It's no secret that theater attendance in the US has been steadily dropping over the past few years, as prices rise and the old-fashioned theatrical experience faces increased competition from streaming services. However, it has been reported that ticket sales rebounded in 2018, making it the most successful year for some time.As reported by Variety, movie admissions rose by 5.5% on the previous year, to a total of 1.3 billion tickets sold. In terms of money, $11.85 was spent at the box office, which was a 6.9% rise on 2017. The figures come from the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). The hugely successful movies that helped these numbers include Black Panther, Avengers Infinity War, and Incredibles II, all of which were made by Disney.2017 was the worst year at the box office since 1995, with a number of high-profile movies underperforming, including the commercial failures Transformers: The Last Knight and The Mummy. Even though 2018 had a few disappointments--most notably the Star Wars spin-off Solo--the huge moneymakers were more than enough the push the figures high.Overall ticket sales peaked in 2002, the year of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Spider-Man, and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. There were 1.57 billion tickets sold that year, and while the subsequent two years saw a decline, these three consecutive years remain the highest over the past three decades.While it is obviously too earlier to know how 2019 will pan out, there have already been some major successes. Aquaman opened at the end of December, and has made $307 million in the US so far; worldwide it is already the most successful DC movie of all time. Later this year, films such as Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Dark Phoenix, and Star Wars Episode IX will open, making it very possible that 2019 tops 2018's admissions.Info from Gamespot.com

The mysterious orb that has been hovering around Fortnite's Polar Peak has opened and unleashed quite the cold snap. Ice has consumed the island and the Ice Legion wander its surface, attacking players on sight. But there's no time to worry about that because there's new challenges to complete. We're now in Fortnite Season 7, Week 8 and, like clockwork, new Battle Stars are available.To get them you'll need to complete the weekly challenges listed below. As you're probably aware of, the first batch of challenges is available to all players. However, the second is exclusive to those that have spent the cash to get V-Bucks, and then use that virtual currency to upgrade their Battle Pass to a premium one. Naturally, doing that means you get more Battle Stars on a weekly basis if you complete all the challenges, and this in turn levels up your Battle Pass and unlocks cosmetics faster.In the free category, players will need to place three Cozy campfires or Launch Pads, build structures, and find a Battle Star hidden between a mysterious hatch, giant rock lady, and precarious flatbed. On the paid side, you'll need to complete a multi-stage challenge that begins with visiting Paradise Palms and Salty Springs in one match. Then search seven chests at Shifty Shafts or Lonely Lodge, deal damage to enemies, and get a few explosive weapon eliminations on top.FreePlace a Cozy Campfire or a Launch Pad in different matches (3) -- 5 Battle StarsBuild structures (250) -- 5 Battle StarsSearch between a mysterious hatch, a giant rock lady, and a precarious flatbed (1) -- 10 Battle StarsBattle PassStage 1: Visit Paradise Palms and Salty Springs in a single match (2) -- 1 Battle StarSearch chests at Shifty Shafts or Lonely Lodge (7) -- 5 Battle StarDeal damage to opponents while riding in a vehicle (100) -- 10 Battle StarsExplosive weapon eliminations (3) -- 10 Battle StarsOn January 23, Fortnite developer Epic Games released the 7.20 content update, which made tweaks to a number of items, alongside introducing the Sneaky Snowman. Additionally, it vaulted a few weapons and added a limited-time mode. One of the new items is the Sneaky Snowman disguise which, as you can imagine, will make subterfuge extra effective in the current, snowy state of the island. Interestingly, you can either choose to wear the disguise or throw it out as a decoy, which is a nice extra option. You can read the full Fortnite 7.20 patch notes for more details, as well as information on what else it does. Info from Gamespot.com

Epic Games is giving away a free PC game every two weeks this year via its new Store, and the next of those titles goes free today. From January 24 until February 7, the first JackBox Party Pack is available for the low, low price of nil.All you need to do is create an Epic account on the company's Store and claim the game within those dates. You'll then be able to play it for free whenever you like, even after February 7. Currently, the free game is What Remains of Edith Finch, but that promotional price will expire in the next few hours.The Jackbox Party Pack is, as the name suggests, a collection of minigames designed primarily for party situations. It utilizes players' smartphones as controllers in competitive activities. These usually involve some form of interpretation of user-created drawings or jokes--as you can imagine, this often ends in mischief.A new entry in the series has arrived every year since the original's launch in 2014, with the most recent, Jackbox Party Pack 5, coming out towards the end of last year. The series is also available on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.Info from Gamespot.com

As part of Fortnite Season 7, Week 8's challenges, you'll need to go on a bit of a Battle Star hunt. One of the challenges in the free section asks you to search between a mysterious hatch, a giant rock lady, and a precarious flatbed. Even if you're familiar with the island, it can be tricky to remember those locations and then figure out where exactly the Battle Star can be found. So, to make it easier, we've done it for you--here's where you need to go.The mysterious hatch in question can be found in Wailing Woods near the cabin, while the giant rock lady is south of that just outside the wood, and the precarious flatbed can be found in the east, on the edge of the island overlooking the sea. Triangulate that position like you're Sayid from Lost standing on top of a hill because that seemed to be the only way he knew how to solve any problem for, like, the first two seasons, and you'll find the Battle Star at grid reference J3.To make it even easier for you, we've put together a map of the location below. Remember that you don't actually have to visit all of those landmarks before going to the location of the Battle Star, just launch yourself out of the Battle Bus and aim to land right on top of it. You can also watch the video above to see us do it, if you need an additional guide to help you along.To see the other challenges for Season 7, Week 8, check out our full challenge list. As you'll no doubt have noticed, the island has undergone quite a significant change. On January 18 the orb hovering around Polar Peaks cracked open and the Ice King emerged, bringing with him his horde of monsters. On top of that, the island was blanketed in ice and snow. This marked the start of the new Ice Storm daily challenge series too, where fresh rewards are on offer.Fortnite's 7.20 content update also included some icy additions for the game, the most notable of which is the Sneaky Snowman, which can be worn as an outfit to blend into the surroundings or can be thrown out to distract enemies. See the full Fortnite 7.20 patch notes for more details.Info from Gamespot.com

Bethesda, developer and publisher of Fallout 76, has denied the PS4, Xbox One, and PC game is going free-to-play. Rumors of the online title switching its payment model surfaced after consumers noted at least one retailer was no longer stocking standard versions of the game. However, it seems that was simply a decision made by the retailer to place greater emphasis on special editions.Bethesda itself stated "there is no truth to this rumor," while Australian store EB Games confirmed it still planned on supporting the boxed edition of the game both in-store and online.Hi Andrew,This information is categorically incorrect. EB Games will continue to support Fallout 76 both brand new and preowned, and it remains an active product through both our stores and website. Customers can now pick up the EB Exclusive Tricentennial Edition for $79.95. — EB Games Australia (@EBGamesAus) January 22, 2019Fallout 76 launched in November, but was met with a somewhat negative critical reception. "Bethesda has stated it intends to continue supporting the game for a long time, but at launch, Fallout 76 is a poor experience," wrote Edmond Tran in GameSpot's own verdict. "There are echoes of the series' admirable qualities, but look past that facade, past the cute Vault Boy animations, past the familiar radio tracks, and you'll find no heart--just an inconsequential wasteland doomed to be nuked over and over again." For more, check out our full Fallout 76 review.Bethesda has indeed continued to support the open-world game since launch, and the latest Fallout 76 update fixes a bunch of bugs. The publisher has also given away free copies of earlier Fallout titles to anyone who played 76 last year. It did, however, ban players who discovered a secret developer-only room inside the game.Info from Gamespot.com

Square Enix has trademarked a term closely associated with its recent retro throwback Octopath Traveler, suggesting it may plan to use the phrase more in the future.Gematsu reports that the company filed trademarks for "HD-2D" and "HD2D" in Europe. This isn't the first time Square has used the term, though, since it commonly referred to the aesthetic of Octopath Traveler this way. That game blended classically styled sprite art with 3D environments for a unique effect. Trademarking the term could mean the company is planning to use the technique again, either in a sequel to Octopath or some other project altogether.Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear what's coming next from the Bravely Default series. Last year the Octopath Traveler social media channels began teasing an announcement, seemingly leading to the reveal of Bravely Third. No formal announcement has been made yet, though the teaser still sits as a pinned tweet on the Bravely Twitter.Producers Masashi Takahashi and Tomoya Asano were both involved with Bravely Second before moving on to produce Octopath Traveler. Despite wildly different appearances, the two carry some gameplay mechanics in common like the ability to store attacks for a multi-attack later. If a Bravely Third announcement is on the horizon, the studio could be splitting its efforts between the two series or alternating between them.Info from Gamespot.com

Kingdom Hearts 3 is finally almost upon us. The long-awaited conclusion to Square Enix's Disney mash-up series has been a long time coming, but how long will it last? Even as anticipation reaches a fever pitch, fans may wonder how many hours they can expect to put into this charming Disney showpiece.Based on our reviewer's time with the game, Kingdom Hearts 3 lasts roughly 30-35 hours for the main story quest. Besides that, though, it has loads of side-content that can make the game last significantly longer for those who want to fully explore all it has to offer."Many of the worlds offer extra gameplay activities to engage with after the story within them is wrapped up," critic Tamoor Hussain wrote in GameSpot's Kingdom Hearts 3 review. "Toy Box puts you in a Final Fantasy XV parody where you're in a mech destroying enemies and chasing high scores. Traverse Town has a cooking mini-game which involves collecting ingredients from across the worlds and then bringing them to Ratatouille's Remy to make meals. Pirates of the Caribbean lets you sail the open sea in search of treasure and do battle with enemy ships, or defend Port Royale in a wave-based mini-game. The amount of gameplay variety in Kingdom Hearts 3 is impressive, and although the extras may be short-term distractions, for those who want to spend more time in their favourite worlds, they're a fun reason to make the return trip."As the resolution of a huge franchise, Square Enix leaned hard into setting up the story in its final trailer for the game. Some of the story is still being saved for after launch, though, as the studio is releasing two special epilogue cutscenes post-launch, to avoid spoilers circulating online. If you need a hand recalling the story so far, we have a recap to catch you up to speed.Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming on January 29, 2019. That means there's still time to pre-order if you so choose, so check out our pre-order guide for more info.Info from Gamespot.com

Kingdom Hearts 3 is one of the most anticipated games of the year. Fans have been waiting years for the release date of the third mainline entry in the series to arrive, and that moment is nearly here.If you're not familiar with the series, you might enjoy our Kingdom Hearts story primer, or everything you need to know about Kingdom Hearts 3. One notable thing that's emerged in the last few days is that the game's epilogue will be added after launch to avoid spoilers being leaked. And if you want to know how long it will take to see that epilogue, you can find out by taking a look at Kingdom Hearts 3's campaign length estimate.We awarded the game an 8/10 in our Kingdom Hearts 3 review, while critics across the board seem pretty positive about this concluding chapter. Read on below for a selection of other reviews or check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for more, or head over to CNET for thoughts from a series newcomer.GameSpot -- 8/10"What sticks with me is the exciting battle against elemental titans with Hercules, taking Rapunzel out into the unfamiliar wide world for the first time, snapping selfies with Winnie the Pooh, and going toe to toe with Davy Jones. In 2002, as Sora, I left Destiny Islands to travel across the universe and make new friends. In 2019 I brought old ones home, and I had so much fun doing it." -- Tamoor Hussain [Full review]IGN -- 8.7/10"I thoroughly enjoyed Square Enix's evolution of Kingdom Hearts' gameplay and fidelity to Disney's beloved animated movies. While the storytelling could use some punching up, Square has done a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of these worlds while giving us a massive toolbox for battles and exploration. Even as I watched the dust settle on the story I wanted to jump right back in to collect everything. But to see all of the events of the Kingdom Hearts games so far culminate is, frankly, weird. Having been given so much time to ruminate, its specific resolutions aren’t all that surprising, but only a marginal impact is lost as a result. I still loved seeing so many characters from throughout this series interact in new ways and rekindle old bonds. It's nice to see that, even so long after the very first game, Kingdom Hearts 3 is so full of heart." -- Jonathon Dornbush [Full review]Game Informer -- 9.5/10"While not perfect, Kingdom Hearts III is the game I’ve been waiting for. After finishing it, I was delighted by how satisfied I was with the journey. I traversed worlds with some of my favorite Disney characters, persevered through challenging boss battles, and saw a triumphant finale that only makes me more excited for the future. The series still has a lot of heart, and that’s what makes it so endearing." -- Kimberley Wallace [Full review]Polygon -- No score"Kingdom Hearts isn’t simple anymore; it isn’t just joy and bright colors and Disney heroes. Instead, the conclusion of this story is tangled up in so many conflicting threads, each one a heavy burden on its hero, whose smile now feels unnerving. Kingdom Hearts 3 is an example of what can go wrong when a series that once stood in contrast to its peers as a lighthearted alternative loses its way." -- Allegra Frank [Full review]GamesRadar -- 4/5"Whatever the flaws, there is nothing quite like Kingdom Hearts 3, and it's a wild, wonderful ride as a result. Name one other game where you can watch Elsa belt out Let It Go before hammering some monsters to death with a giant key. I'll wait." -- Rachel Weber [Full review]Info from Gamespot.com

The PlayStation Classic was pricier than some other retro consoles at $100, but bargain hunters who were waiting for the right price may want to take advantage of it now. The mini-console is down to just over $50 now, half off the original price.Amazon has the system listed for $54, which is likely a temporary price. Other stores may be willing to price match depending on their policies, so check if another one could be more convenient for you. This is the lowest price we've seen yet on the mini-console, though just after the holidays it was marked down to $60 across the board.The PlayStation Classic packages the mini-console with a controller and 20 games, including bona fide classics like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil Director's Cut, and Final Fantasy VII. The library on the whole was marked as a disappointment in our review, and the emulation quality and UI presentation is uneven."I'd like nothing more than to tell you that the PS Classic is a pleasant surprise, that it will match your excitement and then some," wrote critic Peter Brown. "This sadly isn't the case, and short of Sony refreshing it, or the hacking community breaking it open and reconfiguring it, the PS Classic may never be more than a puny PlayStation with good looks."PlayStation Classic Full Game ListBattle Arena ToshindenCool Boarders 2Destruction DerbyFinal Fantasy VIIGrand Theft AutoIntelligent QubeJumping FlashMetal Gear SolidMr DrillerOddworld: Abe’s OddyseeRaymanResident Evil Director’s CutRevelations: PersonaRidge Racer Type 4Super Puzzle Fighter II TurboSyphon FilterTekken 3Tom Clancy’s Rainbow SixTwisted MetalWild ArmsInfo from Gamespot.com

The Dude is coming to the Super Bowl. Whether the arrival of one Jeff Lebowski is a matter of circumstance for the sellin' of goods--and that's something we've come to expect from the Super Bowl almost more than the actual sport it's supposed to be about--or the portent of some greater, less-knowable purpose, well, it'll be February 3 before we find out for sure, I guess.Jeff Bridges, who played The Dude in the Coen Brothers' 1998 stoner detective comedy, tweeted a short video teasing his return to the role some 21 years later. The video doesn't show much--just that nothing about The Dude seems to have changed, except maybe his hair color--and ends with the cryptic date of February 3, 2019. You might recognize that as the date of Super Bowl LIII.Can’t be living in the past, man. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/zL2CLYhGAM — Jeff Bridges (@TheJeffBridges) January 24, 2019Now, the thing about The Dude is, his story has become what might be known in some circles as a cult classic. So much so, in fact, that there's been at least one attempt to expand that story, by looking into the lives of the fellers who populated it. One of those hombres was Jesus Quintana, who also goes by the handle The Jesus, played by John Turturro in the movie.Turturro wrote and directed Going Places, a movie that sees him reprise the role of The Jesus. It also stars Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man, Homecoming) and Audrey Tautou (The Da Vinci Code, Amelie). That movie is complete according to its IMDb page, and though it was originally slated to see the light of day in 2017, that page now says its release is coming this year. So might be The Dude is out here ready to shill for his brother bowler.Then again, maybe not. You might recall from The Big Lebowski that, at least according to one Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), The Jesus was a sex offender. According to Walter, The Jesus did a stint in the big house for exposing himself to a kid. And seeing as The Big Lebowski has become a pretty well-loved comedic gem in some circles, a revisit to those characters to tell the story of somebody like that--well, it does seem at least a bit ill-advised. Then again, Walter's not exactly the most trustworthy of sources as relates to facts.Guess it's not for us to know, though, at least not until the big game. It is nice to see The Dude wander back in, even if does end up to be about slingin' some product. If I had to lay a wager, I'd say maybe the folks at Kahlua might be responsible for all this. After all, The Dude loves himself a White Russian.Info from Gamespot.com

In the Resident Evil 2 remake, you'll play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield and experience their unique perspectives on the viral outbreak that's hit Raccoon City. Their different stories are further enhanced by the game's differing scenarios, which swaps their roles in the overall story and results in a total of 4 unique campaigns between the two protagonists (Leon A/B and Claire A/B).In my review, I mentioned that it took me about 15 hours to complete both of Leon and Claire's first stories--which each character's scenarios running at 6-7 hours each. Keep in mind, this was the initial attempt and the ensuing runs after that were shorter due to having familiarity with the game. While many events and puzzles are similar to the original game, allowing you to get a better handle on what to do, the overall structure and pace is quite different. In order to get the elusive S rank, you'll need to finish a particular character's story in less than 4 hours.As stated earlier, Resident Evil 2's campaigns are structured out through isolated scenarios. After finishing the story for the first character, a new option in the main menu called New Game (2nd Run) will open up. Carrying over from the original game--formerly called the Zapping system--the first character you pick will essentially be the lead of the story, with the other protagonist experiencing their own encounters as they tie up the overall plot's loose ends. Depending on who you played as before, you'll start the second scenario with the other character.While both characters will experience similar events and explore the same locations, the choices and impact of each scenario are totally isolated from one another. With the original game, there were key moments where you could decide which character should take certain items over the other--that has since been removed in this game. In another big change from the first game, completing the first two campaigns will open up all 4 campaigns. So if you want to jump straight into the other second scenario, without having to play the other scenario that precedes it, then you can do that.I greatly enjoyed my time with Resident Evil 2. Seeing how much the original game's plot and structure had evolved with the remake was a pleasure to see play out, despite how nerve-wracking it could get. If you want to learn more about the game, go ahead and check out my review in which I state:"Resident Evil 2 is not only a stellar remake of the original, but it's also simply a strong horror game that delivers anxiety-inducing and grotesque situations, topping some of the series' finest entries. But above all, the remake is an impressive game for the fact that it goes all-in on the pure survival horror experience, confidently embracing its horrifying tone and rarely letting up until the story's conclusion. Though Resident Evil 2 has its roots firmly in the past, it reworks the familiar horrors into something that feels brand new and all its own."For more info on Resident Evil 2, be sure to check out our helpful Beginner's Guide on how to survive in Raccoon City, and along with our recap on the story so far with the survival horror series.Info from Gamespot.com

Overwatch has kicked off its latest event, the annual Lunar New Year celebration that pays homage to Chinese culture. The "Year of the Pig" will last through February 8, and Blizzard has been slowly showing off the new skins we'll see starting with this event.The new skins include several Chinese generals from the Han dynasty, like Lu Bu Reaper, Huang Zhong Hanzo, Guan Yu Reinhardt, and Zhang Fei Torbjorn. Other Legendaries include Zhuge Liang Zenyatta and Hong Gildong Tracer, and two Epic skins are included too: Sanye Orisa and General Brigitte. The event also includes the return of skins from Lunar New Years' past, and other cosmetic items like emotes. Check out our gallery of all the skins.Last year's Lunar New Year event was the Year of the Dog. That update included several new skins along with a capture-the-flag mode, which returned for this year's event as well. This came along with balance changes for Brigitte, D. Va, and Reaper, along with other bug fixes detailed in the patch notes.The biggest change comes to how armor works, since now it will reduce damage from 5 to 3. This will mostly impact characters who fire in bursts, like Soldier 76. Blizzard says armor was a little too strong previously, particularly among characters who healed often.The patch also reduces the duration of Brigitte's rally to 30 seconds, to avoid a snowball effect wherein she would start building another Rally before opponents could deal with the first one. Similarly, D. Va's Defense Matrix has had its cooldown time increased from 1 to 2 second to give opponents a chance to respond. Finally, Reaper gets the lone buff of the balance patch with an increase to his life steal, from 30% to 50% of damage dealt."Reaper's passive enables him to play aggressively when near enemies. This change allows him to keep the pressure up while he's dishing damage to his enemies," the patch notes state. "The added life steal is particularly effective against tanks, as they tend to do less damage than other heroes, and also take more damage from his Hellfire Shotguns due to their larger hit volumes."Blizzard has usually hosted several annual events for Overwatch, but has started to introduce smaller events as well. One recently focused on focused on Ana with an accompanying short story, and offered a special exclusive skin for her. Meanwhile, the big tentpole events like Winter Wonderland and now the Lunar New Year are still going strong.Info from Gamespot.com

Note: This post contains spoilers for Alien: Blackout and Alien: Isolation. Read on at your own risk!Alien: Blackout might be a small-scale mobile game you can finish an hour or two, but it still contributes to the larger story begun with Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. Blackout is actually a direct sequel to the 2014 video game Alien: Isolation, which added a new character to the story: Amanda Ripley, the daughter of film protagonist Ellen. And while the tale of Blackout isn't as involved as what's in the films or in Alien: Isolation, it does provide a little context for Amanda Ripley's continuing story.The interesting thing about Alien: Isolation is that it fills in a portion of the Alien timeline that was previously unexplored. The game jumps 15 years into the future from the end of Alien to tell Amanda's story, in which she heads to Sevastopol, a space station in the middle of being decommissioned. That's where a salvage crew has brought the flight recorder from the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley's mother's missing ship, which Ellen blew up in order to kill an alien that got on board and murdered the crew. Amanda joins a team from Weyland-Yutani, the company Ellen worked for, that's heading to the station to recover the recorder and find out what happened to the Nostromo and her mother.Isolation fits nicely in the Alien canon thanks to the movie's 1986 sequel, Aliens. In that movie, Ellen Ripley is rescued after escaping the Nostromo, only to discover she's been in hypersleep for 57 years. In a deleted scene in that movie, Weyland-Yutani executive Carter Burke reveals to Ellen that Amanda had grown old and died in the years before Ellen was rescued. The Ripley women are never reunited.Amanda was previously only mentioned in that one scene, so Isolation takes the opportunity to open up her story. When she arrives on Sevastopol, she discovers the salvage team also accidentally brought back an alien from LV-426, the same planetoid Nostromo visited. By the time Amanda and her group reach the station, a full-grown alien is picking off the people trapped there one by one.Amanda works with survivors to try to eliminate the alien, but she soon discovers that it has created a whole hive, birthing more and more creatures in the bowels of the station. And like in the films, Weyland-Yutani is hoping to capture an alien from Sevastopol, even if it means everyone on the station dies in the process. Eventually, Amanda circumvents Weyland-Yutani's efforts and escapes the station before it's destroyed, but she's the only survivor. Isolation ends with Amanda entering the Torrens, the ship that first took her to the station, only to discover an alien has made it on board and killed the crew. She opens the ship's airlock, sending both her and the alien into space. It seems she's doomed to die in her spacesuit, before a final shot of a spotlight passing over her face--suggesting a ship has discovered Amanda and can save her.Alien: Blackout picks up sometime later, although it's not clear how much time has passed since the end of Isolation. The game takes place on Weyland-Yutani's Mendel Research Station, and starts with the arrival of the USCSS Haldin, a ship carrying two crew members, Saito and Studwick, and two people from W-Y: Yutani--an executive and second cousin to the company's namesake--and Thorncroft, a scientist. When they board the station, they discover Amanda, who warns them that an alien is loose on the station and that everyone else is dead. Amanda has only survived because she's slipped into Mendel's air vents, where she's connecting into the computer system to use motion sensors and cameras to keep an eye on the alien--and stay one step ahead of it.Most of Blackout is concerned with the moment-to-moment attempts to keep the survivors alive, and the story is pretty simple. But the game does give a few larger hints about the Alien world. Amanda tells the crew that the alien on Mendel Station was born there, and she blames Weyland-Yutani for it. Both Yutani and Thorncroft say they've never heard anything like the alien, though. The Alien franchise is full of Weyland-Yutani conspiracies to try to get the alien at any expense, but apparently, nobody brought either of them into it.Amanda's discovery that there's another alien on Mendel Station is a significant change what we've seen in most of the Alien film canon. In Alien, Alien: Isolation, and Aliens, the creatures all come from the same place: LV-426. In fact, dialogue in Aliens states that after the Nostromo is destroyed, no one encountered the alien across "more than 300 surveyed worlds." And in the intervening years, LV-426 becomes home to a small human colony called Hadley's Hope--and people live there successfully for years. It's not until Ripley reports back to Weyland-Yutani about what happened to her crew that the company sends colonists out to see if the creatures are still there.So if Mendel Station had an alien of its own, that suggests there's another source of the creatures that the company has discovered between Alien and Aliens. There's some precedent for that idea in recently released Alien novels that expand the story. In 2014's Alien: Out of the Shadows (which takes place between Alien and Aliens) and Alien: Sea of Sorrows (which takes place years after Ellen Ripley's death in Alien 3), more aliens are discovered on other planets--but they tend to kill everyone who knows about them. With Ripley and her crew the only survivors of Mendel Station, that might explain why Aliens suggests nobody knows about the creatures: everyone who ever encounters them, save the Ripley women, winds up dead.Like most Alien stories, Blackout has another wrench from Weyland-Yutani: Special Order 941. When Amanda and the survivors try to escape the station aboard the Haldin, they find they're blocked by the station's artificial intelligence under the company's orders. The special order echoes similar instructions that diverted the Nostromo to find the creature (Special Order 937) and the instructions to protect the alien at the expense of the humans on Sevastopol (Special Order 939). We still don't know who specifically is issuing those particular orders.Blackout ends with Amanda escaping Mendel Station, along with any of the survivors you manage to save, before the station blows up with the aliens on board. She notes in her log that the group's next stop is KOI-125.01, a manufacturing colony, and that she plans to go on to Earth after that. If Yutani survives, she also mentions plans to make a full report of everything that happened.We don't know what happens at KO1-125.01, but Amanda, at least, makes it back to Earth. This week, Fox's official Alien Twitter account announced the launch of Aliens: Resistance, a four-comic series that continues Amanda's story back on Earth. In it, Amanda teams with a former Colonial Marine, Zula Hendricks, in an attempt to bring down Weyland-Yutani and expose its alien bio-weapons program. Resistance links the story of Isolation with the greater Alien comics world: Hendricks was a protagonist in the 12-issue series Aliens: Defiance, in which she also encountered the alien, lived to tell about it, and discovered Weyland-Yutani's evil plans. So Resistance looks to be a sequel both to that series and to the Amanda Ripley games so far.The description of Resistance suggests that what Amanda found in Blackout is just one of several facilities where Weyland-Yutani is trying to weaponize aliens, which means there could be a lot more going on for Amanda. That might also be another clue to the situation 40 years later in Aliens: if Amanda manages to take down W-Y's alien program, it would explain why the company is still desperate to get hold of aliens decades later.There's also a lot of leeway for additional stories, as Isolation, Blackout, and Resistance are showing. After all, most of the information in Aliens about what happened to Amanda and the creatures comes from Weyland-Yutani themselves, and the company has never been especially trustworthy. Maybe Blackout and Resistance suggest more games starring Amanda Ripley could be part of the Alien-infested future. Info from Gamespot.com

The best way to sum up Anthem, BioWare's online third-person shooter, is to call it a cross between Mass Effect 3 and The Division. On one hand, it's a lot like other, similar shooters: you'll team up with other players as you blast away at various creatures, causing numbers to fly off their bodies as you work to take them down, hoping to get newer, better guns for your powered Javelin mech suits. On the other hand, Anthem is definitely a BioWare game, even if it's a pared-back version of the more complex and story-heavy RPGs the developer is known for. Anthem hits a middle ground that, on the whole, makes it feel unique among the shooters like it.BioWare recently gave GameSpot a chance to play the first few hours of Anthem at its studio in Austin, Texas, starting from the game's opening missions, as well as some late-game content. That gave us a pretty solid cross-section of what Anthem offers--from its team-based gameplay that feels a lot like the multiplayer of Mass Effect 3, to the way the game delivers story through conversations with its various characters, much like in BioWare RPGs of the past. We got the best sense we've had yet of what it'll be like to play Anthem, at least through the main story campaign.Becoming A FreelancerHere's how missions and activities go in Anthem. Starting in your home base of Fort Tarsis, you pick your Javelin, one of the four Iron Man-like mech suits at the center of the game's combat. Most missions start with you traveling to wherever the action is, guided by your Cipher Owen, a partner back at Tarsis who provides you with intel about the situation at hand. Javelins can fly thanks to their rocket boosters, although not indefinitely; eventually your suit will overheat, forcing you to wait for them to cool down. Strategically dipping through waterfalls and lakes, or diving straight down to increase airflow through your jets, can cool the suit down. Exploring Anthem is almost as much a part of the game as fighting in it, and there are lore drops to find and ruins and other secrets to discover out in the world.Each Javelin type has its own strengths and weaknesses and work together in different ways. The Ranger is the middle-of-the-road class that specializes in single, high-power weapons like grenades and missiles, while the Interceptor is a faster, more agile Javelin that's good for close-range and melee attacks. The Colossus is a tank that lacks the recharging energy shield of other Javelin classes, which means it requires aggressively play and constantly grabbing health packs in order to be effective. Finally, the Storm generally floats above the battle, using elemental attacks to debuff enemies and aid other teammates.All the Javelins also can carry two weapons, and you can equip a variety guns, from assault rifles to shotguns, rail guns, sniper rifles, pistols, and beyond. But in Anthem, shooting takes a bit of a back seat; using your Javelin's on-board abilities in smart ways is what combat is really all about.In fact, the shooting portion of Anthem was sometimes a bit underwhelming, as the guns feel like generic shooter fare and never hit especially hard. Anthem's enemies are the sort of bullet-sponges that can make guns feel weak and ineffectual. It's clear that combining your different abilities together intelligently with other players is where BioWare wants you to put your effort in combat, and pulling off strategic moves with teammates to dominate the battlefield or escape a tough scrape is the best part of any fight.Each Javelin has two abilities (on a controller, each is tied to a bumper button) that can be changed based on what you equip in your Javelin's four component slots. Grenades, missiles, and various other attacks can inflict status effects like freezing enemies or setting them on fire, and those effects can set up combos. Hitting an enemy "primed" by a freeze grenade with a missile, for instance, will "detonate" them, which can do bonus damage or pass the freeze status effect to other enemies.The early part of the game demonstrated only easiest opportunities for combos, and they weren't especially exciting. As time goes on and you learn the strengths and weaknesses of each Javelin, though, the strategy of comboing looks to become a much bigger part of the game--it mattered a lot more, and was a lot more satisfying, in the high-level content BioWare demonstrated than the early stuff. BioWare told us a lot more about how progression and teamwork will come together in Anthem, especially late in the game.Terminal VelocityThe other thing Anthem's combat has going for it is its sheer speed and fluidity. At any given moment, you can hop into the air and activate your jets to go flying away from a losing situation, find a shady spot to recover your shields, or get a better angle on enemy weak points. Much has been made about Anthem's verticality in exploration, but flying is also a huge part of combat and what makes it feel fresh. For instance, a Storm Javelin will mostly hover over a battle, somewhat out of harm's way, to rain down elemental attacks on groups of enemies and help control the battlefield. At the same time, an Interceptor can dart in and out of combat, inflicting heavy damage and bugging out before things get to hot. In all cases, using flight effectively and strategically is essential to winning fights and staying alive.We faced several different missions during our time in Anthem. Some concerned Shaper Relics--powerful alien technology left behind by the race that created the world of Anthem, but has since disappeared. Those missions usually included the kind of sub-objectives familiar from other shooters, like defending a fixed position while a timer ticks down, or gathering items and bringing them back to a specific location--all of which were fairly generic activities you're used to seeing in shooters like this. The fact that you can fly around huge arenas helps break things up, but apart from the underlying combat and flight capabilities, most of Anthem's missions are the kinds of activities players will be very familiar with completing by now.Other missions had us facing off against the Scars, an insect-like race of angry aliens with whom humans share the world of Anthem. The more interesting enemies were the Dominion, Anthem's main antagonists. These guys are human soldiers led by a big scary Javelin pilot called the Monitor, and they include fighters who are more comparable to the player, with Javelins that let them fly and some of the elemental powers that you can use. Their goal: grab Shaper Relics and try to control the Anthem of Creation for their own ends. They're ruthless and well-armed with powerful technology, and stopping their ambitions is what most of the story in Anthem seems to be about. (We've got a lot more information on Anthem's story here.)Fort Tarsis: Your Story HubWhen you're not fighting weird creatures or the Monitor and his minions in your Javelin, you're hanging out at Fort Tarsis, the frontier town you call home. Tarsis serves the usual functions of a post-mission hub, allowing you to talk with faction leaders to accept missions or work on your Javelin at a station called The Forge.You also pick up new missions from people in the town, including your contacts in the game's various factions, like Brin, one of the Javelin-wearing town guards called Sentinels, or Matthias, a member of the Shaper scholars known as the Arcanists. Both will give you missions that allow you to increase your standing with their organizations, which lead to more missions and better rewards.The town is more than a compendium of shops and quest-givers, though. It sports a number of characters with whom you can hold lengthier conversations of the sort that feel akin to BioWare's traditional RPG titles. Some of these are just rundowns of what's going on before your next mission, but a few let you get to know the characters of Anthem a little better. Conversations all include a few choices, too, which allow you to shape your responses and your Freelancer's personality, at least somewhat.Spending time talking to Owen, the Cipher character, revealed some of the strongest writing in what we saw of Anthem, as we dug into his past and revealed more of his character. Owen's funny, amiable, and pretty complex--the kind of character BioWare fans will expect to see--and is likely destined to become a fan-favorite akin to the companions of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. But even talking to quest-givers gives Anthem a chance to expand on their characters and make them a little more interesting and relevant than the next contract they hand over.Wandering around Fort Tarsis and engaging in some of these deeper, more involved conversations felt like Anthem's answer to Mass Effect's Normandy: it's a place where you hang out between missions and learn about the other character with whom you share Anthem. While you won't engage in anything like the deep conversations that make up other BioWare games, Fort Tarsis changes the feel of Anthem compared to games like The Division or Destiny 2 by making the story and its characters feel a lot more close and personal.Gussying Up Your JavelinWorking through missions will earn you better gear for your Javelin, and as you reach the higher levels, you'll start to find guns and Javelin pieces that have special properties and change your loadouts. Bringing loot you find in the game back to the Forge in Fort Tarsis allows you to check it out and equip it, or salvage it for crafting.You can play Anthem solo, but it's obviously built for teamwork. Combat incentivizes working together and bringing a variety of Javelins into any given situation, and there's also the Alliance system, which rewards you for playing with others. Whenever you play with other people, whether they're friends or randoms you group up with as you work through the game, the Alliance system passively awards you and anyone you play with Alliance experience points. Those points get tallied at the end of the week and converted into Anthem's in-game currency, Coin--so playing with more people earns you, and them, more money.There's also a surprisingly large amount of customization possible when it comes to Javelins. You start the game with a variety of paint options you can apply to your Javelins that can make it look pretty slick and unique, and there are more customization options you can purchase in Fort Tarsis as well. Anthem will also include a premium currency you can purchase with real money, and that currency can be used on additional customization options. But BioWare has previously said that premium currency will only be for purchasing cosmetic upgrades, and that you'll never buy things like blind loot boxes--you'll always know exactly what you're getting when you spend real money.Early play in Anthem was fun, if a little similar in some respects to a lot of what's already available in shooters like it, specifically in areas like mission objectives and gunplay. It's the late-game and endgame content that's the real question at this point. Our chance to play the high-level Stronghold BioWare showed off at E3 2018 suggested what Anthem can do when it really pushes players to work together and coordinate. But BioWare hasn't revealed much in the way of details about endgame or live content yet, and if there's one big concern about shared-world shooters, it's how well they'll be able to keep players engaged once the story campaign wraps up.What we've seen of Anthem so far shows that BioWare's online shooter is pretty familiar, but the elements it adds to the formula might be enough to make it stand apart. Verticality and speed from flight in particular make combat feel different from many of the things that are out there right now, and it's more character-focused approach to storytelling has the potential to make its world much more engaging than lore entries in an in-game codex--although Anthem has those, too. Our time with Anthem shows that BioWare has the moment-to-moment gameplay down pretty well in the early going, and there are a lot of good ideas in the game that might be enough to let it carve out a space in a genre of persistent shooters--as long as it can keep people playing long-term.Editor's Note: Electronic Arts provided GameSpot with travel and accommodations for its preview event.Info from Gamespot.com

Though it might not be obvious from all the gameplay videos that show off the flight and shooting mechanics, a big part of BioWare's Anthem, much like other online shooters, is chasing loot. As you push through Anthem's campaign, about a nation that hopes to control the all-powerful Anthem of Creation for its own ends and might end up destroying the world in the process, and into its endgame, you'll get to deck out your Javelin mech suit with some spiffy gear and some big, powerful guns.BioWare recently gave GameSpot a chance to play several hours of Anthem at its studio in Austin, Texas, that included early and late-game content, which gave us a pretty solid sense of how it'll feel. But our snapshot didn't include much in the way of how the game's loot-based progression system will work. Lead producer Ben Irving filled in the gaps: you'll level up your Freelancer by earning experience points for completing missions and killing enemies, with the power level of individual Javelins tied to the strength of their equipped weapons and upgrades that you'll acquire via loot drops or crafting. You'll chase after the best guns and gear you can get by replaying content on harder difficulties, similar to other shooters such as Destiny 2 or The Division."So the core of the game is you're a pilot," Irving explained. "The pilot enters the Javelin. And so the pilot is a thing that has the levels in it. And so as you play the game, you level from one through to 30. That gets you through the bulk of the [story content], and then you'll do some other activities to kind of get to level 30."As you level up your pilot, you'll unlock all four Javelin classes, and you'll also gain loot--new guns of various types, like assault rifles and shotguns, and new equipment for your Javelin that changes some of its abilities. That stuff can include different kinds of grenades with elemental powers, alternate weapons, and support abilities. For instance, on the Ranger Javelin, you'll start the game with a shoulder-mounted single missile launcher. Later, you might find an energy pulse cannon that can replace the missile. Equipping it changes how your weapon works and what it does. You get three active abilities for each Javelin, activated by pressing the left bumper, right bumper, and both together when playing on a controller, and your equipped items can change each one.Your Freelancer's level determines what level of loot you can use, and the total power of your equipment is reflected as a stat called a Gear Score for your Javelin, which gives you a quick summary of your total power. Loot also has rarity levels, Irving explained, starting with common, then moving up to uncommon, rare, epic, masterwork, and legendary. The more rare the gear, the more useful and interesting it is, as top-tier gear in the masterwork and legendary categories has unique properties that might influence the rest of your loadout, or your role on a squad with other players.There also will be an element of crafting in Anthem, although we didn't experience it much. Weapons you don't need or want can be "salvaged," or broken down into crafting components."You're collecting loot out in the world, it'll then unlock blueprints that will actually allow you to create and build the loot that you want, as well," producer Thomas Singleton said. And loot can also come with additional perks, called Inscriptions, that will make some versions of a piece of equipment a little different from others like it.Upping The DifficultyGetting better loot is a matter of playing harder content, Irving said. That comes in two forms: seeking out tougher endgame-type missions that become available as you approach Anthem's level cap, and playing on harder difficulties. Through much of what we saw, Anthem sported three standard difficulty modes--Easy, Normal, and Hard, with each raising enemies' health and damage output--that could be set at the start of any given mission. And more difficulty modes will unlock later, Irving said."So at level 30, the three new difficulties open, that's Grandmaster 1, 2, and 3, and that again will increase the loot drop chance," he said. "So you get to a point where you really want those masterworks and legendaries. ...So when you really want lots of them, that's when you'll start pushing Grandmaster 1, 2, and 3, and you'll need to have, you know, at least a set of epics probably some masterworks to go in there again, depending on skill level and a bunch of things. But for those kind of high-end players, we want this almost infinite chase, that you can keep pushing harder difficulties for kind of bragging rights amongst your friends to try and get that better gear."Irving said that BioWare will be paying close attention to how players engage with Anthem, particularly when it comes to difficulty, and that harder modes could be offered later. But he also said that BioWare is keeping accessibility in mind through Anthem's various difficulty modes. Strongholds are some of the toughest content in Anthem, but BioWare hopes the option for changing their difficulty will allow more players to experience them.Better TogetherGetting better loot with additional abilities and different properties all feeds back into how you can work together with teammates. We saw some of those capabilities in our playthrough, but at higher levels, teamwork will be an even bigger part of the experience.The basics are that some abilities can "prime" enemies, leaving them open to another attack, and hitting them with a second ability can "detonate" them, dealing extra damage--a similar set of mechanics to those BioWare used in the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. But which Javelin and gear you're using changes how those interactions will work. For instance, when a Colossus uses a detonation ability, it'll create an area-of-effect explosion that damages other enemies--great for crowd control. Ranger detonations do high damage to a single target. Storm detonations can spread status effects to multiple enemies, and Interceptor detonations give the Javelin an aura that allow you to afflict other enemies with status effects as you attack them."As you get on [further into the game], the teamwork question becomes more than, are we coordinating to set up combos, but also, like, who should combo, which is the most effective way to use up the detonator that you have available to you based on the combat space, and I think that's where we'll get interesting at higher levels on harder difficulties," Irving said.Anthem has a lot of ways you can benefit your team offensively, but you can also add defensive and supportive abilities as well. For example, the Storm Javelin can create a wind wall that can block incoming projectiles as one option, or put up a dome that speeds up teammates' cooldowns when they're inside it. Choosing which loadouts and abilities you and your team want at the start of a mission adds another layer of strategy--do you want defense or offense? Is your gear better for priming enemies, or detonating them? Should you try to leave enemies with status effects or hit them with direct damage? Answering those questions will change which Javelins you choose, what loadouts you pick, and what strategies your teams employ.We saw a lot of Anthem in action, but from the sounds of things, there's still a lot to uncover in terms of combining Javelins, skillsets, teamwork, and all the loot you can find along the way. Finding the game's best guns, and playing through tougher content to get it, is going to be a major concern for high-level players who want to get the most out of Anthem. We'll have to wait and see how Anthem's loot chase shapes up, and whether it's fun enough to keep players going after they finish the game's story campaign.Anthem releases on February 22 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. BioWare is running a VIP demo January 25-27 on Xbox One, PlayStation, and PC for EA Access members and pre-order customers. There's also an open demo February 1-3 that doesn't require pre-ordering to play. Check out the rest of our Anthem coverage, including what it was like to play the game for several hours from its start, and what we know about its endgame.Editor's note: Electronic Arts provided travel and accommodations for this preview event.Info from Gamespot.com