By Anonymous on Dec 11, 2018 12:07 am Operation Absolute Zero introduces an all-new Specialist, Zero, as well as Hijacked to Blackout, and much more. Play Operation Absolute Zero content for free starting on 12/11, first on PS4.
For as much as superhero movies have taken over the box office over the past decade, it's surprising how few major video games are based on comic books these days. Switch owners have one to look forward to, because Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order has been announced as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. It's set to launch sometime in 2019, but you can pre-order a copy now.
Developed by Team Ninja, this follow-up to 2009's Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will be an action-RPG starring many of the superheroes we've seen on the big screen in recent years. We know it will include the Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, and an assortment of familiar villains like Thanos, the Black Order, Kingpin, Sandman, and Green Goblin. The game description also states it will feature an original story, along with local and online multiplayer for up to four players.
If you're ready to secure your copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 for yourself, read on to find out where it's currently available and how much it costs.
Pre-Order Bonus
No pre-order bonuses have been announced yet for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, but we'll update this section if that changes.
Standard Edition
So far, no special editions of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 have been announced. If that changes, we'll add additional editions below.
Some DLC is minor--new character skins, a new weapon, a random new mode thrown in for fun. But other DLC and expansions are game-changing, letting you experience a game from an entirely new perspective or vastly improving what was already there. In 2018, the best expansions reinvented games for the better. This includes Destiny 2, which had a rough time earlier in the year and got just the boost it needed, as well as Civilization VI, which had a strong foundation and whose first DLC refined it in a number of ways. All the expansions on this list were released in the calendar year, though some of the base games were released earlier. In no particular order, here are the best expansions of 2018.
After two mediocre expansions, Destiny 2 was struggling going into the final quarter of 2018. It had a good foundation in its outstanding shooting and movement mechanics as well as a variety of activities for different types of players, but it was lacking a compelling endgame for the most dedicated Guardians. Forsaken finally answered the call--so much so that it took weeks for us to properly dive into all of it. A fun new mode in Gambit, extensive endgame activities like the Ascendant Challenge, and a new Raid added a much-needed layer of satisfying things to do and powerful loot to chase. Forsaken both filled in what was missing from Destiny 2 and reminded us what we liked about the game in the first place.
When it released in 2016, No Man's Sky was caught between what it was in reality and what people expected it to be. The Next update not only added a number of things that had been promised at launch, but it also doubled down on the best parts of No Man's Sky as it's always been. Next introduced true multiplayer--a much-requested feature--as well as base building and other sandbox-y elements. It also brought with it a number of improvements, namely visual enhancements that made the already ethereal world feel even more alive and look more beautiful. Perhaps most importantly, Next made us give No Man's Sky a second chance--it reminded us of the awe-inspiring, breathtakingly lonely game that No Man's Sky had always been.
Prey: Mooncrash
Prey was a divisive game for us in 2017, as its outstanding level design and rewarding combat were somewhat let down by uneven pacing and a lackluster story. The Mooncrash DLC capitalizes on all the best things about Prey--meaning its immersive sim elements--by recontextualizing them in the structure of a roguelike and keeping the story to a minimum. Because Mooncrash takes place in a simulation that you can reset, you're encouraged to experiment and find creative solutions to problems in the environment. That is, after all, what we liked about Prey in the first place, and Mooncrash allows us to enjoy it all over again.
As the first expansion to Civ VI, Rise and Fall faced a difficult challenge: How do you add to a game that's already deep to begin with? The base game has plenty going on, and any new features could have been in danger of bloating its systems. But Rise and Fall added smart tweaks and improvements that complemented the base game while changing it for the better. The headlining feature, the Ages system, introduced rewards for improvement and consequences for stagnation. This in effect helps prevent players from coasting to victory on a strong lead and gives an edge to underdogs who play smart. That, alongside smaller improvements, make Rise and Fall a standout expansion in 2018.
Sonic Mania had both the nostalgia factor and smart design, making it one of the best--if not the best--Sonic games ever made. Sonic Mania Plus, an update to the digital version that was included with the physical one, made it even better. It added new characters with their own unique abilities as well as Encore mode, which takes you through remixed versions of the base game's stages. Both the new characters and the new mode let you experience Sonic Mania differently than you did before, and that in turn showcases what's so great about the game to begin with.
GameSpot will be unveiling our picks for the best games and entertainment of 2018 throughout December. Head to our Best of 2018 hub to see all the winners so far.
Season 7 of Fortnite is now live across all platforms, and it's introduced a ton of new features and content to the hit battle royale game, including a snow biome, new pets, and more. Now it appears a new sword is on the way, which would make it the first weapon of its kind in Fortnite.
The official Fortnite Twitter account shared a brief video teasing the arrival of the sword. The weapon appears to belong to the Ice King--the new Legendary skin you can unlock through the Season 7 Battle Pass. "Coming soon... a weapon fit for a King," the tweet reads, while the accompanying video shows the Ice King pulling the sword from a pedestal atop a snowy mountain.
Epic didn't reveal exactly when the mysterious sword will appear in Fortnite, only noting that it's coming soon. However, the developer frequently introduces new weapons and items to the game on a weekly basis, so the sword will presumably arrive as part of this week's update.
A lot has changed in Fortnite since the game's big 7.00 patch. The iceberg that could be spotted in the ocean toward the end of Season 6 has collided into the island, creating a new snowy environment to explore. Moreover, Epic introduced the game's first aerial vehicle, the X-4 Stormwing plane, which seats up to five players and allows you shoot at opponents from the skies.
By Anonymous on Dec 10, 2018 11:30 pm When it came to exclusives, the PlayStation 4 was king this year. These are our picks for the 5 best games on the PS4 in 2018.
By Anonymous on Dec 10, 2018 11:30 pm It's looking to be near the end of the Nintendo 3DS's life cycle, but that doesn't mean there weren't some great games on the handheld this year.
PlayStation 4 is riding high. Having hit its stride early in this generation, it has maintained momentum with big exclusives that add to an ever-growing and impressive library of games. Two of the year's best games, God of War and Spider-Man, were only on PS4. Those came alongside competitive console versions of popular cross-platform titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Dead Cells. Tetris Effect, meanwhile, capitalizes incredibly well on the PlayStation VR, Sony's consumer-friendly virtual reality contender. In alphabetical order, here are our picks for the best PS4 games of 2018, and what made them standouts in a year chock full of great games.
This surprising indie game is a prime example of the phrase "more than the sum of its parts." At first, the mishmash of influences and homages seem to contradict one another. It's a Metroidvania game--a genre known for its character progression--but this is also a roguelike, meaning it's built specifically around dying and resetting from near-zero. Though Dead Cells does have a handful of permanent abilities tucked away in obscure corners, for the most part you're no more powerful on your 20th run than your first. What truly makes the difference is how you shape the game's economy and weapon selection organically as you progress through each run.
Purchasing a new weapon or secondary gadget from the vendor will also add it to the pool of items you can find in the world during a run. By steering your choices toward the weapons that fit your playstyle, you can increase the chances of finding the right set to progress further than you have before. It's this constant push and pull on the game's economy that creates a meta-strategy running throughout the experience. Do you reserve your hard-earned cash for only a handful of weapons to increase their odds, or do you collect everything you can in an effort to find what works? Over time Dead Cells becomes an experience of tinkering with the game's systems, and then fine-tuning the smaller variables nested inside it, with each passing run.
This year Sony Santa Monica showed how to modernize a classic with impeccable grace and style. Gone was Kratos' unfocused rage, replaced by a weary, simmering anger kept barely contained under the surface. The new Kratos is aging, tired, and skeptical. Most significantly, he's now a father, trying to avoid leading his progeny down the same path that caused him so much pain in his own life. This Kratos feels beaten down, just short of broken, when the inciting events begin.
The level design is cleverly built around his new weapon, the Leviathan Axe. Both a melee weapon and a projectile, the game's puzzles and combat are built around the Leviathan Axe's ability to boomerang back on command, a la Thor's Hammer in the Marvel universe. It's a unique differentiator to the usual gameplay style, providing a synthesis to the the overall experience's various component parts.
When the mayhem does start, it carries a new level of emotional resonance that had been missing from the series. Kratos is far from a perfect father, but his world-weariness carries real tenderness for the boy. The ultimate revelations at the end of the game set the stage for more God of Wars to come, with a newfound resonance. This new take on Kratos manages to move beyond his legacy without rejecting it. Instead, it embraces those violent and sometimes campy roots and contextualizes them as mistakes from his past, while building for the franchise's future.
Rockstar has gained a reputation for its bombastic action and cheeky humor. However, Red Dead Redemption 2 subverted expectations by being quiet and somber, and making its gameplay meticulous in a way that aimed to put you into the worn leather boots of an Old West gunslinger. Those who embraced the experience were rewarded with a rich story of loss and distrust in the waning days of westward expansion. Prequels can often feel unnecessary or staid thanks to the audience already knowing events that come after the story. Red Dead Redemption 2 sidestepped this pitfall by focusing less on what happened and more on how it felt.
The vast open world presents almost every environment and weather pattern one can imagine. The plains and mountains are teeming with wildlife to hunt for food or trade. Your horse is a stable companion and bonds with you. Your guns can be crafted and customized to a degree that it feels like a cowhand's old reliable tool. The bank heists and train robberies are just as carefully crafted as the rest, putting you in tense scenarios where anything can and often does go wrong. These moments, paired with the camaraderie at camp, build the gang to be much more than a plot device or set dressing. The bonds you build between characters touch on themes of loyalty and honor, even among thieves.
To truly capture the feeling of embodying Spider-Man, the one element that stands above all others is the web-swinging. Through a combination of sophisticated physics systems, Spider-Man's traversal is fluid and versatile in a way few games can hope to match. The mission waypoints spread widely across a realistic Manhattan backdrop were easy to manage thanks in large part to this intuitive system. Combat is also given a distinct personality that expressed the wallcrawler's individuality. The webslinger is light on his toes and improvisational, making his animations slightly off-kilter. The character carries himself with a grace that always looks moments away from losing his balance, and the combat expresses that beautifully.
Insomniac also crafted a resonant story that pays homage to the spirit of the world while building its own surprising continuity. Characters like MJ and Miles are given their own agency and practical parts in the story, while villains like Mr. Negative and Norman Osborn are given sympathetic motivations. The heart of the story lies with Otto Octavius, Peter's scientist boss, friend, and mentor. Through it all, though, Spider-Man--both the character and the game--never becomes cynical. Peter Parker spends his spare time volunteering at a homeless shelter, even after a tough day of trading blows with superpowered weirdos. Doing and being good can be difficult, even heartbreaking, but Peter does it regardless. That's the kind of inspirational message superheroes were made for.
Tetris has been done dozens of times on almost every platform, so it may be difficult to see what would set a new one apart. The involvement of Rez and Lumines designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi has made this version of Tetris distinct in a way that few others are, pairing a variety of musical styles and genres with the gaming perfection of Tetris, set against various backdrops and visualizer styles. The result will have you engaging with--and experiencing--music you may not have tried before. Somehow, though, the selections fit the mood so well that it's difficult not to get caught up in them.
A new Zone mechanic lets you build up a meter to pause the action and hover your tetriminos, giving you more time to consider your choices. For newcomers it provides an assist tool when the board feels overwhelming, while also opening up more scoring opportunities for veterans. It's this inventive reconsideration of Tetris fundamentals that makes Tetris Effect an inviting playground for any level. It also ties nicely into one of the game's other standout features, VR. Enveloped in a VR headset, your consciousness can sink into the game and focus on it with all the intellectual and emotional wrinkles that it brings. The experience can be profound on a level you may never have expected from a classic puzzle game.
While the 3DS has been slowly winding down since the launch of the Nintendo Switch last year, the handheld still saw the release of several standout games. Throughout its history, the 3DS has offered a variety of games that take a unique approach to familiar concepts. Whether it's an involved JRPG experience, a narrative-focused adventure, or a bizarre puzzle-action game, the 3DS has always had something for everyone, and that certainly continued throughout 2018. In our look back on 2018, GameSpot has rounded up some of the best 3DS games released this year, some of which revived classic games in a particularly interesting way. For more roundups focusing on the best games of 2018, be sure to visit our hub page detailing the highlights of this year's titles.
Following in the footsteps of The Legend of Legacy, developer Cattle Call's The Alliance Alive kept the familiar JPRG mechanics and style while also telling a darker story. This role-playing game focused on a band of characters as they traveled across several continents, facing against challenging foes to save the known the world. It all seems like traditional fantasy fare, but The Alliance Alive embraces it wholeheartedly throughout. With a clever twist on traditional JRPG character growth, where your characters gain power by repeatedly using their familiar skills, The Alliance Alive gives you plenty of options to advance the power of your band of adventurers. This JRPG was a throwback to the more straightforward games of past and as a result was one of the highlights for the 3DS in 2018.
While the Pokemon series has seen its fair share of creative spin-offs, Detective Pikachu is an especially unique addition to the series. The strange point-and-click detective game stars a wise-cracking Pikachu with a grown man's voice, and it is up to him--and you--to solve a series of crimes. This Layton-esque turn for the Pokemon series is a clever and worthwhile entry in the 3DS' impressive library of games. Many Pokemon spin-offs have come and gone, but Detective Pikachu's endearing charm left such a lasting impression, that it even spawned the first live-action film for the Pokemon series. In case you missed it, here's the debut trailer for the film adaptation of Detective Pikachu.
The original Luigi's Mansion was a particularly odd title for the titular character's solo outing, but it still managed to play to all the strengths of the GameCube and to the character's endearing charm. It eventually got a sequel on the 3DS in the form of Dark Moon, and after its success, the same developers revisited Luigi's original adventure. Luigi's Mansion on 3DS is largely the same game as the original, with some added innovations to take advantage of the handheld's hardware--including Amiibo support. Luigi's Mansion on 3DS turned out to be a particularly fun remake of the original, giving the character more deserved time in the spotlight.
As one of the Nintendo DS' most unique JRPG titles, Radiant Historia offers a compelling blend of complex strategy and role-playing mechanics, along with a sprawling story set across a detailed and ever-changing time period. With the remake on 3DS, Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology went even further with its predecessor's time-travel focused narrative, while also adding in a number of worthwhile updates and revisions to the original. It not only offers returning fans new story beats to admire but also gives newcomers a better appreciation for the constantly shifting nature of the game's complex narrative. Radiant Historia new outing on the 3DS not only improved upon the original's impressive systems, it also gave added incentive for fans to dive back into the complex time-travel plot.
It's hard to fathom that the WarioWare series has already been around for 15 years--but it has, and we're all the better for it. In WarioWare Gold, the nightmare gallery of over 300 micro mini-games are sent your way in rapid succession--things like plucking someone's nose hair, sumo wrestling an opponent, and even repeating basic gameplay actions from classic NES games. Though there's a story mode that justifies the nonsensical spitfire of out of context micro-games, the why is quickly thrown by the wayside in favor of having you dive head-first into the madness. WarioWare's weird and carefree style is what made the series so endearing over the years, and its WarioWare Gold shows that the game's charm hasn't overstayed its welcome just yet.
The spectacular new trailer for the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters is here. The movie is the sequel to 2014's Godzilla and it sees the legendary monster joined by several other giant creatures, including the fearsome three-headed King Ghidorah.
While the first trailer only gave us fleeting glimpses of the new monsters, this latest one puts the emphasis on the epic action that the movie looks set to deliver. We see Ghidorah emerging from a volcano, the winged Rodan doing battle with jet fighters, and the moth-like Mothra swooping into battle. There's also a few humans in there, including Stranger Things star Millie Bobbie Brown, The Conjuring's Vera Farmiga, and Game Night's Kyle Chandler. But really, this one is about the monsters. Check it out above.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is directed by Michael Dougherty, whose previous credits include the Christmas monster movie Krampus. It also stars Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Ken Watanabe (Inception), O'Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones). It hits theaters on May 31, 2019.
It's the latest entry in Legendary Pictures' so-called MonsterVerse, following Godzilla and last year's Kong: Skull Island. The fourth movie in the series will be Godzilla vs Kong, which is now in production and scheduled for a May 2020 release. The cast includes Alexander Skarsgård (Hold the Dark), Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), and Demián Bichir (Alien Covenant).
There's no shortage of ways to get great deals on PC games. Steam has regular sales, as do storefronts like Green Man Gaming, Fanatical, and the Humble Store. But best deals are generally on bundles of games. And right now, you can get a 12-month subscription to Humble Monthly for $99. The deal ends at 11:59 PM PT December 15 (2:59 AM ET December 16), so don't wait too long.
What comes with a Humble Monthly subscription? Each month, you receive a bundle of around eight or nine PC games, some of which are announced and made available at the start of the cycle, and the rest come as a surprise at the end. The value of each month's games generally adds up to around $200. Considering this deal's pricing breaks down to $8.33 per month, that's quite a deal.
The games revealed so far for this month are Just Cause 3 XXL Edition, Project Cars 2, and Wizard of Legend. If you subscribe, you can download and play those titles immediately. The rest of the month's games will be revealed and made available to subscribers on January 4.
In addition to the monthly game bundles, a Humble Monthly subscription grants you access to the Trove, a collection of dozens of games you can download and play any time as long as you have an active membership. A cut of your subscription payment goes to charity as well. Finally, all Humble Monthly subscribers get 10% off Humble Store purchases. You can find more information in Humble Monthly's FAQ.
Mortal Kombat 11 was announced at the Game Awards, and it's already just around the corner with an April 23, 2019 release date. You can play early, though, by pre-ordering to earn yourself a spot in the beta. The test will kick off for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March.
The announcement mentions select retailers for the beta but doesn't specify which are participating, so be sure to check with yours. The beta won't be available on Nintendo Switch or PC, each of which are also getting MK11. Pre-ordering will also net you Shao Kahn as a playable character.
NetherRealm will be giving the first extended look at the game on January 17, 2019. The event will feature a keynote talk along with the gameplay debut. It will take place simultaneously in both Los Angeles and London at 11 AM PT / 7 PM UTC. It will be livestreamed on Twitch.
The announcement referenced a "time bending story," which fits what we saw in the debut trailer at the Game Awards. In it, we saw two different versions of Scorpion from different eras of Mortal Kombat. It seems likely that this time the alternate retro costumes won't just be for cosmetic purposes, but rather different versions of characters will play heavily into the story. NetherRealm has become known for its unique fighting game campaigns in both Mortal Kombat and Injustice, which interweave several characters stories to tell one larger meta-plot.
Naturally, it's pretty gruesome too. The debut trailer made a point of showing both Raiden and Scorpion being roughed up in a handful of ways, so be sure to check out the trailer if you missed it the first time around.
Capcom has pulled back the curtain on a load of new content on the way to its hit action RPG, Monster Hunter World. Along with the "massive" Iceborne expansion, the publisher announced that a new collaboration featuring Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to the game, and it'll be available early next year.
The famed Witcher finds himself in the New World after being transported by a portal. According to Capcom, players will "get to utilize his signature fighting style" to take on an assortment of Witcher-inspired quests, which will "offer a unique gameplay experience blending RPG mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Monster Hunter World's game systems."
No further details on the Witcher collaboration have been announced yet, but Capcom says it will share additional information "at a later date." The crossover event is slated to arrive as a free update on PS4 and Xbox One in early 2019, with a PC release set to follow soon afterward. You can watch the first trailer for the Witcher 3 Monster Hunter World collaboration above.
The crossover event is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of new content on the way to Monster Hunter World. Next fall, Capcom will release the aforementioned Iceborne expansion, a "massive" update that will introduce new quest ranks, environments, monsters, and gear. Iceborne will also add a new storyline that picks up after the ending of the base game.
Before either of those arrive, Capcom will bring back the Kulve Taroth Siege beginning December 20. This time around, the quest will feature a more formidable Arch-Tempered version of the monster that offers a chance to get even more powerful rewards. The publisher also announced it is hosting an Appreciation Fest in January to celebrate the game's first anniversary. This will encompass new anniversary quests that give players a chance to earn "special equipment."
In the meantime, there is still time to take part in Monster Hunter World's current seasonal event, the Winter Star Fest. The event is scheduled to run through December 17 and features "almost all" previous Event Quests, along with a handful of new ones, daily limited bounties, and new hunter and Palico gear to forge.
Everyone's favorite super-fast blue hedgehog makes his big screen debut next year, with the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. The first poster has now been released, and it hints at a slightly different look for Sonic.
It's a motion poster, which shows several bolts of blue light zooming across the screen, before it forms a partial silhouette of Sonic. He's instantly recognisable of course, but there's a few differences worth noting, presumably because in the movie he'll have to interactive with human actors. His limbs are definitely a bit more humanoid, with noticeably muscular legs. He's also wearing realistic sneakers, rather than the more cartoonish type we're used to seeing him (they're the right color at least). Check it out below:
Sonic the Hedgehog is released on November 15, 2019. It's set to star Westworld's James Marsden, with comedian Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and Jim Carrey as the evil Dr. Robotnik. It's directed by Jeff Fowler, who is making his feature debut, but won an Oscar in 2005 for his animated short Gopher Broke. It's produced by Deadpool director Tim Miller.
2016 marked the 25th anniversary of the Sonic franchise. The latest instalments in the series were Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces, both of which were released in 2017. A new Sonic racing game, Team Sonic Racing, is due out next year.
Recent Articles:
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website.
No comments:
Post a Comment