In the years prior to Julius Caesar's rule of ancient Rome, the legions of the empire were led by a wealthy general known as Marcus Crassus. He was infamous for many things, one of which was his revival of decimation--a harrowing means to control the army by punishing the collective for the actions of singular dissidents. Soldiers were divided into groups of ten, where each would draw stones. The one unfortunate enough to draw a white one would be beaten to death by the remaining nine, regardless of their involvement in any crimes against the empire. It instilled not only fear, but a strong sense of responsibility among the legions of soldiers, who quickly learned to self-discipline in the face of such punishment.The Forgotten City, a narrative puzzle game that started out as a Skyrim mod, uses the principle of decimation as its basis. It's an anecdote used to describe the game's most prominent mechanic, The Golden Rule, which is an ever-present threat to the small community trapped in a desolate and secluded city deep in the Roman mountains. A god watching over the community threatens to turn everyone into gold should anyone commit a sin. In theory this should lead to a utopia, a land where its people are forced into peaceful co-existence through the persistent threat of imminent and absolute destruction. But it's not long before you realize that the ideals of right and wrong, and, more importantly, who defines them, allow the definitions of sin to be bent and stretched in creative and cruel ways.Not long after the game's opening, you're teleported back in time to this ancient city and caught within the web of its passive aggressive personalities and bubbling politics. The magistrate of the society is the only one aware of who you are, tasking you with using an infinite time loop to figure out who will eventually break The Golden Rule and stop them before it happens. This also turns out to be the only way that you can get back to your time, motivating you to get very familiar with each of the city's varied inhabitants and decipher who might be on the verge of teasing out the apocalypse. Each loop is an opportunity to learn more about each citizen through dialogue, deciphering what their daily routines are, which other citizens they're bound to interact with, and which of their problems you can potentially solve. Eventually each day comes to an end, bringing about the fruition of The Golden Rule and forcing you to sprint towards the shrine you entered through to start the day over again.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Capcom is digging into its fighting game past for its next Street Fighter V roster addition, as this week will see the release of Rival Schools' Akira Kazama. Akira won't be alone in her fights, as her brother Daigo will be able to lend a fist with assist moves that make up her trademark offense and Kikio Kai energy blast special attack.The brawler's arsenal also includes V-Skills that enhance her Kiko Rensei attack and upgrade her Tsutenda combo into an airborne opponent-juggling move.Akira's V Trigger, Otoko No Senaka, summons Daigo for a slam attack, while her second V Trigger, Haten no Kamae, changes her fighting stance and gives her access to a few new attacks. Oro will join Akira this week, while Street Fighter V's final DLC character, Luke Fox, has already been shown off. An original character, Luke represents "the future of the franchise," Capcom says, and will arrive in November.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Nintendo Switch is a convenient little console that adds a lot more flexibility to your gaming than some of its competitors, but it's different enough that it can be a little overwhelming when you first buy a Nintendo Switch. That can be true even if you're familiar with other consoles and or even other Nintendo systems. To make the most of your new Switch, there are a few Nintendo Switch tips and tricks you are going to want to do immediately after taking it out of the packaging, and some may not be ones you'd think about right off the bat.These are the first things to do when you get a Nintendo Switch, along with some tips and tricks.Put on a screen protectorSome of the other Nintendo Switch tips and tricks in here don't have to be in exact order, but this one must be first. Seriously, make this the very first thing you do when you get a Nintendo Switch. Not only is it important to keep the console's screen protected--more on that in a second--but you will never, ever be able to get every little bit of dust off the system once it has been used for even a few minutes, and it will get stuck under the protector if you wait to put it on later. Get whichever type of screen protector you prefer, but if you are planning on taking it with you, invest in a tempered glass protector over a plastic one. It will serve it much better in case of a drop.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Cold Symmetry and publisher Playstack have announced that they are giving something special to Mortal Shell players this week. For five days, from August 18 to August 23, the game's first expansion, The Virtuous Cycle, will be free to claim. This special offer is intended to celebrate the game's first anniversary.The Virtuous Cycle adds a roguelike mode to Mortal Shell. There are more than 100 new upgrades to inherit, as well as a new playable shell once belonging to your teacher, Hadern, and a new weapon called the Axatana which can switch itself between a heavy axe and a pair of fast katana.“Since we launched Mortal Shell back in August 2020 we have been thinking about how to give our fans something truly special that demonstrates our sincere appreciation for their support,” said Kiron Ramdewar, head of PC and Console at Playstack.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Vanguard, the rumored new entry in the series that could be announced this week, will apparently have an alpha test and an open beta. We've now learned what could be the dates for those tests, in addition to the game's release date and when Season 1 will start. This information is coming to light amid the ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard that calls out the publisher for a pattern of sexual harassment and discrimination against women.Modern Warzone, which has accurately reported on unannounced Call of Duty information before, reports that Vanguard will be announced on August 19. An alpha period will then be held August 27-29 for PlayStation owners, with an open beta coming to PlayStation September 10-12, according to the report. Then from September 16-20, everyone will get to play the Vanguard beta, Modern Warzone reported.Vanguard will launch on November 5 and its first season will begin on November 23, the report goes on to claim. All of these dates are subject to change, Modern Warzone reported.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty Season 5 arrived to Warzone on August 13, so it's time to update your custom loadouts with this season's best weapons and attachments. Season 5's battle pass delivers two new weapons into the mix with the fully-auto EM2 assault rifle and the semi-auto TEC-9 submachine gun. And we have some recommended builds to help you make the most of Warzone's newest weapons, plus some other powerful loadouts to try.There really weren't a lot of weapon changes with Season 5's arrival. Previously, the Milano received a nerf, which did make it less viable. However, in Warzone's August 16 patch notes, Raven Software did warn that a weapons balancing pass would be coming to some of the top-tier assault rifles in the near future, so it's not sure how much this will alter the current meta for Season 5, but we'll keep the best loadouts updated here.In other Warzone news, Developer Sledgehammer Games has announced that Call of Duty: Vanguard will be officially revealed inside of Warzone this Thursday, August 19 at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET. Here's how you can watch Warzone's Vanguard reveal. Call of Duty: Vanguard is set to send players back to World War II, and the projected release date is on November 5.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Despite things being quiet regarding the DLC character, developer Crystal Dynamics confirmed that Spider-Man will release this year for Marvel's Avengers--though an exact release date has still not been announced.Speaking to GamesRadar about the imminent release of Black Panther: War for Wakanda, senior game designer Scott Walters said the team is "still working" on Spider-Man and that the webslinger will arrive this year."Yes, we are still working on Spider-Man," Walters said. "We planned on releasing him this year, and he's still on track for that."Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

CD Projekt Red has been developing update after update for Cyberpunk 2077 since its rocky launch to bring the game up to snuff. So far, players have been treated to numerous hotfixes and major updates that have increased the game's performance and stopped cops from teleporting behind players like Goku. The game's next update doesn't seem to be as game-changing though, with a preview showing off the ability to reset perks with Eddies instead of a shard.In a Patch 1.3 Development Insight post, CD Projekt Red showed off how players will soon be able to quickly reassign their perks and put their Eddies to good use. A video embedded in the post shows that players will now have the option to reset their perks in the attributes menu. However, it's not clear if resetting perks costs a flat rate or if the cost will go up depending on how many perk points players have spent.Typically, players would have to go to a Ripperdoc and purchase a legendary Tabulaa E-Rasa shard for 100,000 Eddies to reset their perks. The video shows a player resetting their perks for just 13,200 Eddies.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Developer Sledgehammer Games has announced that Call of Duty: Vanguard will be officially revealed inside the standalone battle royale title Warzone this Thursday, August 19 at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET.The Call of Duty Twitter account announced the news with a brief video. The nearly two-minute-long clip pans around some battlefields, including dilapidated buildings and aircraft-laden rivers, before revealing faces hidden within the wreckage. It’s not immediately known who these people are; however, one face looks suspiciously like the 37th US president, Richard Nixon.Nixon? Is that you?To watch the Call of Duty: Vanguard reveal, you must be logged onto Warzone on August 19. Those who play the battle royale starting at 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET the same day will get double XP, double weapon XP, and double battle pass XP. The Vanguard playlist reveal begins right after that.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Warzone's August 16 update brings slight weapon tuning, and the patch notes promise more changes are coming. Raven Software specifically mentions that future weapon tuning would impact Warzone's top-tier weapons, while today's update tweaks pistols and few other weapons.For today's update, the patch notes reveal a few minor bugs were squashed, including an issue with the Red Doors letting multiple squads through, and an issue was fixed with battle pass tiers not unlocking correctly when the battle pass or the battle pass bundle were received as a gift.For the weapon tuning, the Fennec submachine gun received a buff to bullet velocity to attempt to make it a more viable option in the submachine gun class, while the AS VAL assault rifle got a damage nerf. For pistols, the AMP 63, M19, and Sykov received damage nerfs as well.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Activision has officially announced Call of Duty: Vanguard with a teaser trailer, but the game will be more formally revealed this Thursday through the battle royale game Warzone. Activision confirmed this as it faces a lawsuit from the state of California regarding sexual harassment and discrimination against women.An event called the Battle of Verdansk will be held beginning at 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET inside Warzone. "Join the battle and experience the worldwide reveal of Call of Duty: Vanguard live in-game," reads a line from Activision's announcement. Everyone who plays any playlist in Warzone from 9:30 AM - 10:29 AM PT (12:30 PM ET - 1:29 PM ET) will get double XP, double weapon XP, and double battle pass XP for 59 minutes leading up to the reveal event for Vanguard. Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Disney's Ryan Reynolds video game movie Free Guy has finally come out, and according to Collider, it very nearly had a completely different ending. Obviously, the following contains spoilers for the movie--if you haven't seen it, you can turn away now and instead check out GameSpot's review of Free Guy.In an interview with screenwriter Matt Lieberman about the script, "[Guy] ends up with Millie… [But] nobody could really rationalize a person having an extended stay as bit and bytes." Instead, this plot line might be further explored in a sequel that Disney reportedly already wants, which isn't a shock to hear as the movie made $28.4 million in North America this weekend and many millions more internationally to reach a global cumulative total of $51 million after its opening weekend.Our company @MaximumEffort has a simple mission: “Let’s bring people together in fun, smart and unexpected ways.” Togetherness is the ultimate scarcity good these days so thank you to all the artists and audiences who came TOGETHER to make #FreeGuy such a surprise hit. pic.twitter.com/VdOpK12LcQ — Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 15, 2021It also recently came out that another aspect of the film's final act would have been pretty different--everything changed after Disney acquired the film and producing studio. Director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) said in a recent interview that once Disney became the film's full backer, the creative team realized "they have even cooler things," referring to intellectual properties that could more easily be referenced in the film, like light sabers.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new promotional video for Candyman has been released. The sequel to the classic 1992 horror movie of the same title hits theaters on August 27.The new video features short interviews with director Nia DaCosta and producer Jordan Peele, as well as some new footage from the movie. Peele explains that Candyman is an important figure because Black audiences didn't have their own horror villain like Freddy or Jason until the first film was released, while DaCosta explains that the themes of Candyman are, sadly, as relevant today as they were back in the early '90s. Check it out below:Dare to go behind the mirror and take a deeper look inside the legend of #Candyman. pic.twitter.com/74kjdtnbfl — Candyman (@CandymanMovie) August 16, 2021Candyman stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen), Teyonah Parris (WandaVision), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). There are also a couple of actors returning from the original film--Vanessa Estelle Williams as Anne-Marie, and of course, Tony Todd as Candyman himself.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has explained why assassinations won't be featured in the game's multiplayer at launch, which is something that the studio initially announced in July. Senior mission designer Tom French told Eurogamer that 343 is a fan of assassinations but its own data showed people tend to turn them off."[Assassinations] are not in for launch," French said. "We actually really love assassinations... but what happens at a lot of levels is people just turn them off because there's a gameplay disadvantage to it."Performing an assassination in Halo leaves your character exposed and vulnerable as the animation plays, so it makes sense that people would turn them off. On the flip side, performing one can humiliate your opponent, so it's a real power move if you can pull it off.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A streamer and Metal Gear Solid fan suddenly became the source of a speedrunning frenzy during what started as an ordinary streaming session.Boba was streaming on Twitch recently, playing the original Metal Gear Solid on the first PlayStation, when she found herself trapped between a locked door and a group of enemy soldiers. In the frantic battle, a shot from an enemy's gun sent Snake glitching through the locked door, which in turn loaded up the area behind the door. However, Boba wasn't supposed to be in that area yet.last night i broke metal gearget rekt speedrunners pic.twitter.com/6tqhBvP5LA — 🌙 boba 🖤 (@boba_witch) August 15, 2021For those unaware, the communications towers are a pivotal part in the original Metal Gear Solid adventure. Snake must journey up and down the towers multiple times--once even rappelling on a bungee cord--before reaching the roof and squaring off with a Hind D helicopter. By glitching through the door, Boba no longer had to worry about that long traversal, shaving multiple minutes from her playthrough.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com