In the shadows of TGS 2019, Steam underwent an update that now sees the digital storefront recommending already-popular titles to you less. This update implements various algorithmic changes and bug fixes to be "more precise and more diverse" in how Steam suggests games.The platform detailed how these changes work and the results of a conducted experiment in a blog post. Steam alleges that, after making changes to how games are recommended via the Recommendation Feed and tags, it saw an increase of almost 15 percent in customer engagement. Further, Steam notes a 75 percent increase in the number of unique games visited and a 48 percent increase in the average visits per game. Other areas of the storefront saw increases in purchase and wishlisting across a broader set of games following the implementation of the update.These changes come after feedback regarding how biased players thought Steam was to top-rated games, a category the platform recognizes "doesn't change very often." To combat this, Steam scrubbed through various sections and tags--like "More Like This," "Recommended for You," "Similar by Tags," and others--for bugs that impacted discoverability and visibility. All of this was to ensure Steam was "showing [you] a diverse set of games while keeping the games relevant to [you]." After testing the update on a small portion of the community for the past few weeks, Steam reports these changes have been "promising." The update is now available to all Steam users.This new Steam store update follows the announcement of the platform's long-awaited library overhaul release date, which is slated to go into open beta on September 17. Steam's library redesign introduces two key changes: a new color palette and user interface, and Events that highlight patches and in-game events.Info from Gamespot.com

There have been a bunch of great games released for the PlayStation 4 this year, so many that you may not have been able to pick them up when they first launched. Well, now seems like a good time to go back and see what you missed, as the PlayStation Store has a great little sale for PS Plus subscribers.Games that came out earlier this year like The Division 2, Mortal Kombat 11, and Metro Exodus are on sale, but there is also a selection of discounted games from some years ago. Those include GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Horizon Zero Dawn. You can check out the full list of games on sale (and their PS Plus discounts) below.Grand Theft Auto 5 - $15Days Gone - $42Rage 2 - $30Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition - $15Mortal Kombat 11 - $42Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - $30Red Dead Redemption 2 - $36The Division 2 - $30WWE 2K19 - $15Metro Exodus - $30Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition - $28MotoGP 19 - $35Watch Dogs 2 - $15There are also several bundles, many of which are special editions for the games above, so be sure to check out the PlayStation Store on your PS4 or its website to see the entire sale.If you're interested in more discounts and sales, then be sure to check out our collection of the best PS4 deals for September 2019.Info from Gamespot.com

Given the series traditional love for referencing pop culture, and given how prevalent battle royale games have become in the years since the release of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, it's of little surprise that the sub-genre would appear in Borderlands 3. In Borderlands 3, you can participate in a battle royale side quest that's given to you by Moxxi. It's called Kill Killavolt.In Kill Killavolt, Moxxi tasks you with killing one of her ex-lovers, Killavolt. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to get to him as he's taken to wearing a near-indestructible suit that channels massive amounts of electricity. Moxxi believes the only time he's vulnerable is when he's having sex, and thus tasks you with entering the battle royale competition in which the sole victor wins the opportunity to spend the night alone with Killavolt. Moxxi then gifts you with a means of shorting out Killavolt's suit, which will allow you to hold your own against him once he's let his guard down around you. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Release Times: When Can You Start Playing? Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More Despite taking place within a battle royale, several of the standard rules for a battle royale do not apply to the mission. You can afford to die without losing all of your progress, for example, and the battlefield you're thrown into does not shrink as time goes on. Like a battle royale, however, you do have to kill all of your competition. And this mission lasts a very long time, so you'll need to regularly stop to loot for ammo and health or you'll risk finding yourself in a firefight without any means of defending yourself. So yeah, Borderlands 3 kind of has a battle royale, if only in the loosest sense of the term.When we say this mission is long, we mean it takes up an entire area of Borderlands 3 and can last up to 40 minutes. It goes on for such a long time that there are additional side missions you can find to do in the midst of participating in the battle royale--one of which even gives you a grenade launcher that shoots explosive poop that's very helpful for fighting against Killavolt. You'll know which side mission gives you the poop gun, trust us--it's very difficult to miss. You can see the gun in action in the video embedded above.Killavolt is one of the earliest bullet-sponge bosses in Borderlands 3, as he's (obviously) resistant to shock damage but he also wears shields--which are strong against everything except shock damage. So make sure you just have a big damage dealer firearm before taking Killavolt on. You'll need it.In GameSpot's Borderlands 3 review, I wrote, "Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game's rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game's character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features--especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects--give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it."Info from Gamespot.com

In a first for the franchise, Borderlands 3 leaves Pandora's solar system and takes you to never-before-seen planets. Fairly early in the game's campaign, you and the rest of the Crimson Raiders board the spaceship Sanctuary III and begin a treasure hunt for vaults scattered throughout the universe. Overall, you'll visit five planets in Borderlands 3's campaign--though you can travel to a few other interstellar locations that aren't tied to planets, like a Maliwan station and Torgue's Circle of Slaughter.Your journey begins on Pandora, the planet that's been the setting of Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and much of Tales of the Borderlands. You'll next go to Promethea, the capital planet of Atlus. Unlike Pandora, Promethea does have civilization, with sprawling cities full of towering skyscrapers. Your main contact on Pandora is Tales from the Borderlands' Vaughn, who's now become a bandit leader, while your go-to person on Promethea is the coffee-addicted Lorelei. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Release Times: When Can You Start Playing? Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More You'll also get to finally visit Athenas--which is first mentioned in Borderlands 2. Athenas is home to the pacifist monastic organization known as the Order of the Impending Storm, which used a young Maya's reputation as a Siren to scare the rest of the planet into obeying them for years. Maya eventually killed the Order's leader and traveled to Pandora to be a Vault Hunter in order to learn about the origin of the Sirens. In Borderlands 3, the Crimson Raiders turn to Maya to provide you with the information you need to know to make your way around Athenas.Eden-6 is also on your itinerary, a lush jungle planet that acts as the planetary base for the Jakobs weapon manufacturer. Like Pandora, no actual civilization has been able to gain traction on Eden-6. This is largely thanks to the planet's ecosystem--the most dangerous wildlife in Borderlands 3 is found on Eden-6, ranging from the semi-sentient monkey-like Jabbers to the fire-breathing dinosaur-like Saurians. Though many of your missions on Eden-6 come from Wainwright Jakobs, you'll also turn to his boyfriend, Sir Hammerlock, and the mercenary-turned-rebel leader Clay for getting the lay of the land.The final planet in Borderlands 3 is a bit of a spoiler, so click away now if you want to keep it a surprise. Again, minor story spoilers ahead. You've been warned.The fifth planet you visit in Borderlands 3 is Nekrotafeyo, the former home of the long-dead race that created the Vaults, the Eridians. A planet that's long believed to be a myth, Nekrotafeyo now contains the secrets of the Great Vault, a place that supposedly contains an immense power. The Great Vault can only be opened by acquiring the unique totems of four different vaults. You begin Borderlands 3 with one already in your possession--the map found in the vault at the end of Borderlands 2--so you'll need to race to find three more before the Calypso twins can get their hands on the power found in the Great Vault.In GameSpot's Borderlands 3 review, I wrote, "Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game's rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game's character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features--especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects--give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it."Info from Gamespot.com

Like its predecessors, Borderlands 3 contains a bunch of side missions to do. Three of those missions are extended collectible-focused quests that will see you travel to every planet in the game and search out specific items. In comparison to the search for Eridian symbols, which can be completed for extra lore, and the hunt for Claptrap parts, which is good for some more cringy Claptrap jokes, the quest for Typhon de Leon's audio recordings doesn't seem all that important. But they are.As Tannis explains, Typhon de Leon is the very first Vault Hunter. It's his adventures and prestige that initially inspired the likes of Borderlands' Roland, Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai. Though a few of Typhon's major exploits are well-known, the vast majority of what he did has never been told. Borderlands 3 provides the first opportunity to learn about the man's adventures. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Release Times: When Can You Start Playing? Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More At first, Typhon's quest is presented as a way to learn a bit more about the adventures of the first Vault Hunter and gain some extra loot in the process. When all of the Typhon de Leon recordings in a certain location are found, Tannis will point you towards a T-marked chest that contains some of the gear that Typhon de Leon talks about in his adventures. You'll want to look for these recordings. Not for the loot--though some of it is pretty good--but for the recordings themselves.Why? Well, as it turns out, some of the information learned in the quest's recordings do relate to a fairly big story reveal in Borderlands 3's campaign. As a result, I wish I'd found more of them early on. You should do as much of this side quest as you can before visiting the fifth planet that becomes available in Borderlands 3. If you want to know why and don't care about spoilers, then keep reading.If you're still on the fence about picking up Borderlands 3, consider reading our roundup of reviews on the game. In GameSpot's Borderlands 3 review, I wrote, " Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game's rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game's character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features--especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects--give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it."Full warning: The remainder of this article goes into one of the biggest story spoilers in Borderlands 3's campaign. If you don't want to be spoiled, this is your chance to click away.Eventually, the campaign will take you to the planet of Nekrotafeyo--which in it of itself is a massive reveal for the franchise--and here you'll discover Typhon de Leon. As surprising as it is to see him alive, though, that's not the big reveal.The big reveal is what you learn next: that Typhon is the father of Tyreen and Troy Calypso, the twin antagonists of Borderlands 3. Apparently their repeated declarations that the vaults are their god-given right isn't all bluster. A lot of information about Typhon, his wife, and their kids is loaded into the few hours of story that follow, and much of it makes a bit more sense and hits with greater emotional impact with the added context provided from Typhon's audio recordings.Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Go's September Community Day takes place in only a few days, and shortly after the event, Niantic will roll out the game's third and final wave of Ultra Bonuses. This last batch of rewards will include the first appearance Gen 5 Pokemon, and the developer has been teasing some of the new monsters that players can expect to encounter.The latest teaser features a silhouette of Yamask, an unsettling Ghost-type first introduced in Pokemon Black and White. According to Yamask's Pokedex entry, the Pokemon carries around a mask of the face it had when it was alive, and it would occasionally look at the mask and begin to cry. Yeah.🕵 Reports show that each of these Pokémon carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry... 🎭 pic.twitter.com/cod7xl1HA0 — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 13, 2019Niantic hasn't confirmed how many Gen 5 Pokemon will initially arrive in Go, although this marks the fourth teaser the developer has dropped in the lead up to the final wave of Ultra Bonuses. Prior teaser images featured the silhouettes of Black and White's three starter Pokemon: the Grass-type Snivy, the Fire-type Tepig, and the Water-type Oshawott. You can take a look at them below.🕵️ Reports show that this Pokémon is very intelligent and calm and can photosynthesize by bathing its tail in sunlight. pic.twitter.com/vk7pesV0DJ — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 10, 2019🕵️ Reports show that this Pokémon can shoot fireballs from its nose. It also uses this ability to roast Berries before it eats them. 🐽🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🍓😋 pic.twitter.com/vqozIuR0dS — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 11, 2019🕵️ Reports show that this Pokémon has a scalchop on its stomach to use in battle and to break open hard Berries. For those who don’t know, a scalchop is a shell-type weapon. pic.twitter.com/p7AcAaT4sS — Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 13, 2019The third wave of Ultra Bonuses will arrive on September 16. In addition to the aforementioned Pokemon, we know that Klink and its Shiny form will appear in Raid Battles, while Shiny Patrat and Shiny Lillipup will be available in the wild. Mewtwo will also return to five-star Raids during the final week of Ultra Bonuses, and this time, it'll know the Psychic-type attack Psystrike. Players will also have a chance to encounter Shiny Mewtwo.In the meantime, the second wave of Ultra Bonuses are still available, giving you a few more days to hatch region-exclusive Pokemon from 7 km eggs and encounter all four forms of Deoxys in Raids. This month's Community Day, meanwhile, takes place this Sunday, September 15, and it features the Gen 4 starter Turtwig.Info from Gamespot.com

My Hero Academia fans won't have to wait much longer for the series to return, as Funimation announced that My Hero Academia Season 4 will stream on October 12.Funimation tweeted the announcement, with a picture of Class 1-A's Izuku "Deku" Midoriya and Mirio "Lemillion" Togata against a red background. The tweet confirms My Hero Academia Season 4 will air on Funimation and Hulu across the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Australia. FunimationNow will also SimulDub on the same day and date.GO BEYOND: My Hero Academia Season 4 Will Be Subbed and Dubbed on FunimationNow 👊🏼The Simulcast debuts October 12! 💥More info: https://t.co/SNSjVhspxc pic.twitter.com/HkSR9vOaTI — Funimation 👹 (@FUNimation) September 12, 2019Funimation published a dubbed trailer for My Hero Academia Season 4 in July. In the trailer, below, Deku wrestles with the gravity of All Might's retirement and the impending threat led by a new villain named Overhaul. It seems the heroes in Class 1-A are on a quest to save a little girl with a horn, with Deku striving to be the best and reach the number one spot.The anime's first film, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, screened in August 2018 after premiering at Anime Expo in July 2018. In our review, we said, "While My Hero Academia: Two Heroes may not hit 'Plus Ultra' levels of excitement, and it never matches the highest moments of the show, if you’re looking for a fun extra dose of My Hero, Two Heroes is certain to satisfy that craving." A second film, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, is scheduled to release December 20 in Japan.Info from Gamespot.com

Reigns: The Council, an asymmetric party game based on the mobile hit simulation, has crossed its crowdfunding goal and will move forward with production. The game had set a goal of $80,000 on Kickstarter, and crossed it on September 13 with approximately $83,000 pledged as of the time of writing.An update to the Kickstarter page celebrated the milestone and, true to the game, presented a binary choice for its first stretch goal: shiny golden cards or an improved Kingdom game board.Reigns: The Council is a party game for 3-6 people. One player assumes the role of monarch while the rest are his or her advisors. They each draw a secret goal card defining what they want the state of the realm to be as of the time when the reign ends. That means their advice isn't necessarily trustworthy, since they might be steering the monarch wrong to achieve their own ends. The monarch will have to decide which proposals to select to balance four attributes: church, people, army, and wealth. If those traits get out of balance, the monarch's reign ends and the round is over.It's based on Reigns, which originally released on mobile in 2016. That single-player game had you selecting from between two proposals at a time, in a similar effort to balance those four kingdom traits. A sequel called Reigns: Her Majesty was released in 2017. Then in 2018 the game received a spin-off, Reigns: Game of Thrones, based on the popular (and now concluded) HBO series.Info from Gamespot.com

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has been playing both sides by making movies for both Marvel and DC. For the latter, he's helming Suicide Squad 2, and he has revealed the cast on Twitter. The list of stars includes John Cena, Jai Courtney, Nathan Fillion, Peter Capaldi, Idris Elba, and Tinashe Kajeese.Of course, a number of actors from the first film will also be making their return for the sequel. Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag. Gunn's tweet also included a message suggesting that many of the characters these actors plays won't survive the movie--as is typical for Suicide Squad stories in comics.Don’t get too attached. #TheSuicideSquad pic.twitter.com/uITPhrDzz2 — James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 13, 2019As previously confirmed, producer Peter Safran said that the sequel is a "total reboot," which will no doubt be comforting to fans of the DC comics that were left disappointed by the first movie. Although it wasn't received well critically, the first Suicide Squad broke box office records.Suicide Squad had one of the highest openings of 2016, behind Captain America: Civil War($179.1 million), Batman v Superman ($166 million), and Finding Dory ($135.06 million). James Gunn is also helming Disney and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.Info from Gamespot.com

Now that Gears 5 is fully released and available to everyone, we've updated our "In-Progress" review to its final form. This version of the review reflects more time spent in multiplayer and with the game's various progression systems after Gears 5's release.You wouldn't be blamed for thinking the latest game in the Gears of War franchise actually belongs in the middle of the original trilogy's Locust War. Shooting gooey reptilian monsters, exploring ruined labs, and chainsawing other players are the things Gears does best, and Gears 5 is aimed squarely at strengthening those core elements. The underpinnings of the series haven't been tweaked much at all in the sixth entry, but The Coalition adds a variety of new ideas in its second game since taking the reins on the Gears of War franchise. Gears 5's story is largely obsessed with the past and to some degree, the whole of Gears 5 stays there too, but the new additions help revitalize the series' best old ideas.And there are a lot of new additions. On the cooperative multiplayer side, characters get new abilities so that they each play a little differently. Expansive progression systems in competitive and co-op multiplayer draw from games like Fortnite and Call of Duty to give you a constant feeling of advancement. Even the story campaign has something of an RPG-like progression system, as well as a few wide-open areas that change up the series' traditionally linear approach. The Coalition hasn't moved far from the fundamentals of Gears gameplay--you still move deliberately, diving between cover positions behind chest-high walls and other debris to pop out and shoot at enemies with a variety of guns. Carefully timing your active reloads gets you the most out of your firepower, and you're always searching the battlefield for new weapons better suited to the enemies you're taking down. Gory executions and melee kills are still essential at close quarters. Multiplayer battles often come down to two people diving back and forth, trying to land that last big shotgun blast to turn their opponent into a pile of meaty chunks. But the game has grown significantly, with a free Battle Pass-like system, hero shooter-inspired characters, and other improvements that are all welcome evolutions for a 13-year-old franchise.While the new elements don't stop Gears 5 from feeling true to the earlier games in the franchise, at least in its 12-hour story campaign, there's also a lot of ground that's being revisited. The Locust are back, but they're called the Swarm now. You'll spend some time trying to convince straggly bands of surviving humans to join forces with the fascist COG army to fight the Swarm, but these folks aren't called the Stranded anymore; they're Outsiders. Most of the game concerns bringing a franchise superweapon, the Hammer of Dawn, back online to use against your enemies. Gears is undoubtedly back in the same territory it covered with the trilogy that wrapped up back in 2011, and while some of the tools in this war are different, the war has mostly gone unchanged. Gears 5 is weakened somewhat by being mired in the past; there are some strong moments in its campaign, but it struggles to move forward in a way that's a satisfying continuation of the narrative.The story picks up not long after the events of Gears of War 4, in which JD Fenix--son of series poster boy Marcus Fenix--and his pals Del and Kait discovered the Swarm threat and set out to stop it. You'll mostly just run around shooting various groups of Swarm monsters from behind cover in much the same way you always have in previous games--but Gears 5 breaks things up with a few variations on the gameplay that improve on its predecessors.Instead of focusing on JD and his relationship with Marcus as in Gears 4, the sequel recenters on Kait, who lost her mother to the Swarm at the end of the last game. Gears 4's ending suggested that Kait has a connection to the Locust horde that Marcus helped to genocide 25 years ago, and a good portion of Gears 5 is about exploring that connection and uncovering secrets long buried by the COG government.The first and last Acts are more traditional Gears fare, in that you're guided through a series of missions that are mostly about taking objectives, backing up other squads, and killing giant monsters. But in the middle of the game, Gears 5 changes the pace with two open segments. You hop aboard a skiff, which is essentially a dogsled with a sail on it, and zip over the terrain of a snowy valley and across a vast desert. These areas feel fundamentally different from past Gears games, allowing you to explore and look for side objectives where you can pick up small subplots of story and grab hidden collectibles and upgrades, advancing the main plot (or not) at your own pace.The open areas don't take you too far out of the Gears norm--you won't be accosted by roaming forces or stuck in a shootout in the middle of the wilderness. Arriving at any point of interest usually sends you on a short mission where you'll explore a building or wander into an arena filled with enemies. They're like mini Gears levels that you can take or leave, usually with an ambush to tangle you up and some weapons, upgrades, or a bit of lore waiting at the end.Story On A Small ScaleWhat's really enticing about these areas, though, are the many small moments they allow between characters. Act 2 finds Kait and Del on their own as they explore Kabar, a frozen alpine region full of old COG labs and fortifications that you'll search for Kait's answers. But the entire segment is fleshed out through a series of character-building conversations between Kait and Del as they hang around together, basically on a shooty road trip. Gears 5's writing is at its best in these character conversations, and the intimate time spent with characters in Acts 2 and 3 help you feel closer to them. Listening to Kait tell Del what she's worried she might uncover, or Kait making fun of Del for dropping tons of esoteric knowledge about things like the commercial lumber industry, bring you closer to the characters than any number of battles with AI teammates do.Kait provides an interesting alternative viewpoint to the proceedings as Gears 5's protagonist as well. She's fundamentally an outsider--in the sense of her anti-COG upbringing, her somewhat arms-length relationship with the city-boy soldiers with whom she fights, and her apparent ties to humanity's greatest enemies. The game doesn't necessarily spend a ton of time exploring that idea, but in the conversations between Delta squad members, we get a much better sense of the distance Kait feels from her friends.Unfortunately, the rest of Gears 5's story is uneven. Though Kait's desire to find out more about her connection to the Locust is a strong drive to push the narrative forward, Gears 5 pretty much wraps up what feels like her central drive by the middle of the game. The rest is just about Delta cruising around completing various tasks to fight off the growing Swarm threat, while the more personal stuff is left to linger. Exploring the destroyed desert facilities of the COG's old human enemies, the UIR, is a fun diversion full of a lot of pitched battles, but as far as the characters are concerned, nothing impactful happens outside of a bunch of big action set pieces. Gears 5 plays out its best story moments early, and it ends without doing much with the reveals and turning points it does create.The story ultimately feels somewhat truncated and meandering, but the campaign is still fun to play. Some key changes in the structure do a lot to provide new opportunities in the old framework. Since you're exploring areas at your own pace, you'll often come across unaware Swarm soldiers searching for ammo or prepping for combat, which gives you a chance to stealthily take some out. You also have a new set of abilities for your squad to use on the battlefield thanks to Jack, the R2-D2-like robot that follows you around on missions. Jack can zap enemies to injure them, flash enemies to stun them and make them break cover, ping their locations, turn you invisible, and even take over an enemy's mind for a brief period.Jack effectively provides Gears 5's campaign with a progression system, and coupled with the more varied gameplay and some slight squad control in the form of marking targets, he helps take Gears out of its cover-shooter comfort zone somewhat. Quickly swapping through and using Jack's abilities gives you a chance to make new decisions in combat or take advantage of different ways to play that you couldn't before, like by activating invisibility to slip through the front lines for a flanking position or using the Stim ability to strengthen yourself so you can melee to death a hulking Swarm Scion.Jack has a skill tree that lets you improve his abilities along a few different paths, allowing you to tweak his capabilities to better fit your playstyle. He's also the major reason to complete side missions and search all those nooks, crannies, dead ends, and side areas that litter Gears 5. While those side activities sometimes give a bit of a better understanding of the story or the world, the big reward is almost always an item that helps you improve Jack's abilities.Multiplayer, But MoreAs with the campaign, The Coalition doesn't reinvent the series' standard multiplayer in Gears 5--but much of it sees improvements aimed at adding customization and support for varied playstyles. The franchise's usual competitive multiplayer is back, where two teams of five players face off, with options segmented into more casual Quickplay and more hardcore Ranked playlists.Gears 5 multiplayer doesn't fix what isn't broken--it's striking how much Gears 5's competitive modes feel like, say, Gears of War 3, and are fun in the same ways. You'll still spend a lot of time in cover, dance around other players with shotguns, and sprint for the power weapons at the start of each match. Maps are symmetrical with teams spawning on either side, with tactically superior high ground at one end and lower, tighter areas at the other. Since it isn't changing the core feel of the gameplay, The Coalition has expanded on it by offering more options for multiplayer, so you can find the modes you like, and metagame progression systems, to make your time feel more meaningful.Quickplay includes a bunch of different game types that fit the Gears framework, while pushing you to play a little differently in every match. Its modes include classics like King of the Hill, as well as Gears of War 4's weapon-based Arms Race (a literal race to get kills with a host of different guns) and Dodgeball, in which you can't respawn unless a teammate kills a member of the opposing squad. The Ranked mode, on the other hand, plays things straighter with simpler modes like Team Deathmatch.It's very easy to see the influence live service games have on Gears 5, with an overall level-up system for your multiplayer persona, the ability to unlock more guns for your starting loadouts, and lots of customization options. They're all of a type similar to what you'd see in something like Fortnite--nothing that would draw you into multiplayer on its own, but plenty to give you new unlocks to chase and to help multiplayer feel like it has more depth than just a series of matches to play. Those progression systems are handy for giving Gears 5 multiplayer some depth, providing you stuff to focus on in between matches, but they're also ancillary enough that they can be safely ignored if you don't care about unlocking new background banners or weapon skins. It should be noted also that, like live service games, Gears 5 also includes customization items you can grab by spending money on premium currency.Specializing In Co-OpThe bigger refinements come in Gears 5's co-op modes. Here, Gears 5 furthers an emphasis on teamwork and specialization, and again, the live service influence is apparent.Horde mode returns, in which five players team up to take on 50 waves of enemies while building fortifications and buying new weapons in between each round. It sees some tweaks to the rules, with elements like shared resources, the ability to spend those resources on character perks to make yourself stronger, and greater character specialization that gives you more of a particular job as you work together to survive. New to the cooperative scene is Escape, in which you race through a Swarm Hive as a squad of three, trying to outrun deadly gas as you find your way out and kill enemies along the way. Escape differs from the other modes in that you have limited weapons and ammo, forcing you to search for more resources as you go and to work together to stay alive, especially on higher difficulties.Both modes add more ways to engage with Gears 5, and they share their own live service-style progression systems that let you level up characters, customize their capabilities and loadouts, and generally make them more your own. The characters you choose in both Horde and Escape each have different roles and special abilities, including an Ultimate ability that charges up over time. You can even play as Jack the robot in an almost purely support role, providing something for players who prefer backing up teammates over scoring headshots. On the surface, Horde and Escape play pretty similarly to Gears' other modes, and the characters aren't drastically different from one another in most cases. But the ability to unlock new perks and abilities gives the sense that your characters are advancing as your skills improve, and the more time you put in, the more specialized and different each character becomes.Gears 5's additions make the whole package feel denser and more involved--even if it still plays very similarly to Gears games in the past. To some degree, there's almost too much progression to deal with; it's a lot to learn and keep in mind, and it takes a while to build up good-enough perks that your characters really start to become different from one another.But what makes Gears 5 work well is that those additions feel like a useful evolution of the core Gears concept, even if a lot of these ideas--like an involved character progression system or a Battle Pass-like rewards path--are also becoming commonplace among shooters. 13 years after the franchise's first release, The Coalition's additions to Gears 5 are all things that seem right at home with the elements that give the series its identity. The upshot is, there are lots of options, and while you might not play them all, there's probably something that fits the kind of player you are.Gears 5 is very much a return of those best elements of Gears of War, but with a focus on making the game feel somewhat more adaptive to your particular ways of playing. Whether you want campaign or co-op, Competitive or Quickplay, there's an option for you in Gears 5, and plenty of stuff to reward you for time spent and skill gained. Gears 5 might suffer from some of the same storytelling missteps as its predecessors, and it might not venture far out of the past, but the new ideas it brings to the series are all good reasons for fans to return.Info from Gamespot.com

The story of MoviePass would make a great feature film. The theater subscription service allowed users to see one movie a day for $10 a month. In 2018, the service upped its monthly rate and started limiting what films its users could see. In 2019, the company engaged in some pretty shady stuff, like reportedly changing users passwords so they wouldn't use the service and secretly signing users back up for the service after they canceled it. Well, it's the end of the third act for MoviePass, and the climax is the service shutting its doors.On September 14, MoviePass will close its doors to all its users as it hasn't been a success, according to BuinessWire. Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc., the company behind MoviePass, is continuing to find financing for the operation but cannot predict if or when the service will continue.It has been a steep downward slope the past year for the movie-going subscription service, including a service change last summer where MoviePass would only allow subscribers to see one of six movies on any given day. What started as a free-for-all for those who love going to the movies became one of the most confusing and restrictive subscription services.Luckily, MoviePass wasn't the only game in town. Both AMC Stubs The A-List and Sinemia also offered up services that would allow users to see multiple movies in theaters for a flat, monthly rate. GameSpot's Chris E. Hayner did a breakdown of all these movie-going services, and even before MoviePass made an abundant amount of changes to how it worked, it did not fare well in Hayner's review.September 14, 2019 is when MoviePass closes its doors, and while Helios and Matheson Analytics stated there is a chance in the future the service could return, don't count on it.Info from Gamespot.com

Netflix and VIZ Media are teaming up on an original anime based in 1970s Mexico. The series, Seis Manos, will stream exclusively on Netflix on October 3, with all eight episodes debuting in both English and Spanish audio on the same day.Seis Manos is VIZ Media's first animed property, following three orphaned martial artists who fight alongside a DEA agent and a Mexican Federale for justice after their mentor is killed in their town. The series stars voice actors Mike Colter from Luke Cage, Jonny Cruz from Overwatch, Angelica Vale from Jane the Virgin, Vic Chao from Mortal Kombat X, Danny Trejo, and more.🤜 Seis Manos premieres Oct. 3 on Netflix! 🤛Add it to your list now: https://t.co/bIAo9ea2jC pic.twitter.com/yApsfKIMfg — VIZ (@VIZMedia) September 12, 2019"Seis Manos offers the very best in storytelling and action, with an incredible voice cast and a unique Latin American storyline rarely seen in animation," Brad Woods, VIZ Media's chief marketing officer, said in a press release. "We're thrilled to partner with Netflix and Powerhouse to share this incredible new series with fans." Powerhouse Animation Studios, which is co-producing Netflix's Castlevania, will develop and produce the series.Though October is about two weeks away, a bevy of content launched on Netflix earlier this month, with a bunch of stuff going live just this week. This includes a ton of originals, like Tall Girl and The I-Land, and series returns, such as The Ranch and Shameless.Info from Gamespot.com

It's been 35 years since Ghostbusters first hit theaters in 1984, giving the world one of the best horror-comedy movies of all time. Since then, the franchise has spawned a sequel, cartoon adaptations, video games, a reboot, and an upcoming continuation of the original film. What it hasn't led to, however, is a haunted maze at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights. At least, not until this year.Ghostbusters is a featured Horror Nights 2019 attraction at both Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood, giving fans a chance to step into the movie and experience some of its biggest scares--and funniest jokes. Because that's the line you have to carefully walk when you're adapting a film like Ghostbusters into a haunted maze. Thankfully, the creative teams at both parks--who created two different mazes--were up to the challenge."That is a question we asked ourselves for a couple weeks. How do we tackle comedy and horror?" Charles Gray, show director at Universal Orlando, admitted when GameSpot asked about finding the right balance between horror and comedy. "All the punch lines and everything is delivered a very specific way." He's not wrong. Chances are when you think of Ghostbusters, Bill Murray delivering a classic Venkman line floats through your head just as often as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man getting roasted.Instead of trying to work around those iconic lines and moments, though, Gray and his team instead integrated them into the horror. "What at first was a challenge of all these things you want to see [and] things you want to hear that are not scary, [we then] started to develop a way to use us to our advantage," he continued. "So as you go through and you are enthralled by the decor and the scenery of the scene, all of a sudden, boom, a terror dog is right next to you, because you're so engrossed in what's around you. We also found ways to include lines of dialogue that you wanted to hear at the end of other triggers. So randomly as you go through the house, you will hear those lines that you want to hear."The result is a maze that doesn't skimp on the silliness or the screams. While you'll see some of the best scenes play out from the movie--and indeed encounter a Venkman proclaiming, "We came, we saw, and we kicked its ass"--you'll also get slimed by Slimer, venture through the iconic firehouse headquarters of the team and face-off with the aforementioned giant marshmallow monster.It's unlike just about anything the Horror Nights teams on both coasts have tackled before. And while it might not be the most disturbing maze you'll see at Horror Nights on either coast--good luck surviving House of 1,000 Corpses--it's definitely one of the most fun you'll experience.Halloween Horror Nights is open now at both Universal Studios parks. It runs through November 2 at Universal Studios Orlando and November 3 at Universal Studios Hollywood.Info from Gamespot.com

As is tradition, Borderlands 3 introduces four brand-new Vault Hunters to play--Amara the Siren, FL4K the beastmaster, Moze the gunner, and Zane the operative. If Amara sounds like the one for you, then you've come to the right place. Below, we detail her three distinct skill trees and go into their respective strengths and weaknesses.Amara is the elemental damage dealer amongst the Vault Hunters, which isn't new for the Siren class. However, unlike her more support-focused Siren sisters Lilith and Maya, Amara is a close-quarter bruiser. Much like Borderlands' Brick and Borderlands 2's Krieg, Amara's skill trees are designed to get her into the middle of a fight where she can bring the hurt to as many people as possible. Your choice of skill tree basically determines how you want to get there. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Release Times: When Can You Start Playing? Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More Fist Of The ElementsThe Fist of the Elements tree is built around Amara's Phasegrasp action skill, which allows her to grab an enemy and hold them in place. It's a great tree to invest in first--and the one you probably want to focus on if you're still new to first-person shooters. Early on, skills like Steady Hands--which increases weapon handling and accuracy--pair well with Phasegrasp to make it easier to shoot enemies.If nothing else, you'll want to invest at least five skill points in Fist of the Elements to unlock its second tier--netting you the perk to switch Amara's action skill from shock to incendiary damage. Borderlands 3 begins on Pandora where there are a lot of fleshy bandits, so securing a way to deal out incendiary damage--no matter your character--should be your first priority in the campaign.In its second tier, Fist of the Elements also gives you two excellent skills for Borderlands 3's early game: Tempest (increases elemental damage) and Illuminated Fist (increases elemental melee damage and applies action skill element to melee attacks). After that, most of Fist of the Elements skills are fairly straightforward, with most increasing the elemental damage Amara's firearms can do or helping her slow down the hordes of enemies that regularly populate the world. If you're struggling with the shooting part of Borderlands 3, then this tree will help you out in that regard.BrawlThough not as flashy as Fist of the Elements and Mystical Assault, Brawl is probably Amara's best skill tree. It's certainly the one you want to heavily put points into if you know you'll mostly be playing through Borderlands 3 solo--as this is the tree that includes all of Amara's best defensive abilities.Like Fist of the Elements, you want to put at least five points into this tree to unlock an additional element for Amara's action skill. In this case, it's corrosion--not super important early on but you'll be thankful for the option when armored enemies start regularly showing up about halfway through the story. Brawl's skills are tied to Amara's action skill Phaseslam, which sees her jump into the air and then careen back into the earth in an elemental ground pound. Brawl's got some great first tier skills. Root to Rise increases Amara's max health, Personal Space increases Amara's weapon damage at close range, and Clarity gives Amara health regeneration. That last one is especially good to invest in, as removing the need to purchase health packs just saves you a bunch of money early on--which is better spent on gun ammo.Of all Amara's trees, Brawl has the best late-game perks. Regardless of which tree you focus on, putting points into Brawl should be a part of your strategy. Helping Hand(s) allows Amara to summon her elemental arms to deflect grenades and block bullets, Do Unto Others sends powerful elemental orbs at enemies who dare attack you, Blitz transforms Amara's melee into a nearly one-hit kill dash attack, and Guardian Angel allows Amara to self-revive herself. You really can't go wrong with this tree.Mystical AssaultMystical Assault is built around Amara's third action skill, Phasecast, which fires a ghostly elemental projection of Amara at enemies. Phasecast is probably Amara's coolest-looking skill, and it can evolve into some pretty badass secondary abilities. Unfortunately, overall, the skills in this tree don't have nearly as much utility as the ones found in the other two.This tree encourages Amara to use her action skill more often, as it includes perks that increase the damage the skill can do while decreasing the time it takes to use the action skill again. However, all of Amara's action skills already do tremendous amounts of damage and none of them take all that long to recharge. If anything, Mystical Assault is a good tree to invest in once you've finished Borderlands 3's campaign and have started doing the endgame content--especially Proving Grounds which grades your performance based on how fast you kill enemies. Until that point, however, you probably don't need to pay attention to this tree.Once you do think you need to speed up your action skill usage because your guns and fists just aren't cutting it anymore, there are a few skills in Mystical Assault you should pay attention to. Remnant causes Amara to send homing missiles of elemental energy at enemies after Amara kills someone--allowing the Siren to mow through foes a lot more quickly. Avatar is another good one, occasionally giving Amara the ability to use her action skill while it's still cooling down.Info from Gamespot.com

Borderlands 3 is finally here, allowing you to play as one of four Vault Hunters--Moze the gunner, Amara the Siren, FL4K the beastmaster, and Zane the operative. If you're interested in Moze, then keep reading. Below, we detail her three distinct skill trees and go into their respective strengths and weaknesses.Moze's skill trees are built a little bit differently in comparison to her fellow Vault Hunters. When Moze uses her action skill, she summons her massive Iron Bear mech--regardless of which skill trees you invest points into. However, each skill tree contains several different weapons for you to unlock, allowing you to customize how Iron Bear fights. Moze's skill trees do possess a few perks geared towards her own growth as well, however--much like Borderlands 2's Gaige--Moze is all about working towards summoning her giant mechanical companion. Iron Bear is the star of the show. Borderlands 3 News Borderlands 3 Review Borderlands 3 Release Times: When Can You Start Playing? Borderlands 3 Review, Release Date, Preload, Unlock Times, PC Specs, And More Demolition WomanThe Demolition Woman skill tree is all about explosions, amplifying the amount of splash damage that both Moze and Iron Bear can do. This tree automatically allows Iron Bear to equip a V-35 semi-automatic grenade launcher to one of its two arms, but investing points into the tree allows you to also unlock a Vanquisher Rocket Pod, homing missiles, and a nuke. Yup, you can just pop off a nuke whenever you summon Iron Bear if you put points into Demolition Woman. It's awesome.The tree is also geared towards keeping Iron Bear active for longer periods of time, so if you just want to use the mech more often and for longer periods, then throw a few points into the first few tiers of abilities. Deadlines, for example, allows Iron Bear to use less fuel when firing its weapons and Stainless Steel Bear increases Iron Bear's armor and maximum fuel storage.There are some fun mid- to late-game perks too. While not necessary for building the perfect Moze loadout, you might want to invest in them just because they're cool. Auto-Bear, a third tier skill, keeps Iron Bear on the battlefield after Moze has exited, allowing you to fight side by side and fulfill your Titanfall fantasies. If you loved playing as Krieg in Borderlands 2, then you'll probably also enjoy one of the final skills unlocked in the Demolition Woman tree: To The Last. With this fifth tier skill unlocked, Moze is able to throw grenades while in fight for your life--giving you an explosive option for nabbing a second wind.Shield Of RetributionIf you want to increase Iron Bear's defensive potential, then Shield of Retribution is the skill tree you want to put points into. Right from the get-go, this tree allows you to equip a Railgun that deals precision shock damage. The tree also includes the option for equipping a Bubble Shield to Iron Bear though, as well as the Bear Fist attachment--giving Iron Bear a powerful melee attack.The Bubble Shield is in the first tier of abilities and probably the first skill you want to unlock. Honestly, you probably want to unlock this skill first regardless of which tree you want to focus on. Despite being a giant mech, Iron Bear can't really take much of a beating so investing in a means of better defense is crucial for combat after finishing the campaign's early chapters.Unfortunately, there aren't that many decent skills in the Shield of Retribution tree's second and third tiers. This isn't a very good tree, and you'll struggle to do enough damage to defeat foes if this is the tree you focus on. You definitely don't want to spec into it if you're playing solo, as then you'll really struggle against the bullet-sponge bosses. At the fourth tier, you do unlock the useful Close The Distance evolution for the Bear Claw that transforms the melee attack into a grappling hook, making it easier to bust through an enemy at point-blank range with one of Iron Bear's many weapons. However, without putting points into the other trees, you won't have the necessary attack power to really put this skill to use. You're probably best off just nabbing Bubble Shield and moving on to one of the two other trees.Bottomless MagsBottomless Mags is a fun skill tree to invest in and probably the one best suited for solo play with Moze. It's all about dealing as much damage as quickly as possible, starting off with a Minigun attachment for one of Iron Bear's arms. This tree also provides the option of unlocking a Dakka Bear manned turret for Iron Bear (which lets teammates catch a ride on your back and fire away), a flamethrower, a corrosive launcher, an ice cannon, and a mine cannon. That last one should please Titanfall 2 fans, as it basically transforms Iron Bear into a Scorch Titan.Obviously avoid the Dakka Bear manned turret in the first tier if you're playing solo, but consider unlocking it if you know you're regularly going to play with others. Cloud of Lead is one of Moze's best skills, and it's found in the first tier of this tree--giving both Moze and Iron Bear a chance to deal incendiary damage with every attack and fire their guns without consuming ammo. You can continue the flame pain with the second tier Stoke the Embers ability, which increases Moze and Iron Bear's incendiary damage. This may go without saying, but if you decide to put a flamethrower or the fire-based mine cannon on Iron Bear, Stoke the Embers allows the mech to do tremendous amounts of damage to a group of enemies very quickly.Consider investing in both Rushin' Offensive and Fuel Economy as well. The former allows Moze to sprint and shoot at the same time and the latter allows Iron Bear to run and consume less fuel while moving. With both, you can more easily make your way through a group of enemies more quickly. Once you're in the late game, grab Exploding, Bullets so that Iron Bear's minigun can fire explosive rounds (and be sure to put some points into the Demolition Woman skill tree so you do even more damage).Then you can focus on Moze. Try to find a Vladof assault rifle or pistol with an additional gun barrel attachment that transforms the firearm into a minigun. This is perfectly paired with Some For The Road, where exiting Iron Bear will briefly give Moze infinite ammo. To continue the pain when the effect stops, unlocking Click, Click makes Moze more powerful when her gun's clip is almost empty. Info from Gamespot.com