The next Inside Xbox live stream is scheduled for April 16 at 2:00 PM PT / 5:00 PM ET / 10:00 PM BST. The show will cover pre-E3 news, as well as announcements for Game Pass and several upcoming Xbox One games.The April Inside Xbox live stream is scheduled to be an hour long, and "will explore some exciting Xbox Game Pass news," Xbox Wire editor-in-chief Will Tuttle wrote in a blog post. The show will also provide further details for the upcoming anniversary update for Sea of Thieves and footage of the beta for Warhammer: Chaosbane. An exclusive look at Rage 2 will also occur during the live stream, followed by "several surprises" for other games.Rage 2 seems to be the focus of the live stream, as watching the show on Mixer while logged into your Microsoft account will unlock a Rage 2-themed avatar item. So far, most of the gameplay trailer for Rage 2 have focused on the game's fast-paced combat--which incorporates destructive powers to make you feel like an unstoppable superhero. However, there haven't been too many examples of the game's driving components--which is surprising given developer Avalanche Studios' work on Mad Max.April 2019 sees another six titles join Xbox Game Pass, following three that were added earlier in the month. If you're paying the $10 USD a month subscription fee to be a part of Game Pass, this month you gain access to Prey, Monster Hunter World, Resident Evil 5, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier, Life is Strange 2: Episode 2, and The Golf Club 2. We've given several of those games fairly high review scores, and listed Monster Hunter World as one of our game of the year finalists for 2018.Prey and The Golf Club 2 arrive on Game Pass on April 11, Monster Hunter World and The Walking Dead: A New Frontier on April 18, Life is Strange 2: Episode 2 on April 24, and Resident Evil 5 on April 25. Earlier this month, Michonne, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, and Minecraft joined Xbox Game Pass.Info from Gamespot.com

Mike Mignola's Hellboy is one of the great comic book creations of the 1990s, and like all the best heroes, he's a fascinating, unique character with a great backstory. He's a wise-cracking demonic paranormal investigator who must fight his own inner conflicts and contradictions, and reconcile his demonic origins while fighting monsters alongside his human colleagues. It was this complex personality that drew Guillermo Del Toro to the material, and he produced and directed the movies Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), both starring Ron Perlman in the title role. While neither movie was a huge box office hit, they were warmly received by critics and fans.Sadly, after many years trying to get Hellboy 3 off the ground, in early 2017 Del Toro confirmed that it wasn't going to happen. Instead we have this complete franchise reboot. Stranger Things star David Harbour has now taken on the lead role, while directorial reigns have been handed to Neil Marshall, best known for his work on shows such as Game of Thrones and Lost in Space, as well as movies like The Descent and Doomsday.Much has been made of the fact that this latest Hellboy movie taps into the horror-influenced side of Mignola's comic books, taking the material in a darker direction than Del Toro's more family-friendly action/fantasy films. On the face of it, this is a smart move. Del Toro is one of modern fantasy cinema's greatest filmmakers, and any attempt to match his genre-blending ambition and visual invention would almost certainly be doomed to failure. But if you're going to strip away these elements, then you better have something compelling to replace them, and this is where Marshall's movie comes up woefully short.As in the comics, Hellboy is an employee of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), a covert organisation dedicated to fighting monsters and stopping paranormal threats. A seemingly routine job in Mexico to extract a fellow agent goes wrong, and a distraught Hellboy is pulled back to BPRD headquarters. He is dispatched on a new mission by his adoptive father and BPRD boss Professor Broom (Ian McShane), on a mission that sends him to England to help stop some fearsome giants who are tearing up the countryside. But things don't go according to plan there either, and soon Hellboy is teamed up with surly military agent Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) and psychic pal Alice (Sasha Lane) to stop the return of Nimue, the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich), an ancient demoness who was thwarted in the Middle Ages but is back to claim Hellboy as her king and wreak her vengeance on the land.There's a lot going on here. Writer Andrew Cosby took inspiration from three of Mignola's limited series (Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, and The Storm and the Fury), and the result is that nothing ever feels like it's part of a single consistent story. Throughout the movie, characters and subplots are introduced then quickly forgotten, and there is an over-reliance on exposition and flashbacks to plug the narrative gaps. It's understandable that Marshall might want to incorporate as many elements from the source material as possible, but when some familiar roles (Kroenen, Lobster Johnson) are basically reduced to cameos, you wonder what the point was if it's going to interfere with the narrative flow.The movie's problems sadly don't stop there. A talented cast do their best, but the clunky dialogue and hamfisted attempts at humor result in some surprisingly weak performances. Lost star Kim struggles with an underwritten role as Damai, a gruff agent with a dark secret, while Lane is mostly given a bunch of one-liners that fall flat. There is an attempt to give Nimue more depth than might be expected for this sort of villainous role, but Jovovich doesn't get enough screen time to really develop her character. Worst of all is Gruagach, Nimue's huge, hulking, pig-faced assistant, rendered in CG and voiced by Stephen Graham (most noted for his work on HBO's Boardwalk Empire). Graham can be a powerful and intense actor, but here he's reduced to playing a deeply annoying, pointlessly foul-mouthed monster who pretty much ruins every scene he's in.As for Harbour, there are occasional scenes where we see the power that he could've brought to this role, as Hellboy is seduced by Nimue, leading him to question why is fighting alongside the humans against "his kind." These are the elements that make Hellboy such a fascinating character, and Marshall deserves credit for attempting to weave the character's backstory into the main narrative, rather than give us just another origin movie. But while Harbour does get to flex his dramatic muscles a couple of times, it's at the expense of the other elements--the humor, the compassion, the camaraderie--that Perlman brought so vividly to his version of the character.There's no denying that Hellboy fully grabs the opportunity provided by its R-rating. This is a gory movie--heads, limbs, and guts are thrown around with wild abandon, especially toward the end as demons descend on London. But the high level of bloodshed doesn't really add anything. The movie might be packed with monsters, but it's never scary, and the over-reliance on digital blood quickly becomes tiresome. There are a few impressive physical effects--Hellboy himself looks great, and the most effectively spooky sequence comes when he confronts the half-blind disfigured witch Baba Yaga. But the CG for the monsters and action scenes elsewhere frequently falls short of the standards expected from modern blockbusters, giving the movie a disappointingly cheap look.It's perhaps unfair to constantly compare Marshall's film to Del Toro's Hellboy movies. However, it's hard not to when this Hellboy gets things so wrong. The movie's ending--plus a mid-credits sequence--clearly set up a sequel, so if it happens, perhaps the filmmakers will get a chance to correct the mistakes here. Harbour remains a great choice to play the character, and it will be a shame if this is the last time we see him in the role. But ultimately this is not the Hellboy movie fans wanted to see him in.The GoodThe BadHarbour is well cast, and gets some impressive dramatic scenesStory is a messMakes full use of its R-ratingHumor falls flat Characters underdeveloped Digital effects frequently poor Info from Gamespot.com

Warner Bros.' live-action Detective Pikachu movie hits theaters in exactly one month, and those who go see it will be able to take home a little bonus. In a nice throwback to the days of the first Pokemon movies, fans who purchase a ticket to the film will receive a special Detective Pikachu Pokemon TCG promo card.The card, which you can take a look at below, will be distributed at theaters on opening weekend, and it features Detective Pikachu--voiced in the film by Ryan Reynolds--drinking a cup of his favorite adult beverage, coffee. One of his moves is also a play on his love of caffeine. If you're hoping to get the card, however, you'll need to see the movie early, as The Pokemon Company says it'll only be available while supplies last.The Detective Pikachu card was announced as part of a new promotional video, which takes the form of a mock screen test showcasing numerous Pokemon that will appear in the movie, including a couple we haven't previously seen, like Purrloin and Torterra. You can watch the new video below.Like the 3DS game that inspired it, the Detective Pikachu movie is set in Ryme City and follows the story of Tim (Justice Smith), whose famous private detective father has mysteriously gone missing. Tim has the unique ability to understand Pokemon, and he teams up with Pikachu to investigate his father's disappearance.The Detective Pikachu movie premieres on May 10. It's directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Captain Underpants) and also stars Kathryn Newton (Blockers), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla, Inception), and Bill Nighy (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). While you're waiting for its release, be sure to check out our roundup of everything we know about the Detective Pikachu movie.Info from Gamespot.com

Marvel's Black Widow movie, which hasn't even been announced or confirmed yet, continues to add to its cast. Following the news last week that Rachel Weisz and David Harbour would join Scarlett Johansson in the film, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that The Handmaid's Tale actor O-T Fagbenle is joining the superhero movie.Florence Pugh, who starred in Fighting With My Family alongside The Rock and will be seen next in the eerie pagan movie Midsommar, is also set to appear in Black Widow.So excited to join the #Marvel Universe!! #blackwidow #movie #scarlettjohansson pic.twitter.com/cWBBOpIOkt — O-T Fagbenle (@OTFagbenle) April 10, 2019Australian director Cate Shortland is said to be directing the Black Widow movie off a script by Jac Schaeffer. It's expected the movie will focus on Johannson's Natasha Romanoff, who started her career as a KGB assassin before joining the Avengers.The Black Widow movie is reportedly scheduled to start filming this June in London.As mentioned, the film has not been announced or confirmed yet. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, Johansson dodged a question about the movie, while Robert Downey Jr. sounded seemed baffled by how Marvel has yet to confirm the movie.The next big Marvel movie is Avengers: Endgame, which comes to theatres on April 26. It's the final movie in the MCU Phase 3; Phase 4 details are expected to be revealed after Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out in July. Info from Gamespot.com

One element of the discussion surrounding Avengers: Endgame is about its length--at three hours, the superhero film is very long. In a new interview, Marvel boss Kevin Feige said the runtime is the "least interesting thing" of all about the movie.He told io9 that Endgame is "as long as it should be.""We are not fans of overindulging movies. We are not fans of laborious lengths for no reason," he explained. "We are fans of movies that you wish didn't end. Movies that you want to see again as soon as it's over. And movies that you just don't ever find a good time to run out to the bathroom. That's when a movie's working. And if a movie doesn't feel like that to us we continue to trim, we continue to shape, we continue to bring that time down."Feige confirmed that Marvel made cuts to Endgame "to a certain extent" to make sure it didn't overstay its welcome while also delivering a satisfying conclusion to 10 years worth of storytelling. "We got to a point where it feels very exciting and goes by very quickly and in the end is the perfect length. And everybody that saw the movie felt the same way," he said.Co-director Anthony Russo is also quoted in the piece; he said only "very little" was cut from Endgame. The director's cut would only be about two minutes longer, he estimated.Avengers: Endgame hits theatres at the end of the month. The story picks up after the dramatic conclusion to Infinity War, which saw the evil Thanos snap his fingers and immediately wipe out half of the galaxy's population. There is a theory that Ant-Man will fly into Thanos's butt to save the galaxy, but that probably won't happen. Info from Gamespot.com

PlayStation fans can rejoice, as the much-requested PSN ID change feature is finally coming to PS4 this week. Changing your PSN ID will be free for the first time; each subsequent change will cost $10 / £8, while PS Plus subscribers get a reduction to $5 / £4. The news is good, but there's a catch: not every PS4 game might not play nicely with your new ID, and in some cases the problems could be significant.As stated on the PlayStation Blog, "As a result of the preview program, we've found an instance where a game did not fully support the feature." Sid Shuman, PlayStation's director of social media, clarified that any game published on or after April 1, 2018 should support the feature. However, not every game has been tested with the feature implemented.Sony has provided a tentative list of games that could present issues for those who change their PSN IDs. Sony says a "large majority of most actively played PS4 games support the feature," and while you can rollback the change, you'll want to be aware of the potential for issues. There are two ways to change your PSN ID: on the PS4 itself or via a web browser. Once you've done so, be mindful when jumping into the games below, which are separated into those that have been found to have issues and those with "critical issues." Games With Issues IdentifiedChanging your PSN ID may cause the previous ID to remain visible or disappear entirely, user accounts to unlink, and settings to return to default in these games. Sony suggests that signing out and signing back in should resolve these non-critical issues.Absolver: DownfallAssassin's Creed IV Black FlagBig City StoriesBloodborneCall of Duty: GhostsCrossoutDark Souls II: Scholar of the First SinDark Souls IIIDragon Quest BuildersFIFA 17 Standard EditionGauntlet: Slayer EditionGod Eater 2 Rage BurstGrand Theft Auto VGundam VersusGuns Up!Injustice 2 - Standard EditionKillzone Shadow FallMarvel vs. Capcom: InfiniteMLB The Show 17Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4Naruto Shippuden: Storm TrilogyNaruto Storm: Road to Boruto ExpansionNBA 2K19PlayStation VR WorldsRock Band 4Rocksmith 2014 Edition – RemasteredThe Last of Us RemasteredTitanfall 2Trackmania TurboTroveUncharted 4: A Thief’s EndUNOWarframeWipEout Omega CollectionGames With Critical IssuesChanging your PSN ID may cause you to lose progress and/or in-game currency in these games. Additionally, some parts of the game may function properly. Sony doesn't recommend changing your ID if you want to keep entitlements and Trophies as it's "possible to incur permanent game errors or data loss."Disc JamEverybody's GolfJust Dance 2017LittleBigPlanet 3MLB 14 The ShowMLB The Show 16MLB® The Show 15ONRUSHThe Golf Club 2Worms BattlegroundsInfo from Gamespot.com

The new Hellboy movie starring Stranger Things actor David Harbour hits theatres this weekend, and ahead of that, reviews have started to appear online. To help you get an idea about if the film is worth your time and money, we've rounded up review scores and opinions from various outlets. GameSpot reviewer Dan Auty called it a "demonic disappointment."This is the first Hellboy since 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. That film, along with the 2004 original, featured Ron Perlman as Hellboy, with Guillermo del Toro directing. The new film is the first with a new actor in the lead role, and if the movie makes enough money, it might not be the last, as the end-credits very strongly tease a new movie is coming.The new Hellboy is directed by Neil Marshall, who directed episodes of Game of Thrones, Westworld, Hannibal, Black Sails, and Constantine. The script was written by Andrew Cosby (Haunted, 2 Guns), and it's based on the Mike Mignola comic series.In addition to Harbour, the new Hellboy features Milla Jovovich as the evil Blood Queen, Ian McShane as professor Broom, Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio, Sasha Lane as Alice, and Thomas Haden Church as Lobster Johnson.You can see a rundown of Hellboy reviews below, while more information on the film's critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.Hellboy (2019)Directed By: Neil MarshallWritten By: Andrew Cosby, Mike MignolaStarring: David Harbour, Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane, Thomas Haden ChurchRelease Date: April 12 (United States)GameSpot"Harbour remains a great choice to play the character, and it will be a shame if this is the last time we see him in the role. But ultimately this is not the Hellboy movie fans wanted to see him in." -- Dan Auty [Full review]Uproxx"I spent almost Hellboy's entire run time either recoiling in horror or howling with laughter. Like Hellboy's climax, the subtext of which is essentially the protagonist heroically screaming 'Yuck, girls!' it was perfectly true to the spirit of an extended adolescent metalhead fantasy. I think this is how Hellboy was always meant to be." -- Vince Mancini [Full review]New York Post"The race for worst movie of the year is heating up. You could even say it's hotter than hell, now that Hellboy has taken the lead. This awful, disgusting, unfunny, idiotically plotted comic book flick offends the senses as much as the rankest subway car on the hottest summer day." -- Johnny Oleksinski [Full review]Entertainment Weekly "Look, I'm glad expensive movies are R-rated again. But this is the doofiest kind of maturity: boring CGI bloodsprays, F-bombs galore." -- Darren Franich [Full review]USA Today"Hellboy is kind of all over the place, with two hours' worth of adventures (and misadventures) that never gel cohesively and momentum-killing flashback origin stories for pretty much every main character." -- Brian Truitt [Full review]Associated Press"Maybe the reason it staggers so poorly is because its DNA is all wrong. If the first two films lacked a certain verve and the third is a violent muddle, maybe making 'Hellboy' movies is as cursed as its hero." -- Mark Kennedy [Full review]The Hollywood Reporter"It's just lousy. Bloated, vastly less funny than it aims to be and misguided in key design choices even when it scores with less important decisions, the film does make bold choices that might have paid off under other circumstances. But these aren't those circumstances." -- John DeFore [Full review]Info from Gamespot.com

You certainly can't say that Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is not unique. How many other games out there are first-person, real-time, tile-based roguelike horror dungeon crawls featuring in-depth survival mechanics, ensemble character drama, and a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about clones and the last remnants of humanity? I definitely can't think of any. But unique doesn't always equal good, and in the case of Zanki Zero, its interesting, genre-melding concepts wind up a bit hobbled by some not-so-great execution.Zanki Zero begins as a rogue's gallery of eight characters find themselves on a strange tropical island with only a few rundown facilities. They all have no idea why they're here, how they got there, or what connection they all have. But things soon take a turn for the even weirder: TVs across the island start playing a bizarre educational cartoon at set intervals, explaining that the eight are the last remnants of humanity and must work together to survive and build a new future for the human race. Oh, and they're all actually clones, experience rapid aging, and die after 13 days of life--assuming nothing else kills them first. But it's okay, because one of the few functioning things on the island is an Extend machine that can clone them after they die, effectively meaning they can live and die forever.And die they will, because survival in this dilapidated paradise is no picnic. When you begin the game, you barely have any functional facilities to do things like cook and sleep, and you need to collect material in order to build them. Not only that, but you need to effectively micromanage the health of every character. On top of a typical health meter, they also have a stamina meter (which drains from merely existing and goes down faster when doing strenuous activities or carrying lots of items), a stress meter, and even a bladder meter. Letting one element get out of control can have cascading effects; if a character can't hold it anymore and wets themselves, they become embarrassed and stressed, which makes fighting enemies tougher, which leads to more rapid stamina loss for them and their teammates, which leads to health loss, which leads to death. Scavenging and using food and relief items and facilities like toilets helps, but carrying too much leaves a character overburdened and unable to move, and as time passes, characters age, and the amount they can carry changes.If that all sounds like a lot to take in, that's because it really is. The heavy survival elements of Zanki Zero get dumped on you quite early in the game, and with little in the way of resources and experience, managing everything can get extremely rough. And that's all before you factor in exploration and combat. The game offers multiple difficulty levels (that can be changed mid-game to your liking) to help offset this, but it's still pretty rough waters in the early game as you try to come to grips with how much you need to micromanage. While there are some tutorials, they are inadequate, amounting to info-dumps that are tough to take in when you're already struggling with juggling everything else. Once you finally have all of the island's facilities built and can stock a small safety net of resources, the constant micromanagement becomes far less daunting and even quite enjoyable as you watch your ragtag bunch grow from helpless castaways to capable survivors.All those important survival elements aren't even the core focus of the game, either--it's also a first-person, real-time dungeon crawler. At the behest of the mysterious TV characters, the cast explores urban ruins that drift to the shores of the island to find new parts for their Extend machine and finally remove the fatal rapid-aging flaw from their cloned selves. Each of the ruins is tied to one or more of the cast members' lives, and you'll see glimpses of traumatic events from their pasts in each one that reveals more about who they are and, perhaps, why they are here. The unfolding story and revelations throughout the varied environments push you to move forward and discover the secrets of the characters' hellish situation. You won't get more story without a struggle, however; the ruins are laden with hazards like mutated animals and trap switches. If the challenge of basic survival and rapid old age doesn't kill you, the threats in the ruins certainly will.But character death can have its advantages. Sure, you have to drag them back to the Extend machine and spend your limited stash of “points” earned from dungeon exploration to revive them in a child body. But when you revive them, you can also give them a bonus called "Shigabane:": based on their life experiences and how they died, they get advantages in their new clone form. For example, dying at middle age from being gored by a giant boar while poisoned will result in the revived clone taking reduced damage from boars, getting poison resistance, and adding an extra day to their lifespan at middle age. It's a great system that doesn't remove all of the sting from death but still leaves you feeling like you're making progress through your efforts.Unfortunately, Zanki Zero's combat is easily the worst element of the game. It attempts to marry turn-based, tile-hopping roguelike combat with real-time elements like charge attacks, group combos, and attack cooldowns, but it winds up constantly feeling sluggish and unresponsive. Worse, there's not much in the way of strategy in most of the fights; you usually want to maneuver behind or to the side of an enemy while charging attacks, whacking them when opportunity strikes, then scurry away to avoid retaliation, charge again, and repeat. (Or, if you have a ranged weapon, you plink away with that.) An additional element where you use an aiming reticle to target specific body parts of an enemy just makes things messier, as you have to spend valuable time fidgeting with awkward aiming controls. It's the same reticle you use to examine things in the environment, so if your reticle isn't in the right place (say, you just examined something else not long ago), your attacks can simply miss entirely. It's a shame that combat's such a weird-feeling mess, because it drags down the fun of exploring these urban ruins, finding interesting items and bits left behind, and learning about the characters and the world.Uniqueness is one of Zanki Zero's biggest selling points, but its myriad ambitions and ideas aren't enough to obscure the elements that don't work as well. While the novelty of the game, its interesting story, and engaging exploration do a lot to carry it, it falters in some crucial spots that drag down the whole. Info from Gamespot.com

It's impossible to play or talk about Dangerous Driving without comparing it to Criterion's seminal Burnout 3: Takedown. This is by design, of course, as developer Three Fields Entertainment--a small indie studio comprised of former Criterion alum--set out to create a spiritual successor to the dormant racer; latching onto the groundbreaking Burnout 3 as a clear and popular focal point. Everything about Dangerous Driving's design, right down to small details like font selection and the phrasing used in its loading screens, is distinctly Burnout 3. It foregoes the advances made in its sequels--like traffic checking and the introduction of an open-world--to hone in on what made Takedown so special.My first hour or so with Dangerous Driving was fraught with bewilderment, however. There's a single song that plays on the main menu, but other than this there's a complete absence of music throughout the entire game. Licensed tracks are a crucial component to the Burnout formula, and after playing a few events in near-complete silence, their monumental importance can't be overstated. Obviously, this is true of most games, but particularly one where high-speed exhilaration is on the menu. After initially thinking this was either a bug or that music would eventually find its way into the game via a day one patch, I hopped into the audio settings and discovered the reason for its omission: Spotify integration.This is a smart idea for an indie studio that might not have the budget to splash out on licensed music, and after finding something suitably upbeat and aggressive myself, the experience of tearing around the track and wrecking other cars was improved tenfold. Yet asking people to own a premium service just to get music in their game is a fairly excessive compromise. It's an understandable trade-off for gaining access to popular music in a budget-priced game, but beyond the monetary requirement, it also has an effect on gameplay. Three Fields can't manipulate Spotify music in any way, so songs will just play through from start to finish without the incorporation of any interactive elements. This means that the music doesn't change its tone when you boost, or slow down and warp during takedowns, and that robs these moments of some of their potential impact.When you're out on the road, the handling of each car will feel instantly familiar to anyone who's ever played Burnout before. While most contemporary racing games are wary of fully embracing an arcadey style without featuring some kind of simulation element, Dangerous Driving is a full-blooded, balls-to-the-wall arcade racer. You'll hold down the accelerator ad infinitum until your finger aches, careen around corners by either scraping across the steel guard rails or tapping the brake button to effortlessly drift around, and weave between oncoming traffic at over 200-miles-per-hour as the nitrous oxide flames spewing out of each exhaust pipe propel your car forward.Unfortunately, the physics can be fairly wonky at times, often bringing your vehicle to a complete stop because you brushed against a wall; while other times it will shoot you straight up into the air, or force your car into a complete 90-degree turn. This can be incredibly frustrating during the latter stages of an event when one mishap is enough to send you tumbling to the back of the pack. Collision detection is also inconsistent; numerous times a head-on crash resulted in my car clipping through the floor and appearing unscathed on the other side. The face-distorting sense of speed, though, is genuinely electric, and the PS4 Pro version maintains a stable 60 frames-per-second with one notable exception: It has a tendency to hitch rather egregiously when you're driving through tunnels.The crux of Dangerous Driving's racing is centered around the need to drive recklessly and constantly put yourself in harm's way. By hurtling towards incoming traffic, performing near misses, nailing drifts, tailgating, and taking down your opponents, you earn variable degrees of boost that will help fire your chosen vehicle towards the finish line. There isn't a discernible difference in how each car handles, other than the fact that some go faster than others, but their pinpoint responsiveness coupled with the high framerate ensures that you're fully capable of serpentining in and out of danger if your reactions are quick enough. Again, this is quintessential Burnout, with the destruction of your fellow drivers doubling your boost meter and incentivizing the most perilous behavior possible. These takedowns are reminiscent of those that debuted in Burnout 3, although the slow-motion crashes in Dangerous Driving are surprisingly underwhelming. They're not bad, but they're also not impactful enough--which the aforementioned issues with music contribute to--lacking in any real dynamism or metal-crunching detail.There are exceptions to this rule, but vehicle collisions actually look a lot more violent when they occur near you in real time, with broken cars hurtling across the road in a furious cascade of fire and sparks. A wrecked car doesn't signal the end of its lifespan either. While Dangerous Driving unabashedly riffs on Burnout, it has its own ideas, too, like persistent wrecks. Now, if you're driving on a track with multiple laps, any takedowns that happen will leave the battered husk of that car out on the road as a smoke-billowing obstacle. This is rather ingenious, as subsequent laps gradually evolve the track until it's veritable minefields of dead vehicles.The slow-motion crashes are not impactful enough--which the aforementioned issues with music contribute to--lacking in any real dynamism or metal-crunching detailThe problem with this--and it's not a problem with the mechanic itself, but rather one with the game's overall structure--is that these multi-lap events, and the most stimulating moments within them, are too few and far between. Dangerous Driving excels when you're in the middle of the pack, trading paint with other cars, and fighting tooth and nail to move up the field. It's here where it's at its most exciting, and really latches onto what made Burnout 3 so brilliant in the first place. But reaching first place is relatively easy--I was taken down by the AI twice in all my time playing--and once you're there the rubber banding isn't aggressive enough to ever compete with your driving unless you crash. Rivals drivers will hover just behind you, waiting to capitalize on any mistakes, but there are far too many instances where you can take a leisurely drive in first place, resulting in a feeling that you're missing out on all the action.It doesn't help that the track design is bland. Visually there's a lot of variety with a cohesive theme of North American National Parks that encompasses sunswept canyons, beachside cliffs, snowy mountain ranges, and so on, but the tracks themselves are made up of the same kinds of long, winding corners that it almost feels like they were copied and pasted from one track and into another. They rarely deviate from this standard blueprint, and there's nothing that sets the tracks apart from one another either. This compounds the issues with difficulty and AI during race events, and also results in a dearth of engaging racing in other game modes. There are face-offs against a single opponent, the takedown-centric Road Rage, time trials, a survival event that tasks you with reaching checkpoints to stave off an ever-depleting timer, and even a nod to Criterion's work on Need for Speed in the shape of police pursuits. Again, there's a decent amount of variety here, with familiar modes returning from Burnout (including one that was previously its namesake, re-titled to Heatwave here), but the lack of interesting courses and a scarcity of racing events depletes much of the excitement.Online multiplayer is being added in a future update, and playing against other people might allay some of these problems. But the more I played the more I began to realize Dangerous Driving lacks that magic spark the Burnout games had in abundance. That kinetic energy, palpable sense of danger, and the heart-racing thrill that something could and would go wrong at any moment. The AI was aggressive--competitive--and the satisfaction of taking them down was born of more than just getting to watch their car crumple against the nearest brick wall. The tracks were inventive, too, more interesting in their environments, and full of diverging paths and risky shortcuts.Dangerous Driving nails the basic feeling of driving a car in Burnout, but the lack of small details quickly begin to add up and peel away at everything that doesn't feel quite right. The most damning criticism I can level at it is that it's often dull and lifeless. There are too many events that fail to capitalize on its strengths, and those that do can only reach those heights in fleeting moments. I was concerned that maybe I'd feel the same way about Burnout; that one of the greatest racing series ever made just doesn't fit in 2019. So I went back and played Burnout 3 again and it quickly alleviated all of those fears with a rapid combustion of thrilling vehicular mayhem. The potential was there for Dangerous Driving to latch onto that magic, and there are brief moments when it feels like you're playing a brand new Burnout. But the truth is, I'd rather play a 16-year-old game than pick up its spiritual successor again, and that's a disheartening outcome. Info from Gamespot.com

A new movie about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien is coming to theatres next month. Among other things, the film confirms the correct pronunciation of the man's last name.It is "Tol-Keen," not "Tol - Kine" or any other variation.A clip from the new movie, Tolkien, was released on Twitter and it clears up any potential confusion about how to pronounce the legendary author's surname. Watch as actor Harry Gilby, who plays young Tolkien, stands up in class to correct his teacher.How do you pronounce ‘Tolkien’?Let Tolkien tell you himself.#TolkienMovie starring @NicholasHoult and @lilycollins, in theaters everywhere May 10. #Searchlight pic.twitter.com/G9NpxmhENX — Tolkien (@TolkienMovie) April 8, 2019Tolkien hits theatres on May 10. It's directed by Dome Karukoski (Heart of Finland), based on script from David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford.Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men series) plays the adult Tolkien, while Lily Collins (To The Bone, Stuck In Love) plays Tolkien's wife, Edith Bratt.In addition to Tolkien, Amazon is working on a new Lord of the Rings TV show that the network is reportedly spending $500 million to produce.Outside of movies and TV, a new Lord of the Rings video game focusing on Gollum is in development for PC from developer Daedalic Entertainment and due out in 2021. Info from Gamespot.com

The next Stephen King novel to be adapted for the screen is his 2006 book Lisey's Story, which is being turned into a TV show for Apple's nascent original programming division. Now it's been reported that veteran actor Julianne Moore, who won an Oscar for Still Alice, will star in Lisey's Story. She will also executively produce it, according to The Hollywood Reporter.King himself is writing all eight episodes of the first season, while he's executively producing as well. Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams and another executive of Bad Robot, Ben Stephenson, are also executive producers on the show. For Moore, the show is notable because it's the first time she's playing a lead role on a TV show after multiple decades working in film, though she did win a Daytime Emmy for her recurring role on As The World Turns. She has been nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Still Alice.Moore plays Lisey in a story set two years after her husband's death. "The series explores a series of events that causes her to begin facing amazing realities about her husband that she had repressed and forgotten," Variety reported.According to The Hollywood Reporter, multiple outlets bid for Lisey's Story before Apple ultimately won out. It's not immediately clear when Lisey's Story will premiere or who else will star in it. According to THR, "high-profile" directors are being sought for it.This is just the latest screen adaptation of a King novel. There have been so many over the years, including movies like The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, and Green Mile, as well as the more recent films like It and Pet Semetary. In terms of TV productions, there have been shows based on King's The Mist and Under the Dome, just to name a couple.Info from Gamespot.com

This month's Avengers: Endgame is said to be the final film in the MCU for its Phase 3. Marvel has plans for many more movies, of course, but don't expect the film studio to announce them anytime soon.Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told IGN that he can't even confirm if Marvel will be at San Diego Comic-Con in July because that, in a way, would be "sort of a post-Endgame spoiler."Feige did confirm that Marvel will start to talk about its Phase 4 films "soon after" Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in July. That film hits theatres on July 5, and San Diego Comic-Con takes place later in the month, so it is at least theoretically possible that Marvel will attend.Marvel has a five-year plan for new MCU films, and the "first few years of which" will be announced relatively soon, after Endgame and Far From Home, Feige said.Now that Disney owns Fox, it controls franchises like X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four. But will characters from those series join the MCU?"It'll be a while," Feige told i09 specifically about the possibility of X-Men joining the MCU. "It's all just beginning and the five-year plan that we've been working on, we were working on before [the Fox deal was finalised]. So really it's much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where [the X-Men will appear] right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they're home. That they're all back. But it will be a very long time."Feige went on to say that the next five years of Marvel films is "not apples to apples" in regards to the past and future output from Marvel. "It is two very distinct things and I hope they'll feel very distinct," he said. "But there is a similar mentality going into it, which is, 'How can we continue to tell stories with some of the characters that audiences already know and love in a unique way, in a different way, in surprising way, of which we have a lot of plans and ideas and work already going into it?' [Then] 'How can we introduce new characters that even hardcore fans, comic fans, have barely known or barely heard of.' That's really exciting too."One of the new Phase 4 Marvel movies could be Shang-Chi, which is Marvel's first superhero film with an Asian lead. It's reportedly the movie that Marvel is filming in Sydney, Australia.Info from Gamespot.com

Avengers: Infinity War ended in heartbreaking fashion, with Thanos wiping out half of the universe's population--and that included some of the superheroes fans have come to know and love like Spider-Man and Black Panther. It had some adult themes, it's safe to say.But what if the story was told in a children's book? That's the thrust of a silly new segment from Jimmy Kimmel's late night show. He assembled many members of the Avengers to read aloud from a fake book called "Twas The Mad Titan Thanos." The best part of the skit is not knowing about the jokes and set-ups, so we won't spoil that for you here. Check out the video below, and be sure to stick through until the end.Avengers: Endgame hits theatres on April 26. There are many theories as to what will happen as it relates to the Avengers' plans to defeat Thanos; you can find out more about GameSpot's own theories in this roundup of what we think might happen.GameSpot recent saw new footage of Endgame, and you can check out this post to learn about 10 new things we learned.Info from Gamespot.com

It is known that there will be a massive battle scene in Game of Thrones Season 8, and now one of the actors who fights in it has described what it was like working on it. John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly in the fantasy series, told Entertainment Weekly that director Miguel Sapochnik has a "forensic sense of detail." As you may remember, Sapochnik also directed the Battle of the Bastards Season 6 epic fight sequence."[Director Miguel Sapochnik] has such a forensic sense of detail the way he can see the point of view of all these different characters in his head and know what each individual beat meansto them. It's so inspiring," Bradley said.Bradley also shared an anecdote from filming the sequence. He said he got carried away while shooting the sequence and did things himself as an actor that Sam probably wouldn't have. "When doing these huge fight sequences, you get carried away sometimes. You want to make yourself look as good as possible. Miguel said to me, 'I know that you want to show you’re quite good at this. But remember your character. Sam's not that good at this," Bradley said. "You have to play him because that's what's going to be truthful. So stop being so good!"Go to EW to read the full interview.The battle scene from Season 8 sees living characters like Sam, Jon Snow, Daenerys, Sansa, Arya, Brienne, and others fighting against the Night King as his army; it's the showdown that's been teased since the show started years ago. The battle is reportedly the "longest consecutive battle sequence ever committed to film," eclipsing the 40-minute Helm's Deep battle scene from The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers.Filming the episode took 11 weeks of night shoots. According to a report, up to 750 people worked all night for almost three months in sub-freezing temperatures and enduring cold rain, mud, and heavy wind.Game of Thrones returns for its eighth and final season April 14 on HBO.Info from Gamespot.com

It has been more than five years since the release of Splinter Cell: Blacklist, so fans are understandably eager to find out what's next for Sam Fisher. In a new interview, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot offered an explanation for what's taking so long to bring the franchise back.He told IGN that Ubisoft won't bring back the franchise until it can do something novel with it. Not only that, but some of Ubisoft's development teams became too anxious to want to work on a new Splinter Cell game due to pressure from fans, Guillemot said. And third, Ubisoft's other big franchises like Assassin's Creed are "taking off," which has led the company to focus on them instead of Splinter Cell."When you create a game, you have to make sure you will come with something that will be different enough from what you did before," Guillemot said. "Last time we did a Splinter Cell, we had lots of pressure from all the fans saying, 'Don't change it; don't do this; don't do that.' So some of the teams were more anxious to work on the brand."Now there are some things and some people that are now looking at the brand; taking care of the brand. At one point you will see something but I can't say more than that," he added. "Also because of Assassin's Creed and all the other brands taking off, people wanted to work on those brands more. so we have to follow what they like to do."Ghost Recon: Wildlands contained a very strong tease for Splinter Cell, with Sam Fisher voice actor Michael Ironside doing the voice in an Easter Egg. A Splinter Cell Easter Egg was also spotted in Ubisoft's 2019 game Far Cry: New Dawn.Further fuelling the rumors about a new Splinter Cell is the news that original Splinter Cell designer Clint Hocking has returned to Ubisoft where he is working on "unannounced projects." Guillemot was asked if Ubisoft might bring back Splinter Cell for the next generation of consoles, which are apparently coming soon, but Guillemot wouldn't be drawn into that conversation.If Ubisoft does have a Splinter Cell announcement to make, it could happen during the company's E3 2019 briefing in June, but nothing is confirmed at this stage.Back in 2012 it was reported that Tom Hardy would star as Sam Fisher in a Splinter Cell movie, but whether or not that's still the case is unknown.What would you like to see from a new Splinter Cell game? Let us know in the comments below!Info from Gamespot.com