According to Polygon, Epic Games sued Thomas Hannah, a quality assurance contractor, on May 7 for leaking spoilers for Fortnite: season four. Through a third party, Hannah spread information about where Fortnite's meteor would hit, an action in direct violation of his non-disclosure agreement.
Prior to the leak, most Fortnite theorists believed they had decoded a secret message that hinted Titled Towers would be the crash zone of the meteor. The leak debunked this prediction, and informed players that Dusty Depot was the actual target. Epic is accusing Hannah of deliberately working with a third party to leak this info.
Hannah's defense against the accusations is that he did not purposely leak the target location. According to him, he was bombarded by "a series of questions and guesses regarding where the meteor would hit," at the end of Fortnite: Battle Royale season three. Hannah then shared the information in a private conversation, assuming it would remain confidential. It did not, and the spoilers were published to a subreddit. Both the post and the account that created it have since been deleted, but the internet is forever and this was no exception.
Epic claims the damages this leak has done cannot be fixed with money, as the company "has suffered and is continuing to suffer irreparable injury." The company is seeking punitive damages under both state and federal trade secret laws.
A new month has arrived, which means a new slate of games are on the horizon. Between the excitement of E3 2018 and this month's upcoming releases, gaming fans have a lot to look forward to in June. This month sees some notable titles arrive on each platform, from the Switch port of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus to a new Mario sports game and the latest title from Life Is Strange developer Dontnod.
As always, we've rounded up a list of the biggest games launching this month below, giving you a handy way to keep track of what's in store for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC in June. For a broader look at all of the major games coming to each platform throughout the rest of the year, be sure to check out our comprehensive list of game release dates in 2018.
Jurassic World Evolution (PS4, Xbox One, PC) -- June 12
Arriving on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on June 12, Jurassic World Evolution is a theme park sim that challenges players with managing their own Jurassic Park. They can choose which types of dinosaurs they'd like to hatch and what types of attractions and amenities they'd like to build to attract guests to their park. The game also features Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm.
This month's big Switch release is Mario Tennis Aces, the first Mario sports game to arrive on Nintendo's hybrid console. Developed by Camelot, the studio behind every previous Mario Tennis game, Aces introduces a number of new mechanics, such as the time-slowing Zone Speed and the powerful Zone Shots. It also features the first story mode in the series since 2005's Mario Tennis: Power Tour.
Rounding out this month's biggest releases is The Crew 2. Ubisoft's open-world racing game arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on June 29, and it builds upon its predecessor with a few new mechanics, most notably vehicle transformations. In this installment, players can switch between a car, boat, plane, or other vehicles on the fly to seamlessly race across different types of terrain.
Fortnite's latest update, v4.5, is now available on all platforms. On top of introducing a new weapon and other features to both Battle Royale and Save the World, it marks the start of the game's latest limited-time mode, Playground--although as of this writing, the mode has been temporarily taken offline.
Unlike previous limited-time modes, Playground is intended to be a "low-pressure environment" that acts much like a private server. It allows players to explore the map, devise strategies, and play around freely with up to three friends without the risk of being eliminated by other players.
Each round in Playground lasts for one hour, and the storm circle won't begin closing in on the map until 55 minutes into the match. Friendly fire is enabled, although players will respawn immediately unless eliminated by the storm. There's also considerably more loot to find. 100 Llamas will spawn across the map, and players will receive 10 times the normal amount of any resources gathered during the match.
Playground isn't the only limited-time mode available in Fortnite this week. Final Fight Teams of 12 is also now underway in Battle Royale. This mode unfolds like a standard game of Battle Royale; however, the storm circles stop closing partway through a match. Once the circles have finished closing, a Final Countdown timer will begin, with the remaining teams competing to have the most surviving players when the time expires.
Epic hasn't announced an end date for either Playground or Final Fight Teams of 12. Fortnite's limited-time modes are typically only available for about a week, although it remains to be seen if Playground will remain in the rotation a little longer than usual to make up for its downtime. You can read more details about each mode--courtesy of the patch notes on the official Fortnite website--below.
Epic still hasn't provided a time table for when Playground mode will be enabled again. The mode was taken offline due to a matchmaking issue that cropped up following the rollout of update 4.5. That issue has since been resolved, but Epic says it is "continuing work" to bring Playground back online. The developer will provide further updates on Fortnite's status website.
Fortnite Update 4.5 Patch Notes
Playground
Summary
Playground is a low-pressure environment where friends can let their creativity run wild. Build massive structures. Practice with the weapons and items. Fight against your friends. Have fun!
Mode Details
You'll have one hour to create, play and train as you wish. Hop in and try out version 1 of Playground!
Drop into the Battle Royale map with a squad of friends for an hour
Friendly Fire is on
Players respawn on elimination unless downed by the storm
The storm doesn't start closing in for 55m, and takes 5 minutes to close in
Resources gathered grant 10x the normal rate.
100 Llamas will be spawned on the map
Chests & Ammo Boxes spawn 100% of the time
Final Fight Teams of 12
Summary
Make it to the final circle and then fight for the Victory Royale!
Mode Details
Final Fight plays similar to standard Battle Royale, but instead of the storm circles closing all the way in, they stop part way through the match.
When the circles have finished closing in, the Final Countdown timer will begin.
The remaining teams will battle it out until the timer expires.
The team with the most players remaining at the end of the timer wins!
In the event of a tie, the two (or more) teams tied for the lead win the match.
After seeing the first Sicario film in 2015, chances are most of the audience didn't expect a sequel as it ended on a note of finality. However, Lionsgate announced mere months later that a follow-up was happening. Now, with Sicario: Day of the Soldado heading to theaters, it's likely this isn't the end of the road.
Tyler Sheridan, who wrote both films, actually has a trilogy in mind to complete the Sicario tale, according to Sicario: Day of the Soldado star Josh Brolin. "From what I know, I think that Taylor Sheridan always had an idea of a trilogy in concept," Brolin tells GameSpot while promoting Day of the Soldado. "I don't think that that was necessarily an intention from the beginning, but I just think he had those stories."
As producer Trent Luckinbill explains, the continuation of this franchise was always dependent on where Sheridan thought the story would go. "This was a world and a landscape that he really thought he could do more with," he explains. "So, that's where we're at. Certainly, with Taylor, [we] feel like we could maybe explore that final chapter if that's where it goes. We love the characters, and we felt like after the first one we wanted to see more of them, and I think we feel the same way now."
In fact, Luckinbill says, the wheels for a potential third film are already in motion. "If it felt organic and felt like there was a demand for it, we certainly would look at that and are having those discussions now because again this was something that Taylor really had in his mind, and there was always this concept of this was more than just one for him," he says.
And while it's not set in stone by any means, the cast certainly seems intrigued by the idea of a final Sicario film. "I'd be interested to see where he takes it from here," Benicio del Toro says. "That's what he said, but we don't know if there's going to be a third. But if it does come about, I'm willing to tackle it."
Of course, there is one person missing from the gang. After starring in the first film, Emily Blunt doesn't return for Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Though she was initially said to be reprising her role, the actress was eventually written out of the script by Sheridan. "He felt organically that it made more sense to spend time with these two guys, these two characters, without that chaperone," Luckinbill says. "He wanted to explore the two of them together."
Have fans seen the last of her in this franchise, though? Possibly not, according to the Luckinbill. "We love Emily, and she's been very supportive, and if we're to do more, we're already having those discussions," he teases.
Now it's just a matter of Gillick (del Toro) and Graver (Brolin) making it out of Day of the Soldado alive, should Sheridan and the team behind the films want to reunite them with Blunt's Agent Kate Macer. Then again, with how much blood was spilled inthe first film--and is likely to be spilled in the second--who knows if anyone survives?
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is in theaters on June 29.
Disney has taken another step closer to completing its deal to buy Fox's entertainment assets. It has been reported that the studio has agreed to sell Fox's 22 regional sports networks, following a complaint filed in federal court this week by the Department of Justice.
As reported by Variety, the Department of Justice had argued that since Disney already owns national sports network ESPN, adding Fox's sports assets to its roster would be highly anti-competitive. However, Disney's agreement to sell them off has satisfied the DoJ, making Disney's bid for Fox's entertainment assets increasingly attractive to Fox shareholders in its battle with rivals Comcast.
The deal is of particular interest to movie fans, as Fox holds the rights to many popular Marvel characters, most notably the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. A deal between Disney and Fox would mean that these characters could become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Disney itself has stressed this, saying in an earlier statement that buying Fox will help create "richer, more complex worlds of inter-related characters and stories that audiences have shown they love." In addition, successful properties such as Avatar--which currently has two sequels in production--The Simpsons, and the Alien and Predator series will become part of Disney's roster.
Mass Effect Andromeda was a high-profile flop in one of EA's biggest franchises, and one that's still having ripple effects on its approach to new games like Anthem. But could it all have been avoided under different circumstances? Following an offhand comment to Game Informer that cited a crowded release window, BioWare developer Mark Darrah took to Twitter to expand his thoughts with some surprising frankness.
"I'm going to regret this in half an hour but let's talk 'did MEA get a fair shake'." He starts by acknowledging that Andromeda was a deeply flawed game, especially at launch. From there, though, he starts explaining some of the external factors that had an impact.
"The review environment was crowded," he said. "Nier, Nioh, Horizon, and Zelda all launched in MEAs window. Each does something better than MEA (again, a flawed game). As a result, even systems that are pretty decent get scrutinized against superiorly implemented ones. Does launching in a different window turn 72% into 90? Certainly not. 72 into 77/78? Maybe."
He goes on to say that word-of-mouth probably had a large impact, and this is just "the nature of the industry." Some games benefit from their release window while others suffer from a crowded one. He suggests that inversely, Dragon Age Inquisition benefited by 2014 being a "tough year" for games.
"You launch the best game you can," he concludes. "MEA has a lot of problems and got lapped by genuinely better games."
As Darrah mentioned, Andromeda earned a 72 on GameSpot sister site Metacritic, which is officially "Mixed" but significantly lower than the series had become known for. GameSpot's review scored it a 6/10, citing breathtaking new worlds but lamenting its dull characters and abundance of fetch quests. BioWare general manager Casey Hudson recently indicated the studio plans to get back to Mass Effect at some point, but right now it's mostly focused on Anthem.
Epic Games has revealed when Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 5 will start. In a post on the game's Reddit page, the company confirmed Season 5 will begin on July 12 at 1 AM PDT / 4 AM EDT / 9 AM BST / 6 PM AET. To help people unlock remaining Battle Pass rewards for Season 4, Epic is awarding double XP for matches from June 29 until July 2.
Ahead of the new season, Epic has released a new mode for Fortnite. Introduced as part of the latest update, the Playground LTM is essentially a private server for players to experiment on. It's designed for players to jump in and hone new strategies or sharpen building skills. Since access is invite only, you can do these things without being ruthlessly gunned down by enemy combatants.
The latest Fortnite update also adds Dual Pistols, map markers, part four of the Blockbuster Event, the Builder Pro controller layout, and more. You can read the full Fortnite v4.5 patch notes here for a breakdown of everything new.
Fortnite continues to be incredibly popular, and the impact of its success is now being seen through how much physical copies of the game are selling. Since disc-based versions of Fortnite are no longer available, prices of it on Ebay have skyrocketed to the $100-200 range, with a few listings going as high as $450.
The game recently launched on Nintendo Switch and has already established a strong community. This is in part helped by the fact that it supports cross-play with Xbox One, PC, and iOS. Like the other versions of Fortnite, it is only available digitally.
Quentin Tarantino's movies have always assembled impressive casts, and his latest is no exception. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is about to start production, and the '60s-set film will star Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, and James Marsden. The first image from the movie has now been revealed.
It was posted by DiCaprio on his Instagram page, and it shows him and Pitt in character as Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth. Dalton is the former star of a Western TV show whose career has fallen on hard times, while Booth is his best friend and stunt double. Check it out below:
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is set in 1969, and Robbie is set to play actress Sharon Tate, who is Dalton's neighbour. In real life, Tate was killed by the Manson family, although it is unknown if the Manson killings will feature in the movie.
DiCaprio and Pitt have worked with Tarantino before; Pitt starred in Inglourious Basterds, while DiCaprio was in Django Unchained. This is the directors's ninth movie; in 2016 he stated that he would retire from directing after ten films, so it's possible that Once Upon a Time In Hollywood will be his penultimate film. It was recently reported that he was writing a new Star Trek film. Last month it was confirmed that there are multiple Star Trek movies in development at Paramount, but it is unknown if Tarantino's is one of these.
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood hits theaters on August 9, 2019.
Pokemon Quest, the free-to-play RPG that was surprise-released for Nintendo Switch last month, is now available on mobile as well. You can find it for the low cost of zero dollars on the iOS and Android stores. It does include in-app purchases, and data doesn't transfer between these and the Switch version.
The light Pokemon game has you build a team of three monsters to fight other Pokemon and gather loot. Then you can use your loot to attract more Pokemon, and swap them out for members of your team, and on and on. It only features first-generation Pokemon for the time being, but they're given a fresh makeover with a blocky art style.
This being a free-to-play game, though, there are various in-app purchases. The packages on Switch ranged from around $3 to almost $20.
Following the recent release of Fortnite on Nintendo Switch, Sony's hardline stance on cross-play has once again become a point of contention. The publisher has come under fire for effectively blocking players from using Fortnite accounts linked to PS4 on other platforms, but a recent statement by the company offers a bit of hope that it may reverse course.
During a Gamelab conference in Spain, Sony Interactive America president and CEO Shawn Layden held a presentation on PlayStation's legacy. Following the presentation, Eurogamer asked Layden about Sony's controversial cross-play policy and whether the company would be open to allowing it in the future.
"We're hearing it," said Layden. "We're looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I'm confident we'll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business."
While certainly not an outright confirmation that Sony will start to allow cross-play between PS4 and other platforms, it is more promising than the tepid response the company gave earlier this month, shortly after Fortnite launched on Switch. Sony hasn't discussed why it has been so hesitant to allow cross-play, but former Sony developer John Smedley says the reason ultimately boils down to money.
"[W]hen I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn't like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. [D]umb reason, but there it is," Smedley said on Twitter.
Fortnite isn't the only game affected by Sony's policy. The PS4 versions of Rocket League and Minecraft don't allow cross-play with other platforms either, although the Xbox One and Switch versions do. Nintendo and Microsoft have capitalized on the controversy by releasing a joint ad that touts the cross-play feature in Minecraft.
There's a recurring source of tension in Ant-Man and the Wasp thanks to Scott Lang's sentence of two years under house arrest for his actions in Captain America: Civil War. No matter how many zany adventures Paul Rudd's character has in this sequel, he has to periodically race back to his San Francisco apartment and re-don his ankle bracelet whenever hapless FBI agent Jimmy Woo (the funny Randall Park) decides to check in on him. It's a fun bit, and it harks back to an earlier age in the MCU, when a Marvel hero's biggest concern could be staying out of trouble with the law.
We've yet to see what a post-Infinity War world looks like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Regardless of how it eventually gets undone, what effect will Thanos's finger snap have in the short term? How will the tone shift in Avengers 4? Those questions are irrelevant in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which quickly places itself before the events of Infinity War. That may be a knock against it for those hoping for some answers, but this movie's tone is much lighter as a result, perfectly in line with the original Ant-Man's.
The first Ant-Man introduced Scott Lang (Rudd) along with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Ant-Man and the Wasp directly picks up their story following Scott's involvement in Civil War: Scott's two years of house arrest are almost up, but Hope drags him back into a life of illegal heroism in a plot to save her mother, Michelle Pfeiffer's Janet van Dyne, from the "quantum realm" in which she's been stranded for 30 years.
How can Janet be alive down there after all this time? How could Hank and Hope possibly find her? This movie is brimming with pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo about things like "entanglement" and "quantum tunnels." It gets a little exhausting, but the movie is self aware about its own ridiculousness; at one point, Scott asks Hank and his colleague Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) whether they just stick the word "quantum" in front of everything to make it sound more scientific. Good question, Scott!
Ant-Man and the Wasp introduces a couple of new villains in the forms of Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost, who stalks the heroes in hopes of stealing their secret lab, and Walton Goggins' Sonny Burch, a black market merchant who decides he wants the quantum tech for himself. Goggins is his typical hilariously sleazy self, while John-Kamen's more overtly dramatic performance fits her character.
But most important is the Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne, who completely owns this movie. Hope proves--unsurprisingly--to be a much more capable Ant-Man than Ant-Man himself, with confidence and skill that are thrilling to watch. It makes the entire plot of the first movie--that Hank had to enlist the deadbeat Scott in the first place instead of just trusting his daughter to do the job--seem even more ludicrous in retrospect. Hopefully Lilly decides to stick around the MCU for a while, as her presence would be much appreciated in future installments.
Like the first Ant-Man, this movie has great fight choreography that sees both heroes frequently changing from normal to small to massive and back again in creative ways. Some of the most fun sequences are car chases where one or more vehicles are constantly shrinking down to Hot Wheels size and back to normal, throwing off pursuers and causing general zany chaos.
There's an added dash of humor from the fact that Scott's suit for much of the movie is malfunctioning, leaving him unable to control when he changes size. That leads to an especially funny sequence where Scott is running around his daughter's middle school at about 3 feet tall, trying to remain undetected. Cassie herself is still played by the ridiculously charismatic Abby Ryder Fortson, who gives Paul Rudd tit-for-tat in every scene they're in together.
Michael Peña's Luis returns with a vengeance too, with his voice-overed montage gag from the first--in which he tells a story while the characters he's describing act it out--is funnier than ever. This time around he gets injected with a sort of truth serum, causing his rapid fire rambling to span topics ranging from Scott's psychiatric health to his family's love of Morrissey. He's more actively involved in the story, as well, which is pure wish fulfillment for viewers who loved his character in the first movie.
Like the original Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp is primarily a palette cleanser in the MCU as a whole (the first movie was sandwiched in between the dense Age of Ultron and the dour Civil War). Ant-Man and the Wasp is hilarious, fun, silly, self aware, and creative. Filled with pseudo-science gobbledigook, crazy action, and multiple villains all vying for screen time, it's one of the most comic-booky MCU movies yet. The fates of all our favorite heroes after Avengers: Infinity War may still be up in the air, but in the meantime, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a welcome distraction.
The Good
The Bad
Lighthearted and funny
Pseudo-science mumbo jumbo gets ridiculous
Evangeline Lilly phenomenal as the Wasp
No answers for Infinity War fans
Multiple fun new villains
Creative shrinking-and-growing action
Self aware about its sillier aspects
Much-needed palette cleanser following Infinity War
As mid-July approaches, you can bet Amazon Prime Day 2018 will be coming soon. Although the online retailer has yet to announce when Prime Day will be this year, it always tends to happen sometime in the middle of July. In fact, a banner that appeared on Amazon UK may have accidentally let slip Prime Day's date this year: July 17, with deals beginning the previous day.
Seeing as this pseudo-holiday is centered around a single online retailer, it isn't quite as big as Black Friday. But you can expect to see plenty of discounts on games, tech, movies, toys, and anything else you might want to buy from Amazon. Other retailers may also offer discounts that day to cash in on the commerce craze. Here's everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2018.
What is Prime Day?
Prime Day is a massive sale Amazon puts on each year in July for Prime members. It all began in 2015, when Amazon had a sale to celebrate its 20th birthday. In the years since, Prime Day has grown into a shopping extravaganza in its own right, with deep discounts on all kinds of items.
When is Prime Day?
Last year's Prime Day lasted for 30 hours that spanned part of July 10 and all of July 11. If the Amazon UK leak is accurate, this year's sale will last 36 hours, with prices dropping midday July 16 and running through July 17.
For Prime Members Only
The catch is that you have to be an Amazon Prime member to take advantage of the deals. The company ruffled feathers earlier this year when it upped the annual price of a Prime membership from $99 to $119. (You can also get a one-month membership for $13). Having to buy a subscription is a bummer, but there are ways around dropping cash just to take part in Prime Day. If you've never been a Prime member before, you can get a free 30-day trial just by signing up. Students get an even better deal: their Prime membership begins with a free six-month trial.
Even if you're a lapsed Prime member and you can't get the free trial, signing up for a one-month membership may be worthwhile, depending on what Prime Day deals you want to take advantage of. There's also a good chance Amazon will offer a discount on Prime subscriptions in the run-up to Prime Day, so your best bet is to wait and see.
What kind of deals can we expect?
Amazon always drops prices on tons of items, with big discounts in particular on its own hardware: Echos, Kindles, Fire sticks, and tablets. Additionally, you can expect big savings on video games, consoles, gaming accessories, 4K TVs, other electronics, apparel, outdoor gear, baby products, and nearly anything else you can buy at the online retailer.
No deal announcements have been made yet, but we'll have lots of Prime Day deals coverage on all things gaming and media here at GameSpot when the event rolls around. Make sure to check back closer to the the big day.
With July almost upon us, Sony has unveiled the list of games that PlayStation Plus members will be able to download for free during the upcoming month. As always, there's a total of six games spread across PS4, PS3, and Vita, with the highlights--as usual--coming on Sony's newest platform.
PS4's lineup this month consists of two games. On the heels of Detroit: Become Human's release, we get another game from developer Quantic Dream: Heavy Rain. The QTE-heavy game features a branching story where you investigate a serial killer. It was originally released on PS3 before making its way to PS4 in 2016.
The other PS4 freebie is Absolver. While perhaps not as well known, it is perhaps the month's most exciting offering. It's a third-person action/fighting game with a distinct control scheme where you can customize your moves. It's relatively new, having only been released last August.
On PS3, PS Plus members get the platformer Rayman 3 HD and strategy game Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess. If you have a save file from Deception IV: Blood Ties, you'll be able to carry over certain unlocks to Nightmare Princess. For those with a Vita, action game Space Overlords is free--and it offers Cross-Buy with PS4 and PS3, getting you a total of three games in July on those platforms. The final Vita freebie is acclaimed adventure game Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma.
It's not too late to claim June's PS Plus freebies if you haven't already done so. These include XCOM 2 and Trials Fusion on PS4. Additionally, this coming weekend will offer a chance for PS Plus members to play Destiny 2 for free, while yet another game--Call of Duty: Black Ops III--is free to download through July 11. Grab that, and you'll be able to continue playing it for as long as you remain a Plus member, as with all standard PS Plus Instant Game Collection titles. July's new lineup of freebies will be available starting on Tuesday, July 3.
The new version 1.25 update for Overwatch makes matches a friendlier place, along with a spate of balance changes and other tweaks. The biggest change comes in the form of Endorsements, a tool you can use after a match to recognize fellow players for their good teamwork, sportsmanship, and shot-calling. You can also endorse players from the opposing team for sportsmanship.
The incentives to embrace the endorsement system work both ways. Endorsing other players gets you bonus XP, and the more endorsements you get from other players, the higher your Endorsement Level will rise. You can get up to level 5, and claim rewards based on your level.
Other changes include more custom Looking For Group perimeters that let you pick among roles and team compositions, and even the new endorsement level. Career profiles also receive some new privacy settings.
Finally, Offense and Defense hero roles have been merged into a single "Damage" category. The patch notes mention a wide variety of balance changes, but the most come to Symmetra, who is now part of the new Damage role. That includes a new primary and secondary attack, new abilities, and a new Ultimate. It's quite the overhaul.
"The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously," said a note of developer commentary in the update. "Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense."
Meanwhile, Blizzard may be teasing yet another new hero for the long-running hero shooter. All we have to go on is a suspicious-looking boulder, which very well could fit nicely into the new Damage character category.
Although HBO's upcoming TV adaptation of DC's classic comic miniseries Watchmen was first announced last year, very little was known about the project. However, last month, showrunner Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) posted a lengthy essay on Instagram, explaining his decision to take on the project, as well as revealing that it wouldn't be a straight adaptation. Now we have some casting news.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, veteran actor Jeremy Irons will take the lead role in the series. Irons, who most recently appeared as Alfred in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, will apparently play "an aging and imperious lord of a British manor." Fans of comic will know that there is no character of that description in the comics, which supports Lindelof's statement that this will not simply adapt Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' seminal work.
Other cast members for the Watchmen TV show include Regina King (The Leftovers, Seven Seconds), Don Johnson (Django Unchained, Miami Vice), and Tim Blake Nelson (Colossal, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). The show does not have a premiere date yet.
In his Instagram post, Lindelof also stated that the show will have a diverse team of writers behind it. "In [our writers'] room, hetero white men like myself are in the minority," he said. "And as Watchmen is (incorrectly) assumed to be solely our domain, understanding its potential through the perspectives of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community has been as eye-opening as it has been exhilarating. We've committed to doing the same in front of and behind the camera. And every single person involved with this show absolutely adores Watchmen."
Watchmen was first published by DC in 1986 as a 12-part limited series. It was written by Moore and illustrated by Gibbons and is widely considered to be one of the greatest comic books ever published. It helped usher in a new, more mature approach to mainstream superhero comics, and in 2005, it was featured on Time's list of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century.
A film version was in the works for many years before Zack Snyder's version hit screens in 2009, and 12 Monkeys director Terry Gilliam was attached at one stage. Snyder's movie was a modest success, making $185 million at the worldwide box office.
While two of the stars from the first Sicario return for the second movie, things are very different behind the camera. Sicario: Day of the Soldado sees a new director at the helm--as well as a different cinematographer.
For fans of the first film, director Denis Villeneuve is almost as closely tied to the franchise as stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro. However, since Sicario's 2015 release, his stock has risen considerably. Arrival, which hit theaters in 2016, earned him an Academy Award nomination. Then came Blade Runner 2049, his latest directorial effort. While it was announced early on that he was involved in Day of the Soldado, any chances he might sign on as director were dashed when the filming schedule conflicted with production on the Blade Runner sequel.
Thankfully, though, Villeneuve wasn't completely absent from the preparations the second film. "He was really helpful in this process," producer Trent Luckinbill says. "He was still a part of the team when we talked about developing a second. He was on board, certainly his world got very very busy, and we wanted to move quickly. But, with his blessing and with his support, and help along the way we went after someone who had some of the same qualities that we thought Denis brought in the first one and he does in all of his movies, which I think first and foremost is his ability to hold tension."
That person was Stefano Sollima, whose previous credits were all Italian movies and TV shows. Day of the Soldado is his first American film, but producers were confident he would rise to the occasion. "I think all the producers through different avenues had met with Stefano and looked at his work, maybe other projects, or whatever," Luckinbill says. "But, his vision, looking at what he's done with his Italian films and shows, we felt like he was a guy who would do tension in a way that the movie sort of needs and has been established."
Luckily, the cast acclimated to having a new leader behind the camera fairly quickly. "I think within a couple weeks, you realize that not only have we gotten lucky enough to find another really, really wonderful, talented filmmaker," co-star Josh Brolin says, "but we also had [cinematographer] Dariusz Wolski, who I think was instrumental in making this movie as good as it was." Wolski, whose previous credits include The Martian and Alien: Covenant, picked up the banner from Sicario cinematographer Roger Deakins, bringing his own sensibilities to Day of the Soldado.
With Wolski at his side, Sollima worked hard to make sure the returning cast was comfortable with him, co-star Benicio del Toro believes. "He was very cool, very collaborative," the actor explains. "It made it easy for us to collaborate, and he listened to what Josh or I had to say about the characters. I was game for it, you know? He was cool that way."
What's more, for del Toro, Sollima put a new twist on Sicario's visual style. "I think his approach to violence is a little different than the way Denis Villeneuve does violence," he explains. "I think Stefano looks at it straight in the eye. Denis Villeneuve likes to suggest. But otherwise they're both extremely talented, and I'm happy with what Stefano did for Day of the Soldado."
Whether the world Sollima did for the film stands up to the first Sicario for fans remains to be seen. However, reviews on the new film are, by and large, positive. GameSpot's review of Sicario: Day of the Soldado notes that both Sollima and Wolski have crafted a story that does "a more than adequate job shaping this sequel in the original's style and form, and you'll easily become engrossed in the movie and stop thinking about who directed what." You can judge for yourself on June 29, when the film hits theaters.
Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon launched for 3DS back in November, marking the mainline series' swan song on Nintendo's dual-screen handheld. As it did for the original Sun and Moon versions, The Pokemon Company is continuing to support the pair in the months following their release with free items and Pokemon. The company has a lot of giveaways lined up for 2018, which it has dubbed the Year of Legendary Pokemon, though those certainly won't be the only freebies players can expect to find this year.
We've rounded up all of the free distributions currently running for Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon below, many of which are also open to Sun and Moon players. We'll be updating this list as more giveaways are announced, so check back often to see what free items and Pokemon you can get. In the meantime, you can learn more about the latest Pokemon games in our rundown of everything new in Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon. We also break down the differences between Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, if you're still unsure of which version to pick up.
Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Free Gifts
Celebi -- Ends Sep. 21
Players who purchase either Pokemon Gold or Silver from the 3DS Eshop by September 21, 2018 will receive a bonus download code for the Mythical Pokemon Celebi. The code can be redeemed in Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon. We've outlined the steps you need to take to find and redeem the code here.
Decidueye, Incineroar, and Primarina -- Ends Oct. 31
Players who have a Pokemon Bank account can receive the final forms of all three Alola starters--Decidueye, Incineroar, and Primarina--as a free bonus for using the cloud storage service. What sets these three Pokemon apart from the ones you can obtain in-game is that they each come with their Hidden Abilities, which aren't typically available through normal play. You'll receive a notification about the gifts the next time you access Pokemon Bank, and they can be picked up in your game of choice from the deliveryman waiting in any Pokemon Center.
Magearna
Unlike most other gift Pokemon, the Mythical Steel/Fairy-type, Magearna, is not available through the Mystery Gift feature, but via a QR code, which is compatible with Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. After defeating the Elite Four and completing the main story, you can use the QR Scanner to scan the code below. Once you've done that, visit the Antiques shop in Hau'oli City and pick your Magearna up from the deliveryman waiting there.
Past Gifts
Dialga/Palkia -- DONE
Kicking off the Year of Legendary Pokemon are the Space and Time Pokemon, Palkia and Dialga. The two are being distributed in the US at GameStop from February 2-28, while UK residents can pick them up from participating Game stores. The Legendary you receive will depend on which version you have: players with either Sun or Ultra Sun receive Palkia, while those playing either Moon or Ultra Moon get Dialga. You'll need to redeem your download code by May 23 to claim the Legendaries.
Regigigas/Heatran -- DONE
The Year of Legendary Pokemon continues with another pair of Legendaries originally from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl: Regigigas and Heatran. As before, the Pokemon you receive will depend on which seventh generation title you're playing: Sun and Ultra Sun players will get Regigigas, while those with a copy of Moon or Ultra Moon will receive Heatran.
Unlike the Dialga and Palkia distribution, The Pokemon Company is giving away the download code for Regigigas and Heatran in the March Pokemon Trainer Club newsletter, so you'll need to create a free Trainer Club Account here and opt-in to the newsletter before March 1 in order to get the code.
Entei/Raikou -- DONE
The Johto Legendary dogs Entei and Raikou are April's free gift for Pokemon players. The Pokemon are being distributed in the US via a free download code from participating Target stores, and as before, the Legendary you receive depends on which version you're playing: those with Sun or Ultra Sun will get Entei, while Moon and Ultra Moon players will receive Raikou. In Europe, the Legendaries are being distributed as a free online Mystery Gift until April 25.
Xerneas/Yveltal -- DONE
Pokemon X and Y's cover monsters, Xerneas and Yveltal, are the free Legendary Pokemon available in May. From May 4-27, US players can snag a download code for the monsters at no charge from GameStop stores, while those in the UK can grab one from Game. As usual, the Legendary you receive depends on which version you're playing: Sun and Ultra Sun players will get Yveltal, while Moon and Ultra Moon players will end up with Xerneas.
Shiny Zygarde -- DONE
The Kalos Legendary Zygarde is June's free Pokemon. Regardless of which game you own, you'll get the Order Pokemon, although its moveset will differ depending upon which version you're playing. What makes this particular Zygarde special is that it's a Shiny. Players in the US can pick up a free download code for the Legendary at GameStop from June 1-24, while those in Europe and Australia can get it via Mystery Gift over the Nintendo Network.
Amazon and Twitch Prime members can now download their free games for June 2018. To collect your freebies, just click the crown-shaped Prime Loot icon next to the search bar on Twitch. That opens a drop-down menu containing your free games, of which there are a total of five this month.
Kicking off the freebies is Strafe, a gory first-person shooter that wouldn't look out of place in 1996. It's a fast-paced roguelike-inspired game with procedurally generated levels and tons of blood-spilling weapons. Next up are The Banner Saga and The Banner Saga 2, tactical RPGs about a Viking caravan trekking through a world inspired by Norse mythology. The many decisions you'll have to make will determine your success or failure.
Also included is Tumblestone, a puzzle game you can play alone or with friends that involves clearing out columns of colorful blocks. Last up is Treadnauts, a side-scrolling arena battle game in which you and some buddies control nimble tanks trying to blow each other up.
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 five games for no cost between May 31 - July 1. They're yours to keep forever, even if you cancel Amazon Prime down the line. The only catch is that you need the Twitch desktop app to install them.
Other Twitch Prime benefits include free monthly in-game loot for popular games like Fortnite and Heroes of the Storm, ad-free viewing on Twitch, and a channel subscription every 30 days.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corp. has dropped its legal case against Fortnite publisher Epic Games. According to Bloomberg, PUBG Corp. sent a letter of withdrawal to Epic Games' attorneys and the lawsuit--filed in South Korea, the home country of PUBG Corp. parent company Bluehole--is now closed.
PUBG Corp. opened proceedings against Fortnite in May for alleged copyright infringement. The exact reasoning for the lawsuit is unknown, but the PUBG developer had previously said it was "concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known." The company stated it had "concerns" about Fortnite's UI, gameplay, and "structural replication" with regards to the similarities between PUBG and Fortnite.
To complicate matters further, Bluehole and Epic have an ongoing licensing agreement regarding the latter's Unreal Engine, which PUBG uses. In addition, both companies are part-owned by the same corporation, Tencent.
An Epic Games spokesperson told GameSpot the company would not comment on "ongoing litigation." PUBG Corp.'s representatives did not immediately respond.
In March, PUBG creator Brendan Greene said Fortnite is good for the battle royale genre overall. "It's great that the battle royale space is expanding and Fortnite is getting battle royale game modes in the hands of a lot more people," he said. We'll update if we hear more from Epic or PUBG Corp.'s representatives.
Rockstar recently shared a few more details about Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of E3 2018, where the open-world game ultimately didn't make an appearance. In addition to announcing Special and Ultimate editions of the game, the developer has revealed the pre-order bonuses players will receive for reserving the title ahead of its release. Here's what you can receive.
Everyone who pre-orders a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 will get a pair of DLC "enhancements" for the story mode. First is the War Horse, which Rockstar says has "greater courage and stamina than the average steed." In addition to that, players will receive an Outlaw Survival Kit, which comes with an assortment of helpful items to replenish health, Dead Eye, and more.
Those who pre-order the game digitally from the PlayStation or Xbox Stores will get an additional assortment of bonuses. That includes an exclusive treasure map that helps locate hidden treasure in story mode, as well as enough in-game money to purchase "a weapon, some food, a handful of useful items, and ammunition." However, players will need to reserve the game by July 31 in order to get the treasure map.
Finally, everyone who pre-orders the title digitally will get a GTA$ bonus for Grand Theft Auto V's online mode. The amount of money you'll receive depends on which edition of the game you pre-order. Those who reserve it on PS4 will have their GTA$ deposited immediately into their GTA Online Maze Bank account, while Xbox One players will have to download the bonus from the Microsoft Store. You can see the amount you'll get for each version below.
Standard edition -- $500,000
Special edition -- $1,000,000
Ultimate edition -- $2,000,000
Red Dead Redemption 2 launches for PS4 and Xbox One on October 26. Despite being postponed several times already, Rockstar's parent company Take-Two asserts that the game won't be delayed again.
Epic Games is consistently adding new limited-time modes to Fortnite: Battle Royale, and that will continue very soon with the addition of the Playground LTM. This is a mode Epic mentioned a while back, but it has only just been confirmed by way of an in-game message. [Update: The new Fortnite update is now live with Playground mode, but for the time being it's been disabled due to matchmaking issues.]
"Let your creativity run wild on your own private island," reads the message. According to a blog post from around a month ago, Playground "will load you into the Battle Royale Map with some adjusted settings."
The post continues: "Battle and build to your heart's content with an extended period of time to roam around the map as well as increased resource generation. All treasure chests and ammo crates will be spawned, try droppin' in different spots and scope out the loot. Friendly fire is on so you can scrimmage with your squad (up to 4 friends per match), but fear not you'll respawn immediately."
It appears the mode will act as a private server of sorts for you or your squad. Here, you can practise new strategies or hone your building skills without the risk of an enemy getting the jump on you.
Epic is also working to diversify the strategies used by players in Battle Royale. In a separate blog post a few days ago, the company said it plans to "continue to make changes to evolve the game to give players multiple ways to counter each other in combat, and create more strategies to win the game."
The most recent Fortnite update added Stink Bombs and more. The patch, version 4.4, is the game's first since the launch of Battle Royale on Nintendo Switch. That came shortly after it was confirmed during Nintendo's E3 press conference broadcast, though it had been leaked and rumored for quite some time.
Nintendo has rolled out a new update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch. On top of resolving a small handful of bugs, the patch introduces an unexpected new feature to the mascot racer: Toy-Con compatibility.
After installing the update, players will be able to use the Motorbike Toy-Con from the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The cardboard controller can be selected from the new Toy-Con icon that appears along the bottom of the game's main menu screen, and it works with all of the game's modes and vehicles. Provided you have four Toy-Cons laying around, up to four players can play together using the new control method locally.
Nintendo shared a short video demonstrating how the Toy-Con works with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Players accelerate by twisting the Motorbike's right handlebar and steer their kart around the track by moving the handlebars side to side. Selecting the Toy-Con also sets the camera closer to your character, which Nintendo says "increas[es] immersion." Drifting, braking, and throwing items are all handled by pressing their corresponding Joy-Con buttons.
In addition to Toy-Con compatibility, the new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update addresses a couple of bugs in the game. Specifically, it resolves an issue that would cause the "Search by Code" function to stop working after setting up a tournament. It also fixes a bug that would prevent players from continuing after they collide with a Star Thwomp. You can read the patch notes for the update on Nintendo's support website.
With this patch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has become the first game outside of Labo to support Toy-Cons, although Nintendo teases that it won't be the last. The patch also coincides with the announcement of a new Nintendo Labo contest. Players have from July 19 through August 20 to create either a musical instrument or gaming experience using the Toy-Con Garage feature. Those with the best creations will earn a number of prizes, potentially including a cardboard-themed Nintendo Switch.
Since it first debuted back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V has received a regular stream of updates and ongoing support from Rockstar. The developer gave fans a glimpse at the next new feature coming soon to the game's GTA Online mode: nightclubs.
Following their introduction sometime next month, players will be able to own and operate their own nightclub in GTA Online. Rockstar hasn't explained the particulars of how players will run their club, but it will involve designing, staffing, and promoting it. The developer has also revealed that the nightclubs will feature new music from the electronic artists Solomun, Tale Of Us, Dixon, and The Black Madonna.
"Nightclubs are the perfect cover for any other operation you might have going, so get in on the ground level as a business partner to open up a brand new establishment, and help the DJs make their shows the best ever," Rockstar says. "Run your nightclub business from setup, design, staffing and promotion; the more popular the club, the faster your secure wall safe will fill up."
In the meantime, players will be able to join the "guest list" by logging in to GTA Online from now to July 2. Those who do so will then earn GTA$300,000 and an exclusive Orange Wireframe Bodysuit when they log in between July 3-9. On top of that, players on the guest list will get other weekly login bonuses later in July. Some of the bonuses Rockstar outlined on its blog include:
Bonus cash each week ranging between GTA$100,000 to GTA$350,000
Exclusive discounts on forthcoming vehicles like the powerful MTL Pounder Custom--a highly customizable asset for your lucrative business deliveries
Exclusive liveries on new vehicles like the Ocelot Swinger classic sports car
New nightclub themed t-shirts
Rockstar first teased that some sort of music-related content was on the way to GTA 5 last month, when it posted a cryptic tweet that simply listed the four aforementioned electronic artists. The company says it will share more details about the forthcoming nightclub update and other Guest List perks closer to their launch.
E3 2018 has come and gone, and as promised, it featured a ton of announcements, trailers, and other exciting reveals. But while the show was dominated primarily by triple-A titles such as The Last of Us: Part II, Cyberpunk 2077, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, those certainly weren't the only interesting games we had an opportunity to see during the expo.
Amid the many press conferences, bombastic trailers, and lengthy gameplay demonstrations showcased during E3 were a number of clever, intriguing, and touching efforts from smaller and lesser-known studios that were easy to overlook in the general bustle of the show. Thanks to related events like Indie Mix, however, these titles got a chance to stand apart from the crowd and capture our attention with their unique ideas and distinctive styles.
Below, you can find gameplay videos of six interesting and unique indie games we got a chance to see during E3 2018, from the rougelike real-time strategy game Bad North to the bizarre What the Golf? and the emotional, cyberpunk-inspired narrative adventure Neo Cab. For a look at even more interesting titles you may not have heard of, be sure to check out our gallery of 21 games you may have missed from E3 2018.
Bad North
Bad North from developer Plausible Concept is a Viking-themed tactical game that blends together real-time strategy gameplay with rougelike elements. The title's charming art style belies its unforgiving nature, as any commander you lose during a skirmish is gone permanently. Bad North is slated to launch later this year for PC, consoles, and mobile.
Chasm
Bit Kid's Chasm is a sprawling side-scrolling adventure game set in a medieval fantasy world. Boasting a beautifully retro visual style and procedurally generated areas to explore, Chasm casts players in the role of a new recruit of the Guildean Kingdom, who embarks on a mission to discover why townspeople have begun disappearing. The game is coming later this year to PS4, PC, and Vita.
Darq
Darq is a psychological horror game about lucid dreaming. Developed by Unfold Games, the title follows the story of Lloyd, a young boy whose dream takes a dark turn. He must manipulate the logic of the dream world and use stealth to overcome obstacles, avoid horrific enemies, and survive the darkest corners of his subconscious. Darq will release for PC later this year, with a console release potentially following later.
Neo Cab
Neo Cab from developer Chance Agency is narrative game that casts players in the role of Lina, the last human driver in the cyberpunk-inspired city of Los Ojos. Lina's friend mysteriously vanishes, and it falls to players to maintain her driver rating--and livelihood--by deciding which passengers to pick up and how to interact with them while Lina searches for her friend's whereabouts. Neo Cab doesn't yet have a release date, but the game is in development for PC and Mac.
What the Golf?
Billed by developer Triband as a "golf game for people who hate golf," What the Golf? is a ridiculous, physics-based title that takes the basic idea behind the sport--hitting a ball into a hole--in a variety of outlandish directions. It begins like a standard game of golf, but soon players will find themselves smacking the ball into toasters, steering a car, and even putting a house. The game is coming later this summer to PC.
Where the Bees Make Honey
Where the Bees Make Honey is a beautiful isometric puzzle game reminiscent of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Players must guide Sunny, a young girl dressed like a bee, around diorama-like worlds, which can be rotated to gain a different perspective and discover unseen objects. The game spans four seasons, each of which has its own puzzles, while its story unfolds through cutscenes that punctuate every world. Where the Bees Make Honey will release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in early 2019.
Update: Playground has temporarily been taken offline while Epic investigates issues with its matchmaking services. We'll update when the company manages to reinstate the LTM, but there's no estimate provided for how long it may take. According to Fortnite's status page, matchmaking in its entirety is currently down, which means you'll likely to have to wait to try out the update's new features. The original story follows.
Epic Games' Fortnite: Battle Royale continues to change week-by-week, and now the game has changed again with the release of its latest patch. Update 4.5 adds the Playground LTM (limited-time mode), Dual Pistols, and more to PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.
Epic says Playground is a "low-pressure environment where friends can let their creativity run wild." It acts as a private server of sorts, and allows you and up to three friends to mess around and practise strategies in the Battle Royale world without the risk of other players killing you. The storm will still close in, but not for 55 minutes after you drop into the world. There's also lots more loot and ammo available than in a standard Battle Royale match.
Another LTM, Final Fight: Teams of 12, has also been added. As you might expect, this pits teams of 12 players each against each other in Battle Royale's Final Fight variant, in which storm circles stop closing in part-way through matches. After they stop compressing the game area, a countdown will begin, and the team with the most players left at the end of the timer wins.
Update 4.5 adds a new weapon to Battle Royale and changes a bunch more. Dual Pistols, which deal 41-43 base damage, give you "two times the fun and firepower" with their introduction. The pair both shoot medium ammo with one pull of the trigger, and can be found in floor loot, chests, and supply drops in Epic and Legendary variants.
Grenade Launchers are temporarily called Fireworks Launchers, as they will shoot out firework explosions rather than standard ones while Epic Games celebrates summer. Shotguns, meanwhile, have had the amount of damage dealt to structures significantly reduced, and SMGs have seen their accuracy and damage tweaked. Finally, map markers will now give you visual indicators of teammates' highlighted areas of interest. Read the full patch notes below, via Epic Games, for the full details.
Celebrate summer with the Fireworks Launcher, which has been added as a seasonal item that has firework explosions and replaces the Grenade Launcher for a limited time. (cosmetic change only).
Blocks that are removed while in edit mode are now opaque rather than clear. Blue, white, and red colors still indicate build status.
Adjusted to limit player's ability to peek through structures while editing.
Save the World and Battle Royale keybindings are now separated. Settings in one mode will not affect the settings of the other.
Changed the button that lets you re-roll one daily quest or challenge from 'Abandon Quest' to 'Replace Quest', to make the behavior more obvious.
Battle Royale
Limited Time Modes
Playground
Playground is a low-pressure environment where friends can let their creativity run wild. Build massive structures. Practice with the weapons and items. Fight against your friends. Have fun!
You'll have one hour to create, play and train as you wish. Hop in and try out version 1 of Playground!
Drop into the Battle Royale map with a squad of friends for an hour
Friendly Fire is on
Players respawn on death unless killed by the storm
The storm doesn't start closing in for 55m, and takes 5 minutes to close in
Resources gathered grant 10x the normal rate.
100 Llamas will be spawned on the map
Chests & Ammo Boxes spawn 100% of the time
Final Fight: Teams Of 12
Make it to the final circle and then fight for the Victory Royale!
Final Fight plays similar to standard Battle Royale, but instead of the storm circles closing all the way in, they stop part way through the match.
When the circles have finished closing in, the Final Countdown timer will begin.
The remaining teams will battle it out until the timer expires.
The team with the most players remaining at the end of the timer wins!
In the event of a tie, the two (or more) teams tied for the lead win the match.
Weapons And Items
Dual Pistols Added
Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
41-43 base damage.
Uses Medium Ammo.
Shoots both pistols with one pull of the trigger.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, and Supply Drops.
Does not use first shot accuracy.
Significant jumps that are landed with the Shopping Cart now appear in the elimination feed (height, distance, and time).
Weapon damage to structures now correctly scales with rarity.
Shotgun damage to structures has been reduced by 50% for Pump Shotgun, and 25% for both Tactical Shotgun and Heavy Shotgun.
Explosions now damage all structures within range, whether or not they are visible from the explosion center.
We're making the following changes to further solidify the identities and strengths of Tactical and Silenced SMGs.
Tactical SMG
Removed first shot accuracy.
Increased base accuracy by 25%.
Lowered the sprinting accuracy penalty by 15%.
Lowered the ADS bonus by 10 %.
Increased damage by +2.
Silenced SMG
Increased base accuracy by 10%.
Increased ADS accuracy bonus by 20%.
Increased damage by +2.
Shotgun ammo now drops in stacks of 4 instead of 5.
Grenade Launcher visuals have been temporarily changed to shoot fireworks instead. This is a cosmetic change only.
Bug Fixes
Boogie Bomb explosions are no longer blocked by vehicles.
Thermal Scoped Rifle will now consistently exhibit intended accuracy while in scoped in.
Clingers can no longer stick to players through the ceiling or floor.
Spike traps placed on a ceiling no longer damage players on the floor above.
The Thermal Scoped Rifle no longer highlights opened chests.
Weapons will no longer appear to fire while switching weapons under certain network conditions.
Gameplay
Progress for elimination quests will now be granted if you down an enemy with the required weapon rather than needing to actually eliminate them with it.
In Build Mode, walls will now try to build at a closer location when placement is blocked due to lack of structural support. Stairs, Floors, and Roofs are not affected.
Auto-open doors no longer functions while in the Down-But-Not-Out state.
Pickaxes will no longer hit the Shopping Cart if you are riding as the passenger.
Players in the Down-But-Not-Out state can no longer enter Shopping Carts.
Improvements made to the auto pickup weapons feature to better handle picking up large groups of weapons.
Bug Fixes
Items dropped in water now stay above the water's surface.
Excessive fall damage is no longer applied when under certain network conditions.
Supply Drop crates no longer briefly persist in the world after being opened if it was shot down.
Smoothed out the location of all soccer balls and basketballs while under varying network conditions.
Players are no longer able to hit building weak spots through other buildings.
Having the Sprint Cancels While Running setting turned on will no longer prevent players from auto-reloading their weapon after sprinting.
Fixed an issue that applied a constant force to players if they were hit by a Shopping Cart.
Doors that are interacted with multiple times rapidly no longer get out of sync with their state on the server.
Fixed an issue where if a player was using a consumable and then exchanged it for a different pickup, it would select the pickaxe instead of the new item.
Chests no longer create invalid pickups, such as a 2x Chug Jug instead of 2 individual Chug Jug pickups.
This created an issue that caused players to be unable to pick up building materials.
Players are now awarded an elimination if the opposing player bounced off terrain and took fall damage before taking enough damage to be eliminated.
Fixed a small number of accounts that had incorrect Week 5 Challenges.
Mushrooms no longer spawn on trees in Moisty Mire.
Fixed an issue that prevented the ability to open chests by preemptively holding the interact button while approaching the chest.
Fixed a gap in the terrain that was caused by the sporting goods store in Greasy Grove being slightly moved by accident.
Performance
Improved performance of skydiving on all platforms (especially Switch), by reducing rendering related CPU hitches
Fixed a source of hitching on Xbox one. In rare instances, this was causing up to 2-second hitches for some players
Improved framerate around swing-sets by adjusting physics.
Improved performance by doing less work when players are moving outside of your view.
Improved performance for moving ammo and weapon pickups.
Improved player movement updates in large team games. This should make the movement of other players appear smoother.
Fixed skydiving rings ticking the entire match.
Audio
Changes to enemy building audio (friendly building audio remains the same).
Increased volume of enemy building audio.
Increased range of enemy building audio by 2 building tiles.
Added variation to water footsteps on mobile and Nintendo Switch platforms.
Re-balanced bass content for surround sound mix.
Bug Fixes
Reallowed the first few milliseconds of audio to play if an emote is triggered while jumping.
Suspension audio on cars is no longer spammed when jumping or sliding off of them.
Shopping Carts no longer spam their collision audio if flipped upside down.
Fixed issue that caused doors to play an open and a close sound when opened.
Fixed the slowed audio for the Step it Up emote.
UI
The switch seat icon is now hidden when you can't switch seats.
The minimap now draws the whole map and bus paths instead of nothing when on the Starter Island.
Existing map markers are removed when landing after jumping from the Battle Bus to reduce map clutter.
Custom voice chat output devices can be selected on PC.
Removed damage numbers from Shopping Carts and added a health bar.
HUD Elimination and Down-But-Not-Out notifications have received updated animations.
Bug Fixes
Damage numbers no longer overlap if damage is done to both shield and health.
Object stacks no longer appear as 0 ammo when looted.
Map marker icons now properly appear even while on the Starter Island.
Fixed an issue where sometimes map markers wouldn't be removed when pressing right click and moving the mouse slightly.
Fixed an issue where the player was unable to drop or split an item after dropping a full stack of items.
Art And Animation
The cape on the Battlehound* Outfit is now available as Back Bling.
Added capes to the Ventura* and Venturion* Outfits.
*Anyone who purchased these Outfits has been granted the Back Bling to be used on any other Outfit.
Bug Fixes
Visual effects for the Oracle Axe Pickaxe and Ominous Orb Back Bling now appear correctly on consoles.
Back Bling no longer appears in low detail while spectating players.
Replay System
Removed ProAm replays from the Replay Browser.
Replay Browser entries will now scroll if text doesn't fit.
Bug Fixes
The Replay Browser no longer loses gamepad focus if chat window is opened.
Spectating
Bug Fixes
The shield bar no longer incorrectly fills and empties when switching between players in spectator mode.
Storm effects no longer get stuck on players that were in the Storm while being spectated even after leaving the Storm or after switching to a new player.
Mobile
Added settings on mobile for low power mode and scalability.
Improved touch interaction logic to be more consistent and reliable.
Touch rotation sensitivity in the locker has been reset.
Bug Fixes
Vibration setting no longer resets to the wrong value on mobile devices.
Fixed a bug where lower end mobile devices weren't displaying the whole island while on the bus.
Volume on mobile devices will no longer occasionally become muted.
Save The World
Missions And Systems
Blockbuster Part 4: The Finale is now available!
Complete the questline and choose a Shadow Ops hero.
Heroes, Trap Schematics, and Weapon Schematics can now be acquired directly from the Collection Book through Recruitment and Research.
Select the item you wish to create in the Collection Book. This can be an item you do not have yet, or one that you have already collected.
If the item can be created a Recruit or Research button will appear.
Event Items, Survivors, and Defenders CANNOT be obtained using this feature.
This costs Flux, and either Training Manuals, Weapon Designs, or Trap Designs.
The resulting item will be level 1, and schematics will have randomized perks.
Items can now be unslotted from the Collection Book at a cost of 20 V-Bucks.
This will return the same item that you slotted, with the same level and perks.
This will remove the Collection Book XP that the item had granted, but will not reduce the level of your Collection Book or change what rewards you have earned.
This XP debt will have to be paid back before you can continue to advance the Collection Book's level.
Adding new quest called Independence Day to grant players two Fourth of July themed Soldiers. Part of Blockbuster Part 4.
Stars and Stripes Jonesy*.
Stars and Stripes Headhunter*.
*Hats and Backpacks will not be in this patch but will be released in an upcoming patch. Players that own these heroes will automatically get corresponding hats and backpacks once released, at the appropriate and usual evolution levels.
Changed the way reward rolls work on Group Missions so that players get a larger amount of a single resource:
These missions would reward Gold, plus a standard amount of 4 different resource types.
They now reward Gold plus 4x the usual amount of a single resource type.
This allows players to better target specific resources they are trying to acquire.
For missions rewarding RE-Perk and Perk-UP, the rewards can still be split between multiple types of Perk Recombobulator resources.
Increased the chance for Mini Llamas to upgrade.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where all 2-star Evolution Skill Nodes were required in order to upgrade the rarity of schematics. You now only require the node that matches the item type.
Heroes
Stars and Stripes Soldiers
Stars and Stripes Jonesy - Legendary Survivalist
Stars and Stripes Headhunter - Legendary Survivalist
These can be acquired by completing the new Independence Day side quest.
Bug Fixes
Players will no longer stop moving mid air if they use Crescent Kick after using a Player Jump Pad Trap.
Bull Rush no longer abruptly stops when falling down ledges.
Weapons And Items
Bobcat Assault Rifle added to the Weekly Store.
Available Wednesday, June 27 at 8 PM EST until Wednesday, July 4 at 8 PM EST.
Fast firing weapon with excellent damage output and magazine size, but lower range than most assault weapons.
Maintains most of its accuracy while moving and firing from the hip, excelling at close range mobile skirmishes.
Cozy Campfire now heals through walls, as long as the player is within its range.
Increased maximum ammo limit for Light Bullets, Medium Bullets, and Shells & Slugs.
Light from 5000 to 6000
Medium from 3000 to 4000
Shells from 1000 to 1200
Added several schematic perks, allowing for more creative stacking of certain perks:
For Melee Weapons, we added Life Leech and Fire Rate to the first and third perk slots respectively, and Heavy Attack Stamina Cost Reduction to the second slot.
For Ranged Weapons, we added Reload Speed and Magazine Size to the first and third slots, respectively.
Increased Lifesteal Perk effectiveness by 50%.
Increased the effectiveness of pistols that fire explosive projectiles:
Reduced in-air fuse time of the grenade launcher from 8 seconds to 2.75 seconds.
Bug Fixes
Increased the environment damage dealt by Remote Explosives so it can reliably destroy walls at higher difficulty levels.
It is no longer possible for Floor Spikes or Flame Grill traps to hit enemies through floor pieces above the trap.
Fixed issue where ice formed by the Freeze Trap was blocking damage to enemies.
The Floor Spike Traps given in the tutorial are now able to be placed on ramps.
Fixed crosshairs expanding when aiming down sights with Rocket Launchers.
Replaced the headshot-based perks from the Zap Zapp Pistol Schematic with more relevant damage perks.
Headshot Damage was replaced with Damage.
Headshot Explosion was replaced with Snare On Hit.
Headshot Streak Damage Bonus was replaced with Affliction.
Fixed the Whisper .45 not properly displaying a minimap icon when dropped.
Gameplay
Introducing a new enemy, the Super Shielder!
The Super Shielder attaches to other enemies like regular Shielders, but extends its shield much further, protecting all enemies inside the bubble.
This shield also protects the Super Shielder itself!
Standing inside the shield lets you attack enemies inside it without penalty.
Implemented Builder Pro controller scheme for Save the World.
This control layout matches the Builder Pro scheme from Battle Royale.
Using gadgets and abilities work the same way as the Combat Pro control scheme (which is the same in Combat mode as the Builder Pro scheme).
Auto-open doors game option now affects doors in Save The World.
Changed loot drops for specialized grenade items (Impulse Grenades, Port-A-Fort, etc) so that new players won't encounter these items during the tutorial.
Most of these items will begin dropping halfway through Stonewood.
Port-A-Fort will become available toward the end of Stonewood.
M80 and Bottle Rocket remain unchanged, and can still drop during the start of the game.
Bug Fixes
Build quickbar remains focused after entering menu and re-assigning weapons while in build mode.
The Teleporter can no longer be placed under Lars' Van in Ride the Lightning mission.
Fixed bug when cancelling a gadget or hero ability by pressing Toggle Harvest Tool or Next/Previous Weapon.
In each case previously, the button would act as though the gadget/ability in question were not selected. For example, if you had your Pickaxe selected and brought out the TEDDY placement tool, pressing the Toggle Harvesting Tool button would switch the player to their last selected weapon rather than their pickaxe. Now it will switch you to the pickaxe.
UI
HUD Scaling option now also applies to the Save the World HUD.
Players can select each node on the quest maps to see details and rewards.
Removed Copy to Clipboard button(s) in the Options menu on consoles.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where the gamepad mapping screen showed the wrong mappings for a number of controls on the left side of the controller for Combat Pro.
Damage numbers are once again visible when hitting destructible objects.
Fixed a problem where storage transfer was prevented from filling unused space due to a bug with M80s and Bottle Rockets.
Exiting and rejoining global chat room no longer occurs after changing certain game options.
Fixed an issue allowing non-leader party members to select a mission on PC.
Fixed an issue with the Mission Select menu when switching between keyboard and mouse or gamepad inputs.
Headshot Damage now correctly updates when updating the perk in the Recombobulator.
Fixed quest announcements not properly clearing after updating.
The Play Now button for the Jack of All Trades quest has been disabled because the button was sending players to zone types where the quest objective isn't likely to spawn.
Art And Animation
Clothing cosmetics now properly simulate in the lobby.
Performance
Bug Fixes
Optimized Hover Turret latency during combat.
Audio
Bug Fixes
Updated SEE-bot launch animation sounds.
Audio impact sounds now properly play for Elemental Husks.
The upcoming Mega Man X Legacy Collection is undoing one of the more odd and divisive moments in the series history. When Mega Man X5 was localized for the Americas in 2001, it ditched the usual naming scheme for the eight robot bosses and instead named them all oblique references to Guns N' Roses band members. Capcom is reverting them back to the traditional names for the compilation release.
The revised names were apparent in a video put out by the official Capcom Unity blog to promote the new X Challenge Mode, in which players take on two bosses at once. A Capcom spokesperson confirmed the change to GameSpot:
"In our mission to make these collections an authentic Mega Man X experience, we took the opportunity to better align the naming of the Mega Man X5 Mavericks across all regions for better narrative cohesion across the series, making the names more aligned with the original Japanese version release. We hope that fans appreciate our intent to unify the Mega Man X Maverick-naming convention all these years later."
Mega Man has always had musical inspirations, from the helper robots "Rock" and "Roll" to the bird Beat and the rival robots Bass and Treble. Still, though, the GnR references broke with the traditional naming scheme and created a stir in the fan community, and Capcom is actually taking the opportunity to address it.
Mega Man X Legacy Collection is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on July 24.
We've known about the Resident Evil 2 remake for a long time. Although it was announced in late 2015 by producer Yoshiaki "H" Hirabayashi, the survival horror remake was kept under wraps until E3 2018. During Sony's press conference, Capcom debuted the first gameplay trailer, finally giving us a glimpse at how it'll look and play. And better yet, we got a release date: January 29, 2019.
The excitement of seeing familiar characters and locales recreated with modern visuals was only elevated after our time spent playing a demo at E3. Resident Evil 2 Remake feels like it respects the nostalgia fans have for the game, and actually factors their intimate knowledge of the game into its design. It stokes memories of the PlayStation classic with faithful renditions of iconic Raccoon City locations, while at the same time unexpectedly flipping the script on the original to terrify longtime fans. While Resident Evil 2 Remake currently feels like a respectful cover of the original with some modern flourishes, our time spent in Racoon City left us with a few questions.
During the show, GameSpot was given the opportunity to talk to Yoshiaki "H" Hirabayashi and Tsuyoshi Kanda, the producers of Resident Evil 2 Remake. We discussed not only how much the game has changed from the original, but other subjects such as why they chose to use a third-person over-the-shoulder view, how much Resident Evil 7 influenced the game's development, and their major inspirations while working on the project.
GameSpot: How much of the game has changed? What can fans expect to be the same as the original and what they can expect to be completely different?
H: It's hard to nail down a percentage of new versus old per se, but we really wanted to trace the original game, and that will let you have your muscle memory for keeping the key beats of how the game is structured. But in between those key beats, we wanted to do some restructuring and bring some new surprises. So you'll definitely have key moments which feel totally nostalgic and you're like, "This is Resident Evil 2." But there will be some other parts in-between that [which] will actually be quite fresh and original.
How easy has it been for you in terms of creative freedom to reshape and reconfigure such an iconic game? How do you implement changes while retaining the spirit and mechanics of the original?
Tsuyoshi Kanda: I feel like we're a team who all really respect the original a lot, but we do feel our creative freedom coming out of the fact that we're using the RE engine, which was first used in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and being able to use that as the basis for the game has really unlocked a lot of freedom for us because it's such a great basis.
You know, it's let us achieve such amazing immersive visuals and sound that we are then free to focus on thinking about how we're going to restructure the game, and it lets us challenge ourselves to bring our best game to the process. So I would personally feel like it was quite a free process to this point.
H: I feel like I've gone back and forth a lot. You know, we see-sawed a lot between total respect/recreate the original, and then bring something new. Players today need something new to experience, and the team all have got their own individual memories of playing the original game and how they felt about it, and what they wanted to bring to the new project. And I think that over the course of the three or so years of development, what we've arrived at is what people played at the show. It's hitting all the beats that you'll remember, but it's taking time to also bring you something fresh in between those.
There has obviously been great critical success with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but the remake was announced before its release. Did that game's success influence the direction of where you wanted to go with the Resident Evil 2 remake?
Kanda: Well, we first soft-announced this title in late 2015 with the We Do It video. At that time, Resident Evil 7 was already in development ... and then we went on to release it in January 2017. So the timeline has kind of been parallel for both games, but there's been a great positive effect on both titles from each other.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)
The learning we have from that process have been able to be fit back into Resident Evil 2, because it's using the same engine, and that lets us bring a higher level of quality. While we are using the same tools, we [are] even better at using them now than we were with Resident Evil 7. Both titles have sort of similar approaches in that we want to bring the ultimate in horror and immersion to each of their different concepts, and I think that they've been a positive influence on each other.
How did you settle on the perspective? The series has gone in numerous directions over the years, and with Resident Evil 7's camera being first-person, what made you choose third-person?
H: We looked into all kinds of possibilities and options during a long process of deliberation and consideration when it came to the camera, and it all came down to the feeling we want you to have when you play the game, and we wanted to have the key pillars of scary survival horror, and also, a sort of so-called metroidvania style exploration of the environment. And when it came to how to bring the best experience of those two aspects together: the answer was the over-the-shoulder third-person view.
We wanted it to be intimately terrifying in nature, to [have] up-close and personal zombie encounters that you can only get, I think, with that kind of camera view. You've got your character right on the screen, but when a zombie comes in and bites you...maybe you noticed on the demo there's like cinematic zoom in, and they just [get] right up in your face.
It's an intensely personal experience, and the only way to do that we felt was to choose this kind of camera angle. So it's really delivering the experience that we want players to have with this perspective.
It's also opened up the possibilities of the puzzles, which are a classic element of Resident Evil games. There's a room where, slightly ironically, there's remnants of welcome party set up for Leon's first day. It was supposed to be his first day, and it was supposed to be a celebration, and in that setting you find a note on the desk detailing what would have been a fun puzzle game if it wasn't for the zombie outbreak where his new colleagues were saying, "We need you to remember our names. We're going to play a game," and you have to find all their name plates to unlock Leon's desk. And you find them scattered across other desks or some of them are dropped on the floor, but you really need to look for them and get up close to the environment.
You can only do that with a camera like that. If it's a super pulled-out camera, it can be very difficult to implement that kind of puzzle. So I think that this has also been a great choice for us to open up the possibilities of how we should bring you puzzle-solving and how we planned that in with exploration and combat.
Resident Evil 2 has a huge legacy. I know it has been much requested, but what motivated you to take on remaking Resident Evil 2? Why was this something you wanted to do?
Kanda: We really just want to give fans what they want, you know? We have this original game that's known as a masterpiece and it's been so many years and people have been saying that they'd really like to revisit this title, and whenever that kind of intensity and passion from the fans is out there, it's impossible for us to ignore that really, because it's a sign of how dedicated they are to our titles and our brands.
Everyone on the remake team is a Resident Evil 2 fan, so just as much as anyone, we want to make the amazing game that the fans want as well.
Yoshiaki "H" Hirabayashi
It almost becomes an inevitability at that point, so we just decided that we really want to take this on. You know, there's a process when you're deciding how to take on a game like this, I mean, a lot of trial and error and decisions to be made, but at the end of the day we just want to try and take the massive expectations that you have, which could be taken as a negative or a reason not to do it, but we want to take that and say, "We're going to aim high. We're going to not only match that, we're going to exceed those expectations." It's a really exciting challenge for us.
H: We are included in that group of fans of RE 2, ourselves. Everyone on the remake team is a Resident Evil 2 fan, so just as much as anyone, we want to make the amazing game that the fans want as well.
Horror and action has been a tough balance Resident Evil has had to make over the years. How did you go about managing this for the Resident Evil 2 remake? What was your philosophy on this dynamic for this project?
H: First, I want to make sure that everyone is aware right from the announcement period that just because we've gone with over-the-shoulder third person, that it's not Resident Evil 4, you know? The ingredients for Resident Evil 4 was it's Resident Evil, it's over-the-shoulder, and it's bringing in shooter elements.
But this game isn't the same; we're taking the explorative elements--the Metroidvania-like backtracking exploration you've seen in previous Resident Evil games--and we're putting in an over-the-shoulder perspective, but that's it. We're not actually adding in any of the extra shooter aspects that was a part of Resident Evil 4. So it isn't going to take on the tone and style of the more action hero approach you've seen many of the characters take in previous Resident Evil games. It's still these average people stuck in the desperate situation, trying to survive.
The way we can make players feel powerful in that context is they're not just going to be reeling off endless rounds of bullets; they're going to have to do resource management and they're going to have to watch their ammo. If they're able to learn the best way to aim and shoot zombies, and how to take them down or weaken them; then there's the risk and reward of taking the time learn how to get the right shot.
So I think that even though you're not an action hero in this game, you're going to feel powerful by having learned exactly the timing and approach and strategy you need to take the enemies down.
That's actually something I noticed about the shooting mechanics. You really have to time your shots.
Yeah, like you're saying the timing is important and you have to line up your shots. That's a good kind of stress, where you're like, just keep trying to get it right. There's a lot [of] different weapons in the game all with different feels, so you can find the one that suits you. And we even included a few customization options as well for people who like to change their reticle colors and stuff.
In your process of remaking Resident Evil 2, I was curious, did you pull from any other inspirations for its horror--at least aside from the original?
H: It's not direct inspiration of the content so much as an approach, but if you think of Alien, that movie introduces this enemy character. You have no idea what it is when you watch the first movie, and it has to establish what it is, what the rules are. And when you have a sequel like Aliens, you have to go in assuming people know what they're talking about when they say what an alien is and what it can do, and that second movie has to sort of expand the world, the universe of the movie to bring something extra to that.
And I think with Resident Evil 1 and 2, it's a similar thing, where Resident Evil 1 is like the grandfather of survival horror-games. It's the first time most people played a game that was a horror experience, and had zombies in it, and they had to figure out what the rules of fighting a zombie are. Once you've established that, like with Resident Evil 2, you have to know that's the new baseline. You're not starting from zero anymore.
The new baseline is how Resident Evil works, and then how do you expand on that? How do you bring new experiences and gameplay to that? And I think I've got a similar approach to that, where you know: the stoicism of Alien, or the first Resident Evil is where the series starts, and then the second one you have to broaden your horizons a little to bring something new to the table. And we try to bring a mixture of the pure horror of the original and then bring up a new level of entertainment to the sequel.
The same applies to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. You can't do the second one that way without having establishing it properly first. Batman Begins had to be like, who Batman is in this world, this is how he operates. Everyone knows that going in, so you can kick off The Dark Knight with The Joker introduction.
But some of the other design philosophy from those films can be applied to the Resident Evil 2 Remake as well. For example, the appearances and costumes in the game. We want to bring a certain reality to them. When you look at a character like The Joker, previous live-action iterations have been a bit more theatrical and had someone who looked like how he would from the comics, but they didn't answer the question of how someone would look that way in real life. In The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan portrays him as someone who has scars and puts face paint on.
There's this conundrum towards how to get a more realistic version of a fantastical character on screen, and we've thought about that with things like how we'd recreate the original's costumes for the remake. We'd ask ourselves: what if Leon was wearing a tactical vest instead, and how would that look? We tried to add an authenticity to the designs that isn't completely new or different from the original game.
When it's anything where you're building on a prequel or a sequel, a previous title, or if you're reimagining something that already exists, the biggest challenge for us as creators is to bring a new level of reality to things that we've all seen before.
If there was another Resident Evil game that you'd love to fully remake someday, which would you do?
H: For me, that was Resident Evil 2. I want to get that over with now, because that's actually the one I always wanted to do. I can't think of remaking another game until I've finished that one.
Kanda: I'd almost like to imagine how would we'd remake Resident Evil 7. It may be one of the most recent entries in the series, but it would be quite exciting and interesting to consider how we'd redo that game.
Arriving to Netflix in this, the final week of June 2018, is a good mix of big titles and small ones. The biggest additions are easily Star Wars: The Last Jedi and W. Kamau Bell's Private School Negro which will both arrive June 26.
For TV, Season 2 of the acclaimed series Glow drops June 29 along with several other Netflix Originals, including the first season of Hotel Transylvania and a reality show where contestants go through the World War II-era selection process for British secret agents called Churchill's Secret Agents: The New Recruits. There's also a new futuristic original called Kiss Me First about a young women who's obsessed with a virtual reality game.
If you'd like to know everything coming to Netflix this week, check out the list below. For a look into the future, check out our list of everything coming to Netflix in July.
Arriving To Netflix The Week Of June 24, 2018
June 24
To Each, Her Own (Les Goûts et les couleurs) (Netflix Original)
June 25
Hotel Transylvania: Season 1
June 26
Secret City (Netflix Original)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
W. Kamau Bell: Private School Negro (Netflix Original)
June 29
Churchill's Secret Agents: The New Recruits (Netflix Original)
GLOW: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Harvey Street Kids (Netflix Original)
Kiss Me First (Netflix Original)
La Forêt (Netflix Original)
La Pena Maxima
Nailed It!: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Paquita Salas: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Recovery Boys (Netflix Original)
TAU (Netflix Original)
June 30
Fate/EXTRA Last Encore: Oblitus Copernican Theory (Netflix Original)
Call of Duty: WWII's third expansion, United Front, is now available for PS4. The DLC pack introduces an assortment of new content to the World War II shooter, including a handful of maps, a new War mode mission, and the next chapter in the Nazi Zombies story.
Those who purchase the United Front pack will get three new maps for Call of Duty: WWII's multiplayer mode. The first, Market Garden, is a fast-paced arena that forces players into close-quarters confrontations. The second, Monte Cassino, takes place in a "war-torn village" and emphasizes verticality with its many rooftops and other high vantage points. The final map, Stalingrad, is based on the largest confrontation in WWII and features two bases that are located on opposite sides of the war zone.
In addition to the new maps, United Front introduces a new mission for War mode called Operation Supercharge. In this mission, players are dropped in Tunisia and must push into a Nazi-controlled village and capture key supplies there. After that, they must destroy a key transport bridge and then capture "entrenched Axis fortifications."
Finally, United Front adds a new chapter for Nazi Zombies mode called The Tortured Path. This installment has players trying to stem the advance of the Axis's undead army. "Players must uncover the lost forges of ancient Thule, make the sword whole again, and also deliver a final death to the Undead in this all-new Zombies experience," Activision says. You can watch us play through a portion of the new Nazi Zombies chapter above.
Like Call of Duty: WWII's previous two DLC packs, United Front can be purchased individually for US $15 / £11.59 / AU $20.45. It's also included as part of the game's US $50 / £40 / AU $65 season pass, which grants access to all of Call of Duty: WWII's DLC packs as they release. Activision hasn't announced when United Front will launch for Xbox One and PC, but thanks to an exclusivity agreement with Sony, Call of Duty DLC typically arrives on those platforms about a month after it hits PS4.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle's DLC, Donkey Kong Adventure, is out now on Nintendo Switch. The new expansion is a considerable addition to the game, bringing 10 hours' worth of new gameplay and, of course, the addition of Nintendo superstar Donkey Kong to the lineup of heroes.
Donkey Kong Adventure lets you play as Donkey Kong, but the new storyline revolves around more than just him. In the expansion, Rabbid Peach is separated from her friends must team up with Donkey Kong and the stubborn Rabbid Cranky. Developer Ubisoft says the DLC introduces new tactical gameplay mechanics, along with new enemies, environments, and an epic fight against the vengeful Rabbid Kong, who has used his powers to take control of a mysterious island.
The expansion includes some classic Donkey Kong enemies, mixed in with the Rabbids, and DK sports some of his iconic attacks, like bongo-ing enemies and swinging from vines. You can get a look at some of his moves, along with the new levels and characters, in the launch trailer below.
Donkey Kong Adventure is available now in the Nintendo Eshop and costs $15. In GameSpot's Mario + Rabbids review, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10 and called it an "implausibly engrossing formula that is positively challenging and endlessly charming." GameSpot also ranked it one of the best Switch games of 2017.
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