Dan Gilroy made a huge splash when his directorial debut, Nightcrawler, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews. After a sophomore slump in Roman J. Israel, Esq., Gilroy is back with a vengeance by going full horror with Velvet Buzzsaw, a bonkers supernatural slasher disguised as an art film where instead of horny teens, it's pretentious and greedy art snobs getting murdered.
Gilroy returns to the morally compromised Los Angeles, only instead of dark and gloomy city streets, Velvet Buzzsaw is a gleaming and colorful satire of the art world. We begin at an art show where we are introduced to a parade of zany and ridiculous characters that are completely unaware of their ridiculousness. Jake Gyllenhaal reunites with Gilroy to play Morf Vandewalt, a powerful art critic that never turns off his criticisms. Josephina (Zawe Ashton) is a receptionist with ambitions working under the commanding punk artist turned gallery owner, Rodora (Rene Russo). Jon Dondon (Tom Sturridge) left Rhodora's teaching to become her biggest rival. There's also the art advisor with wealthy clients, Gretchen (Toni Collette). Rounding up the main cast is John Malkovich as a once great artist whose newfound sobriety ruined his artistic vision, and the one good-hearted and normal member of the ensemble, Coco (Natalia Dyer), a receptionist who keeps getting hired by people right before they die.
It's a stellar cast (even Daveed Diggs and Billy Magnussen show up) filled with terrible people waiting to be slaughtered. After an old man dies in Josephina's building, she snoops into his apartment and finds hundreds of paintings made by the dead man. As with every other character in the film, the deceased man had a ridiculous name, Ventryl Dease, and apparently, he really wanted his paintings to be destroyed once he died. Why? Well, for one they are creepy as hell. Fiery pits of hell surrounding screaming children with blacked out eyes, twisted limbs and other hellish images surround the sinister apartment. Gilroy and cinematographer Robert Elswit find beauty in the macabre, with striking city vistas and sinister interior shots, and of course, every murder looks like a work of art--there's even a crime scene that gets mistaken for an exhibit.
There is a sense of levity and a real satirical tone to Velvet Buzzsaw, especially in the first act, which takes pleasure in showing how insane and preposterous the art world is. Each character is crazier and more terrible than the last, and as if their lives weren't crazy enough, the various art installations seen in the movie range from creepy to outright hysterical--there's a particularly funny installation in the form of a robot called Hoboman, who says nonsensical sentences like "I once built a railroad." If Dan Gilroy had wanted to stop the film right there and just make it a comedy about awful people being funny, it would have worked. But then the murders happen…
After finding the creepy paintings, the ambitious would-be art agent Josephina does the logical thing and steals a few of them. When Morf declares the paintings to be masterpieces and Rhoroda expresses her desire to help sell them for a profit, more and more characters join in one way or another, getting intense acclaim and vast profits in the process by being close to the disturbing paintings. Of course, the disturbing paintings aren't only that, as Rhodora and the greediness gang discover a sinister and possibly supernatural history tied to Dease's art, which then start *checks notes* literally killing people.
Gilroy, who also wrote the script, takes full advantage of the over-the-top world of obnoxious art snobs and mixes it with the camp of a slasher film that results in a film with some relevant and articulate comments on the art world, told with the subtlety of a knife to the throat, all played with morbid humor that somehow works like gangbusters. The death scenes are numerous, each more absurd and gorier than the last. Killed by monkeys from a painting? Check. An exhibit where you stick your hand in a hole and suddenly your arm is cut in the bloodiest way? Check. A soundproofed room that suddenly starts torturing you with negative criticism? Sure, why not! Nothing is too preposterous or weird for Dan Gilroy, and the film is better for it.
Speaking of weird and preposterous, Jake Gyllenhaal is game for all of the film's craziness and is fantastic at playing the snobby Morf, who can't seem to be able to speak without criticisms. Even before having sex or at a funeral, he is commenting and critiquing his environment while constantly posing his hand under his chin, looking for new snarky lines. Meanwhile his Nightcrawler co-star Rene Russo perfectly captures the greed of doing anything for the almighty dollar, and Zawe Ashton is outstanding as Josephina, who has the widest turn from sympathetic to ruthless and greedy.
Velvet Buzzsaw may seem like a critique on greediness and our relationship to art on the surface, but what Dan Gilroy has created in nothing short of a surreal, campy and bonkers and entertaining ride through hell.
Velvet Buzzsaw is available on Netflix on February 1.
The Good
The wacky performances.
Jake Gyllenhaal is unchained.
The balls on this film for going as crazy as it does!
Most bonkers deaths since the roller coaster in Final Destination.
If you turn your Xbox One on right now and face nothing but a black screen, it's not just you. Microsoft has confirmed that some kind of problem is impacting the system right now, although there's no word yet on when it will be resolved.
"We are aware of reports of Xbox One console startup, title update and sign-in errors," Microsoft said in a tweet. "We will keep everyone informed once we have more information to share. Thank you all for your patience." A subsequent tweet adds, "Our engineers are actively investigating and working on the issues outlined in our initial post."
The usual source for additional details, the Xbox Live status page, is currently inaccessible, though the second tweet points users there. Whether that's related to these issues, due to heavy demand, or something else is unclear.
While Microsoft's tweet makes this sound like a somewhat run-of-the-mill, if inconvenient, error, it appears to actually be much worse in some cases. When I booted up my Xbox One, the notification telling me my user account had automatically logged in came up, but the screen was otherwise completely black. While I was able to eventually bring up the guide, the system didn't respond to any further inputs, though I could see that it was downloading an update for one game.
In addition to this, other users are seemingly unable to sign in to Xbox Live, preventing access to some games and online multiplayer. We'll report back as more information becomes available.
The end of Vikings Season 5 has come and it promised to be a truly bloody affair. After preparing for the ultimate war for Kattegat, the sons of Ragnar are ready to face each other once again in an episode fittingly titled "Ragnarok," an event in Norse mythology that included the death of many massive figures, from Odin and Thor to Freyr and Loki. It's also the title of a Marvel movie, but that's another kind of Viking altogether.
It's only fitting that after deciding he's actually a god that Ragnarok would come for Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) and his brothers. And as the clip above, which GameSpot is sharing exclusively, the reigning king of Kattegat is ready for anything his brothers are prepared to unleash on him.
"My fellow gods, at last, allowed me to see my fate," he said after learning the other sons of Ragnar were coming for him. "Now all of my brothers are against me. Now I know I'm the chosen one."
With only one season left before Vikings ends, it's hard to believe that all of Ragnar's sons will make it out of this episode alive. Of course, there's also Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). Ivar is still driven to kill the woman who murdered his mother, and after the death of Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), there's no way she's going to remain on the sidelines of whatever is to come.
The Season 5 finale of Vikings airs Wednesday, June 30, at 9 PM ET/PT on History.
Apparently, nearly a week before it became public knowledge, the FaceTime bug was reported to Apple by a young Fortnite player from Arizona. Apple support seemingly just didn't take the issue very seriously until the problem became more well-known.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 14-year-old Grant Thompson was trying to set up a FaceTime group conversation with some of his friends for a few rounds of Fortnite when he noticed the bug. Thompson told his mom and the two tried to contact Apple support about the issue, first through Twitter and Facebook and then via phone call and fax. Upon discovering that they needed a developer account to report the bug, the two managed to contact Apple's security team via email. However, Apple did not reward Thompson for his discovery--as the company usually does for those who report major issues with its software--and seemingly did not seriously address the FaceTime bug until it became public knowledge.
My teen found a major security flaw in Apple's new iOS. He can listen in to your iPhone/iPad without your approval. I have video. Submitted bug report to @AppleSupport...waiting to hear back to provide details. Scary stuff! #apple#bugreport@foxnews
For those unaware, the bug in question allowed someone to call another user through FaceTime and secretly hear the receiver's audio without the recipient knowing. The bug impacted all iOS devices, including iPhones. Apple has reported that a fix is coming within the next week, but, for now, group FaceTime calls--identified as the vulnerability that allows someone to take advantage of the bug--have been disabled. According to a few reports, however, you can still take advantage of the exploit. The only sure way to protect yourself is to disable FaceTime on all of your iOS devices.
Thankfully, disabling FaceTime is a fairly easy endeavor. Just make sure you do so on all of your iOS and Mac products. All you need to do is go into your FaceTime settings and turn the application off. If you're having trouble, GameSpot's sister site CNET has put together a step-by-step guide for how to turn FaceTime off on iOS and Mac devices.
Mortal Kombat 11 is packing all the gruesome spectacle fans have come to expect from the series, but this entry adds one more element: more extensive cosmetic options! Or kosmetic, as the case may be.
At the gameplay debut event, director Ed Boon showed off some of the customization kustomization options. Each character has three pieces of gear that can be swapped in the menu, along with more general makeover options. Scorpion, for example, can swap his mask, katana, and spear, while other costume changes impact his overall appearance.
Those aren't the only customization options, though. We've also seen tabs for "Abilities" and "AI Behavior." We've also seen a partial character roster, our first extended look at gameplay, a bunch of fatalities, and story details. A beta test is coming in March for PS4 and Xbox One. The full game is coming on April 23 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
NetherRealm will likely be debuting more skins as we get closer to release. The studio had its Mortal Kombat 11's first "Kombat Kast" stream scheduled for this week, but it was delayed due to dangerous weather in the studio's home city of Chicago. The new stream is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, so we may see more characters and skins then.
In the meantime, check out all of the ones we've spotted so far below.
If there's anything as exciting a the Super Bowl, it's definitely the commercials that air during the big game. Every year, companies spend insane amounts of money for their chance to shine in front of TV's largest audience, attempting to capture the attention of America with creative new commercials.
Sometimes things go really well, whether it's the Budweiser frogs or a new trailer for whatever massive film released are on the horizon. Other times, though, commercials miss the mark. It's hard to forget the General Motors commercial in which a robot commits suicide after losing its job. Someone, somewhere thought that was a great idea and spent a bunch of money to bring it to life.
With over 50 years of Super Bowl games to look back on, there are plenty of advertisements to revisit and GameSpot has done just that. We've gone through a long list of Super Bowls to find the absolute best and worst big game commercials of all time. Take a look at them and sound off in the comments with your favorite--or least favorite-- ad. Also make sure to check out our guide to alternative programming options if you don't feel like watching the big game this year or just want to skip Maroon 5's halftime show.
BEST: Peter Dinklage loves Doritos (2018)
Peter Dinklage can do it all, including perfectly lip synching a Busta Rhymes song to profess his love of Doritos. This particular commercial also included a Mountain Dew verse from Morgan Freeman--to Missy Elliott's Get Ur Freak On--to create the weirdest and best rap battle of all time.
WORST: GM robot commits suicide (2007)
Suicide isn't a funny joke, regardless of who's committing it. That's a lesson General Motors learned the hard way after its 2007 Super Bowl commercial featured a car-assembling robot hurling himself off a bridge after accidentally dropping a screw on the factory floor. Why did they think this was a good idea? Who knows, but the fact that it was all a dream the robot was having--again, this is a robot--didn't help matters.
BEST: The Budweiser frogs (1995)
Who doesn't remember the Budweiser frogs? They were the heart of what might be the most successful alcohol advertising campaign of all time. They were a meme before memes were a thing and they'll absolutely make a comeback one day.
WORST: Fred Astaire's Dirt Devil dance (1997)
Dirt Devil repurposing footage of Fred Astaire--who died in 1987--to sell vacuums is a truly strange move. Editing in actual Dirt Devil vacuums that weren't on the market when he filmed said footage is even more bizarre.
BEST: McDonald's Big Mac (1975)
Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. The Big Mac jingle took the world by storm in the '70s and McDonald's put people to the test to see if they remembered it. Most couldn't figure it out, but that didn't stop them from wanting one.
WORST: SalesGenie's Chinese pandas (2008)
SalesGenie doing an adorable animated commercial featuring pandas could have been great. Saddling them with stereotypical Chinese accents, though, was a truly bad choice made by the sales company. They quickly pulled the ads.
BEST: The Bud Bowl (1989)
The King of Beers sure knows how to Super Bowl. From the infamous frogs the the massive game of Pac Man, Budweiser and Bud Light almost always deliver the goods with their big game commercials. The Bud Bowl, however, is the company's crowning achievement. The idea is simple enough, an animated segment that shows bottles of beer racing each other for supremacy. Cheering on your personal favorite Bud brew, though, is sometimes as exciting as the game gets.
WORST: Matthew Broderick's Honda commercial (2012)
While there's nothing wrong with this Honda commercial that spoofs Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the surface, Broderick's history makes it an odd choice. In 1987, a year after Ferris Bueller hit theaters, the actor was involved in a car accident in Ireland that killed two people. He was eventually convicted of careless driving and paid a fine. Maybe he shouldn't be selling cars on TV.
BEST: Bud Light's real-life Pac Man (2015)
This is the commercial that most of us wish we lived in. In 2015, Bud Light brought Pac Man to life with a massive game board that some unsuspecting beer drinker found himself running around in. It's a true marvel and we're still sad we didn't get our turn.
WORST: GoDaddy's weird nerd makeout (2013)
GoDaddy has always tried to be risque with their Super Bowl commercials, but 2013's ad that saw supermodel Bar Refaeli making out with some random geek was truly unsettling. We don't need to see any two people kissing that closely.
BEST: Apple's 1984 advertisement (1984)
Apple's commercial to introduce the Macintosh computer was weird, experimental, and, honestly, kind of creepy. But it made the exact kind of splash the company needed. After all, you are very possibly reading this on an Apple device.
WORST: Nationwide Insurance uses a dead child to make everyone sad (2015)
Nationwide really wants you to buy life insurance, but this ad featuring a child telling you all of the things he'll never get to do because he died "in an accident" does not make you want to do anything of the sort. If there's anything that's going to bum you out in the middle of an exciting Super Bowl game, it's the story of a dead kid.
BEST: Volkswagen takes on Star Wars with tiny Darth Vader (2011)
This kid has embraced the dark side of the Force and we love it. This commercial is the perfect mashup of two worlds, with the Imperial March playing while a young Darth Vader fan puts his powers to the test on his parents' car.
The Division 2's release date of March 15 is fast approaching, but you'll soon be able to play even before then. The game's private beta starts soon on PS4, Xbox One, and PC--here are all the details.
The beta starts on February 7 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM GMT / 8 PM AET, and lasts for precisely four days. Luckily, you can preload the trial 24 hours before its scheduled start time.
As you'd expect, publisher Ubisoft says the beta will include a taste of what to expect in the final game. Two main missions are playable, along with five side missions and "additional activities in the open world." Three new Dark Zones will show off The Division 2's brand of PvPvE action, while you can sample the more organized PvP gameplay in a Conflict game mode named Skirmish.
Additionally, one slice of endgame content is included in the beta: an Invaded mission will unlock on February 8 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM GMT / 8 PM AET. The test period will otherwise cap players' progress at level 30.
The Division 2 continues the story of a society-disrupting pandemic but moves from the first game's setting in New York City to the US capital, Washington DC. The sequel brings back the realistic loot-driven RPG elements from the first game, with more focus on player choice to impact the world. The PvP aspect of the game, Dark Zones, have also changed.
In the fourth episode of True Detective: Season 3, titled "The Hour and the Day," we didn't get a whole lot of forward progression. True Detective is a slow-burning show, and the writers used this episode to meander a bit.
We see an extended clip of '80s Wayne and Amelia on a date; we later see their marriage disintegrating in the '90s timeline.
There is a lot of Roland: his mutual fondness and respect for Wayne, and also his protectiveness of him. Roland goes hard on Tom when the grieving father calls Wayne the N-word in a drunken rant. And Roland is also the one who fights for Wayne to get back on the Purcell case in the '90s.
Lastly, we get a promise of violence to come--appropriate because we've reached the midway point of the show, where the narrative climax ought to be. The lynch mob has followed Trash Man back to his home, and it looks like the gun-laden standoff will end in bloodshed.
Here are our newest True Detective theories, via Reddit and our personal analysis, from Episode 4. If you liked this gallery, check out our True Detective theories for Episodes 1 and 2 and our theories for Episode 3.
1. The Shutter Island Theory
One current theory is that the entire "true crime" documentary that Elisa is directing is fake; she's pretending to film a documentary to get Wayne to talk to her. Maybe she's some sort of medical professional or psychiatrist, and these recording sessions are actually doctors' appointments or therapy sessions.
That means the information Elisa is sharing about the case is in the public record; she's jogging his memory with little tidbits, helping him recover a past that he's forgotten. It also explains why Elisa and Wayne's son Henry occasionally exchange glances; they're roleplaying and checking in with each other.
2. The Officer Henry Theory
We learn definitively in Episode 4 that Wayne's son Henry is a police officer. And that's led some Redditors to speculate that Henry is carrying on his own investigation of the Purcell case, and that Elisa is also some sort of law enforcement agent; together, they're trying to pry forgotten memories and evidence from Wayne's brain, in hopes of turning up something new.
Either that, or maybe Henry knows about something, possibly illegal, that his father has done. And by having Elisa interview his father, he hopes to learn the scope of it so he can cover his father's tracks.
3. Elisa and Henry Theory
This isn't a game changing theory--more a casual observation. When Wayne goes to visit Elisa in her hotel room, it looks like she's had romantic company; there are two wine glasses in her room, even though Elisa insists she is alone.
Maybe Henry and Elisa are hooking up. It would add an impressive parallel to two timelines; Officer Wayne dated and eventually married a teacher who fancied herself a writer and investigator, and Officer Henry is involved with a woman who's pretending to be an investigator. It would also add a cruel irony to Wayne's request: that Elisa not tell Henry anything. He doesn't know that they're together, and they're both playing him.
Lastly, there's a literary wink: their names. Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle are the main characters and central romance of "Pygmalion," a play about a linguistics professor who tries to pass a flower girl off as an upper crust lady. Again, it reinforces the theme of deceit and dual identities.
4. The Viet Cong Theory
Near the middle-end of the episode, old Wayne has a vision of Viet Cong and NVA soldiers--perhaps he killed these men during the war? But if you look carefully, there's another face in the crowd. He's looking down and he has long hair and what appears to be a gunshot wound.
Redditors speculate that this might be the third teenager in the purple Volkswagen from Episode 1; perhaps deliberately, he's also the only teenager who we don't see interviewed by the police. Maybe he was tried and sentenced for Will's killing, hence Wayne's guilt?
The other theory is that this is Woodard aka Trash Man. This would make a lot of sense; it seems like he's well on his way to dying at the end of Episode 4. Perhaps Wayne is the one who fires the kill shot?
5. Roland Limp Theory
We see Roland limping in a very pronounced manner in the '90s timeline. Perhaps the shootout at the end of Episode 4 is what caused this injury years prior. Or, he might have gotten shrapnel in his leg from a booby trap in Trash Man's yard. We'll find out soon--probably next week.
6. Lucy/Hoyt Theory
One theory that's gained steam is that Julie was taken by the chicken CEO's family; Hoyt lost his granddaughter, and Julie is taken to be a replacement for her.
In this episode, we learn that Julie's mother, Lucy, might have been sleeping with her boss at the Sawhorse; she admits cheating on Tom multiple times. What if she slept with Hoyt as well, years prior? That would explain Hoyt's attachment to Julie. Possibly (and this is a bit far-fetched), Julie is his biological daughter. It would also explain Lucy's guilt, if she was complicit in the abduction. She wanted to give her daughter a better life; she didn't know that her son Will would end up dead as a result.
The DC universe is changing so quickly, that it's easy to forget about the projects that were announced several years ago. Back when Ben Affleck was still definitely playing Batman and before the commercial and critical failure of Justice League, War for the Planet the Apes director Matt Reeves was hired to make a standalone Batman movie. It's been some time since we heard anything new about the project, but now Reeves has confirmed that the film is very much happening.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Reeves stated that he was "deeply embedded in getting Batman on its feet," and hinted at what fans can approach from his Batman movie when it arrives. "It's very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale," he said. "It's told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it's going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It's more Batman in his detective mode than we've seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He's supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and that's not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been.
"I'd love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it's going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation."
Reeves also confirmed that the title is still The Batman, although he did concede that this might change. He also stated that while the movie did not currently have an official release date, he thought it would probably arrive in the "late spring or summer" of 2021.
Finally, Reeves was asked about what villains we'll see in the next movie--and it sounds like Batman will face multiple adversaries. "There will be a Rogues Gallery," he said. "The casting process will begin shortly. We're starting to put together our battle plan. I'm doing another pass on the script and we'll begin some long-lead stuff to start developing conceptual things."
The movie was originally set to be directed and written by Ben Affleck, and was first announced back in 2016. Affleck ultimately stepped down as director when Reeves joined, and while he has never officially quit his role as the Caped Crusader, it is thought to be unlikely that he will play the character again. In June it was reported that Reeves' movie will focus on a younger Batman.
In related news, the first teaser for the upcoming DC movie Birds of Prey was released this week. The film is now in production ahead of a 2020 release and stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, plus Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, and Ewan McGregor.
We've known for some time that the February 2019 lineup of PlayStation Plus games would mark the final month in which subscribers received freebies for PS3 and Vita. Going forward, each month will consist solely of free PS4 games. Seemingly to compensate users for this change, Sony is making some changes to another perk offered through PS Plus.
Starting in early February (an exact date was not specified), PS Plus members will have access to 100 GB of cloud storage of save games, a tenfold increase over the existing 10 GB limit. Unfortunately, there was no word on further changes to cloud saves, such as enabling auto-uploads and downloads on more than just your main console.
Sony did not say if this is the extent of its plans to make up for dropping PS3 and Vita games. Even for PS4 users without either of those systems, this change is a loss. It's not uncommon for the monthly freebies to offer cross-buy support with PS4 versions of them, giving the current-gen system even more than the two free games that are explicitly intended for it. That's the case in February; claiming both Vita games will get you access to their PS4 versions.
For the final month, the PS3/Vita lineup is going out strong, thanks largely to the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4. On the PS4 side, users can look forward to For Honor and the first season of Hitman. Those games will be available from February 5 until March 5, while the PS3/Vita games will stick around until March 8.
While free games are the highlight of PS Plus and receive much of the attention, cloud saves, access to online multiplayer on PS4, and exclusive game sales are among the other perks for subscribing. Still, the lost of two-thirds of the free game lineup is notable, though Sony has provided no indication it intends to lower the service's price.
January is dead, long live February. The shortest and sweetest month is set to bring an all new line-up of free PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games for PlayStation Plus members. Sony has announced the offerings, so check out what will be coming as of February 5.
The February offerings include the competitive melee action game For Honor and the full first season of Hitman. That latter game has an extra layer of value since the recently released Hitman 2 lets you play the older game's maps inside the newer game, as long as you own it. February PS Plus also includes Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PS3, along with Gunhouse and Rogue Aces for Vita. Divekick has cross-buy with Vita, and both Vita games have cross-buy with PS4. Sony also announced it is expanding the PS Plus Cloud storage from 10 GB to 100 GB starting in February.
Remember, you still have some time left to grab the PS Plus games for January. Those include the the extreme sports game Steep and Portal Knights on PS4, Zone of the Enders HD and Amplitude on PS3, Super Mutant Alien Assault on Vita, and Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion on PS4/Vita.
And with that, the PlayStation 3 and Vita games are bowing out of the monthly rotation. Sony previously announced that it will no longer include PS3 and Vita as of March 8, which means February's games on those platforms are the last we'll see. Fare thee well, older platforms. This will probably mean the total games included in the monthly rotation will be reduced, though Sony could still surprise us with some change of plans. The PS4 games will be available through March 5.
Far Cry: New Dawn takes the open-world FPS series into a near-future nuclear post-apocalypse that finds you roaming around a new kind of Hope County. Many of Far Cry 5's locations and characters are back, but they're ravaged by a society gone awry. As we discovered in the game's reveal, New Dawn introduces new enemies dubbed the Highwaymen, a Mad Max-like faction led by twin sisters who survive by stealing resources from self-sustaining societies.
You can find out more about how the game plays in our preview, which looks at New Dawn's RPG elements and base-building system. But we also had a chance had a chance to speak to narrative director James Nadiger about the game's inception, the ideas behind its concepts, and the design of its new villains.
GameSpot: The first question that came to my mind when New Dawn was revealed was: How long has this been in the works? It follows on from Far Cry 5's ending, so you must have this iteration planned for quite a while?
James Nadiger: It's officially been in development for only about a year and a half (Editor's note: Far Cry 5 was released 10 months ago at the time of writing). When we were coming up with the ending of Far Cry 5, which was centered around Joseph and his doomsday cult, we made the decision to end that game on an actual doomsday. We all got super excited about it because it also gave us an opportunity to bring Far Cry into the post-apocalypse space, which is something that we've wanted to do for a long time. I think it's a very Far Cry environment.
The reveal of Far Cry 5 gave us the impression that it was going to be dealing with a lot of political overtones because of the setting, the nature of the cult, and the timing with the US political climate--though that wasn't really fully explored in the actual game. Each Far Cry game is different, of course, but was there an active decision to really distance New Dawn from anything like that?
No, absolutely not, because we were in development before 5 was released. We really were just focused on making the game that we wanted to make, take it to an apocalypse space.
One of the things I enjoyed about Far Cry 5 was that it encouraged this new mode of exploring the world at your own pace and gradually uncovering narrative beats piece by piece. Do you have any insight into that decision to move away from Ubisoft's traditional method of creating open worlds?
I think Far Cry, at its best, is always about player choice, and so early on the decision was made to just put the player in control of that choice from the get-go and give them the map all at once. If you just wanna find stuff on your own, you go and it's there, we have signs on the road to point you to animals, we have people you can talk to for little hints. We just felt that was the best, most organic way to create our Far Cry worlds.
You're using an altered Hope County as the primary map again, but I was surprised by the new Expedition missions that take you to all these different spaces across the US. It seems like both a narrative tool to sort of explore the wider effects of the apocalypse, as well as creating some interesting spaces that wouldn't otherwise work in the main game. But what was the primary design motivation?
To be honest, they probably happened simultaneously, because we're really excited that for the first time in Far Cry the story and the fantasy wasn't confined to just one country or just one time and place. The collapse happened everywhere, and at the same time, we wanted these sort of big gameplay-focussed maps, almost like the fortresses from Far Cry 4, or about the size of a Far Cry Arcade map. So we realized we could take little trips around the country with some solid gameplay, which have repeatable things, like Outposts. Every time you play it, it gets harder, and the challenges remix. And if you explore the notes, or if you're stealthing and you're hearing the Highwaymen in those parts of the world talk, you get little glimpses of what happened in these spaces.
Tell me about the villains in Far Cry New Dawn, about their inception. How did you come to create the twins?
Sure. It came from, well, at Ubisoft we tend to go world first, so as we were building sort of what our apocalypse would look like, we found overwhelmingly there were two ways to get by in this world. If you were on a piece of land that you could turn into farms again and hunt again, then you would be able to rebuild. But if you came from a place where that wasn't possible, you became sort of a bandit. If you couldn't grow things or build things, you have to take things, and so the twins come from that background. They were just kids when the bombs dropped, they were in the ruins of a city, and so their dad created the Highwaymen, and they became sort of modern day pirates. They were taught from a young age that the ends justify the means, and that's how they grew up, that anything is justified as long as you just stay alive for one more day. Then they've just gone across the country just hoovering up things.
So it's kind of a city versus country thing? Being a product of the environment you grew up in, basically?
No, it's just the idea of makeshift, as well, cities don't exist, stores don't exist, and so after a certain amount of time in the years between the collapse and now, there's just nothing there. You have to keep on the road, and some people fled these desolate areas, and then put down roots, because they had the knowledge, they were able to rebuild a life, and some people, again, just take things and move on. We're in the most lawless frontier we've ever done, because sort of the rules of society that we take for granted, they no longer apply.
Okay, so tell me more about the actual characterization of the sisters. Why twins? Why women? Why African-American? What were the decisions behind that?
We've wanted to have a woman as a Far Cry villain for some time, that was one thing. Then our creative director, J.S. [Jean-Sebastien Decant], was really keen on the idea of having a duo, so that became the twins, because it allowed us to sort of shake up the usual Far Cry dynamic of a one-on-one conversation. So not only are they dealing with you, you get to get brought into their world a little bit, and you see how they have each other's backs, but you also see the different ways that they'll react to you as you start to become more and more of a thorn in their side.
In terms of their casting, once we sort of came up with the idea of the Highwaymen, and that these fearsome twin sisters that would lead them, we sent out an open casting just to see what kind of performances we could get back. We really needed two people who could share those scenes, and there were a lot of talented people, but it was Leslie Miller, who plays Lou. She auditioned with a lot of other women, but she was always sort of the anchor that kept everything together. Then separately we had Cara Ricketts, who plays Mickey. We'd worked with her before on Primal. It was another performer that you can just throw anything at her and she just nails it, and when we put them together, their chemistry was instant. We had Lou that was violent and unpredictable, and we had Mickey who had this extreme confidence in just owning a situation. We're just very happy.
I'm disappointed to hear they're not actually cool twins who exist.
No, sadly. We looked, but it just wasn't right. It's hard to describe, but you just know when you've got something.
The reception to Mickey and Lou after the reveal was pretty positive, and a lot of people were a little upset when they actually found out that you weren't playing as them. Is that something that surprised you?
A little bit. Far Cry, I think, is always interesting in the way that the players and the fans have relationships with the villains. Even though they're violent, or they do super questionable things, there's a lot of people that are very fond of them, and even though it's ultimately your destiny to go up against them, there's this affection for them. But no, I'm very happy with the reception that the twins got.
So playing as them or teaming up with them was never a consideration.
No. They were always meant to be the villains.
Why do you think Far Cry needs the "crazy" villain?
I think it's just part of our DNA. The goal is to never create "crazy" for crazy's sake. I think we want every villain to stand alone, and to be like a real person, or real persons in the case of the twins. But I think what unites all the villains, whether a little more out there or sort of grounded like Joseph, is that they are convinced that what they do is the only sane response to the world around them, and they'll have a chance to convince you the player that what they're doing is right. But yeah.
Can you ever see a Far Cry without the larger-than-life villain? Can a Far Cry game work without that aspect?
I can't talk about the future of Far Cry beyond New Dawn, but every time we start a new game everything's on the table, and we sort of see what we have to work with.
Far Cry: New Dawn releases February 15 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
A follow-up to 2010's Rage is one of the last titles I expected to be announced at E3 2018. Rage isn't a bad game per se--it was just an experience that didn't quite hit the same highs of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein. Regardless, Rage 2 arrives later this year as a joint development between id Software and Just Cause 3's Avalanche Studios. It's still too soon to come to any definitive conclusions about Rage 2 as a whole, as the game was in pre-beta when I played it. That said, of the two hours I spent in the game, the combat was a highlight while the title's open world left me with a few misgivings.
The demo did start on a fairly high note. Almost as if taking a queue from Borderlands' transition to Borderlands 2, Rage 2 seems to have a bigger focus on developing its characters in comparison to its predecessor. You get to pick the gender of your character, Walker, for one, and they actually do speak to the people you encounter. "You as Walker is a very classic story, but the bulk of the story really does come from [other characters]," id Software Studio Director Tim Willits said. The town I started in did feel somewhat alive, as the bustle of crowds provided a backdrop to the snippets of conversations I'd overhear as Walker strolled by. I was able to glean bits and pieces of world building as I found my way to the mayor's office; most of which was trivial, but much more preferable to getting a long-winded info dump via cutscene.
Then I actually got out into Rage 2's open world, and the demo started to lose me. Much like its predecessor, Rage 2 is nice to look at. But I didn't want to explore it. The driving mechanics weren't all that easy to use--think the unwieldy vehicles in Borderlands 2--which made traversal over the demo's steep peaks, wide chasms, and blocked bridges into an ordeal. Sure, I never once encountered a loading screen, but when you're not enjoying your time going from one mission to the next, it still feels like you're waiting for something boring to pass so you can get back to the action. Getting the chance to fly the gyrocopter certainly helped alleviate my frustrations, but I left the demo with no confirmation as to when you'll unlock it in the main game. I did see some cliffs and canyons that might have been cool to navigate with a grapple hook or wingsuit--which are staples of the Just Cause series--but Willits said neither piece of equipment would be crossing over into Rage 2.
With how much Rage 2's world feels like Borderlands 2, I can't help but think the game would play better as a co-op experience as well. There's only so much you can do in the open world, both driving and combat-wise, by yourself and having at least one other player to talk to would help fill the long stretches of silence I experienced in Rage 2 outside of the cities and hubs. However, Willits confirmed Rage 2 is an entirely single-player campaign. He did tease Rage 2 would include "a few community things" but did not say what those might be. "We wanted to focus on core combat, we wanted to focus on creating a really great world, and that's where we ended up," he said.
However, despite these negatives, my time with Rage 2 wasn't all bad. I love what I got to experience of the game's combat. In spite of Avalanche's influences, Rage 2 plays very much like an id Software game. The shooting mechanics are fast and fluid. It takes a few minutes to master Walker's double jump, omnidirectional dash, and slide, but the movements are easy enough to pick up. Once you do, you're able to pull off pretty spectacularly brutal kills with your vast collection of weapons, all of which destroy in the same enjoyably gruesome manner as the firearms in 2016's Doom.
When Rage 2's movement and weapons are combined with its other special abilities--Shatter, Vortex, Barrier, Slam, and Overdrive--you become an unstoppable superhero. At first, the close-quarter combat scenarios give you ample opportunities to try out different combinations. You might deal with a group of enemies by using Shatter to crush them against your own Barrier, or throwing out Vortex to drag them all into one spot before leaping up and careening down into them with a crushing Slam. It's gloriously fun, especially when you manage to chain three or more abilities at once, and maybe throw in a few slides, well-timed dashes, or perfect shots as well.
However, as my time with the demo went on, these spectacular moments were occasionally interrupted with fights that took place in larger, more open spaces where the special abilities' short range meant they couldn't be effective. In these instances, I'd typically start a fight in a cool, explosive way before having to fall into a more traditional FPS pattern of dashing from cover to cover while firing the assault rifle at enemies as they came into range. After smashing into an encampment like a superpowered juggernaut, it was disappointing to resort to something slower and more methodical while in open spaces. Carefully measuring a shot doesn't feel very Rage-like. I wanted more fights like what I found at the demo's start, where enemies were trapped in a room or maze-like structure with Walker as she murderously roared at the top of her lungs and dished out constant servings of explosive destruction. Those battles were fantastic, and I really hope the full game is built around more moments like them.
Rage 2 is scheduled to launch on May 14 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You'll net a few freebies for pre-ordering the game.
Recent Articles:
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website.
No comments:
Post a Comment