By Matt Espineli on Oct 09, 2018 12:18 am
Preparing For An Odyssey
The Assassin's Creed series has always been known for its extensive storyline and dense lore and mythology. The latest entry Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a prequel to the franchise, but it's useful to learn about key characters and events from past games. To help get you up to speed on all the important happenings in the Assassin's Creed universe, here's a recap of everything you need to know before jumping into Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Be wary, there are major spoilers ahead. Our recap goes over the major events of each game (sorry, no Assassin's Creed comics and books), filling in the back story of the Assassins and Templars, the Pieces of Eden, the Isu, and everything else you may have forgotten about. Odyssey is another great place to dive in even for newcomers, but you might have a fuller appreciation if you're caught up on everything that has happened thus far. Assassin's Creed Odyssey released on October 5 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As an interesting aside, the game was also available to play on Google Chrome on launch day thanks to a new test the search giant is conducting to measure the strength of its game streaming technology. However, Google will only be choosing a select few users from those who sign up via its official website. For Assassin's Creed Odyssey guides, be sure to check out our feature highlighting tips you should know before starting. We'll be posting more features and guides in the next coming days. And if you're curious about our thoughts on the game, be sure to read our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review. GameSpot editor Alessandro Fillari said in his review: "While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Assassin's Creed Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting."
Those Who Came Before
In the beginning, Earth was inhabited by the Isu, an ancient species of advanced humanoids. They possessed precognitive abilities and were gifted scientists; they also had incredibly long lifespans, though they were not immortal. Their immense power and intelligence lead them to create the human race, whom they designed in their image to be a capable, but docile, workforce. But in order to ensure that humanity remained subservient to their rule, the Isu created several powerful devices--later known to humanity as Pieces of Eden--to enslave their minds.
Rebellion And War
When the Isu created humanity, they designed them to be born with a chemical neurotransmitter in their brains that made them susceptible to the Pieces of Eden. However, over time interbreeding between humans and Isu lead to the creation of a hybrid race, who were immune to the effects of the mind-controlling devices of their benefactors. This resulted in an uprising by two hybrids, Adam and Eve, who stole a Piece of Eden known as the Apple to wage war against the Isu. While the Isu were technologically superior to humans, the ensuing war took a toll on them as they were heavily outnumbered; a result of the Isu having produced so many humans to work for them. After a decade's worth of fighting, the conflict came to an abrupt end due to a massive solar flare that devastated the Earth, resulting in heavy losses on both sides. This event became known as the Toba Catastrophe.
Last Ditch Effort
During the war, there were three Isu scientists--Minerva, Juno, and Jupiter--who were actually aware of the solar flare that would hit Earth. They endeavored to prevent it by researching six different solutions; however, none adequately provided what was needed. Eventually Minerva created a seventh solution known as the Eye, a device capable of allowing them to manipulate the patterns and equations of existence. With its power, the Isu could deploy a planetary magnetic shield that would deflect the incoming disaster. In the midst of the experiments, Juno developed a deep hatred for humans. She made plans to take over the world and enslave humanity in the solar flare's aftermath. However, Minerva and Jupiter caught wind of this and imprisoned her consciousness. But before Juno could be sealed away, she tampered with the pattern of the Eye, so that it would release her from prison upon its activation. Minerva discovered this and decided that instead of letting Juno get her way, it would be best to destroy the device and let the solar flare occur.
Messages To The Next Generation
Before the solar flare arrived to Earth, Minerva crafted a second Eye to relay messages to future generations of humanity in hopes of giving them the knowledge needed to prevent an inevitable second catastrophe. These messages were locked away in vaults hidden throughout the planet. Despite these attempts to help the future of humanity, Juno's evil ambitions persisted. In her imprisonment, she managed to fix the first Eye and used it to commune with future generations in hopes of swaying them towards accomplishing her goals.
Reconciliation and The Fall of the Isu
The impact of the solar flare flipped the polarity of Earth's magnetic field and exposed it to the Sun's deadly radiation. While both the Isu and humanity survived the disaster, their numbers began to dwindle. As a result, both species made peace and worked together to rebuild the world. Several Isu took steps to influence the human race, endeavoring to spread their knowledge. Some of these attempts would manifest themselves in superstitions and religious myths passed through the ages across different cultures. Despite their best efforts to preserve their ways, the Isu eventually went extinct. Humanity continued to thrive through the centuries ahead, slowly forgetting the existence of the Isu as they split off into new civilizations and cultures.
The Assassins And The Templars: A Battle of Ideology
As the centuries passed, humans began to discover several Pieces of Eden, which had survived the destruction of the Toba Catastrophe. The power the artifacts stirred debate towards how to use them for humanity's benefit. There were many who sought to fulfill humanity's true potential and decided it would be best to use the artifacts to create a utopia. While there were others who stood against their use, opting to give humanity complete freedom where all could live according to their own will. These two beliefs eventually manifested into two respective organizations, the Templars and the Assassins, who went on to wage a covert war spanning most of human history.
Enter Desmond Miles
A key player in the Assassin-Templar conflict was a man named Desmond Miles. A modern day Assassin, Desmond was wary of his organization's tenets and lifestyle growing up. At age 16, he fled home and moved to New York City to work as a bartender. However, he could not escape his origins, and was kidnapped by the Templars, who had at this point masked their activities under the guise of a company called Abstergo. The unwilling Assassin was taken to one of Abstergo's laboratories where he was used as a test subject in the Animus, a device that could read the memories of a person's ancestors through the genetic memory encoded in their DNA. Leading the research experiment was a scientist named Warren Vidic and his assistant, Lucy Stillman. Their goal was to discover the locations of the Pieces of Eden.
Assassin's Creed -- Destiny
Desmond was made to relive the genetic memory of his ancestor, Altair Ibn-La'Ahad--a member of the Assassin order during the Third Crusade. By exploring Altair's memories, Vidic was able to discover the locations of numerous Pieces of Eden. After finding this out, Abstergo executives ordered Desmond's execution, as he had outlived his usefulness; however, Lucy revealed to Desmond that she was an undercover agent of the Assassins, and promised his safety.
Assassin's Creed II -- Becoming an Assassin and a Message From Minerva
Lucy busted Desmond out his cell and the two escaped from the Abstergo laboratory. Arriving at one of the Assassins' hideouts, Desmond and Lucy met with fellow members of the order, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. Their new goal was to train Desmond to be an Assassin using the Bleeding Effect, a symptom induced by prolonged exposure to the Animus that allowed a person to inherit abilities from their ancestors. Desmond returned to the Animus to experience the memories of Ezio Auditore, an Assassin who lived through the Italian Renaissance. As the group pushed further into the Italian Assassin's memories, they discovered his encounter with one of Minerva's messages, which warned of the impending catastrophe and recounted the story of the war between the Isu and humanity. But what shocked Desmond was Minerva revealing that she was actually talking to him through Ezio. Following this revelation, Desmond was pulled from the Animus, as the Templars discovered their location. Despite an altercation with Vidic and his goons, the group managed to escape.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood -- Finding the Apple
The group fled north and set up shop at Monteriggioni, the former headquarters of the Italian Brotherhood during the 14th century. Once again Desmond used the Animus to dive into Ezio's memories in hopes of discovering information that could help the Assassins. However, the Bleeding Effect soon began to take a toll on him, as he began to experience more hallucinations. Regardless, Desmond pushed through it and learned that Ezio hid an Apple of Eden under the Colosseum in Rome. At the Colosseum, the group discovered a path leading to an underground chamber where the Apple was held. A hologram of Juno appeared before them to reveal the existence of the Isu's secret vaults. Desmond then grabbed the Apple from its pedestal, but in doing so, the artifact activated, allowing Juno to take control of him and kill Lucy. The shock of the ordeal caused Desmond to fall into a coma.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations -- Escape From the Black Room
After the events of Lucy's murder, William Miles--Desmond's father and the de facto leader of the Assassins--dispatched several Assassins to retrieve the group from the Colosseum vault. Desmond was put back into the Animus to stabilize his condition. He awakened to find himself inside the Black Room, a safe mode built into the Animus' programming. There he met a visual construct of Clay Kaczmarek, a man who used the Animus prior to him during Vidic's experiments. Kaczmarek informed Desmond that he needed to keep reliving his ancestors' memories in order to awaken from his coma. Desmond experienced not only the later years of Ezio's life, but Altair's as well. His journey through the memories of both his ancestors allowed him to discover a message from Jupiter, who revealed the location of the Grand Temple, which housed all of the research conducted to prevent the first solar flare. After having discovered this, Desmond awakened from his coma, with Shaun, Rebecca, and his father standing beside him.
Assassin's Creed III -- Finding the Grand Temple Key
The group travelled to the Grand Temple where they once again set up the Animus. Entering the Grand Temple triggered Desmond's Bleeding Effect, which revealed that a key was required to unlock its innermost chambers. Instead of reliving the memories of Ezio, Desmond dove into the memories of Haytham Kenway, an 18th-century Templar who once had possession of the key. However, he learned that it was actually Haytham's illegitimate son, an Assassin named Ratonhnhaké:ton aka Connor Kenway, who would later come into possession of it during the American Revolution. As Desmond searched through Connor's memories, he occasionally took breaks to embark on missions to obtain batteries to power the Animus. However, the arrival of the second solar flare rapidly approached, and with no leads on the Grand Temple key's current location, the situation grew desperate. In an effort to maximize productivity, Desmond focused on reliving Connor's memories, while William retrieved a new battery from a museum in Cairo. However, Vidic intercepted William and sent a video message to the group explaining that William would only be set free in exchange for the Apple of Eden. Desmond complied and traveled to the Abstergo facility where his father was being held, but instead of handing over the Apple, he used it to kill Vidic and his henchmen.
Assassin's Creed III (Cont.) -- Saving the World
Desmond returned to the Animus and learned that the Grand Temple key was hidden in a grave in Massachusetts. Using the key to open the gate to the Grand Temple's inner chamber, Desmond and the group entered only to be greeted by Juno, who revealed that they could save the world using the Eye. However, Minerva appeared and urged Desmond not to activate the device, explaining Juno's schemes to enslave humanity. She insisted that while the device would save the world from the solar flare, it would also kill Desmond and allow Juno to complete her quest to rule over Earth. Despite Minerva's warnings, Desmond stated that if Juno was released, there could still be a slim chance that humanity could stop her. With his mind made up, Desmond activated the Eye, thus sacrificing himself to protect the planet and freeing Juno from imprisonment.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag -- Infiltrating Abstergo Entertainment
With the death of Desmond, Shaun, Rebecca, and William continued the fight against the Templars. However, William eventually stepped down as leader of the Assassins in order to go on a self-imposed exile. Shaun and Rebecca then went undercover as low-level employees at Abstergo, who had managed to create a new version of the Animus that could let people relive the genetic memories of anyone's DNA, as long as the DNA was harvested. With this new tech--which was created using Desmond's DNA--the Templars formed Abstergo Entertainment, a branch of the company that created consumer products using Animus technology. However, Abstergo Entertainment was a front for the Templars to locate and acquire new Pieces of Eden. The Assassins had an informant in the company, named John Standish, who began helping an unnamed Abstergo Entertainment employee (your player character) hack into the company's databases. The employee gradually fed the archived information to the Assassins.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Cont.) -- The Sage
Juno remained adamant towards advancing her schemes of world domination. However, she could do little without a physical body to transfer her consciousness into. Luckily, Juno had set a plan in motion prior to her imprisonment: she had managed to manipulate the human genetic code, creating a hidden trigger that would alter the genetic makeup of an individual, imbuing them with the memories and appearance of her husband. The experiment caused Juno's husband to be repeatedly reincarnated in human form for millennia. These reincarnations would be known as Sages. Unbeknownst to everyone, John Standish was actually a Sage and plotted to transfer Juno's consciousness into the body of the unnamed Abstergo Entertainment employee. However, the plan failed and Abstergo security guards gunned down John.
Assassin's Creed Unity -- The Initiates
As a means of fighting the Templars, the Assassins enlisted the help of players using Abstergo Entertainment's gaming products. Those convinced to join were known as Initiates. With the help of an unnamed Initiate, an Assassin operative named Bishop managed to secure the location of an Apple of Eden via the memories of French Revolution era Assassin, Arno Dorian.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate -- Juno's Next Plan
The Templars began using John Standish's DNA to create an Isu from scratch, aiming to explore the genetic memories encoded in its DNA using the Animus. But in order to achieve this, they needed a Piece of Eden known as the Shroud; one was known to be hidden somewhere in London. The Assassins caught wind of this and once again enlisted the help of an unnamed Initiate. By reliving the memories of Assassin twins, Jacob and Evie Frye, the Initiate discovered that the Shroud was located underneath Buckingham Palace. Shaun and Rebecca were dispatched to retrieve it, but were attacked by the Templars, who successfully escape with the Shroud. It was then revealed that Juno had secretly orchestrated the scheme from the beginning, manipulating the Templars into creating a new vessel for her to implant her consciousness.
Assassin's Creed Origins -- The Next Generation: Layla the Abstergo Researcher
Sometime after the events of Syndicate, Layla Hassan--a researcher at Abstergo's Historical Research Division--is tasked with finding and retrieving a mysterious artifact in Egypt. This inevitably leads her to finding the tomb containing the mummies of ancient Assassins Bayek and Aya. In hopes of finding information to secure her a position in the company's Animus Project, Layla decides to relive both Bayek's and Aya's memories using her Animus--going outside the jurisdiction of her responsibilities in the company. She secludes herself in a cave in the middle of a desert in Egypt. Layla was inevitably attacked during her time spent reliving Bayek's and Aya's memories. Her best friend and radio support Deanna was also ambushed in the process; though, her fate remains unknown. Layla continued to experience the memories of Bayek and Aya, learning the history of the Assassin brotherhood's origins in the process. Upon awakening from the Animus, she is met by none other than William Miles, whom asks her to work for the Assassins instead. Given how Abstergo enforcers attempted to attack Layla for not checking in, she ultimately accepts William's offer. However, she stops short of actually joining them as a member.
Assassin's Creed Origins (Cont.) -- Bayek and the Formation of the Brotherhood
As mentioned, Layla lives out the memories of Bayek, who is a respected Medjay in charge of protecting the Siwan Oasis during the Ptolemaic era of Egypt's history in 49 BCE. The Egyptian sheriff's life is turned upside down when he and his young son, Khemu, are abducted by a group of five masked men. The masked men force Bayek to use a golden orb to open a secret Vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape, but during the struggle to kill one of the masked men, Bayek accidentally stabs Khemu in the chest, killing him. This leads Bayek and his wife Aya on a quest for vengeance. They figure out that the ones who orchestrated Bayek's kidnapping were a part of a much larger organization known as the Order of the Ancients. Bayek fights to take each one of its members down. Meanwhile, Aya assists in killing members of the Order while also working alongside Cleopatra on a separate venture to secure the Egyptian throne from Ptolemy XIII. Bayek eventually becomes involved in this pursuit by becoming Cleopatra's Medjay in order to further root out the Order's followers. However, things go south when Cleopatra cuts ties with Bayek and Aya, instead allying with Julius Caesar and the Order. Realizing their mistake in supporting Cleopatra, Bayek and Aya gather their allies to form a brotherhood to counter the Order and defend the free will of the common people. The two eventually discover that the leader of the Order and the one who was behind Khemu's murder was Caesar's lieutenant, Flavius. Bayek then confronts and assassinates him, finally obtaining the vengeance he and Aya have longed for. Upon returning from killing Flavius, Bayek discovers that Aya plans to head to Rome to assassinate Caesar and Lucius Septimius--the final remaining member of the Order. It's at this point that Bayek and Aya decide to part ways but swear to work together to protect the world from the shadows. After sharing a heartfelt goodbye, Bayek drops the eagle's skull charm, which was once part of a necklace he made for Khemu, into the sand. It leaves an impression that ends up becoming the symbol of their new Brotherhood.
Looking Ahead: Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Unlike Origins, the direction of the upcoming Assassin's Creed Odyssey's isn't as clear. It takes place even further back during the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE and follows the adventures of either Alexios or Kassandra, siblings and former Spartans-turned-mercenaries. Layla returns as the present-day protagonist and is continuing her adventures. She starts the game having discovered the Spear of Leonidas, a legendary weapon that also happens to be an Isu weapon. With the DNA traces left on it, she is able to see the memories of either Alexios or Kassandra using the Animus. The question as to why Layla is going so far back in history remains unclear. She works for the Assassins now so it's possible this latest venture roots from their own goals and ambitions. There's a variety of possible theories, but we're personally thinking that this new story might have to do with the origins of the Templars and the Isu. It's worth noting that the Juno plotline described in many of the past games was dropped in Origins, but we're curious whether or not it'll show up once more in some form in Odyssey. Seeing as the game is likely to deal a bit more heavily with the Isu given the presence of the Spear of Leonidas, there's a slight chance that we could hear more.
By Matt Espineli on Oct 09, 2018 12:15 am
Assassin's Creed Odyssey further develops the RPG-stylings of its predecessor. Not only is the game's world much larger than ever before, but there's a wealth of new mechanics and systems added to mix things up. A territory system has you aligning yourself with the competing powers of the Peloponnesian War to carve out the land. Dialogue choices give you more freedom to guide the direction of your journey in subtle yet meaningful ways. And this is all in addition to a slew of improvements that have been made to Origin's pre-existing systems. If you're a returning Assassin's Creed player or a newcomer entirely, much of the new features and mechanics may confuse you. To help you wrap your head over all the new systems in Odyssey, we've gathered 11 useful tips that should help you become the best spartan mercenary/proto-Assassin you can be! Assassin's Odyssey is out now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As an interesting aside, the game will also be available to play on Google Chrome thanks to a new test the search giant is conducting to measure the strength of its game streaming technology. However, Google will only be choosing a select few users from those who sign up via its official website. For more Assassin's Creed Odyssey guides, check out our guide highlighting the best skills you can unlock, as well as our recap of the franchise's story so far. If you're curious about our thoughts on the game, be sure to read our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review. GameSpot editor Alessandro Fillari said in his review: "While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Assassin's Creed Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting." In the meantime, got any handy beginner's tips you don't see here? Let us know in the comments below.
Play Exploration Mode
This isn't so much a tip as a strong recommendation. One of the most meaningful features added into Odyssey is Exploration Mode, a navigation option that strips away markers and quest objectives, forcing you to rely on your investigative and observation skills instead. The mode offers a more challenging experience that's well worth the effort.
What Are The Best Side Quests?
Odyssey has some great side quests that offer stories that range from tense and serious, to funny and light-hearted. Some even tie back into the main narrative. With so much content in Odyssey you might be wondering which side quests are worth your time. You'll find two types of quests in the world. First are quests indicated on the map by these gold and black diamonds. These are the major side quests that are the most involved and in our experience are always worth your time. The other kinds of quests are much smaller, usually consisting of a simple task. You can find these on the map with white and black diamond markers or at Message/Bounty Boards. The quality of these quests vary with some being fun small objectives like defending a philosopher, and others being noticeably lame, like this one where you just need to walk a couple hundred meters and talk to an NPC to complete it. If you're the kind of person who isn't interested in doing everything possible and just wants to see the good stuff, we recommend avoiding these smaller quests completely and only doing the major side quests with the gold and black markers.
Finding And Upgrading Weapons And Armor
Weapons and armor play an even greater role in Odyssey, allowing you to customize your look. There are several ways to get awesome new gear. Completing major side quests is a pretty straightforward option, and the quest menu even shows what reward you will earn. Mercenaries are another great way to earn loot. You can check the mercenaries menu to see a detailed description of the loot each has, and then track the one you want to find. This is the most reliable way to search for something specific. There are also conquest battles, which reward you with a random piece of Epic loot. If you find a piece of armor that has stats you like or just looks cool, you can always upgrade it at a blacksmith, bringing it up to your current level. This is an awesome way to ensure Legendary gear you get early on remains viable in the late game. You can enhance gear further with engravings, which give you bonuses like increased damage against certain enemy types or boosts to specific abilities.
Don't Forget Engravings
The best way to find engravings are from the puzzle tablets that contain riddles on them similar to Origins' Papyrus puzzles. Following the clues to the treasure rewards you with a new engraving. Engravings can be upgraded by completing an associated goal or challenge so keep an eye on those to maximize their potential. Engravings aren't just one-time use items either so don't worry about saving one for later, and just put it on. You can also swap engravings whenever you want, but it will cost you a small fee.
Sell Your Stuff And Break It Down
If you're the sort of person who likes to pick up everything that comes your way, you're liable to start stockpiling weapons and armor really quickly. Don't hold on to that stuff! Make sure to break it down for resources in the inventory menu or to visit merchants to sell them for a reasonable profit. You never want to be hoarding items, as you'll need the money and resources from selling or dismantling to better your current loadout and ship. You'll also accumulate a bunch of items that serve no purpose other than to be sold at a shop. Make sure to offload these under the option of "Sell All Trade Goods" in the Sell menu.
Get These Abilities!
Unlike Origins, Odyssey allows you acquire and swap abilities. You get a skill tree for Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin, and you start with eight slots to equip abilities--four for ranged attacks, and four for melee attacks. If you're looking for some suggestions, we've got them. Shield enemies can be a real pain in a large fight so pick up Shield Breaker, which lets you rip their shields off and hit them with it for damage. If you want to take care of captains or enemies with large health bars quickly, get Hero Strike, which uses the damage statistic normally used for assassin attacks. If you prefer the stealthy approach, Rush Assassination lets you break the laws of physics by throwing your spear and then basically teleporting next to the target. You can also chain this attack, making it a handy way to take out a base in a quiet and efficient manner. Critical Assassination is also key as it lets you deal more damage, allowing you to assassinate high-level enemies. Finally you should get Spartan Kick, which is perfect for knocking enemies off cliffs or walls and is also just really fun.
You Can Restat At Any Time
Being able to respec at any time is a useful new feature that lets you experiment with different character builds. So if at any moment you think you've dumped too many points into one category over another, simply hold down the left stick in the skills menu to reallocate all the points you've earned thus far.
How To Get Materials
Collecting resources and materials is a major component of Odyssey. You need them to upgrade your equipment and ship. Thankfully it's not much of a headache to collect these resources. For starters, you always want to dismantle unused equipment for materials. You also have the option to sell equipment to vendors, but the resources are much more valuable than the money, which you'll still earn in other ways You'll find common resources like wood in forests and iron in caves, but you if you really need more, vendors will also sell them. A hot tip is to always loot War Supplies before you burn them in an enemy camp. These carry large quantities of materials and you don't want to miss out on them.
Earn Loot With Conquest Battles
As a mercenary, you are a soldier for hire in the war between Sparta and Athens and can use this to your advantage. Every region is controlled by one of the two factions. You'll first need to lower the occupying nation's grip by burning War Supplies, pillaging nation chests, killing their soldiers, and assassinating their leader. Once you've lowered the meter enough, a conquest battle becomes available. You can fight for either side by visiting their camp. Yes, you can side with the army whose supplies you just spent the last few hours burning down--I guess they're a forgiving bunch. Siding with the defending army presents you one piece of Epic gear, while siding with the invading army nets you two pieces of Epic gear, but the battle will be tougher. In our experience it's always worth siding with the invading army for that extra loot. When participating in the battle itself, always keep an eye out on the two meters up top and make sure you're staying ahead. It's best to ignore the basic soldiers and focus on the captains and hero units who show up since eliminating them is the quickest way to win. Because of how easily multiple soldiers can overwhelm you, it's a good idea to pick abilities that deal damage to multiple enemies at once, such as Rain of Destruction. Our final tip is not to wait too long to start the conquest battle once it's available, as the opportunity can be lost if you wait too long. Thankfully, you can repeat this process in a region as many times as you want, keeping the war going forever and your inventory filled with loot.
Quick-Save And Manual Saves Are Your Friend
If you're a traditional Assassin's Creed player, chances are you might not notice there are a manual and quick-save options in Odyssey. Given the more pivotal choices you'll have to make as the game progresses, you may want to backpedal a few times. Fortunately, the game is not too brutal when it comes to autosaves, but make sure to utilize this feature in order to give yourself a proper backup plan when events go south on account of a horrible decision you made.
A Moment Of Meditation
Like Origins, you can advance time of day by simply holding the map button. Previously this was an ability you had to acquire via the skill tree, but you're given it early on this time around without having to spend a skill point; though, the game doesn't make a big show of it so you might even notice it's there. Regardless, advancing time is handy when you want to attack camps at night since the majority of guards tend to sleep, making it easier for you to sneak about.
By Michael Rougeau on Oct 08, 2018 10:43 pm
More glorious Funko Pop insanity at New York Comic Con 2018.
Earlier this year, we here at GameSpot Universe discovered all the most shockingly expensive Funko Pops for sale at San Diego Comic-Con 2018. Naturally, now that New York Comic Con has come around once again, we were eager to recreate that journey--and not just for our benefit, as you lucky readers get to come along with us. This week once again we were reminded that whether we're talking about Beanie Babies, Pokemon cards, or--of course--Funko Pops, there's always someone willing to pay more for a "holy grail" than what you might happen to consider reasonable. And once again, the results of our latest Comic-Con Funko Pop hunt were shocking and incredible. Just how rare is rare when it comes to Funko Pops? As we discovered on this amazing journey, some Pops are rare because they were only ever released at a single event, while others were produced in hyper-limited quantities. At the end of the day, these Funko Pops are just cheap chunks of colored plastic. Their only actual value is the imaginary worth we assign to them. But as with any popular collectible, that doesn't stop Pop hunters from dropping hundreds--and even thousands--of dollars on them. And in the end, if they bring someone happiness, isn't that worth it? Read on to see discover the craziest, rarest, and most expensive Funko Pops we found at New York Comic Con 2018. New York Comic Con 2018 Coverage
1. Funky Phantom ($450) and Beast Boy ($200)
Dimension Decals
2. Majin Vegeta signed ($400) and not signed ($285)
Dimension Decals
3. The Creators ($135)
Dimension Decals
4. Cylon Commander ($115)
Dimension Decals
5. Bunny Suit Ralphie ($225)
Dimension Decals
6. Geoffrey flocked ($100)
Dimension Decals
7. Steve ($125)
Dimension Decals
8. David S. Pumpkins with Skeletons ($100)
Videogames Hiphop & Sports LLC
9. Ragnar Lothbrok ($175)
Lost 4 Toys
10. Darkwing Duck and Harley Quinn signed ($65)
Capital Sports & Decor
11. Piccolo signed ($65)
Capital Sports & Decor
12. Winnie the Pooh signed ($65)
Capital Sports & Decor
13. Animaniacs signed ($65 each, $150 set)
Capital Sports & Decor
14. Super Saiyan Goku signed ($75)
Capital Sports & Decor
15. Killer Croc ($50) and Dapper Jack Skellington ($75) signed
Capital Sports & Decor
16. White Ranger signed ($100)
Collector Cave
17. Batman Beyond ($115) and White Phoenix ($230)
Collector Cave
18. Bebop and Rocksteady no box ($70)
Collector Cave
19. Beerus ($300)
Collector Cave
20. Twilight Sparkle signed ($80)
Collector Cave
21. Adam Bomb ($150)
Plastic Empire
22. La Muerte ($220)
Plastic Empire
23. Bigfoot ($250)
Plastic Empire
24. Spikor ($100)
Plastic Empire
25. Bigfoot flocked ($325)
Plastic Empire
26. Winter Soldier masked ($145)
Plastic Empire
27. Indiana Jones ($110)
Plastic Empire
28. Dr. Doom ($130)
Plastic Empire
29. Beast Boy ($150)
Plastic Empire
30. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 8-Bit Foot Soldiers set ($400)
Plastic Empire
31. Super Saiyan Vegeta gold ($150)
Plastic Empire
32. Fudo Myo-O ($100) and Green Goblin ($250)
Plastic Empire
33. The Beatles set ($350)
Plastic Empire
34. Captain American ($125) and The Demon ($150)
Plastic Empire
35. Legolas Greenleaf ($230)
Plastic Empire
36. Freddy Funko ($90) and Spartan Warrior Blue ($100)
Plastic Empire
37. Daryl Dixon signed ($100)
Plastic Empire
38. Ghost Face ($100) and Twelfth Doctor ($120) signed
Plastic Empire
39. Superman signed ($175)
Plastic Empire
40. Star-Lord signed ($175)
Plastic Empire
41. Golden Frieza ($300)
Galactic Toys
42. Winter Soldier masked ($140)
Galactic Toys
43. Robb Stark ($200)
Galactic Toys
44. Majin Vegeta ($250)
Galactic Toys
45. Planet Arlia Vegeta custom ($200)
Myth Global
46. Mayor ($700)
Undiscovered Realm
47. Holographic Darth Vader ($600)
Undiscovered Realm
48. Chewbacca ($1,500)
Undiscovered Realm
49. Looney Tunes Mr. Hyde and Bugs Bunny ($850)
Undiscovered Realm
50. The Thing ($1,300)
Undiscovered Realm
51. Batman blue metallic
Undiscovered Realm
52. Planet Arlia Vegeta ($2,200)
Undiscovered Realm
53. Ned Stark
Undiscovered Realm
54. Lincoln As Reaper ($400)
Undiscovered Realm
55. DMC, Run, and Jam Master Jay set ($1,000)
Undiscovered Realm
56. Ghost Rider ($750)
Undiscovered Realm
57. Dr. Doom ($300) and Leonidas ($500)
Undiscovered Realm
58. Jollibee ($400)
Undiscovered Realm
59. Orange Bird flocked ($300)
Undiscovered Realm
By Array on Oct 08, 2018 10:19 pm
We're now well into Season 6 of Fortnite, and it introduces a brand-new Battle Pass full of items to unlock. As in the past, a free tier exists that allows you to earn a select number of rewards, but to unlock the full customizable potential of Epic's Battle Royale title, you'll need to spend 950 V-Bucks to get the premium Battle Pass. If you own that, all you've got to do is sink time into the game and complete challenges, which in turn level up the pass and unlock the corresponding rewards. As the Battle Pass ranks up, new items will unlock that you can equip. There's over 100 rewards to get and, if previous seasons are any indication, it'll take you between 70 to 150 hours of play to get it all. If you're new to it all, we've got a rundown of how the Battle Pass works to get you up to speed. For the Fortnite veterans, we've put together a look at everything that's included in the Battle Pass. Over the next few pages you'll see all the skins, emotes, bling, and pretty much everything available. The start of Fortnite Season 6 brings with it a big new update and numerous changes to the game. As detailed in the Fortnite update 6.0 patch notes, there's a bunch of new things to keep an eye out for in-game. Perhaps the most exciting is the introduction of Pets, which tag along with you in game and will react to things that happen around you. In battle, for example, they growl, and if you're leaping great distances they'll hang on for dear life--and look adorable while doing it. You can get your hands on all three Pets through the premium Battle Pass; you can see them above. In addition to that, a number of items and weapons have been put into the Vault, meaning you'll no longer find the through regular play. These include the Impulse Grenade, Suppressed Submachine Gun, Light Machine Gun, Bouncer, and Remote Explosives. Although they're not usable in the core gameplay mode, you can jump into Playgrounds if you miss them. The update also makes some changes to the Island by introducing new map locations to Fortnite. The patch notes name the Floating Island, Corrupted Areas, Corn Fields, and Haunted Castle as being among them, but also tease players with more by saying "drop in and find the rest in-game," so there's bound to be plenty more. The Floating Island is actually moving, so it seems the story of the cube will continue into this season.
DJ Yonder Outfit (Epic)
Calamity Outfit (Epic)
Spiderweb Spray (Uncommon)
Pickaxe Spray
Calamity Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Bang Emoticon (Uncommon)
Calamity Spray (Uncommon)
Regal Wave Emote (Uncommon)
Picnic Glider (Uncommon)
Campfire Spray
Battle Bus Emoticon (Uncommon)
Emoticons Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Floating Island Spray
Bonesy Pet (Epic)
Squeaky Clean Music (Rare)
Fabled Cape Back Bling (Epic)
Ghost Spray
Smash Up Harvesting Tool
GG Potion Emoticon (Uncommon)
Exhaust Contrail (Rare)
Meow Moon Spray (Uncommon)
Pastel Patrol Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Crossfire Glider (Uncommon)
Crack Spray
Giddy-Up Outfit (Epic)
DJ Yonder Loading Screen (Uncommon)
GG Potion Spray (Uncommon)
Plunger Emoticon (Uncommon)
Tomato Toy (Rare)
Camo Pet (Epic)
Guiding Glow Harvesting Tool (Rare)
Manhole Cover Spray (Uncommon)
Running Man Emote (Rare)
Dice Banner Icon
Valkyrie Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Fireflies Contrail (Rare)
Llama De Muertos Spray (Uncommon)
Waveform Back Bling (Epic)
Camper Emoticon (Uncommon)
Covered Crusader Glider (Rare)
DJ Yonder Spray (Uncommon)
Rock On Banner Icon
Scales Pet (Epic)
Fate Loading Screen (Epic)
It's Go Time Emote (Rare)
Ghost Emoticon (Uncommon)
Fable Outfit (Epic)
Wallcrawler Spray (Uncommon)
Supply Llama Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Lightning Banner Icon
Black Cat Emoticon (Uncommon)
Eerie Music (Rare)
Jack-O-Lantern Contrail (Rare)
Cactus Maze Spray (Uncommon)
Dusk Wings Back Bling (Epic)
Meeet Emoticon (Uncommon)
Bat Banner Icon
TP Emoticon (Uncommon)
White Bonesy Style (Epic)
Tomato Temple Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Fancy Tomato Toy (Epic)
Game Over Spray (Uncommon)
Ravage Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Brick Pattern Banner Icon
Slitherin' Emote (Rare)
Bug Banner Icon
Chopmasters Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Bats Contrail (Rare)
Bubbles Banner Icon
Dusk Outfit (Epic)
Gremlins Spray (Uncommon)
Pink Scales Style (Epic)
Dusk Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Swarm Glider (Epic)
Oni Spray (Uncommon)
Skull Banner Icon
Spectral Essence Contrail (Rare)
Nightshade Outfit (Epic)
Flamenco Emote (Epic)
Night Cloak Back Bling (Epic)
Pixel Raven Spray (Uncommon)
Mocha Bonesy Style (Epic)
OG Remix Music (Rare)
Dire Loading Screen (Uncommon)
Clown Emoticon (Uncommon)
Black Scales Style
Dire Spray (Uncommon)
Dire Outfit (Legendary)
By Edmond Tran on Oct 08, 2018 09:46 pm
Red Dead Redemption 2: All The New Features
A number of GameSpot staff were able to play a near-final build of Red Dead Redemption 2 recently, which releases in a few week's time (October 26) on PS4 and Xbox One. Despite some initial familiarity as a Rockstar game, we discovered a wealth of new features and systems once we scratched the surface. There are a lot of mechanics to tell you about, a lot of stuff that we haven't seen the full scope of, and potentially a lot of things we haven't even seen yet. And that's without diving into Red Dead Online, which largely remains a mystery and won't launch until November (and even then, only as a beta). Rockstar recently released a second gameplay trailer that shows off a few other new features that we didn't get the chance to see first hand, but it's easy to imagine how they might fit into the game based on our experience. We'll continue to update this gallery as Rockstar releases new details up to launch. Please note that due to the limited amount of available media, not all images will be completely representative of the features they're depicting. If you haven't already seen our primary Red Dead Redemption 2 preview covering the story missions we saw, make sure you read: Red Dead Redemption 2: We Played It, Here's Everything We Saw. What do you think of all these new additions? Lets us know in the comments below, and check out all of our coverage through the following links. Red Dead Redemption 2 News And Details
You Can Play The Whole Game In First Person
The entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2 can be played in first-person, much like Grand Theft Auto V when it was released on PS4, Xbox One, and later, PC. Like GTA V, this feels like a much more involved first-person experience than a conventional FPS because your actions feel more weighty, and animations are more confronting. We were trampled by a horse at one point, and it felt awful.
You Can Disable The HUD
The HUD is minimal by default, only showing the mini-map in the bottom left corner, with meters fading in as it becomes necessary. An expanded HUD option shows you a larger minimap, but there's also the option to turn everything off, as well as an option to only have a compass on the screen.
Cinematic Camera Has A New Implementation
If you're familiar with Rockstar open-world games, then you're probably familiar with the cinematic camera mode, which can be triggered while you're driving and activates when you're fast-traveling in a cab. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the cinematic camera will now automatically trigger in certain instances, like the long journey to a mission location, and will frame the journey with a montage of shots that emphasize the landscape and traveling group. You can break out of it at any time, but it's a nice touch, an enjoyable filmic framing of what might have otherwise been a standard journey. As long as you hold X on PS4 or A on Xbox One to keep pace with the pack (like RDR1), you can just sit back and enjoy the naturally-flowing conversation and scenery. This feature can also be triggered manually during gameplay.
You Can Inspect Everything
We spent a lot of time in town exploring stores, where items could be examined and purchased off the shelf individually, or via a catalog at the front counter. Switching to first person, you can make Arthur manipulate the object in his hands as he takes a close look at it. This is also how you'll interact with environmental narrative objects like notes and photographs. You can also inspect your weapons, which is great for appreciating any customizations you've made to them.
There Are A Variety of Business, Activities, and Secret Stores
We spent time in town browsing the gunsmith and general store, sitting down for a bowl of oatmeal and playing some Five Finger Fillet. Rockstar told us that some stores would have more illicit secret businesses in back rooms.
You Can Discover Secret Passages
The latest trailer showed Arthur moving a bookcase to reveal a secret stairwell. Could this be how you get to the aforementioned secret shops, or could it lead to some a secret stash of riches?
Your Weapons Are Visible On Your Person
Drawing on learnings from Max Payne 3, all of the weapons Arthur carries will be visible on his body. You'll be limited to carrying two long guns (or one long gun and one bow), two sidearms, a knife, a lasso, and a bunch of throwables. When we switched weapons in the demo, Arthur would carry his rifle in his left hand while he used his pistol in the other.
There's A Kill Cam That Changes Depending On Your Honor
Visible weapons aren't the only Max Payne 3 DNA in the game--when you take out the final opponent during a gunfight, a kill cam will frame that final blow. This will change depending on Arthur's moral standing: If you've been a naughty cowboy, these kill cams will be gorier. If you've been upstanding and honorable, they'll be framed in a more heroic fashion.
You Can Break Enemy Weapons
Speaking of heroic behavior, if you want to go the more non-lethal route, it's possible to shoot weapons out of enemy hands. Not only that, but you can even shoot directly at their weapons and break them. This seems like a handy technique if you're looking to be an outlaw with a heart of gold as opposed to a straight-up cold-blooded killer.
Dead Eye Has Five Levels Now
Red Dead Redemption's version of bullet time-style slowdown returns in the sequel, and it has more levels to it. We were able to deduce that Level 1 allows for slowdown, Level 2 allows you to paint targets and unleash a barrage of shots, and Level 3 allows you to manually pick your shooting points. However, Rockstar also mentioned that you had the ability to highlight critical hit points with higher levels, which will come in very handy for making clean kills when hunting animals.
You Can Customise Your Guns
In Red Dead Redemption 2, you're able to examine environmental objects in great detail, and you can do the same to your weapons, by clicking the right analog stick from the weapon wheel. That's handy because it lets you admire the customizations you can perform on them at gunsmiths, like personalized engravings and leather wraps.
You Can Craft Weapons
Aside from gun customization, you can craft special kinds of weapons and ammo. For example, you can craft molotovs and split-point bullets. This should make the going easier when caught up in firefights.
Your Guns Can Degrade And Jam
You need to take care of your weapon in Red Dead Redemption 2. You have the option to clean it, which is incredibly important to do regularly because guns can rust and jam due to disrepair and environmental conditions. This one's sure to be a controversial feature, if Far Cry 2, which also featured gun jamming, was anything to go by.
You Can Fire Warning Shots
By having your gun unholstered and holding Up on the d-pad, you can fire warning shots into the air. This is handy for intimidating people, scaring off animals, or generally being a rowdy buffoon while you're riding around.
Shooting Is Not Your Only Option, Try Talking
Aiming at people with your gun holstered will give you access to a contextual menu, which lets you chat to people in the world. You'll often find the option to verbally defuse or agitate situations with other inhabitants in the world, and these interactions seemed quite fluid and natural during our short time with the game. For example, when a carriage rode past us, we had the option to call out to them to stop, greet them in a friendly manner, or antagonize them. We called out to the carriage and were then given the option to hitch a ride among other things, but we took too long to make a decision and the driver rode off. We called out again, and Arthur's dialogue was more unsure and desperate.
You Can Donate Money To Those In Need
About halfway through the second gameplay trailer, we can see Arthur donating money to a beggar on the sidewalk, following a button prompt. Odds are that this will impact Arthur in some way, whether it be related to his reputation stats or a potential quest down the road.
The Eyewitness System Returns
The eyewitness system means that nearby onlookers to a crime can report you to lawmen, and like the first Red Dead Redemption, the effect of eyewitnesses can be mitigated if you manage to catch up with them and either kill or bribe them before they report the crime. In the sequel, however, you have more options. You can speak to them in various temperaments in an attempt to intimidate or convince them not to report you, or you can beat them like a heartless jerk.
Melee Combat Has Been Expanded
We weren't able to get into the mechanical intricacies of this one during our demo, but Rockstar reps mentioned that melee combat had been expanded. We were shown a fistfight where Arthur used grapple moves, blocks, and a variety of different punches to knock out his opponent.
Hunting Is More Realistic, Laborious, And Confronting
The ability to hunt animals and sell their meat and pelts returns, but with a more realistic (and therefore more confronting) presentation. Once you successfully kill an animal, you can skin it. But where Red Dead Redemption's skinning animation didn't focus on the animal, Red Dead Redemption 2's most certainly does. You'll see Arthur pull his knife out, get on his hands and knees, plunge his knife into the poor beast, carve the pelt from its flesh, peel it off the body, and roll it up into a bundle. You'll almost certainly wince the first time you see it. Arthur actually carries the pelt now, and he'll need to store it on his horse to free up his hands. Similarly, to get the meat off a hunted animal, you'll manually have to pick up the bloodied carcass and carry it to a butcher. We had to load a hunted deer on our horse and ride it into the nearest town, where we had the option of getting it chopped up into cookable components or simply selling it whole.
You Can Fish
If the gruesome realities of hunting and cleaning your kill are too much for you to stomach, you can opt to fish instead.
You Can Herd Cattle
Life in the old west isn't all about looting and shooting and running away from bounty hunters. Sometimes you need to take in some fresh air and get to work on some good, old-fashioned chores. Herding cattle could be the relaxing respite from hard livin' we need. After all, what's a cowboy without cows?
Time Is Cruel
Rockstar reps wanted us to know that these meat components had an expiration date--time would eventually take its toll and both the fresh pelt and carcass would start to rot and attract vermin, reducing its value and making us generally unpleasant to be around.
Time To Shave
Time also has an effect on Arthur's hair, which will grow longer over time. Customizing Arthur's haircut and facial hair styling is also dependent on length since you're allowed to cut things shorter, but won't have access to anything that requires more hair--a more realistic take on personal grooming compared to GTA V.
Time To Open
Time will also affect towns over the course of the game. While exploring, we noticed a half-constructed building and were told that these would eventually become new storefronts as days passed.
Stay Clean
NPCs will certainly react to the stink of your rotting deer corpse if you've been around it too long, or just haven't taken a bath in a while. Arthur needs to get clean and change his clothes every once in a while, since townsfolk may refuse to talk or serve him based on his appearance--having a lot of blood on your jacket doesn't attract the best reactions.
You Can Layer Your Clothes
Rockstar reps explained that the game's clothing customization options will be comprehensive--each character will have different sets to coincide with weather conditions, while customizations would allow layering and minor adjustments, like the option to roll up your sleeves or tuck your pants into your boots. It's unclear whether outfits will have perks like RDR1, but we know that the type of clothes you wear will affect Arthur's performance. For example, if you wear a weighty jacket during a hot summer day, your running stamina will take a big hit.
You Get A Camera. Yes, You Can Take Selfies
We started a side quest during our time with Red Dead Redemption 2, and the mission giver handed Arthur a camera. This camera could be used at any time via your inventory, and yes, the first thing we did was take a selfie. These aren't arm-out handheld selfies, though. The mode is titled "self-portrait" and will frame Arthur's whole body as if the camera was set up on a tripod. You'll be able to adjust expressions and poses, too--expect to see a whole bunch of self-portraits depicting Arthur squatting in front of various things.
You Need To Eat
Arthur's core meters are health, stamina, and dead eye, and you'll need to keep him fed with snacks and meals to keep his well-being topped up. If your health or stamina falls below a certain level, Arthur will experience dizziness--he'll have trouble walking, and his vision will be blurry. Arthur can carry snacks on him for a quick boost, but eating meals in town areas and in camp are more effective.
You Can Gain And Lose Weight
Sure, you need to eat. But don't overdo it! Arthur can both lose and gain weight, much like Carl Johnson in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Presumably, you'll also lose weight by performing strenuous physical activities like sprinting.
Get Better By Doing
In our demo, we noticed that stamina limit could be raised by running. This suggests a similar progression system to previous Rockstar Games where your skill with something increases the more you perform that action. This manifests itself in a new way via what's known as the Core system. Although health, stamina, and Deadeye meters are separate from the Cores, how they perform depends on the state of a corresponding Core. For instance, the health Core dictates how quickly health regenerates, and likewise for stamina. If you're low on health but the corresponding health Core has been maintained well, the rate at which you generate health will be increased. To keep your individual cores in good shape, you'll need to level up Arthur's strength, grit, dexterity, and instinct attributes. Leveling up Cores is reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which reflected the way CJ behaved on the character itself; if you ate too much junk food, you'd gain weight, or if you spent a lot of time sprinting around the city, you'd have better stamina. Similarly, in Red Dead Redemption 2 there are activities that you'll do simply by playing the game which, over time, will improve your Core. Running, for example, once again improves your stamina, while taking damage and then restoring health will build your Health core.
Horses Are Complex Creatures
Your horse will have its own set of health and stamina meters, and like Arthur, you'll need to keep it fed as well. You'll also need to keep it clean and brushed, since it can become less effective, and you can pet your horse, which acts as a mechanism to calm it down after it's been spooked. We were told that bonding with your horse by caring for it and riding it regularly can unlock additional skills and improve responsiveness. During our hands-on, we were able to rear our horse on its hind legs, perform drifts to change direction quickly (apologies to equestrian enthusiasts), and move our horse precisely by performing dressage techniques. You can bond with multiple horses and stable them in different locations around the world, as different breeds will be better suited to certain situations. A Clydesdale warhorse, for example, would be more suitable in a battle than the Tennessee walking horse, which is more of an all-rounder. And yes, they poop.
Your Horse's Saddlebags Hold Everything
Because Arthur can only carry a limited amount of weapons, your horse also acts as your storage. Being in close proximity to your horse will give you access to your entire arsenal, but you'll need to transfer guns onto your person if you decide to stray. You can move your horse without mounting it, thankfully, by grabbing the reins and leading it on foot. This gamut of horse interactions is accessed by Red Dead Redemption 2's new contextual menu, by holding L2 with your gun holstered and aiming at your horse. Also, you can also rob other people's saddlebags. Just make sure no-one is watching.
Side Missions Are Potentially More Involved
The aforementioned side quest was a multi-part mission that we weren't allowed the time to pursue. In it, a biographer fed up with his drunken subject asked Arthur to track down a number of famed gunslingers to ask them about who was the best, with the strong insinuation that we would have to duel them ourselves. We were handed a number of photographs of the targets, each with some handwritten notes on the back. Physically analyzing these notes and photographs was likely the key to narrowing down our search, reminiscent of the Treasure Maps from the first Red Dead Redemption.
Camps Are Complex And Affected By Time
Your camp will not wait for you. We were told that the members of your gang who reside at camp will come and go, and finding out where exactly they've gone from others will be the basis of a number of quests and side quests. We found that the day and night cycle will also affect who you're able to interact with at camp. For example, we looked for our gang's cook to try and fix up some of the deer we had prepared earlier, but he was sleeping, and though we prodded him awake, we didn't feel mean enough to make him cook. The stockpiling of supplies like these is just one of the ways you can affect camp morale. We're told camp morale is an optional mechanic, but keeping this raised can provide Arthur with additional supplies and bonuses.
You Can Dance (If You Want To!)
If you find yourself at camp and the mood strikes you, you can break a leg and dance with your gang. The simple moves in the trailer seems fairly traditional, but we'll put good money on there being sillier options whenever Red Dead Online launches.
Catch A Stage Show
Assuming he isn't too stinky to make it past the ushers, Arthur can kick back and catch a show at the local theater.
Gang Members Can Join You In Free-Roam
Rockstar told us that if available, gang members will offer to join you on free-roam activities, giving you access to the same kind of assistance saw in the story missions, like asking them to go ahead and take out an enemy. You can also spend time talking to gang members at camp, including Read Dead 1 protagonist John Martson, and even butt into conversations midway to add your two cents. Unfortunately, due to the time of day in our demo, we didn't have many of these opportunities to explore.
You Can Swim
Unlike John Marston, it's possible for Arthur to swim. Though, it's worth noting that he isn't all that great at it.
You Have An Instinct Vision Called Eagle Eye
When you're tracking and hunting animals, you can activate what's called the Eagle Eye system. This displays key details in the environment that can help you close in on nearby game. It can also be used to see the scent coming off your body; a handy detail you can use to determine whether or not you should approach animals who might catch onto your presence.
You Can Swap Your Hat
Last, but certainly not least, we noted that while you can easily lose your hat in the midst of a shootout, Arthur can swap his hat for any other hat that just happened to fall off someone else's head by no doing of your own. Because at the end of the day, if you can't wear the hat you want, what is the point of even playing? We'll continue to update this gallery as we discover more things about Red Dead Redemption 2. If you haven't already seen our primary Red Dead Redemption 2 preview covering the story missions we saw, make sure you read Red Dead Redemption 2: We Played It, Here's Everything We Saw.
By Mat Elfring on Oct 08, 2018 09:27 pm
The release date for WWE 2K19 has arrived. One of the most exciting aspects of any new entry in the WWE 2K series is its enormous roster of playable characters, and 2K19 will not disappoint in that regard. 2K has announced the majority of its lineup of wrestlers, and it offers a sizable plethora of superstars to choose from when the game releases on October 9, 2018. Last year's WWE 2K18 ended up with over 180 wrestlers--the largest in the history of the series to that point--and 2K19 has already comfortably topped that. Here's a detailed look at every member of the 2K19 roster announced so far. More WWE superstars were added to the roster for WWE 2K19 toward the end of September, as 2K revealed its DLC for the upcoming game. This batch added 11 wrestlers to the game, none of which were playable in previous versions. It includes Raw superstar Bobby Lashley, and NXT superstars Lacey Evans, Ricochet, and EC3. Alongside this news, we were able to go hands-on with MyCareer and found that overall, 2K19 is fun again. During another recent roster reveal from 2K, Rusev and Lana revealed more WWE 2K19 playable superstars with Cesaro and Sheamus, also known as The Bar. The focus for this batch was legendary WWE wrestlers. The large reveal had a few new additions to the game, including Ted DiBiase, who has been only a manager in previous games. Additionally, fan favorites and former WCW stars like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Booker T will be included in the new game. Fans of both Daniel Bryan are going to be very happy as 2K is bringing back Showcase Mode for WWE 2K19, which follows the career of the superstar. From his first match as Bryan Danielson to his feuds with The Miz, it will be covered in the upcoming game. Among the new features are the Million Dollar Challenge, which takes place within the new Challenge Mode. Cover star AJ Styles headlines the roster, while those who pre-ordered got bonus characters Ronda Rousey and Rey Mysterio. Additionally, the $130 Wooooo! Edition of the game has been announced which comes with a bunch of exclusives including a season pass, exclusive roster additions, a piece of Ric Flair's robe, early access to play, and more. This year's edition will be skipping Nintendo Switch, after last year's port featured a bevy of problems from frame rate issues to resolution dropping down to 540p, even in docked mode. However, the game will still be released in early October for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you're interested in pre-ordering WWE 2K19, check out our pre-order guide, with all the info about what each edition contains, where to buy it, and pricing. We'll keep you updated with all the newly confirmed superstars in the game, as well as a breakdown of which shows these wrestlers are from and how many new additions will be playable. You can find links to the latest updates below as well. Above, you can find every playable character we know about so far. Confirmed playable characters breakdown (so far): - Total wrestlers: 200
- New to the series: 40
- Raw superstars: 52
- Smackdown superstars: 50
- Legends: 54
- NXT superstars: 28
- 205 Live: superstars: 12
- Men's division: 159
- Women's division: 41
Jump ahead to the latest updates:
AJ Styles (Smackdown)
Cover star.
Ronda Rousey (Raw)
New to the series. Pre-order bonus character.
Rey Mysterio (Legend)
New to the series. Pre-order bonus character.
Ric Flair (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains exclusive Wrestlemania 24 attire.
Charlotte (Smackdown)
Deluxe edition contains exclusive Wrestlemania 32 attire.
Dusty Rhodes (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character in his Wrestlemania VIII attire.
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
2002 Undertaker (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains the character in his 2002 Bikertaker outfit.
Daniel Bryan (Smackdown)
2K announced that the Daniel Bryan's career will be the subject of WWE 2K19's Showcase Mode. There will be 11 different models of Bryan, each with its own unique moveset and look. Additionally, GameSpot talked to Bryan about his longtime feud with WWE superstar The Miz.
Randy Orton (Smackdown)
John Cena
Kane (Smackdown)
Kofi Kingston (Smackdown)
Tyler Bate (NXT UK)
Pete Dunne (NXT UK)
Angelo Dawkins (NXT)
Braun Strowman (Raw)
Finn Balor (Raw)
Kairi Sane (NXT)
Liv Morgan (Raw)
Montez Ford (NXT)
Sarah Logan (Raw)
Ruby Riott (Raw)
The Velveteen Dream (NXT)
Adam Cole (NXT)
Akam (Raw)
Aleister Black (NXT)
Alexa Bliss (Raw)
Alicia Fox (Raw)
Apollo Crews (Raw)
Baron Corbin (Raw)
Bayley (Raw)
Bianca Belair (NXT)
Big Show (Raw)
Bo Dallas (Raw)
Bobby Fish (NXT)
Bobby Roode (Raw)
Bray Wyatt (Raw)
Brock Lesnar (raw)
Chad Gable (Raw)
Curt Hawkins (Raw)
Curtis Axel (Raw)
Dana Brooke (Raw)
Dash Wilder (Raw)
Dean Ambrose (Raw)
Dolph Ziggler (Raw)
Drew McIntyre (Raw)
Elias (Raw)
Sasha Banks (Raw)
Ember Moon (Raw)
Fandango (Raw)
Goldust (Raw)
Heath Slater (Raw)
Jason Jordan (Raw)
Jinder Mahal (Raw)
Johnny Gargano (NXT)
Kassius Ohno (NXT)
Kevin Owens (Raw)
Konnor (Raw)
Lana (Smackdown)
Lars Sullivan (NXT)
Matt Hardy (Raw)
Mickie James (Raw)
Mojo Rawley (Raw)
Natalya (Raw)
Nia Jax (Raw)
Nick Miller (NXT)
No Way Jose (Raw)
Oney Lorcan (NXT)
Otis Dozovic (NXT)
Rezar (Raw)
Titus O'Neil (Raw)
Rhyno (Raw)
Roderick Strong (NXT)
Roman Reigns (Raw)
Rusev (Smackdown)
Sami Zayn (Raw)
Scott Dawson (Raw)
Seth Rollins (Raw)
Shane Thorne (NXT)
Shayna Baszler (NXT)
Triple H
Tucker Knight (NXT)
Tyler Breeze (Raw)
Viktor (Raw)
Zack Ryder (Raw)
Kyle O'Reilly (NXT)
Aiden English (Smackdown)
Akira Tozawa (205 Live)
Alexander Wolfe (Smackdown)
Andrade Cien Almas (Smackdown)
Ariya Daivari (205 Live)
Asuka (Smackdown)
Becky Lynch (Smackdown)
Big E (Smackdown)
Billie Kay (Smackdown)
Brie Bella (Smackdown)
Carmella (Smackdown)
Cedric Alexander (205 Live)
Cesaro (Smackdown)
Chris Jericho (Legend)
Drew Gulak (205 Live)
Epico Colon (Smackdown)
Eric Young (Smackdown)
Gran Metalik (205 Live)
Harper (Smackdown)
Hideo Itami (205 Live)
Jack Gallagher (205 Live)
Jeff Hardy (Smackdown)
Jey Uso (Smackdown)
Jimmy Uso (Smackdown)
Kalisto (205 Live)
Karl Anderson (Smackdown)
Killian Dane (Smackdown)
Lince Dorado (205 Live)
Luke Gallows (Smackdown)
Mandy Rose (Smackdown)
Maryse (Smackdown)
The Miz (Smackdown)
Mustafa Ali (205 Live)
Naomi (Smackdown)
Nikki Bella (Smackdown)
Noam Dar (205 Live)
Paige (Smackdown)
Peyton Royce (Smackdown)
Primo Colon (Smackdown)
Rowan (Smackdown)
R-Truth (Smackdown)
Samoa Joe (Smackdown)
Sheamus (Smackdown)
Shelton Benjamin (Smackdown)
Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)
Sin Cara (Smackdown)
Sonya Deville (Smackdown)
Tamina (Smackdown)
TJP (Smackdown)
Tony Nese (205 Live)
Tye Dillinger (Smackdown)
Xavier Woods (Smackdown)
Alundra Blayze (Legend)
Andre The Giant (Legend)
Bam Bam Bigelow (Legend)
Batista (Legend)
Beth Phoenix (Legend)
Big Boss Man (Legend)
Booker T (Legend)
Bret "Hit Man" Hart (Legend)
British Bulldog (Legend)
Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake (Legend)
Christian (Legend)
Diamond Dallas Page (Legend)
Diesel (Legend)
Eddie Guerrero (Legend)
Edge (Legend)
Goldberg (Legend)
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (Legend)
Ivory (Legend)
Jacqueline (Legend)
Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart (Legend)
Kevin Nash (Legend)
Kurt Angle (Legend)
Lex Luger (Legend)
Lita (Legend)
Mr. McMahon (Legend)
Mr. Perfect (Legend)
Papa Shango (Legend)
"Ravishing" Rick Rude (Legend)
Razor Ramon (Legend)
Sycho Sid (Legend)
Rick "The Model" Martel (Legend)
Ricky Morton (Legend)
Rikishi (Legend)
Robert Gibson (Legend)
Tatanka (Legend)
Ted DiBiase (Legend)
Scott Hall (Legend)
Shawn Michaels (Legend)
Stephanie McMahon (Legend)
Sting (Legend)
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (Legend)
The Godfather (Legend)
The Rock (Legend)
Trish Stratus (Legend)
Ultimate Warrior (Legend)
The Undertaker (Legend)
Vader (Legend)
Bobby Lashley (Raw)
DLC
Candice LeRae (NXT)
DLC
Dakota Kai (NXT)
DLC
EC3 (NXT)
DLC
Hanson (NXT)
DLC
Lacey Evans (NXT)
DLC
Lio Rush (205 Live)
DLC
Mike & Maria Kanellis (Smackdown)
DLC
Ricochet (NXT)
DLC
Rowe (NXT)
DLC
By Matt Espineli on Oct 08, 2018 09:04 pm
As you play Assassin's Creed Odyssey, you'll inevitably come across several battles and conflicts that'll test your wits and reflexes. As a Spartan-turned-mercenary/proto-Assassin, you'll need to rely on every tool at your disposal to fight against the warring armies and mysterious cults that seek to take over Ancient Greece. Like last year's Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey blends together RPG elements within the framework of an open-world action-adventure game, allowing you to explore and uncover resources at your leisure, while strengthening your character in the areas that you wish. However, the level of customization for your character in Odyssey is far more flexible, giving you more room to specialize the protagonist across several different archetypes. Centering around the Warrior, Hunter, and Assassin archetypes, these areas are tied to melee, long-range, and stealth respectively. Each archetype possesses its own set of abilities and passive skills that add new options for you to take advantage of, many of which can be used in clever ways for some effective combos. With the amount of skills to choose from, you're free to respec your character at any time, allowing you to rebuild them to make a stronger and more refined adventurer. In this feature, we've come up with several tips to help you out in battle, and along with our selection of the most useful abilities to overcome the deadly foes of Ancient Greece. Of course, this is all spoiler free, and only focuses on the core skills that can be unlocked from general progression. For more info on the series' new entry, check out our full Assassin's Creed Odyssey review along with our look back on every Assassin's Creed game we've reviewed over its 11-year history.
Critical Assassination
When sneaking up on your foe to pull off an assassination, you may discover that they're more powerful than you estimated as they survive your would-be killing blow To avoid this common occurrence, it's good to invest in the Critical Assassination skill. With this enabled, you can spend a single bar of Adrenaline to put some extra force into your silent attacks, allowing you to take out enemies that are more powerful than usual. When fully upgraded, this skill can deal three times as much Assassin damage than normal.
Sixth Sense
When performing stealth, there's the occasional chance that a guard may catch you in the corner of their eye. As a precaution, the Sixth Sense ability in the Hunter tree would be a valuable skill to have. With this enabled, you'll be given a short grace period after being noticed by guards, slowing down time and allowing you to get a shot off from your bow. If your aim is sharp, you might be able to land a headshot, keeping you in the clear. Upgrading this ability further can extend the slow-mo duration and increase your Hunter damage.
Spartan Kick
As one of Odyssey's most useful and versatile abilities, the Spartan Kick is a fast and vicious strike that can push foes back several feet--and it's also a lot of fun to use. As one of the first abilities you can acquire in the Warrior tree, the kick is especially effective for forcing an overly aggressive enemy back, or sending an unsuspecting foe flying. However, elite enemies are able to resist the pushback from this move, only resulting in normal damage. When upgraded to its max potential, the Spartan Kick will also let out a shockwave, stunning nearby enemies. You'll occasionally find enemies standing at the edge of cliff, and you'll find that it's difficult to resist the urge to kick them off and see them fly off into the distance.
Arrow Master
As a hunter, you may find yourself in situations that can make you rethink how you'll want to engage enemies at long-range. The Arrow Master skill will grant you the ability to craft different arrow types, opening up new ways to take on opponents. After the initial unlock, you can create flame and paralyzing arrows. Fire arrow are pretty self-explanatory--they ignite targets. The paralyzing arrows, however, can knock out and stun enemies. This is useful when you want to clear through locations without getting any blood on your hands, or when you want to recruit some elite enemies to your ship's crew. Upgrading the Arrow Master ability will allow you to craft Poison and Explosive arrows, which can be extremely effective in both stealth and combat.
Shield Breaker
While you can't use shields in Odyssey, the many foes you come across take advantage of them readily. While you can parry strikes and dodge their attacks, sometimes it's better to get rid of their shield altogether. With the Shield Breaker move, you can yank an enemy's shield out of their hands and bash them with it. However, Elite enemies wielding shields will require a bit more force to strip. Upgrading Shield Breaker to its max will not only deal more damage to the single target, it will also shatter the shield outright--harming nearby foes in the process.
Devastating Shot
When using the bow, you're most effective when you can fire off quick and powerful shots. With the Devastating Shot ability, one of the most useful skills in the Hunter tree, you can charge up a powerful shot to take out enemies in a single blow--at the cost of an Adrenaline bar. If you have the Arrow Master skill unlocked, the special arrows will also have increased effectiveness. Upgrading this ability further will increase the damage done from a single shot, with the max level hurling enemies back with incredible force. While this is useful for getting a clean kill while simultaneously pushing a body into some bushes, it's also invaluable during combat when dealing damage from a distance.
Second Wind
You'll often come across fights that get overwhelming quickly. With this in mind, it's useful to have a skill at the ready when you need a pick-me-up. As the closest thing to a healing potion, the Second Wind ability will regain a portion of your health at the cost of some Adrenaline. When upgraded to maximum, this ability can restore up to half your life, while also negating the effects of fire and poison damage outright. This is especially useful when fighting against foes that use special elemental weapons.
Overpower Attacks
Similar to Origins, you can use up a significant portion of your adrenaline to unleash a deadly attack. By pressing both the light and heavy attacks, the Overpower Attack will cause massive damage to a single enemy, with some light damage done to surrounding targets. This can be especially handy when up against elite and legendary foes with lots of health and plenty of skills to dish out. Depending on your weapon type, you'll see different types of Overpower Attacks.
Rush Assassination
During your infiltration missions, there may come a time when you need to take out a set of foes quick and quietly. Using the Rush Assassination, you can launch a series of quick assassinations. You'll immediately take down the first tagged enemy by throwing your Spear of Leonidas which activates a slow-mo effect to give you time to pick your next target. While the first rank of Rush Assassination only allows for two quick kills, upgrading it further can extend the chain to up to four different enemies. Though bear in mind, just like normal assassinations, some enemies are more powerful than they appear--resulting in heavy damage instead of an instant kill.
Hero Strike
As a blend between the Warrior and Assassin skill-sets, the Hero Strike executes a fatal multi-hit move. While it seems like a more elaborate version of an assassination (that's not too far off,) this skill is also usable during combat. The Hero Strike is an incredibly powerful ability that gets in quick damage, and when fully upgraded, it uses maximum Assassin strength to deal greater damage--which is especially deadly to foes in combat encounters.
Stealth Master
With the amount of bases and enemy compounds you'll need to sneak into, it's important that you know how to move undetected. With the Stealth Master skill, noise made during traversal will be minimized, and enemies will have a more difficult time seeing you while in the crouched position. Upgrading the skill further will make your stealth traversal more efficient and also increase your Assassin and Hunter attack power during night time.
Battlecry Of Ares
When you're up against multiple enemies, you may need to call upon your inner strength to even the odds. After you've invested points into the Overpower Attacks skill, you can acquire the Battlecry of Ares ability to amplify your base damage for a short period of time, while also increasing your defense against enemy attacks. As the peak ability in the Warrior tree, this ability is at its best when used with other skills like Overpower, Spartan Kick, and Shield Breaker. When fully upgraded, this special buffs becomes even more useful, with repeated attacks boosting damage power and activation that requires no Adrenaline.
By Dan Auty on Oct 08, 2018 07:36 pm
When is a sequel not a sequel? The movie spin-off is a curious thing, and there are a variety of reasons why a studio might produce a spin-off rather than a direct sequel. While most studios would happily pump out successful sequels for as long as there is money to be made, sometimes it's not possible, especially if the main stars from the original movie aren't willing to be involved. And so a spin-off can be be made at a lower budget with supporting characters. Sometime, a side character can emerge as a fan favorite, other times a spin-off is produced simply to restore interest in a floundering series. In all cases, the hope is that the spin-off becomes so successful that it launches its own franchise. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out very well. It's easy to overestimate the interest in a franchise, and taking a character out of the context of a successful movie often removes what made them interesting in the first place. While 2015's Star Wars spin-off Rogue One was a huge success, this year's Solo was not, leading Disney itself to admit that it released too much Star Wars product too quickly. On the other hand, the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them did not rely on characters from the main series and seems to have kick-started it's own multi-film series. Venom arrives in the theaters this weekend. It's a curious spin-off, which takes a character originally featured with Spider-Man comic books, but contains barely any reference to Spidey at all. Nevertheless, it has relied on fan interest in the character to drive its success, and based on its massive opening weekend gross, we can expect plenty more similar spin-offs from Spider-Man-related heroes and villains in the years to come. Nevertheless, as the following list reveals, the history of the spin-off is filled with movies that don't work, that bombed at the box office, and that simply should never have been made in the first place. So here's 11 of the worst spin-off movies ever made.
11. US Marshals (1998)
One thing that links many of the spin-offs on this list is a fundamental misunderstanding of what made the original movie so good in the first place. US Marshals is a case in point. 1993's The Fugitive did not become a successful, much-loved movie because of Tommy Lee Jones's no-nonsense U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard alone--it was the relationship between him and Harrison Ford's character, as the former slowly closes in on the latter. The belated spin-off, released five years later, substituted Ford for Wesley Snipes, made Gerard the hero, and emerged as a movie with a fraction of the charm, thrills, and emotional weight of the original.
10. The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Director David Twohy's Pitch Black was a highly effective sci-fi horror movie that gave Vin Diesel one of his earliest roles as a dangerous space criminal and picked up something of a cult following. Instead of making a sequel in the same vein, Twohy followed it up with this overblown spin-off, that make Diesel's Richard B. Riddick the boring hero in a ridiculous, confusing action fantasy. It cost nearly five times as much as Pitch Black but is at least five times worse. But while audiences didn't really care about the movie, Diesel clearly did. In return for a cameo in 2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, he was able to claim the rights to the series, and 2013's marginally-better (and more modestly budgeted) Riddick was the result.
9. Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984)
Much has been made of Disney's recent attempts to create a series of Star Wars spin-off movies to run along the main Saga movies, but Rogue One and Solo were not the first. Caravan of Courage was released a year after Return of the Jedi; although it was made for TV in the US, it received a theatrical release overseas. It focused on the earlier adventures of the Ewoks, who may have a proved a divisive elements in Jedi, but had nevertheless helped Lucasfilm sell a lot of merchandise. Unlike the notoriously terrible Star Wars Holiday Special, George Lucas had full control over this one; aimed squarely at the kids market, it's a badly-dated affair that seems more like a creaky kids fantasy movie than an epic sci-fi adventure. A pair of annoying young human siblings try to find their parents with the help of the Ewoks. No one cares. Another Ewok movie--Battle for Endor--followed in 1985, which was the final nail in the Star Wars coffin for many years.
8. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
While the quality of both the Alien and Predator movies has been somewhat variable over the years, Alien vs. Predator manages to be the worst movie in either franchise. The epic showdown between two of modern cinema's most iconic monsters had been hugely anticipated by fans for years but the final movie wasn't just bad--it was boring. What small amount of Predator vs Xenomorph action we get is reasonably enjoyable, but the movie is killed by the human characters. Boring, stock, action-movie types hamstrung by bad acting and cheesy dialogue, it's hard to care about any of them. The PG-13 rating didn't help either, meaning the movie didn't even deliver the gory action that fans had come to expect from these series. The follow-up, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, was terrible too, but at least it was ridiculously violent and took itself a lot less seriously.
7. Supergirl (1984)
Despite the success of Superman: The Movie and Superman 2, 1983's Superman 3 was both a critical and commercial disappointment. In an attempt to revisitalise the franchise, producers Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind decided to make a spin-off focusing on Superman's cousin Kara. Veteran filmmaker Robert Wise and Superman II's Richard Lester both turned down the project down, and it ended up in the inexperienced hands of TV director Jeannot Szwarc. There is very little to recommend about Supergirl--the effects are terrible, the acting (including Helen Slater in the title role and a villainous Faye Dunaway) extremely variable, and whole thing just comes as a rushed, sloppy knock-off. Which it was. Of course, when it bombed at the box office, the Salkinds returned with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which made Supergirl seems like a masterpiece in comparison.
6. Planes (2013)
There's nothing new about Disney producing inferior straight-to-DVD sequels and spin-offs to their animated classics. But Planes was slightly different for a couple of reasons. For a start, it was a spin-off from Pixar's Cars--not Pixar's finest hour perhaps, but a hugely successful and popular movie nevertheless. Secondly, although it was originally intended to head to DVD, a decision was ultimately made to give it a full theatrical release. So a silly, uninspired spin-off with none of the wit and invention of Pixar was suddenly given a release to match that of Cars, with many audiences naturally perceiving it as a Pixar movie, which despite John Lasseter's name on the credits, it definitely was not.
5. Evan Almighty (2007)
For a long time, Jim Carrey was known for resisting offers to make sequels to his hit comedies. Ace Ventura 2 was such a bad experience for the star that he turned down vast amounts of money to return for sequels. Which left the studios with potentially profitable properties, but no one to star in them, and the results were a couple of terrible spin-off movies. Evan Almighty is not as bad as Son of the Mask (more of which later), but it's not good. In the four years between Carrey's 2003 high concept comedy Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty, Steve Carell had become a big star himself, so was elevated from a supporting role to become the spin-off's lead. But while the sheer force of Carrey's talent was enough to rise above the outlandish storyline and bombardment of dazzling visual effects, Carell flounders in a movie that is patronizing and unfunny, and flopped badly at the box office. Behind the scenes, Evan Almighty was beset with production problems, with the budget spiralling to an eye-watering $175 million, which was the most ever spent on a comedy. It was not money well spent.
4. Elektra (2005)
The one thing that links virtually every other spin-off on this list is that the original movie is a good one. Elektra is the great exception, and the only remarkable thing about it is that it makes 2004's Daredevil seem like a superhero classic in comparison. To be fair, you can see why the producers thought a separate Elektra movie might be a good idea--star Jennifer Garner was one of the hottest stars on TV thanks to her starring role in the acclaimed Alias, and even though the Ben Affleck-starring Daredevil was a dud, most critics agreed that Garner was one of the few good things about it. But Elektra is terrible--Garner looks bored, the plot and dialogue are woeful, and director Rob Bowman has no real flair for action. Garner returned to Alias for one more season and her version of Elektra was never seen again.
3. The Scorpion King (2002)
It seems strange in 2018 that a movie starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson would be a far inferior spin-off to one starring Brendan Fraser, but things were very different in 2002. Having made his movie debut in The Mummy Returns, Johnson returned as the main character in the dismal spin-off. The big problem is that Dwayne was employed as a muscle-bund wrestling star rather than an actor, and we see little of the charisma and charm that we associate with him today. Combine that with a cheesy plot, terrible CGI, and plodding action, and we have a spin-off that is best left in the sands of time.
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
How could this spin-off fail? Few actors have been better suited to their superhero roles than Hugh Jackman was in the first three X-Men movies, and fan expectation for Wolverine's first solo outing was high. What fans did not expect was this disaster. Jackman is very watchable but everything else--story, casting, dialogue action--was well below the levels than X-fans had come to expect from the franchise. This is the movie that had screenplay that was still being written during production, threw in terrible versions of Deadpool and Gambit for no reason, and worst of all, gave Will.I.Am a role. Thankfully it was a blip, and the subsequent success of The Wolverine and Logan (both thanks to director James Mangold) meant that fans could quietly pretend this one never happened.
1. Son of the Mask (2005)
It might have seemed to foolish to make a Fugitive spin-off without Harrison Ford--but a Mask spin-off without Jim Carrey? Madness. And yet, that's exactly what Son of the Mask is. Carrey had no interest in reprising his iconic role as Stanley Ipkiss from the 1994 classic The Mask, and for an entire decade it seemed like that movie might be left alone, it's reputation untarnished. But no. In 2005, comedian and TV host Jamie Kennedy was cast as Ipkiss's kid, who is now in possession of the first film's ancient, magical mask. The results are painfully unfunny. The movie flopped at the box office, swept the Razzies (Hollywood's annual bad movie awards), and led Kennedy to speak out publicly about the levels of abuse he received as a result. There is no one is happy that this movie exists.
Recent Articles:
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment