FX has ordered a series of Y, based on the highly-regarded Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra graphic novel series Y: The Last Man. The adaptation has been shopped around and in development for some time, and this finally lands it a permanent home. You can see the first image from it below.The series will follow the travels of Yorick, the lone male survivor of a mysterious event that has spontaneously killed every other male animal on the planet. Women are left to keep society going, exploring themes of gender, race, and class.Last year FX announced its planned cast for the series, which includes Barry Keoghan, Imogen Poots, and Diane Lane, as the lead characters Yorick, his sister Hero, and their mother Senator Jennifer Brown, respectively. Joining them will be Lashana Lynch as Agent 355, Juliana Canfield as Beth, and Marin Ireland as Nora. Executive producer Melina Matsoukas directs the pilot episode.The adaptation has been long in development, having gone through attempted film adaptations from Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) and D.J. Caruso (XXX: Return of Xander Cage). The script was delayed in part because showrunner Michael Green says he struggled to make an impactful show about gender dynamics in light of the 2016 election."Y: The Last Man is a towering achievement among graphic novel storytelling and it’s been rewarding to work with this outstanding team," FX president of original programming Nick Grad said in an announcement. "Michael Green and Aïda Mashaka Croal have partnered with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to deliver a stunning new expression of this fascinating and timely story. Melina Matsoukas, who directed the pilot, did an incredible job bringing it to life with Diane Lane and this stellar cast."Info from Gamespot.com

We don't yet know Legion Season 3's release date, but we do know one concrete thing about it: Legion Season 3 will be the show's final season, FX announced today. The network made the announcement during its panel at the twice-yearly Television Critics Association event in Los Angeles. FX CEO John Landgraf said during the panel that ending Legion with its third season was always creator Noah Hawley's plan."I think endings are what give stories meaning," Hawley said during the separate Legion panel later in the day. "I always thought about this as a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, and it felt like a three-act story, so this felt like a natural place to end it."FX announced Legion Season 3 before Season 2 had even completed airing, back in June. The network's president of original programming, Eric Schrier, issued a statement in a press release at the time indicating that FX has faith in the series and its creators."Legion has redefined the superhero drama and exceeded all expectations as the intensity and revelation build through the second season," Schrier said. "We are incredibly proud of Noah Hawley’s achievement and are honored to continue the series as it pushes the boundaries of conventional television storytelling. We are also grateful for the contributions of our executive producers, John Cameron, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, and Jeph Loeb with Marvel Television, as well as our outstanding cast and crew of this groundbreaking show."Check out GameSpot Universe on YouTube for in-depth breakdowns of every single Legion Season 2 episode, plus much, much more.Info from Gamespot.com

Square Enix has revealed more details on Final Fantasy XIV's upcoming expansion, Shadowbringers. During the FFXIV Fan Fest event this weekend, the publisher announced that Shadowbringers will launch for PS4 and PC on July 2, and it gave fans a glimpse at some of the new content the expansion will introduce to the MMO.Along with a variety of new dungeons, Shadowbringers will add another playable race to the game: the rabbit-like Viera, the race Final Fantasy XII's Fran belonged to. The expansion will also introduce several new beast tribes: Nu Mou, dwarves, and pixies. Players will have a "harrowing encounter" with the ruler of the pixies, Titania, in one of Shadowbringers' new trials.Square Enix also revealed one of the new classes coming in Shadowbringers: Gunbreaker. The class wields gunblades and fills the role of a tank. The game's level cap is also being increased from 70 to 80, and there will be a number of new areas to explore, including the Rak’Tika Greatwood, Amh Araeng, and Il Mheg.On top of that, Square Enix announced that Shadowbringers will kick off a new Alliance raid series. The publisher hasn't shared many details about it yet, but this one will be a surprise crossover with Nier: Automata and is titled YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse. You can read more about the upcoming expansion on the Shadowbringers website.Shadowbringers will be available in standard and Collector's editions. The latter will retail for $200 and comes with a variety of bonus physical and in-game items, including an art book, Dark Knight figure, playing cards, Fran minion, and Revolver Gunbreaker weapon. Pre-orders for Shadowbringers will open this week, on February 6; everyone who reserves the expansion will be able to access it several days early, beginning June 28.Info from Gamespot.com

Last week saw the release of the Advance War-esque tactics game Wargroove, which was met with glowing praise. Now, just a couple days after launch, England-based developer Chucklefish has announced that new updates and content are on the way.In a new blog post on the game's official website, Chucklefish confirmed that sales of the game have "already covered the cost of development" in just three days. New improvements are on the way, some of which should be out quite soon.According to the post, a post-launch patch is currently going through approval. The update is said to introduce a number of bug fixes and small improvements like addressing issues that cause online multiplayer maps against AI to break, spectating online on Fog of War maps to not work, and more.In addition to short-term plans, the studio outlined a plethora of quality of life fixes. Some of these include various ways to quickly skip battle scenes, keeping fast map movement enabled without holding a button, displaying S rank requirements, and more. There's no time-frame on when they'll officially be implemented into the game.Chucklefish also confirmed that modding support is coming soon and that work is underway on a PS4 version. Additionally, it's "looking into a larger content update, DLC and more." In our Wargroove review, we called it "a delight to play" because Chucklefish "made meaningful improvements that make this both a satisfying answer to starved Advance Wars fans' wishes and a genuinely great experience on its own merits."Wargroove is out now for PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.Info from Gamespot.com

Valve has begun its Lunar New Year sale on Steam, offering good deals on a range of PC games--including a spotlight on games from Chinese developers. The store is also offering a discount on any overall purchase, and tokens that can be traded for special rewards.The deals include discounts on Far Cry 5 ($15), Nioh: Complete Edition ($25), Sniper Elite 4 ($12), and Life is Strange 2 ($4), among many others. Steam also made two special categories. The first, games by Chinese developers, includes Icey ($8) and Three Kingdoms: The Last Warlord ($8). A separate local co-op category highlights Human Fall Flat ($7), Overcooked 2 ($19), and Helldivers ($10).Steam is offering a $5 discount on your first purchase of $30 or more. It's also giving away a free "red envelope" with rewards inside, and you can get tokens for your purchases. You'll get 100 tokens for every $1 you spend, or 111 tokens for $1 in gifts for other users. Then you can trade those tokens in at the reward center for extra prizes.Some rewards include an extra $5 discount (15,000 tokens), a golden profile (4,000 tokens), and various profile backgrounds (1,000 tokens). Plus you can pick up a bunch of pig-themed chat emoticons, all for 100 tokens apiece. There are only a dozen emotes, so spending just $12 is enough to get the whole set.The sale ends on February 11 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM PT, so pig out on deals while you still can.Batman: Arkham Knight ($5)Elder Scrolls Online ($10)Far Cry 5 ($15)Helldivers ($10)Human Fall Flat ($7)Icey ($8)Life is Strange 2 ($4)Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime ($6)Nioh Complete Edition ($25)Overcooked 2 ($19)XCOM 2 ($15)Info from Gamespot.com

After an individual Metro Exodus developer told Steam users that the next entry in the series might not release for PC, both 4A Games and publisher Deep Silver have followed up by stating that this is not the case. The Metro franchise still has a future on PC."The recent comments made by a member of the 4A Games development team do not reflect Deep Silver's or 4A Games' view on the future of the franchise," Deep Silver wrote in a blog post. "They do reflect the hurt and disappointment of a passionate individual who has seen what was previously nothing but positive goodwill towards his work turn to controversy due to a business decision he had no control over."The recent comments in question were made by a lone 4A Games developer on the Russian Gameinator forums. According to PC Gamer, the post roughly translate into a warning towards those who claim they won't play Metro Exodus because it's releasing exclusive on the Epic Games Store. If enough people don't play the PC version of Exodus, the post claims, then the next title in the Metro franchise might not release on PC at all.This threat comes in the face of the recent mass review bombings that both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light are undergoing right now on Steam. Some fans of the franchise are disappointed over the decision to remove Metro Exodus from Steam in order to put it on Epic instead. Although Steam pre-orders will be honored, the move has upset those who've already bought the game and expected to receive future support through their chosen PC game portal.The discontentment has spread to the companies involved as well. Valve described the move as "unfair" for Metro's playerbase, and there seems to be some controversy surrounding the decision amongst those at THQ--Deep Silver's parent company--as well.Metro Exodus is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on February 15.Info from Gamespot.com

The leaks and rumors are true--Apex Legends is here, and it's a new challenger in the Thunderdome of battle royale games. The free-to-play title from Respawn Entertainment is part of the developer's Titanfall universe, and while the game was just announced, it's already available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. You can see it in action in the video above, and read our impressions of the game from an early preview.Respawn teased the game on social media over the weekend following leaks that spilled some details onto the internet. The developer broadcasted a livestream to deliver the official announcement and a first look at the game. Apex Legends follows battle royale games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, while making a few key changes to the formula.First, it's a wholly team-based game, with 20 teams of three players facing off on one huge map. Like other games in the genre, you and your squad enter Apex Legends with no weapons or items, and have to scavenge everything you need to be the last team standing.The big difference between Apex Legends and other games like it is the inclusion of characters you choose from at the beginning of a match. Each character has a different role in your squad and different special abilities, including ultimate abilities that charge up over time. You're still finding all your guns, armor, and items on the island, but you have specific capabilities you can combine with your teammates that affect your strategy. There are eight characters, or Legends, in the game at launch, and Respawn will be adding more over time.Respawn also has an innovative addition to battle royale in its ping system. With one dedicated button, you can "ping" locations, objects, and other players, marking them on your teammates' screens and drawing their attention to them. Ping a piece of loot and your character will call it out and mark it for someone else, should they need it, while pinging enemies allows you to call out their location to your squad. The system is pretty robust, making it possible to communicate well with your squad without ever talking to them--which is handy for matchmaking games where not everyone might have a headset.Apex Legends' free-to-play status means it also includes microtransactions and in-game purchases for cosmetic items. You can buy premium currency to purchase items and loot boxes, called Apex Packs, and you'll also earn in-game currency and packs as you play. Six of the game's characters are yours when you fire up Apex Legends, with two more purchasable with either in-game currency or premium currency.You can download Apex Legends from the Origin store on PC, and on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 right now. GameSpot got an early look at the game, so stay tuned for our impressions. We'll also have a full review of Apex Legends in the coming days.Info from Gamespot.com

First, the pertinent information: Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment's newest game is Apex Legends, a free-to-play first-person battle royale shooter set to take on the likes of Fortnite, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Blackout mode. It's also already available--you can download it on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 right now.So no, it's not a new Titanfall game, although Apex Legends shares some DNA with Titanfall 2, Respawn's excellent 2017 shooter, and is set in the same universe, 30 years after that game. And yes, it's an entry into the battle royale genre, one that is both dominated by its own titans--specifically Fortnite--and getting crowded with small-scale spins on the formula and trend-chasing also-rans. Apex Legends has a lot in common with the looming figures in the battle royale landscape but with some key differences and improvements, like the addition of specific characters and roles and an emphasis on team play, that Respawn hopes will make the game stand out. Respawn gave GameSpot an early look at Apex Legends at a preview event in Los Angeles, where we played about seven hours of the game and got a feel for what Respawn's battle royale has to offer.Apex Legends stands apart by putting all its focus on perfecting the team version of battle royale. It eschews the single-player 1-versus-100 style that Fortnite, Call of Duty, and PUBG all support, instead pitting 20 three-player squads against each other in every match. This is a battle royale game in which just about everything is built around getting you to think about and work together with your squad.Defining Your LegendIt starts with what is Apex Legends' biggest change to the formula: the inclusion of a set of characters you choose from at the outset of each match. As in Overwatch or Rainbow Six Siege, each of the game's eight "Legends" has their own unique abilities (with several borrowed from Titanfall 2), and only one can be in a squad at a time.Each of the characters you can choose from at the start of a match has one passive ability, a "tactical" ability you can activate with a button press and which runs on a cooldown, and an ultimate ability that charges up much more slowly. Passives include increased run speed when under fire or a shield that protects you while you're reviving a teammate, while tacticals are things like deploying a smoke grenade for cover, dropping a dome shield, or the ability to become briefly invisible and invulnerable.The same is true with ultimates--one character, Gibraltar, can call in an air strike on a position, while Wraith opens up portals between two locations that teammates can use, and the medic Lifeline can call down a care package to a specific location. The core of battle royale--dropping into a huge space with nothing and quickly trying to find guns, ammo, and items that will help you survive and take down other squads--remains, but each of the character's capabilities, when combined with that of their teammates, lead to variable strategies.Nonverbal CommunicationAbilities are important at key points, but moment-to-moment teamwork is defined by the ping system, a robust way for you to communicate with your teammates even without talking to them. Apex Legends has a dedicated button that lets you call out points of interest to your squad, creating indicators that appear on their screens and messages from your character they can hear. Pings are contextual, so what you're aiming at when you use it dictates what's communicated. Point at a spot in the distance to suggest heading in that direction; point at a piece of loot, and you'll call out what it is and mark its location for your teammates who might need it. The ping system also has another button dedicated to marking enemy locations--which is amazingly useful, both in the heat of battle and as you move around the map. You can even bring up a wheel of messages to send, like suggesting a location to loot, or pointing out that an area shows signs of activity from another team.The ping system makes working together easier, while an enhanced revival system means that death is not always the end for teams who play smart. Like in other battle royale games, taking a certain amount of damage knocks you down in Apex Legends, which means you're out of the fight until a teammate revives you. Enemy players can finish you off to take you out of the match before your revive timers runs out, but it's still possible for your teammates to bring you back.The box of your loot that remains when you die contains a special item called a banner card that a teammate can retrieve within a certain amount of time. If they do, they can take the card to one of several special respawn points and call a dropship to bring you back into the match. Returning from the dead means you're stuck looking for brand-new gear, but it's better than being out of the game entirely. Respawning teammates adds a whole other strategic layer to matches by making respawn points potential centers for battles, while creating situations where it's possible for a team to recover from bad luck or a tough fight.Accessibility RoyaleAll that emphasis on working together and fulfilling specific roles helps give Apex Legends a different feel from similar games, but a lot of what Respawn brings to the table is quality-of-life improvements to systems that are already pretty ubiquitous to the battle royale genre. Drawing from Titanfall 2, movement in the game is quick and fluid; running and sliding make you nimble, and climbing and mantling just about anything adds a level of verticality. There's no wall-running, unfortunately--Respawn told us it compromised team dynamics because players would end up too spread apart as they went parkouring around the environment--but Apex Legends still maintains a Titanfall-like degree of fluidity and freedom in its movement that's refreshing.It might also be the easiest BR game to understand in terms of how loot functions. A hallmark of the genre, Apex Legends' map is littered with stuff to pick up, and that means plenty of options of guns, each requiring certain types of ammo and supporting different attachments that can improve their performance. Learning to manage all those items is a big part of battle royale, but Respawn's interface and mechanics for dealing with all your gear is highly intuitive. Weapons are color-coded to their ammo types, so you know instantly when you see a box of light ammo whether it fits that pistol you just grabbed or the rifle you're using. Gear rarity is also dictated by color, as in other BR games, but Apex Legends explicitly tells you whether the thing you're about to pick up is better or worse than what you're already carrying, and in many cases doesn't even allow you to pick up gear that would replace stronger items you already have.The interface also takes the guesswork out of dealing with all the various weapon attachments you can find in the game. When you find a scope or stock that fits your gun, it attaches automatically. Find a better one and the old one is replaced. If you decide to swap one shotgun for another, for example, all the appropriate attachments on the gun you're discarding are automatically flipped to the new gun. Apex Legends functions so you almost never have to open its inventory screen. If you do pop open your inventory, the game marks items you are carrying but can't use, like ammo or attachments for guns you don't have, so they're easy to toss to make room. It all makes dealing with the stuff you find extremely easy and minimizes the time you have to spend organizing your junk, which can be one of the genre's weakest elements.The lingering question, though, is whether the world needs another battle royale shooter. Coming off Titanfall 2, a great realization of a bunch of fresh ideas Respawn brought to the shooter genre, Apex Legends can often feel like it's mixing and matching the best elements of other games. Like all battle royale titles, there's an extreme familiarity in Apex Legends--if you've played Fortnite or PUBG, you've experienced a lot of what Apex Legends has to offer already, even though there's some new spin. And while the character system adds a lot of new tactical possibilities to battle royale, the mind immediately jumps to Overwatch, the king of the hero shooter. Many of these ideas are well-established in games shooter fans are probably already playing.All that said, Respawn has proven itself in terms of shooter design with the Titanfall games, and a lot of the same tight shooting controls make their way into Apex Legends. It's not a stretch to say this feels like one of the best put-together of the battle royale games from a mechanics standpoint. A strong focus on teamwork helps Apex Legends to carve out a specific spot in the battle royale field, and with the super-low barrier of entry from its free price point (we've got more info on its monetization and a look at the game's best skins), it may well have a chance of contending with the monumental success of its competitors. Since Apex Legends is available right now, we'll have a full review coming over the next few days. Info from Gamespot.com

Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment's entry into the battle royale genre, Apex Legends, is taking a page from the massive success of Fortnite: make your game free. The new title launched as a free-to-play game on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One and looks to make its money by selling in-game items to players. It's a model similar to the one that has made huge amounts of cash for Fortnite developer Epic Games, but which is also fraught with the peril. Free-to-play can make all kinds of cash--but it can also alienate players and kill games altogether.Free-to-play games often carry a stigma because many fall into the trap of providing the paying customers with legs up over those who don't choose to buy in or can't afford to pay as much. At a recent preview event in Los Angeles at which Respawn showed off Apex Legends ahead of its launch, project lead Drew McCoy said the developer has been very cautious about its monetization choices, using lessons learned from its last game, Titanfall 2. You can spend money in Apex Legends, but like in Fortnite and similar titles, you can only ever buy cosmetic items and skins that change how your characters and weapons look--McCoy said you'll be able to pay to look good, but never pay to win."A lot of the team was really skeptical early on that we were going to be doing dirty things or stuff that felt scummy," McCoy said. "It was important to us that we did things that felt fair, that felt like Respawn. ...We looked at other games, we did research with the first parties [developers] across other EA games, for what really drives people from a fun perspective without hurting the game from feeling like you're being nickel-and-dimed."While Respawn experimented with some monetization efforts like cosmetic items during the post-launch period of Titanfall 2, the team also hired a product manager who previously worked on Riot Games' free-to-play powerhouse League of Legends to make sure they were getting it right.But McCoy also noted that Apex Legends includes a particular free-to-play element that has generated a lot of ire: loot boxes. McCoy said the developers have taken steps to make loot boxes fair to the players who choose to buy them. Respawn publishes the drop rates for its loot boxes both in the in-game store and on its website, so players know what the chances are of getting the best stuff. You're guaranteed at least a mid-tier "rare" item or better in each pack, and they don't dish out duplicates of items you already have. There's also "bad luck protection," McCoy said, to keep you from buying lots of loot boxes and never getting lucky enough to acquire some of the game's best stuff. During the preview, the store said that players are guaranteed at least one legendary item, Apex Legends' rarest, for every 30 loot boxes they open.Apex Legends also includes other ways to spend money outside of loot boxes. There's an in-game store with a rotating inventory where you can purchase some items directly, and like Fortnite, Apex Legends will offer a "battle pass," a flat fee that lets you unlock more cosmetic items as you play. Finally, you'll be able to buy Legends, the game's playable characters. Six of the game's eight characters are available off the bat, and two more can be unlocked either with premium currency you pay for, or by earning in-game currency by playing."We have been very diligent about making sure that the characters, the Legends, play differently--not better," McCoy said. "So the more cautious among the community would probably say, 'Oh, you're going to make the new ones more powerful for a little while if people buy them.' That's absolutely not our intention."McCoy said one of the ways Respawn hopes to stand apart from other battle royale games is in its dedication to care and balancing when introducing new elements to the game, to preserve its integrity as a competition. It doesn't want to add a new gun or character to Apex Legends, only to have to immediately roll it back because of unforeseen consequences. A big part of that approach is gathering and analyzing data to see how people are playing the game and using its elements to make sure they're balanced. While the characters in Apex Legends offer different abilities, McCoy said it's essential that none are more or less powerful than the others, and Respawn is putting a lot of its efforts into making sure that's true.Respawn's publisher, Electronic Arts, has run afoul of scummy-feeling monetization schemes in that department before. It was the trouble in Star Wars: Battlefront II, developed by DICE and published by EA. Before a last-minute change, the game was set to use loot boxes to hand out strong, useful weapons and items, and offered players powerful new characters they could purchase with real money. You could earn loot boxes and in-game currency to buy characters just by playing, but people willing to pay more into the game would obtain the better stuff faster and get ahead of the competition."We've seen from games like Battlefront II, how much paying for any kind of advantage is so bad," McCoy said. "I actually think that Battlefront is a really good game mechanically, and they did a lot of great things and it got overshadowed by some of those choices, but it's a really good spotlight to shine on why those kind of systems are so problematic."You can't buy everything with in-game currency you'll earn for free, McCoy admitted, and he expects some people still will be turned off by the game's loot boxes. But Respawn is trying to make players feel like they get a lot for their money if they do pay, and like they're rewarded for their time even if they don't, he said."We just hope that you find a large-enough player base that likes what we've built and wants to show off and decides to spend some money in the game," he said. "But if not, free players who spend their time are just as important to us. We take that very seriously. Time and money are the two most precious things in any humans life. And in fact, they're choosing to spend either of them with us is incredibly important to us."Check out our early impressions of Apex Legends from its preview event, and stay tuned for our full review in the next few days.Info from Gamespot.com

Valve has announced that the annual Steam Lunar New Year Sale is once again live. This year, there's also a Rewards Booth, where you can redeem tokens to unlock limited-time awards.You'll get a certain amount of tokens based on previous Steam purchases you've made, which can be unlocked by logging into your account and opening your red envelope. In order to unlock more tokens, you'll need to shop for games during the Lunar New Year Sale. Every $1 USD you spend for yourself nets you 100 tokens, while every $1 USD you spend on games that you gift to a friend gets you 111 tokens. These tokens disappear at the end of the Lunar New Year Sale, so any that you haven't spent by February 12 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 6PM UK are gone for good.There are three different types of rewards you can trade in tokens for, with the Premium rewards being the most pricey. The cheapest Premium reward is 2,000 tokens, and it's a limited-time badge for your Steam profile. You can also spend 4,000 tokens and cause your profile to "go gold" for the rest of the Lunar New Year Sale, which can be extended to next month for another 12,000 tokens. For 15,000 tokens, you can unlock a $5 discount on your next Steam purchase--whether it's during the sale or later.During the Lunar New Year Sale, you can unlock several smaller rewards as well. In the Rewards Booth, you can unlock three different profile backgrounds--Courtyard, Market, and Firecrackers--each for 1,000 tokens. In honor of it being the Year of the Pig, you can also unlock 12 different chat emoticons that are all pig themed--each for 100 tokens.During the Lunar New Year Sale, Steam is offering a $5 discount on your first purchase of $30 or more--which is different from the Rewards Booth discount mentioned earlier. As is usual for a Steam sale, you can find some pretty substantial deals on dozens of games, both indie and triple-A. Far Cry 5 has been discounted to $15 for example, with Nioh: Complete Edition going down to $25, Life is Strange 2 to $4, and Overcooked 2 to $19.Info from Gamespot.com

Season 7 of Fortnite may be winding down, but Epic Games still has some new content in store for the hit title before its eighth season kicks off. While the developer hasn't yet announced what this week's update will bring, it appears a new type of item is coming to the battle royale game: Bottle Rockets.As it so often does ahead of its weekly updates, Epic is teasing the new item in Fortnite's in-game News feed. The feed doesn't share much information about them, but it says Bottle Rockets are "coming soon" and calls them "loud, bright, and dangerous." It also warns not to light them indoors. You can take a peek at the Bottle Rockets below.Epic confirmed on Twitter that this week's content update will go live on all platforms at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 1 PM GMT, and it won't require any downtime. Interestingly, the tweet teases that players will be able to "get cozy around campfires"--presumably suggesting that a new variant of Cozy Campfires will be available, although that is unclear.Epic has introduced a number of new weapons and items for Fortnite this season. Last week's 7.30 update added the Chiller Grenade, which knocks opponents back and causes them to slide along the ground, while the week before that saw the arrival of the Sneaky Snowman, a wearable disguise not unlike the bush.Gather around... get cozy around campfires in the v7.30 Content Update. 🔥Available tomorrow, February 5 at 8 AM ET(1300 UTC). There will be no downtime. pic.twitter.com/paYFEniI68 — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) February 4, 2019To make room for the new items, Epic also regularly vaults some older ones, temporarily removing them from item pool. Just last week, the developer moved four weapons into the vault: the Bolt-Action Sniper Rifle, Burst Rifle, Heavy Shotgun, and SMG (in common, uncommon, and rare variants). However, vaulted weapons may return to the game at some point in the future.Only a few weeks remain in Season 7, which means this is your final opportunity to complete any outstanding challenges and unlock the Season 7 Battle Pass rewards. If you need help mopping up any remaining tasks, you can find tips and guides in our complete Season 7 challenges roundup.Info from Gamespot.com

There is a gory moment in the third act of "Down" when the filmmakers abandon all pretense and restraint, spraying the screen with a fountain of blood. In that moment, the movie shows its hand; I turned my brain off and enjoyed the remainder of "Down" as a pulpy diversion. But as fun as "Down" was--and it was fun, to be clear--it was also disappointing. The first half of this film promised something better, more complex, and more discussion-worthy than what we ended up getting.The film opens with a woman named Jennifer (Natalie Martinez) and a man named Guy (Matt Lauria) working late on a Friday night. They're headed down to the parking lot of their office building when the elevator suddenly stalls, four floors underground. Their cell phones don't work. Despite their best efforts to set off the alarm or call for help, they're trapped in this enclosed space for the 3-day weekend. So, they slowly get to know each other.This extended sequence, where it's just the two main characters bantering back and forth, is the film's high point and the right mixture of clever and flirtatious. There's an old-fashioned, theatrical rhythm to it.. And even when the dialogue is a bit too cute, Martinez and Lauria deliver it naturally. We believe these two could have a mutual attraction, even under these odd circumstances. Framed differently, the premise could easily fuel a Howard Hawks screwball comedy instead of a horror film.But this isn't a Hawks film. And quite suddenly--in the space of a minute, if that--the premise takes a weird, dark turn. There's a shocking reveal that changes everything we've learned thus far. It presents great potential to explore abusive relationships, gender dynamics, consent, and how sex is leveraged and exploited for power and control--all in the context of the horror genre. But the film, despite alluding to these themes, falls short of addressing them in any meaningful way.Instead, the film rapidly shifts from being a talky, dialogue-driven film to an action-driven cat-and-mouse slasher in no time at all. Both characters make dumb, illogical decisions--necessary only to advance The Plot--and betray their prior cleverness and wit.There is a way to build horror and tension through talking, facial expressions, and nuance. But "Down" isn't concerned with ambiguity or complexity after revealing its central twist. If you like your horror movies to end with a big fight, cheeky humor, and a triumphant hero, you'll get all that. But what a waste, that such a rich premise ends so conventionally.TRAPPED inside because of bad weather? Get cozy and check out #IntoTheDark: DOWN on @hulu. pic.twitter.com/urbO8HXvLd — Blumhouse (@blumhouse) February 2, 2019 "Down" is produced by Blumhouse, the production company behind blockbuster hits like "Paranormal Activity," Happy Death Day," "Get Out," and "Sinister." The company's ethos is simple: bankroll low-budget horror films and allow the filmmakers a corresponding level of artistic freedom.Into The Dark, the film anthology series that "Down" belongs to, is Blumhouse's attempt to replicate their big screen success on Hulu. They're producing 12 low-budget horror films, each based on a holiday, and releasing them one month apart from each other. October's film was "The Body," based around Halloween. Next was November's "Flesh and Blood," based around Thanksgiving. December's film was Pooka!" based around Christmas. Then came January's "New Year, New You," based around New Year's Day. And now, we have February's "Down," based around Valentine's Day.Here's the problem: none of the Into The Dark films are of theatrical release quality. They're made-for-TV movies; they get good reviews by the mere act of being interesting. So on one hand, it feels unfair to judge these films against something they're not; perhaps, if they were good enough to be theatrical releases, they would have been.But in today's entertainment landscape, multi-million dollar blockbusters debut on digital platforms and bypass the theater entirely on a regular basis. As an audience, we have been conditioned to expect more on streaming platforms.Small films must deliver better quality than what their budgets would imply. "Down," for better and for worse, delivers precisely what you would expect. Enjoy it on that level, and you won't be disappointed.The GoodThe BadFun dialogueStrange editing choicesShocking twistBecomes conventional in its second halfExcellent performances from both lead actorsGore feels jarring and out of placeThe setting provokes great tension and claustrophobiaHokey ending Info from Gamespot.com

Ever since James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been wondering just who will take over the director's chair. After the smashing success of Thor: Ragnarok, many have seen Taika Watiti as the "go to" director for Marvel's next cosmic installment.However, Waititi was firm that he will not be involved in the third Guardians movie. "I'm not doing that movie, but I'm hanging out with them," Waititi explained during the What We Do In Shadows panel of the Television Critics Association press tour. "I'm still hanging out with those guys and talking about new stuff. What might be yet, but yeah, I want to do another [Marvel] movie."As for why Waititi won't take over for the next Guardians installment, it's all out of respect for Gunn's previous work. "For me, that's James's," Waititi continued. "Those are James's films. Going into something like that which has got his stamp all over it would feel like going in someone's house and going, 'Hey! I'm your new dad, and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now!' It just feels kind of awkward. I just wouldn't know how to follow up those two films because those are his babies."During the summer of 2018, Gunn was fired by Disney from GotG Vol. 3 after old tweets from the director resurfaced. These were jokes about topics like pedophilia and rape, and Disney wanted to distance themselves from him.The controversy didn't end there, however, as the cast wrote a joint letter standing behind Gunn, in hopes he would be rehired. It never happened, though, and Gunn is currently writing the script for the Suicide Squad reboot at Warner Bros. and is in negotiations to direct.As for Waititi, he's currently directing the upcoming Star Wars series The Mandalorian, and in post-production for the FX series What We Do In Shadows--based on the mockumentary of the same name--which comes to the network on March 27.Info from Gamespot.com

A great premise can generally only take you so far, but films that stick to them and don't get distracted can sometimes in turn achieve greatness. Blumhouse's Sweetheart takes the conventional and familiar survival story and turns it on its head with a tale of self-discovery, empowerment, and monster-fighting in what can best be described as Cast Away meets Cloverfield.Jenn (Kiersey Clemons) wakes up one day and finds herself on an isolated island in the middle of the ocean. She's shipwrecked, and her only companion has a chunk of coral jutting from his stomach. Without wasting a second, Jenn pulls her friend from the water, yanks the coral, and stops the bleeding with a makeshift bandage. Sadly, it's too late, as her companion dies that night--and that's when the problems begin.For the first half hour, Sweetheart focuses on your standard castaway story, with Jenn finding water, refuge, and food. Director JD Dillard (Sleight) makes his return to Sundance and Blumhouse stand out with a keen eye for performance and emotion, despite relying almost entirely on Clemons' mostly mute performance. Indeed, in a refreshing move, Jenn doesn't get a volleyball to talk to, so there's no thinking out loud for most of the film, and instead she conveys all emotion and information through exquisitely nuanced yet powerful facial expressions that say more than a dozen monologues. To compensate for the lack of dialogue (and the score, which is also very minimalistic), the movie's outstanding sound design does most of the work.Jenn is also not your typical shipwreck survivor. She is one of the smartest and most composed castaways we've seen onscreen in years. As she follows the usual procedure for fictional island survivors, you can tell Jenn is familiar with every story and film about island survival there is, and she adapts to every situation without breaking a sweat. Before you notice she's already learned how to use small fish as bait to catch bigger fish, and how to build a makeshift spear to hunt. It doesn't come across as overpowered or exaggerated, and it's all thanks to Clemons' performance ,which sells you on her problems but also on her way of thinking and excitement as she figures things out.Of course, this being Blumhouse and JD Dillard, everything is not as it seems, and the island has plenty of dark secrets. As Jenn tries to stay alive she starts seeing mutilated fish wash up on shore, and her friend's body suddenly disappears from its grave overnight. Then there's also that huge sinkhole in the bottom of the ocean.Sweetheart eventually becomes one of the best creature features in recent years. Dillard and his cinematographer Stefan Duscio use lighting to build a sense of menace and fear of the unknown. The movie is dark, but never without purpose. We are stuck with the same knowledge and visibility as Jenn, and as she runs away we catch only glimpses of whatever pursues her. The production design and VFX team deserve credit for their fantastic work.Even when the film deviates from its sweet and short premise, it expands the world of the film and provides subtle but important background for Jenn, even though they don't feel necessary. As she finally gets to speak with someone, we get hints at other monsters and abuse she has already faced before. It's a great way to address how hard it can be for women to speak up about abuses they've suffered, without being too on the nose or deviating too much.With a brisk and concise runtime of 82 minutes, Sweetheart accomplishes a lot without wasting a moment. Its brilliant lead performance carries much of the film, with beautiful visuals that descent into a thrilling and heart-stopping creature feature.The GoodThe BadKiersey Clemons' nuanced performanceLate characters introductions are distractingTerrifying creature designUnmemorable titleBadass protagonist Brilliant balance of genres Info from Gamespot.com

Netflix's latest original series, Umbrella Academy, has finally arrived, bringing with it buckets of trippy, surrealist superhero hijinks. But the world of the Academy is actually more than just a bizarre 10 episode series to be binged from your living room--it's actually a cult classic superhero comic from Gerard Way (yes, as in the guy from My Chemical Romance) and artist Gabriel Ba.Sure, it may not possess the weight of history that something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe has behind it, but the world of Umbrella Academy is actually expansive (and completely bizarre), making it a worthy read for anyone who might be interested in jumping into the new show. So what exactly is Umbrella Academy, how do you read it, and what does it all mean?We're here to break it down for you, piece by abstract piece.Umbrella Academy got its start back in 2007 with the release of its first six issue limited series titled Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite at Dark Horse Comics, and it set the groundwork for the ongoing universe. It established the basic premise: one day, 43 women around the world with no signs of pregnancy gave birth simultaneously to infants that showed various superhuman abilities. Seven of the kids were adopted by an eccentric billionaire adventurer named Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who created--wait for it--The Umbrella Academy. There, he trained up his adopted children to be a superhero team.If you think things are already starting to sound a bit weird, you haven't seen anything yet.By and large, the kids experienced an exceedingly dysfunctional childhood, with their father all but disinterested in anything but their powers, a robot facsimile of a mother, and a genetically modified chimp named Pogo as their primary caretakers. The kids' day to day life revolved around training to use their powers and various feats of public superheroics against any number of strange and potentially cosmic threats. And by "strange," we mean, really, really weird--the first thing the kids are shown fighting is an animated Eiffel Tower (which turns out to be a space ship) puppeteered by "zombie robot Gustave Eiffel". That basically establishes the tone of the entire series. It includes most of the same tropes and set dressing as your standard superheroic faire, but it's shown through the lense of the hyper surreal--half tongue-in-cheek self aware, half pedal-to-the-metal buckwild just for the hell of it.The kids themselves are suitably eclectic. Each member of the Hargreeves family-slash-team was assigned a number, a code name, and a civilian name. Number 1, Spaceboy, Luthor Hargreeves, is super strong. Number 2, The Kraken, Diego Hargreeves, can hold his breath forever and throw knives with deadly accuracy. Number 3, The Rumor, Allison Hargreeves, can tell lies that alter reality. Number 4, The Seance, Klaus Hargreeves, can contact the dead. Number 5, The Boy, has no civilian name and can teleport and time travel. Number 6, The Horror, Ben Hargreeves, can summon monsters of his skin--and is mysteriously dead. Number 7, The White Violin, Vanya Hargreeves, spent her childhood told she had no special gifts--which she soon learns may not have been true at all.But the kids' gifts and superheroic feats aren't actually the focus of the story. The real narrative occupies a chunk of time far after the Academy has been formally dissolved, the kids have grown up, and their makeshift family has all but totally fallen apart. They're pulled back together after the death of Hargreeves, which sets in motion a series of events leading to some very unwelcome secrets coming to light. Imagine something like Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, but give each character an incredibly specific superpower, and toss in a talking chimpanzee for good measure. Following The Apocalypse Suite, Umbrella Academy continued to expand its story by adding two more limited series to the line-up. The first, Umbrella Academy: Dallas, began publication in 2009 and dealt with a truly mind-bending level of time travel and alternate history (the JFK assassination, the Vietnam war, really, you name it.) The second, Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion, was originally set for release in the early 2010s, but experienced a number of major delays--it finally saw publication in 2018, just in time to drum up some more awareness for the Netflix show.In between each major series, Way and Ba would publish various short stories focusing on major cast members and moments to flesh out more of the lore. These short stories were collected up in the trade paperback editions of each volume--though they're not strictly necessary to understand the actual plot. The Netflix show itself is mostly a blend of both Apocalypse Suite and Dallas, with a healthy amount of remixing and reinventing--after all, there are some things you can pull off on paper that just wouldn't work on a tv show. Zombie robot Gustave Eiffel, for example, doesn't really translate. But don't worry--Pogo, the talking chimpanzee, definitely does.All ten episodes of The Umbrella Academy launch on Netflix February 15, while all three volumes of The Umbrella Academy are available everywhere comics are sold. You can jump into one without the other, but really for something this delightfully weird, why would you want to? Info from Gamespot.com