At the heart of any European town founded before the 19th century lies a church. It's the same with Anno 1800. At the center of your city sits a magnificent cathedral, its spectacular steeple reaching for the heavens and illuminating the lives of everyone who passes by. It’s a very beautiful church, but it’s hiding something.At the heart of Anno 1800 lies an intimidating and complex financial simulation. It may seem like you're overseeing the rise and occasional fall of a European-style city as it comes of industrial age. But really, you're juggling numbers, thumb wedged in the accounts ledger, finessing production efficiencies and stabilizing trade fluctuations. Anno 1800 is perhaps the prettiest spreadsheet I've ever seen.Each randomly generated map in the core sandbox mode unfurls as a mostly blank canvas, a glistening sea dotted with fertile islands waiting to be claimed by you and your (AI or human) opponents. As you grow and expand your reach across multiple islands and into the New World--and your empire undergoes its Industrial Revolution--you'll employ more advanced technologies, extracting coal and oil to fuel great belching factories and formidable steam engines. But the basic principle remains constant: Satisfy your population by employing them to manufacture natural resources into commodities that encourage more people to move to your cities.Everything becomes a production chain for you to configure, massage and optimize. Early on the choices you're making here are relatively simple; the virgin terrain of your first settlement makes it easy to place the knitter near the farm so the wool is delivered swiftly and the warehouse within range so the finished goods can be collected for immediate sale. But soon the need for a navy means you've had to build a sailmaker's yard which is now diverting wool previously used by the knitter. Building another sheep farm means finding the physical space for an additional farm as well as for all the extra housing for the new farmers. Extend this scenario a few hours into a game and it will encompass dozens of productions chains of increasing complexity and inter-connectivity.Managing these productions chains--whether it's work clothes and sails or beer and pocket watches--is an enjoyable exercise in a kind of "balancing the books" sense. You know you have to spend resources to grow, but your success depends on finding that ever-moving sweet spot between overreaching and not pushing far enough. It's necessary to keep the requisite resources flowing and meet the housing and job demands of your population, but it's not sufficient. To maintain a firm hand on your economy you have to appreciate the various financial levers available to you, allowing fine adjustments to tax rates and production ratios that can genuinely mean the difference between keeping it in the black and going bankrupt.Of course, it's also just as enjoyable to play the more visual puzzle game of city planning, slotting in that new building not only where its specific dimensions fit, but where it also retains proximity to its related structures in the chain. Nobly assisting matters here is the "move" tool that lets you--for no resource cost at all--pick up and move any building to another location. Need to pop a police station downtown but there's no room? Just move the nearby houses further down the street to open up the space. It really does look utterly beautiful when it all comes together, too, like an exquisitely detailed diorama that you can poke, prod and tweak to your heart’s content. There’s even a first-person mode that lets you walk the streets and observe all your townsfolk going about their day to day business. I especially welcomed the moments I was able to spend admiring the view before some new urgent matter warranted investigation and I had to return to crunching those numbers.Spinning all the plates becomes even trickier as you advance into the Industrial Age. Production chains that were once straightforward, one-to-one input/output ratios turn into logistical nightmares as multiple buildings start feeding into multiple other buildings. The demands of the job are only exacerbated by a lack of clarity in the feedback you're given when things aren't operating at full capacity. Simple things like knowing how many flour mills and grain farms support a bakery just aren't communicated clearly enough in-game or in the non-existent manual. I spent hours engaged in trial and error in such situations before finding a comprehensive external wiki that I found myself alt-tabbing to constantly while I played.There is a campaign mode that functions as a tutorial before it segues into the main sandbox. And there is an additional setting that enables a more guided experience, providing you with specific goals at the appropriate moments. I found both very welcome, even as someone who had played some of the previous Anno games. But at the same time, I felt that other important aspects weren't explained thoroughly enough, if at all, and it was frustrating to guess at solutions to problems I wasn't confident I'd even diagnosed correctly.Much of Anno 1800 is spent watching numbers go up and down. Total gold is going down. Now it's going back up again. There aren't enough workers for the number of available jobs. Okay, now there are too many workers and not enough engineers. Sometimes it's clear why these things are happening and sometimes it's obvious what you can do to rectify the situation. However, other times it isn't and it's really quite panic-inducing. My stomach tightened whenever the numbers plummeted into the red, but as soon as they shot back into the black I would feel a surge of relief. Even so, outside of these sharp swings, when the numbers remained relatively stable and my economy seemed to be ticking over steadily, I couldn't shake this nagging sense that everything was always on the verge of complete collapse.I spent all of my time playing Anno 1800 in a mild yet pervasive state of anxiety. As a city-building sim that emphasizes economic management, it is as robust and powerful as the steel factories it allows you to pollute the skies with. But for all the natural beauty of its island paradise and the architectural splendor of its churches, theatres, and piers, it's just a little too cold in its reliance on numbers and a little too impenetrable in its reluctance to show you its workings. I'm glad I visited, but I don't think I'd want to live there. Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft's latest big release, The Division 2, did not meet Ubisoft's commercial expectations on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The French publisher confirmed on an earnings call today that the console edition failed to meet sales targets, but sales of the PC edition were in line with Division 1."The Division 2 ended up short of our ambitious expectations on console. We believe this was due in large part to a more competitive market than expected," chief financial boss Frederick Dugue said, though he did not name any specific competitor titles.Dugue added that he expects The Division 2 to "grow and gain traction" over time with new content releases such as the game's first big raid coming this week. He also noted that while The Division 2 did not meet sales expectations, the game was received very positively by fans.For the PC edition specifically, sales on Ubisoft's own Uplay store surged 10 times compared to the original The Division. This was no doubt in part attributable to how The Division 2 was not released on Steam, in favor of coming to Uplay and the Epic Games Store.Though The Division 2 did not reach Ubisoft's commercial expectations on console, the game did hit "records highs for engagement per player," while Season Pass sales were also strong.Ubisoft never said what its sales expectations for The Division 2 were in the first place. Like most other major publishers, Ubisoft no longer typically releases sales expectations or results on a unit basis. That being said, Ubisoft did say that Far Cry 5 remains Ubisoft's best-selling game on the current generation of consoles.Also during Ubisoft's earnings call today, the company announced yet another delay for the pirate game Skull & Bones and that it has three unannounced games in the works to be announced soon, one of which is rumored to be a London-set Watch Dogs 3.Info from Gamespot.com

The Division 2 changed things up in terms of its release this year when it bypassed PC giant Steam in favor of launching on Ubisoft's own Uplay store and the Epic Games Store. Ubisoft has now spoken about that transition and how it impacted sales overall.Sales of The Division 2's PC edition were "in line" with those of The Division 1, chief financial boss Frederick Dugue said on an earnings call. The Uplay edition, meanwhile, enjoyed a ten-fold increase in sales compared to the original game; this uptick was no doubt driven by the game not being available on Steam.This probably makes the PC edition of The Division 2 even more profitable, as Ubisoft owns the Uplay store and doesn't have to pay a merchant fee. The Epic Games Store, meanwhile, pays publishers 88 percent of revenue, compared to 70 percent on Steam.PC overall is doing very well for Ubisoft lately. The company announced today that PC game sales are up 79 percent and currently represent 27 percent of Ubisoft's overall revenue. This compares to 18 percent of total revenue for the prior year. Uplay specifically saw its sales rise by 150 percent for the latest reporting period, due in part to the launch of The Division 2 on Uplay instead of Steam.The Division 2 failed to meet sales targets on PS4 and Xbox One, due in part to a tough competitive market, Ubisoft said.Other news from Ubisoft's earnings release today was yet another delay for the pirate game Skull & Bones. Additionally, Ubisoft said it has three unannounced games in the works to be announced soon, one of which is rumored to be a Watch Dogs 3 set in London.Info from Gamespot.com

As promised, Nintendo revealed a wealth of new details about Super Mario Maker 2 during today's dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation. Like the original Wii U/3DS game, Mario Maker 2 allows players to create and share their own Super Mario levels, but this time, they'll have access to a load of new customization options and other features, including multiplayer.Unlike the original Super Mario Maker, the upcoming Switch iteration boasts several different online multiplayer modes. In Multiplayer Versus, up to four players--playing as either Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Toadette--will compete to race through a randomly selected level. The first player to make it to the end of the stage will be the winner and raise their Versus Rating.Those who prefer cooperative play can jump into Multiplayer Co-op, where the object is to work together to clear the course. If one player manages to make it to the end of the level, the whole team wins. There's also a Nearby Play option; if four players gather together locally, each with their own Switch console and copy of Mario Maker 2, they can set up a play session. However, the host player will need to have a persistent internet connection for this.While the original Mario Maker included a loose collection of pre-made levels to play though, Mario Maker 2 features a more fleshed out single-player story mode. Here, Mario is charged with helping rebuild Princess Peach's castle, but to do so, he'll need to amass coins by accepting "jobs" from a bulletin board. Each job takes the form of a different course, and you'll need to clear it in order to earn the coins. Nintendo says there will be more than 100 levels to play through in story mode.On top of that, Nintendo showcased some of the new tools and customization options coming in Mario Maker 2. As previously revealed, this time players will be able to build levels using assets from Super Mario 3D World. There are also a handful of new course themes for every Mario style, including desert, snow, forest, and sky, each of which is accompanied by a new tune by renowned Mario composer Koji Kondo.Moreover, if you tap on the Angry Sun from Super Mario Bros. 3 while in the course editor, you'll be able to turn it into a moon, which will give the course a nighttime makeover. Not only will the backdrop be starry, but some elements of the level will change as well; underground areas will be upside down, and there will be reduced gravity in sky levels.You'll be able to share your levels online and try out other players' creations in the Course World hub. This time, you'll be able to search for levels by popularity or using tags to filter the kind of levels you'd like to play, such as "puzzle-solving" or "autoscroll." You can also download other players' stages and play them offline.Super Mario Maker 2 launches for Nintendo Switch on June 28. The game requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription for online play, but if you don't have one, Nintendo is bundling an individual 12-month membership along with the title for $70--a $10 savings. If you do already have an individual membership and decide to spring for this option, the extra 12 months will be stacked on top of your current subscription. Nintendo has also announced a new voucher program that allows NSO subscribers to purchase two select Switch games for $100.Ahead of Super Mario Maker 2's release, Nintendo will host a tournament for the game on June 8--the same day as its pre-E3 Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competitions. Meanwhile, the company's E3 2019 Nintendo Direct presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, at 9 AM PT and will reveal more information about the company's 2019 lineup.Info from Gamespot.com

In Whispers of a Machine, a retro-styled point-and-click adventure, interesting themes and mechanical elements relating to human augmentation are stapled onto a recognizable framework. Your character, murder investigator Vera Englund, has access to cybernetically augmented abilities thanks to some neat future-science, and she can do things like perform biometric readings of the folks she is interviewing to pick up on anomalies in their heart rate and composition, conduct forensic scans over environments to pick up on potentially vital information for her investigation, and increase her strength for moments where brute force is necessary.But it's not a game that dives deep into the nature of augmentation, or which uses augmentation for most of its puzzles. Because of this, the game ultimately doesn't quite live up to the full potential of its premise. Regardless, it's easy to appreciate Whispers of a Machine for what it is--a damn good point-and-click adventure with a lot of unique, interesting ideas.Throughout Whispers of a Machine, there are decisions you can make during dialogue and puzzles that are tied to one of three different styles of approach: empathetic, analytical, or assertive, and following each one of these will lead to different outcomes later on down the line. During dialogue, you're typically given these three choices of response, and although they're not labeled, it's usually clear which approach each one matches to. Cleverly, the puzzles that track these choices don't explicitly signpost the fact that there are multiple solutions, meaning that the game will, on occasion, track a decision that is perhaps closer to your natural instinct than any intentional roleplaying you're doing. In one early example, it’s not entirely clear that there’s more than one way to get a vent open, but the game will remember which methodology you arrive at and whether you seek help from others or find a way to get it opened yourself.The broad plot remains largely the same regardless of how you play. At the game's opening, Vera is sent to investigate a murder in Nordsund, a small, quiet town that sits atop a giant spire, isolated from the abandoned roads and wasteland below. The lore of both the city and the larger game world are slowly unfurled over the course of the story. Whispers of a Machine is set in a near-future following "The Collapse," a cataclysmic event that you learn more about as you play. A.I. is outlawed, while augmentation allows humans in certain occupations to excel, but taking the "blue" that is essential to keep your augmentations working comes at a heavy mental cost.Nordsund, the locals assure you, is not the sort of city where people get murdered--and yet by the time Vera arrives, a second murder has already been committed. It's up to Vera to find the link between the victims, identify their killer, and, inevitably, deal with the larger conflict that has spawned this violence. Getting to the bottom of this means investigating the town and getting to know several of its citizens. Nordsund is grimy and cramped, sparsely populated and made up of garbage dumps, poorly assembled shacks, repurposed buildings, and elevators that never seem to work.The murder plot ends up drawing Vera into a much larger investigation into warring political and ideological factions, ultimately leading to a conclusion that sees Vera grappling with issues from her own past (and a few potential endings, depending on your choices). The story is well told, unveiling new details and character beats at a steady pace throughout, offering up a good mix of foreshadowing and red herrings to keep you on your toes. The lore underpinning it all isn't anything too exciting, though--there are a lot of standard science-fiction tropes revisited, and the game ultimately doesn't have a lot to say about its own A.I. apocalypse beyond the fact that it happened. But Vera is a likable protagonist with a compelling backstory, and the game's small cast is eclectic and brought to life by some great vocal performances.Your choices will dictate which augmentations you can unlock. If you respond empathetically to the game's cast during the first day of your investigation, for instance, on the second day you'll unlock the ability to energise machines, objects, and people with a little jolt; if you were purely analytical in your approach to puzzles and conversations, though, you'll be gifted with enhanced sight, while assertive players will be given an amnesia ability to affect their target's memories. Depending on which powers you unlock, the solutions that are available to you for certain puzzles later in the game will change completely, essentially creating ‘new’ puzzles. A second playthrough in which you make different choices will only differ at a handful of points, but these unlockable powers are fun to test out and discover the limits of, even though each one is only really used a few times.The puzzles are, for the most part, smart and engaging. Your ability to progress is tied not just to how you reason through a situation, but to how much attention you've been paying to the evidence and the key locations around town. The payoff for remembering a detail from earlier in the game can be great--one late puzzle, for instance, is reliant on recognizing a certain sound in the background of a cassette tape found near the game's beginning.Using Vera’s augmentations to progress makes for an interesting dynamic, too--remembering that you can access her augmented strength or scan the environment for DNA samples is empowering, but the game never loses sight of Vera’s character, or her skills for deduction and reasoning, underneath these powers. There are very few puzzles that you could accuse of being obtuse; there's one that is perhaps a little too outside-the-box, but it's not so wild that it requires random guesswork. Getting to know Nordsund is a pleasure, and when you finish the game--which is unlikely to take longer than about five hours--it's easy to feel a little sad about needing to leave a place that, for all its grim-future grime, was interesting.Despite having big ideas, Whispers of a Machine is ultimately a traditional example of the genre with some neat ideas rather than something revelatory. But it's very good at what it does, and those augmentations help to differentiate it from all the other adventure games out there. It's short but gripping, offering a well-written, interesting and clever experience that wraps up well and which rewards your choices and play style with unique powers and puzzle solutions. Info from Gamespot.com

The original John Wick was fairly self-contained; although it hinted at a deeper universe of secret societies and god-like assassins, John Wick 1 was ultimately about a dude getting revenge for his dog. But John Wick 2 delved far deeper into the assassin's world, elaborating on the lore of the Continental Hotels, the High Table, and additional wrinkles like blood markers that symbolize a debt. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum continues to build on the series' mythology, and some of the movie's actors have theories about why fans always want to know more about the world of John Wick."The notion of a secret society of assassins that literally has its own hotel chain is fascinating," Lance Reddick, who plays the New York Continental concierge Charon, told GameSpot. "It's a story we haven't seen before."Reddick also attributed the series' success at drawing in hardcore fans to star Keanu Reeves. "I just feel like people identify with Keanu so readily," Reddick said. "The way his character's set up and the way that he plays it, it has such a vulnerability to it. And at the same time, you identify with his pain and you want to cheer for him. But by the same token, seeing him being able to do all those fantastical, badass things fulfills people's fantasies."Asia Kate Dillon, who plays a new character called the Adjudicator in John Wick 3, agreed. "You have this man who has gone through a series of devastating losses, and then because he was an assassin, we get to see the way in which he uniquely seeks revenge because of that loss," Dillon said. "I think as human beings, we can all relate to having lost something or someone that we love."But revenge fantasies writ large on the silver screen are nothing new, and John Wick might have simply come and gone if it was set against a simple, real-life backdrop of an assassin working for the mob. But by marrying the tried-and-true emotional experience of watching a relatable character get vengeance with an intriguing criminal underworld unlike anything seen before, John Wick left a lasting mark."The exciting thing about the second film and [John Wick 3] is that we just get to go deeper and deeper into the John Wick world," Dillon said. "It really feels like it's something that had to have been a graphic novel first, or had to have come from somewhere, but it didn't. It is all the vision of [director Chad Stahelski] and Keanu." Mark Dacascos plays another new character in John Wick 3--Zero, an assassin who looks up to John Wick. Dacascos said he's just as big a fan of Reeves as Zero is of Wick."That was what was so much fun to play. I had even told Keanu while we were shooting...I said to Keanu, 'It felt so simple, because the way that Zero feels about John Wick is sort of the way that Mark feels about Keanu--I've been a fan since Bill & Ted's,'" Dacascos recalled. "So it was kind of fun just to transfer that energy to the character, you know? Because you see how humble and gracious and grounded [Keanu] is. He's a pleasure to work with."Dacascos also cited the series' action, which is widely considered to be head and shoulders above most of its contemporaries in the genre. "The hardest part was trying to keep up with Chad and Keanu and 87eleven Action Design," the actor said. "They set the bar for me for action on-screen, and I have to say it was an honor and a thrill to try to keep up with them. I was challenged, because whatever I could do, Chad and team wanted us to push it--for good reason, I mean, it's John Wick 3."Dacascos and Dillon each cited the series' diversity--of characters, cultures, genders, action, visual styles, you name it. Dillon, a non-binary actor in real life, was excited to play a non-binary character--the Adjudicator--but that's just one of the many details that serve to flesh out the series' many side characters."One of the things that was exciting for me as an actor, but also was exciting for me as a fan, is that I know that everything in the movie had a deeper meaning," Dillon said. For example, the Adjudicator stays in room 217 at the Continental, a number Dillon said is linked to the Achilles myth in Greek mythology. "Every little detail, whether it's the coins, or the statues in the Continental lobby, or whatever the drink is at the bar--it's all symbolic and all has a deeper meaning," Dillon continued. "And that, to me, is super exciting, because it clearly means someone thought about every little detail, which means I can get fully absorbed into the world."Dacascos agreed. "It's a very sexy world they live in," he said. "Everything is like this fantasy that you want to be in, in spite of the fact that there's a lot of violence going on."The actor said John Wick's incredible level of detail comes straight from the series' director, Stahelski. "He's so specific," Dacascos said. "I mean, Chad told me that for every gun, there's a different sound. He goes that deep and specific with everything. I think that's why the movies have garnered such a huge fan base--because it's crossed the line. It's not just an action movie...philosophically, the story goes as deep as you're willing to dive."But even with all the layers of sensational action and minute world-building, John Wick 3 remains an emotional, human story at its core."There are so many elements of this movie that we as fans and people can relate to, because everybody's lost something," Dacascos said."I'm just continually stunned and impressed by how groundbreaking these films are," Dillon added.John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum hits theaters May 17. Read our John Wick 3 review to find out what we thought.Info from Gamespot.com

Valve announced today that the Steam Link app, which brings streaming games to your mobile device, is now available as a free download for iOS and Apple TV. This is notable because it was just 11 months ago that Apple rejected the app because it violated a number of Apple's guidelines.At the time, Apple said it planned to continue to communicate and worth with Valve to bring Steam Link to iOS and Apple TV, and that's now happened. However, there is no word on how the two sides came to terms. The Steam Link app promises to bring "desktop gaming to your iPhone or iPad." Users can pair a Steam controller or any MFI (Made-for-iPhone/iPad) controller to play games over a network connection provided they are on the same local network. Here are the requirements and specifications for "best performance," according to Valve.Requirements: iPhone or iPad using iOS 10 or higher Computer running Steam - Windows, Mac, or Linux iOS device must be on the same local network as the computer running SteamBest Performance:Connect your computer using Ethernet to your 5Ghz WiFi routerConnect your iOS device to the 5GHz band of your WiFi network Keep your iOS device within a reasonable range of your routerThe Steam Link app is effectively a replacement for the physical Steam Link device that Steam discontinued in 2018. Steam Link is already available on Android. For lots more on Steam Link, check out the official Steam Link page on Valve's website.Info from Gamespot.com

HBO's Game of Thrones wraps up its eighth and final season this Sunday, but what will the show's creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff do next? Apart from a new trilogy of Star Wars films for Disney, Weiss and Benioff are currently visiting studios looking for big "overall" deals.According to Deadline, Weiss and Benioff have met with as many as six "big media companies" for new "overall" deals that would cover TV, film, and streaming projects. Those said to be in the mix are HBO, Disney, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, according to Deadline.Of course, Weiss and Benioff are already partnered with HBO and Disney for Game of Thrones and Star Wars, respectively, so that could impact negotiations. According to Deadline, the duo are not looking to "rush into a decision." Given the massive success of Game of Thrones, it certainly seems like Weiss and Benioff certainly have bargaining power.Overall deals can be very lucrative. For example, comedy legend Michael Schur is reportedly being paid $25 million per year to stay at NBC, while Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes is being paid $100 million for her overall deal at Netflix.In addition to the Star Wars series, the first movie of which is scheduled to premiere in 2022, Weiss and Benioff are working on the controversial HBO show Confederate.As for Game of Thrones, the final episode airs this Sunday, May 19 on HBO. For more on the show, you can check out GameSpot's review and recap of Episode 5, "The Bells."Info from Gamespot.com

During its May 2019 Direct, Nintendo announced several bundle deals for pre-ordering Super Mario Maker 2. One, a brand-new game voucher-based deal, was announced as a promotion for pre-ordering Super Mario Maker 2, but it can be used to buy any Switch game. Unfortunately, it's not very good.If you have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, then for $100 USD you can now buy two Switch Game Vouchers from the Nintendo eShop. With these two vouchers, you can download any two Switch games. For example, you could pre-order Super Mario Maker 2 and buy Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and save $20 USD on the two games' combined retail price. But considering a Switch Online subscription already costs $20 USD, you don't actually save money unless you already own a subscription.This offer is limited-time and ends July 31, so if you want to take advantage of it, don't wait too long. In a press release, Nintendo revealed vouchers "are redeemable for one year from the date of purchase and don't have to be used at the same time." Nintendo hasn't announced if future games will become eligible for use with the vouchers, such as Pokemon Sword / Shield or Animal Crossing.There's also a Super Mario Maker 2 and Nintendo Switch Online Bundle, which goes live in the Nintendo Eshop on June 28. You get both the game and a 12-month individual subscription for $70 USD, which is a $10 USD saving on the typical combined retail price of both. Considering you need an online subscription to play most of Super Mario Maker 2's modes, it's not a bad deal for those who have yet to buy a membership and want the upcoming game.During E3 2019, Nintendo is hosting several esports tournaments: the Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational 2019, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship 2019 3v3, and the Splatoon 2 World Championship 2019. All three will be held on June 8. The Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational is the newest of the bunch, and it will pit four members of the Super Mario Maker community against each other in a variety of courses designed by Nintendo's Treehouse team.Nintendo also has a pre-recorded E3 2019 Nintendo Direct scheduled for Tuesday, June 11 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM BST. Nintendo hasn't announced which games the Direct will focus on, other than Switch titles scheduled for 2019. Most likely that means Pokemon Sword / Shield or Animal Crossing (or both).Info from Gamespot.com

One of the most macabre scenes in A Plague Tale: Innocence is the eponymous plague, manifesting in the form of cursed rats. These vermin have a malevolent, otherworldly presence, their incessant screeching and scratching on stone pavements and atop piles of corpses making for a nightmarish, cacophonous din. Like sewage sludge, these creatures pour out of crevices towards their unwitting victims, ravaging them until they are just skin and bones. It’s an incredibly grotesque and spine-chilling sight--one that will linger in your mind hours later.But even though the rats are a constant presence in Innocence, they merely serve as the backdrop for its more poignant moments, featuring the two characters you’ll spend the bulk of your time with: Amicia and Hugo de Rune, a pair of young siblings who are suddenly thrust into this hellscape of war and pestilence. Set amidst the Hundred Years’ War during the Middle Ages, the comfort the siblings once knew as children to a noble French family has been ruthlessly shattered. The Black Death, too, has wrought terror upon the country, with the bulk of the French population either dying from the plague or eaten by rats. Compounding this is the Inquisition, a fanatical group of knights keen to get their hands on the last of the de Rune descendants. Surrounded with sludgy pools of grimy rats, and with murderous knights hunting them down at every other turn, the duo need to gather their wits, leaning on stealthier means to escape from this mess. But not only do you have to navigate through the bedlam as the teenage Amicia, you’ll also have to take care of the five-year-old Hugo; he panics and shouts for Amicia when she ventures too far from him--as any young child will presumably do when surrounded by a neverending miasma of death and decay.This arrangement does give Innocence the appearance of an elaborate escort mission, but fortunately, the game knows how to subvert the tedium that’s so typical of such games. A huge part is due to how human Innocence is. Despite his neediness and naiveté, Hugo is easy to grow fond of. His childlike wonder cuts through the wretchedness of their circumstances, allowing him--and helping Amicia--to appreciate the beauty even in the bleakest of times. In one scene, he quickly takes off to a nearby pier, fascinated by the curious sight of bubbles from frogs in the lake. Even a small gesture from him, such as plucking a flower--a symbol of tenacity in such trying times--to gently place it among Amicia’s braids, captures the warmth of their relationship. Such moments are heart-wrenchingly sweet, and you’ll share Amicia’s growing attachment to Hugo; his companionship is even greatly missed when she has to be paired up with other characters you meet along the way. On a mechanical level, it also helps that the artificial intelligence behind the characters isn’t hopelessly illogical, at least most of the time. Hugo isn’t usually one to chase after a butterfly in the thick of trouble, but the game still has its moments where a companion might accidentally take a kamikaze dive into a pool of quivering rats. Thankfully, these blunders are mercifully rare.With survival being the thematic core of the game, Innocence is, at its crux, a series of survival puzzles; you’ll need to avoid the ravenous rat colonies, as well as evade the knights of the Inquisition. The rodents are terrified of light and will scuttle away at its mere presence--a weakness you can exploit to make your way across death-stricken battlefields and cities. Yet key to survival is also vigilance; wander too close to the rats, and they will attempt to devour you, clawing at the fringes of the light as their teeth chatter with insatiable hunger. And when a few stray rodents manage to latch onto you, Amicia can drown in a whirlpool of vermin, as they viciously and noisily gnaw on her. Few scenes in video games manage to be quite as eerie as this, heightening the game’s cloying atmosphere of despair and danger.What’s decidedly less impressive, however, are the members of the Inquisition. As children, Amicia and Hugo won’t survive most direct confrontations with these armored brutes, who are only too eager to swing their cudgels and swords upon discovering them. Luckily for the de Rune siblings, the knights are also dumb as rocks; these barbarians are easily distracted by loud noises or sudden movements, such as by smashing a pot near their feet or tossing a rock towards a nearby chest full of armor. After staring at the offending object for a minute, the knight will mutter a variant of “Guess it’s just my imagination”--the most hackneyed and quintessential line used by hilariously obtuse NPCs in stealth games--and lumber back to their post, completely bewildered by the sound. In another far more egregious gaffe, another knight, while gawking at rats stripping his comrade to the bones, would grouse about the pointlessness of searching for his murderer, since they must be far gone by now. He then settled back to his programmed patrol, his back turned against the torrent of crazed rodents. For a game whose storytelling relies heavily on its atmosphere of dread and fear, such illogical instances absolutely butcher the mood.That said, the game’s puzzles eventually ramp up in difficulty in later chapters, which renders combat and confrontations unavoidable at certain points. As dim-witted as the knights are, they’re still mostly decked out in heavy armor and weaponry--and can make devastating enemies. To compensate for her lack of brute strength, Amicia can modify and augment her trusty slingshot and ammunitions with the right materials and a dash of basic alchemy, turning the humble tool into a deadly and versatile weapon. Hugo isn’t a passive companion either; reaching cramped, hard-to-access places is his forte, and he’s gutsy enough to crawl through smaller breaches in walls alone to open up new paths for Amicia--provided the coast is cleared. Other characters, like a talented young alchemist named Lucas and a pair of orphaned thieves called Mellie and Arthur, will come with vastly different capabilities--and each with their own affairs to settle in this dire tale.Scenes of desolation and tragedy mark Innocence’s dark, intriguing world, tied together with a narrative that’s genuinely moving without resorting to fetishizing the children’s sufferings. Despite their challenging situation, the siblings make do with what little help they get, bolstered by Amicia’s astounding resourcefulness, to survive this catastrophic mess. The game also magnifies the cataclysmic impact of the Black Death through a lens of cosmic horror, invoking the frightful atmosphere of H.P. Lovecraft’s macabre stories; the slithering rats, whether they are scurrying in the dank blackness beneath the city or trailing around half-eaten cadavers, never fails to be disconcerting. On the other hand, its villainous characters are almost painfully one-dimensional, with predictable twists and turns in the plot. This renders some of its revelations lackluster.Powerfully ghoulish depictions of the plague and rats aside, Innocence is ultimately an emotive story of resilience against harrowing odds. The game’s title is an obvious nod towards the loss of innocence the endearing young cast faces throughout their journey. But more than that, it also speaks of the depths of human depravity and the agonizing cost of survival in the midst of war. Despite the unremitting horrors of Innocence’s beginnings, the game occasionally lets in a faint glimpse of hope. One of my favorite moments is when Amicia spots another wildflower in a lone trek across the city, nestled among the decay of the rats’ revolting nests. Without her brother around, she picks it up, and places it gingerly in her own hair--a personal reminder to keep trudging on amidst the hardships, and a testament to her growing strength and tenacity. Despite flashes of predictability, moments like these will bring a lump to your throat, as it did mine. Info from Gamespot.com

Game of Thrones ends on May 19 with Episode 6 of Season 8, but it'll be followed up a week later with a two-hour Game of Thrones documentary called The Last Watch. HBO has now released a trailer for the documentary, and it begins by showing the cast doing a table read for what appears to the series finale. The video includes a dramatic cut of Jon Snow actor Kit Harington becoming overwhelmed with emotion at the words on the page.Sansa Stark actress Sophie Turner looks on with a smile, as The Hound actor Rory McCann has a wide smile on his face. As you'd expect, there's no indication of what is going on in the context of the show to produce this response. The documentary will shine a light on the extensive production work that went into Game of Thrones Season 8. There is also a nice moment in the trailer where showrunner D.B. Weiss embraces Daenerys actress Emilia Clarke on her final day of filming. Check out the trailer:The Last Watch releases May 26 on HBO.In addition to the documentary, HBO is working on multiple prequel spin-offs, one of which stars Naomi Watts and will begin filming later this year. According to author George R.R. Martin, three of the five prequel series are coming along well. Aside from the fact that the show starring Watts is set thousands of years before the events of the existing show, very little has been shared. Even less is known about the other projects.For more on Game of Thrones, you can check out GameSpot's review of Episode 5, "The Bells," which set new viewing records--even breaking those from Episode 3 earlier this season. For a look ahead, check out some theories for Episode 6.Read next: Game Of Thrones Episode 5, Season 8: 15 Easter Eggs And References You Might Have MissedInfo from Gamespot.com

Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 parent company Take-Two has stated it has more unannounced games coming before the end of the financial year. The company, which owns publisher Rockstar, confirmed the news in an earnings call; CEO Strauss Zelnick said the company has "titles coming in the fiscal year that have not been announced yet."The current fiscal year ends on March 31, 2020, meaning these titles will arrive before then. It should be noted, however, that Take-Two also owns 2K Games, the publisher of games like XCOM and Borderlands 3, and 2K Sports. We therefore shouldn't get too excited at the prospect of GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 3 launching in the next 10 months.Elsewhere in the call to investors, Take-Two stated GTA V has sold another 10 million copies in the last six months, despite being six years old at this point. Red Dead Redemption 2 sold 1 million in the same time frame.The company also said a million people continue to play Borderlands 2 every month. That game launched in 2012, with a sequel coming later this year.Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has released the first tease for Rainbow Six Siege's two new Operators. The gif, which you can see below, is difficult to make out, and that appears to be a deliberate move from the publisher, which captioned the video, "Look carefully... what do you see?"From what can be gleaned, the two figures appear to be hooded, with one wielding some form of... electricity orb? We're not entirely sure. Let us know what you see in the comments below.Look carefully... what do you see? pic.twitter.com/Twzquc6HBR — Rainbow Six Siege (@Rainbow6Game) May 13, 2019Ubisoft typically ties its Siege reveals into the game's esports scene, and with the pro league finals being held in Milan on May 18-19, we hopefully don't have too long to wait until we hear more about these new Operators and the upcoming Year 4, Season 2.The most recent Operators, Mozzie and Gridlock, were revealed in February along with a new map named Outback. More recently, Ubisoft introduced reverse friendly fire as an attempt to curb teamkilling in Siege.Info from Gamespot.com

Director Ari Aster's Hereditary was one of the scariest horror movies 2018, and its mix of dark family drama and wild supernatural thrills made it a critical and commercial success. Expectations are high for Aster's follow-up Midsommar, which releases in July. A seriously creepy new trailer has been released.Unlike March's first teaser, which was more concerned with setting a spooky mood than revealing many plot details, this latest promo is heavier on story. Florence Pugh (Fighting with my Family) plays a troubled young woman who is invited to mysterious festival in Sweden by her estranged boyfriend. But things don't get any better when she gets there, as the festival is being run by some sort of weird cult who have scary plans for the American travellers. Check it out below.Midsommar also stars Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), and Will Poulter (Black Mirror). It releases on July 3.In a recent interview with Vulture, Aster explained how Midsommar differs from Hereditary. "It's a breakup movie, in the same way that Hereditary is a family tragedy," he said. “It's less overtly a horror movie, but it's still working in that same space. It's very macabre. But people shouldn't go in expecting Hereditary."For more on upcoming horror releases, check out our list of the biggest horror movies of 2019 to look forward to. Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has announced the first raid for The Division 2, titled Operation Dark Hours, goes live on May 16 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM BST. The Division 2 is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Regardless of where you play, you'll unlock an exclusive reward if your squad completes Operation Dark Hours before anyone else."The first team to complete Operation Dark Hours after it goes live will be forever immortalized in-game by having their team photo and names displayed in The Division 2's White House for all players to see," a Ubisoft press release reads. "All other players that complete Operation Dark Hours between May 16 and May 23 will receive a commemorative Arm Patch, while players who complete the raid after those dates will be rewarded with a clan banner icon and a trophy in their clan space."Operation Dark Hours will be available for players who've reached World Tier 5 and defeated Tidal Basin. Taking place in Washington National Airport, the eight-player raid will task you with retaking the location after it falls into the hands of the Black Tusks. You'll be able to earn exclusive loot for completing the raid, ranging from new gear sets to exotic weapons and unique rewards.Initially, Title Update 3--which adds Operation Dark Hours to The Division 2--was supposed to raise the Tom Clancy game's maximum Gear Score to 515. However, community complaints caused Ubisoft to go back on the decision, and keep the maximum Gear Score capped (for now) at 500. "We don't want to invalidate your progression and we heard that feedback loud and clear from our community," Ubisoft said.In our The Division 2 review, Edmond Tran wrote, "[The narrative] letdown is hard to ignore for the game's initial hours, but the strength of the systems and design that fuel The Division 2 as a game are compelling enough to keep you captivated for dozens more. The range of enemy types continues to keep combat encounters challenging, the equipment I earn and pick up continues to feel different, valuable, and asks me to consider new ways of play. The ravaged environments continue to intrigue, and sometimes they're so stunning I find myself needing to take screenshots before I move on. It might not have much to say, but The Division 2 is a perpetual cycle of tension, relief, and reward that's difficult to stay away from."Info from Gamespot.com