If Apex Legends has one thing going for it, it's the feeling that the game is complete--something not all battle royale games can boast. The explosion of popularity in the genre means there are a lot of games that do last-player-standing competition pretty well, but with some kinks. Some existing shooters are adding battle royale modes to their offerings, fitting their existing gameplay into a new framework; other battle royale games are constantly struggling to work out bugs, kinks, and balancing issues; and still others started life as something else and managed to retrofit their ideas the battle royale mold, with some fitting better than others.Meanwhile, Apex Legends focuses on doing one thing extremely well. That thing is team competition in the BR genre; at launch, it only includes a team-based mode where 20 groups of three players square off against each other. Everything in Apex Legends works to further teamwork: that includes a number of improvements to issues that plague the whole genre, like cleaning up inventory management and increasing accessibility, and the addition of new ideas, like squad composition elements and special character abilities.Apex Legends excels by combining good ideas that have worked in shooters before. The battle royale ruleset is the same as in similar games, with very few changes: Teams skydive onto a huge island with nothing and scramble to gather up weapons and items to use against any other teams they encounter until only one team survives. While there are no titans or wall-running, it's still possible to see the bones of Titanfall 2 undergirding Apex, which reuses Titanfall's weapons and some of its fluid movement mechanics, like sliding and mantling. But the core of the formula here is the tight, three-player squad structure, which all the other pieces benefit.Another big change to the battle royale formula in Apex Legends is one extremely similar to what Blizzard brought to multiplayer FPS games in Overwatch. At the start of each match, each player chooses one of eight characters, each with specific abilities that serve specific roles. The defensive Gibraltar can drop a shield and call in an airstrike to drive another team back; the offensive Wraith can create portals between two locations and briefly disappear to avoid damage; the supportive Pathfinder uses grappling hooks and ziplines to help the team reach areas where they might have a tactical advantage.It all plays back into the focus on teamwork, since no character is especially powerful, and no abilities are useful all the time. You're not a lone wolf--instead, you have a specific role that complements teammates as you play, and that works to help find a new side of battle royale that hasn't been explored before.Moment-to-moment, though, what's remarkable about Apex Legends is that it just works. Battle royale is a bit of an obtuse genre with a lot of moving parts; in most games, you find weapons, gun attachments, armor, healing items, and more. You'll spend lots of time digging in menus to manage inventory. Apex streamlines all of that with user interface tweaks that make it possible to instantly identify what you need and ignore the things you don't. Ammo types are color-coded to the guns that use them. Attachments automatically join with guns they fit and swap to appropriate new guns when you pick them up, while things you can't use or don't improve your gear are brightly marked as such. It's an even more accessible version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's battle royale improvements with its Blackout mode, and the rest of the genre should adopt it.The best feature in Apex Legends is its extremely robust "ping" system, which lets you press a button to create a marker on your teammates' screens. The ping system is super smart--aim it at a gun or a helmet and your character will identify that object's location to everyone else. You can ping in your menu to call for things you need, mark places you want to go, or identify spots other players have passed through. Most importantly, you can use pings to mark enemy locations. The system is so responsive and well-implemented in Apex Legends that it can fully replace talking to your team at all. In fact, the accuracy of a ping on-screen can often be better at helping you quickly convey information than talking.A revival system also helps you get more engaged with your team. If a teammate falls in battle and is knocked out of the match, you can recover their banner, an item that drops with their loot, and use it to respawn them into the game as if they just started. The system adds some intense, harrowing strategy to Apex that requires you to risk everything to save your squad; you can only call back dead teammates at specific, single-use Respawn Beacons on the map, but you're completely exposed while doing so. Pull off a clutch play, though, and you can bring your team back from the brink. The system provides a great incentive to stay in matches and keep talking to and aiding your team, instead of just leaving when you die to join another match.Like in Respawn's previous games, shooting here is hefty and satisfying, and Apex sports a wide variety of cool guns to learn and master. However, gunplay sometimes gets held back because lots guns carry strangely small magazines. Players have a lot of health, which gets increased greatly with the addition of armor, so it often takes a lot of shots to take people down. Ideally, you're always shooting someone with the help of a pal, but the small magazines have the effect of making you feel underpowered alone. In most matches I've played, shotguns get the most use from players because they have the highest likelihood of actually taking down an opponent, while many of the other guns spray bullets too much and leave you vulnerable as you reload and reload and reload.Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses.As a free-to-play game, Apex Legends includes both loot boxes and in-game items that can be purchased with real money, and loot boxes can also be earned by playing. Everything on offer is cosmetic, much like in Fortnite or Overwatch, so paying money isn't essential to playing the game and staying competitive, and you can largely ignore microtransactions if you aren't interested in paying.The one place Apex Legends' microtransactions can irritate is in trying to unlock new characters. At launch, six characters are available for free, with two that can be unlocked either with paid or earned currency. Neither is essential--they offer different abilities but not better or worse ones--but as an average player, it still took me around 17 hours of play to earn enough currency to buy one character (it'll be shorter if you get more kills and more wins). With Respawn adding more characters to the game in the future, it's fully possible trying to unlock new characters will become a slog that turns off casual players and those unwilling or unable to pay.Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses. Respawn's intense focus on team play makes Apex more than just a worthy addition to the genre; it's an indicator of where battle royale should go in the future.Info from Gamespot.com

Civilization VI told a straightforward story of the consequences of your actions. Fail to keep your people happy and they would put down their hammers and raise pitchforks. Be rude to the other leaders and they would soon refuse to deal with you. Beyond that, however, you could go about building your empire mostly unconcerned with any repercussions to your decisions. Last year's Rise and Fall expansion added some complexity to the tale with the introduction of its Loyalty mechanic. Operating in isolation was no longer possible. Settlements on the fringes of an empire could, if they liked what they saw across the border, decide to rebel. Players who took their citizens' loyalty for granted would find themselves leading no one.This kind of accountability is extended in multiple directions with Gathering Storm, the second major expansion for Civ VI. Through the institution of a World Congress, Gathering Storm lets leaders reward and punish each other for certain actions, allow them to pass sweeping resolutions that affect every civilization, and ultimately secure their diplomatic favor. And with its new World Climate system, Gathering Storm makes you accountable to the world itself by hitting you--sometimes painfully hard--with the calamitous consequences of exploiting the map's rich resources.Your path to victory in Civ VI was predictable once you'd established the foundation of your empire by the Modern Era, but the new World Congress and World Climate systems add enough dynamism to keep you working right up to the new Future Era. Gathering Storm encourages you to “play the map," taking advantage of the surrounding resources, and then adapt the repercussions of your decisions reflected on that map. As an expansion focused on consequences, however, it can take some time for the new stuff to make its presence felt.The World Climate system is the most meaningful change, but it doesn't really kick in until you've started extracting strategic resources like coal and oil. Early on you'll encounter floods, hurricanes, blizzards, and endure the odd drought or volcanic eruption. These weather events pass in a couple of turns, potentially reducing your population, injuring units and pillaging improvements, but they can also fertilize tiles to reward you with greater yields in future.But weather is not climate. Once you start burning coal and oil to fuel both the power plants in your industrial districts and the battleships and tanks that comprise your military force, you start pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As those emissions rise, tallied by the new World Climate report that tracks the cumulative contributions of each civ and resource, the world will progress through up to seven phases of climate change. Sea levels will rise, at first flooding coastal tiles and eventually leaving many of them completely underwater. Weather events will increase in both frequency and severity, simultaneously desiccating your farmlands through drought and ravaging your cities with tornadoes.The choices you're forced to make here are difficult and meaningful. Resources like coal and oil are powerful and refusing to exploit them will cede an immediate advantage to any rival. Through the Industrial and Modern Eras they fuel the most effective units in your navy and army. Do you really want to rely on defending your homeland with frigates while the enemy has ironclads? Further, consumable fuel resources are the first ways you're able to power your cities. A concept debuting in Gathering Storm, powering a city--say, via a coal power plant--boosts the yields of various districts and buildings. Can you really afford to let your research labs and stock exchanges sit idle while your coal-guzzling neighbor is sprinting ahead in the science race?Later you're able to develop methods of harvesting renewable energy resources such as wind and solar farms, but by the time you're able to deploy them, you may find yourself lagging too far behind a less eco-friendly rival or, worse, suffering the consequences of irreversible damage to the planet. Helping to mitigate such destruction and preserving the natural environment will slow down the effects of climate change. This forces new, perplexing early game decisions. Chopping down that nearby rainforest will give a quick boost to producing a settler, but leaving it untouched may mean future settlers will live to see a world that still has air to breathe. Before Gathering Storm, this wasn't a choice--you chopped for the short-term gain because there were no long-term consequences. Now, every decision is purposeful. Now, every tile in your empire is asking: "Are you sure you want to do that?"The World Congress is slightly less successful at providing new and meaningful choices than the World Climate system. What it does, though, is make you far more aware of what other leaders are up to. Once the congress convenes, from the Medieval Era onwards, you'll find yourself voting on various resolutions every 30 turns. You might be asked to vote on boosting or banning certain types of great people, or whether trade routes to particular civs or city-states should receive bonuses. You don't just get one vote; instead, you can spend a new form of currency called Diplomatic Favor to vote as many times as you can afford. Favors can also be traded with other leaders, just like any resource, meaning diplomatic players will need to give away valuable luxuries or strategic resources in order to fully exert their influence on the World Congress.In theory, these resolutions should enable the diplomatic player to tip the scales in their favor. In practice, though, their effects aren't transformative. You might get an extra trade route here, a slightly slower Great Engineer there, but nothing that feels game-changing. The randomness doesn't help--if you could propose a resolution rather than merely voting on the ones that pop up that would provide a better return on the investment.More compelling are the choices to be made around actually pursuing the new Diplomatic Victory, awarded to the leader who first reaches 10 Diplomatic Victory points. You're still essentially voting your way to the top, but you're also competing with other leaders to send the most aid to another civ recently devastated by floods, for instance, or to generate the most great people points to win the Nobel Prize. Diplomatic Favor is also earned via alliances with other civs and becoming the suzerain of a city-state, so the Diplomatic Victory is genuinely a case of demonstrating you can lead the world.These are the two biggest new features in this add-on, but Gathering Storm also includes countless smaller tweaks that in combination with the above make it an essential purchase for Civ VI fans. There are new World Wonders to build, such as the Great Bath or the University Sankore. There are new Natural Wonders, new military units to fill in the gaps between eras, and nine new leaders, including the series' first-ever dual-nationality leader (Eleanor of Aquitaine can represent either England or France).Thoughtfully, the new leaders are balanced between those that are clearly geared towards Gathering Storm's prominent additions--Kristina of Sweden is all about winning diplomatic favor while the unique abilities of Kupe, the Maori leader, incentivize leaving untouched as much of the natural world as possible--and those who embrace some previously overlooked facet of the game. In the latter camp, Matthias Corvinus heads a Hungarian empire whose military force is best composed of units levied from allied city-states, while in the Inca, lead by Pachacuti, we finally have a civ that wants lots of mountain tiles throughout its lands.Gathering Storm is overall a great expansion, ushering in two significant new systems that work hand in hand to deepen the experience. The embellished diplomatic options extend the range of interactions with other leaders, allowing you to work cooperatively towards common goals or pull the strings to your advantage behind the scenes. While the introduction of climate change delivers new strategic choices whose consequences resonate ever-more-loudly as you advance throughout the eras. It isn't simply more Civ, it's a whole new way to play Civ.Info from Gamespot.com

Since its debut at E3 2018, the developers behind the The Division 2 have focused on the sequel's endgame. It's a recurring topic for many online looter-shooters such as Destiny and Anthem, as it's often seen as the make-or-break point for a game's long term success. That's something the developers of the original Division know all too well. Players who finished its vanilla campaign inevitably hit a slump, leading to a repetitive cycle. Ubisoft eventually overhauled much of the game's mechanics and added in new encounters--leading to an impressive post-launch life for The Division. However, many players still burned out by the original release missed out on the revival once other games came around.With the sequel, Ubisoft is taking steps to ensure that it won't fall into the same traps as the original, while also giving the campaign a greater sense of purpose. We recently spent some time getting an early look at the game's upcoming private beta--playable February 7-10--which offers a tease for what's to come in the early hours of the campaign and the late-game content that follows. After you've established yourself in The Division 2's turbulent setting of post-outbreak Washington D.C. during the campaign, things take a more chaotic turn after the conclusion, forcing you to defend what you've built up in the expanded endgame.During this event, the developers spent some time reflecting on what they learned from the original game and detailed their approach in the sequel."One of the biggest things for The Division 2 is the importance of the endgame and our focus on it," said creative director Julian Gerighty. "We launched The Division 1 with very little in terms of endgame content. It was a great campaign, you reached level 30, the endgame started, but it was lacking in activities. We were trying to operate this live game, yet we saw things that weren't working out for the long term. That's why a very tough decision was made before patch 1.4, which was to stop the development on all of the planned features and the DLCs to be able to focus on the technological debt and on the improvements to get the game to where we wanted it to be. That all fed into how we've set up The Division 2 production-wise, creatively as well."The Division 1 is a vastly different game now than it was at launch, and all for the better. That second wind is something that the developers wanted to carry over into the sequel, which they did in a few important ways. For starters, The Division 2 will incorporate much of the existing game's content from the post-launch updates, which includes update 1.2's bounties, 1.4's world tiers, 1.6's exotic weapons, and 1.8's PvP arena. These features will also be available for all players at launch, and future DLCs for the first year will be free. This is not only to stay consistent with the current game's flow and meta but also to ensure that the community would stay engaged.With the new game, there also comes a fresh start for all players. Whereas the original was set in Manhattan, Division 2 brings a new set of agents to the nation's capital, which introduces new systems and world events that occur in the field--presenting more moments and opportunities to leave a large footprint. At the beginning of the demo, our first mission was to retake the White House from one of the opposing factions, which becomes your base of operations soon after.Over the course of the campaign, the White House increases in influence and followers the more you expand the Agency's reach throughout Washington D.C. In order to reassert control over the city, you'll set up new settlements and interact with key characters who will aid in your rise to power. Some NPCs are recruitable and can even be brought to the White House to upgrade the various areas--leading to new items and perks to acquire.Exploring ruined D.C. offered plenty of opportunities to meet new characters and come across control points that are in constant dispute. Though D.C. doesn't have nearly as strong of an atmosphere and eerie vibe as the original, it does fill that void by presenting more reasons to explore and engage in the various side-missions. Much like in the original, there are ECHOs that allow you to play back moments from the lives of supporting characters. While the original's take felt one-sided since the characters were dead long before you arrived, several of the persons of interest in The Division 2 are alive and reasonably well, and the ECHOs offer more details about their connections to others throughout D.C.Things, however, take a particularly surprising turn in the endgame. A new threat in the form of Black Tusk emerges, leading into the broader endgame that shakes things up. Similar to the Hunters from The Division's 1.8 update, who only appeared in the Survival mode and Underground DLC, Black Tusk is a roaming faction that serves as the antithesis of the Division agency. Possessing an arsenal of high-tech weapons and gadgets that match your own, this new faction invades D.C. and actively tries to retake areas of the city--and even the Dark Zones. In the two endgame missions we played, one in the Air and Space Museum and along with the Federal Emergency Bunker, the Black Tusk proved to be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Along with using robots that look like they come right out of the Boston Dynamics lab--except they actually have guns this time--the endgame faction also uses mini-drones, and have soldiers wearing heavy armor that require strategic shots to open up weak points.During the endgame, you'll unlock new specializations that further enhance your character, which also open up power weapons like the grenade launcher, heavy sniper rifle, and the crossbow. In order to find better loot and gear, you'll have to tackle missions that are several notches more challenging than the campaign. But as is typically the case for endgame content, you'll also be repeating some older missions. The Division 2 does, however, spice things up by introducing a new tier called Invaded missions. During the endgame, all previous missions from the campaign will have a new difficulty that replaces the existing enemies with the Black Tusk. To cut down on repetition, the Invaded missions will also randomize each encounter with Black Tusk in the level, leading to different fights with enemy squads on each playthrough.This new faction also changes the dynamic of the Dark Zones in the endgame, which actively occupies one of the areas. As we detailed in another preview, the Dark Zone's PvPvE (player-versus-player-versus-environment) dynamic has been upgraded for the sequel. In addition to three separate zones, all of which have story missions that allow you to get your feet wet, the endgame will introduce an Occupied Dark Zone. With one Dark Zone under occupation by the Black Tusk faction, which cycles to a different location every week, the occupied zones also remove certain handicaps from the base version of the PvPvE mode, particularly level-balancing and friendly fire.The skirmishes with Black Tusk during the two missions we played were intense and required some solid communication from our team to make it through. However, the invaded missions also felt a bit exhausting as well, leading to some moments where we were trapped in a room for up to 10 minutes dropping squads of bullet-spongy enemies as they funneled in. Though this is often the case for endgame content, it definitely hurt the pacing of some otherwise thrilling missions. Granted, we were just dropped into these missions for the purpose of this demo, which came after the rather brisk early game missions we played at the beginning. They may flow better once you've invested the hours to work your way to this content.However, this also reminded me of some of the larger issues I've felt from The Division 2, in that it comes off a bit too similar to the original. It strongly emulates much of what worked in its predecessor, almost to a fault. Though some of the new innovations make for a more engaging and interesting setting to explore, the general looter-shooter loop itself can be exhausting, and lead to those familiar moments of occasional tedium that bogged down the first game. Having said that, I do feel the new approach to the endgame, though somewhat overwhelming, does offer a more compelling hook that felt absent from the original. By tasking you to defend the place you've been actively building up and investing yourself in throughout the campaign--which can be taken by the enemy faction. It creates a greater sense of urgency in the late-game, which was lacking from the original.Ubisoft seems to be on the right path for The Division 2. Though it's obviously building off of what came before, the new features do seem to be a natural step up that plays to the renewed strength the series saw with its revamped gameplay from the original. Ubisoft's approach with this private beta was a neat way to kick the tires from both ends, and it'll be interesting to see how players--even those that missed out on the revival of the original game--will take to it. The Division 2 is series' second chance, and hopefully it'll be able to make good on it's renewed vigor.For more info on The Division 2, including how the new Dark Zones work and how to get into the private beta, you can check out our features and articles on here on GameSpot.Info from Gamespot.com

Throughout its nine seasons, The Walking Dead has been known just as much for its charismatic and over-the-top villains as it has for the zombie apocalypse it's set in. With the newest big bad, though, those two things are blended together to create something pretty terrifying.The Whisperers is a group within The Walking Dead that survives by wearing skin suits made from walkers and blending in with the undead as they roam what's left of the country. It's a storyline and group of characters pulled right from the pages of the Walking Dead comics and, as GameSpot learned during a visit to the AMC show's set, adapting it for TV was no easy task.It was a hot day in September when I headed outside of Atlanta, where the series films, to get my first look at the Whisperers. Along with other members of the press, we wandered through a big open field in the sweltering heat, walking by groups of extras and actors wearing zombie masks, rather than the typical makeup and prosthetics you see on the series.As executive producer and visual effects Greg Nicotero explained to the press, though, these new masks are, in some ways, even more detailed than the makeup because the way the Whisperers are presented in the comics simply wouldn't work on TV. "It's tricky because the way they were drawn in the comic books, they were trying to emulate that sort of sagging skin, so they all looked melted," he said. "And I was like, 'I don't want them to look melted and I don't want it to look like Leatherface either.'"The key, it turned out, was a bit of a cheat. "The trick is, you got to preserve kind of the bone structure of the skull, even though theoretically the bone structure wouldn't be there because they're flaying the skin off," he continued. "But when you look at the masks, you can see that we maintained that kind of deep eye sockets, because I wanted the brow to stick out enough to put a shadow over the eyes, so when you look at the faces, everything's in shadow so you get nothing there. I wanted to over-texture everything, so all the sculptures are really over-textured and really shriveled-looking and a lot of rot and decay."And, in practice, it's hard to argue with Nicotero's vision. As I sat on set and heard a member of the crew shout, "3...2...1...Whisperers!," before calling action, it was disturbing to watch the new foes shuffle into frame on the monitors set up for viewing. As they whispered at each other in a guttural tone reminiscent of the show's signature zombie moaning, it became difficult to distinguish those in skinsuits from the actual walkers.And that difficulty, paired with the kind of depraved mind that would sew together pieces of rotting skin into a full-body suit are what makes this group so horrifying. "How many recent movies have had the masked killer that that's what scares people is you can't bargain with them because they're soulless, they're human-less?" Nicotero wonders. "And now we have a group of people that they're wearing dead fucking skins, you know?" Nicotero says.The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC. Info from Gamespot.com

After years of development and multiple delays, Microsoft's next big exclusive, Crackdown 3, launches this week--and you can play it for only $1 if you meet a few requirements.As a first-party game, Crackdown 3 is free for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. And right now, Microsoft is offering a one-month Xbox Game Pass trial for only $1. The catch is that you need to be a new subscriber to enjoy the savings.Xbox Game Pass already has "millions" of subscribers, but if you're not among them, right now seems to be a good time to jump in. You can sign up for Xbox Game Pass on the Xbox website or through your console.Crackdown 3 is coming to Xbox One and PC, but Xbox Game Pass is only on Xbox One right now. It could come to PC and other platforms down the road, but no announcements have been made as of it. Crackdown 3 launches on February 15.Crackdown 3 is not the only game coming to Xbox Game Pass in February; you can see a full rundown of February's additions below.For $10/month, Xbox Game Pass subscribers get access to a growing library of free games to download and play for as long as their membership stays active. There are more than 100 Xbox One and backwards-compatible Xbox 360 titles in the catalog, including Halo 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, PUBG, Mortal Kombat X, and many more.February Game Pass GamesShadow of the Tomb Raider - February 7The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season - February 7Pumped BMX Pro - February 7De Blob - February 14Crackdown 3 - February 15Batman: Return to Arkham - February 21Info from Gamespot.com

One of the most buzzed-about topics in games in recent years has been and continues to be cross-play. Now, one prominent developer has spoken up to talk about the benefits of allowing players on competing systems to play together. Stew Chisam, the CEO of Smite and Paladins developer Hi-Rez, outlined some of the benefits of cross-play in a post on Twitter.For Paladins, which supports cross-play between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, Chisam said overall match quality is improved thanks to cross-play. Wait-times for matches is down 30 percent, while the quality of matches is better because the level spread is down 40 percent. In all, Hi-Rez is reportedly seeing an 80 percent reduction in what it calls "bad" matches.Anyone who has played a ranked multiplayer game knows how frustrating it can be when you're matched with players who have a much higher skill level, so it's good to see the statistics seemingly indicate that cross-play helps improve things. Whether or not other games see these results remains to be seen.Xplay improves match quality in multiplayer games. When we added crossplay between Paladins Xbox and Switch:>> Wait time reduced 30%>> Level spread between players down 40%>> 40% reduction in ELO std deviation per match>> 80% reduction in "Bad" matches (by our internal defn) — HiRezStew (@schisam) February 8, 2019Chisam is an outspoken proponent for tearing down the walls between consoles to allow for wider adoption of cross-play. Just recently, Chisam said on Twitter that he wants PlayStation to "stop playing favorites," and allow cross-play/cross-progression "for everyone." He added that Smite, Paladins, and the battle royale game Realm Royale, are "ready to go" for cross-play on PS4, so the developer is just waiting for Sony to give the go-ahead.Hey @Sony @PlayStation. It's time to stop playing favorites and tear down the crossplay/progression wall for everyone. We have @SMITEGame, @PaladinsGame, @RealmRoyale ready to go when you are. https://t.co/KNDetpXPf5 — HiRezStew (@schisam) February 8, 2019Microsoft has supported cross-play for a while already between select games, such as Paladins, Rocket League, and Fortnite. But it took Sony a while longer to allow cross-play with PS4, only just recently allowing it for Fortnite and later Rocket League.Would you like to see more adoption of cross-play in the future? Let us know in the comments below!Info from Gamespot.com

Deadpool may be known for its meta-humor but Captain Marvel apparently knows how to poke fun at itself too. A promotional site for the upcoming Marvel cinematic universe film authentically models itself after the terrible websites that populated the earliest days of the World Wide Web.The Captain Marvel site has it all: star wallpaper, animated gifs, rainbow Comic Sans, barely legible red-on-green font, and a non-functional guestbook. The gag will look familiar to those who saw the Internet stumble awkwardly into its current sleek and polished form. To those youngsters who don't remember this era: yes, it really was like this.For all of its silliness, the site does function too. It hosts the trailer, a brief explanation of Captain Marvel and the Kree, and a link to buy tickets. A pop-up image even lets you get in on the fun of punching an old lady.The 1990s setting and aesthetic serves a functional purpose in the MCU. When Thanos accomplishes his genocidal goal in Avengers: Infinity War, Nick Fury appeared to hit an emergency beacon to call in Captain Marvel--a sort of emergency last resort to face an unprecedented threat. That raises the obvious question of why she hasn't been around to handle the dozen or so other times life on Earth has been threatened throughout the MCU, and the film will probably answer what she's been up to all this time. That will set the stage for Avengers: Endgame later in the spring.The studio also recently released a pair of spiffy Captain Marvel posters, just as promotional material showed off the new costumes for the Avengers. The two movies will be back-to-back blockbusters, with Captain Marvel coming on March 8, followed by Avengers: Endgame on April 26.Info from Gamespot.com

Disney has released a new trailer for its upcoming live-action Aladdin. It's a fine trailer, complete with colourful city shots and dark, ominous tones, but the real meat of the matter is at the end.Will Smith's CG version of the Genie is revealed, and, well, have a look for yourself.I have questions. Why does Will Smith's Genie look like a blue Shrek? Also why has the Genie been hitting the gym? Will Smith also plays a live-action version of the Genie, and you can see an image of him here.Smith previously spoke to EW about the "terrifying" job of playing the Genie. As you may remember, the late Robin Williams portrayed the Genie in the animated classic, and he leaves very big shoes to fill."Robin didn't leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character," Smith said. "[But] I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different. Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete."Disney describes the movie as a "thrilling and vibrant" take on Disney's classic animated film. It's directed by Guy Ritchie, and the Sherlock Holmes director's trademark "fast-paced, visceral action" is said to infuse his take on Aladdin.Mena Massoud plays Aladdin, while Naomi Scott portrays Jasmine. Marwan Kenzari plays Jafar and Navid Negahban plays the Sultan. Alan Menken, who worked on the music for the original Aladdin, is back again and contributing "recordings of the original songs" from the first film. In addition to new versions of the classics, Menken and award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote two new tunes for the film.The new Aladdin hits theatres this May. The studio that made Sharknado, Transmorphers, and Abraham Lincoln Vs. Zombies is making its own Aladdin. Info from Gamespot.com

While no official title for the new Terminator movie directed by Deadpool's Tim Miller has been announced, producer James Cameron has now revealed the working title for it. It's being made with the tentative title "Terminator: Dark Fate," Cameron told Yahoo!"That's our working title right now," he explained.Cameron is an executive producer on Dark Fate, or whatever it ends up being called. The movie reportedly scrubs sequels Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genisys from the timeline, in essence resetting the story to 1991's Judgment Day. Linda Hamilton returns to play a new version of Sarah Connor in the new film, though specifics about the story are under wraps for now.Cameron said on Jimmy Fallon's late night TV show that Connor will "kick some serious ass" in the film. Dark Fate, or whatever it ends up being called, comes to theatres November 2019.Cameron's latest movie, Alita: Battle Angel, which he produced, hits theatres on February 14. He's also working on all of the Avatar sequels, the first of which arrives in 2020. Info from Gamespot.com

The Monster Hunter movie from the star and creative team of the Resident Evil film franchise now has a release date. The film will land on September 4, 2020, film studio Sony has announced, according to Deadline.The movie stars Resident Evil's Mila Jovovich in a lead role, and the film is directed by her husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who directed the Resident Evil movies. Jovovich plays a monster hunter, Lt. Artemis, who fights together with a mysterious character played by martial arts actor Tony Jaa.Your first look at #MonsterHunterMovie 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/x4B7fXYypH — Sony (@Sony) November 20, 2018Here is the official description of the untitled film (via Deadline): "Behind our world, there is another--a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When Lt. Artemis (Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to the new world, the unflappable lieutenant receives the shock of her life. In her desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and unstoppable, terrifying attacks, Artemis will team up with a mysterious man (Tony Jaa) who has found a way to fight back."Sons of Anarchy star Ron Perlman and rapper-turned-actor T.I. Harris also star in the film.The six Resident Evil movies from Jovovich and Anderson made more than $1 billion at the box office, and the team will surely be looking to replicate that success with the Monster Hunter film.While Jovovich and Anderson may be finished with Resident Evil movies, a reboot of the franchise is in the works and is said to be a "priority" for development.As for the Monster Hunter video game series, the latest instalment, Monster Hunter World, recently crossed a massive 11 million copies sold.Info from Gamespot.com

Gigantic inhuman entities threatening mankind are something that we're all familiar with in the year 2019. Monster Hunter, Attack on Titan, Godzilla--there's something inherently compelling about the trope where desperate survivors pit themselves against incredible odds and incredibly large monsters at the end of the world. God Eater 3's narrative, much like its predecessors, leans heavily into this conceit and tells an enjoyable (if light) tale as icing on its frenzied action-RPG cake.Part of a series that has historically been for PlayStation portable devices, God Eater 3 is the first entry created with home consoles and PC as its primary platforms. Also significant is a new developer, Marvelous, a studio perhaps more well-known for its contribution to games with prodigious amounts of swimsuit DLC than the stuff of the monster-hunting variety. This tonal shift isn't as evident as you might think, though, especially since the series was already awash with anime tropes and aesthetic choices. God Eater 3 doesn't deliver any real twists and honestly, that's fine. The real friends that you make along the way in God Eater games aren't the ones with compelling backstories; they're the ones that help you kill Aragami with the sort of precision reserved for surgical procedures.Aragami are representative of the evil threatening the world--they're gigantic predators that devour everything in their wake as the world drowns under deadly ash storms. A nightmarish fusion of beast and mech, there's something brutal about their designs, which hammers home the divide between the alien and the organic world that you have to protect. You're the mostly-silent star in this particular story, doomed to take up the thankless job of Aragami eradication for people who have treated you like an expendable weapon since infancy. There's a predictable follow-up series of events: You're liberated, you recover from your trauma through the power of friendship, and then you meet a life-changing person who isn't quite who they appear to be. There are plenty of similarities between the core story of God Eater 3, the previous entries in the franchise, and whichever monster-fighting anime is currently trending on Crunchyroll, so while it's an entertaining tale, temper your expectations for crushing moral dilemmas.What will likely exceed your expectations, whether you're familiar with God Eater's particular brand of slaughter or not, is the combat. While it's easy to draw parallels with Monster Hunter, God Eater 3 is a fair bit closer to Devil May Cry's style of action. It's fast-paced and frenetic, reliant on chaining high-octane and high-mobility combos without getting hit in order to efficiently dissect Aragami. You have no shortage of movement options, including a specific command for Dash abilities, and you can effortlessly switch between melee and ranged combat. The feeling of stabbing an Aragami's plated shins with your greatsword in close combat before flying away and firing a shotgun shell right into the exposed wound never really gets old.Another mechanic, which is now a staple of the God Eater series, is the ability for your weapon to consume the essence of the beasts you kill. In doing so, you get to enter Burst Mode, giving you better damage output, flashier combo moves, and increased range on your basic attacks. The effects vary depending on your weapon loadout, which offers an interesting level of strategy for you to consider from mission to mission. The most difficult bosses in the game have a similar mechanic of their own, where attack patterns can grow a host of other deadly variables, making your defensive strategy just as important as your damage output.Unfortunately, the game's difficulty curve is fairly stagnant until about the halfway mark, when it suddenly ramps up by increasing the number of baddies you need to take down at the same time. This can lead to an initial feeling of being underpowered for these tense stand-offs, where you'll have to rely on every ounce of your skills to not get nailed to the wall by twice as many deadly laser beams and teleporting death machines than what you're used to.It's not all smooth sailing when it comes to the nuts and bolts of God Eater 3, either, with a number of small annoyances. One particular gripe here is that the game binds multiple options to the same input, and most frustratingly, the button to loot will also be bound to another action (whether it be dashing or blocking, depending on the control scheme) which makes looting a pain. Flitting around the maps as quick as you please is fine and dandy until you want to pick up something useful, like crafting materials; you have a higher chance of careening face-first into a nearby enemy.Another issue is the presence of the various customization systems that the series has accumulated over the years. There are crafting systems, ability systems, what seems like well over 100 possible skills to use, and upgrades on top of those too. Fiddling with a million and one variables to make your character perform better is neat at first, but a mastery of those systems isn't at all necessary to do well in the game, meaning it's easy to ignore them.The rest of the time spent as a God-eating machine is an affair punctuated by expository cutscenes and managing your various AI companions on the fields of war. The AI perform well enough at their respective jobs of doing damage, chaining skills, and trying to keep you alive if necessary. If you're craving a little more of a human feel to those connections, then there's the option of taking on the fast and furious multiplayer Assault Missions where pile-driving Aragami into the ground with mates before the timer runs out is the name of the game. It's a welcome reprieve from the grind of the single-player mode and its buffet of relatively run-of-the-mill missions, so having it as an option is a refreshing change of pace for the series.God Eater 3 is a solid entry in the franchise that doesn't necessarily reinvent itself, but it doesn't have to. All the core things that make God Eater so enjoyable, from the lightning-fast combat to the anime stylings, have been given a new lick of paint and propped up enticingly next to additions like the well-tuned Assault Missions and creative enemies to make one delicious package. Some aspects of the game--like its difficulty curve and multitude of superfluous customization systems--miss the mark, but it's an enjoyable romp with plenty of raucous battles if you're hungry for an action RPG.Info from Gamespot.com

Sometimes, the staggering number of games out there can feel overwhelming, especially if you plan to be part of the discourse surrounding the immeasurable amount of games. Thankfully, Microsoft's making the decision of what to play a little easier with its newest offering of free games for the platform's Free Play Days event.The news comes via the official Twitter account of Microsoft's Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson. From now until Sunday, February 10, at 11:59 PM PT (2:59 AM ET / 7:59 AM ET on Monday), Xbox Live Gold subscribers can play Fishing Sim World, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and The Sims 4 all for free.In addition to playing these three vastly different games for free during the weekend, each game will receive a discount of up to 25-80%. Fishing Sim World sees a 25% discount, priced at $15 in the US instead of $20. The Master Chief Collection also gets a 25% discount, dropping from $30 to $22.49. The Sims 4 sees the largest discount of the three titles at 80% off the base game, going from $40 to $8. Additionally, select The Sims 4 expansions--like Cats & Dogs, Seasons, and others--will receive a 50 percent discount.For the uninitiated, The Sims 4, developed by The Sims Studio and published by EA, is the fourth major entry in the long-running The Sims franchise. Similar to previous iterations and spin-offs, The Sims 4 is a life simulation where you control avatars as they go about their lives, interacting with them in a variety of ways and exploring their oftentimes eclectic personalities. Halo: The Master Chief Collection, developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Game Studios (which has just been rebranded), is a compilation of the platform's most iconic first-person shooter. It bundles Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (a 2011 enhanced remake of 2001's seminal shooter, Halo: Combat Evolved), Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4 in one package, streamlining Master Chief's journey. Developed and published by Dovetail Games, Fishing Sim World is just what the name sounds like: a fishing simulator where you... catch fish in what's pitched as "the most authentic fishing simulator ever made."All three games are available to download and play for free now. Just head over to the official Free Play Days part of the Microsoft Store, or search for them on the Xbox One's marketplace. If you're willing to part with some cash, there are some nice Xbox One game deals on Xbox Live this week, or you could also download the just-released free-to-play battle royale shooter from Respawn, Apex Legends.Info from Gamespot.com

In case you missed out on the last Devil May Cry 5 demo on Xbox One, a new one is now available for both Xbox One and PS4. As noted on the game's official Twitter, this demo introduces a new Devil Breaker called the Punch Line, as well as the ability to power up by calling Nico.The last demo was available on Xbox One in December but was subsequently pulled in January. That one was Xbox One exclusive, and it remained playable for those who had downloaded it previously. This second demo is the first time PS4 players get a taste of the stylish action game.Devil May Cry 5 is a direct sequel to DMC4, ignoring the series reboot that received a mixed reception. As a result it brings back Dante and Nero in recognizable fashion, along with a new playable character named V. He appears to have an axe to grind against the other heroes, and his move set is more about controlling a variety of summoned beasts--you can check out some new S-rank gameplay featuring V above. Devil May Cry 5 is among our most anticipated games of 2019, and we just spent several hours kicking its tires."When DmC: Definitive Edition and DMC4: Special Edition both launched in 2015, it lay a crossroads of where the series could go," wrote editor Matt Espineli. "After playing both, I realized that the series can honestly be one or the other and still be phenomenal. Before going to this event, I anticipated Capcom would make DMCV a hybrid of both, but in the end it seemingly chose one: classic DMC."Devil May Cry 5 is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 8.Info from Gamespot.com

From Software has released a new trailer for its upcoming Souls-like game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The trailer delivers our first official look at the game's story, specifically the origin of its protagonist, The Wolf. You can watch it above.The developer behind Dark Souls and Bloodborne is changing quite a few aspects of its tried-and-true formula to deliver a new kind of experience with Sekiro. For one, Sekiro's protagonist actually speaks. The story in Sekiro plays out more as a Japanese drama, with players embodying a specific character with his own established backstory, feelings, and sense of morality. Some of the narrative will play out as flashback sequences as well, which is another first for From Software when it comes to its Soulsborne titles.Sekiro's boss battles will also play out differently than what's been seen in Bloodborne and Dark Souls. "The traversal options allow much more dynamic movement within the boss arena, both for yourself and the boss character themselves," From Software director Hidetaka Miyazaki said. "Previously, you would have just had to run around a huge boss' feet and hack away at his ankles, but now you have all these movement options; you can both fully use the extent of that arena." You'll actually be able to pause the game too, even in the midst of a hectic fight, as there isn't any multiplayer in Sekiro.Miyazaki has confirmed that Sekiro is "probably even more challenging than previous From games," and after playing some of it, we agree. Sekiro's addition of parkour and stealth mechanics certainly allows you to move faster and occasionally kill more efficiently in comparison to previous Soulsborne titles, but the game's new combat system of wearing down an enemy's guard before executing them definitely has a learning curve.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is scheduled to release on March 22 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

After several hours spent playing Devil May Cry V, my wrist was cramped and the joints in my fingers were aching. These pains should be familiar to Devil May Cry fans; the series always demanded a high level of dexterity to master its combat. But in this sorry state, a joy washed over me: "I'm playing a new Devil May Cry, and that's awesome." But at the same time, another thought prodded my mind: "Will everyone else want this?"DMCV is a return to not only the series' previous canon, but to the philosophy and near fighting game-like intricacy of the first four games. As a longtime fan, it was exhilarating to play Nero and Dante again, slowly learning the strategic nuances of their every move, while constantly trying to better my execution. The high skill ceiling taunted me, instigating a deep desire to better understand how Nero's Devil Breaker arms work, and to finally master seamlessly switching between Dante's four different fighting styles.While I'm confident hardcore fans will love the work that's been done with combat in DMCV, the level design in between combat sections leaves much to be desired. This is where I find myself second guessing what the game is doing. There are some lessons from DmC: Devil May Cry that haven't been learned from here. Say what you will about the polarizing reboot, but that game presented some incredibly interesting level design and provocative visuals; showcasing diverse and compelling environments (sans the edgy text displayed on walls).In DMCV, you're typically running through ruined city streets and dilapidated buildings infested by thorny roots from a massive demonic tree at the center of town. A mission in the aforementioned tree helped break things up, but interesting sights like this were quickly overrun by more of the same apocalyptic backdrops. The repetition wore me down, especially when I started to realize that progression outside fights could be narrowed down to "destroy this red sack on this root, open path, repeat." It made me yearn for the chaotic highs of air juggling demons and subsequently breakdance-fighting their friends into oblivion.If not for DMCV's fantastic combat, this issue would be more troublesome. But it got me thinking: does this problem exist because classic DMC games are designed with a different philosophy in mind? While I can't answer this question myself, all I know is that the innovation of the combat system is what keeps me eager to return to DMCV.Newcomer V is an excellent example of this innovation; his ranged playstyle is probably the most creative and refreshing part of DMCV so far. You use V's summoned beasts to damage enemies for you, while you stand back and wait for the moment to deliver the final blow after their life has been depleted. It's all about space management and calculated movement; you need to be mindful of enemies around you, as a dodge in any direction will instantly call back one of his summons from the fray for a brief duration. Cunningly avoiding attacks as you command your beasts to deliver complex juggles provides a satisfying thrill. It's made all the more rewarding by the impact of a final blow alongside V's goading remarks. V's fighting style defies the directly offensive strategies of previous playable characters, but it's one that still feels right at home with the series. He's where I feel DMCV's combat design expresses itself the most, innovating and rearranging what we know from past games.There are hints of previous mechanics all around, but refinements and alterations have brought new life to them. V's playstyle calls to mind the tactics spurred by Vergil's concentration gauge from DMC4: Special Edition, where minimal movement and calculated attacks are key. On the other hand, Nero's various Devil Breakers significantly evolve his playstyle by adding more offensive options in a fight. You can propel a foe across the screen with the Overture's powerful attack, but in short time, detonate it in another group of demons while switching over to the Punch Line, riding it like a rocket-propelled skateboard into those still left alive. A great degree of technical skill is introduced to Nero thanks to the Devil Breakers, making his once beginner-friendly playstyle more complex than ever before.Dante is the only character who seems to remain faithful to previous iterations with few adjustments made to his base abilities--but maybe that's the point. With all the new mechanics introduced with Nero and V, Dante maintains the series' tradition, confidently declaring that everything you remember from the classic DMC combat system is back. That said, I only had access to a few of the weapons in his arsenal, so it's possible even he may change as you progress further in the full game.It's difficult to balance my expectations for DMCV. The more experimental DmC: Devil May Cry inspired me to think more deeply about what a game in the series could be, calling upon a higher standard for its accessibility and design overall. But my time with DMCV brought back memories of my infatuation with the story and combat of early games. Dante sports that same endearing confidence that charmed my teenage heart all those years ago. Nero maintains the brashness of DMC3 Dante that I love; though, a new outlook reduces his once angsty demeanor. And with the innovation and creativity present in combat, I can't help but look past my greater dreams of what DMC's structure could be and simply accept DMCV for the traditional experience it is. If that means newcomers being further alienated from one of my favorite series of all time, then that might be a reality I have to accept. My fondness for the series in this form is simply too strong to want it any other way.When DmC: Definitive Edition and DMC4: Special Edition both launched in 2015, the franchise was at a crossroads. After playing both, I realized that the series can honestly be one or the other and still be phenomenal. Before going to this event, I anticipated Capcom would make DMCV a hybrid of both, but in the end it chose one: classic DMC. Info from Gamespot.com