Man or Hawkeye to be seen here, either.
The green Time Stone poster most prominently features Black Widow, though you'll also see The Incredible Hulk, Black Panther, and Okoye. Iron Man features on the red Reality Stone poster along with Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and Wong. The blue Space Stone one shows Captain America most prominently (along with his buddy, the Winter Soldier), Shuri, Nebula, and Mantis. The purple Power Stone poster shows Thor and his eyepatch along with the Guardians of the Galaxy. And finally, the yellow Mind Stone poster is headlined by Scarlet Witch, Vision, War Machine, and Falcon.
You'll notice that one of the six Infinity Stones--the Soul Stone--is not represented by one of these posters. We recently recapped where each of the Stones is, but the Soul Stone's location remains one of the mysteries that will likely be revealed in Infinity War when it releases on April 27.
The updates come via a Stranger Things panel at the annual TV conference PaleyFest in LA. According to The Hollywood Reporter, producer Shawn Levy revealed that Season 3 will be set in the summer of 1985, which follows the convention of the last two seasons, which were set a year apart in '83 and '84 respectively.
There were no details about the what dangers the young cast would face this time round. However, it was revealed that the story would have more of a romantic emphasis than previous seasons, with both Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard), plus Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink), starting the season as couples. "Mike and Eleven and are going strong, so that's a relationship that continues, and same with Mad Max and Lucas," Levy said. "But again, they're like 13-or-14-year-old kids, so what does romance mean at that stage of life? It can never be simple and stable relationships and there's fun to that instability."
In addition, Levy confirmed that there would be more of bully-turned-hero Steve (Joe Keery) in Season 3. The producer made reference to the fact that Steve took on more of a protective role to the younger kids in Season 2, saying, "We'll definitely get to see some more of Steve Harrington in season three, and I'll just say we won't be abandoning the Dad Steve magic. I don't want to say much more, but I literally feel that we were walking along and we stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve."
In January, Levy gave a few more hints as to the direction of the next season. He suggested that the story emphasis might shift, with Will (Noah Schnapp) no longer the center of the show's supernatural scares. "We're going to give Will a break," he said. "We're not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He'll be dealing with stuff, but he won't be at rock bottom the way we forced the amazing Noah to play."
Final Fantasy XV's extended universe is getting a little smaller. Square Enix announced it will shut down King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon, a mobile sequel to the company's first-ever NES game, this June, less than a year after the title released for iOS and Android devices.
"We regret to inform you that we will be terminating services for King's Knight at the end of June," the official Final Fantasy XV Twitter account stated. "We would like to express our sincerest apologies for ending the service but we hope you have enjoyed your time with the game. Thank you all for playing."
Services for King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon will officially cease on June 25 at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET (2 AM BST on June 26). Square Enix has already disabled the ability to purchase Prime Regalite, the title's premium in-game currency.
Wrath of the Dark Dragon launched as a free download back in September. Like the original King's Knight, it's an unusual shooter/RPG hybrid in which players choose a class and use its abilities to shoot their way through vertically scrolling levels. It is also tangentially related to Final Fantasy XV; in that game, Noctis and friends can be seen playing and discussing King's Knight in their downtime.
Despite its impending shutdown, a number of in-game events are still scheduled for King's Knight before it is discontinued. That includes a "story-ending event" that will be available "from the end of May." Square Enix will release the remaining event schedule in the in-game notification menu.
Wrestlemania 34 is right around the corner, and aside from the PPV itself, the entire weekend is filled with events like NXT Takeover on Saturday and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday evening. Each year, the WWE honors wrestlers who have worked with the company in the past who made a lasting mark on wrestling as a whole.
This year, WWE is honoring seven former wrestlers and adding another person to its Celebrity Wing as well. These iconic wrestlers will join the ranks of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Andre The Giant. Interestingly enough this year, Jeff Jarrett will be inducted. Jarrett had an off-and-on stint with WWE during the New Generation and the Attitude Eras between '92-'99, but he's most known for the creation of TNA wrestling, which began in 2002. He had a tumultuous relationship with TNA after controlling interest went to Robert Carter. However, Jarrett deserves credit for helping with the careers of current WWE superstars like Bobby Roode and AJ Styles.
The only woman headed to the Hall of Fame this year is Ivory. She began her career in GLOW under the ringname Tina Ferrari. She was the only member of the GLOW federation to have a notable career outside of the show. Aside from her in-ring work at WWE, Ivory was known for some of the storylines she was involved with, including being a member of Right to Censor, a stable during the height of the Attitude Era that wanted to make WWE more family friendly.
WWE Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees:
Goldberg (Inducted by Paul Heyman)
Ivory (Inducted by Molly Holly)
Mark Henry
The Dudley Boys (Inducted by Edge and Christian)
Jeff Jarrett
Hillybilly Jim
Kid Rock (Celebrity wing)
You can catch the Hall of Fame ceremony on the WWE Network on Friday, April 6, as well as replays on the streaming service after the event concludes. As of this writing, the time for the event has not been announced. Also, make sure to check back with GameSpot in the upcoming weeks for more Wrestlemania-madness and live coverage of the PPV!
The Humble Store has revealed its latest free giveaway on PC. The Darkness II, a 2012 first-person shooter that blends the modern with the occult is available for free right now via Humble. If you're interested, you better act fast; the deal expires 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT on Wednesday, March 28, when it will go back to its normal price of $30 on Steam.
The Darkness II and its predecessor are based on The Darkness comic book series. It mixes the gameplay of a traditional shooter with magic elements and tells the story of the head of a New York crime family, which wields "an ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction" known as The Darkness.
The game includes a 4-player co-op campaign, in which you can play as one of four characters capable of wielding the power of The Darkness. You can only use your abilities in the shadows, meaning you need to use your environment to your advantage to battle enemies who use the light as their weapon.
In GameSpot's review of The Darkness II, Kevin VanOrd gave the game a 7/10, praising the game's menacing story and macabre action, accentuated by memorable moments worth experiencing. "The Darkness II is a fun, very short FPS without the authentic atmosphere and subtle touches that made its predecessor [The Darkness] so intriguing," he wrote, "Still, if you've got a lust for virtual blood, The Darkness II leaks enough of it to satiate you."
Far Cry 5 pre-loading has begun in advance of its March 27 release date, but it isn't yet playable in most places around the world. Ubisoft hasn't shared specific unlock times for the game, but a look at the various digital stores give us an idea of when you can begin playing on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
According to the PlayStation Store, players in the US on PS4 will be able to begin playing at 12 AM ET on March 27, which is 9 PM tonight for those on the West Coast. The UK store doesn't list an unlock time, but it's safe to assume that it will be at 12 AM BST on Tuesday.
It's a similar story for Xbox One players. The Xbox Store lists the US release as 12 AM ET on Tuesday, meaning those who aren't on the East Coast can start playing while the calendar still reads Monday. Those in the UK will get in at 12 AM BST on Tuesday.
As for PC, an exact time isn't listed on Steam, but it appears to also be unlocking at 12 AM ET / 5 AM BST on Tuesday, or 9 PM PT tonight. You can have a look at what kind of hardware you'll need to run that version in our breakdown of the system requirements.
AMC's new horror show, The Terror, premieres tonight with its first two episodes. Those who tune in will discover a show that's deeply unsettling and filled with dreadful foreboding--but not a lot of actual scares. And that's no accident, revealed The Terror's showrunners and executive producers, Soo Hugh and David Kajganich.
"Jump scares, we have a real allergy to," Kajganich said at a press event recently in Los Angeles. "As in senses of humor, there are just as many senses of horror around, and we wanted to dip into a lot of them...We wanted to mix things up. We wanted low brow tools, and high brow tools, and mid brow tools, and we wanted to take horror conventions from everywhere. And so we offer the viewer a kind of smorgasbord, if you will, of different ways that you might feel unsettled, or frightened, or spooked."
The Terror is based on the 2007 book of the same name by acclaimed sci-fi and horror author Dan Simmons. It's a fictionalized account of the voyage of two British Royal Navy ships that set out to Antarctica in 1845 on a doomed mission to find the fated Northwest Passage, which would hypothetically offer a faster trade route to Asia. In real life, the ships disappeared for over 150 years, until their wrecks were finally discovered between 2014 and 2016.
For the preceding century and a half, researchers strove to explain what had happened to the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror. Evidence emerged that their crews had died gradually from cold, starvation, disease, lead poisoning, and cannibalism. They probably weren't actually haunted by an Inuit folklore monster called the Tuunbaq, a demon resembling a polar bear with a twisted human-like face--but that's the beauty of historical fiction like The Terror.
"We really wanted to make sure that we respected the subjective view of terror, and we always want--whatever the terrifying element is, whether it is the creature, whether it is starvation, whether it is the onset of disease--that it comes from the characters' point of view. We never wanted to 'scare' the audience," said Hugh, Kajganich's fellow showrunner and EP. "The end game was never to jump scare you. Our rule was: If our characters are not scared, our audience should not be scared."
The Terror stars Mad Men's Jared Harris and Game of Thrones' Tobias Menzies and Ciaran Hinds as the captains and leaders of the two ships--real historical figures who the author and, later, the actors fleshed out via historical records like letters and journal entries. In the first two episodes, their expedition begins to slowly unravel, and we're introduced briefly to the Tunnbaq, the Inuit creature that will no doubt haunt them throughout the season. But the Tuunbaq is far from the only threat the crews will face.
"We have this joke: If you're going to die of any means in our show, the creature is in some ways the preferred method to die, because some of the other horrors are so terrifying. I personally would rather not die of lead poisoning or cannibalism," Hugh said.
They used all the tools at their disposal to make The Terror horrifying, from the understated music to the unusual cinematography. "We always wanted to give the audience as subjective an experience as possible, and one thing that translates into is always having the camera closer to the action than maybe an audience is used to being, or further from the action than the audience is used to being. We never wanted to sit comfortably in the third row, if you will," Kajganich said. "That's why a lot of the set pieces in the show are edited somewhat strangely--because we have this mix of close shots and wide shots, and not a lot of medium. It's a lot of fun to kind of play a spatial game with the audience."
"It's a real strange mix of genre. At points it's a sort of horror story, at points it's a high adventure story, there are episodes that we wrote and cut like westerns, it kind of has the feeling of sort of a war film at times," he said. "We made sure that everyone knew--all of our collaborators, particularly the editors of the show--that they didn't need to be consistent. Episode 1 doesn't need to feel like Episode 10 in our show, because the whole thing is this downward spiral...We wanted things to devolve in a way that the eye would understand, even if the brain couldn't."
That downward spiral gives the show a sense of deterioration--one that we'll surely see more and more as Season 1 marches toward its inevitable, grisly conclusion.
"We knew going into this we don't have a zombie behind every tree, so we had to deploy our horror and our scares in a more restrained way--in a more elegant way," Kajganich said. "Rather than lean too heavily on those moments, the show was going to be about building an atmosphere that was sort of magnetic somehow. Even as things fall apart, and these men experience such difficult conditions, and impossible challenges, you would want to go back to this world because something about it felt kind of addictive, hopefully."
Last week's big Monster Hunter World content update brought the dreaded Deviljho into the New World, but that wasn't the only variant of the monster to arrive in the game. Over the weekend, Capcom quietly gave players a chance to take on the even more fearsome Tempered Deviljho through a very short-lived Event Quest. Fortunately, if you missed out on the quest the first time around, you'll have another chance to participate in it soon.
On Twitter, Capcom announced that the Tempered Deviljho Event Quest will return again as part of the upcoming Spring Blossom Fest. "Hope you enjoyed our special Tempered Deviljho surprise this weekend," the official Monster Hunter Twitter account tweeted. "Look forward to it as part of the Event Quests happening during the Spring Blossom Fest!"
The Spring Blossom Fest is the first seasonal event in Monster Hunter World since the game launched back in January. It begins on April 6 and runs for two weeks, ending on April 19. During the event, the Gathering Hub will be decorated with flowers and other springtime decorations, and the game will feature "daily fun activities" for players to complete.
Additionally, several new Event Quests will be available during the Spring Blossom Fest. On top of the Tempered Deviljho quest, players will be able to take one on to craft the Wyvern Ignition Great Sword, the winning submission from the community Weapon Design Contest. Shortly after that, Capcom will kick off the Event Quest to obtain the retro Mega Man Palico armor.
Deviljho arrived last week as part of a broader Monster Hunter World update for PS4 and Xbox One. Along with the new monster, players have new weapons and two new full armor sets to complete--you can see them all in our gallery. Capcom also made adjustments to nearly every weapon type in the game and implemented an anti-griefing measure that prevents other players from interrupting you while you're carving.
With many games paying homage to the nostalgia-ripe 2D-era of the '80s and '90s, Pixel Ripped 1989 seems like it could get lost in the crowd. But when it comes to reliving a bygone era, this strange yet surprisingly relatable throwback goes about things a bit differently, offering one of the most impressive and self-aware VR experiences in quite some time. During GDC 2018, we had the chance to go hands-on with the game ahead of its Oculus, HTC Vive, and PS VR release on May 22, while also speaking with creator Ana Ribeiro about its rather lengthy development.
"I started this as my final project in university for the master's degree program, and it was at a university more well-known for movies and stuff [National Film and Television School], and then when I put it on Oculus share, it got a lot of press," said Ribeiro. "People seemed to have liked it. It was more of a proof of concept to try and get a job, but then I decided to work on this game and get it a full release. It's been four years altogether. This is the dream. It actually has a lot of my life experiences in the game. I used to be a bad student, throwing paperballs, playing games in the background--it's all from a really personal place. "
Set in the late '80s, you're placed in the shoes of rebellious grade-school student Nicola, who loves to spend time on her handheld game system. Her favorite videogame is the action-platformer game Pixel Ripped, starring the blaster-wielding and platform-jumping Dot. When the evil Cyblin Lord's ambitions go beyond the realm of the videogame, he escapes into the real world, bringing familiar enemies along with him. To stop the main baddie, Nicola must guide Dot through increasingly difficult stages where she'll shoot monsters and other baddies--all while avoiding the gaze of her overbearing teacher and other distractions around the school.
As a game within a game, you'll be tasked with alternating between two different mechanics. In the world of Nicola's handheld, Dot controls in familiar style to a Mega Man game, where she'll blast enemies while traversing dangerous jumps and sketchy platforms to make it to the end boss. Of course, playing your videogame in the middle of class is asking for trouble, and Nicola's teacher becomes extremely angry when she catches you looking down at your game. In order to low-key get your game on and help Dot, you'll have to cause distractions around the classroom. Using spitballs, you can cause a ruckus to distract the teacher to keep your focus on the game.
Of course, many of these familiar tropes are mechanics wrapped up within the VR medium, which is what makes this particular game so interesting. What Pixel Ripped 1989 does well is center on the relatable experience of keeping your head buried within the game--while still trying to be aware of the real world around you. Balancing twitch-based platforming action when playing on Nicola's handheld system with perspective-focused controls that challenge your peripheral vision, it leads to some rather tense and humorous moments where you're trying to make a dangerous jump in Nicola's game, only to be caught by the teacher in the classroom at the worst possible moment. Eventually, there are moments in the levels where the 'game' will spill out, bringing together the two parallel game mechanics as you guide Dot through virtual constructs scattered around the classroom--all the while using Nicola's spitballs to open up pathways for the character.
In terms of mechanics, Pixel Ripped 1989 is a relatively simple game, but it makes some rather clever choices in how it presents those familiar and relatable actions in the VR experience. One of the most striking aspects of Pixel Ripped 1989 is its vibrant style, and the sort of exuberance that comes from being sucked into a good game. Going all in with the retro-80s aesthetic, the game features heavy doses of old-school charm with neon lights and chrome decals.
Pixel Ripped 1989 replicates much of the same escapist joy that came from playing videogames as a kid, while recontextualizing it as a different kind of VR experience. It's about what it's like being engrossed in a game--even feeling like your success in it can have consequences in the real world. For its creator, she aims to have Pixel Ripped 1989 be the start of a series of retro-themed games that focus on different eras of gaming, while also showing different experiences of the characters that play them.
"After four years I never get tired of this game. I always have fun working on it. Previously, I had some problems sticking to things, like working longer on things, but surprisingly after all this time, I'm not tired of it. I'm happy to do four more episodes of this game--this is first set in 1989--but after the success of this release, we'll do a Pixel Ripped 1978 set in the early arcade era with Atari graphics, 1983 will be arcades, 1985 would be the Mega-Drive, and then 1995 would be about the N64 era. We'll try to reference all the different eras of games."
A new Fortnite update is now available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, but in addition to checking out the new stuff it has to offer, Battle Royale players have some other things they can now do. Fortnite's week 4 challenges recently rolled out for Battle Pass owners, and some of them might prove to be tricky.
The full list of challenges is outlined below; one requires you getting the right weapon and utilizing it efficiently (dealing a specific amount of damage with a sniper rifle), while another has you tracking down chests in the Flush Factory or supply drops around the map. There are two in particular that you might need some help with.
The first of these is not labeled as Hard; you're told to visit five different ice cream trucks. These are scattered around the map--there are more than five in total, with a handful located right inside major locations like Tomato Town, Pleasant Park, and Retail Row. Others are in less obvious locations, though you can track them all down with this map shared by Reddit user imkairu.
What is labeled as Hard is the challenge that reads, "Search between a Vehicle Tower, Rock Sculpture, and a Circle of Hedges." That somewhat vague clue is pointing you toward a point in the southeast corner of the map, in the G9 section. It's just on the edge of some water--you can see it in this screenshot from Reddit user __Kaneda__, or see the map they provided here.
You can check out all of the week 4 challenges below. Keep in mind that, despite being added weekly, you have the entirety of Season 3 to finish these out. That means you can also go back to complete previous weekly challenges. Week 5's challenges are now available.
Weekly challenges are only available to those who own the new Season 3 Battle Pass, which costs 950 V-Bucks. It expands the number of optional tasks you're given in Battle Royale and allows you to unlock more items like outfits, gliders, and emotes. The Season 3 Battle Pass also includes new types of items, such as loading screens and Back Bling. Check out our gallery of Battle Pass rewards for a look at everything you can get.
Fortnite: Battle Royale Week 4 Challenges
Deal damage with Sniper Rifles to opponents (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search Chests in Flush Factory (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search Supply Drops (3) -- 5 Battle Stars
Visit different Ice Cream Trucks (5) -- 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Search between a Vehicle Tower, Rock Sculpture, and a Circle of Hedges (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Trap Eliminations (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Eliminate opponents in Tomato Town (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Kingdom Come: Deliverance looks pretty great. The game is a beautifully harsh recreation of life in the medieval ages. In this first-person RPG, you play as a peasant trying to stay alive in 1400s Bohemia amid a brutal civil war, and the experience can be punishing at times thanks to a steep learning curve. Rob and Joey have decided to take a dive back into Kingdom Come to dial the game's graphics back to an equally punishing level.
In this episode of Potato Mode, the guys slowly take the game's graphics from historical recreation to hysterical wreck. Want to see the intricate textures, environments, and even the eyes of your favorite characters melt away? Then be sure to watch the video above. And while you're at it, play some dice on the lowest graphics settings and watch your table and chair disappear right before your eyes.
In GameSpot's Kingdom Come review, the game praised for being a "rare, memorable" experience with lifelike quests, strong storytelling, and voice-acting and visuals that immerse you in the setting. Of course, once you pare back the most essential of graphics layers, it's also ridiculous. Enjoy, and then watch the last Potato Mode when Rob and Joey dialed back the graphics on Grand Theft Auto V with equally obscene results.
God of War on PlayStation 4 looks to explore more emotional depth from Kratos, after years of the character being criticized as one-note. Game director Cory Barlog opened up in the video above about where he's failed to make the character seem relatable and human, and how he's attempting to explore more depth from Kratos.
The roots of the series are steeped in tragedy, between Kratos' family tragedy and the quiet moment of his suicide attempt at the beginning of the series. But after that, the character became a cipher for anger and a power fantasy. Barlog admits that attempts to get back in touch with his emotional core, as in Ghost of Sparta, fell flat.
The method of humanizing Kratos comes down to contrasts. By giving him a son, Atreus, Kratos has to balance his instincts and rage against responsibility and a need to soften his rough edges for his son. Crucially, Kratos starts this attempt at self-improvement because he sees a lot of his own personality in Atreus and wants to keep him from repeating his father's mistakes. This gives him an arc similar to that of Joel in The Last of Us--a hard, cynical man forced to soften when he's given the responsibility of parenthood.
Barlog does make sure to note that this is still Kratos, though. He still has a monster lurking inside him, and as much as he attempts to control it, that part of himself will come out by mistake. Coping with this common parenting failure is another piece of what makes this latest iteration of Kratos that much more human. We'll see just how successful Barlog and developer Sony Santa Monica were when the game releases on April 20.
The Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons work pretty well for most games, but sometimes you might find yourself wishing you had a more conventional controller. The Pro Controller is the solution, although it usually has a steep $70 price tag. Right now, though, you can grab one for $11 off.
The Pro Controller is on sale for $59 right now at Amazon. It's not a fantastic deal, but Switch accessories rarely get price cuts. This sale at the very least brings the price of the traditionally shaped controller down to the same price as PS4 and Xbox One gamepads.
Additional Joy-Cons sets are also $10 off on Amazon at the moment, bringing the price down to $70. In related news, third-party manufacturer Hori recently announced that it is making Joy-Cons with a real d-pad--although just for Japan right now.
In spite of pricey accessories, the Switch has had a great first year on the market. In fact, it is the best-selling console in the US over its first year. Close to 15 million Switch systems have been sold globally to date.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is full of ways to customize your character, and recently developer Epic added a couple of new options. A new skin and glider are available now across PS4, Xbox One, PC, and iOS.
The new Highland Warrior is a character that looks like a cross between an armored soldier and mountaineer, and her outfit has some interesting ornamentation and chain mail. It also comes with a new Back Bling, the Buckler, which any character can equip. It'll cost you 1500 V-Bucks to buy.
Charge into the eye of the ⛈️ with the new Highland Warrior Outfit and Storm Sigil Glider.
The Storm Sigil, meanwhile, is a cool-looking glider that has some similarities to the Highland Warrior design. It costs 500 V-Bucks. You can see both the glider and the outfit above.
Far Cry 5 launches on March 27, and as we've seen, it's shaping up to give players a pretty interesting open world to roam around in. But its narrative premise has garnered the most attention, as it pits players against an apocalyptic, radical, Christian cult that has authoritarian control over a small Montana town.
In the video embedded above, the GameSpot team dives into the first 11 minutes of the game that show just how it begins its story. And, from this initial glimpse, it looks as creepy as you'd expect from a game about an extremist cult. You
It's enough to even evoke some horror-film vibes, especially as you attempt to arrest the cult's leader, referred to as "The Father," but it all goes wrong. The beginning of the game is mostly cutscenes, but you can still get a good idea of the tone that Far Cry 5 wants to set. You can read more about what to expect in our review-in-progress.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is in line to get a third map in the near future. And while developer PUBG Corp. has shown off some artwork previously that offered a sense for the map's layout, we've now gotten a peek at what it looks like in-game.
Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene offered the glimpse during a panel at the Game Developers Conference. He subsequently shared it in the tweet you see below. It appears to have a more tropical setting than the existing maps, and it has some new types of buildings we haven't seen before.
Most notably, Greene points out that this is a 4x4km map, which is markedly smaller than 8x8km size of Erangel and Miramar. PUBG Corp. had previously announced it was working on a smaller island map for release sometime this year and that it "should give you all a much more intense and faster paced Battle Royale experience."
At the time, it was said to be launching on the PC's Experimental Test Server in April. Greene's latest tweet says it's due out "soon," though he offers no further specifics on when players will be able to test the map. We also don't know how soon it will arrive on Xbox One--or the recently launched PUBG Mobile, for that matter.
One thing players will be able to try out in the meantime without having to go to the test server are the first limited-time event modes. The debut one will bump up squad sizes to eight players and increase the rate at which players find rifles.
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