After publisher EA shared details of the new planet headed to Star Wars Battlefront II, developer DICE has outlined what else will join Felucia when it debuts in the game's upcoming Cooperation update, which is set to launch on September 25 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.In an EA blog post, DICE confirmed that Star Wars Battlefront II will get a new playable character, two additional game modes, and a new look for Luke Skywalker alongside the release of Felucia this Wednesday.The Galactic Republic's Clone Commando is equipped with the DC-17m Repeating Blaster Rifle that has an Anti-Armor Attachment. Commando's also have a repulsor mounted to their left arm that releases a powerful shockwave capable of knocking enemies off their feet. Their Battle Focus Ability replenishes health when dealing damage to enemies at the same time, while also giving neaby allies a damage reduction buff.Playing offline against AI-controlled enemies makes an appearance in Star Wars Battlefront II in the form of Instant Action. In tow with this new game mode is Co-Op, a mode similar to Instant Action that lets you team up with three other players to battle the AI. Both are expected to launch on Clone Wars-era maps.Finally, Luke Skywalker will get the new Farmboy attire set, the clothing he wore when first introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Between October 11-18, Star Wars Battlefront II will hold a special in-game challenge to eliminate 150 AI enemies in Co-Op. Doing set nets you Farmboy Luke Skywalker. Also between the same timeframe, Darth Maul’s “KENOBI!” emote will be a reward for those who capture 15 command posts in a Capital Supremacy match on Felucia.While details are still under wraps, DICE did confirm that more content is coming to Star Wars Battlefront II later this year. With Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker landing in theatres this winter, DICE said it has "content tied" to the holiday's highly-anticipated Star Wars triology conclusion.Info from Gamespot.com

This is a fantastic week for both horror and comedy, if you're subscribed to streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Shudder. Check out everything that's arriving this week on those services.The biggest release this week is on AMC's horror-themed streaming service, Shudder. Creepshow is an anthology horror series based on the 1982 George A. Romero/Stephen King film of the same name. Each week, two new chilling stories from established and up-and-coming horror creators will appear on each episode. The first episode arrives on Thursday.In my review of the first episode of Creepshow, I said, "Creepshow is more than your average horror television series. It speaks in multitudes about horror in general. It's more than bloody, mutilated bodies and adult content. Horror, as a genre, can take many forms. While these stories and styles within the first episode of Creepshow may not appeal to everyone, Shudder's new series is a love letter to horror as a whole."Additionally, Shudder is releasing a couple other horror movies on Monday, and both Hulu and Amazon Prime Video will have American Horror Story: Apocalypse arrive on Tuesday.As far as comedy goes, the Season 4 premiere of The Good Place comes to Hulu on Friday. It's a huge bummer that this is the final season of the hit NBC series, but it's hard to complain when the show has been consistently brilliant. Both the South Park and The Goldbergs season premieres hit Hulu on Thursday, so there's more than enough to check out.If you're into football, the NFL is coming to Amazon on Thursday evening, live. The Philadelphia Eagles head to Green Bay, Wisconsin to take on the undefeated Packers in what should be a fantastic game.Below, you'll find everything coming to Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Shudder for the week. For more information, see what's coming to Netflix this week as well as October's release schedule for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.What's new to Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, & Shudder this week?Monday, September 23ShudderTwins of Evil (Director: John Hough)Vampire Circus (Director: Robert Young)Tuesday, September 24Amazon Prime VideoAmerican Horror Story: ApocalypseHulu9-1-1: Season 3 Premiere (FOX)American Horror Story: Apocalypse: Complete Season 8 (FX)Bluff City Law: Series Premiere (NBC)Prodigal Son: Series Premiere (FOX)The Good Doctor: Season 3 Premiere (ABC)The Voice: Season 17 Premiere (NBC)ShudderOne Cut of the DeadWednesday, September 25HuluBlack-ish: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)Bless This Mess: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)Emergence: Series Premiere (ABC)Empire: Season 6 Premiere (FOX)Mixed-ish: Series Premiere (ABC)New Amsterdam: Season 2 Premiere (NBC)The Conners: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)The Resident: Season 3 Premiere (FOX)This Is Us: Season 4 Premiere (NBC)Thursday, September 26Amazon Prime VideoThursday Night Football: Philadelphia Eagles @ Green Bay Packers (NFL)HuluChicago Fire: Season 8 Premiere (NBC)Chicago Med: Season 5 Premiere (NBC)Chicago P.D.: Season 7 Premiere (NBC)Modern Family: Season 11 Premiere (ABC)Schooled: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)Single Parents: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)South Park: Season 23 Premiere (Comedy Central)Stumptown: Series Premiere (ABC)The Goldbergs: Season 7 Premiere (ABC)The Masked Singer: Season 2 Premiere (FOX)ShudderCreepshow Season 1Friday, September 27Amazon Prime VideoRango (2011)Transparent Musicale Finale – Amazon Original seriesHuluA Million Little Things: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)Grey’s Anatomy: Season 16 Premiere (ABC)How to Get Away With Murder: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)Law & Order: SVU: Season 21 Premiere (NBC)Perfect Harmony: Series Premiere (NBC)Sunnyside: Series Premiere (NBC)Superstore: Season 5 Premiere (NBC)The Good Place: Season 4 Premiere (NBC)Saturday, September 28HuluAmerican Housewife: Season 4 Premiere (ABC)Fresh Off the Boat: Season 6 Premiere (ABC)Rango (2011) Info from Gamespot.com

Microsoft has announced its next Inside Xbox presentation, and it sounds like a big one. The company has already previewed what we can expect from this stream, and it includes more details on tech initiatives, the upcoming X019 event, another round of Xbox Game Pass games for subscribers, and a lot more on other upcoming releases.Inside Xbox (September 24) Start Times3 PM PT6 PM ET11 PM BST8 AM AEST (September 25)According to Microsoft's announcement, the event will have the latest details on Project xCloud and roll out ticketing information for X019. It will share the next round of Game Pass titles that subscribers can expect, to join the ones announced through September 26. It will also feature an interview with Jon Bernthal, star of Ghost Recon Breakpoint.The company also name-dropped several games we can expect to make an appearance in one way or another. Those include The Outer Worlds, the game being put out by the newly-acquired Obsidian Entertainment. It's being published by Private Division even though Microsoft has acquired the developer, but Microsoft is still giving it headliner treatment on its stream and offering it through Game Pass. Other games slated for an appearance include Atlas, DayZ, Hitman 2, Afterparty, Code Vein, Felix the Reaper, and Children of Morta.To watch it all go down live, bookmark this page and check the schedule above to plan your watching accordingly. Microsoft's stream will take place just a couple of hours after Sony's State of Play, giving this particular day something of a miniature E3 feel with dueling platform holders holding back-to-back showcases.Info from Gamespot.com

Altered Forme Giratina has returned once again in Pokemon Go. Following Mewtwo's departure from the game, the Legendary Renegade Pokemon is making an encore appearance around the world in five-star Raid Battles, giving you another opportunity to add one to your collection. That's not all; this time around, you'll also have a chance of encountering a Shiny Giratina for the first time.As is generally the case with Legendaries, Giratina will only be around in Pokemon Go for a few weeks, so you'll need to make the most of your time if you're hoping to catch one. To help you out, we've rounded up everything you need to know to challenge Giratina below, from battle tips to how to catch a Shiny one and more.What's The Difference Between Altered Forme And Origin Forme Giratina?In the mainline Pokemon games, Giratina is able to assume two different forms. When players first encounter the Legendary in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, it is in its Altered Forme--the variant returning to Raid Battles right now. This form has six legends, black wings, and emphasizes defensive stats. Giratina's Origin Forme, meanwhile, is the appearance it takes when in the Distortion World--the parallel realm from which the Legendary monster hails in Pokemon lore. Origin Forme Giratina has a serpentine body and more offense-oriented stats. In the mainline series, players are able to manually change Giratina's form by equipping it with an item called the Griseous Orb; in Pokemon Go, however, Altered and Origin Forme Giratina are treated as two distinct Pokemon, so you'll need to catch them separately.How To Catch GiratinaAs is the case with most other Legendary Pokemon, before you can catch Giratina, you'll first need to defeat it in a Raid Battle. If you're near a Gym where a Giratina Raid is taking place, you'll need to physically head to that location and team up with several other players to battle it--Legendary Pokemon have too high a CP for you to challenge them solo. You'll also need to have a Raid Pass to challenge Giratina, but you can receive one for free by spinning the Photo Disc at a Gym.Once you've joined a Raid, you and your teammates will have a limited amount of time to defeat Giratina. It's the only Pokemon so far that's a Dragon- and Ghost-type, both of which are susceptible to their own types. Giratina is also weak to Ice, Dark, and Fairy Pokemon, so you should considering bringing along monsters like Mamoswine, Weavile, Tyranitar, Gardevoir, and Granbull to have the best chance.If you can successfully beat Giratina, everyone who participated in the Raid will receive a handful of Premier Balls, along with several other prizes. You can only use the Premier Balls to capture the Legendary, so you'll need to make every throw count. Feeding it a Golden Razz Berry before each throw will make Giratina a little easier to catch. Study its movement pattern before throwing and with a little luck, Giratina will be yours. Pokemon Go News Pokemon Go October 2019 Community Day Announced, Features Trapinch Pokemon Go: How To Get Unova Stones And Evolve Gen 5 Pokemon Pokemon Go Thousand Year Slumber Research: How To Catch Jirachi Guide Eevee Pokemon Go Guide: How To Get Any Eevee Evolution How To Find Shiny GiratinaShiny Pokemon are rare in Pokemon Go, and unfortunately, there's no sure-fire way to ensure you encounter a Shiny Giratina. You won't be able to tell whether the Legendary is Shiny or not until you get to the catching phase, so your best chance to find one is to participate in as many Giratina Raids as you can. Fortunately, you'll be able to tell right away if you've encountered a Shiny one; it'll have silver horns, blue tips on its wings, and a peach-colored body.How Long Will Giratina Be Available?Altered Forme Giratina will appear in Raids for just under a month, from September 23 - October 17. You'll have until 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM BST on that day to encounter it. Your best chance of finding a Giratina Raid, however, will be on September 25, when Niantic holds a Legendary Raid Hour featuring the Renegade Pokemon from 6-7 PM local time. During that hour, there will be more Giratina Raids occurring at Gyms.Info from Gamespot.com

With September about to end, you might be wondering about October's biggest releases. Seeing as the fall release season is in full swing, next month is packed with just as many big new games from the industry's most noteworthy franchises. You can expect games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and Luigi's Mansion 3.Amid all these big names are new expansions, indie games, and re-releases. You might want to spend another 100+ hours The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Overwatch with their respective Nintendo Switch ports. Of course, the long-awaited Kickstarted indie action-RPG Indivisible might suit your fancy just as well. WWE 2K20 is making the rounds in October with tons of wrestlers to choose. But if you're big into Destiny 2, then all these other games may mean nothing to you since you're more keen to play the Shadowkeep expansion for the rest of the year. And since the free-to-play New Light version of the game is coming out on the same day, newcomers can jump in with fewer obstacles than before. It's safe to say that there are plenty of games coming in October, and if you're all about knowing when each one is releasing, then you're in the right place. We've rounded up all the biggest releases of October 2019 below. For a look at all the other big games still to come this year, be sure to check out our complete list of game release dates in 2019.Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint (PS4, Xbox One, PC) -- October 4As the sequel to 2017's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ghostpoint is taking a different approach to the series' established formula. Aside from a darker tone, it places a greater emphasis on survival, gathering loot, and class-based tactical shooting. You explore the New Zealand-Inspired fictional island of Aurora as Ghosts operative Lieutenant Colonel "Nomad," as they take on missions to eliminate a rogue military contractor known as Skell Technology.Further Reading:Ghost Recon Breakpoint Pre-order GuideGhost Recon Breakpoint Isn't What You ThinkGhost Recon: Breakpoint PC Requirements And Recommended Specs ConfirmedCall of Duty: Modern Warfare (PS4, Xbox One, PC) -- October 25Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a soft reboot to the tenured first-person shooter franchise. Across both single-player and multiplayer, the focus this time is on tactical shooting and decision-making. Though, you can still expect the fast-paced competitive thrills the series is known builds its name on. Other notable features in Modern Warfare include cross-platform multiplayer, the return of killstreaks, an 100-player mode called Ground War, and more.Further Reading:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Pre-order GuideHow Modern Warfare Multiplayer Rebuilds The Franchise FormulaCall Of Duty: Modern Warfare's Campaign Is As Long As You'd ExpectLuigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) -- October 31Nintendo fans will be pleased to know that Luigi's Mansion 3 is releasing this month and on Halloween, no less! It once again stars Mario's easily-frightened brother who's on an adventure to rid the ghostly presence of a haunted hotel.Further Reading:Luigi's Mansion 3: Nintendo Talks About Whether Luigi Will Stop Being A CowardLuigi's Mansion 3 Is Getting Paid DLCLuigi's Mansion 3's Co-Op Is A Blast Full October Release ScheduleGamePlatformRelease DateDestiny 2: Shadowkeep (Expansion)PS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 1Ghostbusters: The Video Game RemasteredPS4, Xbox One, PC, SwitchOctober 4Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon BreakpointPS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 4The Alliance Alive HD RemasteredPS4, SwitchOctober 8Concrete GeniePS4October 8IndivisiblePS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 8Trine 4: The Nightmare PrincePS4, Xbox One, PC, SwitchOctober 8Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible LairPS4, Xbox One, PC, SwitchOctober 8GridPS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 11Overwatch: Legendary EditionSwitchOctober 15The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete EditionSwitchOctober 15Little Town HeroSwitchOctober 16Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete EditionSwitch, PCOctober 18Plants vs Zombies: Battle for NeighborvillePS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 18Ring Fit AdventureSwitchOctober 18WWE 2K20PS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 22Call of Duty: Modern WarfarePS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 25MediEvilPS4October 25The Outer WorldsPS4, Xbox One, PCOctober 25Disgaea 4 Complete+PS4, SwitchOctober 29Resident Evil 5SwitchOctober 29Resident Evil 6SwitchOctober 29Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HDPS4, Xbox One, SwitchOctober 29VampyrSwitchOctober 29Yakuza 4 PS4October 29Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret HideoutPS4, Switch, PCOctober 31Luigi's Mansion 3SwitchOctober 31Info from Gamespot.com

Film and TV buffs, music lovers, and book worms will be a fan of Target's latest weekly promotion: a limited-time buy two, get one free offer on select movies, shows, books, and albums. The promotion includes some of this year's biggest film releases, so now's a great time to pick up any of these films on Blu-ray for yourself or as an early Christmas gift.Quite a few Marvel movies are available as part of the offer, including the blockbuster that brought Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to an epic close: Avengers Endgame. If you're a fan of the John Wick movies, all three films are eligible for the deal, so you could grab all three and get one of them for free. Another great option is Detective Pikachu, the first live-action Pokemon film (and a very good one at that, if you have any kind of nostalgia for the Pokemon series). There's also Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of 2018. And while this falls more into the TV show category, Avatar: The Last Airbender The Complete Series is also part of this promotion and you should definitely buy it.We've included more of the best film options from the sale below--check out the full list of entertainment deals, including TV shows, books and music, at Target. Prices will vary based on whether you go for the DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K UHD version; when you click through, you'll be able to see all the options available.Buy two, get one free: Best film dealsAvengers EndgameAvengers Infinity WarJohn Wick: ParabellumJohn Wick Chapter 2John WickDetective PikachuThe Dark Knight Trilogy Spider-Man: Into the SpiderverseGodzilla: King of the MonstersX-Men: Dark Phoenix AladdinCaptain MarvelShazamAlita: Battle Angel Aquaman BrightburnCrazy Rich Asians Spirited AwayHowl's Moving CastleDunkirkUs Info from Gamespot.com

Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne has found himself a brand-new partner in the Gotham City Police Department in Jeffery Wright (Westworld, Marvel's What If…?), who is currently in talks to play Commissioner Jim Gordon according to THR. Wright is the first confirmed citizen of The Batman's Gotham City, though THR has reported that the casting process for a "who's who" of Batman villains and rogues is underway.Commissioner Gordon has served as a staple of Batman's war on crime from the very beginning as one of Bruce Wayne's most important points of contact within the GCPD and the sole person responsible for the activation of the Bat-Signal.Very little is known about The Batman aside from a few details shared by writer/director Matt Reeves, who called the film "a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale," that will focus on Batman in his role as a detective rather than an action hero. Also, it will not cross over with the upcoming Joker solo film, according to Joker director Todd Philips--so don't expect Wright to be going head to head with Joaquin Phoenix any time soon.The Batman is set for release on June 25, 2021. Info from Gamespot.com

The gruesome opening of Blasphemous bluntly sets the stage for the type of game you're in for. After awakening amongst a sea of deceased worshipers, the silent protagonist, known only as The Penitent One, slowly makes his way through a long-abandoned citadel. Blocking his exit, however, is a so-called warden who wields a golden chandelier as a club. After dodging its attacks and striking when its most vulnerable, The Penitent One removes his helmet near the slain beast, fills it with the blood of the defeated foe, and immediately pours it over his head.It's undoubtedly an over-the-top intro, yet its feats pale in comparison to the other horrors that await. Blasphemous is an exceedingly bleak adventure with strong religious undertones throughout. What's driving you as The Penitent One is your goal to find the source of the mysterious Miracle, a supernatural force that has created tangible manifestations of people's guilt throughout the land. The structure for Blasphemous' peculiar narrative and hack-and-slash gameplay pays hearty tribute to the Souls series and metroidvania subgenre. Though this reverence for established formulas can come off as derivative, the concepts are suited perfectly to the macabre atmosphere.Despite its grim nature, however, there is an alluring quality to the dark setting. It can often be oppressive with how unrelenting it all is, yet I still felt intrigued by it all. Some of the most fascinating and exciting moments come from unraveling more locations and minor storylines that fold back onto themselves, reconnecting forgotten areas and characters in unexpected ways. Blasphemous has an array of stoic NPCs with unique motivations and stakes--whether you're trying to ease the suffering of afflicted peasants or assisting a pilgrim struggling to complete his ill-fated pilgrimage, there's an emotional investment in figuring out how this nightmarish reality came to be. This investment is bolstered by the game's stunning visuals, which convey a sense of dread that feels increasingly palpable as new areas are introduced.Blasphemous' impeccably detailed sprite artwork gives a greater presence to the grotesque monsters and locales that you'll come to know well throughout the journey. Nearly every area of the game features a climactic battle, which has you face off against some lavishly designed boss that offers a fun and challenging change of pace from the long hallways filled with monsters and spike-filled pitfalls. Most of these boss battles are a real standout in Blasphemous, which pit you against extravagant and grotesque monsters--like the giant baby who will rip The Penitent One limb from limb if you get too close to it. Many of these clashes are where the heavy religious imagery reaches its peak, making for some particularly gruesome fights that pull upon larger themes of repentance and sacrifice.There's an impressive level of world-building in the game, and several essential items and artifacts throughout also feature unique bits of lore that flesh out the land's history. A few of the characters also have minor quests that can span an entire playthrough, some of which are entirely missable given how loose the game's sense of direction is. From the opening, and all the way to the climax, Blasphemous leans heavily on that familiar loop of exploration, discovery, and the ensuing trials by traversal and combat.It's simple enough to get into the rhythm of trading steel with foes and leaping across perilous jumps, though you'll most certainly suffer from an inevitable death at some point--often in gruesome fashion. There are a generous amount of spawn points, and without the loss of currency upon death, death isn't as taxing as it seems. However, repeated deaths will accrue guilt, weakening your mana bar and currency gain. If you don't shake off the guilt by returning to your death-point or spending the funds to purge at guilt statues, your character will become significantly disadvantaged. This system is lenient enough that you don't feel too discouraged about death, yet it still inspires anxiety in life or death situations, such as a leap of faith across a bottomless pit.Blasphemous' impeccably detailed sprite artwork gives a greater presence to the grotesque monsters and locales that you'll come to know well throughout the journey.While these mechanics surrounding death are undeniably influenced by From Software's Souls games, Blasphemous isn't just a 2D Dark Souls experience. It shares more blood with classic action games like Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, putting less of a focus on RPG mechanics and more on the in-the-moment action and platforming. The core combat and traversal systems are lean and very reflex-driven, and you'll spend most of your time honing your limited, yet still refined skills. One of the more satisfying moments can come from successfully parrying strikes with your sword, opening up a gory execution attack on your opponent. To give you more of an edge, you can boost your attributes with collectible relics and other upgrades, allowing you to stand against the tougher challenges with greater ease.As you rack up new abilities, access to new areas opens up, revealing pathways from previous locations that can give you a renewed sense of appreciation for the world itself. However, while these new skills and tools present some change, the core gameplay of running, jumping, and slashing from the opening hour to the closing act remains mostly the same. Without any significant advancements to your skillset, later sections of the game come across as incredibly repetitive and, at worst, dull.This feeling is magnified by how tedious exploration can be after getting settled with the lay of the land. While fast-travel points are present, they're few and far between, meaning you have to hoof it through long stretches of treacherous dungeons you've come to know inside and out. During these backtracking sessions, you continue to fight the same enemies with the same abilities. Moreover, you can easily fall prey to a stray projectile from an out-of-sight enemy, sending you careening down onto spike traps. This can be especially frustrating when handling particular tasks that require you to avoid death in order to complete them.The lack of change in the overall flow is noticeable, especially when approaching the mid-to-late portion of the game. As the plot escalates, showing off increasingly spellbinding visuals, your tactics and the general flow see little change. This is disappointing for a game that prides itself on a core loop that's about revealing hidden details around you and overcoming more challenging foes. Still, I can't deny that Blasphemous presents an evocative setting that becomes far grimmer as it progresses.Though it can be frustrating that its core gameplay never evolves past the often one-note rhythm of hacking and jumping across different levels, keeping it from reaching greater heights, I still came away impressed with how much Blasphemous stuck close to its haunting, dark storyline. To that end, playing through this send-up to metroidvania games was a satisfying trial to overcome in its own right. Info from Gamespot.com

The Joker may be heading to theaters soon, but The Batman isn't too far behind. While filming on the movie from War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves doesn't start for some time, casting is underway. It's already been reported that Westworld star Jeffrey Wright is in talks to play Commissioner James Gordon in the film, which will see Robert Pattinson star as Batman, and now another interesting name is being touted as a potential cast addition.Multiple outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter, Collider, and Deadline, are reporting that Jonah Hill is in talks to join the film as a villain. What's less clear is who that villain is. According to Collider, the Maniac star is looking to play The Riddler. However, THR claims that no character has actually been chosen for Hill yet, with Riddler and The Penguin being the two possibilities.THR's report cites sources that say negotiations are at an early stage between Hill and Warner Bros., with the two sides still undecided on which role he would take. It's noted that the film is set to feature "many" of the villains Batman fans recognize.If he does sign on, The Batman will mark the first time Hill has appeared in a comic book movie. He does have some experience with the DC Universe, though. He voiced Green Lantern in The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie, and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.The Batman is currently scheduled to hit theaters on June 25, 2021. Before then, DC has a few movies up its sleeve. The Joker arrives on October 4, with Birds of Prey arrives on February 7 of next year. Wonder Woman 1984 is out on June 5, 2020.Info from Gamespot.com

Video game companies are rallying together to try to save the planet. The United Nations Environment Program has announced a new "Playing for the Planet Alliance," which sees 21 major game companies--including Sony and Microsoft--work together to share best practices for becoming more environmentally friendly. The companies are also quickly putting their words into action, as Sony's PlayStation 5 will be more environmentally friendly as part of the initiative, while Microsoft is launching a pilot program to make 825,000 carbon neutral Xbox consoles.In total, the efforts undertaken by the 21 game companies is estimated to result in a "30 million ton reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030." Additionally, "millions" of trees will be planted, while game companies will enact practices to do better in the areas of "energy management, packaging, and device recycling." A press release from the UN also mentions how some future games will be designed specifically with new "green nudges." It's unclear what this means, however.The participating companies and platforms include Sony, Microsoft, Google Stadia, Rovio, Supercell, Sybo, Ubisoft, and Wildworks. Nintendo is the only major platform-holder that is missing.Nintendo does, however, already operate an Environment Committee at the company's headquarters in Japan, while each of its overseas subsidiaries have their own committees that look into environmental impact in their regions."The video games industry has the ability to engage, inspire and captivate the imaginations of billions of people across the world. This makes them a hugely important partner in addressing the climate emergency," United Nations Environment Program executive director Inger Andersen said in a statement. "We are encouraged by the commitment of these gaming companies, which shows recognition that we all must play our role in the global effort to lower carbon emissions and effect real change towards sustainability."As for the carbon neutral Xbox, Microsoft says it will produce 825,000 of the consoles, though it's unclear what version of the system this might be. Whatever the case, these will be the "first gaming consoles to be carbon neutral." This is only a test program, Microsoft said, but the company is also looking to see "what we can do to further reduce and neutralize carbon across devices in the future."Microsoft's business operations have been carbon neutral since 2012, so the new effort on a carbon neutral Xbox is an extension of that program.The United Nations Environment Program said in its statement that it is possible for educational games to reach the masses, even if it hasn't happened yet. In response to this, the UN said some of its Alliance members will host "design-jams" where developers will explore ideas to make games that are both fun and educational regarding environmental impact.Here is what some of the member companies will do to help save the planet:Sony -- The PS5 will have a "low power" suspend mode, which is one part of Sony's plan to have more energy effience technology overall. Sony will also "assess and report" their carbon footprint.Microsoft -- The company will make 825,000 Xbox consoles that are carbon neutral as part of a pilot program. These will be the first game consoles in history to have no carbon impact on the earth. Additionally, Microsoft is releasing a "Built the Better World" program in Minecraft to help people learn more about what they can do to help the cause.Google Stadia -- There will be a Sustainable Game Development guide for developers to help them implement "green nudges" into the gameplay; but again, it's unclear what this means.Supercell (Clash of Clans) -- Will work on carbon impact initiatives to help offset the carbon impact of players charging their mobile devices.Wild Works (Animal Jam) -- The studio will "integrate restoration elements" in their games. They will also plant trees around world.Green Man Gaming -- Will also plant trees.Ubisoft -- The company will launch in-game "green themes" in unspecified titles, and will also look to source materials from "eco-friendly" factories.Sports Interactive (Football Manager) -- Will starting using a recycling alternative for future Football Manager games that will eliminate 20 tons of plastic packaging.Creative Mobile -- Their game ZooCraft will transition to becoming a "conservation-focused game"Reliance Games (Little Singham) -- The studio will offer in-game events across India.iDreamSky -- The studio will put "green nudges" in their games.E-Line Media (Never Alone), Strange Loop (Eco), and Internet of Elephants (Safari Central) -- The companies will "share their expertise of making high impact environmentally oriented games into the Alliance."Twitch -- The company says it will use their streaming service to "spread this message [about climate change] to the global gaming community."Niantic (Pokemon Go) -- Will "engage their community to act around sustainability issues."Full list of Playing for the Planet Alliance members:Creative MobileE-Line MediaGoogle StadiaGreen Man GamingiDreamSkyInternet of ElephantsMicrosoftNiantic IncPixelberryReliance GamesRovioSpace ApeSports InteractiveSupercellSony Interactive EntertainmentStrange LoopSyboTwitchUbisoftWildWorksPlaymob Info from Gamespot.com

One of the defining features of 2020's Watch Dogs Legion is that you're able to take control of basically anyone in the game's version of London. Associate producer Shelley Johnson said in a new interview that the technical underpinnings of Legion are "complex almost beyond description.""This is probably one of the most ambitious games Ubi has ever imagined," Johnson told Stevivor. "It was certainly from a management standpoint and a creative standpoint, the biggest challenge yet, certainly for me personally."Johnson told Gamecrate earlier this year that there is no limit to the number of different NPCs that players can assume control of in Legion. "One of the numbers that was floating around at one point was 9 million," she said. "They're procedurally generated characters. So we've spent four years building the technology to be able to deliver on this promise and that includes the ability to piece together this huge city of characters as far as animation, dialogue, census data, like all those bio pieces that you see when you profile somebody, faces, character kids, all of this comes together to produce a unique character every time."Johnson told Stevivor that it was an expensive, time-consuming process to make Legion a reality as it relates to the ambition under the hood. "[To] play as anyone, as a pillar--to really fulfil on the promise of that--it's expensive," she said. "This game is, in as far as challenge is concerned, complex almost beyond description."Testing a game like Legion sounds like a big challenge, and Johnson said it's the first game from Ubisoft that reached the limits of what human testing was capable of. She added that, in the future, games with the complexity and scale of Legion may need to make use of AI to pick up "some of the heavy lifting."Watch Dogs Legion launches in March 2020 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Check out the video embedded above to learn more.Info from Gamespot.com

The popular battle royale game Fortnite is introducing bots. In the game's next seasonal refresh, Epic Games will introduce bots with the aim of helping newcomers learn the ropes.The bots will behave similarly to humans, Epic said in a blog post. These bots will populate matches in all playlists except Competitive. Over time, the game will recognize when a player's skill improves, and in turn, the number of bots in your match will decrease. Currently, Fortnite matches are populated 100 percent by other humans, so this is one of Fortnite's biggest changes ever.Epic says the new bots system will evolve over time as the studio iterates and updates the feature, though no specific plans were divulged.The bots will operate alongside the new matchmaking system that Epic is rolling out in the upcoming 10.40 update. Due to the fact that the "range of player skill has grown considerably" since release, Epic is making changes to the "matchmaking logic" for Fortnite's core modes to help match players of similar skill together."You will be more likely to match with players of similar skill, and as you get better, so should your opponents," Epic said in a blog post explaining the changes. "We will slowly roll this out to all regions across Battle Royale core modes as we test and monitor how it performs. We're excited to get this out for everyone to play with and will continue to update the system."Fortnite is currently in the midst of a Batman-themed event to celebrate the character's 80th anniversary. For more on that, check out GameSpot's guide to all the Fortnite Bat Signal locations. Info from Gamespot.com

Even with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releasing next month, Activision continues to support last year's game, Black Ops 4, with new updates and more content. The newest wave of new content is out now in the form of the Operation Dark Divide update--and it's a big one.For the battle royale mode, Blackout, the update restores the map to its normal look from the previous refresh that sets the stage for a new mode. The new mode is Heavy Metal Heroes, and it is a vehicle-focused mode that encourages players to jump into armored ARAVs, ATVs, and motorcycles, while a new vehicle, the tank, has been added.The tank is ... a tank. It is equipped with a mighty powerful weapon that Activision says will "decimate" anyone found in its sights. The tank supports a drive and a passenger who sits in the gunner position. To call in the tank, players must find it on the map or use the flare gun to call it to your location on the map.Elsewhere in Blackout, the Dark Divide update adds two new weapons taken from the Zombies mode: the Savage Impaler and Winter's Fury.Outside of Blackout, the Dark Divide update introduces new Elixirs (Secret Shopper, Power Vacuum) and a new Perk in the form of Blaze Phase. This allows you to transform into a "charging fireball" to scorch your enemies or knock them back.Those who have the Black Ops Pass, meanwhile, are getting the final chapter in the Zombies Aether storyline; Tag Der Toten is available now. It sees the crew of the Victis travelling to Siberia to fight off even more zombies as they uncover secrets.For standard multiplayer, the Dark Divide update adds a new map called Lair. This map is set on a volcanic island featuring a laser that players can activate to torch their enemies. A second "new" map is "Launch," which is a reimagined version of the original Launch map from the first Black Ops.Go to Activision's blog to learn more about what's new in Dark Divide. The update is available now on PlayStation 4 with releases for Xbox One and PC to follow. Info from Gamespot.com

Up a short flight of stairs and down an alleyway from the initial hub of the first major area in The Surge 2 is a door that can only be opened from the other side. Roughly a dozen hours later you will find yourself standing on the other side of this door before opening it and returning to the very place in which you began, keenly aware of how far you've progressed while not really traveling anywhere at all.Yes, The Surge 2 is that kind of game: an action RPG with a looping, labyrinthine structure and a heavy debt owed to Dark Souls. It's a hard game in the sense that it demands patience and attention to detail, but it's not especially punishing. Sure, when you die or rest at a medbay (read: bonfire) all the enemies respawn and many of them can kill you in a couple of hits. And sure, you have to make it back to where you died to recover your tech scrap (read: souls). But as with the Souls series and its ilk, this isn't really a game about clearing an area and leveling up; it's about learning through repetition and deepening your understanding of the game. On a purely mechanical level, the robust combat engine, intricate level design and substantive gear, and crafting systems all leave The Surge 2 far from embarrassed by the From Software comparison. Yet where The Surge 2's blushes are not spared is in giving you a reason to care about anything you're doing. Lackluster world-building, forgettable characters and cringeworthy dialogue all conspire against persuading you this is a world worth saving.It begins with a plane crash. On board was some sort of nanotechnology that triggers an environmental disaster requiring a city-wide quarantine and leaving those infected to wander the streets with a permanently hostile demeanor. You were also on the plane, yet somehow survived the crash and, at the start of the game, wake up in the medical wing of the Jericho City Police Department. Soon you're having sporadic visions of a young girl, the granddaughter of the CEO of nanotech firm CREO Industries, who you're sure was also on the plane and now appears to have been kidnapped by a mysterious security force.There's not a great deal to the story and what little there is quickly reduces to stale sci-fi musings about the relationship between humans and machines and all sorts of hackneyed military-industrial complex pot-boiling. Your pursuit of the elusive young girl is essentially the pretext for exploring the multi-faceted and interconnected districts of Jericho City and whacking nearly all of its inhabitants in the face. Fighting in The Surge 2 feels strategic and skillful. There's the element of stamina management you'd expect--you've got to understand when you can commit and when you need to pull back and recover. There's the ability to manage multiple enemies when any one of them alone is dangerous enough to be life-threatening if you're not careful. And there's the necessity of learning to read enemy attack patterns--one may be quick and aggressive, while another is slower and turtles behind a shield, and a third may hang back and takes pot shots.Combat is almost exclusively focused on melee attacks. There are dozens of weapons to be wielded in one hand or two and each can be deployed in heavy and light attacks as well as combos that alternate between the two. Movesets are shared across a weapon class but various stats--such as base damage, stamina consumption or additional damage types--serve to differentiate unique weapons within the same class. All spears, for example, have the same long reach and forward thrusting attacks, but this one hits slightly quicker for less damage while that one consumes more stamina per attack but delivers bonus electrical damage every hit.Smartly, no weapons are simply outright better than the others, meaning your choice of armament comes down to a combination of what you've managed to find, which particular mix of moveset and stats suit your preferred playstyle, and to a lesser extent the nature of the obstacle you're trying to overcome. Some weapons are better suited to certain situations, but ultimately it comes down to how you want to approach combat. Weapons taken from the one-handed (think futuristic longswords) and twin-rigged (think futuristic knuckle-dusters) classes hit with speed and will let you get the drop on an enemy then deliver a swift combo. Hammers and anything from the heavy-duty class will instead take longer to wind up but when they hit they hit hard and can easily stagger an opponent. I enjoyed the flexibility of the double-duty class, a weapon type that can transform between slow, heavy hits and a quick flurry of blows. And for situations that warranted a different tactic I switched to a staff for the longer reach of its whirlwind attack and some added nano damage. There's a huge amount of variety here and, after briefly testing out each new weapon I found during my initial playthrough, I'm looking forward to exploring different weapon loadouts in future playthroughs.That's mostly because fighting in The Surge 2 feels really good. Aided by the meaty impact of the sound effects and the responsiveness of the character animations, you can feel the weight of each attack in a manner that never fails to satisfy. Successfully deflecting an attack rewards you with wonderfully gratifying "whomp!" sound, a brief freeze-frame and slow-motion interlude as the enemy is staggered and you're given the opening to launch a critical strike. Better, perhaps, are the cinematic slow-mos seen when you are able to sever the limb of your opponent, with your character drawing from an impressively wide range of stylish deathblow animations that are solely interested in making you look like the most effortless badass in the post-apocalypse. Be warned, however: they are not for the squeamish (and, fortunately, there's an option to disable these scenes to reduce the gore factor.)But it gets even more complex. When locked on to an enemy you are able to target individual limbs, switching between the head, body, arms, and legs with a flick of the right analogue stick. You want to do this for two reasons. One, some limbs may be unarmoured, thus targeting an exposed left arm will let you do more damage and hasten the kill. Two, if you do enough damage to a particular limb you'll get the opportunity to chop it off and, in a curious application of game logic, claim it as a material for crafting. Once you've beheaded an enemy enough times you'll have the materials necessary to craft a new piece of headgear or upgrade your existing one. The tantalizing risk/reward here is obvious: do you go for the weak point or prolong the fight in order to get that vital crafting component? Boss fights double down on this element, with some of them forcing you to hack off multiple limbs to bring it down while others drop special boss weapons if you target the relevant limb during the fight. Furthering the complexity, you can also block attacks (assuming you have sufficient stamina) by holding down L1/LB, but to deflect an attack you've got to block and flick the right stick in the direction of the incoming blow at the precise moment; mis-time your attempt and you're going to take the hit. It's not just another great risk/reward setup, it also reveals one of the clever ways The Surge 2 handles its difficulty. While there aren't selectable difficulty levels per se, you can equip various implants that boost your character in certain ways, one of which provides a UI indicator letting you know from which direction the next attack is incoming. So if you want to adopt a playstyle around deflecting attacks and you're not yet familiar with reading enemy attack animations, you can equip this implant and receive a very useful visual aid.It's a really smart system that extends into other areas, too. Implants consume core power, a character stat that increases as you level up, and typically the more useful an implant the more power it consumes. Armour also draws power from the same source, and--yep, you guessed it--the better the defensive stats, the more power it draws. You never have enough core power to simply equip your best armour set and all your favorite implants, so this is where you have to make tough choices about what type of character you're going to be. There were plenty of periods, especially in the early to mid-game, where I had to leave some armour and implant slots empty because I simply didn't have the power available to fill them. It's in these situations, when you're having to sacrifice useful tools and really commit to a playstyle, that The Surge 2 shines as an RPG.It also shines in its level design--at least it does so in a somewhat cold, theoretical fashion. Like Dark Souls, The Surge 2 trades heavily on a Metroidvania structure that sees you traversing its levels in a kind of circular fashion, pressing forward until you find yourself back where you started only now you've unlocked a shortcut that lets you press further forward. Later, you will return to many of the previously visited locations and explore them anew, having acquired certain key items that allow you to access areas previously inaccessible. There's nothing especially novel about that structure. The Surge 2 is simply an extremely accomplished version of it. The areas you explore are just so tightly designed, so compact and yet simultaneously sprawling and dense. There's almost a honeycomb quality to the level design, this vast network of winding tunnels existing almost on top of each other, branching and converging in surprising ways. No space is wasted.It's just a shame few of the locations are memorable for reasons other than how they connect to other locations. There's a midgame detour to a rather scenic wooded parkland, the odd impressive future city skyline vista, and the constant looming presence of the giant metal wall that was hastily erected after the nano-disaster struck. But in between everything is basically the same handful of debris-strewn streets, toxic tunnels and partially collapsed buildings--and it's all so boringly brown and grey. More than a mere aesthetic complaint, it actually makes it difficult to find your bearings at times. I found myself getting lost and turned around on quite a few occasions thanks to the unremarkable nature of much of the scenery. Worse, the characters you meet along the way are equally soulless, if not more so. Conversations with major NPCs are written as if they're throwaway sidequests, eschewing any sense of character development in favor of laboured exposition. The actual sidequests, of course, fare no better--to their advantage at least they're quick and to the point, even if they barely resolve and rarely offer a reward worth the effort.Story and sidequests aside, however, The Surge 2 is absolutely worth the effort when the combat is taken in isolation. Not only does it pack a punch, but it also channels plenty of depth in its limb targeting and deflection systems, and is ably supported by a genuinely varied collection of weapons and potential character builds. Info from Gamespot.com

Untitled Goose Game--a game in which you play as a jerk goose who waddles through a small English town ruining everyone's day-- feels like a miniature version of Hitman, but with mischief instead of murder. Like those games, it's all about learning an environment inside-out and figuring out how to play various people and systems against each other to achieve your goals. You wander between four small, quaint locations and tick off objectives from your list by wreaking havoc on the people you encounter and generally being a nuisance. At first, you're annoying a man as he tends to his garden, turning on his sprinklers as he stands over them, stealing the keys to his gate, nicking his produce, and generally getting in his way. The game continues like this, as the goose's to-do list demands that it causes upset to most of the people it encounters. Working through the game means figuring out how each element interacts with everything else and how to corralling various people, who all react to the goose differently.It's a comedy first and foremost. Figuring out how to complete each objective might be essential to your progress, but the real fun is in seeing how harried you can make everyone. When you need to make a man spit out his tea, steal his shoes, and ruin his garden, you might start to feel sorry for him, but you also won't want to stop terrorizing him. The goose can only run, grab onto things, honk, and flap its wings, but through some combination of these actions you can manipulate the folks you encounter and cause chaos. One character might run in fear if you honk at them; another might bend over if you drop something for them, giving you a chance to steal their hat; another might leave their post if you steal something of theirs and drop it far away, giving you the chance to go back while they're distracted and steal the object you were really after all along.The humor of Untitled Goose Game is built into the mechanics and animations; seeing the goose waddle along, honking and flapping its wings, is inherently amusing and satisfying even before you start causing mischief because of how perfectly evocative it is of a real bird. The clean, colorful visual style is also a treat. But the reactive soundtrack is what really sells the goose's charms. The music, based on Claude Debussy's Préludes, springs into action dynamically based on the goose's actions, punctuating moments when it shocks someone and adding a buoyancy to any scene involving a chase. It gives the game a feeling of farce; at its best, it's reminiscent of a Buster Keaton film, especially since there's no dialogue.The objectives you're asked to complete often require some lateral thinking. Getting into the headspace of the goose and figuring out how a few actions can spiral into something that's going to annoy one of your targets is very entertaining. Sometimes it's immediately clear what you need to do, and sometimes the solution is more abstract, but most objectives will name an object that you can find within the environment. In the second location, for instance, you're told to "get on TV"--the solution isn't immediately obvious, but finding the TV you need to interact with is not difficult. Untitled Goose Game lightly leads you towards its puzzle solutions without explicitly holding your hand through them, so figuring out a clever solution is rewarding.You need to complete all but one objective in each location to advance, which is a nice concession, as it means you can progress to the next area even if one of the puzzles just isn't clicking for you. Sometimes it's just a matter of figuring out what needs to be done and then doing it, but you also need to practice some level of finesse: The goose can't get too close to anyone who's going to try to shoo it away, and you'll often need to be stealthy, sneaking under tables, causing distractions, and hiding behind bushes and in boxes like a long-necked, web-toed Solid Snake.Each area also features a fetch quest objective, for which you need to gather several items and put them in one place while making sure that you're not caught. These objectives are the least fun, generally, because too much is left to the imagination; the first one asks you to "have a picnic" by dragging a variety of particular items to a picnic blanket, but once you've done so the objective is immediately complete, with no additional vignettes or animations to reward all that effort. Untitled Goose Game's best objectives reward you not only with a feeling of satisfaction, but with a fun, charming bit of interaction between the goose and the people it encounters, whether that means watching a man stumble around with a bucket on his head or watching someone else wearily resign themselves to their favorite hat being gone.Untitled Goose Game is also extremely short. When I reached the end, I was surprised at how little time it had taken--I had only been playing for about two hours. Thankfully, after the credits roll you unlock a new list of objectives across the now fully unlocked map, but there isn't the same incentive to complete them when you know that you won't be rewarded with a new location to explore, or even, necessarily, new interactions. Most of them are twists on previous objectives or more complicated versions of things you've already done, often involving moving items between different locations.I'm glad that those extra objectives are there, though, and I had a good time working through them. It's just a shame that there isn't a bit more, because Untitled Goose Game ends far before I felt like I'd had my fill or seen everything the game was going to throw at me. Being short isn't inherently bad, but Untitled Goose Game's playground could stand to be bigger. I wished that I could keep riding the high of unlocking new areas and messing with new people, and it still felt like there was plenty of room to escalate things.For all the jerkiness I performed, my favorite moment in Untitled Goose Game was the one scene where the game leaned into the goose's charms. I wandered up behind two people having a chat at the pub and hit the button dedicated to honking. The two women turned to look at me, startled, but far less hostile than most of the characters I'd encountered. When I stood in a specific spot they mimed commands for me to perform, fulfilling one of my objectives while absolutely delighting the two women. Untitled Goose Game is a hilariously antagonistic experience most of the time, but I identified strongly with these characters and how lovable they found this horrible goose.The important thing is that Untitled Goose Game is a hoot. It's a comedy game that focuses on making the act of playing it funny, rather than simply being a game that features jokes. Wishing that it was longer speaks to how much fun I had with it. There's nothing else quite like Untitled Goose Game; it's charming and cute despite being mean, and both very silly and very clever. It's also probably the best non-racing game ever to feature a dedicated "honk" button.Info from Gamespot.com