Season 5 of Fortnite: Battle Royale rolls on with yet another set of challenges to complete. Just as in Season 4, finishing all of the challenges in a given week will complete a corresponding Road Trip challenge. This, in turn, rewards you with a special loading screen that points to a free Battle Star hidden somewhere around the island, giving you an easy way to level your Battle Pass up by one tier.
Three sets of weekly challenges have been released thus far in Season 5, the most recent of which tasks players with following a treasure map in Flush Factory and shooting clay pigeons, among other activities. If you've managed to complete all three sets of weekly challenges to date, you'll earn the third special loading screen, which features a group of characters racing rather unsafely in the new golf cart vehicle.
The clue this time is fairly subtle, but it can be found on the cart's license plate number: J2 SW. J2 points to a specific grid on Fortnite's map, while SW indicates that the Battle Star can be found in the southwestern corner of that area. Following those coordinates will lead you to just northeast of Wailing Woods, where you'll find the Battle Star waiting to be collected.
Just as in Season 4, you'll need to complete the corresponding Road Trip challenge in order to unlock this loading screen and find the hidden Battle Star. The Battle Star won't appear on the island unless you meet all of the prerequisites, so you can't take a shortcut by simply going to the aforementioned location without completing all of the previous challenges.
For this season, Fortnite challenges are divided into two categories: Free (which are available to all players) and Battle Pass (which are reserved for Battle Pass owners). If you need help finishing any of the recent challenges, you can find guides for them in our complete Season 5 challenges roundup. For more on Epic's popular battle royale game, be sure to check out the rest of our Fortnite Season 5 coverage below.
We're a few weeks deep into Season 5 of Fortnite, and Epic continues to roll out more challenges for players to complete. If you manage to finish all of the challenges in a given week, you will also complete a corresponding Road Trip challenge--Season 5's version of Blockbuster challenges. The reward for completing a Road Trip challenge is a special loading screen, which contains a subtle hint directing you to a free Battle Pass tier somewhere around the island.
If you complete two weeks' sets of challenges, you'll unlock the second of Season 5's special loading screens. This one features a group of characters driving golf carts around Lazy Links, the new golf course area that replaced Anarchy Acres in Season 5. You can take a look at the loading screen below.
The clue on loading screen #2 is fairly easy to spot. If you look closely in the background, you'll notice the faint silhouette of a Battle Star on top of Lazy Links' clubhouse. Simply land on top of the building at the beginning of a match and you'll be able to collect the Battle Star, ranking your Battle Pass up by one tier. You can see exactly how to get the Star in the video above.
As is the case with other free Battle Pass tiers, the Battle Star will only appear if you've completed its corresponding Road Trip challenge and unlocked the loading screen, meaning you won't be able to take a shortcut by simply heading to the designated area and finding the Star. If you need help completing any of this season's challenges thus far, you can find tips in our complete Season 5 challenges roundup.
Epic has divided Season 5's challenges into two categories--Free and Battle Pass. The former are available to all players, while the latter are reserved for those who've purchased the Season 5 Battle Pass. Even if you purchase the pass down the line, however, you'll retroactively unlock any rewards you may have already earned. You can read more about Fortnite Season 5 in the links below.
Fortnite's guided missile is back. The weapon was removed from the Battle Royale mode after players expressed their dissatisfaction for how powerful it was, but Epic Games has outlined plans for its return.
"We've gotten a lot of feedback around the Guided Missile, in particular concerns over fairness and strength of the weapon," Epic Games said in a post on Reddit at the time. "We share your concerns, so we've put the Guided Missile into the Vault while we figure out the next steps for its future."
The new guided missile has been patched to behave very differently. In a BR update, the new guided missile is described as "more of a scouting tool, than a high damage threat." It has reduced movement speed, turning radius, damage, and damage radius. The ammo cap has also been reduced to 12 rockets. Movement has been improved for mouse and keyboard to align closer with that of a controller.
This week we're talking recent SMG changes, Remote Explosives, and a returning item! pic.twitter.com/k947V9TA6L
You won't be using the guided missile to snipe out your enemies with explosive rockets any time soon, but the weapon might still prove useful for picking off wounded targets or pinpointing the location of an enemy hiding behind cover.
Epic Games recently added the SMG and compact SMG to Fortnite, but patches for both have since been released to adjust both weapons. Accuracy, damage, range, and fire rate have all been nerfed.
Altered Carbon has been renewed for a second season, and a second Kovacs. Netflix's popular sci-fi adaptation set in the distant future where AI is old hat and bodies are as replaceable as cars, will officially be back for a new season. Spoilers to follow for Season 1 of Altered Carbon.
The first season starred Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs, a former member of a rebellion army imprisoned for his crimes, who is released to solve the murder of one of the richest men in the world. It was action-packed, surprising, and super trippy.
The replaceable nature of bodies in the story allows the showrunners to recast a character as many times as they want, which often brings up questions of identity and mortality. In the second season, Kovacs will be played by Avengers actor Anthony Mackie, and we're hoping he brings some of his Marvel magic to the show.
Many questions remain about how Netflix will approach the upcoming season. It's unclear whether Martha Higareda will be back to play the tough but damaged cop, Kristin Ortega, or what Takeshi will do with his time now that he's a free man. One of the biggest reveals at the end of the season, however, was that Quellcrist Falconer, the leader of the rebellion and the love of Takeshi's life, may actually be alive out there somewhere, so we're hoping that they address this information next season.
An official release date has not been announced for Season 2 of Altered Carbon, but we're really excited to see what Mackie brings to the role and the direction the show will take in the new season.
Filming on Riverdale Season 3 may have only begun a week ago, but the cast and crew of The CW's Archie Comics adaptation did not come to San Diego Comic-Con empty-handed. The show's panel started with a sizzle reel that recounted the highs and lows of Season 2, from Archie joining the mob to Cheryl coming out of the closet.
At the end of the clip, though, the first footage of the new show was revealed. In it, Betty leaves her house to find her mother and sister Polly partaking in some bizarre kind of ritual in the front yard, as they hold Polly's twin babies high next to a fire. Those who tuned into Season 2 probably realize this is connected to the farm, the cult Polly has fallen in with. As it turns out, this cult is going to play a big role in Season 3, as Polly brings Alice even deeper into the group. That's also when viewers will meet the farm's enigmatic leader, who has yet to be cast, Edgar Evernever.
According to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the storyline involving the farm has been planned since Season 1. However, the popularity of Netflix's Wild, Wild Country, along with the charges brought against former Smallville star Allison Mack regarding her role in what has been described as a cult, can't help but inform the topic as the show explores it.
Those weren't the only things teased during the panel. Additionally, star Camila Mendes hinted at tough times ahead for her character Veronica and Archie. Given Archie is facing murder charges thanks to her dad, that seems to be a given.
Beyond that, Lili Reinhart teased that Betty will come into her own as the new queen of the Serpents after Jughead took over as leader of the motorcycle club. "At the beginning of the season, you'll see her own that title," Reinhart said.
Some new faces will also arrive in Riverdale. Penelope Ann Miller (The Artist) will take on the role of Ms. Wright, the district attorney prosecuting Archie. Also, fans will finally meet Jughead's family, as his mom and little sister Jellybean will finally return to the small town in episode eight or nine.
Riverdale returns on Wednesday, October 10, at 8 PM ET on The CW.
When you buy a new PS4 game, you want to know you're getting the best deal. But because each retailer has its own regular sales, plus the occasional surprise discounts, it's tough to know what the best deal is on a game at any given time. PlayStation 4 owners, we're here to help. We've skimmed through the sales at all of the major PS4 game retailers and compiled the best deals of the week below.
Between now and August 6, you don't need PlayStation Plus to play Grand Theft Auto V online. That's especially good for anyone who's interested in the new After Hours update for GTA Online, which introduced nightclubs you can purchase that can help you run your other criminal enterprises. The game also happens to be on sale for $20 on the PlayStation Store.
As for games, a few notable ones that have been in the news lately are on sale. No Man's Sky just got a huge update that introduces a much better multiplayer experience, as well as new base-building mechanics and the ability to pilot a fleet of ships. It's on sale for $20 at Best Buy. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, which just had a Rainbow Six Siege crossover event go live, is on sale for $20.
The makers of Middle-earth: Shadow of War recently pulled the microtransaction market from the game in response to fans' complaints. It's on sale for $20 at GameStop, and if you buy from a local brick-and-mortar location, you'll get a code for the season pass printed right on your receipt.
Other notable deals include Star Wars Battlefront II for $25 at GameStop and the co-op shooter Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for $20 on the PlayStation Store. And if you're thinking of getting into Destiny 2 so you're ready for the Forsaken expansion coming September 4, you can grab the base game for just $6 at Walmart. Or, if you want all of the game's content released so far, you can pick up Destiny 2 + Expansion Pass Bundle for $20 from the PlayStation Store
Those are some of the best deals on PS4 games this week, and you can find more below.
If you head to the theater and throw a rock, chances are you'll hit at least three superhero movies. The genre has taken over the box office in the last decade, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe leading the charge. With such a crowded movie landscape, it can be hard to cut through the noise. Luckily for Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, it has realized the easiest way to do so is with fart noises.
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, the feature-length continuation of Cartoon Network's Teen Titans Go! series, has everything fans of the show will love. The team dances and sings, it's more about having fun than saving the world, and it's not afraid to delve into a long stretch of meta jokes.
The story is hilariously simple. Every superhero on the planet seems to have their own movies. That is, except, the Teen Titans. This crew that would rather eat sandwiches than conquer evil doesn't think they'll be considered real superheroes until their adventures are immortalized on the big screen. And how can you blame them? Even Aquaman is getting a movie.
As they quickly learn, though, thanks to Hollywood director Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell), the movie industry doesn't think the Titans are nearly important enough to get their own film. This is done through a series of in-movie trailers for everything from a standalone Alfred Pennyworth film to Batman's utility belt getting a movie, while the team gets nothing. That's when they realize the only way to become the stars they dream of being is to find a nemesis. In this case, that's Slade (Will Arnett).
For those who haven't solved that puzzle yet. Slade is Slade Wilson, otherwise known as Deathstroke. The movie never calls him that, though--they just repeatedly refer to him as Slade. While it could be due to Deathstroke being too extreme of a name for an animated kids film, the Titans repeatedly refer to him as Deadpool.
The running Deadpool joke is a smart one, given Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is essentially a Deadpool movie aimed at a much younger audience. The film is 90 minutes of nonstop poking fun at the superhero genre, including the MCU and X-Men universes. Nobody takes it on the chin as much as DC Comics, though. From posters for movies like Batman v Joker: Yawn of Justice to Green Lantern admitting that nobody likes to talk about the movie he made, no DC character is safe.
It's the sort of humor this extension of Teen Titans Go! uses to capture the attention of adult audiences who might not be as enraptured by a Beast Boy dance party as younger members of the crowd.
Another running joke in the film that might be lost on younger audiences is the fact that Nicolas Cage is the voice of Superman. As many know, Cage nearly played a live-action Superman on the big screen, thanks to Tim Burton's proposed Superman Lives film. While that project never ended up happening, Cage's performance as this world's Superman is perfect, as is Halsey's Wonder Woman. There's also a pretty incredible cameo that most fans won't see coming.
While, for the most part, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is a fun, low-stakes adventure, it's not perfect. The jokes about farting and pooping can wear thin. There's an extended sequence where most of the team revels in the fact that they used a fake toilet on a movie set to take care of their business. While this might be the kind of humor that makes some of the younger audiences giddy, it felt out of place. The movie spends a lot of time masterfully joking about and mocking so many things. Spending its energy on such low-hanging fruit seems unnecessary.
Additionally, though it's only 92 minutes long, there was a point close to the end of the second act where the story started to drag. Thankfully, once the third act kicks in, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies thrusts into overdrive as the Titans and a massive robot Slade go to war.
In the end, though, this is the kind of superhero film adults and small children can go to and both find something they'll love. In a superhero movie landscape where the world is constantly being destroyed by massive CGI abominations, this is a refreshing change. Will Teen Titans Go! To the Movies save the DC Comics movie universe? Not in the least. However, like the recently released Ant-Man and the Wasp, it doesn't forget how funny and exciting these types of movies can be.
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is in theaters on July 27.
The Good:
A low-stakes adventure that's easy to get invested in
When you think about DC Comics, you think about Batman fighting the Joker or Superman fighting Lex Luthor. However, when you're a kid, playing with all your action figures, sometimes Batman ends up fighting Starscream from Transformers and Superman ends up fighting Mumm-Ra from Thundercats. DC has taken that sandbox mentality into its comics over the past few years, with miniseries like Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the publisher's newest book Injustice Vs. Masters of the Universe. What would happen if Superman, from Injustice: Gods Among Us, fought He-Man?
The six-issue miniseries, which saw its first issue's release on July 18, has these two vastly different universes crossing over. "After basically the end of the Injustice 2 video game, Superman has taken over, again," explains writer Tim Seeley. "It's the alt-ending, it's the dark ending. Superman has taken over and he's using the powers that he gets from Brainiac, and Batman has to go find someone to defeat Superman, and he picks He-Man.
"For reasons in the story which is basically, He-Man is like the good version of the evil Superman. He's a guy with all this power, but he wants the people to have freedom and to be able to determine their own destiny. In Injustice, Superman doesn't want that, at all; he wants control. So, it's basically, He-Man gets recruited to go to Earth and kick the crap out of bad Superman."
Both the DC and MOTU worlds are filled with characters, so of course, there are going to be some lesser-known characters included in the comic for the hardcore fans. This includes adding the MOTU villain Scare Glow to the book, which artist Freddie Williams II explained was not a joke. However, from there, the two creators went deep into He-Man lore. "Tim has put in so many cool Easter Egg characters, deep holes of all this Masters of the Universe continuity, it is a pleasure to draw," Williams explains. "It's the coolest stuff, I'm getting to have all the toys I never had as a kid. Like, the whole army of every Masters of the Universe. It's awesome."
While both Eternia and the DC Universe are vastly different worlds, they fit together perfectly for this story. "Tim has such a great deep understanding of Masters of The Universe that he immediately connected it well, like as a contrast," explained Williams. "Sort of like a brightness in Eternia, which is the home planet of Prince Adam. That's their universe, with this dark dystopian-esque sort of alternate reality of the Injustice world. Just reading his initial outline and his initial thoughts. It connected in a way that I didn't see coming, but made total sense. I can't picture a better way to basically make these properties interact and connect."
This isn't the first time DC Comics has worked on something with the MOTU property. "I think an interesting sort of evolution in the Masters of The Universe it domes from DC Comics, because when Mattel came up with this toy line and had a story for it," Seeley said. "They said 'Oh, we're gonna have a mini-comic' and DC Produced that initial stuff. Also basically came up with the Prince Adam story and all that sort of stuff. It's basically Captain Marvel. It's a kid that turns into a superhero with a magic word. And that comes from DC. It all comes back together."
You can check out this series for yourself as issue #1 of Injustice Vs. Masters of the Universe is on sale now, and issue #2 comes out on August 15.
Hello Games has launched the new update for No Man's Sky, called Next. The free update makes massive overhauls to the game by adding multiplayer, character customization, command freighters, and visual upgrades. Next is the fourth major update to No Man's Sky, following Foundation, Pathfinder, and Atlas Rises. However, it is perhaps the most substantial of them all, and we're continuing to find more and more as we spend more time with it.
No Man's Sky originally launched on PS4 and PC in August 2016, and was harshly criticized for a perceived lack of content. Although multiple updates have since expanded the number of activities that players can do, Sony management admits the PR strategy "wasn't great" and No Man Sky designer Sean Murray acknowledged that he made "mistakes."
Despite the initial backlash at launch, No Man's Sky's updates have slowly earned the game a growing playerbase. "One day I hope to reach a point where I feel No Man's Sky is 'finished,' but luckily there's still so much more we want to do," Murray said.
The major changes in No Man's Sky Next are outlined below, but you can read the full patch notes and bug fixes on No Man's Sky's blog. Though it's not in the patch notes, Murray tweeted out that Next also allows players to command their in-game avatar to sit down--a feature that players have been asking for. Perhaps a few more playful secrets are hidden within the game's newest update. We do now that a new patch is already on the way to fix problems that have emerged, as are weekly updates to keep things fresh. We'll keep you updated as we learn about more.
Multiplayer is the largest change to No Man's Sky. Though it was never confirmed whether multiplayer would be included prior to launch, many players wished to explore the galaxy with their friends however they wanted. Next adds a lot of the mechanics those players wanted, as well as a few more.
You can now join up with random strangers, or team up with a small contingent of friends to construct colonies of small shelters, race exocraft, or engage in space battles against other players. You'll be able to team up with friends right from the start, as the multiplayer extends to No Man's Sky's story and tutorial missions.
To help differentiate between avatars, Next adds character customization so that everyone can personalize their in-game appearance. You'll be able to switch up your race and change your outfits too. Depending on the species of your character, you'll even be able to change your hairstyle. Next allows players to be a Gek, Vy'keen, Korvax, Traveller, or Anomaly.
Not every player you meet is a friendly face, so when you run into another player in the midst of exploring the stars, it's best to be cautious. Although a stranger could be a harmless passerby or a future ally, Next allows players to prey on others to survive. A collection of ships approaching on the horizon might be a crew of players acting as space pirates who rely on the stolen loot of others.
Building And Crafting
You'll be able to invite your friends onto your very own command freighter to tackle challenging multiplayer missions. If you're still having trouble, you'll be able to build and upgrade a whole fleet of frigates, which you can then customize to specialize in combat, exploration, trade, industry, or support.
You can use what you've found to build bases, which can now be built anywhere on any planet. You'll even be able to build on top of mountains and beneath the sea. And if you don't like how the terrain is affecting the shape of your base, the improved terrain manipulator allows players to sculpt the planet's surface to their needs. The manipulator can be used to excavate ancient treasures too, which can be sold in the new Space Station Marketplace.
There are hundreds of new base parts that allow you to build bases that are larger and more complex so you can construct your perfect hideout. Next also lets players own multiple bases and place teleporters anywhere so travel goes much faster.
The resources used to customize your fleet and bases, as well as craft your gear and equipment, have all been reworked and rebalanced. Many of the resources you remember from the original No Man's Sky have received new names and been given completely different uses. Planetary resources have been expanded, and a planet's biome, weather, and classification have a much larger effect on what type of materials you'll find there.
To help you excavate the larger amounts of materials you'll discover, the deployable tech used in resource collection can now be easily picked up and carried in your inventory. The improved analysis visor makes it easier to locate terrain resources as well. You can also quickly find your bearings while exploring, thanks to visible latitude and longitude coordinates and the ability to tag points of interest with a marker.
Missions
The opening section of No Man's Sky has been updated with new story elements, as well as a tutorial that teaches you advanced gameplay features. Mission chains help get players started with exploring planets and starting bases.
Once past the tutorial, new types of missions are available to complete. Exploring is still at the core of No Man's Sky, but new photography, feeding, freighter attack and defense, archaeology, and hunting missions expand the amount of activities that players can do. Players won't be getting all of their objectives from the same NPC either, as a diverse assortment of random NPCs on different stations offer missions.
It Basically Has The Xenomorph From Alien
The update introduces a variety of new enemies to deal with, but perhaps the most terrifying and interesting of the bunch are what it refers to as Biological Horrors. As recounted on Twitter by Xalavier Nelson Jr., this essentially amounts to the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise. It sounds terrifying--and awesome, provided you don't mind dying.
There Are Some Drab Planets Out There
While the diversity of the geography you've encountered has changed, and there are many colorful, beautiful planets to explore, the update also adds some that are a bit different--but nonetheless striking. In our time with the update, we came across a planet that was largely devoid of color, almost to the point of being monochrome. You can take a peek at it above.
Patch Notes
Hello Games has released detailed patch notes for Next that outline everything that's changed, including the extreme minutia. Beyond all of the major features above you can see adjustments to controls (like the ability to manually holster the Multi-Tool), the overhaul to space station interiors, bug fixes, and much more.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
While something like multiplayer is obviously the big draw of this update, there are smaller but still very appreciated changes and additions that players have been coming across. Case in point: one of the best is a tweak to pulse jumps, which previously would send your ship moving in a straight line. Now, you can use it to follow the curve of the planet you're in the atmosphere of, more or less allowing you to orbit the planet and more easily relocate to a different spot.
Galactic Atlas
Just prior to the Next update going live, Hello Games launched a new website called the Galactic Atlas. This is essentially a guide to a specific area of the game--the Euclid Galaxy--that Hello seeded but will leave in the hands of players to explore and grow. From the site, you can track the progress of the galaxy, highlight points of interest, and join hubs or factions.
New Visuals
The visuals to No Man's Sky have also gotten an overhaul. Terrain generates faster and ground, water, and cloud textures have been upgraded. Ships, NPCs, and buildings have more detail too. No Man's Sky is also now fully playable in both first- and third-person, whether you're walking on the surface of a planet or soaring amongst the stars.
Draw distance has been improved so planets appear more dense and a new colour palette paints the forests, oceans, and plains of each world with added vibrancy. The hazardous storms that can spell the doom of smaller aircraft use new biome-specific particle effects to look more dangerous than ever before.
Fauna And Flora
The creatures you'll discover on your travels will now act more enthusiastically towards you if you feed them, letting you herd them together. The creatures' AI has also been revamped so they act more intelligently, responding to players they recognize as friendly and fleeing as a group from a perceived danger. Not all of the new animals and plantlife are friendly, however. Keep on the lookout for new hazardous species, as they will kill you if you're not careful.
Release Date/Time
No Man's Sky is available on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Next is live on all platforms.
Season 5 of Fortnite is here, and there are already an assortment of challenges for players to complete. Just like last season, finishing all of a given week's tasks will complete a corresponding Road Trip challenge--Season 5's equivalent of Blockbuster challenges. These, in turn, will reward you with a special loading screen, each of which contains a subtle hint leading you to a free Battle Pass tier somewhere around the island.
Clearing one week's set of challenges will unlock the first special loading screen, which features a group of characters atop a grassy hill near the giant Durr Burger. Two appear to be posing for a photo while another looks at a map of Lazy Links, the new golf course area introduced in Season 5. You can see the loading screen for yourself below.
The clue on this screen can be found near the center of the golf course map, which features a large, umbrella-shaped mine housing a Battle Star icon. The mine can be found toward the western edge of Lazy Links, which itself is located in the northern portion of the island. Simply head to that area and you'll find the Battle Star waiting to be picked up.
Collecting the Battle Star will rank your Battle Pass up by one tier, making it an easy way to unlock additional rewards if you complete enough challenges. You can see a more detailed guide on where to find the Battle Star in the video above. However, be aware that you can only find the Battle Star if you complete the corresponding Road Trip challenge and unlock the loading screen; you can't simply go to the designated location and collect it if you haven't done the preceding steps.
Unlike previous seasons, Season 5 challenges are divided up into two categories. Free challenges are available to all Fortnite: Battle Royale players, while Battle Pass challenges can only be tackled by those who've purchased the Battle Pass. You can find tips on how to complete all of the new challenges in our complete Season 5 challenges roundup. For more on Fortnite, be sure to check out the rest of our Season 5 coverage below.
We've seen some big sales this season, ranging from the Steam Summer Sale to the PlayStation Mid-Year Sale. Now Xbox owners can get in on the fun, because the Ultimate Game Sale is live on the Microsoft Store. Between now and July 30, over 700 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games and add-ons are on sale for up to 65% off. And if you're an Xbox Live Gold member, you get an extra 10% off select titles. Let's dive in and what kind of deals are on offer--or head over to our roundup of the best deals under $10.
Whether you're currently a member or not, you can save $20 off a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, bringing the online service down to $40 / £26.50. In addition to letting you play online, the subscription also gets you free games each month, making it one of the best deals around for Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners.
Microsoft's other gaming-related subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, is also on sale right now. For $10 / £8, you can get a three-month membership that lets you download and play a selection of over a hundred games on your Xbox One, including first-party games the same day they're released.
As expected, many Xbox One-exclusive games are discounted during the Ultimate Game Sale. You can get Gears of War 4 for $20 / £17 and the console exclusive PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds for $22.50 / £19. The cartoonish platformer Cuphead is on sale for $16 / £13.39, while Quantum Break is $20 / £14.40 and ReCore is down to $15 / £11.
Far Cry 5, which just got some Mars DLC, is on sale for $40 / £36 (DLC not included). You can get yourself ready for this fall's Destiny 2: Forsaken release by grabbing Destiny 2 and the Expansion Pass for $20 / £16.50.
All of those and literally hundreds of other games are on sale right now. We have more highlights below, or you can hop over to the Microsoft Store for the complete list. Additionally, there are some more deals as part of Microsoft's weekly Xbox Store sale.
August is almost here, which means Xbox Live Gold members will have a new set of free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games to download. We now know what those games will be, thanks to a post on Microsoft's Xbox Wire. The games going free in August will be Forza Horizon 2 and For Honor on Xbox One and Dead Space 3 and Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two for Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 games are backwards compatible, so they'll also be playable on Xbox One.
On the Xbox One side of things, you'll be able to download Forza Horizon 2 between August 1-31. It's an open-world racing game from 2014 that mixes realistic driving mechanics with some of the more arcade-style ideas of series like Burnout. For Honor is a melee combat game that pits characters from three factions against each other: Samurai, Knights, and Vikings. A fourth faction will be added in a free update this fall, along with a robust new Breach mode. For Honor will be free August 16-September 15.
On Xbox 360, Dead Space 3 sees the horror series' protagonist Isaac Clarke joined for the first time by a companion, Sgt. John Carver. The entire game, which focuses on alien dismemberment, is playable in online co-op mode. It will be free August 1-15. The final free Xbox 360 game in August is Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, a co-op game that has you save the Wasteland using a magic paintbrush. It's free August 16-31.
If you're reading this before August 1, it's not too late to grab some of July's free Games With Gold. Right now, Xbox Live Gold subscribers can download Assault Android Cactus and Death Squared for Xbox One, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction for Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
August 2018 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Forza Horizon 2 (August 1-31)
For Honor (August 16-September 15)
Xbox 360
Dead Space 3 (August 1-15)
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (August 16-31)
If you feel like you've already watched everything you want to watch on Amazon Prime, despair no more; Amazon is coming out with a whole host of new titles in August. Here's what on tap for next month in terms of movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals.
Several original series are debuting, including All or Nothing: Manchester City which follows the legendary coach of the titular soccer team. A limited series called Agatha Christie will be released, as well as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan with John Krasinski, which debuts on August 31.
Amazon Prime will also be adding some oldies to the streaming service, including dramas like The Blair Witch Project and Watchmen, and some kids movies like A Cinderella Story and Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams. The bulk of the additions come on August 1, but there's an assortment of other things coming throughout the month, too.
If this list isn't enough, there were a lot of titles added to Amazon Prime in July as well, including the likes of American Psycho, Mulholland Drive, The Twilight Saga. If you'd like to see everything that's coming to Amazon Prime in August, check out the complete list below.
Everything Coming To Amazon Prime In August 2018
August TBD
All or Nothing: Manchester City, Season 1 --Prime Original series
However, Sam Fisher appears to be suffering some technical setbacks. Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) tweeted that engineers are investigating reports that Splinter Cell isn't showing as free for some users. If it doesn't appear properly on the store when you check in, the problem will likely be fixed soon enough. [Update: Sure enough, the issues have been resolved, according to Microsoft, and you shouldn't have any further problems downloading Conviction.]
As always, any new Xbox 360 games added to the Games with Gold service are backwards compatible, so you can play them on your Xbox One. They join a large and growing list of backwards compatible games, since Microsoft has made it adding new games a priority.
Those are the inclusions with Gold, but separately, Microsoft also offers its Game Pass subscription service for $10 per month. That has a wide selection of its own, including all new first-party games alongside their regular releases.
July 2018 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Assault Android Cactus (July 1-31)
Death Squared (July 16-August 15)
Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One)
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (July 1-15)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (July 16-31)
We're nearing the end of July 2018, and with a new month comes another batch of free titles for PlayStation Plus subscribers. As per usual, July's PS Plus lineup consists of six games divided up across PS4, PS3, and Vita, all of which are available to download at no charge until August's games arrive on August 7.
Headlining PS4's selection of freebies is Heavy Rain, the narrative-driven game from Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream. Heavy Rain originally launched for PS3 back in 2010 and was re-released on Sony's current-gen console in 2016. Joining it is Absolver, a unique and flexible third-person adventure/fighting game in which players can fully customize their fighting style.
On the PS3 side, Plus subscribers can now download the classic 3D platformer Rayman 3 HD, as well as Extreme Exorcism, a retro-style platformer in which players hunt their own ghosts. Extreme Exorcism is available in place of Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess, which was initially announced to be one of this month's free PS Plus titles. The game is also playable on PS4 via Cross-Buy.
Finally, Vita owners can download the acclaimed adventure game Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma and the action game Space Overlords for free this month. Like Extreme Exorcism, the latter also supports Cross-Buy with PS4, getting you four possible freebies on that platform in July.
All of the aforementioned games will remain free to download for PS Plus members until next month, when they'll return to their regular prices. You can see the full list of July's free PS Plus games below.
Epic Games recently added the SMG and Compact SMG to Fortnite: Battle Royale but, following feedback from its community, has pushed out a hotfix tweaking how effective they are. In a post on the Fortnite: Battle Royale subreddit, Epic said that SMGs were "stronger than we would like at the moment" and detailed the adjustments made to them.
The changes to SMGs seem to be comprehensive, with accuracy, damage, range, and fire rate all nerfed. The tweaks, which you can see in full below, bring the performance of the SMG and Compact SMG "more in line with where [Epic wants] them." Nevertheless, the studio said it will continue to monitor how the weapons perform and has encouraged players to carry on submitting feedback.
Fortnite SMG Changes
SMG and Compact SMG accuracy bonus reduced from 35% to 15%.
SMG damage reduced from 19/20/21 to 17/18/19.
Compact SMG damage reduced from 23/24 to 21/22.
SMG fire rate reduced from 13 to 12.
Compact SMG fire rate reduced from 11 to 10.
SMG, Compact SMG, and Silenced SMG damage falloff.
Range reduced from 2400/3500/5000 to 2000/3000/4000.
Percentage reduced from 100/80/65% to 100/70/40%.
Rare SMG and Compact SMGs drop rates slightly reduced.
Fortnite is currently celebrating its 1st birthday and there's a special set of challenges that, if you manage to complete them, will unlock a new emote, spray, and bling. One of the challenges involves exploring the map to find 10 birthday cakes and dancing in front of them. This can be a little time-consuming so you can use our Fortnite Birthday Cake Location Guide to speed things up. We've got a video of the entire challenge, so you can watch that to see exactly where to go, and there's also a map of where all the cakes are.
Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 5 is now entering its third week, which means developer Epic Games has introduced another new set of challenges for players to complete on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. As with previous weeks in Season 5, the challenges are split into two categories, with some being available to everyone while others are exclusive to Battle Pass owners.
On the free side, this week's challenges involve dealing 500 damage to opponents in a single match, using a launch pad, and following the treasure map found in Flush Factory. While the first two shouldn't give you much trouble, the third of the bunch will require a little bit of legwork. Flush Factory can be found in the southern part of the island and it's there that you'll find the treasure map.
However, you aren't actually required to get the map first. Instead you can skip this bit and go to quadrant F8 of the map, where you'll find a house on a hilltop. If you're looking at the house head-on, the Star you need to collect will be on the right of the path leading up to the house. Although gliding onto the spot from the Battle Bus is the easiest way to get to it, you can also build your way up. Take a look below to see the location on the map or watch the video above to see us do it.
For those with a Battle Pass, you'll need to search seven chests in Fatal Fields, shoot a Clay Pigeon at five different locations, eliminate five enemies in Haunted Hills, and then get three eliminations using an explosive weapon. You'll also get 5K worth of XP for doing completing all of these challenges. If you need help hunting them down, check out our Clay Pigeons location guide. You can also find all of Fortnite Season 5, Week 3's challenges, along with their rewards, below.
Click image to view in full screen
Fortnite Season 5, Week 3 Challenges
Free
Deal damage to opponents in a single match (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Use a launch pad (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Follow the treasure map found in Flush Factory (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Search chests in Fatal Fields (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Shoot a Clay Pigeon at different locations (5) -- 5 Battle Stars
Eliminate opponents in Haunted Hills (5) -- 10 Battle Stars
Explosive weapon eliminations -- 10 Battle Stars
In related news, Fortnite's SMG and Compact SMG have been nerfed, following feedback from the community. Epic Games has tweaked a number of attributes for both guns, including damage, range, fire rate, and accuracy. This, the developer says, brings it more in line with how it wants the guns to perform in-game.
Fortnite is also celebrating its 1st birthday with a set of challenges that will unlock a birthday-themed emote, spray, and bling. The first two challenges are relatively easy, requiring you to do a specified amount of damage and play a certain amount of matches. However, the third challenge is a little trickier. For this you'll need to find 10 cakes that have been scattered around the island and dance in front of them. To make things a little easier on yourself, check out our Fortnite Birthday Cake Location Guide to watch us do the entire challenge and also see a map of where all the cakes are.
Epic Games is also giving new Fortnite skins to those that have been playing the game from the very beginning. If you purchased the Founder's Pack when Fortnite's Save the World mode originally launched, you'll be prompted about the classic skins when you next boot up the game. These were promised to Founder's Pack owners when the Battle Royale mode first launched, and have finally been delivered around a year later.
Epic Games has rolled out Fortnite's Season 5, Week 3 challenges, which means there's lots of new rewards to work towards unlocking. We've already got a guide for following the treasure map in Flush Factory, which is the harder of the bunch. If you're a Battle Pass owner, however, there's also a challenge that requires you to shoot a clay pigeon at five different locations, which can be tricky if you don't know where to look. Luckily, we've spent some time hunting them down and put together a guide that'll have you sniping those suckers out of the air in no time.
Thankfully, there's a whole bunch of Clay Pigeon shooters scattered around the map for you to find, and you only need a total of five, so the odds are heavily in your favor. On our brief trek across the island we managed to find a six, and you can take a look at the locations below.
Fortnite Clay Pigeon Locations
West of Pleasant Park (Quadrant B4)
North east corner of Loot Lake (Quadrant E4)
North west of Tomato Town (Quadrant G3)
Between Lonely Lodge and Wailing Woods (Quadrant J4)
Between Shifty Shafts and Flush Factory (Quadrant D8)
South of Paradise Palms (Quadrant I9)
Once you've done that, it's smooth sailing as the rest of the challenges are pretty simple. You can read a full breakdown of Fortnite Season 5, Week 3's challenges here and see all the rewards for each one.
Fortnite Season 5, Week 3 Challenges
Free
Deal damage to opponents in a single match (500) -- 5 Battle Stars
Use a launch pad (1) -- 5 Battle Stars
Follow the treasure map found in Flush Factory (1) -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Search chests in Fatal Fields (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Shoot a Clay Pigeon at different locations (5) -- 5 Battle Stars
Eliminate opponents in Haunted Hills (5) -- 10 Battle Stars
Explosive weapon eliminations -- 10 Battle Stars
In related news, Fortnite's SMG and Compact SMG have seen nerfs, as developer Epic Games thought they weren't working quite as intended (read: they were too powerful). After receiving feedback from the community, the studio has tweaked both guns, changing their range, damage output, fire rate, and accuracy.
The Humble Store has a nice surprise anyone with a gaming PC can take advantage of between now and July 28. If you head over to the Guns of Icarus Alliance page, you can get a copy of the game on Steam for free. It's compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux, and you can keep and play it forever. All you need is a Humble account and a computer powerful enough to run it.
Guns of Icarus Alliance is a game of team-based airship battles set in a steampunk world. Much like Sea of Thieves, it has you and your teammates work together, taking on roles of pilot, gunner, and engineer to control the ship and engage in sky battles against enemies.
Alliance is an expanded version of 2012's Guns of Icarus Online. While Online was a PvP-only game, Alliance adds a number of PvE experiences to the mix. So now players can team up to fight other real-life opponents or run base assaults, convoy raids, and escort missions against AI-controlled enemies.
While you're at the Humble Store, you can also take a look at the CI Games Humble Bundle that's currently available. You can spend as little as $1 to receive three older games, or pay more to get additional tiers of games. Paying $15 gets you six games and a couple of expansions, including the entire Sniper: Ghost Warrior series and Lords of the Fallen: Game of the Year Edition.
Also available at the online retailer is the Humble Monthly for August 2018. It costs $12, and right when you subscribe, you can download A Hat in Time, The Escapists 2, and Conan Exiles. More games in the bundle will be revealed and made available to subscribers on August 3, after the subscription window has closed for the month.
The Nintendo Eshop seems to get a nonstop stream of new indie Switch games each week, so it's no surprise developers often drop prices on their titles in an effort to stand out and drive sales. This week finds a whole bunch of Nintendo Switch games on sale on the Eshop, and most of them are indeed indies. Here are some of our picks for the best Switch game deals available now on the Nintendo Eshop.
Whatever genre you're into, you'll probably find a deal on something good this week. The Framed Collection ($6) is a puzzle game that has you re-arrange comic book panels to get the hero through pages of dangerous situations. Goetia, on sale for $5, is a gloomy point-and-click adventure in which you play as the ghost of a young woman trying to discover what led to the downfall of the house where she lived 40 years ago.
Air Mail lets you fly a plane through a colorful world to complete missions and collect items scattered around; it's discounted to $10. Oxenfree, which got a big price cut ($5, down from $20), is a creepy game about a group of teenagers on a weekend getaway.
Indies aren't the only games on sale this week. Capcom has dropped the price on Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Revelations 2 to $14 each. Set between the events of previous games in the main series, these horror titles focus on side stories led by characters like Jill Valentine, and Chris and Claire Redfield.
You can find more of our picks below, or check out the full list of deals on the Eshop, including Switch, 3DS, and Wii U games.
If you own a PS4, you probably know you have to shell out cash for a PlayStation Plus subscription to play most games online. But what if you didn't? That's the question posed by Rockstar Games with the release of the After Hours update for GTA Online in Grand Theft Auto V. Between now and August 6, anyone with a PS4 and an internet connection can play GTA Online, regardless of whether you have a PlayStation Plus membership. That gives you two weeks to run amok in San Andreas for free.
GTA 5's After Hours update introduces a whole new set of night life content to the game, including nightclubs, vehicles, outfits, and more. Nightclubs are the biggest addition. To get a nightclub, you have to partner up with Tony Prince, who will help you buy and run the club. You get to personalize your establishment however you want, choosing the decor, hiring staff, and deciding how to promote your new enterprise.
Nightclubs also include an underground warehouse, which becomes the hub for your less-than-legal activities. Here you can assign technicians to gather supplies for your existing Biker, Special Cargo, Smugglers, and Gunrunning businesses. They can then sell the items to add to your bankroll, all without you lifting a finger. The update also introduces seven new vehicles, including the Ocelot Swinger sports car, the Dinka Jester Classic, as well as delivery vehicles for your warehouse supplies.
In addition to not needing PS Plus to play right now, some other bonuses are waiting for you. If you log in to GTA Online between now and July 30, you'll get a free Tony's Fun House t-shirt. And if you joined the "guest list" by logging in before July 2, you'll receive additional rewards, including GTA $350,000 and some free apparel.
But once August 6 rolls around, free GTA Online access goes away unless you subscribe to PlayStation Plus. It's a worthwhile subscription service, though. In addition to online play, PS Plus members also get free games each month.
GameStop puts out its weekly ad each Wednesday, with a new selection of deals on video games, hardware, accessories, and collectibles. This week's sale has some good discounts on gaming headsets, as well as a handful of PS4 and Xbox One games (Switch owners will have to look elsewhere for deals this week). If you're ready to unload some of the games you've already played, you can find some nice trade-in bonuses as well. These deals are good through July 31, so let's dive in.
Not many games are on sale this week, but you can see the full list below. Basketball fans can grab NBA 2K18 or NBA Live 18 for $20 each. Both are fine sports games, though 2K18 came out one point ahead in our review scores. Star Wars Battlefront II is on sale for $25--not bad for a game that's gotten many updates since its disastrous launch last year.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War recently got a big update that removed the microtransaction market from the game. It's currently on sale for $20, and if you buy it for PS4 at a local brick-and-mortar GameStop, you get the season pass for free (the code is printed on the receipt).
In terms of hardware, just like at Best Buy, you'll get $10 off an extra controller if you buy an Xbox One. And if you're in the market for a gaming headset, you can save a $30 on a wireless one from HyperX, bringing it down to $130, or save $5 on a wired Turtle Beach headset for a total of $40.
If you're looking to trade in games or other items between now and August 12, you'll get extra cash, because cash is getting temporarily bumped up to credit value. And if you can find four used games under $10 you want to buy, you'll get them all for $20.
If you're an Xfinity internet customer who enjoys the occasional online deathmatch, we have some good news for you. Thanks to a special partnership between Activision and Xfinity, all Xfinity customers will be able to participate in the Private Multiplayer Beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. You can get your code starting July 27; just head to this page and sign in to your ISP account. The beta will take place August 3-6 for PS4 owners. Then, between August 10-13, another beta will go live for PS4, Xbox One, and PC owners.
Those without Xfinity internet can still participate in the beta, but they'll have to pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 to get access. This is the second year in a row Xfinity customers have gotten beta access for the series. Last year, they got to participate in the beta for Call of Duty: WWII.
The Black Ops 4 Private Multiplayer Beta will include six maps, two of which will be appearing for the first time in public. It will offer a number of play modes, including Team Deathmatch, Domination, Hardpoint, and Search & Destroy. Also included will be a new mode called Control, an objective-based mode that has teams alternating between attacking and defending static objectives.
Participating in the beta gets you some free extras once the full game arrives. Everyone who plays the beta will get you a unique calling card as a bonus. If you reach max rank during the beta, you'll also get a Permanent Unlock Token, which can be used to acquire any piece of Create-a-Class content in the full game.
An additional beta is also planned for the battle royale-style Blackout mode, but it's not included in this promotion. All we know about it right now is that it will take place sometime in September. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12.
No Man's Sky might have launched in a disappointing state, but developer Hello Games has been hard at work ever since, adding features and tweaking the game to make it better line up with fans' expectations. A big free update just landed on all platforms right as the game came to Xbox One for the first time. Called Next, this update includes a multiplayer mode, better base building, and graphical improvements. To celebrate the update, several retailers have put No Man's Sky on sale.
Pricing varies wildly depending on your platform of choice. Since the Xbox One version is brand new, it's not surprising to see that it's the most expensive version you can buy. It's $50 nearly everywhere except for Amazon and Walmart, where it's $42. This version is Xbox One X-enhanced, so it looks especially nice if you have the right hardware.
Over on PlayStation 4, you can easily get a copy for $20, as long as you're fine with a physical copy. The digital version from the PlayStation Store will set you back $30 unless you have a PS Plus membership, which brings it down to $27.
PC gamers have to pay $30 at most retailers, but if you head over to Green Man Gaming before its Summer Sale ends on August 2, you can grab it for $25.47.
This week's PlayStation Store sale is now live, meaning you can find a whole new set of PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games available at a discount. This week's selection isn't particularly large, but big discounts on a handful of noteworthy games are available. We've combed through the deals and highlighted some of the best ones below. Note that some of these require a PlayStation Plus membership.
No Man's Sky just got its big "Next" update, which adds a robust multiplayer component to the game, along with other improvements like "near-unlimited base building, command of freighter armadas," and more. It's on sale for $30, or $27 if you have PlayStation Plus.
Anyone looking for a co-op shooter that gets frequent updates can pick up Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands for $20. Alternately, the Gold Edition (regularly $100) is on sale for $33; it comes with the game's two big expansions, plus a bunch of additional in-game extras.
Indie Darling Bundle Vol. 2 is a four-pack of games that usually costs $50, but is on sale for $12 for PS Plus members. It contains Bleed 2, The Coma: Recut, Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut, and The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. The unrelated indie darling Crypt of the Necrodancer is also on sale for $3, down from $15.
The upcoming platformer Guacamelee 2 just got a release date (August 21), and PS Plus members can pre-order it for $16 instead of its usual $20. We have a few more selections listed below, but you can find the full list of PlayStation Store deals here.
If you're looking for a deal on Xbox One games, you don't have to search far to find it. Last week Microsoft kicked off its Ultimate Game Sale, which sees sizable discounts on over 700 games and add-ons between now and July 30 (we've even compiled a list of the best Xbox One games on sale for under $10). On top of that, Microsoft is running a weekly sale, meaning there's a good chance you'll find something worth buying for cheap. Click the links above for details about the Ultimate Game Sale. Below you'll find highlights from Microsoft's weekly sale, which also ends July 30. Keep in mind you'll need an Xbox Live Gold account to get discounts on some of the games.
Seeing as a good chunk of the Xbox One game library is already discounted thanks to the Ultimate Game Sale, this regular weekly sale isn't as big as it usually is. Even so, some worthy deals can be found. For instance, Hitman: GotY Edition is on sale for $30 / £22.50. With a sequel launching on November 13, now is a great time to buy this edition, which includes everything that came in the regular game, plus extra missions, Escalation Contracts, weapons, outfits, and more.
Anime fans can pick up Dragon Ball Xenoverse for $10 / £10 and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for $18 / £15. While you're at it, you may want to check out the visually stunning Zelda-like game Okami HD while it's on sale for $14 / £11.
For a couch co-op game with a twist, you can get Screencheat on sale for $5 / £4. It's a split-screen FPS in which everyone is invisible. To figure out where your opponents are, you have to glance at their section of the screen to see what they're seeing, just like cheaters used to do in the GoldenEye 007 days.
You'll find a few more noteworthy games on sale in Microsoft's weekly Xbox One deals below. For the full list, plus the week's Xbox 360 deals, head over to Major Nelson's blog.
Steam's week-long sale is live, featuring a number of excellent games that are available for deeply discounted rates. Lots of indie games in particular are on sale, often for just a few bucks each. So if you've been looking at your Steam library with a forlorn expression wishing you had something new to play, now's a good chance to freshen it up without dropping loads of cash. Take a look at some of the highlights below.
Let's start with the really cheap games, of which you can find plenty right now. The solemn and gorgeous game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is on sale for just $2 / £2, as is Ubisoft's vertical platformer Grow Home. Its sequel, Grow Up, is discounted to $3 / £2.
Three bucks also gets you the rhythm-roguelike game Crypt of the Necrodancer. And The Sims 3 might not be the latest game in the series, but it's on sale for $3 / £4--and it received 9/10 in GameSpot's Sims 3 review.
Humble Bundle is offering a collection of eight games on Steam for $12. As with all Humble Bundles, spending just $1 gets you the first tier of games. It costs more to get games in the higher tiers, but it's always significantly less than if you bought the games separately. This time around, all games come from the Polish developer and publisher CI Games. The Humble Bundle deal goes away July 31.
There's clearly a lot of sniping here. The Sniper: Ghost Warrior series hasn't gotten very favorable reviews from GameSpot--or our sister site Metacritic--but some of the other games in the bundle have fared better. In GameSpot's 8/10 Lords of the Fallen review, our critic wrote, "Lords of the Fallen strikes a different kind of tone [than Dark Souls]. It is moody and oppressive, but rarely terrifying; it is a power fantasy, not a heart-wrenching death simulator that rolls deadly boulders at you as if you are a single, minuscule bowling pin."
Buying the Humble Bundle also gets you 10% off your first month's subscription to Humble Monthly, a program that gets you an assortment of mystery games each month. August's Humble Monthly is available in part now; subscribing instantly unlocks A Hat in Time, The Escapists 2, and Conan Exiles, with more games to be announced August 3.
You'll save a bunch of money no matter which tier you choose to buy in on. You can visit the Humble Bundle page for more information.
The Ultimate Game Sale is going on now, and it's the biggest Xbox One game sale we've seen all year. It offers up to 65% off digital Xbox games, with an added 10% off select games for Xbox Live Gold members. The sale runs through July 30, so don't wait too long to make your purchases.
We've already gone over some of the sale's highlights overall, but here we thought we'd put some limits on it. If you don't have a mountain of cash to spend, you're probably wondering what you can get without having to take out a high-interest bank loan. Below are some of the best games available in the sale for under $10. Note that these are the prices for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. If you're not a Gold member, the price you see could be a bit higher. Let's look at some deals.
You don't have to spend much to get a decent shooter during this sale. The underrated gravity-defying Titanfall 2 is on sale for $6 / £5.25. You can get the Metro: Redux Bundle, which contains both Metro: 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux, for $7.50 / £6. And even if it's not the best game in the series, Mass Effect: Andromeda may be worth checking out for $10 / £6.
Two very different takes on the Dark Knight are available for under $10. If you're looking for some stealth action, you can grab Batman: Return to Arkham for $10 / £20. More story-minded DC fans might prefer Batman: The Telltale Series for $10 / £10.
If you don't have Xbox Live Gold but want these sweet sub-$10 prices, consider subscribing now. A one-year membership is currently on sale for $40 / £26.50. Or perhaps you'd rather not pay for games individually at all. In that case, try a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass, on sale for $10 / £8. It lets you download and play a selection of over a hundred games on your Xbox One, including first-party games the same day they're released.
When MoviePass announced in August 2017 that it was changing its business model to a monthly subscription that cost $9.95 and allowed users to see a movie every day, the floodgates were officially open. Since then, the concept of movie ticket subscription services has become the norm for those that like to routinely head to theaters.
As you'd expect, with interest in the idea surging, competition has presented itself. MoviePass isn't the only subscription service in the game anymore--and it might not even be the best, either. To find out which subscription service offers the best value, GameSpot put MoviePass, Sinemia, and AMC's Stubs A-List to the test. Here's what you need to know about each one and why it might be the right choice for you.
MoviePass
The service that started it all. MoviePass was the first to offer a massive number of movie tickets for a low monthly price and has made quite a name for itself in the process. How can you not when charging $9.95 a month for a movie ticket every day?
What Works
If you go to the movies a lot, MoviePass is a great option. The ability to see up to 31 movies every month for a $10 flat rate is hard to beat--even if there aren't 31 movies released in any given month. In theory, you could stay up to date on every major release. Additionally, MoviePass offers in-app ticket purchases from select theaters, which is a nice perk.
What Doesn't Work
The theaters that offer in-app ticket purchases are rare. The only other option is to check into the theater when you arrive and buy your ticket on the spot. All tickets must be purchased the day of the screening, so you can't plan ahead too far. Another wrinkle is that premium formats (3D, IMAX, etc.) are not available with the service at this point.
Additionally, MoviePass has begun assessing upcharges--Peak Pricing--for "in-demand" movies. However, the company hasn't revealed how it will determine what is in demand or how much the upcharge will be in all cases. According to the company, the new charge will start at $2.
The biggest knock against MoviePass, though, is the service itself. The terms of the subscription keep changing. Over the last year, this service has not only begun restricting you from seeing a movie a second time but is also requiring users to submit photos of their ticket stubs and is tinkering with temporarily locking specific movies in certain locations. When attempting to buy a ticket to a screening of Red Sparrow back in March, the title was simply blocked out on the app. When I tweeted MoviePass to ask why, it quickly responded, "As we continue to enhance our service for everyone, certain inventory may not be available at all times." Of course, there was no warning that this would be happening.
AMC Stubs A-List
The newest player on the block is AMC's response to MoviePass. The world's largest movie theater chain has integrated a subscription service to its loyalty points system. AMC Stubs A-List offers three tickets each week for the monthly price of $19.95.
What Works
The most exciting thing about A-List is it's all contained within the AMC Theaters app--it's where you find the movies, buy the tickets, and have them scanned at the theater. With that in mind, it's also linked to your Stubs account. As a member, you get access to Stubs Premium, which allows you to collect points from concession purchases that earn you rewards.
The nicest perk of A-List, though, is access to premium formats. Not only can you watch movies repeatedly, but you have access to IMAX, 3D, Dolby, and AMC Prime screenings. There are no restrictions.
What Doesn't Work
The big problem with A-List is it only works at AMC theaters. While it is the world's largest theater chain, that doesn't mean everybody lives near one. If there's not an AMC in your neighborhood, you're out of luck.
Of course, there's also the fact that you're paying twice as much as MoviePass for less than half of the movies. However, this should only concern you if you know you'll be seeing more than three movies each week.
Sinemia
Sinemia is seemingly a dark horse that came out of nowhere. However, it's been around since 2014 with offerings in the UK, Canada, Turkey, and Australia. It made its presence known in the US market in May with four different pricing options:
$4.99 per month for 1 standard movie ticket
$6.99 per month for 2 standard movie tickets
$9.99 per month for 2 of any movie ticket (3D, 4D, IMAX)
$14.99 per month for 3 of any movie ticket (3D, 4D, IMAX)
What Works
The best thing about Sinemia is it allows you to purchase tickets to just about any movie theater. Those locked out on MoviePass typically aren't in Sinemia and it also works for the AMC theaters found in A-List. There are also a variety of plans to meet your moviegoing needs, provided you don't head to the theater multiple times each week.
For fans of premium format films, the top two plan options give access to IMAX, 3D, 4DX, and practically any other upcharge option a theater might offer--and it's all included in your monthly price.
What Doesn't Work
The biggest issue with Sinemia is the app itself. In trying to simplify the design, it's become a bit confusing. Want to buy a ticket to an upcoming film? Head to the planning tab. From there, though, you'll have to switch over to the Fandango app to find a theater and showtime.
After manually entering the information into the Sinemia app, a temporary credit card number will be unlocked that you can then transfer back over to the Fandango app--or Atom Tickets or MovieTickets.com--to purchase there. It can make for a difficult process.
There also doesn't seem to be a simple way within the app to find out how many tickets you have left. These are all problems that could be addressed in a redesign. Still, given that you're paying up to $15 each month for three tickets, it could make the hassle more than it's worth.
The Bottom Line
Truthfully, each of these subscriptions has some merit. Sinemia offers the least tickets, but access to premium theaters and formats. MoviePass offers the most tickets, but more restrictions and a constant state of flux when it comes to service rules. Meanwhile, AMC Stubs A-List offers a middle-of-the-road number of tickets for the highest price, but with surprisingly few restrictions outside of only being available at AMC theaters.
In the end, though, there is a clear winner. While it may be the newest on the scene, AMC Stubs A-List is exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to a movie ticket subscription. Everything is housed within the app, it's really easy to use, and IMAX, 3D, and other premium formats are offered--what's not to love?
That said, if you don't live near an AMC theater but still want to see tons of movies every month, MoviePass may be your best bet. However, if you're part of the 88% of MoviePass's audience that the company says sees two or fewer movies each month, check out Sinemia. It may not be the best-designed app, but it allows you to easily treat yourself to IMAX and 3D screenings.
Disclosure: Sinemia provided GameSpot with a trial subscription to evaluate the service for this story.
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