Strange phenomena have been a common occurrence in Fortnite ever since meteors first began appearing in the sky over the island all the way back in Season 3, but that has only ramped up in recent weeks with the arrival of the mysterious purple cube. Since then, the cube has risen from Loot Lake into the sky to create a floating island, and now it's once again doing something unusual.
As Fortnite players on Reddit recently pointed out, the purple cube--which remains embedded in the bottom of the floating island--has begun pulsating. Moreover, the strange runes that had previously adorned it seem to have disappeared. What this portends is anyone's guess at this point, but this certainly won't be the last mystery surrounding it as Season 6 continues.
The cube first appeared in Fortnite back in Season 5, after a lightning storm struck the desert. Soon after that, it began rolling around the island, etching runes into the ground at the various areas it visited. It eventually came upon Loot Lake and plunged in, turning the whole body of water purple and bouncy.
Rather than marking the end of the cube's mystery, that event has only led to even stranger occurrences during Season 6. At the start of the season, the cube lifted a chunk of land into the sky. It remained stationary over Loot Lake for several days before the entire floating island began roaming the map, revisiting the same runes the cube had left behind and leaving strange, glowing craters in its wake. Shortly after that, dataminers had discovered a folder called "CubeGrowth" within the game's files, suggesting that the cube will increase in size.
We're only in the fourth week of Season 6, so there will undoubtedly be more unusual happenings as the season rolls on. There will also be plenty of new updates and weapons in store for the game. The most recent, Patch 6.10, arrived this week and added a new vehicle to the mix: the Quadcrasher, which is capable of seating two players and barreling through structures. Epic has also introduced new in-game tournaments that give players a chance to earn pins.
Miles may not quite be at Peter Parker levels of name recognition just yet, but he's well on his way--which means it's time to sit down and take a look at just who this new Spider-kid actually is, where he comes from, and most importantly, where he's headed.
Introduced in 2011 with Ultimate Fallout #4, Miles originally made his home in what's known as the "Ultimate" Marvel Universe, an alternate reality full of alternate versions of classic Marvel heroes, set outside the traditional Marvel continuity. The idea behind the Ultimate line was to give people who hadn't read decades worth a back issues a line of books they could, in theory, pick up at number one at not worry about, so they typically featured new retellings of origin stories, slightly modified characterizations, totally new takes on villains--you name it.
In the Ultimate universe, Norman Osborn and a team of scientists had been studying Peter Parker's blood in an attempt to reverse-engineer his abilities by genetically altering spiders. Miles' uncle Aaron, a thief and low-grade supervillain named Prowler, broke into the lab and stole the formula, unknowingly giving one of the modified spiders a ride out in his duffle bag in the process. Later, when Miles goes to visit his uncle's apartment, the spider stowaway skitters out of hiding and bites him.
Miles, quickly realizing he's suddenly got a whole bunch of weird superpowers to deal with, actually decides that it would be best to lay low and pretend nothing is wrong. He'll leave superheroics to the actual superheroes, thank you very much. At least, that is, until Peter Parker is killed. After witnessing the tragedy, Miles realizes that he may have been able to do something had he actually embraced his new abilities and stepped in--his own variation on the "great power, great responsibility" awakening--and decides to take up a costume and figure this whole Spider-Man thing out.
Miles's powers are basically the same as Pete's. He's got a "spider-sense" to alert him of danger, enhanced reflexes and strength, and the ability to cling to walls, and he even comes into possession of Pete's old web shooters (a gift from Aunt May) so he can go swinging around New York just like the original. However, in addition to the standard Peter skillset, Miles also has the ability to camouflage himself, rendering his body invisible to the naked eye, and the ability to create "venom blasts" that can knock people he touches unconscious.
Originally clad in a store bought Spider-Man Halloween costume, Miles takes to the streets to clumsily fight off low level crime for about a day before he attracts the attention of Peter's remaining friends, family, and superheroic co-workers--who take the arrival of the new kid about as well as you might expect at first. Spider-Woman, a member of the Ultimates (think the Ultimate universe version of the Avengers), arrests Miles and brings him to S.H.I.E.L.D., where he's questioned by Nick Fury, who eventually gives him a new, non-Halloween quality costume in his own red and black color scheme.
For several years, Miles' stories continued on in the Ultimate universe where he met and came up against new incarnations of some of Peter's classic foes as he became more and more established as a hero in his own right--at least, until 2015.
That's when a massive crossover event called Secret Wars took hold of the Marvel Universe, and multiple realities and timelines came crashing together. In the same vein as the classic DC Comics cosmic crisis style story, Secret Wars took myriad, isolated versions of Earth and functionally condensed them into one thing. This meant that characters from the Ultimate universe were transported into the mainline Marvel universe, or Marvel-616, permanently.
No longer sequestered in his own timeline, Miles took up the role of Spider-Man next to an active Peter Parker, meaning that there have been two Spider-Men simultaneously swinging through the Marvel universe for the past few years, right alongside all the other Spider-people in the mix (there are a whole bunch of them) for a whole family of Spider and Spider-adjacent heroes.
Ironically, the opposite of Miles's dimension hopping in Secret Wars is the core conceit of Into The Spider-Verse, which features an alternate reality Peter Parker being sucked into Miles's reality after a major cosmic catastrophe shuffles the deck. While it's not clear whether Into The Spider-Verse is officially set in an animated version of the Ultimate universe, or if the deadbeat, mid-life-crisis Peter Parker that winds up training him is supposed to be from the Marvel-616 universe, the concept is still pretty much the same. Miles and Peter wind up teaming up, side by side, along with a whole slew of other Spider-characters who also happened to be shuffled around in the reality warping event.
In addition to his role in the Spider-Man video game, and his upcoming starring role in Into The Spider-Verse, Miles has a brand new solo ongoing comic, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, heading for shelves this December. So, it's pretty safe to say you'll want to keep an eye on Miles, especially if you're a Spider-Man fan--he's really going places.
While the Halloween films are most identified with the masked killer Michael Myers, there's another character just as intricately tied to the franchise. Laurie Strode, played throughout the original films by Jamie Lee Curtis, first appeared in 1978's Halloween and went on to define everything a final girl--the last surviving female horror movie victim that becomes the hero--could be.
While Curtis appeared in a number of films throughout the franchise, many wondered if she'd ever return to Halloween when it was announced Blumhouse was resurrecting the series. Interestingly, it sounds as if the movie wouldn't have happened without her.
When asked if it would have been possible to do a new Halloween without Curtis reprising her role, producer Bill Block is blunt. "It's a ten-second business conversation, and the answer is, 'you can't,'" he said.
After all, it's not as if you can simply recast someone else in such an iconic role. "We needed her or what else you're going to do?" director and co-writer David Gordon Green wondered. "I mean, you could make a cast list, but you'd just roll your eyes at it. She's the only Jamie Lee, so she's the only Laurie Strode."
For Jason Blum, another producer, as important a piece as Curtis was of the puzzle, there was one person's involvement he found more necessary. "We weren't going to do the movie without John [Carpenter]," he explained. "I hoped that Jamie was going to do the movie and prayed. But if she didn't, if she had said no, we would have."
However, according to Blum, there was a stipulation on Carpenter's involvement--Curtis signing on. "John said something interesting when we were talking before," Blum added. "He said he might not have, and if he dropped out, we would have dropped out. So maybe it would have been a whole different thing if she had said no."
In the end, fans should be thankful that Curtis loved the script and was willing to return to the role one more time. After all, if Blumhouse hadn't been the ones to bring Halloween back, someone would have eventually. And instead of what reviews are calling a great entry into the larger franchise, we could have ended up with another Halloween: Resurrection.
With Michael Myers stalking back into theaters to go toe-to-toe with Laurie Strode one more time, there's a major change happening. The new Halloween film isn't another in a long line of sequels to the franchise. Instead, it's disregarding Halloween 2-8 and instead following up directly on the first movie alone.
That means Laurie and Michael are no longer siblings, Busta Rhymes never live streamed the killer murdering teenagers online, and Michael's long-standing feud with his niece--which somehow lasted three movies--never took place. Instead, the new film picks up 40 years after the "babysitter murders" in the first film, leaving audiences to discover whatever became of Laurie and Michael after that one night.
For Jamie Lee Curtis, that's an important aspect of the characters, especially Laurie, to explore. "I believe Laurie Strode went to school November first. I think she went to school with a bandage on her arm, maybe some stitches from the emergency room," she said during a group interview at the Halloween press junket. "I think her parents sent her back to school. And of course, two days before, she was an intellectual honors student heading off to be the valedictorian, no doubt, of her class, was going to go to Smith, do you know what I mean? She was going to get out of Haddonfield, she was going to go off, expand her mind. And two days later, she was a freak."
Of course, there was more behind the decision to retcon those other movies away. The franchise has simply gotten too complicated with a number of fragmented timelines. In some movies, Jamie was Laurie's deceased daughter. In Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, though, Jamie was removed from continuity entirely, and Laurie has a son named John.
With such a muddy canon to wade through, the answer was clear. In the words of executive producer Bill Block, "you simplify it." He continued, "You come back to the core of a family tragedy, the impact and I'll call it the cascade effect of the tragedy, sustain it down through the generations trying to act like it never happened."
Doing that, according to producer Jason Blum, was a call made by director and writer David Gordon Green, along with his co-writer Danny McBride. "There have been a lot of bad ones, a couple of good ones, the first one's the greatest horror movie ever made," executive producer Jason Blum told GameSpot. "And I was excited to attack that challenge. I did not have, no one here had a specific idea of how we would do that and the notion to make this movie simply a continuation of the first movie."
"The two didn't exactly see eye-to-eye at first, though," Green admitted, "I hung on tight to Halloween II for a while and McBride was always trying to get me to let it go." There's one specific scene, though, which screened at San Diego Comic-Con that changed his mind. "Actually, our collaborator, Jeff Fradley, wrote the scene where Michael goes door-to-door and had this thing in his head of this whole one-shot thing," he said. "And we're like, 'Oh yeah.''' And when I read that, I was like, 'Okay. But that only works if he's not just trying to kill his sister.'"
In the end, if the reviews are any indication, it was a smart choice to make. It might have been difficult for Green to let go of Halloween II as part of the film's plot, but even he can't deny how much better the new Halloween is for it. "I'd much rather him get out of the cage and he's just doing what does and then this lady is like, 'Don't forget about me. I'm over here,'" he said. "I like that where the victim can turn the tail on the task."
Square Enix has announced that you'll be able to replay The Quiet Man--a game about a protagonist who's deaf--on a second playthrough with sound. The choice to do so is optional, according to Gematsu, but Square Enix's decision to add the feature is slightly puzzling, as it appears to undermine the whole point of the game.
On The Quiet Man's Steam page, Square Enix writes you "play as a deaf character, Dane, and experience the world as the character does--with very little distinct audio and no subtitles: it's up to you to make up your own interpretation of the story as your search for the masked man unfolds." The developer also adds that one of the game's key features is its soundless world. Experiencing what it's like for someone who's deaf to interact with the world seems to be the selling point of The Quiet Man, so it's a little odd that there's an option to replay the game with sound.
The Quiet Man made waves at E3 2018 with a reveal trailer that blended together live action cutscenes and animated gameplay. Despite the excitement, Square Enix didn't announce any further details about the game until early October, when a gameplay trailer revealed The Quiet Man's release date was a month away.
The gameplay trailer showcases Dane moving through a noiseless Manhattan, using his quick reaction time to respond to threats. Dane appears to have above-average strength, easily flipping around and delivering devastating beat downs on the enemies he encounters. The trailer also reveals the hooded man who serves as the game's primary antagonist. This mysterious villain kidnaps a songstress that Dane seems smitten with and desperately wants to save.
The Quiet Man launches on November 1 for PS4 and PC, and will release as a digital-only title. Square Enix advertised the game as an "immersive story-driven cinematic action experience" that can be completed in one sitting.
With Halloween fast approaching, your interest in scary movies may be rising faster than the gleaming knife of a masked killer. If you're looking for some great deals on horror movies, you'll want to check out Vudu, which is running a big sale on movies and TV shows that will keep you up half the night, peeking at shadows and wincing at every creak you hear.
The Paranormal Activity series has been summoning scares from viewers since the original found-footage film hit theaters in 2007. Vudu currently has the full set of six movies on sale for just $10. Or you can grab a collection of all four Insidious movies for $30. Like all of the videos listed here, they're yours to keep and watch forever.
A Quiet Place stars John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as parents trying not to make a sound as they're stalked by some unknown creatures; it's down to $10. For the same price, you can also grab Split, which will help you get up to speed before M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming movie Glass releases next year.
Maybe you're not into really scary movies, or you have kids and want to watch something with them. You can get the campy classic Hocus Pocus for $10. Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? Why not both? It's on sale for $10. Coraline, another not-too-creepy stop-motion film, is on sale for $7. And let's not leave out Frankenweenie, which is discounted to $13. Fans of TV horror can get seasons of True Blood and Penny Dreadful on sale.
All of these movies and shows can be watched on the Vudu app, which is available on most internet-connected gizmos, including PS4, Xbox One, Apple TV, and mobile devices.
Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House is about one third horror show and two thirds family drama that spans the intersecting timelines of the Crane family--which means that the main characters are played by not only an adult cast, but an adolescent one as well to flesh out both the present and the past. But the nature of the show's themes aren't exactly something you'd want to expose a kid to--especially seven-year-olds Luke Hilliard and Violet McGraw, who played the youngest Crane siblings, Luke and Nell.
But when asked at New York Comic-Con if terrorizing children on set was an issue during filming, Carla Gugino, who played the twins' mother, Oliva, stressed that it had been a concern of her own as she approached the project. "Mike Flanagan is great with kids, so they were always made to feel very comfortable on set," she said. "But we also worked with an amazing all female assistant director team who were just absolutely exceptional. They took such good care of those kids while we worked."
Of course, that doesn't mean there weren't challenges--though less for the kids themselves and more for the adults. "There's that scene from the trailer," Gugino continued, "where I'm talking to the kids in bed and they have to talk about having this horrible dream and wondering if their mother would wake them from it. I was so, so worried about shooting that scene and having them have to say all of that. So while we were in rehearsal, we ran the lines and I saw our director of photography watching with just tears running down his face and I thought, 'oh god, how are we going to do this?' But the second we finished up, both kids jumped up like 'great! Let's get some hot chocolate!' So, I think really they're going to be OK."
The scene Gugino is referencing features both Hilliard and McGraw asking their mother about their gruesome deaths as if they're nightmares from which they could be woken up from--a heart wrenching scene in any context, but one that gets especially poignant coming from the mouths of literal children. It's really no wonder that there was some concern, not to mention the multiple other instances of the kids being terrorized and traumatized as they struggled to cope with living in an extremely haunted house.
But Michiel Huisman (adult Steven Crane) also commented that the kids were, perhaps, the least scared actors on the set at any moment. "Those kids were pros, man," he laughed. "They were auditioning for other roles practically in between shots. They were recording themselves with their iPads the second we were done filming."
The show's cast of monsters and ghosts were no joke, as we called out in our review. "[...] Hill House is full of strongly characterized spooks, ghouls, and specters. There's the Bent Neck Lady, a floating ghost who appears to Nelly in her bed as a child, and elsewhere later in life. There's the Bowler Hat Man, an impossibly tall Slender Man lookalike who rhythmically taps his cane despite floating above the ground. There's a gnarled old lady who seems tied to one bedroom, an ephemeral girl who lives in the woods and visits to play with Luke, and the manipulative 1920s flapper girl. And there may or may not be a zombie in the basement." So there was certainly no shortage of nightmare fuel around the set. But, by the sound of things, the only people losing sleep were the adults.
Hill House may be "slow at the start, but it's worth seeing through to the end."
All ten episodes of The Haunting of Hill House are available to stream on Netflix.
As it turns out, your whole reality might be The Stanley Parable, if you really think about it. This existential crisis has been brought to you by an Achievement for the game that just became available, five years afters its launch.
An Achievement called "Go Outside" has a simple requirement: don't play The Stanley Parable for five years. The game launched on Oct. 17, 2013, making today its fifth anniversary, and the first day the game the Achievement can actually be unlocked (at least, without cheating). The Stanley Parable's creator, Davey Wreden, took to Twitter to mark the occasion.
I have the news you've all been waiting for. Today is the first day that it is possible to legitimately get the Go Outside achievement in The Stanley Parable. pic.twitter.com/3ZxYbJdGhK
Of course, it's possible to unlock the Go Outside Achievement without actually waiting five years. Turning the game off, adjusting your computer's clock, and then booting The Stanley Parable back up again would be enough to convince the program that it was five years into the future. Go Outside also isn't the only weird or time-based Achievement in The Stanley Parable; there's another for playing the game for an entire Tuesday, which can be similarly gamed by the less scrupulous Achievement hunters out there.
The most interesting thing about the Go Outside Achievement is how it interacts with the themes of The Stanley Parable. The game finds the titular player character Stanley following the instructions of a narrator through the story--or not following those instructions, as the player decides. But an Achievement that's earned by not playing the game raises one important question: did you ever really quit playing The Stanley Parable at all? Isn't all of life just following instructions and doing what you're told, making your whole existence a version of The Stanley Parable? It's heavy, man.
The bad news is, if you've never gotten around to playing The Stanley Parable and now you're intrigued, you're going to have to wait another five years to fully complete it.
As every Marvel fan knows, it's not just in the big screen world of the Avengers and the MCU that characters from separate stories cross paths. The Netflix Marvel shows, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Punisher, were built on the promise that they'd eventually cross over. That started happening slowly and in smaller ways, like Luke Cage debuting originally in Jessica Jones Season 1. It all built up to The Defenders, and since then, it's been open season as far as crossovers go.
But in Daredevil Season 3, Matt Murdock will work alone. This season of Daredevil won't feature characters or other crossovers from other Netflix shows, and showrunner Erik Oleson has explained why.
"I did not do any crossovers in Season 3," Oleson told GameSpot during group interviews at New York Comic Con. "And that was a deliberate decision. I just wanted the real estate for the characters that we had already on the show."
"This season I very much wanted to get back to the core Daredevil characters and more fully flesh them out," he explained. "I did not want to distract the audience with fun, but ultimately distracting, drop-bys by some of the other characters in the universe."
According to Oleson, that's it: Those crossovers, while they can be fun, are ultimately distracting, and would have taken away from the story he wanted to tell. Based on the first six episodes, which we saw early, that story will get into deep development for the main Daredevil characters--Matt, Foggy, Karen, and Fisk--while introducing a handful of new ones, like the classic Daredevil villain Bullseye. And according to Oleson, it draws heavily on the comics.
"I really wanted to come back to the Daredevil comic," Oleson said. "I wanted to treat Season 3 as if it were my own run of the comics, in the way that Miller or Bendis or Smith or any of those guys were able to come in and do their run that honored what came before, and yet put their own stamp on each of the comics. I wanted to put my own stamp on the show."
He emphasized that he also wanted to flesh out the characters more. "I'm a firm believer that nobody is really a sidekick--that everybody is the hero of their own story," he said. "And I wanted to be able to go deeper into Foggy, go deeper into Karen, and really flesh out every member of the ensemble."
Where Iron Fist Season 2 (which has since been canceled) was compacted into 10 episodes, Daredevil Season 3 goes back to the 13 episodes that's typical for the Marvel Netflix shows. But Oleson swears that "none of them drag--none of them!" The showrunner said he wanted this season to feel like The Sopranos.
"One of the early things that I told Marvel was that I wanted to aim tonally between Season 1 of [Daredevil], and The Sopranos," he said. "I wanted to bring that kind of storytelling model where you are telling the story from the inside--meaning from the experience of the characters, so that you are experiencing the story like Matt Murdock would, or like Karen Page would--you're not watching them from outside...My style is more character driven, everything is emotionally honest, and then you have these lightning bolt moments of Marvel where you're like, 'Oh that's right, we're watching this awesome show that has these amazing iconic moments and action sequences and that heightened reality!' But everybody is able to be real in the scenes, and as a result I'm bonding the audience and the characters, hopefully in an honest way."
All that said, Oleson made it clear that more crossovers will likely happen in the future, and in other Marvel Netflix shows coming up. "That's not to say that in the future that won't happen," he said. It's unclear whether connecting all these stories and characters is still a priority for Netflix and Marvel, as reception to Defenders was generally lukewarm at best. For now, it seems like we're just going to get one really kickass season of Daredevil.
It's a big day for Destiny 2, as Bungie is releasing a significant update alongside the launch of two events: Iron Banner and Festival of the Lost. In terms of the update, it introduces a variety of welcome changes and fixes, and it's good news for scout rifle users, Iron Banner fans, and players who are sick of Edge Transit. Here's what's new.
As detailed in the full patch notes on Bungie's website, update 2.0.4 is a substantial one, even if it doesn't introduce much in the way of new features. Scout rifles, which have been suffering from low damage since around the time of Forsaken's launch, have been given a damage boost against non-player enemies. That should hopefully make them more viable than they have been in recent weeks.
With Iron Banner kicking off, you'll notice some important changes. Each Iron Banner bounty that's offered will reward you with Powerful gear, rather than just two, as was the case in September. And completing those bounties should be easier--the specific requirements for each have been lowered, in some cases significantly. For instance, Shine On only tasks you with creating 50 Orbs of Light, rather than 100.
Speaking of Powerful gear, a bug where Powerful rewards didn't drop at a sufficiently high Power level should be fixed. Bungie has also increased the Power of lower level Powerful rewards, which it says "slightly increases the average Power upgrade per powerful drop."
The Collection has been expanded and now allows you to track and retrieve more item types. The most notable are transmat effects. Any that you've gotten your hands on, used, or dismantled since Forsaken launched on September 4 will already be available in the Collection for you. Just be aware of how these are added to your Collection: simply obtaining a ship with a new transmat effect won't do the trick. You'll need to actually get the transmat effect in your inventory for it to unlock. Additionally, the Collection is now home to Ghosts tied to events, Forsaken emblem variants, and a variety of other emblems that were previously missing.
There are few guns more notorious than Edge Transit in Forsaken. It's an extremely common Heavy weapon drop, much to the annoyance of players who have gotten dozens of them. It should now drop less often, as the so-called "world Legendary pool" has added several new items: Through Fire and Flood, Zenobia D, and Crooked Fang-4fr.
One weapon that does draw more ire than Edge Transit is Sleeper Simulant. The previously announced nerf to the gun in Gambit will be coming in the patch launching on October 30. In the meantime, linear fusion rifles have been given an aim assist buff--with the exception of Sleeper. That might result in a more varied assortment of linear fusion rifles being used.
The patch is now available in Destiny 2 and will be followed by the weekly reset and the kick-off of Iron Banner and Festival of the Lost. Iron Banner runs until October 23, while the Halloween-themed event goes until November 6.
IO Interactive has announced its first Elusive Target mission for Hitman 2, and it stars none other than the man of many lives (and deaths), actor Sean Bean. Bean plays Mark Faba, an MI5 agent gone rogue as a freelance assassin. Faba has gained a reputation for faking his death, even earning the nickname "The Undying." Agent 47 might have a thing or two to say about that.
The Undying will release as the first Elusive Target on November 20, one week after the release of Hitman 2. The mission takes place in Miami, where Faba is trying to complete his own contract at the Global Innovation Race event in Miami. You'll have ten days to complete it. As with the first Hitman, Elusive Targets are free, temporary missions that you'll only have one chance to complete.
A live-action trailer accompanying the announcement stars Bean as Faba, talking with a therapist about his life as an assassin and describing the various ways he's eluded death. The role as an expert in faking his own death serves another purpose as a meta-joke, as Sean Bean has become known for playing characters who ultimately die. This is similar to the last Hitman game, which set actor Gary Busey as an Elusive Target.
Hitman 2 adds a new Sniper Assassin mode, which lets you take down targets from a distance solo or paired with a partner. You can gain access to that instantly by pre-ordering, or pre-order a Silver or Gold Edition for more bonuses like extra gear. The Gold Edition also includes four days of early access to the game. You can read more details in our pre-order guide.
As a continuation of the Black Ops subseries, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 both benefits from and is limited by its past. All three of its major modes--multiplayer, Zombies, and the new battle royale mode Blackout--pull from and build upon previous games. Multiplayer is largely successful in its mix of old and new, while Zombies struggles more with dated elements. Blackout, though, strikes an excellent balance, putting a clever Call of Duty spin on a genre entirely new to the series.
While Black Ops 4 doesn't have a traditional single-player campaign, it does have a helpful set of character-focused tutorial missions. Called Specialist HQ, it introduces you to each of the 10 multiplayer Specialists one by one, taking you through their unique abilities and a practice multiplayer match. It does have a bit of a story and some gorgeous (and gory) cutscenes threading each mission together, but it's all in service of getting you acquainted with the new Specialist mechanics--which is well worth the three or so hours it takes, since some of those mechanics appear in Blackout as well. One mission even weaves in a bit of general Zombies training, an unexpected but welcome touch that helps make the largely separate modes feel a little more cohesive.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is the most straightforward of the modes, and Black Ops 4 attempts to be more tactical than previous entries. The wall-running and thrust-jumping of Black Ops 3 is gone, replaced with weighty, grounded movement, and healing is now manual and on a cooldown timer. The combination forces you to be more thoughtful about your positioning, since you can't just jet and dodge enemy fire until your health regenerates--you need to make sure you have adequate cover and time to heal yourself in your immediate vicinity. This encourages a slightly slower, more cautious pace on an individual level, and it's refreshing to play it smart instead of just fast. But time-to-kill is still low and respawning still near-instant, ensuring that matches don't stagnate.
The more tactical feel extends to the Specialists, which build upon those introduced in Black Ops 3. Each has a unique weapon and equipment with a specific combat focus, like area control or high damage output. Each Specialist's weapon is tied to a longer cooldown and functions as a superpowered attack (or defensive ability, in some cases), while their equipment varies from a special grenade to trip mines and other gear with a clear strategic purpose. This includes roles other than offensive ones--there's even a pseudo-healer Specialist, Crash--and it's a change that gives multiplayer more variety.
Certain Specialists and strategies are more useful in some game types than others, though. Area control is best for objective-based modes like Domination, for example, and far less effective in the more scattered Team Deathmatch. Generally, your choice of Specialist and your team's composition won't matter in any mode if you aren't skilled in basic shooting and positioning, even if you're in a more defensive or supporting role. This means you can play selfishly and still emerge victorious, which works well for those of us who often solo queue and would rather not risk trying to communicate with randoms. But it can also make playing support-focused Specialists less rewarding if you aren't working as a team, since your efforts are useless if your teammates don't take advantage of them. It's a surprisingly good balance overall, though, giving you the flexibility to be only as tactical as you want or are able to be and enjoy the match regardless.
The map design, too, facilitates that flexibility. Each map has areas perfect for different Specialists to take advantage of, like blind corners where Nomad's trip mines can take enemies by surprise or high ceilings where Recon can shoot and hide his Sensor Dart that reveals enemies on your radar. But the long and narrow three-lane structure each map is built on is a strong foundation for more traditional shooting as well, with both long sightlines good for sniper and tactical rifles and tight spaces for close-range automatic weapons.
The Specialist strategies are best showcased in the new Control, an objective-based mode in which each team, one attacking and one defending, shares 25 lives. You win by either exhausting all of the enemy team's lives or gaining or maintaining control of the two objectives. A defensive Specialist like Torque, who has Razor Wire perfect for placement under windows and a Barricade "weapon" for extra cover, is a great option if you're trying to hold an objective, for example. An offensive Specialist, on the other hand, can aim to wipe out the enemy team.
Zombies
Black Ops 4's Zombies is as broad as it is deep, with two separate storylines across three maps (or four if you have the Black Ops pass included in the game's special editions). The first two, IX and Voyage of Despair, are part of the brand-new Chaos story, while Blood of the Dead and Classified round out the selection of maps to make up the returning Aether story. All of them follow the familiar Zombies formula--fighting waves of the undead, saving money to access better weapons and new areas, and uncovering wacky secrets and puzzles along the way--but each has its own quirks that take time and effort to discover.
The Chaos maps are strong aesthetically, with rich level design and clever puzzles to match--draining water that has seeped into the Titanic's depths so you don't drown while searching for other secrets, for example. Like previous Zombies maps, a lot of the fun comes from figuring out how the map ticks while also trying not to die, and both IX and Voyage of Despair have the complex layouts that lend themselves to thorough yet hectic exploration. Voyage is a personal favorite, with narrow, creepy hallways and presumably drowned zombies that have water gushing from their heads.
On the Aether side, Blood of the Dead is based on Black Ops 2's Mob of the Dead, while Classified is a reimagination of Black Ops' Five. Although they're definitely familiar, there are still surprises to entertain returning players--some puzzles don't unlock what you expect them to unlock, for example. However, the Ultimus crew hasn't aged particularly well, even considering that each of them is stereotyped to the extreme. The jokes just don't land anymore, especially Takeo's overdone Japanese accent where Ls are replaced with Rs at every opportunity. In Blood of the Dead it's distracting, but in Classified, lines about the Emperor and eating sushi are just plain offensive. You'll also hear these same lines every time you start a new run, which doesn't help.
On top of the already hefty amount of Zombies content, Black Ops 4 introduces a new mode of fighting the undead, Rush. It's a much faster-paced version of Zombies where you don't have to do any thinking or puzzle-solving; you're just there to kill them horde-style. There's no money, so you don't need to save up to buy a weapon or unlock a door. You're instead told which area will have the next Rush wave, and you're directed from room to room as you go. It's too intense to be a tutorial, per se, but it's a great way to familiarize yourself with the map, test weapons, and plan where to go next if you get stuck in Classic mode.
Blackout
The third and most exciting of Black Ops 4's three main sections is, of course, Blackout. Like other battle royale games, Call of Duty's take puts 100 players on one map with the goal of being the last person or squad standing, and a collapsing circle of death forces you in closer and closer proximity. It's unlike anything Call of Duty has done before, and slight alterations to its mechanics, like the addition of bullet drop on some weapons, help it adapt to the very different gameplay style.
Brilliantly, experience in both multiplayer and Zombies benefits you in Blackout. Perks and Specialist equipment can be looted during a match, and knowing how to both use and counter them can give you an advantage. There are also zombie-infested areas that offer powerful loot at the risk of attracting human players to your position, and that PvE twist in particular helps distinguish Blackout from the likes of PUBG. A successful Blackout round can last over 20 minutes, so if you're impatient or more used to Call of Duty's shorter multiplayer formats, seeking out zombies and causing a ruckus mid-match is a great way to see more action.
The map itself is also distinctly Call of Duty, filled with references to previous games, including the fan favorite Nuketown. Vibrant and varied design makes each region stand out from the next, and the map as a whole is easy to navigate as a result. That in turn facilitates the strategic movement and positioning necessary to succeed; it's easy to pivot if a lot of other people are nearby, for example, if you know where you are in relation to the next-best loot area.
The combination of Call of Duty-specific mechanics with PUBG-style health, loot, and shooting systems is executed well, with quality-of-life improvements to UI--notably, you can quick-equip weapon attachments without going into your menu. The twists are balanced, too, and the Specialist equipment in particular doesn't make things feel unfair. Like in multiplayer, you can ignore anything you don't want to bother with, and survival ultimately comes down to your situational awareness, your skill with various weapons, and a bit of luck with looting and the circle. That makes victory feel earned and, as a result, immensely gratifying--Blackout definitely captures the tense, shaky excitement that makes battle royale such a popular genre.
Black Ops 4 isn't short on content, and its three main modes are substantial. Multiplayer introduces more tactical mechanics without forcing you into them, and it largely strikes a good balance. Zombies has multiple deep, secret-filled maps to explore, though its returning characters don't hold up and prove distracting. Finally, Blackout pushes Call of Duty in an entirely new direction, making use of aspects from both multiplayer and Zombies for a take on the battle royale genre that stands on its own. Sure, there isn't a traditional single-player campaign, but with the depth and breadth of what is there, Black Ops 4 doesn't need it.
EA has announced that four of the voice actors from Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series will be reprising their roles in Battlefront 2. Each of the four Hero characters will be rolling out separately over the next several months, starting this October.
In a blog post on Battlefront 2's website, EA DICE editorial writer Daniel Steinholtz revealed Matthew Wood, James Arnold Taylor, Corey Burton, and Matt Lanter will return to voice General Grievous, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and Anakin Skywalker respectfully. Grievous comes to Battlefront 2 on October 30, while the remaining three Hero characters don't have exact release dates. As of right now, Obi-Wan is scheduled for November 2018, Dooku for January 2019, and Anakin for February 2019.
EA recently revealed its process for how new Star Wars Hero characters are chosen for Battlefront 2. For the developer, every "hero must counter a villain, and vice versa" so after deciding to add Obi-Wan and Anakin to the game, Grievous and Dooku--villains that share a "natural rivalry" with the two Jedi--were also chosen.
Grievous, Obi-Wan, Dooku, and Anakin are part of a Clone Wars DLC road map scheduled for Battlefront 2. The updates started in August, first focusing on adding a wider variety of cosmetic appearances for the Republic Army, such as Yoda's 41st Elite Corps and Windu's 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps. A Prequel Era playlist was also added to the game, which limits multiplayer matches to Galactic Assault on Clone Wars era maps. More multiplayer locations, like Geonosis, are scheduled for future updates.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The Clone Wars animated series, once believed to be cancelled for good, is returning with a seventh season that sees Anakin and Obi-Wan once again teaming up with Ahsoka Tano to aid in the Siege of Mandalore.
There is nothing better than a good scare from the safety of your own home. However, it wasn't until the past decade when TV networks started taking a chance on content that was once deemed "too much" for mass audiences. Thanks to networks like AMC and FX catering their content to a specific audience, these channels become the go-to place for action, comedy, and even horror.
Whether you like a classic ghost story, a murderous rampage by some slasher in a mask, something spooky from space, or a story that shakes you to your core, there is something currently on TV for you. And with the rise in streaming services, there are new budding shows from Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, and more you'll need to add to your queue.
We took a look at television series dating all the way back to the 1950s to find some of the best horror shows that have ever hit the airwaves. Here are the 13 best, listed in no particular order.
Many episodes may have not aged exceptionally well, but the Nickelodeon series Are You Afraid of the Dark managed to scare a whole generation of kids during the '90s. The show followed the Midnight Society, who told each other scary stories by a campfire. As you can see above, some of the imagery from the series is hard to forget.
Tales From the Crypt (1989-1996)
Much like Are You Afraid of the Dark, Tales From the Crypt featured new horrifying stories every week, but because it aired on HBO, the series could get away with a whole lot more than the Nickelodeon show. The most memorable part of the series was the Cryptkeeper, who introduced each story in a ghoulish way.
True Blood (2008-2014)
HBO's True Blood mixed horror and romance with a bit of tongue-in-cheek quirkiness. The series followed a young woman who falls in love with a vampire and learns about his world. However, there's also a whole lot of death and gore to satisfy many horror fans. There's a whole season dedicated to werewolves as well.
Supernatural (2005- )
About to head into its 13th season, Supernatural is currently the CW's longest running series. The show follows two brothers who lost their mother to a supernatural force. The two join forces and hunt down monsters and other things that go bump in the night. If crazy monsters are your thing, then Supernatural is right up your alley.
Black Mirror (2011- )
Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 series--which now airs on Netflix--isn't about terrifying monsters or supernatural forces. It centers around technology that isn't too far off in the future and how it can change our lives for better or worse. Whether it's being hunted by a man in a black mask with a rifle (seen above) or being trapped inside a horror video game with no way out, Black Mirror plays to our deepest fears without the cheap jump scares.
Good luck sleeping tonight after seeing the picture of The Host from X-Files. While the Fox series primarily focused on government conspiracies, the show was filled with terrifying moments and monsters, like the 1996 episode "Home," which followed the inbred Peacock family and is by far the most disturbing episode of the series.
Stranger Things (2016- )
Season 1 of Stranger Things took the world by storm, following a group of kids during the '80s who are trying to find their missing friend, who is trapped in the Upside Down. With Season 2 coming to Netflix on October 27, fans can't wait to see what terrifying monsters the creators have in store for them next.
Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
Showtime and Sky's series Penny Dreadful took well-known literary characters and presented them in a whole new, terrifying light. The series featured Dorian Grey, Dracula, Van Helsing, and more exploring the dark origins in Victorian England. Sadly, the series came to an abrupt end after Season 3, but luckily for you, every episode is currently on Netflix.
Channel Zero (2016- )
Syfy's Channel Zero was born out of creepypasta horror stories, and each season adapts one of the stories for television. The series has a dark tone that is frightening and unsettling, and there are plenty of moments you simply cannot unsee, like whatever is going on in the image above. Season 4 of the series is returning on Friday, October 26 at 11 PM ET, just in time for Halloween. This year's installment is titled "The Dream Door," and it's based on the creepypasta called "Hidden Door."
What's crazy about this season is that there will be a new episode every night between October 26 and Halloween. Additionally, all six episodes of the new season will be available on October 26 on VOD.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
The first successful horror television series was CBS's The Twilight Zone, which originally ran for five seasons. Each episode featured a new story weaving fantasy, science-fiction, and horror together. The series had some iconic television moments, like a man seeing a monster on the wing of his plane.
Hannibal (2013-2015)
While Season 4 of the series isn't a sure thing yet, NBC's Hannibal took the lovable cannibal from Silence of the Lambs to give him a different type of origin story. Hannibal is a psychiatrist who manipulates the FBI--by working with them--so they don't find out he's actually a cannibalistic serial killer.
The Walking Dead (2010- )
AMC's The Walking Dead is one of the best revivals of the zombie genre. Based on the Skybound/Image comic series, the series follows Rick Grimes and his counterparts, as they traverse a world where zombies have destroyed mankind. The horror doesn't always come from the zombies though. It stems from mankind's struggle to survive in a wasteland, which usually leads to people committing horrific crimes.
American Horror Story (2011- )
Finally, there is FX's American Horror Story. Each season tells a different terrifying tale, featuring the same cast as brand-new characters. The series has covered ghosts, aliens, witches, and even freakshows in the past. Currently, the series title "Apocalypse" is airing, which revolves around witches and the end of the world.
Mysterious Things.
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