The newest free game being given away on the Epic Game Store is Axiom Verge. First releasing in 2015, Axiom Verge proved popular with fans with its gripping science fiction narrative and Metroidvania-inspired mechanics.
Axiom Verge will be free to download on the Epic Game Store until February 21, but it's yours to keep and play forever once you have. All you need to do is create an Epic account on the company's store page, sign-in, and then you can download the game. It's worth keeping your account around if you want more games, because after Axiom Verge, the Epic Games Store will start offering the excellent Thimbleweed Park for free.
In our Axiom Verge review, Peter Brown gave the game an 8/10, writing, "Axiom Verge is a game that's easy to fall in love with because it hits so many high notes. It takes the Metroidvania model and adds layers of ingenuity that are in a league all of their own, the most notable being the Address Disruptor. Yes it's occasionally drab looking, and some enemies may not fit in with the rest of the world, but when a game is this good, these blemishes quickly fade into the back of your mind. The chilling sci-fi setting, mysterious plot, and a seemingly endless number of abilities keep your mind busy, and your curiosity at fever pitch. It's not a stretch to say that Axiom Verge is better than the games that inspired it, because it's so inventive and thoughtfully crafted. There's no excuse to hold onto the past when the present is this amazing."
The Epic Store is one of the more recent additions to the competition challenging Valve's dominance over the PC gaming market with Steam. Epic has been in the news recently for its habit of securing major exclusives away from Steam, such as Metro Exodus and The Division 2. Valve described Epic's acquisition of the former as "unfair" for players, and the decision to not launch the game on Steam has stirred quite a bit of controversy. Exodus isn't the only major title coming out in the next month that won't launch on Steam, as additional games like Anthem and Crackdown 3 are releasing exclusively on other stores.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 will still use James Gunn's script, according to star Chris Pratt. Gunn had been primarily responsible for bringing Guardians to the big screen, having written and directed both previous films before being fired from the third.
Pratt, who plays the Guardians leader Star-Lord, confirmed that the project is on and will use Gunn's script in an interview with MTV News. At the same time, he shared mixed emotions about how he feels moving forward with this last installment without Gunn leading the project as director.
"Well, I love James. I'm loyal to James and I love him so much," Pratt said. "We're gonna deliver the movie, we're gonna give the fans what they deserve. I think it's in the nature of the Guardians of the Galaxy to come together and get the job done. And that's what we'll do."
The director isn't short on big-budget superhero projects, though. Marvel's loss was DC's gain, as Warner Bros. brought him on to write the next Suicide Squad film. He may also direct it, though that is unconfirmed as of this time. Bautista has expressed interest in appearing in the Suicide Squad film as well.
Following his guest appearance in SoulCalibur VI, The Witcher 3's Geralt of Rivia is venturing into Capcom's hit action RPG, Monster Hunter World. The White Wolf will arrive as a free update for the PS4 and Xbox One versions today, February 7 (with a PC release to follow later), and he'll come alongside new Witcher-inspired quests.
The update is scheduled to go live at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET (12 AM GMT on February 8). Capcom hasn't shared many details yet on what the new quests will entail, but the publisher says they'll have "a unique flavor, blending the RPG mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with Monster Hunter World's game systems."
According to Capcom, the Witcher collaboration event was developed closely with CD Projekt Red, the studio behind the Witcher series and the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077. Geralt's original voice actor was also brought in to provide new voice over work for the collaboration.
Geralt arrives in the midst of Monster Hunter World's first anniversary event, the Appreciation Fest. The event will continue to run on all platforms until February 21, and it brings back most of the game's previous Event Quests alongside some new ones. Players can also craft new anniversary gear sets for their hunters and Palicos.
Monster Hunter World has been a huge critical and commercial success for Capcom since it launched last January. The publisher recently revealed the title has sold more than 11 million copies world. Its positive critical reception also helped Capcom claim the honor of being Metacritic's top publisher of 2018.
Capcom still has a lot more new content planned for Monster Hunter World. This fall, the publisher will release Iceborne, a major paid expansion that will introduce new monsters to hunt, locales to explore, gear to craft, and other content.
The beta for The Division 2 is now live, so you can explore the burned-out wreckage of a post-apocalyptic Washington DC for a limited time. This is a private beta, so you'll need to have gotten in through a pre-order for the game, or having been randomly selected for entry after signing up online.
The beta includes two main missions, five side missions, some open-world activities, and one of the three new Dark Zones. The beta will add an extra piece of endgame content, called an Invaded mission, on February 8 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 4 PM GMT. The player cap for the beta will be level 30.
The first Division took place in New York City, following the outbreak of a bio-engineered virus. The mastermind behind the biological attack put the infection on dollar bills that circulated during Black Friday and subsequent heavy shopping days, which spread the virus quickly. The city quickly descended into chaos and was quarantined, and a secret cabal of sleeper agents--the titular Division--were dispatched to restore order. This sequel takes place in the nation's capital, which apparently didn't fare much better.
Check out everything we know for more details on the beta and details on how to get in and read up on how Dark Zones have changed. Microsoft recently announced two Xbox One bundles that will come packaged with The Division 2. The full game releases on March 15.
A war rages on for centuries between the powers of light and dark. After strife and sorrow, the light prevails in a veritable burst of glory that changes the course of the world forever. However, life goes on, and adventurers rise from the rubble of the old world to claim their fortune. This is where you come in. Considered the lowest of the low on the mercenary food chain, you harbor a dark secret and a tragic past: You've made a pact with an evil draconic legacy that seeks to disrupt the world anew. Unfortunately, you have to be a somebody to set things right, and so begins the true saga of many a video game protagonist--murder, mayhem, and fetch quests. Dragon Marked for Death delivers on all three fronts with colorful aplomb, but if you're looking for a solid single-player experience, then your prize is likely in another castle.
Inti Creates' latest offers a classic side-scrolling multiplayer action experience that will be instantly familiar--the studio is intimately acquainted with some of the most famous titles of the genre, such as Mega Man and Azure Striker Gunvolt, and Dragon Marked for Death appears to contain the necessary components for success. The big point of difference is the elegant anime visuals sprinkled on top of retro fantasy, which make it feel like a more original conception. It's a nice, modern facelift on the bare bones of Azure Striker Gunvolt, albeit with a less-stylised UI and a statistic display familiar to any RPG fan.
There are four distinct classes, all with their own quirks and charms, and each of the game's levels can be traversed in different ways that let you make the most of your character's capabilities. The Shinobi and the Empress classes, in particular, have gap-closing abilities that allow them to flit across stages with deadly efficiency, while the Warrior and Witch have far more situational movement inputs that open up the map in more indirect ways. Dragon Marked for Death differentiates these classes by difficulty, and this is evident in the way that the title has been released on the Nintendo eShop. There are two versions: Frontline Fighters (containing the Warrior and the Empress) and Advanced Attackers (containing the Shinobi and the Witch). In order to acquire the classes that your chosen version is missing, you'll need to buy them as additional DLC.
As indicated by the names of each release, some of the classes are better suited to getting hot and heavy up close. The Warrior is the most robust and is well-suited to living through absolutely everything that could be thrown at you. The Empress strikes a balance between mobility, damage options, and defensive capability--the perfect class for beginners. On the other hand, the Shinobi is more of a glass cannon, blessed with speed and damage in spades. And the Witch, potentially the most rewarding class to use if you can handle it, has powerful spell combinations entered with button sequences that you have to memorize, all locked inside someone with the physical constitution of wet tissue.
In solo play, it's easy to identify where things could get a little hairy for each class. Enemies are relentless in their pursuit of your character once they spot you, and each level sees you facing off against a variety of minions and sub-bosses that all have one single-minded focus: your destruction. You face down ogres who spew fire, cut a swathe through the bellies of seafaring monsters large enough to drown entire ships, and dodge bullets that take away your ability to control your movement. If you're advancing through the maps as they become available, each one will feel like a challenge and an exercise in how you manage both your class and your time. No matter which class you pick up, going toe to toe with the baddies is rewarding once you figure out the intricacies of damage dealing. Whether it's suped-up spells that wipe out everything in a five-mile radius, knowing when to deploy a shield in that split-second between life and death, or running up walls and gleefully skewering your foes, there's an interesting game plan for every character in Dragon Marked For Death.
Do you kill as many mobs as possible for experience and money? Do you skip all of the minor enemies in order to head straight for the sub-bosses at the cost of missing out on healing opportunities? If you run out of time on a level it's Game Over, and if you run out of your vitality, it's also a rude kick back to the starting line. Dragon Marked for Death forces you to find a strategy that works for you, and the timers are just tight enough that you're incentivized to learn the layout of maps and the quirks of the enemies inhabiting them if you want a chance at success. You repeat levels at different difficulties as you get stronger, farming missions for experience and for the gold to equip yourself with better weapons, all so you can chip away at the seemingly immovable wall of at-level quests to progress the story. This is essentially the gameplay loop that is fundamental to the title--grinding.
A frustrating difficulty curve emerges when venturing solo, and even if you're accustomed to this kind of loop, it's a bitter pill to swallow compared to the experience provided by the multiplayer mode. Each classes' distinct identity makes it feel like they've been designed for the sole purpose of filling a party role in an MMORPG, since their strengths and weaknesses are complementary. Playing as just one without any backup feels incredibly limiting--you aren't capable of much in the face of high stakes.
Luckily, linking up in multiplayer with your friends is as seamless as jumping into single-player. You need a Nintendo Online subscription if you're worlds apart, or simply flip to the local multiplayer menu if you're sitting next to each other. It's as easy as dropping in and out of a party, with the leader selecting what maps to tackle. After you finish a stage, you're returned to the map selection screen so you can jump right back into the action, and it's that kind of action that will keep you coming back for more.
Multiplayer is compelling because the classes work better in tandem--tank characters keeping the heat off damage dealers always results in a boss dying quicker--and levels feel less deadly when the Witch can focus on blasting through anything and everything with a Warrior to cover her from any fatal damage. In later stages, single-player requires an amount of dedication to the grind that can suck the fun out of the encounters, especially when you have had a taste of co-op and can spot moments where having a party would have helped save your bacon.
Akin to the classes themselves, the levels were clearly designed with multiplayer in mind. Because of the varied ways in which maps can be explored, including hidden segments that can be tricky to navigate if you don't have a particular movement skill or the sufficient patience to figure out an alternative route, having more than one class in play at a time helps make those closed-off areas feel more accessible. The relentlessness of your foes is another thing which makes the single-player experience feel a little less than well-balanced in difficulty if you're tackling new content as soon as you unlock it; you won't have sufficient items or perhaps the know-how to navigate certain levels. As the Witch in particular, you only learn certain elemental spells when hitting level thresholds, which can leave you at a type disadvantage for longer than is necessary. What smoothes out all those little bumps, however, is another player to take the heat off you, and the experience bonus granted from multiplayer also sweetens that deal.
Overall, Dragon Marked for Death is a polished experience that draws on a lot of existing genre sensibilities, but with a heavy focus on aspects that make for a good co-op experience. The classes are thematically coherent and entertainingly distinct, and the levels are just varied enough that gliding through one for the first time is always aurally and visually pleasing. The unbalanced single-player experience is a big sticking point, but if you have friends who are willing to take up the Dragonblood mantle with you, then there are few action platformers more entertaining.
Week 10's challenges for Season 7 of Fortnite are now available, and one of them asks you to visit Expedition Outposts. This tasks may be familiar to you, as it's been used multiple times in the season. However, if you're still not intimately familiar with their locations, we're here to lend a helping hand. Below you'll find a guide on how and where to find the Expedition Outposts--something you'll need to do four times in a single match.
Expedition Outposts can be seen on the map as little red dots. In the actual game they appear as small red bunkers with a little globe icon on them. You can usually spot them by looking for the X-4 Stormwing planes that are often scattered around the outposts.
All you've got to do to complete the challenge is to find the outposts and pass through the area. When you do so, you'll see your progress towards completing the challenge tick up. The tricky part is getting to all of them in a single match. We recommend jumping in a plane and flying between them, as that lowers the chances of being taken out by an enemy player. And you don't have to actually land the plane, as simply flying through the area is enough to count towards the challenge.
To make things easier, we've got a list of bunker locations below, as well as a map to show your their exact locations. You can also watch the video above to see us complete the challenge.
Expedition Outpost Locations
Southeast of Lazy Links (F3)
Northeast of Pleasant Park (D3)
Southwest of Pleasant Park (C4)
West of Dusty Divot (F5)
West of Lonely Lodge (I5)
West of Paradise Palms
South of Shifty Shafts (D8)
According to Fortnite developer Epic's website, Season 7 of Fortnite is set to end on February 28. You don't have much time left to complete all the challenges from the season and unlock the cosmetics, but you can use our complete Season 7 challenges roundup to get it done quicker.
Epic recently launched Fortnite's 7.30 content update, and it introduced a new weapon called the Bottle Rocket, which unleashes a salvo of explosives on structures when thrown. Bottle Rockets can be found in stacks of two in floor loot or chests, Vending Machines, Supply Llamas, and Supply Drops. You can read Fortnite update 7.30's full patch notes to see what else it does.
PES 2019's big data pack 4.0 update is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, adding a bunch of cosmetic options to the sports sim--and making a few gameplay tweaks, too.
Headlining the update is the addition of Celtic Park and Ibrox as new stadiums, along with plenty of player faces for Rangers' and Celtic's squads. More than 70 player faces are included in the update, including some from the biggest leagues around the world. Finally, new boots from Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Umbro have been added, as well as the Thailand national team's official kits.
Before the release of #DP4 tomorrow, take a look at some of the player faces updates from the English League and Eredivisie. #PES2019pic.twitter.com/TTSnjKoDfC
Data Pack 4 launches alongside the announcement of new Legends coming to PES 2019's MyClub mode later this month. Hidetoshi Nakata, Park Ji-Sung, and Francesco Totti will be available in-game as part of MyClub's February campaign.
PES 2019--as with many recent titles in the series--has been a critical success. When it launched in August last year, we awarded it a 9/10 in our PES 2019 review. "For as long as EA continues to develop FIFA and hold a monopoly over official licences, PES will be the scrappy underdog just hoping for a surprise upset, even when it's fielding the likes of London Blue and PV White Red," wrote our critic, Richard Wakeling. "The lack of licences for top-tier leagues remains a disheartening sticking point, but PES continues to make brilliant strides on the pitch, building on what was already an incredibly satisfying game of football to produce one of the greatest playing football games of all time. It might be lacking off the pitch, but put it on the field against the competition and a famous giant killing wouldn't be all that surprising."
We're now in Fortnite Season 7, Week 10, which means there isn't long left until the season comes to a close and a new one begins. While that's sure to include an exciting upheaval on the island following this week's new patch, it also means that time is running out to get the Battle Pass rewards for Season 7. But before you start wrapping up challenges from previous weeks, let's get the latest batch completed.
As always, challenges are split into two categories, with one set available to all players and a second set exclusively for those that have spent money on a Battle Pass. Completing said challenges will reward you with Battle Stars, which in turn level up your free or paid Battle Pass and unlock cosmetic rewards. Easy peasy.
In the free section for Week 10, players will need to place a Mounted Turret or a Damage Trap in three different matches for five Battle Stars. After that it's on to search seven chests at Lazy Links or Dusty Divot for five Battle Stars, and then three Assault Rife eliminations for 10 Battle Stars.
For those with a paid Battle Pass, challenges involve doing 200 points of damage with Scoped Weapons for five Battle Stars, getting a score of five or more at the Shooting Gallery east of Wailing Woods (this is part one of a three-part challenge), visiting four Expedition Outposts in a single match, and hitting three opponents with a Chiller Grenade or Boogie Bomb in different matches.
Free
Place a Mounted Turret or a Damage Trap in different matches (3) -- 5 Battle Stars
Search Chests at Lazy Links or Dusty Divot (7) -- 5 Battle Stars
Assault Rifle eliminations (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Deal damage with Scoped Weapons to opponents (200) -- 5 Battle Stars
Get a score of 5 or more at the Shooting Gallery east of Wailing Woods (1) -- 1 Battle Star
Visit Expedition Outposts in a single match (4) -- 10 Battle Stars
Hit an opponent with a Chiller Grenade or Boogie Bomb in different matches (3) -- 10 Battle Stars
It seems the preparations for Fortnite Season 8 have already begun. Players have noticed that earthquakes are occurring in-game, with tremors shaking the island mid-match. Dataminers previous discovered audio files labeled as "small," "med," and "lrg," indicating that these tremors are going to get worse. Presumably this will in turn lead to the type of map-changing event that we've seen kick off the past few seasons.
Season 7 of Fortnite is scheduled to come to a close on February 28, according to Epic's website. That's your deadline on completing challenges from previous weeks, but you can get tips and guides from our complete Season 7 challenges roundup to speed things up.
In recent years, AMD has been in a position to react to Nvidia in the graphics card landscape. The RX Vega 64, which launched in August 2017, was an answer to the high-end GTX 1080 that first hit the market in May 2016. This time around, AMD's schedule isn't as far behind; the new Radeon VII is AMD's answer to Nvidia's RTX 2080 that came out in September 2018. And just like RX Vega, Radeon VII isn't here to blow Nvidia's lineup out of the water, rather, it's a viable option to compete with the newest generation of GeForce cards.
AMD isn't rolling out fancy new graphics technologies like Nvidia did with RTX's real-time ray tracing or AI-powered supersampling (aka DLSS) for gaming, as those technologies are specifically tuned for Nvidia's Turing GPU architecture. But what AMD does offer is a significant improvement over its previous generation with a more efficient version of the Vega architecture, a ton of video memory (VRAM), and improved video encoding for content creators. In this review, however, we'll be measuring performance in eight graphically demanding PC games to see how it stacks against other cards. At $700 USD, the Radeon VII shares the same suggested retail price as the RTX 2080. And as you'll see from our tests below, while AMD's new card stays competitive, its raw performance doesn't quite justify the price point.
A closer look at the Radeon VII card and its sleek silver aluminum shroud with a triple-fan cooling system. See the card from all angles in the gallery below.
Radeon VII is the first consumer-level video card built with the 7nm manufacturing process, which allowed AMD to create the smallest GPU die yet. The shrunken die translates to better efficiency; higher clock speeds, more room for memory on the GPU, and better performance per watt. You can see this in the tech specs alone: Radeon VII sports base GPU clock of 1400MHz and boost clock of 1750MHz, while Vega 64 runs a base and boost clock of 1274MHz and 1546MHz, respectively. When it comes to VRAM, Radeon VII boasts 16GB of HBM2 since it's able to fit two additional stacks, resulting in memory bandwidth of 1TB/s as opposed to Vega 64's 8GB of HBM2 and 483 GB/s memory bandwidth.
A closer look at the GPU die in the new Radeon VII video card (right) compared to the RX Vega 64 (left).
When using RX Vega 64 as a comparison, Radeon VII looks a lot more efficient by offering better clock speeds and memory configuration with a smaller die. But its 300-watt TDP indicates that we're still working with a power-hungry card, especially considering the RTX 2080's 215-watt TDP (225-watt for Founders Edition).
Specs and Methodology
For the purposes of testing the new AMD Radeon VII card, we used a high-end test bench equipped with the following specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K CPU (6-core/12-thread, 3.7 GHz)
To paint a clearer picture of where the Radeon VII stands against other high-end options, we tested five video cards in total for this this review:
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Founders Edition)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 (Founders Edition)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Founders Edition)
AMD Radeon VII (Reference Card)
AMD RX Vega 64 (Reference Card)
Note: At the time of testing, we used the latest GeForce driver version 418.81 for Nvidia cards and the pre-release Radeon Software version 18.50.15.02 for AMD cards.
The RTX 2080 was included since it's the most direct competitor (and in the same price tier as the Radeon VII), and we brought in the GTX 2080 Ti to see how wide the gap is between AMD's new top-end GPU and Nvidia's best consumer-level card. Also included is nvidia's previous generation powerhouse in the GTX 1080 Ti that still stands strong. And of course AMD's previous flagship card, RX Vega 64, was tested alongside Radeon VII to see just how much of a generational bump the new card has to offer.
For measuring performance, we chose eight games featuring comprehensive in-game benchmark tools that are representative of the more graphically demanding side of PC gaming. Since we're working with high-end video cards, resolutions of 4K and 1440p were tested while using the highest quality settings available in each game. The results can be seen below.
Benchmark Results
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Ubisoft knows how to make a beautiful open world using the latest advanced graphics options that push your hardware, evident with Assassin's Creed Odyssey. To get our results, we used the built-in benchmark test that does a fly-by of the expansive landscape of Ancient Greece. We also used the "Ultra High" graphics preset which includes maxed out character detail, volumetric clouds, environmental quality, temporal anti-aliasing (TAA), and so much more.
At 4K, the Radeon VII performs nearly identically to the RTX 2080 with both cards getting an average of 40 FPS and 41 FPS, respectively. However, AMD's new card trails behind at 1440p with the RTX 2080 managing a seven-frame (or 11.7%) advantage. This also means the Radeon VII performs on par with the GTX 1080 Ti at 1440p, though it does offer a slight bump in 4K. Compared to the RX Vega 64, the Radeon VII offers a 25% and 33.3% performance boost in 4K and 1440p, respectively.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is another visual showcase with robust graphics options and a built-in benchmark tool that takes you through vast, detailed environments. Using the "Highest" graphics preset, we have visual effects like volumetric lighting, HBAO+, tessellation, and great-looking shadows along with TAA to help clean up image quality.
The Radeon VII gets averages of 44 FPS in 4K and 81 FPS in 1440p; this comes close to matching the RTX 2080 in average FPS, as Nvidia's card leads by a handful of frames (6% in 4K and 7% in 1440p). This also means that the Radeon VII beats out the GTX 1080 Ti by just a hair, and outperforms Vega 64 by 25.7% in 4K and 26.6% in 1440p.
Forza Horizon 4
The Forza Horizon series has always had beautiful landscapes in open worlds for you to whip around and race your custom-tuned cars. Horizon 4 is the best example of that, and thankfully it comes with an in-game benchmark that takes you through a full race with crowds, weather effects, and scenic views.
The Radeon VII has some trouble keeping up in 4K as the RTX 2080 overtakes it by 15.7% and GTX 1080 Ti by 13.7%. The gap closes in 1440p since both aforementioned Nvidia cards only lead by 5% each. But between AMD generations, the Radeon VII zooms past the RX Vega 64 by 24.4% in 4K and 19.4% in 1440p.
Final Fantasy XV
Square Enix offers the Final Fantasy XV benchmark tool for free, so those who don't have the game can still see how well their system performs in one of the best-looking RPGs to date. The test itself is lengthy and takes you across Eos in the Regalia, through a few battles, and to a campsite where Ignis cooks up a tasty dish. However, the test itself doesn't give you FPS results or a performance breakdown and instead spits out a total score. A general rule of thumb for this test is to divide the score by 100 to get a rough estimate of the average FPS.
AMD cards don't do particularly well in Final Fantasy XV, evident in the fact that the Radeon VII lags behind the RTX 2080 by 42% at 4K and 45.6% at 1440p. It doesn't come all that close to the GTX 1080 Ti either. Radeon VII does offer a 16.2% and 18.6% bump over the Vega 64 at 4K and 1440p, respectively.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
2017's Middle-earth: Shadow of War offers a variety of graphics options that let you crank up things like ambient occlusion and tessellation; the game also comes with a good benchmark tool that showcases several effects and large crowds in a short camera fly-by. We used the Ultra quality preset and TAA for antialiasing.
Here, the Radeon VII edges out the GTX 1080 Ti ever-so-slightly by one FPS in both resolutions, but gets beaten by the RTX 2080 by 9.6% in 4K and 11.9% in 1440p. As for improvement over last generation, the Radeon VII offers a boost of 23.8% in 4K and 21.7% in 1440p.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a resource-heavy game with all its eye candy cranked up. It offers a ton of options like tessellation, high-quality ambient occlusion, cloth physics, contact hardening shadows and a whole lot more. The in-game benchmark sequence takes you through a marketplace in Golem City where character models, lighting, and shadows come into play, and it gave us our results here.
This is one game where the Radeon VII performs identically to the RTX 2080 in both 4K and 1440p, which means it gets a slight lead on the GTX 1080 Ti by just a few FPS. Compared to its predecessor, the Radeon VII shows a 30% and 23.2% improvement in 4K and 1440p, respectively.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V doesn't have any presets in the graphics options, so we tinkered with the settings ourselves. We set everything to Very High, used PCSS soft shadows, applied 4x MSAA along with FXAA. Despite being an older game, GTA V can still push high-end systems when running 4K resolution. The in-game benchmark tool runs five different sequences, each with their own average FPS, so took the average of all those sequences for the final result.
At 4K, the Radeon VII almost keeps up with the RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti, only trailing by a few FPS. However, the gap slightly widens at 1440p with the AMD card behind the 1080 Ti by 11.2% and 2080 by 9%. Radeon VII does make a significant jump of 48.5% at 4K and 38.1% at 1440p compared to last gen's Vega 64.
Metro: Last Light
While Metro: Last Light is the oldest game of the bunch, it can still stress powerful PCs when you throw supersampling into the mix at high resolutions. The game's benchmark tool takes you through a slow motion fly-by of the game's final fight sequence that has special effects and many character models all at once.
The Radeon VII trails both the RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 Ti by 14.7% at 4K but closes the gap slightly in 1440p just behind the 1080 Ti by 8.8% and the 2080 by 11.8%. When put against the Vega 64, the Radeon VII pulls ahead by 30.8% at 4K and 28.3% at 1440p.
Temperatures
Of all five cards in our review, the Radeon VII unfortunately takes the cake when it comes to load temperature. When accounting for Radeon VII's high TDP, it would be expected for it to run hot, but with a whopping peak load temperature of 104 C, it surpasses every other card by a longshot. Thankfully, this didn't result in any functional issues, but those who want to run a cool system should take note. Radeon VII's cooling solution may not the best for keeping temperatures down, but its fans stay fairly quiet.
Video Card
Idle Temp (Celsius)
Load Temp (Celsius)
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti
31 C
78 C
Nvidia RTX 2080
30 C
75 C
Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
36 C
85 C
AMD Radeon VII
34 C
104 C
AMD RX Vega 64
37 C
84 C
Load temperature measurements were obtained via CPUID HWMonitor when performing the Assassin's Creed Odyssey benchmark.
Verdict
The scope of our tests intended to cover how the card handles graphically demanding games relative to AMD's previous generation and the competition. It's fair to say that the Radeon VII isn't a slouch, as it puts up in-game performance numbers close to the RTX 2080.
Those who want to stay within the AMD ecosystem should be happy to know that the Radeon VII can handle games in 4K at high settings with playable framerates, which shows significant improvement over RX Vega 64. If you have your eyes set on 4K display or high refresh rate 1440p FreeSync monitor, Radeon VII is of course the best option from AMD. Also keep in mind that future AMD drivers may help with optimizations or improved performance, but that's something we have to see develop software matures.
However, the bummer is that at the Radeon VII costs $700, the same as the RTX 2080. So, it's tough to make a compelling case for Radeon VII given the performance metrics, efficiency, and price point of your other option. You can't help but wonder why one would choose to go with AMD's current offering when Nvidia is paving the way for new tech like real-time ray tracing and DLSS, both of which look like promising features as more games adopt them. In addition, support for Nvidia hardware using adaptive sync (or FreeSync) continues to grow, further sweetening the deal for those strictly looking for the best value in a GPU for PC gaming.
If anything, Radeon VII gives AMD an avenue to challenge Nvidia in the high-end graphics card space, and it's a necessary competitor, especially if AMD decides to be more flexible and offer aggressive pricing in the future.
There are few authors whose work has been as consistently and successfully adapted as Stephen King. The huge success of 2017's It proved that movies of King's work are as popular as ever, and the It sequel is due later this year. Ahead of that, we have a new version of his classic 1983 book Pet Sematary, and the latest trailer has now released.
While the first trailer was more interested in establishing a spooky mood, this one sets up the plot. We see the Creed family moving into a new house near some old woods and hearing stories about local kids who buried their dead pets in a makeshift cemetery (with a misspelt sign). A tragedy occurs and soon the family find themselves involved in some very dark supernatural events. Be warned--the trailer gives away some important plot developments. Check it out above.
Pet Sematary stars Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), John Lithgow (The Crown, Dexter), and Amy Seimetz (Alien: Covenant, Stranger Things). It's directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, who previously helmed the acclaimed 2014 indie horror Starry Eyes, and it hits theaters on April 5, 2019. The first adaptation of Pet Sematary was released in 1989.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Clarke spoke about what drew him to the project. "[It's] more than a horror movie," he said. "I was like, 'Where's the horror? I'm disturbed.' That was it for me, I found it insanely disturbing. [King] reaches inside you in some way, he always does. There is great intellect and great subconscious and subtext and thought and reason behind it."
It: Chapter Two, meanwhile, is set to arrive in September. The movie is set 30 years after the first film, and it follows the adult versions of the kids in the original. It's directed by Andy Muschietti once more, who marked the end of shooting last year with this behind-the-scenes image.
Assassin's Creed III: Remastered's release date has finally been announced, but so far it doesn't look like it's coming to Switch--despite those recent rumors. The game launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 29.
Alongside Assassin's Creed III is a remastered edition ofAssassin's Creed III: Liberation--once a PS Vita exclusive--and the Tyranny of King Washington DLC series. Together, the collection features 4K HDR upgrades on PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and PC, as well as "higher resolution textures, a new graphics engine and several other graphical enhancements." The collection can be bought standalone, but it's also included for no extra cost in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey season pass.
Multiple retailer listings had suggested an Assassin's Creed collection was to launch for Nintendo Switch this month. Ubisoft's press release confirming Assassin's Creed III: Remastered's launch date for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, however, fails to mention a Switch version. GameSpot contacted Ubisoft for clarification on whether the remaster will come to Switch and was again told the publisher would not comment on rumors or speculation.
Assassin's Creed III was first released for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U in 2012. We awarded the game an 8.5/10 in our Assassin's Creed III review; critic Kevin VanOrd said it "expands the series' gameplay in enjoyable and sensible ways."
The legendary private eye John Shaft is back. The latest reboot of the classic '70s Blaxploitation classic features three generations of Shaft--original star Richard Roundtree and the 2000 remake's Samuel L Jackson are joined by newcomer Jessie Usher. The first trailer has now been released.
The trailer see Jackson's John Shaft meeting his son again after what seems to be a long time. Inevitably the pair soon find themselves involved in a dangerous, action-packed adventure, much to the disapproval of the youngest Shaft's mom, played by Regina Hall (Girls' Trip). Roundtree also appears, and he's just as badass as either of the younger Shafts; we'll ignore the fact that Roundtree is actually only six years older than Jackson, and plays his dad. Check the trailer out above.
Shaft is directed by Tim Story, who previously helmed Ride Along and its sequel, Barbershop, and the 2005's Fantastic Four movie. It also stars Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse) and Method Man (Luke Cage, Peppermind). It hits theaters on June 14.
The first Shaft was released in 1971 and was a huge box office success. It was followed by two sequels--Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa--and helped create the popular wave of Blaxploitation movies over the next few years.
Jackson will next be seen as Nick Fury in the upcoming Captain Marvel. The latest MCU movie arrives in March and a new trailer was released this week.
By Anonymous on Feb 07, 2019 03:30 pm We got our hands on the Devil May Cry 5 preview and had fun playing through it's three main characters. Here's all of them in some wild action. Captured on Xbox One X
By Anonymous on Feb 07, 2019 03:30 pm Capcom's beloved character action series is known for fast and frenetic gameplay, but its newest character mixes up the formula in a big way for Devil May Cry 5 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
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