Fortnite's Season 4 update has arrived on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile, and it makes some big changes, particularly to Battle Royale. On top of introducing a slate of new skins and rewards to collect, along with comet-induced changes to the map, Epic has removed another weapon from the game for the foreseeable future.
In the patch notes for Fortnite's v4.0 update, Epic revealed that it has taken the crossbow out of rotation, meaning players will no longer be able to find it as loot during matches. The crossbow was first introduced to Battle Royale back in February as part of Fortnite's 2.4.2 update, but now it joins a small handful of weapons in the Vault, effectively removing it entirely from the game.
Epic didn't specify why it has taken the crossbow out from Battle Royale, but weapons are typically moved into the Vault to make room for new additions or when they aren't working out quite as the developer intended. Such was the case with the recently added Guided Missile, which was removed from Battle Royale last month shortly after it was introduced as fans felt it was overpowered.
While the crossbow can no longer be found in Battle Royale, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't return to the game at some point in the future. Epic has previously said that Vaulted weapons could be reintroduced to the game "when the timing is right," although the developer hasn't hinted at when the crossbow could potentially make a comeback.
In the crossbow's stead, Epic has added 100 new rewards tiers to Battle Royale as part of the Season 4 Battle Pass, which can be purchased for 950 V-Bucks. You can see everything available in our Season 4 rewards roundup. Additionally, Fortnite's comet has finally crashed after looming mysteriously in the sky for weeks, leveling a portion of Dusty Depot to create Dusty Divot.
It's a big day for Fortnite, as Season 4 has officially begun with the release of the big 4.0 update on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile. The long-awaited comet crash has finally happened, changing the map, and there have been balance and gameplay changes made. But with the patch officially starting Season 4, Epic Games has also launched the new Battle Pass--complete with new skins and rewards. Here's everything you need to know.
Like previous Battle Passes, this one is bought exclusively with V-Bucks--there's no real-world money option. It costs 950 V-Bucks, which works out to just under $10/£8 if you buy the smallest bundle of V-Bucks (1,000). Purchasing it gets you instant access to a handful of rewards that Epic estimates are worth more than 3,500 V-Bucks: two skins (Carbide and Battlehawk) and two bonuses for the duration of the season (50% extra match XP and 10% more when playing with a friend). You also get access to challenges.
All Fortnite players get access to a set of free Starter challenges and can unlock a small handful of rewards, but the weekly challenges and vast majority of unlockables are only for Battle Pass owners. In addition to 10 weeks of challenges that will progressively unlock between now and early July, the Battle Pass also includes new Blockbuster and Carbide challenges. Blockbuster involves completing all of the challenges in each week and unlocks some as-of-yet unknown reward. Carbide involves reaching different level milestones, with each one offering some cosmetic reward belonging to the Carbide set, including a pickaxe.
In terms of rewards tied directly to the Battle Pass, there are more than 100. You can see a selection of skins above or check out everything available in our Season 4 rewards roundup. Again, as in the past, Epic estimates that unlocking everything will take between 75-150 hours of gameplay.
If you owned Season 3's Battle Pass, you'll gain five levels of the new Battle Pass automatically. Purchasing Season 4's will also carry over a five level bonus into Season 5 once that begins. Those in a hurry to level up can also purchase additional levels for V-Bucks.
Fortnite Season 4 runs through July 9, so provided you start early, you'll have just over two months to get your hands on all the rewards. There's plenty of other new Season 4 content to check out, including the crashed meteor and updated map. For more, read through the Season 4 update patch notes.
Epic Games has launched a major new Battle Royale update, kicking off Season 4 for Fortnite. Recent days have seen smaller meteors crashing down, but the much-anticipated impact of the larger comet that's been lingering in the sky has finally happened. As a result, the game's map has been revamped pretty significantly, with several new areas added and changes being made to existing ones.
Many players were expecting the comet to destroy Tilted Towers when it finally hit. Epic had some fun with those theories, but the comet has instead come down elsewhere--specifically, in part of Dusty Depot. As a result, there's now a huge crater that's taken out one of the three warehouses that used to reside there, and a new name has been established for the area: Dusty Divot.
Dusty Divot is more than just a big hole in the map. A piece of the comet is stuck in the ground, and around it, the military has seemingly set up a base to examine it and keep people out (a bit like what happens in Thor). Of course, it's easy to make it over the barbed wire fence, and not just because you can build a ramp. Small chunks of the comet called Hop Rocks have been scattered around the surrounding area, and by picking one up and crushing it in your hand, you temporarily defy gravity. This allows you to jump much higher (and slower) than usual.
Elsewhere on the map, the new Risky Reels area (a drive-in theater) seen in the Season 4 trailer has been added. There are also new elements to existing areas, like Anarchy Acres, and comet impacts scattered across the map.
You can check out Dusty Divot in the video above, but there's much more going on in the 4.0 update than just changes to the map. Season 4 has begun, bringing new challenges and rewards to earn. The crossbow has been Vaulted, meaning it's temporarily inaccessible in-game. Some tweaks have been made to how headshots work, and you can actually destroy stuff on the starting island now. You can see everything that's changed in the Fortnite 4.0 patch notes.
Season 4 of Fortnite is officially underway, and with it, we've gotten a new Battle Pass. This works largely like those in the past, offering weekly challenges for players to complete in order to unlock new skins and rewards. Week 1 challenges are the usual mixture of easy and tricky objectives; here are the key locations and how to complete them all.
Two specific challenges stand out as ones with which you might need a guide. The first asks you to follow the treasure map found in Tomato Town. You can head there and pick up the map to get started or, as with previous instances of this objective type, go right to the treasure if you know where it is. This one is fairly easy--it's in Loot Lake. Head to where the 'E' in Lake is shown on the map, as seen in the image below, and you'll find the wrecked remains of a small boat just to the south of a small slab of land. Jump on the part sticking out of the water and you'll see the Battle Pass icon to collect, which is done by holding the same key or button you use to open chests.
The other difficult challenge is to search F-O-R-T-N-I-T-E letters; there's no real indication of what these are or where to start your hunt. Essentially, these work a lot like the aforementioned treasure map locations, only there are no in-game hints. You'll head to certain spots and find a hovering blue letter that must be "searched" like a chest to collect. No matter which order you go to the locations, you'll always find the letters in the order that spells out "Fortnite."
Some are in popular places to land--for instance, there's one at the top of the clocktower in Tilted Towers. Others aren't so easy, but luckily, there are more than eight locations total spread across the map. With the help of Reddit users Strantjanet and thesquatingdog, we've verified eight locations--the exact number you'll need to complete the challenge. Here's where you'll find them.
F-O-R-T-N-I-T-E Letters Locations
Tilted Towers -- on top of the clocktower
Salty Springs -- just to the east, on top of the fire lookout tower
Flush Factory -- on top of the largest building in the unnamed area to the northeast; you'll have to destroy the glass ceiling to collect it
Snobby Shores -- in the northern most area, on top of a lightpole in front of a decrepit house
Anarchy Acres -- on top of the red barn
Pleasant Park -- on top of the roof in the middle, immediately north of the soccer field
Lonely Lodge -- in the unnamed area to the southeast, on top of the building
Risky Reels -- in the hole on the movie screen
Week 1's other challenges are much more straightforward and generally rely on a mixture of luck and being in the right location. You'll need to deal damage to opponents using sniper rifles, which is just a matter of finding such a gun and having good aim. You'll want to head to Haunted Hills and search for chests; hopefully, in the process, you'll also get your hands on a Port-a-Fort. If you do, be sure to use it before dying to complete another challenge.
The aforementioned Tomato Town map is one of three Hard-difficulty objectives. Another simply has you rack up eliminations at Flush Factory, so head there and take down some opponents. The third calls for you to get three pistol eliminations. Pistols aren't the greatest of weapons, so you may want to attempt both this and the Flush Factory challenge in the Solo playlist. That way, you don't have to worry about revives or competing with teammates for a kill.
Each of these challenges rewards you with Battle Stars to level up your Battle Pass and earn new skins and rewards. Additionally, once you've complete four of them, you'll receive a 5k XP bonus. Keep in mind, access to the weekly challenges requires the purchase of the Battle Pass for 950 V-Bucks. In addition to weekly challenge access and the ability to earn lots of skins and rewards, the Battle Pass also includes new Blockbuster and Carbide challenges, which involve reaching level milestones and completing all challenges in a given week.
Season 4, Week 1 Battle Pass Challenges
Deal damage with sniper rifles to opponents (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search chests in Haunted Hills (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Use a Port-a-Fort -- 5 Battle Stars
Search F-O-R-T-N-I-T-E letters -- 5 Battle Stars
Hard: Follow the treasure map found in Tomato Town -- 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Pistol eliminations (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Hard: Eliminate opponents in Flush Factory -- 10 Battle Stars
One toy company to rule them all. Hasbro has made a deal with Saban Brands to buy the rights to the Power Rangers franchise, as well as My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, and Treehouse Detectives, in a deal worth $522 million. Those properties will now become part of the world's largest toy company
Hasbro announced the news on its website. "Power Rangers is an iconic brand built on a heritage of great storytelling and merchandising with tremendous upside potential when fully executed across Hasbro's Brand Blueprint," the toy company's chairman and CEO Brian Goldner says in a press release. Haim Saban, creator of the franchise, will remain with the property in a consultant role.
As for what this means for fans, Hasbro says the first Power Rangers products from the company will arrive in Spring 2019. Those are just toys, though. Adding Power Rangers to a portfolio that includes properties like GI Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony, and Battleship, just to name a few, presents several interesting movie possibilities.
The idea of a Transformers and Power Rangers movie crossover alone should be enough to get fans of either franchise excited. After all, following Bumblebee in December, Hasbro will be rebooting the Transformers movie universe. Given how important a role massive robots play in both franchises, they could be a natural fit. It would essentially be toy Avengers, but with less Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.
If the Hasbro movie universe the company has been talking about for years, which just might include a MASK film, ever gets off the ground, having Power Rangers in the mix will certainly make things more interesting. Now it just has to come to fruition.
Dark Souls Remastered launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC later this month, but some players will have the opportunity to try the game out ahead of its release. Bandai Namco has detailed its upcoming network test for Dark Souls Remastered, which is scheduled to take place next weekend on PS4 and Xbox One.
The network test will only be held on two days: May 11 and May 12. It begins each day at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET and runs for approximately four hours, concluding at 11:59 PM PT / 2:59 AM ET. The test is set in the Undead Parish area and allows players to summon partners or invade other players' games.
To participate in the network test, you'll need to download a separate client from the PlayStation and Xbox Stores before May 9. PS4 players can grab the client here, while Xbox One owners can download it from here. Those planning to jump in on Xbox One will need to have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription in order to take part in the test, while all PS4 owners will be able to participate.
Bandai Namco will also hold a network test for the Nintendo Switch edition of Dark Souls Remastered; however, that test has been postponed as a result of the Switch version's delay. It is now scheduled to occur at an as-yet unspecified date this summer.
Dark Souls Remastered releases on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 25. It costs $40 on each platform, but Steam users who have purchased Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will get a 50% discount on Remastered. The Prepare to Die Edition will be de-listed from Steam beginning May 8.
When it comes to big retailers, you never know what kind of gaming deals you'll see from week to week. Sometimes they only put a handful of unexciting games on sale. Other times they'll offer deep discounts on tons of fantastic games. This week's sale at Best Buy definitely falls into the latter category. You can get some of the best recent PS4 games for far less than their normal prices. Note that Xbox One versions, when available, are also on sale for the same price. Below, you'll find our picks for the best PS4 game deals at Best Buy for the week ending May 5.
First, we should mention you'll save more money on these deals if you're a Gamers Club Unlocked member. GCU members get 20% off all video game pre-orders and new (non-used) games. Better yet, the discount stacks on top of any sale that's going on. A two-year subscription costs $30, but considering you'll save $12 on each game that's regularly priced at $60, it pays for itself after just a few purchases. You can subscribe here.
Now for the specific deals. The biggest price drop this week is Destiny 2's sale price of $10 ($8 with Gamers Club Unlocked). That's a great deal for an online shooter that offers upwards of 100 hours of progression before you could conceivably have all the best loot. Other great deals include Monster Hunter World for $45 ($36) and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for $20 ($16).
PlayStation 4 exclusives are well represented in this sale. You can get Horizon: Zero Dawn for $40 ($32), the remastered version of Shadow of the Colossus for $30 ($24), and the ultra-challenging game Nioh for $20 ($16). A bunch of PlayStation VR games are also on sale, including Skyrm VR for $40 ($32) and Doom VFR for $20 ($16).
Here are some of the sale's standout games, but you can find the full list here.
It's been a couple of weeks, but Target has finally put a new set of video games on sale. That's good news for console gamers in particular, because you can get many of the recent big games for up to 50% off their regular prices. Below, you'll find our picks for the best deals available this week at Target. The sale ends May 5.
PS4 and Xbox One games
Over on PS4 and Xbox One, you can get Call of Duty: WWII on sale for $50. If you'd rather hunt monsters and craft gear with their parts, you can do that in Monster Hunter World for $45.
Not as many Switch games are on sale, but the discounts are impressive for the ones that are. For anyone who wants to see Mario and Peach use heavy firepower, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is on sale for $30. Just Dance 2018, on sale for $35, will get you off the couch and moving around. And for those who like playing board games but don't like cleaning up the parts when you're done, Monopoly is on sale for $20.
To celebrate Golden Week, Square Enix has dropped prices on a number of PC games, notably on many entries in the Final Fantasy series. Below are the standouts from Square Enix's sale, but you can find the full list here.
To start with, you can get Mini Ninjas for free. To take advantage of this offer, just add it to your cart and use promo code MINININJAS at checkout. From GameSpot's Mini Ninjas review: "This action adventure is low on gruesome assassinations and high on lighthearted fun, but that doesn't mean fans of stealth-kill simulators, or anyone else for that matter, should skip over it."
Just about every Final Fantasy game available on PC right now is currently available for half off. Core installments III - VI are $8, while the later games range from $6 to $10 each. Those are great prices on some of the best RPGs in history--even if you don't prefer the art style changes Square Enix made to some of the games.
In non-Final Fantasy news, Dragon Quest Heroes and its sequel are also on sale for between $20 and $30, and a handful of other more niche titles are on sale as well.
Here's some good news for anyone who hasn't played PUBG yet. You can buy PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds for Xbox One on Newegg right now for $20, using promo code EMCPTRV56 at checkout. That's $10 (or 33%) off the suggested retail price.
PUBG is a battle royale game that has 100 players parachute onto a sprawling map, to scavenge for loot and fight until only one player or team is left alive. The winner's reward is one of the sweetest victories possible in the current gaming landscape: a screen that says, "Winner winner chicken dinner!" That's the only trophy you need.
In GameSpot's PUBG review, Michael Higham wrote, "Each phase of a match presents a different type of tension that is equal parts thrilling and terrifying, driven by the insatiable desire to be the last person (or squad) standing. Whether you play solo or in a group, successfully executing adaptive tactics to win intense, high-stakes firefights makes for an incredibly rewarding experience. Every player has unique stories of their most memorable matches, and even after hundreds of hours, PUBG continues to inspire rousing tales of victory and defeat."
PUBG on Xbox One is in the early access game preview program. As such, it's a constantly-evolving game, with frequent updates and plans to add significant expansions in the future. Its development cycle runs behind the PC version, so it doesn't have all the same content yet.
In any case, whether you've been enjoying Fortnite and want to try the other battle royale game in town, or you're simply curious to see what all the fuss is about, this is the best deal on PUBG you're likely to find anytime soon.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
Fortnite: Battle Royale's comet has finally landed, signaling the beginning of Season 4. The game's v4.0 update is live now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile, and although it doesn't add any new items or weapons, it has still shaken things up significantly.
The first thing you'll notice in Battle Royale is that the map has changed. The comet's impact has been felt across the island, with multiple locations transformed by its impact and new points of interest created. In addition, a crater has appeared, and it's surrounded by a set of glowing rocks. Developer Epic Games says if you consume these Hop Rocks, you'll "lift off with low gravity," letting you jump higher than usual Season 4 has also brought 100 tiers of new rewards, including new emotes, cosmetic items, and more.
Other changes to Battle Royale include the ability to destroy structures on the starting island (except the Battle Bus) and tweaks to how headshots work. Other parts of characters' bodies will no longer block bullets from reaching their heads, meaning if your bullet hits a hand or leg on the way to your enemy's head, it will still do as much damage as a regular headshot. This applies to all weapons except the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher. Elsewhere, you can now see hit markers when looking through a scope, the Crossbow has been taken out of rotation and put into the Vault, and hand hitboxes have been slightly reduced in size.
In Save the World, part one of a new Blockbuster Event has been added with the new update. This event sees you "join Spitfire and Lok as they investigate the comet and gear up to recruit a team of superheroes!" For more details, check out the official patch notes below, via Epic Games.
Fortnite Season 4 v4.0 Update Patch Notes
General
Input settings are now filtered based on game mode.
They've also been grouped by category (Combat, Building, Editing, etc.) to make it easier to search through them.
Added icons for the tabs at the top of the Settings screen. Added "Ignore Gamepad Input" option to the Accessibility settings tab.
This setting can be helpful to players who use external programs to remap their controller input and need the game to ignore the controller input.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a crash when using radial menus.
Improved texture streaming behavior when using a scope.
Fixed some objects being rendered using low resolution textures.
Fixed weapon ammo count display in the HUD sometimes being incorrect.
Battle Royale
Gameplay
Structures on the starting island can now be destroyed. Not the Battle Bus, though.
Headshots are now prioritized when other body parts are in the way.
Incoming headshots (from above or straight on) will no longer be blocked by your character's other body parts.
For example, a shot that hits your target's hand will be able to penetrate through and hit their head if your aim was on point. You'll be credited headshot damage instead of normal damage.
Headshots from below that are blocked by a body part (legs, torso, hands, shoulders, arms) will do normal damage, except for impacts very close to your character's head.
This change affects all weapons, except for the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher.
Slightly reduced the hitbox size of player hands.
Damage numbers are now visible when spectating a player.
Knocking a player off the island will award elimination credit like normal fall damage.
Fall distance is now shown in the elimination feed when a player is forced to fall by an opponent.
On the starting island, you can now see other players (and player-created structures) about three times further away than before.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that would cause player built structures to appear intact for a few seconds after eliminating an enemy and destroying the structure at the same time.
This caused players to "phase through" the structure.
Fixed cases where pickups moved erratically when sliding down slopes.
Fixed an issue where destroying a building from under an enemy wouldn't award kill credit.
Fixed an issue where swinging the pickaxe could cause movement stuttering.
Fixed an issue where some pre-placed wooden archways could not be destroyed by player built structures.
Fixed an issue that made the Battle Bus appear to quickly fly off the map after jumping from it.
Fixed an issue that would pause a downed players health bar if their reviver disconnected while reviving them.
UI
You can now mark cosmetic items as favorites in the Locker.
'Random' option added to each cosmetic equipment slot in the Locker.
This will randomly choose between items you've marked as favorites each match (or from all owned items if nothing is marked as a favorite).
You are no longer limited to just the 6 slots on your emote wheel for Sprays and Emotes and can now use any of the ones you own in a match!
The Locker slots act as a page of presets, but you can cycle through to any emotes marked as a favorite and then all emotes, sorted by type (PS4: L1/R1; XB1: LB/RB; PC: Mouse Wheel; Mobile: Buttons added next to radial menu).
Added new "Locker Emote Slot" button bindings, which allow you to immediately trigger any of your 6 Emote or Spray presets.
While Auto Run is active, an icon is now displayed.
Improved the look and feel of the Game options tab.
Slightly decreased the size of the arrow over players heads when they are close to you.
The fourth and fifth weapon slots will now default to keys 5 and 6 instead of Z and X when using the "Reset to Defaults" option.
The 4:3 aspect ratio is now supported.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where the compass showed '360' when it should have been '359.'
Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the Inventory screen when opening and closing it very quickly multiple times in a row.
Fixed an issue where the "Show Net Stats" HUD option would be reset to off after restarting the game.
Fixed an issue that caused consumable timers to not display when using a consumable immediately after canceling one.
Fixed a spelling error in the description for Tomatohead.
The Squad Comms wheel can now be closed with circle on PS4 controllers, and B on Xbox controllers.
Weapon slot keybinding options are no longer called "Ability Slots" in the input menu.
Weapons And Items
The Crossbow has been vaulted.
Rocket Launcher aim reticle is now a fixed size regardless of player movement.
Hit markers are now displayed when looking through a scope.
Increased pickaxe damage against Supply Llamas, now dealing 50 damage per hit.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where a weapon could have no ammo when dropping it immediately after picking it up.
Improved pickaxe swing responsiveness when switching from a weapon to the pickaxe and immediately holding the swing button.
Fixed an issue that prevented Hunting Rifles from auto reloading if it was fired immediately after a reload.
Fixed an issue that allowed grenades to be thrown in rapid succession while sprinting.
Fixed an issue where aiming a grenade throw and then switching to build mode wouldn't cancel the throw.
Fixed an issue with the Builder Pro configuration that caused the players weapon to fire while trying to build in some cases.
Clingers will now properly cling to falling Supply Drops.
Replay System
Added an in-game player list to Replays.
Leaving a Replay will now take you back to the Replay browser.
Renaming Replays is now limited to 32 characters.
Increased the size of name column in Replay browser.
Bug Fixes
Fixed the alignment of the eliminations column in Replay browser.
Fixed an issue where Replay Browser list couldn't be navigated with gamepad after cancelling renaming a replay.
Art And Animation
Hunting Rifle mesh and animations have been updated.
Shotguns, Revolver, Hand Cannon, and Rocket Launcher have had their equip animations improved - they should now match the equip time.
Their equip timing remains the same.
The dust cloud that appears on player landings now shows for all players.
Storm wind now affects trees within the storm.
Bug Fixes
Fixed the Supply Llama not playing destruction effects when killed by projectiles.
Fixed an issue that caused Back Bling to display improperly after using a Launch Pad.
Players can now emote while rocket riding.
Audio
Adjusted timing on the equip sounds for all Shotguns. The cocking sound will now occur right before the weapon is able to fire.
Improved volume difference between soft and hard landing sounds.
Players falling from 1 or more stories will land with a louder audio cue.
Added unique impact sounds when hitting shrubs, bushes and cornstalks.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that caused footstep audio to play when players were mid-air after jumping.
Fixed an issue where the Minigun equip sound would persist after quickly switching away from it.
The map marker sound no longer plays when removing a marker.
Performance
Improved smoothness of other players movement on the starting island by increasing network update rates.
Made significant performance improvements when many players are on-screen by reducing the impact of character parts.
Optimized hitches that occur when garbage collecting objects.
Fixed hitches that could happen in games where lots of building occurred.
Optimized Level-of-Detail (LOD) for buildings in Shifty Shafts and Flush Factory.
Optimized Input/Output (IO) performance on Consoles to reduce hitches and load times.
Mobile
Quickbar now supports drag and drop for dropping and moving inventory items.
Holding the movement stick in a direction for 3-seconds now enables an option to turn on auto run.
Adding 'Repair Building' button.
Added 'Cycle Weapon' button.
Made improvements to prevent finger creep.
Slightly decreased aim assist strength at further distances to allow for easier fine tuning when aiming.
Grenade indicators are now displayed when grenades are equipped.
Made improvements to low-end mobile performance by dynamically scaling background draw distances with player height.
Reduced object draw distance for medium/lower-end iOS devices.
Bug Fixes
Fixed the view pop caused by the swiping inertia when lifting your finger off the screen.
Fixed bugs that were causing some erroneous misfires and input errors.
Save The World
Gameplay
Loot Drops!
When enemies are killed they have a chance to drop loot on the ground.
This chance is increased for patrolling enemies and the packs of enemies found scattered throughout the world.
Enemies can drop building materials, crafting ingredients, and ammunition.
Larger/tougher enemies drop more items and better crafting ingredients.
The tier of crafting ingredients increases with Mission Difficulty, as does the chance of finding rare crafting ingredients like Active Powercells.
Mini-Bosses drop a new item type called a Cache.
Schematic Caches come in three rarities (Rare, Epic, Legendary) and contain a single ranged or melee weapon schematic. The likelihood of getting an Epic or Legendary cache increases at higher mission difficulties.
Evolution Material Caches contain storm evolution materials (Pure Drop of Rain, Storm Shard, etc). These scale up with the difficulty of the mission.
A Mini-Boss will drop one cache (of the same type) for every player who participated in the elimination (dealt damage to the boss, or was close to it when it was eliminated).
Certain high-rarity treasure chests found in the world can also drop Caches.
Caches are opened at the end of the mission.
Survivor health has been increased by 40% to allow more time for players to rescue them from tough situations.
The Teleporter Gadget has been refactored in an effort to improve its fun and usability!
New default behavior:
The base range of the Teleporter has been increased to 20 tiles.
Teleporter now has no cooldown when activated!
In order to accommodate the usability of no cooldown, the Teleporter no longer teleports Enemies.
Teleporter now will not activate if it's in a location that it could not normally be placed on. You'll still be able to move it, however.
Teleporter now has an "arm" time when it's placed or moved before it becomes active. The default arm time is 5.5 seconds.
Teleporter now has a default "pick up" use time of 2.5 seconds.
As part of the improvements to Teleporter, we've adjusted the upgrades it has!
Upgrade 1 now allows the Teleporter to transport friendly projectiles!
Projectiles will exit from the Teleporter based on the direction you set when you place it.
Yes, this means you can throw rockets and grenades through it - try things out!
Upgrade 2 now reduces the pickup time of the Teleporter to .5 seconds.
Upgrade 3 now reduces the arm time of the Teleporter when it is placed to 1.5 seconds.
Upgrade 4 now increases the range of the Teleporter by 10 tiles.
Upgrade 5 now allows Enemy projectiles to go through the Teleporter!
This means Husk Bones, and Lobber Grenades, and others - try a Teleporter on roofs you want to defend!
Hover Bot Turret has been improved as well:
New default behavior
Recharge time reduced from 240 seconds to 150 seconds.
Default duration reduced to 20 seconds.
No longer fires projectiles - now shoots hitscan shots.
Increased default 'Rate of Fire' from 1.33 shots per second to 6 shots per second.
Base damage reduced from 20 to 15.
Upgrades have been adjusted:
Duration increase remains +10 seconds, which makes the final duration 30 seconds.
We corrected an issue with the range upgrade which was preventing it from working properly. The default range is still 4 tiles, but is increased to 8 with this upgrade.
The 'Rate of Fire' Upgrade now increases the rate of fire to 10 shots per second.
The default action of keyboard button 'B' is now Emote, with keyboard button 'V' bound to bring up Team Chat. You can now cycle between Team Chat, Emotes, and Notes, regardless of which button you pushed to summon the picker.
(PS4: L1/R1, XB1: LB/RB, PC: Mouse Wheel)
Bug Fixes
Corrected an issue which was causing Corn to be unsearchable. It is once again searchable, and will drop the Bacon you crave 🥓.
Corrected an issue which prevented C4 from being thrown during Sprint. It will now activate and interrupt Sprint as expected.
Corrected an issue which was preventing the Helium Shotgun projectiles from moving properly through all parts of the world.
Heroes
[New] Mythic Solder "Raven" - Subclass: Nevermore
Description - Shadowy figure who screeches deafening War Cries before eliminating prey with his dual wielded pistols.
New Ability
Lefty and Righty - Deploy dual pistols and light up your enemies!
New Perks
'Dual Debilitation' - Lefty and Righty applies Debilitating Shots.
'Where's Lefty' - Eliminating enemies with pistols reduces the cooldown of Lefty and Righty by 1 second.
'Bang and Pow' - Dealing damage with Lefty and Righty causes an explosion that deals Energy Damage in a .5 tile radius.
New Tactical Perk
'Explosive Rounds' - Tactical variant of the Explosive Rounds Perk.
[New] 8 "Shadow Ops" Heroes
Soldier - New Subclass: Double Agent featuring New Characters Vaughn and Evelynn
Description - Soldier that wields dual pistol with ease, creating an explosive outcome.
Utilizes the newly added ability and associated perks:
'Lefty and Righty'
'Dual Debilitation'
'Where's Lefty'
'Bang and Pow'
New Tactical Perk
'Cluster Bomb' - Tactical variant of the 'Cluster Bomb' dealing half the damage of its non-tactical counterpart.
Ninja - New Subclass: Piercing Lotus featuring characters Edge and Luna
Description - Skilled spear warrior that makes a point to poison enemies with waves of shuriken before striking them down.
New Perks
'Pointy Fury' - Increases spear combo attack efficiency by 150%.
'Poking Holes' - The Ninja deals 28% more damage with spears to afflicted targets.
'Fan of Stars' - The Ninja throws 2 additional throwing stars. All throwing stars are thrown instantly in a spreading arc.
New Support Perk
'Heaviest Attacks' - Increases melee heavy attack damage by 10/20/30%
Outlander - New Subclass: Shock Gunner featuring characters Grizzly and Buzz
Description - Weaves in and out of enemies stunning them and finishing them off with with close ranged weapons.
New Perks
'Pump It Up' - Increases shotgun rate of fire by 35%.
'In and Outlander' - Eliminating 3 enemies within 10 seconds after using Phase Shift will refund the Phase Shift charge.
'Shocking Embrace' - Increases the duration of Shock Tower by 3 seconds if placed with a Charge Fragment.
'Run And Stun' - Passing through enemies with Phase Shift applies a 3 seconds stun.
New Tactical Perk
'Shocking Embrace' - Increases the duration of Shock Tower by 3 seconds if placed with a Charge Fragment.
Constructor - New Subclass: Demolitionist featuring Penny and Bull
Description - Explosives expert who corrals enemies with Decoy before finishing them with a hail of missiles.
New Perks
'Faster Explosions' - Increases explosive weapon reload speed by 35%
'Enduring Machine' - Your weapons take 60% less durability damage while on tiles affected by BASE.
Hero Abilities that lock the character's movement can no longer be interrupted by knockback. The following abilities have been adjusted to use this new behaviour:
'Phase Shift'
'Shockwave'
'Bullrush'
'Dragonslash'
'Anti-Material Charge'
We've changed how Energy-Reducing perks work in some cases in order to prevent them from reducing costs of activations to 0.
We now have perks which improve "Energy Efficiency" of certain actions (such as heavy attacks with melee weapons).
Energy Efficiency is expressed in a percentage format i.e. "Improves Energy Efficiency of Combo Attacks by 150%."
The value represents the expected extra usage of the ability once the perk has been acquired.
Implementation has changed from a multiplier on cost to a divisor on cost.
I.e. - a 60% cost reduction on a 50 energy cost is analogous to a 150% increase in usage over 100 stamina.
Outlander
'Phase Shift' now passes through enemies by default.
'Phase Shift' now inherits more forward velocity when used mid-air.
Constructor
Adjustments to the 'Decoy' Ability :
Base duration reduced from 12 seconds to 7 seconds.
'Decoy' can no longer be destroyed and will always last the full duration.
Reduced the duration increase of 'Going and Going' from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
'What Doesn't Kill You' Has been removed from these Subclasses: Controller, Sentinel, and Riot Control.
Controller now has 'Decoy Stun' Instead of 'What Doesn't Kill You.'
Sentinel now has 'Grease the Wheels' instead of 'What Doesn't Kill You.'
Riot Control now has 'Going and Going' instead of 'What Doesn't Kill You.'
Ninja
Changed 'Easy Sword' from "Reduces sword combo attack energy cost by 60%." to "Increases sword combo attack efficiency by 150%."
Changed 'Easier Sword' from "Improves the energy cost reduction of 'Easy Sword' by another 20%." to "Improves the energy efficiency of 'Easy Sword' by another 150%."
'Shadow Stance' now triggers off of all melee kills, not just edged weapons.
'Scythe To Meet You's' snare duration has been increased to 2 seconds from 1 second.
The sound effects for 'Crescent Kick' have been updated.
Soldier
'Explosive Rounds' timer no longer resets after 15 seconds without a kill.
'Goin' Commando!!!' now enters into a slight zoom when pressing the Targeting Input.
Bug Fixes
'Shockwave' no longer causes the Soldier to collide with enemies. This should prevent the "crowd surfing" behaviour seen when using 'Shockwave' on tightly packed groups of enemies.
Fixed an issue with BASE's tooltip showing incorrect segment extensions with Heavy BASE Kyle.
Fixed an issue with 'Overclocked' Trap's tooltip showing an incorrect value for decreased reload rate. The tooltip now reads correctly at 20%.
Corrected an issue which was causing the Soldier Perk 'Start Up' to display incorrect values.
Corrected a tooltip issue with certain perks that were not showing their Support or Tactical Bonuses:
'Sure Shot'
'Hit'em While They're Down'
'Tough Traps'
'Bullet Bonanza'
'Vigorous Strikes'
Missions And Systems
Blockbuster Event - Part 1: Origin Story
There are reports of a strange new husk lurking about harassing survivors and Ray has disappeared! Find out what has happened in the aftermath of the comet crash in this brand new questline.
Blockbuster Tickets can be found inside Upgrade and Daily Llamas, and earned by completing quests and defeating Miniboss mission alerts.
Blockbuster Llama is available in the Loot Tab
Contains at least one Epic Quality or Higher Military Weapon or ShadowOps Hero.
Costs 500 Blockbuster Tickets.
Completing the first week of quests rewards a choice of one Legendary Ranged Weapon (Bald Eagle, Silenced Specter, or Crossbow)
Repeatable Quest to kill a miniboss that awards 50 Gold
Loot Llama Price Reduction!
V-Buck prices on several of the Loot Llamas have been reduced!
Upgrade Llama: 100 to 50
Weapon Llama: 350 to 200
Ranged Weapon Llama: 350 to 200
Melee Weapon Llama: 350 to 200
People Llama: 350 to 200
It's a Trap Llama: 350 to 200
Bundles containing multiple Llamas have been reduced in price as well.
Players who have purchased these Llamas in the past will receive an equivalent value in free Troll Stash Llamas they can redeem in the Loot tab.
Each stack of 1000 Storm Tickets will be converted into Neon Llamas.
Anyone who had at least one Storm Ticket will receive a Llama.
Mini Llamas now drop 30 to 50 Gold, and drop an additional item if they become Silver.
Gold no longer resets each season.
Seasonal Gold has been renamed to Gold as a result.
Gold caps at 5000. Gold above this cap will not be lost, but you will stop earning Gold until you have spent enough to drop below the cap.
Mission Alerts:
Miniboss Mission Alerts are more common during this event and award between 50 and 120 Blockbuster Tickets, scaled based on difficulty.
These tickets are granted in addition to their normal rewards (schematics, transform keys, etc)
Quota: 10 per day.
Mutant Storm Mission Alerts have returned to normal levels and no longer reward event tickets.
Quota: 3 per day.
The Upgraded Outlanders Mission Modifier no longer increases fragment capacity due to the recent change greatly increasing base fragment capacity. The Modifier still increases Outlander Ability Damage.
Bug Fixes
Fixed reward chest having low resolution textures at the end of mission.
Fixed crafting recipes for Neon Weapons to be correct for energy weapons.
The chance for Impulse Grenades and Remote Explosive World Drops has been returned to normal (should now be equal to the M80).
Harvest and collect quest items now drop no matter how the quest item was destroyed. Previously, players would have to make the destroying blow with their harvesting pickaxe. This now works the same way as Daily Destroy.
Weapons And Items
Added the Military weapons set, available via Blockbuster Llamas:
Whisper 45: Silenced semi-auto pistol
Specter: Fully-automatic submachine gun with high rate of fire.
Epic and Legendary versions have a silencer.
Ground Pounder: Fast-firing and accurate semi-auto shotgun.
Crossbow: Sniper weapon that fires a projectile with no damage falloff.
Bald Eagle: Slow-firing heavy pistol with great damage and knockback.
Increased the damage and impact of the Bald Eagle by 30%.
The following scoped sniper rifles no longer have damage fall off. Additionally, their range has been increased from 20 Tiles to 50 Tiles.
Auto Sniper Rifle
Extinguisher
Exterminator
Deathwing
Scoped Bullseye
Scoped Deadeye
One Shot
Heartbreaker
Hydraulic Sniper Rifle
Tsunami
Scavenger Sniper Rifle
Sunsetter
Scoped Wasp
Scoped Dragonfly
Burst Sniper
Triple Tap
Neon Sniper Rifle
Vindertech Sniper Rifle
Vindertech Jolter
Frostbite
The following non-scoped sniper rifles range increased from 13 Tiles to 20 tiles:
Hunting Rifle
Lil'Bee
Stinger
Wasp
Dragonfly
Ralphie's Revenge
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where the +30% Weapon Damage when aiming down sights alteration was increasing Weapon Damage by 75%. The alteration now increases Weapon Damage by the correct amount.
Added missing drop sound effects to many spear weapons.
Fixed the evolution skill requirements for the Krypton Sword to use the correct skills; evolving the weapons now requires the Sword and Spear skill and not the Axe and Scythe Skill.
All shotguns should now damage non-friendly environmental objects.
Bald Eagle icon updated to be distinct from the Falcon pistol.
UI
Purchasing multiple Llamas in the Loot tab now show the total cost.
Adjusted the layout of Daily Reward items to include the item name.
Weapon tooltips now show headshot damage.
Bug Fixes
Reduced the rating number displayed for Group Missions at the victory screen and on the Objective tab in the menu.
This now matches the recommended rating of the mission rather than enemy level.
Fixed a problem on the end-of-mission victory screen where the drone appears twice to beam players back to Homebase.
Fixed an issue where the displayed Homebase Power Level was visually capped at level 132 when players' actual power levels were higher.
Leveling Up or Evolving something now says "Please Wait" instead of just disabling the button and appearing unresponsive.
Recycle mode resulting materials panel can now be scrolled with a controller.
Recycling Details modal dialog can now be scrolled if necessary.
Fixed a case where the top menu bar would become unresponsive on PC.
Audio
Volume decrease on the Exploration and Combat music to help the overall mix.
GameStop has a new weekly sale going on, and in a Game of Thrones-worthy plot twist, it doesn't put games front and center. Instead, it offers a 20% discount on board and card games. But don't worry, video games are also on sale this week, so read on for details on the best deals available this week at GameStop, ending May 1.
Let's start with the video games, because Far Cry 5 is on sale for $50. That's probably the best deal you'll find on this open-world shooter outside of Best Buy's Gamers Club Unlocked program. Also on sale are Ark: Survival Evolved for $40, Overwatch for $40, as well as NBA 2K18 and WWE 2K18, both on sale for $30.
There's a good chance you've played--or at least been intrigued by--The Witcher 3. There's also a good chance you missed out on Geralt of Rivia's first outing. Now's the perfect time to right that wrong by grabbing a free copy of the game that started it all. Right now, GOG is handing out free copies of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition to anyone who plays games on PC.
Since there's no such thing as a free lunch, you will have to jump through a hoop or two before you can hit that download button. For starters, you have to install Gwent: The Witcher Card Game. It's free to play, so that's not a huge deal. And if you've dabbled in the card-playing mini-game in The Witcher 3, you'll know it's an enjoyable pastime on its own. You can download it here.
Once you've installed Gwent, click here to access your free copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. Note that to get your free game, you must also subscribe you to the GOG.com newsletter (you can unsubscribe any time). You also get a free Gwent Card Keg, which will come in handy if you plan to continue playing Gwent.
Now you can install your copy of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition and play the game that kickstarted Geralt's monster hunting career when it launched in 2007. In GameSpot's Witcher review, Brett Todd wrote, "Memorable story, immersive combat, fascinating characters--what's not to like? A few fit-and-finish issues mean that The Witcher isn't quite an all-time classic RPG. Regardless, it's awfully, awfully close, warts and all, and it provides a new benchmark for future developers that are looking to lift their games out of the done-to-death elf-and-orc ghetto."
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.
Summer movie season may be starting in May, but Netflix is going out of its way to make sure you stayed glued to your couch. The streaming service has released its list of new additions for May, including a number of movies, TV shows, and originals to keep you busy.
Firstly, Disney/Pixar's Coco will be added on May 29. If you somehow missed one of the studio's best animated films ever, this will be your chance to watch and cry in the privacy of your own home. That's always a better option than publicly weeping in a theater, right?
On the TV side, the latest seasons of some of the CW's biggest shows will be added in April. Riverdale, Arrow, The Flash, Supernatural, and Dynasty will all end their current seasons, with them becoming available to stream a week later. Additionally, a new season of Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, along with a slew of other originals, will arrive throughout the month. Of note, the second half of The Toys That Made Us Season 1, the documentary series about famous toy lines, released on May 25.
To get an idea of everything coming on Netflix in May, take a look at the list below, and make sure you see what's leaving the service. Additionally, if you missed what the streamer was up to in April, you can check that out.
Arriving on Netflix in May
May 1
27: Gone Too Soon
A Life of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana
Amelie
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures: Season 1
Beautiful Girls
Darc
God's Own Country
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous Live at Radio City (Netflix Original)
Mr. Woodcock
My Perfect Romance
Pocoyo & Cars
Pocoyo & The Space Circus
Queens of Comedy: Season 1
Reasonable Doubt
Red Dragon
Scream 2
Shrek
Simon: Season 1
Sliding Doors
Sometimes (Netflix Original)
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Carter Effect
The Clapper
The Reaping
The Strange Name Movie
Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Season 2
May 2
Jailbreak
A Little Help with Carol Burnett (Netflix Original)
Anon (Netflix Original)
Busted!: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Dear White People: Volume 2 (Netflix Original)
End Game (Netflix Original)
Forgive Us Our Debts (Netflix Original)
Kong: King of the Apes: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Lo más sencillo es complicarlo todo
Manhunt (Netflix Original)
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Tina Fey (Netflix Original)
No Estoy Loca
The Rain: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
May 5
Faces Places
May 6
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale (Netflix Original)
May 8
Desolation
Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives (Netflix Original)
May 9
Dirty Girl
May 11
Bill Nye Saves the World: Season 3 (Netflix Original)
Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist (Netflix Original)
Spirit Riding Free: Season 5 (Netflix Original)
The Kissing Booth (Netflix Original)
The Who Was? Show: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
May 13
Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife (Netflix Original)
May 14
The Phantom of the Opera
May 15
Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce: Season 4
Grand Designs: Seasons 13–14
Only God Forgives
The Game 365: Seasons 15–16
May 16
89
Mamma Mia!
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The Kingdom
Wanted
May 18
Cargo (Netflix Original)
Catching Feelings (Netflix Original)
Inspector Gadget: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
May 19
Bridge to Terabithia
Disney's Scandal: Season 7
Small Town Crime
May 20
Some Kind of Beautiful
May 21
Señora Acero: Season 4
May 22
Mob Psycho 100: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Shooter: Season 2
Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 2 (Netflix Original)
Tig Notaro: Happy To Be Here (Netflix Original)
May 23
Explained (Netflix Original)
May 24
Fauda: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Survivors Guide to Prison
May 25
Ibiza (Netflix Original)
Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life (Netflix Original)
The Toys That Made Us: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Trollhunters: Part 3 (Netflix Original)
May 26
Sara's Notebook (Netflix Original)
May 27
The Break with Michelle Wolf (Netflix Original)
May 29
Coco
May 30
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
May 31
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Howard Stern (Netflix Original)
Also arriving in April
Arrow: Season 6
Dynasty: Season 1
Riverdale: Season 2
Supernatural: Season 1
The Flash: Season 4
Leaving Netflix in May
May 1
Bridget Jones's Diary
Casper
Chappie
Charlotte's Web
Field of Dreams
GoodFellas
Ocean's Eleven
Sahara
Silent Hill
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The Hurt Locker
To Rome With Love
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
May 2
12 Dates of Christmas
Beauty & the Briefcase
Cadet Kelly
Camp Rock
Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam
Cow Belles
Cyberbully
Disney's The Cheetah Girls
Disney's The Cheetah Girls 2
Disney's The Cheetah Girls: One World
Frenemies
Geek Charming
Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas
Hello Sister, Goodbye Life
High School Musical
High School Musical 2
Jump In!
Lemonade Mouth
Little Einsteins: Seasons 1–2
My Fake Fiancé
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension
Phineas and Ferb: Seasons 1–4
Princess Protection Program
Princess: A Modern Fairytale
Read It and Weep
Revenge of the Bridesmaids
Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure
Special Agent Oso: Seasons 1–2
StarStruck
Teen Spirit
The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Seasons 1–5
It's the first Tuesday of the month, which means a new set of PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games is now available for PlayStation Plus members to download for free. You have six games waiting for you across all systems, but because several of them are Cross-Buy, you'll get three games for PS4.
This month's PS4 offerings are headlined by Beyond: Two Souls, a game from Quantic Dream, the makers of this month's big PS4 exclusive, Detroit: Become Human. Like Detroit, Beyond: Two Souls is a cinematic, narrative-driven game whose plot largely hinges around the choices you make. May's other free PS4 game is the stylish, well-received platformer Rayman Legends.
Over on PS3, you get the action RPG Risen 3: Titan Lords as well as the arcade-style game Eat Them, which has you design a monster and use it to go wreck a city. PS Vita owners can download the similarly destruction-based game King Oddball and the physics puzzle game Furmins. King Oddball supports Cross-Buy and is playable on PS3 and PS4 as well.
All of these games are free to download until Tuesday, June 5, and you can play them as long as you have an active PS Plus membership. You can download the games from your PlayStation device, or from the web-based PlayStation Store.
Ever since it was announced that Ryan Reynolds would star in an R-rated Deadpool movie, fans have been hoping that the foul-mouthed character would cross paths with X-Men member Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Unfortunately, Jackman announced he was retiring from the character after Logan.
All hope is not lost, though. Jackman is making dreams come true on his Instagram thanks to a very special appearance by Deadpool himself. In a video on Jackman's account, his birthday wishes turn to comedy when a familiar voice starts singing "Tomorrow" from the movie Annie, as well as The Baha Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" With a quick turn of the camera, it's revealed that merc with a mouth is lounging on Jackman's bed--where else would he be?
"Who let them out?" Deadpool wonders. "No one knows. No one ever solved that mystery."
While this is likely the closest fans will ever come to seeing Wolverine and Deadpool team up, it's still very entertaining. It's also nice to see Jackman still having fun with the X-Men universe, even if he's done reprising the role he's become synonymous with.
Then again, maybe if he and Reynolds get along well enough, the actor will consider dusting off his claws for one more trip to the X-Men universe? After all, Logan was set in the future; why not take a little trip back in time to have some fun with the X-Force?
When it comes to stunts, Tom Cruise doesn't mess around--especially where the Mission Impossible movie franchise is involved. Time and again, Cruise has put his own safety on the line to make sure the crazy things his character does are as realistic as possible--GameSpot has even documented his many crazy acts.
For his latest stunt, though, Cruise might be outdoing even himself. The star revealed some new footage for the upcoming Mission Impossible: Fallout at the CinemaCon exhibition in Las Vegas, which called for him to go skydiving. This wasn't your ron-of-the-mill jump out of a plane, though.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cruise took the leap from so high that it required oxygen tanks simply to breathe on the way down. "It took a year to figure this sequence out," Cruise explained to the movie theater exhibitors and press in attendance. This was what's called a high altitude-low opening jump, which sees the skydiver jumping from 25,000-35,000 feet, before deploying their parachute as low to the ground as possible.
In this particular scene, Cruise's character Ethan Hunt, and the movie's villain played by Henry Cavill, skydive into a lightning storm and are actually struck by the electricity--which renders Cavill's August Walker unconscious. It's then up to Hunt to not only catch but resuscitate him as they plummet toward the Earth. The cast and crew were able to pull the stunt off in three takes, which will be stitched together into a single sequence.
You might be wondering, with so much on tap, what isn't Cruise willing to do? "One of the requests that Tom made was that he not catch on fire," director Christopher McQuarrie reveals. That seems like a fair thing to ask. Who wants to be set on fire?
Mission Impossible: Fallout hits theaters on July 27.
There was a lot of information packed into the second episode of Westworld Season 2, "Reunion." Whether it was the revelation that Dolores has been outside of the park before or Logan and William's first introduction to the possibilities the technology used to bring Westworld to life held, there was plenty to be learned throughout this installment. However, there was also one very interesting resolution to a Season 1 mystery you may have missed.
It was halfway through the pilot episode of Westworld when Peter Abernathy, the father of Dolores, found a photo of a woman in modern-day Times Square buried in the dirt on his ranch. That discovery, which wasn't explained beyond this episode, threw Peter out of his loop and eventually led to him being replaced. Now, well over a year later, the series has revisited the mystery woman.
As it turns out, the person in question is none other than William's wife, who was introduced for the first time in "Reunion." That's a very interesting development, given that the photo used was a stock photograph from Getty Images. The model in the photo, America's Next Top Model alum Claire Unabia, told The Huffington Post in 2016 that she was surprised to find out her image was used on the series: "Someone did ask if my picture may have been used for a TV show but I did not know what they were talking about so I just said it was possible," she said at the time.
However, now Unabia has returned as William's wife Juliet. It begs the question of whether this was all a set up from the beginning. While it's possible the show decided to bring her back after the pilot was filmed and aired, Westworld is also seemingly a show that knows exactly where it's going. It is unlikely that the photo was used with no intention of revisiting that particular piece of the story again.
The photographer behind the piece, Erik Von Weber, has well over a thousand photos on Getty Images, featuring a wide range of subjects. In some, he's actually taken pictures of a man in a samurai costume with a helmet practically identical to one seen in in the quick glimpses of Shogunworld.
Whatever the case, solving the mystery of who is in that Times Square photo of opens the door to several more questions: How did it get there? While it's possible the Man in Black dropped it on one of his dastardly Sweetwater adventures, how did it end up in the particular spot, and why was it now that Peter's loop allowed for him to find it? And why could he see it when Dolores couldn't?
This is exactly why fans tune into Westworld, so it's good to know the show hasn't lost its way.
Is there room in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a superhero who smashes enemies in the face with buckets of paint or knows how to grocery shop on a budget in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War? If so, Macaulay Culkin--who first rose to fame in 1989's Home Alone--would like to throw his name in the hat.
Culkin has officially put Disney and Marvel Studios on notice that he's ready to be of service to the MCU in a tweet. "Hey [Marvel] and [Disney] there's still time to cast me in part 2 of Infinity War," he writes. "I'm around." He also includes what he's calling a reel to show the producers and directors of the film exactly what he's capable of. In case you were wondering, he excels at wearing bunny ears and beating WWE superstars at thumb wrestling.
Unfortunately, there's some bad news for Culkin. It actually is too late for him to snag a role in Avengers 4, as it's already been filmed. In fact, it was shot back-to-back with Avengers: Infinity War. Voth movies wrapped production back in January.
The MCU isn't slowing down anytime soon, though. There will be plenty of chances to integrate the actor if the powers-that-be decide it should be done. First, he'll have to take off those bunny ears, though.
If you've already had the chance to check out Avengers: Infinity War, GameSpot has plenty for you to check out. Once you know all of the MCU secrets, take a look at our deep dive into that post-credits scene, as well as a primer on that shocking cameo appearance.
Update: One day after a new poster for Ant-Man and the Wasp was released, a new trailer that sets up the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has arrived. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Wasp looks to be on par with the first Ant-Man movie in terms of fun. The original story continues below.
Now that Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters, Marvel Studios is wasting no time in getting fans ready for the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ant-Man and the Wasp is coming in just over two months, and a new poster has been released--with a trailer on the way. Warning: The rest of this story contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't seen it yet, it's best to stop reading right now.
It's unclear exactly when in the MCU timeline Ant-Man and the Wasp is set--other than sometime after Ant-Man. That said, perhaps the trailer will shed a little light on whether it is being impacted by what happened in Infinity War. While it was explained that Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) cut a deal with the government to go home after Captain America: Civil War, he's supposed to be under house arrest. There's also that pesky thing where half of the universe turned to dust.
Still, based on the poster, it looks like those important to Scott remain intact--inducing Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and Luis (Michael Pena). Where Hope is concerned, that's especially important as she becomes the Wasp in this film--taking on the mantle originally held by her mother, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer).
The poster also includes a look at the movie's villain, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), as well as characters portrayed by Laurence Fishburne and Walton Goggins. Hopefully, the new trailer that's releasing on Tuesday (May 1) will give more insight into their roles in the film.
While you won't have to wait long for the trailer, which will hopefully include some answers, you'll still have to wait until July 6 to see Ant-Man and the Wasp in theaters.
Stardew Valley is one step closer to bringing multiplayer to the main game, and now players on PC are able to opt-in to a new beta that allows them to try out co-op play. Developer ConcernedApe has announced version 1.3 is now in public beta, and those who want to try multiplayer can do so by following a few steps.
To enable the new beta, right-click the game in your library and select Properties. In the Betas tab, type the password jumpingjunimos and click Check Code button. You should then be able to select Beta in the drop down box, and that will prompt the game to download version 1.3. ConcernedApe encourages players to back up their game first, and gives instructions on Steam.
In Stardew Valley's new multiplayer, you can host your own farm. Up to three other friends can live with you on your farm, and you'll need to either build them cabins to live in or use pre-built ones. Cabins are cheap, so it should be easy to get your friends in the game fairly early. You'll all share the farm, your money, and world updates, while inventory, skills, and NPC relationships will all be kept separate.
You can choose whether you want your friends on your Steam/GOG list to be able to join, or if you'd like your farm to invite only, meaning only those with invitations or invite codes will be able to join your server. ConcernedApe is sharing a few other details about multiplayer too. For instance, you can marry another player; only the host will be able to pause the game; to sleep, all players must head to bed and say 'yes' to the dialog, otherwise the day won't end; starting a festival works the same, with all players needing to be at the festival location before it can begin.
You can get more details on the new multiplayer beta from the patch notes on Steam. ConcernedApe says there will be new content coming to the single-player game and it will announce more details about that at a later date. Multiplayer is coming to consoles, as well, with the Nintendo Switch version being the first to get it.
Strange Brigade developer Rebellion has unveiled an official release date for its co-op shooter. The game, which allows up to four players to tackle its campaign in co-op, will release August 28 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with Collector's and Digital Deluxe versions also available.
Strange Brigade puts you in the middle of an exotic and mysterious corner of 1930s Egypt. The Strange Brigade team discovers an army of mummies hell-bent on terror, and you have the power to stop them. Rebellion says the game will throw treacherous traps, puzzles, and hordes of monsters your way. The third-person shooter arms each of the four characters with their own weapons, tactics, and supernatural powers. Check out the game's latest story trailer above.
You can now pre-order Strange Brigade for $50, with all pre-orders including a free Secret Service Weapons Pack that comes with the "butter-smooth" Wilkers & White P19 pistol, the "piercingly precise" Stoudenmire 960 submachine gun, and the "punch-packing" Gehrig-Delgane S1 rifle. The Deluxe Edition, for $80, is also available for pre-order and includes the game and the Season Pass for future DLC. Rebellion is promising future content will include new campaign missions, characters, weapons, items, and more.
The Collector's Edition of Strange Brigade also comes with lots of other goodies. We don't have details yet on how to order it or how much it'll cost, but here's everything on offer:
Strange Brigade boxed edition (PS4 and Xbox One only)
Bandai Namco revealed its upcoming Dragon Ball FighterZ DLC character Fused Zamasu earlier this week, and now we're getting a look at some of his fierce moves in a new gameplay trailer. Check out Fused Zamasu in action in the video above. There's still no official release date on when Zamasu will hit the game, just that he will be available soon on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Fused Zamasu is the result of the fusion of Zamasu and his counterpart Goku Black, and he's one of the major antagonists in the Dragon Ball Super series. He was first announced in a recent issue of V-Jump magazine (via Gematsu), which also revealed that some his special attacks give him the ability to fly freely through the air. You can see some of his aerial moves in the new gameplay trailer.
Fused Zamasu is the third DLC character to be come to the Dragon Ball FighterZ, following the release of Broly and Bardock in March. Broly is slow but overwhelmingly powerful, while Bardock favors rush attacks and close-range fighting. All of the characters (and future ones) are included in the game's $35 US / £22 / $40.95 AU season pass. We don't know how much Fused Zamasu will cost on his own, but the other DLC characters could be purchased for $5 US / £4 / $7.55 AU each. For more on Broly and Bardock, check out each character's epic Dramatic Finishes, as well as their Supers and victory quotes.
There are at least five more DLC characters planned for Dragon Ball FighterZ. Bandai Namco has yet to officially announce who they'll be, but we've put together a list of 15 DLC characters we'd love to see in the game. If you'd like to get a look at all the characters in the game so far, including the new additions, check out our full character roster.
Each month, Amazon and Twitch give away free digital items to Amazon Prime members with Twitch accounts. This month, not only can you download six free games between now and May 31, but you can also get some free Heroes of the Storm loot as well.
Up for grabs in May are a Glitch-steed mount and five Rare Loot Chests. The contents of the chests are random, but each one is guaranteed to contain at least one rare item. Loot Chests in Heroes of the Storm contain a randomized assortment of things like heroes, sprays, skins, voice lines, banners, and announcers.
This month's rewards aren't quite as valuable as last month's, which gave Twitch Prime members five free Legendary Loot Chests, but the mount is a nice addition. Next month's offerings don't include a steed but will include five Rare Loot Chests.
To snag the free items, first make sure to link your Amazon Prime account with your Twitch account. Then link your Twitch account to your Blizzard account. Once you've done that, you can claim your rewards by heading to Twitch and clicking the crown-shaped Prime Loot icon next to the search bar. That opens the drop-down menu where you'll find your items waiting for you.
Heroes of the Storm is a popular free-to-play MOBA that pits two teams of five Blizzard heroes against each another. Each hero has unique abilities that can help their team destroy the opponent's base. In GameSpot's Heroes of the Storm review, Tyler Hicks gave the game a 9/10, calling it "a must-play for both MOBA players and Blizzard enthusiasts... [It's] a fantastic casual-competitive game that offers untold hours of enjoyment."
We're giving away a God of War Limited Edition 1TB PS4 Pro, grey DualShock 4 Controller, and copy of the game!
This special bundle features a fully customized Leviathan Grey 1TB PS4 Pro console inspired by Kratos' Axe, a matching DualShock 4 wireless controller with insignia, and a copy of God of War Day One Edition.
Entry is open to United States residents only, since the prize is shipping from the US. Competition ends Monday, May 7 at 11:00 AM PDT. One (1) winner will be chosen.
Enter below (the additional entries are OPTIONAL to increase your chances of winning):
The No More Heroes games, along with their creator Goichi Suda (AKA Suda 51) are no strangers to running with crazy, off-the-wall ideas. In the Switch exclusive Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, the titular character and his rival BadMan are teleported into living videogames and are forced to battle through bizarre challenges and bosses. Going for a more arcade-style brawler gameplay, fans were left a bit confused by the sudden change in scenery and aesthetic. But for Suda 51 and the developers at Grasshopper Manufacture, the new game--which they state is more of a side-story--is still the same quirky and ludicrously stylized No More Heroes game that they're used to.
With that said, Suda still has ideas for where the series could go after the Travis Strikes Again which launches later in 2018, and how the Switch will be instrumental in that. During a chat with Suda at PAX East, he spoke about the fan reactions for the game, and that the upcoming Switch brawler is not No More Heroes 3. Evidently, Suda has much bigger plans for that.
Travis Strikes Again is a bit different compared to the other games on a structural level. Can you talk about how you wanted to approach this game in particular, and how you wanted to make it feel compared to the first two games?
Suda 51: One of the big differences about this game is that it's made with a very small team, only 12 people. Because of that, I decided to go with a new style and make it a completely new adventure for Travis. With [No More Heroes] one and two, the formula for the series sort of got set in stone. I wanted to break away from that and do something totally different and pretty much just make a whole new IP with Travis Strikes Again.
It feels much more arcadey this time around, which is in keeping with the video game-y aspects of the narrative. Was this idea something that you've long held, or was it something that came as a result of the circumstances of making this game.
When I was talking with the staff, we decided that we wanted to go for a really arcade feel for the game, similar to stuff like Gauntlet--or rather like Smash TV. That sort of helped define how the game would play. The theme this time with the game is that Travis is going into these different game worlds and finding his way through them. I also want it to be sort of a journey through game history itself, and all the games I played as a kid really influenced me in forming that.
Given the small staff working on the game, it's very much similar to indie development. Do you feel that Travis Strikes Again has that sort of vibe to an indie game?
Well, we started [development] last year in May with only four or five people. We've grown to 12 since then. I do feel closer to the indie style, which is actually how I started making games. So it's kind of like a return to old form for me. Everyone is just an individual, they each have their own roles. It's really us doing whatever we can when we can, rather than like some big team with people all working together on the same thing. Because it's a small team, I get to talk directly face-to-face with them. We don't have any big meetings to decide stuff.
Last year was the 10th anniversary of the original No More Heroes. When you started work on Travis Strikes Again, were you still keeping in mind fans' expectations and passion for the series while trying to come up with this new game?
Of course that's always on my mind and I really feel that it's the voice of the fans that brought back Travis. I love Travis, and I always wanted to bring him back, but this is really something special for the fans. The 10th anniversary and now this year with the 20th anniversary of Grasshopper, I'm hoping that this game will be like a really fun present that he can give back to all his fans.
What's it been like developing the game on the Nintendo Switch. In the last year it's been out it's been incredibly popular. It must be exciting to actually be a part of that line up of games.
It's really fun, really exciting. Coming here to PAX and seeing all the excitement around the Nintendo booth and being able to be a part of that--it's really great. The people at Nintendo are really great. They're not very private. It's like you're part of a big family.
No More Heroes always comes up with some unique ways to handle motion controls. We were using the Pro Controller for our demo of Travis Strikes Again, though. Are you still keeping in mind that the Switch has sort of this unique set up and are you thinking of ways to try and utilize that for the game?
Yeah, so the core of the game design this time around is around the two Joy-Cons and being able to pull those off and being able to play two-player just with them and still being able to do a bunch of different moves. That's one of the core concepts that they're really focusing on. I really want to really utilize the vibration as well. I do like the Pro Controller, but in terms of the charging mechanic (shaking the controller in a crude gesture to charge your weapon), it's definitely better to do it with the Joy-Con.
Last year at PAX West, you said that you were looking at including some references to other indie games in Travis Strikes Again. I noticed there was a Hyper Light Drifter shirt that Travis was wearing. Has any other games stuck else out to you over the course of making this game?I was playing Dead Cells this morning.
I was really impressed. It was so much fun and I was surprised that it's an indie game. It's so well made, and I was thinking I would build that into the game. Also, Party Hard 2 is really fun. I like that game a lot.
Looking back on the last 10 years working on the series, is there a particular moment within the game or even from its creation that sticks out to you?
There's stuff like the saving on the toilet, and charging the beam-katana. That's really symbolic of the No More Heroes series. One thing that really sticks out to me: the team and I came up with the beam-katana's slash mechanic, where you use the buttons to attack and then you only shake the controller at the end to finish them off. I really felt that would be something that maybe would make it feel better playing. When I had the programmer put it in the game and actually tried it out for myself, I immediately knew in that moment, "Alright, this game's going to be good."
Lastly, with the new game coming out this year is there anything you'd like to say for fans that have been keeping the passion alive for the series for ten years?
I just want to say thank you for loving Travis. I'm so happy that I could revive the series on Nintendo console, and that I could bring a part of the Nintendo Switch library. I just want to get it out and let as many people play it as possible. I'm just happy that I can prove now that Travis is really back, and if this is successful, I'm planning to go straight ahead and make No More Heroes 3 as well.
May is officially here, which means the first half of this month's Games with Gold lineup has arrived. Xbox Live Gold subscribers can now download two new games across Xbox One and Xbox 360, with another pair of freebies set to follow partway through the month.
On the Xbox One side, Gold members can grab the newly released Super Mega Baseball 2 at no charge. Like the first Super Mega Baseball, the game features deep baseball sim mechanics beneath its cartoony visuals, and this time around, players can compete against each other online. This month's first free 360 title, meanwhile, is the Sega classic Streets of Rage. That game is also playable on Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility.
Super Mega Baseball 2 will remain free to download throughout the entire month, while Streets of Rage will return to its regular price on May 15. Gold members can also still download one holdover from April's Games with Gold lineup: Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the 2015 stealth-action game set in Victorian London. That likewise returns to its normal price on May 15.
Beginning May 16, Microsoft will offer two more free games for Gold members. Xbox One owners will be able to grab Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the latest mainline installment in the popular stealth franchise. Platinum Games' cult favorite shooter Vanquish will be the second free 360 title offered this month.
Both Metal Gear Solid V and Vanquish will remain free to download through the end of May, and the latter is also backwards compatible with Microsoft's newer console, giving Xbox One owners four new freebies to grab this month. You can find the full list of May's free Games with Gold lineup below.
May 2018 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Super Mega Baseball 2 (May 1-31)
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (May 16-June 15)
Capcom is teaming up with iam8bit to produce a neat collectible for Mega Man's 30th anniversary. The Mega Man 2 30th Anniversary Cartridge and Mega Man X 30th Anniversary Cartridge are limited editions priced at $100 apiece. They're expected to ship in September 2018, and pre-orders are now open through iam8bit.com.
Each of the cartridges is a limited run of 8,500 units--7,500 in a standard opaque light blue, and a mere 1,000 in translucent, glow-in-the-dark blue. They'll be in sealed, unmarked boxes, so whether you get the regular or the ultra-rare copy will be left a mystery until you open it. Plus, each cart is actually playable in your NES or SNES.
The Mega Man 2 cart is a dual-fold box with an instruction booklet with a forward by Mega Man collector and author Salvatore Pane. The Mega Man X cart is a tri-fold with a similar instruction manual forward by Jirard Khalil. Both copies also promise "retro pack-in surprises."
The announcement kicks off Capcom's "Mega May," implying more surprises in store for the Blue Bomber. The character is preparing for a come-back with the release of Mega Man 11 later this year, and with E3 around the corner we're likely to hear some more about it. So far we've seen glimpses of a new art style, but not much else. It's coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch this year.
It's officially May, which means a new bundle of free PC games is available for Twitch and Amazon Prime members. This month's offerings include a number of widely respected indie games. To find your freebies, just click the crown-shaped Prime Loot icon next to the search bar on Twitch. That opens a drop-down menu that contains your free games.
One of the biggest games this month is the mind-bending 3D platformer Psychonauts, in which you enter people's minds and explore physical manifestations of their psyches. Gone Home is a first-person story-driven game. The adventure game I, Hope covers some heavy subject matter, and for those looking for fast-paced action, High Hell is a first-person shooter that encourages speedrunning.
Also free is the challenging first-person game Clustertruck, which has you sprinting across the roofs of semi-trucks as they race through the desert. Touch the ground and you're toast. Finally, Titan Souls puts you in the shoes of a tiny character with a single arrow and asks you to take down enormous bosses. You don't need a health bar in this game, because one hit spells death.
Twitch Prime is a perk for members of Amazon Prime. All you have to do to sign up is link your Amazon Prime account to your Twitch account. Once you do, you can download all six games for no cost between May 1 - 31. They're yours to keep forever, even if you cancel Amazon Prime at some point down the line. The only catch is that you need the Twitch desktop app to install them.
Avengers: Infinity War has been in theaters for less than a week, but the next Marvel movie is only two months from release. Ant-Man and the Wasp is released in July, and following a poster, the new trailer is here.
There has been some speculation about when exactly in the MCU timelineAnt-Man and the Wasp takes place, but this new trailer doesn't provide any clues; in fact, the only other Marvel movie it references is the first Ant-Man. But it's a lot of fun, with Paul Rudd back as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly getting joint-billing as Hope Pym, aka the Wasp. There's plenty of outlandish action involving both Ant-Man and Giant-Man (Lang's other, somewhat taller, identity), while Lilly's Wasp looks like she will be a great foil to Lang. Check it out above.
In addition, Michael Douglas returns as Hank Pym, while Michael Peña (The Martian, Fury) is back as Lang's criminal pal Luis. New cast members include Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Randall Park (The Interview, Trainwreck) as SHIELD agent Jimmy Woo.
Ant-Man and The Wasp is directed by Peyton Reed. It hits theaters on July 6 in the US, with the UK release set for August 3. Reed helmed the first film, taking over from Edgar Wright, who had worked on the movie for many years but left shortly before production began. Last year, Wright revealed that he has never seen the final film.
In an interview with Modern Myth Media last year, Reed spoke about his plans for the sequel. "For me, as a comic nerd, I have always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team," he said. "That's a lot of what the second movie is really about--how they work together, and what their personal and professional relationships are like.
"To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. To me she's not a supporting character in this movie. It's every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang's."
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