It took 14 long years to get a second Incredibles film from Disney/Pixar. However, it seems as though the latest installment in the superhero franchise didn't miss a step. As GameSpot's Incredibles 2 review points out, the new film is a worthy sequel--and just might be even better than the original.
It's also well on its way to earning Disney/Pixar's best opening weekend at the box office, with $18.5 million in Thursday night domestic preview screenings. That news comes via Deadline.
With seemingly everything working in its favor, it's only natural to wonder what happens next. After all, Pixar wouldn't wait another 14 years to revisit the Incredibles universe, would it? There have been three Cars movies since the first Incredibles movie hit theaters, proving the animation studio isn't afraid of sequels. You should stop reading now if you haven't seen Incredibles 2, as we're going to discuss spoilers.
So when should fans expect Incredibles 3? "Yeah, don't go there," writer-director Brad Bird tells GameSpot. "It's best not to talk to the mom who's just delivered a child about, 'How about the next child?' Don't do it. Don't do it, man."
Given that Bird and his team are just now closing the book on Incredibles 2, it's easy to understand why he's reticent to discuss another sequel. However, there are plenty of opportunities to explore in the new film. Whether it's the introduction of a new generation of supers or the fact that the Underminer is still at large, there are plenty of plot threads to address in another movie.
However, the biggest "unexploded bomb," as Bird refers to it, is Jack-Jack. The youngest member of the Parr family has a ton of crazy superpowers, and the writer-director teases there may be even more to see beyond what's in Incredibles 2. "He's all potential, right?" Bird asks.
Whatever the case, another Incredibles movie seems like an obvious road for Disney/Pixar to go down. As for when it will happen, that's anyone's guess.
Season 2 ofStar Trek: Discoveryis currently in production, ahead of a 2019 premiere. The series was being overseen by showrunners Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who replaced Bryan Fuller early into the production of Season 1. It has now been reported that Berg and Harberts have themselves left the show, with producer Alex Kurtzman taking over as showrunner.
Kurtzman's new role was confirmed in a statement from CBS Television Studios, which produces Discovery. It reads, "We've made some producer changes at Star Trek: Discovery. The series continues under the creative vision and leadership of executive producer and co-creator Alex Kurtzman. Discovery remains on course for season two in 2019 with new and continuing stories that build on its successful premiere season."
Kurtzman has been involved with the show since the very start and remains the most consistent figure amongst the various behind-the-scenes personnel changes. Fuller was originally appointed as showrunner, but in October 2016, he left the show to focus on Starz's American Gods. Berg and Harberts were already involved as executive producers and took over from Fuller.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were a number of rumored reasons for their departure, including a ballooning budget for Season 2's premiere episode and disagreements with members of the show's writing team. The site notes that the production was due to go on a planned hiatus soon, and that the change of showrunners will not affect its schedule.
In April, it was reported that Inhumans star Anson Mount will join Season 2 in the role of Captain Christopher Pike, the predecessor of James T. Kirk at the helm of the USS Enterprise. The arrival of Pike was first teased in the Season 1 finale when the USS Discovery came face-to-face with the iconic Star Trek vessel.
In related news, it has also been revealed that there are in fact two separate Star Trek movies in development. Although the direction of the franchise on the big screen has been uncertain following the commercial disappointment of 2016's Star Trek Beyond, Paramount boss Jim Gianopulos confirmed that it was still an active property at the studio. While we don't know what these projects are, one of them could be the Star Trek movie that Quentin Tarantino has been reportedly developing.
American Horror Story fans were expecting a crossover season at some point, but no one expected it as soon as this year! Ryan Murphy officially confirmed on Twitter that there will be an American Horror Story crossover season coming out this September combining two of the most popular seasons, Murder House and Coven.
Murphy did previously confirm that Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Kathy Bates will all be rejoining the cast for season 8. He even gave us a vague idea of who some of their characters may be, describing Peter's character as a funny hair stylist whose grandmother will be played by Joan Collins. Murphy also said that the season takes place 18 months from now, but things are a bit confused with the confirmation of the crossover season.
The Coven/Murder House AHS crossover season won't be happening next year...because it's happening THIS YEAR. AHS #8 WITCHES RULE THIS SEPTEMBER
Many fans are wondering, is the character that Murphy described for Peters in the crossover, or the season after it? When Murphy said it will take place 18 months from now, does that mean the crossover will be in the near future? Or was he talking about the season after this one? Will Sarah Paulson or Kathy Bates be reprising any of their roles? Will any of the old characters be coming back? In typical AHS fashion, the answers seem to only lead to more questions.
Details aside, what we know at this point is that the worlds of Murder House and Coven will be colliding in an American Horror Story crossover season this September, and we can't wait to see the ghosts party with the witches.
The next Pokemon Go Community Day is right around the corner. The event takes place this Saturday, June 16, giving players another chance to capture rare Pokemon and earn some extra bonuses.
As Niantic previously revealed, the featured Pokemon in this month's Community Day is Larvitar. The Rock-type monster will spawn much more frequently than normal during the event hours, and if past Community Days are any indication, players will also have a chance to encounter Shiny variants of the Pokemon.
Any Larvitar that evolves into Tyranitar before the Community Day ends will also learn a special event-exclusive move, which Niantic recently revealed is the Rock-type attack Smack Down. This also applies to Larvitar that were captured prior to the Community Day; however, the Pokemon will only learn Smack Down if it evolves during the event hours.
On top of increased Larvitar spawns, players who participate in the Community Day will earn triple the normal amount of XP for capturing Pokemon. Additionally, any Lure Modules that are activated during the event will last for three hours, rather than the usual 30 minutes.
As is typically the case, June's Community Day will be held during a specific window of time rather than at a particular location. The event runs for three hours and kicks off at different times depending on where you live. You can find the Community Day schedule for each major region below.
North America
11 AM - 2 PM PT
2 PM - 5 PM ET
Europe and Africa
10 AM - 1 PM BST
Asia-Pacific
12 PM - 3 PM JST
On top of the new Community Day, Pokemon Go players can still participate in the ongoing Water Festival event, which runs until June 21. During the Water Festival, Water-type Pokemon such as Magikarp and Wailmer spawn more frequently, while 2km Eggs will hatch into Totodile, Mudkip, Corphish, and other Water-types.
The Legendary Water Pokemon Kyogre has also returned temporarily as part of the Water Festival. As before, the Pokemon can be found as a Raid Battle at Gyms, and this time, Niantic teases that players may have a chance to encounter its Shiny form.
Prior to E3, things weren't looking great for Microsoft. Crackdown was delayed to 2019. Sea of Thieves launch got off to an unstable start. And the console's list of exclusives looked lacking, to say the least. But the Microsoft press conference cracked open the shell obscuring what the Xbox has planned for the near future. And things are now looking much better. Matt Booty, the recently appointed head of first party studios, explained in an interview at E3 that he's trying to do more than just put out sequels to existing franchises; he he hopes to do more "branching out sideways."
"For example, you saw what we're doing with Gears of War," Booty explained. "We're putting the game on three different platforms with three different games in three different genres. We've got a core Gears game on console. We've got a new exploration off in mobile. We've got a whole new kind of game off in PC with Gears Tactics, right? And that's one way we'll grow."
But the other avenue for growth is equally headline-making: Xbox announced partnerships with five new studios, all of which will fall under Booty's umbrella. "We're going to bet on people, we're going to bet on ideas. We're going to go on, Phil [Spencer] used the word, a 'quest' to find creators. You think about the common thread with people like Guillaume [Provost] at Compulsion Games, Nina at Ninja Theory. These are studio leaders who really understand the craft of the game and the creativity."
Booty says that he also has some "complete blank slates." For the hiring of Darrell Gallagher, who heads up the newly formed Santa Monica studio, Booty gave him a "blank piece of paper," and told him, "You go hire the team you want. You go work on the game you want. We're going to get you a building you want, and we want to just start a studio from scratch."
The future of Xbox games sounds promising, but 2018 still feels light on exclusives. In response to that, Booty boasts that the power of the Xbox One makes the console's strong third party line-up an equally important selling point. "We saw partners of our stage, folks like Bethesda, who have decided to show their content many times first on our stage, and flat out have said, 'Hey, we think this looks best on Xbox One X.' So we've got some cool stuff coming from first party as we get into holiday, but we've got a whole bunch of partners that are bringing content over the next year that really plays best on Xbox."
But the Microsoft gaming division is about more than just games. Spencer teased that a console streaming service is on the way. There's the dedicated streaming app Mixer. And on the hardware side, there's already a team at work on the next iteration of Xbox hardware. How does someone like Booty help elevate his teams while also making sure everything else Microsoft has coming up gets the attention it needs?
"The job of first party, really at the core, is to be kind of a beacon and a lighthouse for a lot of our things," he explains. "So when we first said, 'What if we put games into Game Pass at the same time that we put them into retail and digital?' There were some questions about that. Does that mean that people are only going to play it in the Game Pass? Is that going to impact retail sales?
"Sea of Thieves was our first game to go day and date into Game Pass, followed by State of Decay, and what we have found is that we've had great success with both of those games at retail and digital, and we've got a bunch of people inside Game Pass engaging with the game either because they were already subscribed to Game Pass, or they might not have engaged with that game before, but because it's available to them inside Game Pass, they try it out. It's about exploration, and about discovery. We've had over two million people play State of Decay so far just in its short time since launch, and that really is, I believe, because Game Pass has opened up a bigger audience. There is some inherent risk in there, but the job of Microsoft Studios is to go first, and to really be that lighthouse.
"When you think all the way back to the very first Xbox: Halo as a shooter--it's almost hard to believe now, but at the time, there was all this debate about whether shooters would work on console. 'How can you possibly play a shooter on a console? Are you going to be able to have the internet? Multiplayer, how does that work?' And yet Halo took the risk and was there first, really made it work, and it was obviously a great success.
"So when you think about balancing those priorities, the thing we've got to remember and that we've got to orient to is that's our job. Our job is to sort of be there first, and I sit in the same meetings in the same rooms with folks who are the leaders for Game Pass, for Mixer, with our hardware engineers, and we all collaborate very closely. One of the advantages of being part of first party is that we have access with them and we have the ability to influence those decisions."
The balancing act is not an easy, and the coming year will show how well Booty is going to be able to execute on his plans for coordination and expansion. But whether or not it's ultimately successful, Microsoft is going to have some exciting announcements in the next few years.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is three years in the making; Ubisoft Quebec conceived this entry into the long-running franchise as the team wrapped up development for Assassin's Creed Syndicate back in 2015. Ubisoft Montreal was in the process of transforming the series with Origins (that released in 2017) which gave the Quebec studio a foundation to further evolve Assassin's Creed into a full-fledged RPG the team envisioned. It's not just about the inclusion of branching dialogue or seemingly arbitrary choices during quests, though. Consequence is at the heart of making the journey through Ancient Greece something more than just another historical fiction.
During a visit to Ubisoft Quebec's studio, I had the opportunity to spend around five hours with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, starting at a point deep into the story. Many of its features jumped out immediately, like choosing to play as the female protagonist Kassandra through the entire game. Regardless, I'm a mercenary on the search for lost family members in the midst of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Docked ashore the Delos Islands following a storm, I'm immediately posed with conversation options with my shipmate Barnabas. At first, it's striking to see this in an Assassin's Creed game, but considering Odyssey's full RPG approach, having agency in what I say to others is to be expected. While I could tease out more information or evoke different responses, words can have a much larger impact in certain situations.
The ability to steer your own course was abundantly clear when I could affect the rebellion on the Delos Islands. Would I endorse a brute force approach suggested by Thelatas or devise a more subtle, strategic plan with Kyra? Thelatas offers naval combat missions while Kyra points out enemy camps where you destroy weapons and supplies to weaken them. Siding with either ally on how take down the unjust ruler Podarkes would lead to liberation, but in this case, it's about changing the journey, not the destination. You won't be able to go through both missions in the same playthrough.
Decision-making in Odyssey is taken a step further when factoring consequences. A side-quest given by the philosopher Socrates tasked me with handling a prisoner situation. This particular prisoner could aid the rebellion, but he's known to be dangerous and unhinged. I could straight up kill him, save him, or just ignore the quest altogether. So, as a dedicated paragon all throughout Mass Effect, I'm willing to give others a second chance. Little did I know that saving him would impact the conclusion to the main quest line. After taking down Podarkes, the Delos Islands erupted in celebration. However, the man I saved went rogue and assassinated an ally that he believed to be a threat to maintaining independence. It was an unforeseen consequence, but I quickly realized that Assassin's Creed is now asking us to think twice, watch our backs, or anticipate the effects of our actions.
Of course, the demo was just a small slice of a much larger open world, and if Odyssey can weave all the variables into a cohesive RPG experience, it's easy to see the game stand with some of the genre's best, which have also served as inspiration for the new approach. Director Scott Phillips said it himself; The Witcher 3, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout are among his favorite games, and stated "that's what we wanted to push Assassin's Creed as a franchise into: more choice for the player."
Everything that's new is layered on top of the foundation Assassin's Creed Origins built. Franchise staples still permeate the game like climbing up to vantage points for synchronizations, stealth assassinations, and a modern day tie-in story. Genre trends such as weakening an enemy presence in specifically mapped zones to take control runs core to the game. Traversal holds Odyssey back from feeling fluid, though. Unintentionally leaping off building and scaling walls in the wrong direction happens more often than you'd hope. Hand-to-hand combat, in particular, is similar to Origins in feel, cumbersome targeting system in all. It's somewhat sluggish, but stays varied through different weapon types. However, Odyssey stands on its own with the number of abilities available in combat.
The skill tree gives players access to many more options this time around. Yes, the Spartan kick is thrilling to use for launching enemies off cliffs or into the sea during ship combat, but comes in clutch when you just want to create more distance. A shield rip makes defense enemies less irritating and much more manageable. The multi-arrow show helps tack on more damage per shot, which was really useful when fighting a burly bear with a whole lot of HP. These skills are easy to access because of how they're seamlessly mapped to the face buttons when you either hold the left trigger or left bumper. That's eight skills at your disposal at any time.
Trekking the open deserts of Origins wasn't the most exciting part of the game. Odyssey replaces that with the dangerous waters between Greece's collection of islands. In a similar vein as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, ship combat plays a large role. Fire arrow barrages, waves of javelins, or full-speed naval rams tear enemy ships, and hopping aboard to finish off the last of an enemy crew yields useful loot. It makes all the in-between more interesting and the game feels full.
The initial impression is that Assassin's Creed Odyssey makes meaningful strides for the franchise by going all in on being an RPG, and it seems to be better for it. By looking at the genres frontrunners, Ubisoft adapts the web of choice and consequence for the first time in franchise history while building on established mechanics. It's a bold move for a series that traditionally tells you a story; soon you'll be telling your own.
During Bethesda's E3 2018 press conference, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard announced yet another version of Skyrim: Skyrim Very Special Edition for Amazon Alexa. It was presented as a joke, complete with a skit starring Key & Peele's Keegan-Michael Key, but it's actually a real thing you can get on the Alexa store.
It took a lot of people by surprise, including us, but this version of Skyrim is definitely playable. We asked Bethesda Senior Vice President Pete Hines about the multilayered joke, and he explained how it came to be.
It all starts with the sea of jokes about Skyrim being on everything, which picked up steam after Bethesda announced both Skyrim on Nintendo Switch and Skyrim on PSVR last year. "We know we get a lot of flak [like] 'What else are you gonna put Skyrim on,' so we're like, 'Well, we're just gonna own it and have fun with that and make fun of ourselves and make fun of everybody else," Hines said.
"This, by the way, was entirely Todd [Howard]'s idea from the beginning, but it just started off as a joke and then it evolved into, 'Actually, we could make the game that we're joking about and then just troll [you] one layer deeper where [you] think [it's] really funny…and then you find out that it's a real thing, and we got you twice."
It certainly got us--we had to update our original story once we realized Skyrim Very Special Edition was real--and it also seems to be somewhat of a hit among fans, with 85% five-star ratings on the store page as of this writing.
"It started out simple," Hines said. "But like a lot of Todd things, it turned out to be way crazier and more complicated and awesome as a result."
In addition to Skyrim Very Special Edition, Bethesda also announced mobile game Elder Scrolls Blades as well as the long-awaited Elder Scrolls VI. To catch up on anything you missed, be sure to check our roundup of all the news from Bethesda's E3 2018 conference.
Actor Steve Downes has voiced Master Chief in every mainline Halo instalment to date, and it appears that's going to continue with Halo Infinite. During E3, Downes strongly suggested on Twitter that he is coming back to voice the super-soldier in 343's upcoming game.
The Xbox Twitter account asked Halo fans, "Are you ready to get back to work?" Downes replied, "I was born ready." While not confirmed, it really sounds like Downes will be back to play Chief again.
In 2015, just before Halo 5: Guardians launched, Downes sent out a tweet that sounded like he might be retiring from the Halo franchise. This was the same year that he retired as a radio host, so some believed Downes might be taking a step back from professional work, including Halo.
Thankfully, it sounds like he's coming back to Halo at least once more. We have followed up with Microsoft in an attempt to get more details on Downes' involvement in Halo Infinite.
No release date has been set for Infinite, but it sounds like it won't launch anytime soon. The game has a new art style and goes in "new and unexpected directions," while 343 has also teased that you'll get to play early in beta tests. For lots more on Infinite, check out GameSpot's breakdown of everything you need to know from E3.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is coming this year, and like Assassin's Creed Origins, you won't be starving for choice. Ubisoft has announced six different special editions, in addition to the standard version, for a total of seven different ways to buy the game.
Those versions ascend progressively in terms of both price and extra goodies. The $80 Deluxe Edition includes digital content like currency boosts and gear packs. For $110 you can get the Gold Edition, which gives you a season pass and early access. But for another ten, at $120, you can get all the content from both the Deluxe and Gold versions in the "Ultimate Edition."
With a name like "Ultimate" you might think that's the top-tier, but there are still three more. A GameStop-exclusive Kassandra Edition includes all of that plus a statue of Kassandra for $150. And finally, the Collector's Edition comes in two flavors: Spartan and Pantheon. Both include all of the prior content, a 64-page artbook, a lithograph by Hugo Puzzuoli, a map, and a select soundtrack. But the Spartan version includes a Spartan statue, while the Pantheon version includes both Spartan and Athenian statues to create a diorama. Those are available exclusively through Ubisoft for $160 and $220, respectively.
On top of that, each of the statues is for sale individually, and you can get other bonuses for pre-ordering through various retailers. Check out our pre-order guide to help you sort through all the details.
It's all enough to make your head spin, but apparently it worked out well enough for Origins to repeat the pricing plan. Like Origins too, there's one super-expensive bit of collector's merch: a massive limited edition statue of Alexios standing on the head of Medusa, for the low low price of $750.
During Microsoft's E3 2018 briefing, dedicated Gears of War studio The Coalition showed up to debut a trio of new games in the series. Among those was a brief teaser for Gears Tactics, a PC turn-based strategy game.
Tactics takes place 12 years before the first Gears of War. You can customize your own squad to take on threats in what was described as a more aggressive version of the classical tactics formula. And of course, as a Gears game, it will feature larger-than-life boss battles.
On Twitter, the Gears of War account described it as a "true PC strategy game where brutal action meets turn-based tactics." You can get a glimpse of what it meant in the video above.
Beyond that, little was shared; the announcement was fairly brief, as was one for an unexpected Funko-themed game. We also got word of Gears 5, the next core entry in the series. Unlike previous entries, you'll assume the role of returning character Kait Diaz. The game also looks to boast some other new additions like a giant melee weapon. For more from the Xbox-focused conference, check out our roundup.
Devil May Cry 5 made its debut at Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference, and it did so with the spectacular, over-the-top flair we expect from the series. The game is being developed by Capcom internally, and the trailer starred Nero, the character featured primarily in Devil May Cry 4.
In typical Devil May Cry fashion, the combat looks to be smooth and stylish, and Nero looks to be using Red Queen, the sword from Devil May Cry 4, as well as a replacement for the Devil Bringer ability that uses a new robotic. The trailer ended with a long-haired Dante briefly speeding by on a motorbike.
Devil May Cry V is expected to release in Spring 2019. Director Hideaki Itsuno also appeared on stage to say this is a "true" sequel to the last numbered entry in the series. Devil May Cry 5 features fully-costumed models that have been scanned into the game and the "best minds at Capcom" are working on the controls. According to Itsuno, it feels better than any action game Capcom has previously created.
The new game comes "complete with its signature blend of high-octane stylized action and otherworldly and original characters the series is known for," according to a press release. "Years have passed since the legions of hell have set foot in this world, but now a new demonic invasion has begun, and humanity's last hope will rest in the hands of three lone demon hunters, each offering a radically different play style. United by fate and a thirst for vengeance, these demon hunters will have to face their demons if they hope to survive. The devil you know returns in the most over the top, technically advanced, utterly insane action experience of this generation."
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been testing its latest map, Sanhok, on PC, and now it looks like console players can expect the map soon as well. During Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference, the company announced the map would come to Xbox One this summer.
The map, originally called codename Savage, will hit the PC version of the game on June 22, but we don't have an exact date for the Xbox One release yet. The map is designed to be a smaller, more close-quarters combat-focused map.
The game has undergone a few notable changes since it first appeared on the Experimental Test Server back in April. In particular, PUBG Corp. recently expanded the map with four new areas, and several existing areas were tweaked with new names and "various improvements."
In addition to announcing Sanhok for Xbox One, Microsoft also revealed a new map is coming in winter 2018. That map will be the first to feature snow. PUBG console players are sure to be happy with the news; Xbox One only just recently received the game's second map, with these announcements suggesting parity between it and the PC version could be coming soon.
With lots of attention being paid to Battlefield V's multiplayer and battle royale modes, Microsoft showcased a little more of the game's story mode during its E3 2018 press conference. The teaser was very short, but went a long way in portraying the atmosphere and tone of the game's plot, set during World War II. You can watch it in the video above.
The video, which features voiceover in Norwegian, is a glimpse at the story of a young Norwegian soldier, fighting to stay alive during the German occupation. While we knew that the Nordlys campaign would be one of the "War Stories" that form the story mode, you can get a sense of the dark, emotional, survival-like atmosphere that will dominate that campaign.
EA also showcased another short glimpse of the Nordlys campaign during its press conference on June 9. Battlefield V's story mode, which will also be playable in co-op, will tell stories that "may be unfamiliar to players" instead of the well-known ones from Battlefield 1942. The characters you play approach the war from the perspective of saving their family members, rather than saving the world.
A new trailer for Metro Exodus was showcased during Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference. Along with providing another look at the upcoming first-person shooter, it confirmed when the game will launch for PS4, Xbox One, and PC--and it's the same day as another anticipated shooter.
As revealed in the new trailer, Metro Exodus's release date is set for February 22, 2019. That's notably the same day that BioWare's new IP, Anthem, launches for the same platforms.
Metro Exodus was originally slated to release this year; however, publisher THQ Nordic announced back in May that the game would now be coming in the first quarter of 2019. It didn't provide a reason for the delay, but developer 4A Games said it was to ensure it delivered the best experience possible.
"We want everyone to experience the most ambitious Metro game to date at its absolute best. Therefore we've moved the release date to Q1 2019," 4A said. "We know this will be disappointing news for fans, but at E3 we will be revealing lots of new gameplay from a never-before-seen environment."
The new Metro Exodus trailer showcased a variety of weapons and customization options, as well as more of the game's desolate setting. It begins with a man giving a speech about survival and shows off some gameplay elements, such as ziplines and the ability to use a lighter to burn up cobwebs and light up rooms.
Jump Force was revealed during Microsoft's E3 press conference and got many fans of the respective manga/anime hyped up for this arena brawler. Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Death Note somehow come together in a three-on-three tag action fighting game, but it was confirmed during an interview with game producer Koji Nakajima that Death Note characters are there to setup the story, not to fight.
Nakajima (through translation) stated, "This game is going to feature a story around this unique situation, and that's where Death Note comes into play. To kind of weave the story together. So, Death Note is not [going to have] a fighting game character." Unfortunately, Nakajima wasn't able to talk more about the story during the interview.
In addition, Bandai Namco PR manager Nick O'Leary confirmed it with ComicBook.com, and added that Light Yagami isn't really an action-oriented character and there would be certain limitations with Ryuk.
Jump Force is being made in celebration of 50 years of Shonen Jump manga/anime, and Nakajima said there will be more details to reveal in the near future. Bandai Namco is making the game to be more accessible so players can enjoy their anime dream team, and you can watch some early Jump Force gameplay here.
While playing Anthem, I had to repeatedly remind myself that I was playing a BioWare game. It's the first new IP from the veteran RPG developer in a decade, and although it falls into that particular style of role-playing and third-person shooter hybrid the studio honed with the Mass Effect franchise, this is the hardest it has leaned into that concept. With Anthem, we're seeing a major shift in what BioWare is capable of. Although it still exhibits some of the studio's role-playing pedigree, it's the vast online open-world that sets Anthem apart.
In the vein of Bungie's Destiny and Ubisoft's The Division, Anthem is a shared-world online shooter focusing on groups of players taking on new challenges and chasing new loot. But in familiar BioWare fashion, your particular Freelancer will make important narrative choices throughout the game's main campaign, altering their relationships with allies and other factions. While this sounds pretty standard, this is all housed within an online world where other players are making similar or conflicting choices in their own story.
As of now, we only know what the story is about in the broad sense: humans on a hostile alien planet, a powerful ancient presence of some form, and major world-altering events. While BioWare wasn't ready to share just how those choices will be reflected in the game for others to see, it did say they'll be surfaced in some form. With that said, the general narrative feels much more of a nebulous concept right now, and I am intrigued to see how the developer will be able to inject that familiar BioWare-style storytelling into Anthem.
During a hands-on session with the game at EA Play, we got to check out one of Anthem's missions while getting a feel for the Javelin exo-suits and their unique powers. We played the Scars and Villainy mission, which took the game's Freelancers on an operation to take out an ancient weapon: a Relic held by the imposing Scar forces--one of the many groups on the planet fighting for control. While this mission was shown during the EA Play press conference, we saw an extended version of it, exploring some of the surrounding areas and fighting against the Swarm Tyrant boss. Though it's usually difficult to get a sense of the game's scale from standard vertical slice demos (as they aim to show a little bit of everything), I was impressed with the sense of scale and verticality--which felt particularly fresh for a BioWare game.
As Anthem is an action-RPG, you're given a lot of options in how you'll fight against enemies. With a primary weapon, side-arm, and special abilities--like the Ranger's case, Frost Grenades--you'll be able to fly into combat and utilize your skills in quick succession. Coordinating with your team will also open up opportunities to use combination attacks which offer bonus damage to groups of enemies. For instance, you can use the Ranger's Frost Grenade and the Colossus' slam skill together to destroy frozen enemies, which sends shards of ice into surrounding monsters.
I was impressed with how punchy and tactile the shooting mechanics were, which made getting a feel for the new systems fairly easy. While the Mass Effect series had largely serviceable combat--which gradually got better as the entries went on--Anthem shows some major growth on BioWare's part thanks to its fast, responsive combat, which made many of the fights I played thrilling to take part in.
Your Freelancer's most valuable asset is their Javelin exo-suit, which allows them to survive the world's hostile environment. Movement is a core part of Anthem, and each Javelin can use their booster packs to fly through the world and glide underwater at great speed. Regardless of their archetype, each Javelin has a wonderful sense of velocity and mobility while zipping through the air, which recalled some exciting moments from films like Iron Man. While you're not able to fly indefinitely (as your suit's thrusters will overheat) flying through environmental elements like waterfalls will offer instant cooldowns and keep you going for longer distances.
As you complete jobs, you'll acquire more resources and new gear for the exo-suits. While you'll focus on one Javelin early on, you'll eventually be able to switch over to other suits. So far, Anthem has four unique Javelins: the all-around striker Ranger; the Hulk-like Colossus; the glass-cannon Storm, which uses elemental attacks; and the agile Interceptor. As you can tell, the Javelins are not unlike classes in a traditional RPG, fulfilling those standard archetypes needed to round out a group.
While the mission culminated in a battle against the large Swarm Tyrant boss, who summoned smaller spider creatures and other hazards against the group, the demo ended about halfway through the fight. What's interesting about this battle is that it highlighted the game's focus on online gameplay, as it required a lot firepower to whittle the boss's health down. While the Mass Effect games had online modes, they were single-player games at heart. During the presentation, the developers stated that while players can go solo, they'll eventually come across some fights that will be too challenging to tackle alone.
While there's still plenty we don't know about Anthem--narrative-progression, PvP, and just what the endgame can offer--this brief taste of the game offered a whole lot to look forward to. Though BioWare has already dabbled in the sci-fi space with Mass Effect, Anthem comes off as a major departure for the company, specifically in how it's focusing much more on fast gameplay and dynamic battles. Still, we're eager to hear more about the larger specifics of the game, and just what that means for the bigger picture of Anthem.
You can read more about Anthem and other news from EA's E3 briefing in our recap of all the announcements from EA Play. For our full coverage of the big event, be sure to visit GameSpot's E3 2018 hub to follow along with all of the biggest news from the show.
When you're looking at Tom Clancy's The Division in the broader sense, the game has shown considerable growth since its launch. After several expansions adding in new events and areas to explore, along with many updates tweaking the power grind and endgame content, Ubisoft's shared world action-RPG title slowly evolved into the game that many fans wanted when it was first released. And with The Division 2, the same developers at Massive Entertainment and Red Storm are looking to maintain that momentum with the series' next outing.
Set seven months after the initial outbreak of the Black Friday virus, The Division 2 will bring the online action-RPG to Washington D.C, which has also been decimated by mass panic, and opportunistic new factions looking to take advantage of the power vacuum. Unlike Manhattan's snow-covered wasteland from the original game, D.C. is far more lawless, made worse by an an immense heatwave driving more people to desperation. With the Division agency having gone silent, the remaining agents in the field have to reclaim control of the city. Prior to the official announcement at the Microsoft Press Conference, we got the play a short section of the game, while speaking with creative director Terry Spier about their continued sights on trying to keep things interesting for the long term.
When looking at the CG trailer, it's clear that the sense of scale, along with the stakes, have dialed up significantly. The Division 2, like its predecessor, will focus on building up your unique agent's resources as they acquire new weapons while taking on the multiple enemy factions that have taken hold of the city. Washington D.C., is about 20 percent bigger than Manhattan, which is almost a 1-to-1 recreation of the city. The developers wanted to offer a greater level of variety in the locations you'll explore, which includes more residential areas and the nearby forests outside the capital.
One of the bigger focuses on The Division 2 is the so-called "end-game first" philosophy. As the original Division gradually improved the end-game content--challenging missions that yield the game's best rewards--over the course of its two years, the developers wanted players to be aware of that part of the game right from the beginning, so they can stay invested in the game for the long term. According to the game's creative director, this philosophy--in giving players what they want--was one of the biggest lessons they took away from the original game.
"We approached everything with the end-game in mind, that way when players hit end game, there's plenty of stuff to do," said Spier. "Continuing to listen to the community, continuing to understand that we're making this game for the players is always important. Players will have an experience that could be befitting of what you would consider a shooter, but of course we're still an RPG. So in this case, we've worked hard to improve the visualization elements as well."
In our demo, we explored a district of Washington D.C. under siege by the True Sons, one of the new factions in The Division 2. After fighting off enemies in an abandoned mall, we headed over to the crash-site of Air Force One to respond to a signal, only to find True Sons soldiers taking up position. While using the familiar armaments and tactics, along with new skills like the flying gunner-drone that can hone-in on selected targets, we got to take advantage of some The Division 2's new innovations.
Using a squad of high-level characters, we had access to the Division 2's new end-game gameplay system known as Specializations. After completing the main campaign, you'll gain access to a set of elite weapons and skill-trees that alter the agent's abilities. These weapons include explosive-tipped crossbows, 50-caliber sniper rifles, and grenade launchers. What's interesting is that the developers want players to reach that end-game portion as fast as possible, as they'll be able to dive into the higher end content and get involved in the chase to get better gear.
As you're exploring the ruins of D.C, you'll help civilians and other key allies survive in the area. Returning players are all too familiar with this--with occasional NPC character asking for food and water in the previous game--but in the sequel, the civilians can offer the agents backup during fights. The civilians are also a part of a new system called Settlements, which the developers weren't able to share many details on. We do know that areas of Washington D.C. can be recaptured, allowing you to place civilians as they support them and keep watch for hostiles in the area.
While The Division 2 features an interesting new setting, which will likely hit even more close to home than before, and many of the gameplay systems and structural features looks far more refined--it all felt a bit too familiar in some regard. That's not totally a bad thing, as the original game offered a lot of fun and exciting moments with its tactical RPG shooter hybrid gameplay, but it does feel like they are playing it a bit safe for the most part. Still, it was exciting to see that they've kept that spring in their step they've had since The Division's life in post-launch.
The developers are still keeping a lot of details close to vest when it comes to the return of a revamped Dark Zone, and whether Battle Royale will have a place in the game's future. But they seem committed to supporting the game for the long-term, while also keeping players invested with free content updates for its first year. That's an exciting and positive outlook to have on an online game, and The Division 2 is looking like an exciting return to that familiar, but still fun and engaging grind.
You can read more about The Division and other news from Ubisoft's E3 press conference in our recap of all the announcements and most exciting games. For our full coverage of the big event, be sure to visit GameSpot's E3 2018 hub to follow along with all of the biggest news from the show.
Microsoft announced a fifth Gears of War game on its E3 2018 stage, but it's not called Gears of War 5. Microsoft announced the title as Gears 5, and that was no mistake. Speaking to GameSpot, Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg said the Gears 5 title is "cleaner," not to mention that people were already cutting out the "of War" part of the title for years already, so it was a natural change.
"People shorthanded it Gears anyway," Greenberg said. "It's a cleaner look for the brand and the line. Of course, the franchise is still Gears of War."
Greenberg also joked that Microsoft dropped "of War" from the title of the game to help save people time when posting about the game on social media. "To save you room on Twitter; that was the whole idea," Greenberg said with a laugh.
Gears 5 is the first entry in the series with a female playable lead. The game tells the story of Kait Diaz, who was first introduced in Gears of War 4 and whose character arc culminated with a dramatic conclusion in that left many wondering what would happen next.
GameSpot's full interview with Greenberg covers a number of other Xbox topics such as the Halo Infinite reveal, what's next for PUBG on Xbox, and a lot more. You can watch the full interview in the video embed above.
It's not just Gears 5 that dropped "Of War" from its title. The other two Gears of War games announced at E3, Gears Tactics and Gears Pop, also don't have "Of War" in their titles. Gears 5 launches in 2019 on Xbox One and PC; keep checking back with GameSpot for m ore.
During EA's E3 2018 press conference, Battlefield V developer DICE confirmed that a battle royale mode will be available in the game at some point. We caught up with DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson at the EA Play event in Hollywood and asked him where the idea came from.
He told us that games like Fortnite and PUBG are popular among DICE employees (as well as pretty much everyone else on the planet). The idea to add a battle royale mode to Battlefield V came from conversations DICE developers were having about the game inside the studio as opposed to being a directive that EA handed down to the studio, he suggested.
"I would be lying [if I said] there weren't people in the studio that would play [battle royale games] a lot," Gustavsson said with a laugh. "We enjoy it. It's good fun, and it brings a new perspective."
He added that there is "lots of good energy" at DICE related to the new battle royale mode. The newer Battlefield games already support large numbers of players; 64 players can compete together in a single match in Battlefield games. Additionally, Battlefield's trademark destruction, as well as the variety of weapons and vehicles, makes a Battlefield Royale experience sound very intriguing.
Gustavsson added that there was an "extremely big push" from inside DICE for Battlefield to add battle royale. "It's a good sign when it comes from pure passion," he explained.
Also during our interview, we quizzed Gustavvson about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 adding its own battle royale mode called Blackout. "It's interesting times," he said. "We're all game developers but also gamers. Looking forward to seeing where it takes us."
Back in May, DICE told GameSpot that battle royale was a "natural fit" for Battlefield V, though at the time the studio stopped short of confirming it. It seems EA was waiting for E3 to announce it.
Battlefield V launches in October for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. We will have more on Battlefield V and more EA games in the days ahead, so keep checking back for more.
I can't imagine anyone foresaw Rage 2 owning a piece of the spotlight at E3 until Walmart leaked the game and Bethesda smartly followed up, but here we are, a bit excited but mostly surprised that Rage is back. The first game was received well enough when it launched in 2011, but its not-quite-open world and comically abrupt ending all but guaranteed folks would move on and never look back. But there's hope that this new attempt could be something special. Bubblegum-punk marketing aside, it's Avalanche Studios' partnership with id Software that's the most enticing aspect of Rage 2 thus far. The team's open-world prowess and id's knack for gunplay could very well be a match made in heaven, and just the thing an unlikely sequel like Rage 2 needs to get people talking.
Considering that, it was a bit surprising when I visited Avalanche in Stockholm last month to play Rage 2 and I was only given access to a small chunk of the game; miniscule, actually, if you consider that the playable portion was merely a single building with four or five waves of enemies. After chatting with id's Tim Willits and Avalanche's Magnus Nedfors, it sounds like this could be due to the fact that Avalanche builds its games in phases, laying broad foundations before working down to the finer details--a common practice, but likely the reason Rage 2's world at large simply isn't ready for showtime.
Trailers remain our only source of insight into Rage 2's open world, then, and they at least suggest that Avalanche's particular set of skills are being put to good use. We've seen a diverse range of environments and heard claims of a wild world where "insanity rules." Nedfors fully owns that the team loves to "blow shit up," and that seems to be part and parcel of the Rage 2 experience. Avalanche has worked in similar spaces before, with Mad Max and multiple Just Cause games giving the team plenty of opportunities to hone their craft. It feels natural to be optimistic about their chances, especially with id and Bethesda as partners.
So while we can't say word one about the quality and effectiveness of Rage 2's new structure or how "Avalanche" it really is, id's telltale gunplay is immediately recognizable. The question now, however, is how the added layers on top factor in as you develop new abilities and acquire new weapons over time.
Replaying the original Rage prior to the event reminded me how much I enjoyed its combat and level design. The smartly orchestrated battles and clever AI made for engaging fights where using cover or flanking was key. Quite the opposite, Rage 2 encourages you to dive headlong into a firefight. Like 2016's Doom, you stand to benefit from fighting face to face, and a quick-dash maneuver has been introduced to help you get in and out of fights quickly.
Rather than lavishly dismembering your enemies to earn ammo and health, running into a fray after killing a few enemies from afar allows you to pick up energy reserves that recharge your superpowered attacks, like a ground pound and a force push. You've also got access to an overdrive meter that can be activated to run faster and hit harder, transforming an imposing group of enemies into unfortunate gaggle of sitting ducks, much the same way that you power up and lay waste to smaller enemies in Destiny 2. To be blunt, 20 minutes (two trips through the same demo) isn't nearly enough time to form a confident opinion about Rage 2's numerous combat mechanics. It's fair, however, to say that you'll be encouraged to be both proactive and creative to get the most out of the game's expanded potential.
The not-quite-a-boomerang Wingstick is back, and like its advanced form in Rage, you can have it home in on multiple enemies before you let it fly, or charge it up to spin in place once it lands on a single target for prolonged damage output. Bethesda's footage from its E3 Showcase featured a creative combo attack with a grenade and a Wingstick to send a disabled enemy flying upwards while being whittled away. This is the first example of dynamic, physics-based systems in Rage 2 that we've seen, and it would be great to know if that's a core element of the game at large. It wouldn't surprise me to see new games employ multiplicative systems in the wake of Breath of the Wild's popularity, but it'd be very surprising to see it happen in Rage 2 of all games.
Though it was probably for the purposes of the demo, the AI we fought against was practically braindead. Enemies typically just stood in place and fired away once alerted without much regard for personal safety. Trailers have also echoed a similar lack of urgency. It's probably a safe bet that grunts will be commonplace in order to encourage use of your special abilities on a regular basis, but I really hope to find more challenging enemies populating Rage 2 as it develops. Even the boss fight Avalanche showed off looked too simple. A giant football-helmet-wearing mutant that throws cars is naturally threatening, but its attack pattern was transparent and seemed easy to overcome with minimal effort.
Despite having played Rage 2, I'm still not sure what to think about it. It's obviously early days, and I've seen relatively nothing compared to what's been promised. I'm very curious to uncover what Avalanche has in store and what it can do in tandem with id to make the best of their combined talents.
Accommodations and travel to Avalanche Studios in Stockholm we're provided by Bethesda.
Locomotion is one of the most critical areas to nail in a Spider-Man game. Swinging between the skyscrapers of New York, feeling that rush of inertia as the webslinger hurtles through the air at dizzying speeds, is one of the core tenets of the Spidey experience. And from the brief hands-on we had at E3 2018 with the new Spider-Man game that's coming exclusively on the PlayStation 4, it seems like developer Insomniac Games has nailed that swinging feeling.
During our demo, we were able to freely roam around the open environment of New York city, traversing the world and getting into the occasional scuffle to get a feel for how Spidey moves in this new game. And I was immediately struck by how easy it was to keep moving as the ol' webhead. Swinging between buildings was as easy as holding down the R2 button, while tapping X would give Spidey a speed boost for even quicker traversal. And while this game does require buildings or other objects for Spidey's webs to attach to (so no off-screen magical walls that Spidey's webs will always somehow find), finding yourself in an area with no buildings (such as a park) doesn't mean you'll have to run on foot. The R2 button in this case acts as the "Go" button, with Spidey automatically webbing to a distant object and propelling forward, which makes sure he never really slows down if you don't want him to. But if you did want to stop and get your bearings, tapping both shoulder buttons will make Spider-Man find the closest street light, flagpole, or other perch to temporarily park and view his surroundings.
Combat, too, seems similarly intuitive. Primarily, Spidey has an attack button, one for web attacks, and a dodge, which when used in conjunction with the hero's spider sense going off (signified by the white halo appearing around Spidey's head), allows for all of the balletic moves Sony has been showing off in earlier trailers for the game. Taking on a few bad guys was no sweat--while swinging through New York I stumbled across some jewel thieves breaking into a store, and it was easy to make quick work of them.
Things got a little tougher when I took on some of the Kingpin's goons at the top of a building site. These guys packed more serious hardware, including sniper rifles and rocket launchers, and I was forced to continually move and dodge in order to stay alive. Combat is spiced up with the inclusion of environmental objects that Spidey can use as makeshift weapons--by pressing L1 and R1, Spidey would web an object (such as doors or manhole covers) and swing them around to clear enemies.
Before finishing my brief time with the game, I stumbled across a bank where Spidey baddie Shocker was robbing the vault. This boss battle took place indoors, and I needed to web sling huge chunks of debris to throw at Shocker (because of their weight, Spidey needed to throw several webs at the throwable object, which meant timing was key to make sure Shocker didn't throw a concussive wave at Spidey while he was still webbing). Unfortunately, while I didn't manage to get past Shocker in this demo, it did give me a great sense of how boss fights would feel in this game. That, plus the impressive feeling of inertia and the fluid nature of combat, has me in high hopes that Insomniac's take on Spider-Man may be one the best game experiences we've had with the webslinger. We'll know for sure soon enough, with Spider-Man set for release on September 7 this year.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the new game from Dark Souls and Bloodborne developer From Software. Many of the company's previous games--most notably those from the Soulsborne series--have some form of multiplayer gameplay. This usually manifests through either invading other players' worlds or by helping strangers beat tough areas of the game. Sekiro, however, will not follow suit.
"This title is designed, from the beginning, to be a single-player experience," From Software's Yasuhiro Kitao said as part of a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot. "As a part of that, one of the focuses of the game is, instead of having a choice between various classes from the beginning, you must play as a ninja. As a result, [the team] has really been able to focus in on what those mechanics are and make them as deep as possible."
When GameSpot asked if this means there is no multiplayer of any kind in Shadows Die Twice, Kitao was unequivocal in his answer. "Yes. No online components."
The original The Last of Us shipped with a multiplayer portion named Factions, which ended up being a surprise hit. But until now there had been no indication about whether the PS4-exclusive sequel, The Last of Us: Part II, would follow suit. However developer Naughty Dog has now confirmed the game will indeed see the return of the popular Factions Mode.
"Factions is coming back," co-director Anthony Newman said in an interview with GameSpot. Fellow co-director Kurt Margenau continued: "Multiplayer is coming back. We're not going to talk details yet about what form that takes, but we can confirm there will be multiplayer.
The Last of Us: Part II gameplay was shown at Sony's E3 2018 press conference, and it looks as brutal as previous trailers had made it look. You play as Ellie for the sequel, which takes place many years after the first game.
Sony debuted gameplay for The Last of Us Part II during its E3 2018 press conference. What Sony and developer Naughty Dog showed is just as gruesome as the previous trailer for the sequel; on top of a man getting eviscerated, we see Ellie perform a number of brutal takedowns and kills. It's definitely a lot to take in all at once, and it's also cinematic--it can be hard to tell what's pure combat and what's a cutscene-like transition.
While at E3 2018, we had a chance to speak to co-directors Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau about the game. They gave us insight into what exactly we're seeing in the trailer in terms of combat, and as it turns out, much of what looks cinematic--Ellie's perfectly timed dodges and pulling an arrow out of her shoulder--is actually within your control. That looks to be a key component in framing and shaping the intense violence in The Last of Us Part II, as well as something that can add greatly to Ellie as a character.
"In classic Naughty Dog style, we always try to contextualize animations, so the dodge and shoot play away from the arrow is a different animation from when the blade is about to hit her," Newman said when asked about the variety of movements seen in the new gameplay. "There's an extremely complicated system that goes into making each of her dodges."
"Every strike has its own dodge based on the angle, how high it is, different things [like that]," Margenau added. These dodges in particular make certain combat sequences in the trailer look scripted, but the co-directors say that this movement is mapped to a specific button.
We also asked about what looks like a healing mechanic, when Ellie vaults over a store counter and then pulls an arrow out of her shoulder before continuing. But Newman and Margenau said that this is an entirely new mechanic separate from healing. A lot of it has to do with the new bow-and-arrow enemies, which didn't appear in the original Last of Us, and what happens when one of their arrows becomes lodged somewhere on Ellie's body.
"It's not distinctly a healing animation [in the trailer], it's a particular status effect," Newman said. "You'll notice in the lower right, there's a little arrow icon, and it's like you're afflicted with 'arrow-ness.' It disables your listen mode and it totally screws up your aim, so you have to try and find a safe spot to take the arrow out."
This status is specific to arrows. The co-directors did not give other examples of similar mechanics, but they did talk a bit more about the returning listen mode, which the arrow status impacts. "We're looking at ways to refine it... we're always trying to balance against how much information we give the player in a stealth scenario," Margenau said. "We've got some cool ideas to make it more grounded, more realistic."
All of this points to an involved style of combat with more factors to consider than in the original game, and that in turn says a lot about Ellie. Ellie in The Last of Us is young, naive, and learning how to survive; Ellie in Part II is an experienced killer with a lot of anger behind her strikes. Learning about who she's become is one of the most enticing things about The Last of Us Part II, and combat seems to be a huge part of that.
E3 2018 has seen a few battle royale-related announcements. During EA's press conference, DICE revealed that Battlefield V will have a battle royale mode, and Nintendo revealed Fortnite on Switch without its original Save the World mode. Bethesda, on the other hand, did not mention anything about battle royale modes for any games during its E3 2018 press conference.
Bethesda did announce DLC for last year's Prey that introduces a new multiplayer mode. Called Typhon Hunter, it pits five Mimic players against one human player. In the spirit of new modes coming to existing Bethesda games, we asked Bethesda Global Senior Vice President Pete Hines whether the publisher had any battle royale plans up its sleeve. Short answer: no.
"We definitely have nothing battle royale-related," Hines said. "We tend never to want to follow anybody else into a space; we didn't go chasing after Facebook gaming when that was the big trend. Just because battle royale is popular doesn't mean it's a good fit for us or our studios."
He continued, "If somebody comes up with a thing that's battle royale or battle royale-esque that they think is unique or different or cool, it's probably something we'd consider, but we tend not to go chasing after trends. We want to be pushing ourselves to offer different experiences and do new things."
During Bethesda's E3 2018 press conference, we learned a lot more about what kind of game Fallout 76 is shaping up to be. In addition to seeing a trailer with gameplay details, we also learned that Fallout 76 is an always-online multiplayer game. You can still play solo, but the other characters you encounter in the game are other human players.
This setup opens Fallout 76 to some issues, though, namely how people will behave toward other players. How do you prevent someone from targeting you and trying to ruin your game? We spoke to Bethesda Senior Vice President about the online nature of Fallout 76 and how Bethesda aims to preempt potential issues.
"When you see a person in the world, they're a real person, and now you have to figure out [what role they play]...maybe they're being super helpful, maybe they're wandering the world as a trader and just trading with people, maybe they're being a bad guy and they're part of a raider group," Hines said. "[We allow] for that sort of tension but with systems in place that keep it from being abusive. So you can't be harassed by somebody who just keeps chasing you around the world and keeps killing you over and over again; the game literally doesn't allow that to happen to you."
He continued, "Death isn't supposed to be a super negative thing. You don't lose your progression, you don't lose all your stuff, somebody can't kill you and then take everything in your inventory [and then you have to] start over."
The question remains how PvP will function exactly, but Hines emphasized that it's not a dog-eat-dog world. "Think of PvP more like issuing a challenge to somebody as opposed to just, 'no matter what I want to do to somebody, I can,'" he explained. "The game only lets that go so far before you can basically say, 'I don't want to participate in this challenge anymore.'"
Hines compared PvP in Fallout 76 to fighting a Deathclaw in Fallout 4. If you attempt to kill a Deathclaw and die, when you respawn, you can either decide to try again or move on and do something else. "That should kind of be how it works for any human person," he said. "They can't keep coming after you, just like that Deathclaw wouldn't come running across the map and keep chasing you."
Hines also emphasized that Bethesda plans to continue supporting and tweaking these systems as time goes on. It remains to be seen how they work, or if intrepid players figure out ways to circumvent the rules in place, but the upcoming (but currently undated) beta is a good time to test how they work.
Fallout 76 is set to release on November 14, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For more on Fallout 76, see our roundup of all the Bethesda news.
After a hectic week of reveals and announcements, E3 2018 is finally drawing to a close. But while we may be coming up on the end of this year's expo, the past week has been filled with exciting news. We got to see seven major press conferences in the days leading up to E3, which brought us a ton of reveals, from a new Cyberpunk 2077 trailer to the unveiling of Resident Evil 2 and an extended gameplay sequence from The Last of Us: Part II.
In all, E3 2018 was packed with news, gameplay demos, and trailers, giving us a much clearer look at what lies ahead for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in the near future. To make it easier to catch up on the announcements from this year's expo, we've put together a roundup of all of the biggest news from each press conference, which you can find below.
Remedy's reputation as a developer of great action games with compelling stories has never quite faded; even Quantum Break, despite some complications, had many redeeming qualities that its biggest detractors (like me) couldn't ignore. Chief among them was the combat system, which gave you control over time itself, allowing you to slickly thwart swarms of enemies in unusual and flashy ways. These same qualities are echoed in the announcement trailer for Remedy's next game, Control, but what you won't find in that video is the mind-bending series of events I saw during a private gameplay demo at E3.
I'm looking forward to games like Cyberpunk and Death Stranding as much as most people, but Control has quickly become my most anticipated game at the show. Circling back to combat, Control gives off similar vibes to Quantum Break, but a key difference lies in the sort of powers at your fingertips. The two abilities we saw allowed the main character, Jesse Faden, to grab objects strewn around the environment and hurl them at enemies, or bring them close to create a temporary shield. Performing these moves results in chaos as other objects get caught in the crossfire, making each encounter look messy (in a good way.) An eye-catching flurry of special effects helps complete the chaotic spectacle. These are just two of many powers Jesse will acquire throughout her harrowing journey.
Jesse also wields a gun known as the Director's Pistol, and as you could see in the trailer, it's composed of many small components that can break apart, and we realized in the demo that this was a hint at the gun's ability to change its shape and function. The Director's Pistol, like King Arthur's Excalibur, was described as a weapon that can only be properly wielded by someone worthy of its power. Remedy's devs on location at E3 2018 wouldn't say much more about what it's capable of in the long run; surprises for later, no doubt.
Enemies in Control are--based on what we've seen so far--varying levels of corrupted federal agents, though what exactly has corrupted them in the first place remains one of the game's great mysteries. Some look like typical gun-toting sentries, but the more tainted beings resemble human-like ghouls--pale skinned and erratic, they are far more unpredictable and help sell the strange atmosphere Control's going for. Though all things considered, Control is plenty weird as it is.
Most of the gameplay demo was focused on exploring The Oldest House, which is really just another name for the brutalist headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Control. As Jesse moves from one room to the next, unexpected scenes sharply contrast the harsh angular structure of the building. Whatever has corrupted the agents has also screwed with the compound's fabric of reality. You will stumble into ruined corridors where missing walls give way to a vortex of clouds and geometric shapes that pulsate and shift, for example. It doesn't make sense, and that's the point. Remedy wants you to forget about logic and embrace the dreamlike construction of the bureau. Jesse's powers extend beyond combat. In our demo, which took place roughly halfway through the game, she could also levitate, and it was astonishing to watch the player soar into the aforementioned clouds, through the surrounding black cubes, and emerge in a new section of the building.
Jesse has to earn the ability to levitate by acquiring a particular Object of Power, items that are spread throughout the massive and crazy building. These can be found or earned by taking on sidequests. The one example of a sidequest opportunity we saw was disturbing, and it felt awful to see the player move Jesse along for the sake of keeping the demo rolling. She had come across a man behind glass staring at a refrigerator, and when he noticed Jesse, he cried out for help because the only way to prevent the fridge from "deviating," and presumably doing something awful to him, was to look at it. If he fell asleep or looked away, that would presumably mean the end of him. The threat of deviation was obtuse, but the man's fear and stress was clear despite the fact that he was being threatened by an inanimate object.
The level of tension throughout the demo was matched only by the wonder I felt as I watched a predictable setting twist and reform before my eyes. My imagination ran wild, as did questions resulting from the dreamlike series of events that played out before me. Control is a game meant to inspire wild theories from fans about the cause of the world's corruption and how Jesse fits into the bigger picture. I walked out of the room completely impressed by what I'd seen. It was such a stark contrast to the controlled sheen of Quantum Break, such an untethered display of creative madness, that I can only look forward to diving in headlong when Control releases for PS4, PC, and Xbox One next year.
The battle royale juggernaut Fortnite expanded its reach further by launching on Nintendo Switch soon after it was officially announced during Nintendo's E3 presentation. It's free on the Eshop and has all the features of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions (except for the co-op Save the World mode--it's Battle Royale only). Fortnite on Switch lives within the same ecosystem as all other versions; as soon as you hop in, Season 4 and the current weekly challenges are live. The Battle Pass is available, and grouping up in parties works the same.
Although you can link your Epic account to the Switch version if you've been playing on PC, Xbox One, or mobile to keep working on your progress, PS4 players are left in the dust. Sony is blocking user from linking accounts cross-platform, which also means there's no cross-play between these platforms. This says more about Sony than it does about Nintendo, but it's something long-time PS4 players should know, as well as those hoping to play with their PS4-having friends.
Your mileage will vary when playing with Joy-Con; Fortnite is a shooter after all. Weapons that require precise aiming, like sniper rifles, are a bit more difficult to use given the limited range of motion of the Joy-Con analog sticks. Don't expect motion controls to save you since they haven't been implemented. Pro Controller owners wouldn't have to worry about this, of course. Otherwise, all the controls from using a gamepad are sensibly translated to Switch.
One of the more significant differences to note while playing on Nintendo's handheld-console hybrid is that the framerate has taken a hit, both docked and undocked. Certain visual anomalies like texture pop-in are noticeable, but don't really affect gameplay like the lower framerate does. This makes firefights and building intricate structures harder to manage, especially when things get hectic. A PC can theoretically run an unlimited framerate and PS4 and Xbox One run at a smooth 60 FPS, and jumping between those versions and the Switch might be jarring for some players. By no means does this make Fortnite unplayable on Nintendo's platform; the core gameplay remains intact even if it's not the most optimal version.
Since Fortnite: Battle Royale is a solely a multiplayer experience, you'll need to be connected to the internet at all times to play. And unfortunately, as noted above, the cooperative mode called Save The World is not currently available to Switch users.
For a more critical look at this wildly popular game that has had tens of millions of players, be sure to read our official Fortnite: Battle Royale review. We had some idea that Fortnite was coming to Switch even before E3, thanks to Chance The Rapper speaking too soon in a hilarious tweet. A few other members of the GameSpot staff had impressions of Fortnite on Switch and you can watch their discussion.
From Software, the developer of the Bloodborne and Dark Souls games, officially announced its new game at E3 2018: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Despite the fact that it introduces new mechanics and differs from those games in many ways, it still looks to be in the same vein as those action-RPGs. However, From Software insists this new game is something entirely new and separate from those.
"Sekiro was not designed as an evolution of Soulsborne, of the Souls series," series creator and Sekiro director Hidetaka Miyazaki told GameSpot. "It was designed from the ground up, from scratch, as an entirely new concept, as a new game. So we don't know if you'd call this an evolution of the series in this sense."
The creator continued: "Of course with Sekiro, we don't intend to disappoint or turn away fans of previous From Software games, that core fan base. We want to keep the challenge. We want to keep that core experience very much intact for those people."
Given Sekiro contains a resurrection mechanic, it would be an easy assumption to say the game would be easier than previous From Software games. Miyazaki, however, disagrees: "The resurrection system is not created to make the game easier in any way. It's created to assist the flow of battle and that general rhythm and tempo throughout the game that was made difficult by that constant pressure of death and that constant fear of death."
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