It's easy to assume that because Starlink: Battle For Atlas is geared toward younger audiences, it isn't for you. The toys-to-life component and the cast of Saturday morning cartoon characters are both major aspects of the game that might fly right over your head--it's definitely where I sat for much of the game's pre-release marketing.But after only a few hours with the game, Starlink's strengths quickly pushed through to me: It’s a satisfyingly accessible spaceship combat game, with seamless exploration that takes the best cues from games like No Man's Sky and Elite: Dangerous, and comes with all the trimmings of Ubisoft's brand of open worlds (for better and worse, according to our review.)There's one specific thing that's really piqued my continued interest in Starlink, though: At E3 in 2018, I saw a behind-closed-doors demo of the then most recent technical demo of Beyond Good & Evil 2. And if you want to know what this mysterious sequel is going to feel like, playing Starlink is your best bet.BG&E2 is a game that still has an air of mystery about it, especially if you haven’t been following the development blogs and livestreams very closely. There’s a lot to describe about what I saw (read the preview if you’re interested) but essentially, the game has an ambition to be a massive and multiplayer open-world space exploration game, and Starlink is just that.The demo I saw at E3 showed a co-op duo exploring, sneaking, and fighting in an underground tomb, and over the course of 30 minutes, seamlessly transition into city, planet, space, and galaxy exploration and combat. They hoped onto vehicles and got into dogfights above the city, flew high in the sky to marvel at the enormous curvature of the planet, blasted off into the stratosphere to reach their mothership parked in space, and hit hyperspeed to start heading towards new planets.At the time, my only points of reference were No Man’s Sky and Elite Dangerous—both games with impressive scope, and both games I thought of as outliers in terms of what to expect from massive, open-world games. But now, a few months later, Starlink has shown me a much closer example of what Beyond Good & Evil 2 looked and felt like to me, both technically and structurally. Starlink’s seamless and gradual transition between ground-based combat and questing, free-range dogfighting, and space travel has distinct parallels to what Beyond Good & Evil 2 is trying to achieve, though the BG&E2's pace felt slower, making its scope--the world, the galaxy--feel much larger.There’s other Ubisoft technology I could see in Beyond Good & Evil 2 pulling from, as well. The enormous, persistent map of The Crew 2 is an example of how they're possibly going to systematically render their world, allowing multiple people to exist at opposite ends of a land mass. The sheer size of Assassin's Creed Odyssey's map makes me believe that populating the enormous planet I saw in the BG&E2 demo is a feasible feat--albeit one that could only be achieved with the enormous development manpower the company wields.And if you’ve played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, released only a couple of weeks before Starlink, you might have noticed that Ubisoft is attempting to ape, or at least try their hand at integrating a lot of the major ideas from other open world games into their own. There were arguably various levels of success there, a lot of these components get me excited about how they might be adapted to the Beyond Good & Evil 2 narrative. Branching quests from The Witcher 3, with their varied consequences, has the obvious benefits of enriching world building. The recruitment system from Metal Gear Solid V would make sense in building your crew of Space Rebels. The nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor could potentially be incredibly exciting if you had bounty hunters tracking you down across the galaxy. In the same way, Starlink is the latest, and most directly analogous experiment into exploring Ubisoft's capabilities in adapting the No Man’s Sky and Elite Dangerous model of open-world galaxies for their grand space opera.Ubisoft is pulling Beyond Good & Evil out of the cult-classic status, and it's likely to become a major flagship release for them in the future. But in the meantime, their open-world releases suggest that they're taking steps towards learning how to build the enormous open-world galaxy they need to tell their story. The lofty ambition for the game that I saw in that E3 demo is now a much more palpable idea in my head, with Starlink providing a tangible jumping-off point. So, if you have any interest in Beyond Good & Evil 2, that Ubisoft toys-to-life game might be more exciting to you than you think.Info from Gamespot.com

We're giving away PS4, Xbox One, and PC codes for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 to fifteen (15) lucky fans! Scroll down to enter.This is not an instant win. No purchase necessary. Competition ends at 12:00 PM PT on October 26, 2018, in which 15 winners will be chosen at random and emailed a code for the full game (MSRP: $60).Enter below: Info from Gamespot.com

Destiny 2 players eager to get their hands on some new Exotic items are (possibly) in luck. Xur, the mysterious merchant and servant of the Nine, has popped up once again in Bungie's shooter with a refreshed lineup of Exotic items for sale, and he's got something that may be of use for Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters. Here's what he's selling from now until the next weekly reset on Tuesday, October 23, as well as where to find him.Xur is apparently a fan of moons of Jupiter; he was recently found on Io, and that's again where he's located for this week. Bungie continues to reuse his standard spot for each map, meaning he can be found in Giant's Scar. Spawn in at that landing zone and make your way forward through the building in front of you, and then follow the path to the left. Just up on a hill, you'll find a small cave he's hanging out in.Festival of the Lost and Iron Banner may be underway, but there's nothing unusual about Xur's lineup of items. He has a piece of Exotic armor for each class, as well as one weapon: Crimson, the hand cannon. This is an excellent gun, firing a three-round burst and featuring the Cruel Remedy perk, which heals you when you get a kill and refills the magazine when you get a precision kill.On the armor side, Hunters can pick up The Dragon's Shadow chest armor, which reloads your guns and provides a speed and handling buff after a dodge. Warlocks get the Crown of Tempests helmet, which speeds up arc ability recovery when you get arc ability kills. And Titans can get the Ashen Wake gauntlets, which improve fusion grenades by letting you throw them faster and causing them to explode on impact.The full lineup and prices are as follows:Xur Exotic Items (October 19-23)Crimson (Exotic hand cannon) -- 29 Legendary ShardsThe Dragon's Shadow (Exotic Hunter chest armor) -- 23 Legendary ShardsCrown of Tempests (Exotic Warlock helmet) -- 23 Legendary ShardsAshen Wake (Exotic Titan gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary ShardsAlso from Xur, you can pick up a Five of Swords challenge card for adding modifiers to Nightfall strikes (which is needed to do the weekly Powerful gear challenge to score over 100,000 in the Nightfall). Additionally, he has the Fated Engram, which is pricey at 97 Legendary Shards but is guaranteed to decrypt into a Year One Exotic you don't already have.As noted above, Xur's lineup may not be thrilling (though Crimson genuinely is great), but there's plenty else happening in the game. You can get curated Iron Banner rewards from taking part in the Crucible mode, and we're still in the first week of the three-week-long Halloween event, Festival of the Lost. This features a new activity called the Haunted Forest that's fun and offers a path to a 600 Power level auto rifle called Horror Story--just be careful when going for the chest at the end. Info from Gamespot.com

It's been obvious for a very long time that Lego games iterate more than innovate. If you pick up a Lego title, you are guaranteed a wholesome romp in whichever licensed universe is at hand. Everything is breakable and spits out glittery, golden collectibles when destroyed. Beloved characters are Lego-fied and reenact their famous antics with an extra dollop of cartoon absurdity. Those qualities remain appealing, but every so often, developer Traveller's Tales stumbles onto an idea that requires an extra bit of creativity to really make it sing. Sometimes TT steps up to the plate, like it did for Lego City Undercover and Lego Dimensions. Other times, well, it doesn't. It's a little sad to see Lego DC Super-Villains fall into the latter category.The issue here really comes down to the premise. The idea of subverting the Lego Batman playbook and making a game that's all about DC Comics villains is a great one in theory. However, opening up the game to the entire roster of DC villains has the unfortunate side effect of highlighting just how weak DC's broad slate of evil is. Sure, you're doing fine when you've got The Joker using Lex Luthor as a straight man, or when big, unique baddies like Sinestro and Gorilla Grodd start showing up, but much of the game's story mode has you saddled with third-string riff-raff like Heat Wave and Malcolm Merlyn for extended stretches. Somehow, both Captain Cold and Killer Frost figure heavily into the main story, but the far more compelling Mr. Freeze doesn't.There's a fertile concept in the idea of the loser villains hatching a plan to head up to the big leagues, but the actual plot takes a far less interesting course: The Justice League gets captured and replaced by the Justice Syndicate, who comic fans probably know as the Crime Syndicate of America, a super-powered group from alternate dimension Earth-3. On the surface, it looks like the Syndicate is doing a great job cleaning up crime, but the Syndicate's going a lot harder on the bad guys than the League ever would, leading the Legion of Doom to gather up a slew of recruits and take the fight to the Syndicate.The wild card would appear, at first glance, to be you. At the outset, you get to create your own custom villain who ends up joining the Legion. It's an impressive slew of options you get at the start of the game, and an even more extensive selection is available as you play, earn more powers, and unlock more parts. Everything from your villain’s haircut, to their weapon of choice, which arm they use to shoot energy at their enemies, to even what that energy looks like can be customized. It’s an extensive collection of options from the moment you start the game, and almost intimidatingly vast by the end. My first villain took maybe an hour to create and be happy with, after which I watched as my lovingly crafted superhero was sidelined for most of the story.Unfortunately, your custom villain is not the star of the game--they don't even have a voice--and no matter how badass you make yourself, all the other villains simply refer to you as Rookie (except for Harley Quinn, who calls you Dr. Doesn't-Talk-Much). You're occasionally called upon to use your technical skills to open a specific door, and you are able to absorb new powers along the way, but for the most part your budding baddie has almost no impact or meaningful presence in the story. Instead, most of the game's levels boil down to a formula: A group of one or two big-ticket villains and one or two small-timers go to a familiar locale--Gotham, Metropolis, Smallville, Belle Reve prison--to free some more of their criminal friends, and run into some of the remaining small-time heroes in the process, e.g. the Teen Titans or Nightwing.The moment-to-moment gameplay remains as simple and accessible as ever; combat boils down to spamming a single attack button, with the safety net of infinite lives, and there's some very rudimentary platforming. Finding secrets usually just means running around breaking everything until a shiny new toy pops out. There's nothing really wrong with that by itself, given the Lego games’ appeal to a younger audience, and watching Lego structures explode into a million pieces really hasn’t lost much of its innate joy, even after all this time. The problem is, only a few esoteric sliding tile puzzles differentiate the game mechanically from things the Lego Batman games were doing 10 years ago.The level design in particular is a major strike against the game. It attempts to evoke a sense of chaos and disorder for the villains to feel at home in, but everything is so cluttered and elaborate, it's hard to know what's breakable and what's not, which character you're controlling, and what you can actually interact with. The wanton destruction that’s kind of Lego’s bread-and-butter loses something when the area being destroyed looks like a mess to begin with.The villains themselves are well-animated, and great care has gone into differentiating the hundreds of playable baddies from each other, be it all of the Joker's attacks ending with theatrical flourishes, Killer Frost's ballerina moves, or Gorilla Grodd being able to literally leap over tall buildings in a single bound. There's a ton of overlap from the small-timers, though, and the alternative choices don't provide you with a reason to want to use them. Even the relatively easy attention grab that comes from having much of the voice cast from both the Superman and Batman Animated Series from the '90s show up--including Mark Hamill's iconic Joker, and a delightfully up-for-anything Michael Ironside reprising his role as Darkseid--doesn't quite land due to the more interesting villains taking a backseat.Playing as all villains, you'd think there'd be more opportunity to wreak havoc on Metropolis or Gotham City, even if it's in an E-for-Everyone kind of way, but there isn't. The best part of the game is once the main story is over and you can just roam around the rather expansive open areas at will. Any and all villains unlocked during the game are accessible, and there's tons of little sidequests and races to take on. This is always the best part about the Lego games, though.Ultimately, Lego DC Super-Villains goes down as another cookie-cutter Lego game, and while there's still plenty of merry mayhem to unleash, it's the same kind of mayhem we've seen before. What should be as wild and riotous as the Clown Prince of Crime comes off as just another mild-mannered reporter.Info from Gamespot.com

Pokemon Go's next Community Day is almost here. Niantic's monthly event returns this Sunday, October 21, giving players around the world another opportunity to capture rare Pokemon, take advantage of in-game bonuses, and even add a special move to their repertoire.While every Community Day lasts three hours, the particulars of each event vary by month. To help you get prepared, we've rounded up all the information you need to know about October's Community Day below, from its start time in each region to the bonuses that are available and featured Pokemon you'll be able to catch.What Is The Featured Pokemon?During each Community Day, one particular species of Pokemon will appear in the wild much more frequently than usual, giving you a chance to further fill out your Pokedex. While the newly added Gen 4 Pokemon may be on all players' minds right now, the featured Pokemon this month is Beldum, a Steel/Psychic-type first introduced in the series' Gen 3 games, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire.Beldum is a highly sought after Pokemon, so you won't want to miss your chance to catch as many as you can; not only is it fairly rare, it's capable of evolving into Metagross, an especially powerful monster that would make a great addition to anyone's team. You'll also have a chance of finding a Shiny Beldum during the event.There's an added benefit to capturing as many featured Pokemon as you can. Typically, if you manage to evolve the monster into its final form before the event ends, it will learn a move it normally isn't able to. Such is the case with this month's Community Day; if you evolve Beldum into Metang and then Metagross during the event hours, it'll learn the powerful attack Meteor Mash.Any Metang that evolves during the event will learn the move, even if you've obtained it before the Community Day began. However, it will only be able to learn the move if it evolves during the event, which means you'll have a fairly brief window of opportunity to get the attack. Fortunately, this time Niantic is giving players one extra hour after the Community Day ends to evolve Metang and learn Meteor Mash, so you'll have a little more time than usual to get it.What Time Does It Start?Unlike most of Pokemon Go's other real-world events, which are typically hosted at a particular location, each month's Community Day takes place during a specific window of time, meaning you can participate from anywhere. The event is also available around the world, although its hours will vary depending on your region.Regardless of where you live, the Community Day runs for three hours, during which time you'll find increased spawns of the featured Pokemon and be able to take advantage of the featured bonuses. These hours are typically consistent each month, so if you've participated in previous events, you'll already know when it'll be available. If you're new to the game or simply need a refresher on its schedule, you can see the event hours for each region below.North America11 AM - 2 PM PT2 PM - 5 PM ETEurope, Middle East, and Africa11 AM - 2 PM BST10 AM - 1 PM UTCAsia-Pacific12 PM - 3 PM JSTWhat Other Bonuses Are There?On top of increased spawns of a particular Pokemon, Niantic always offers players a helpful bonus to take advantage of during the Community Day. This time, Pokemon Eggs will hatch at a quarter of the distance they typically require, meaning you'll be able to hatch Pokemon four times as fast while the event is running. There's also one recurring bonus in each Community Day: any Lure modules that are used during the event will remain active for three hours, rather than their typical 30-minute duration.Info from Gamespot.com

It's a big week for Destiny 2, as Bungie released a significant update alongside the launch of two events: Iron Banner and Festival of the Lost. In terms of the update, it introduces a variety of welcome changes and fixes, and it's good news for scout rifle users, Iron Banner fans, and players who are sick of Edge Transit. Here's what's new.As detailed in the full patch notes on Bungie's website, update 2.0.4 is a substantial one, even if it doesn't introduce much in the way of new features. Scout rifles, which have been suffering from low damage since around the time of Forsaken's launch, have been given a damage boost against non-player enemies. That should hopefully make them more viable than they have been in recent weeks.With Iron Banner kicking off, you'll notice some important changes. Each Iron Banner bounty that's offered will reward you with Powerful gear, rather than just two, as was the case in September. And completing those bounties should be easier--the specific requirements for each have been lowered, in some cases significantly. For instance, Shine On only tasks you with creating 50 Orbs of Light, rather than 100. All of this will lead to some nice rewards.Speaking of Powerful gear, a bug where Powerful rewards didn't drop at a sufficiently high Power level should be fixed. Bungie has also increased the Power of lower level Powerful rewards, which it says "slightly increases the average Power upgrade per powerful drop."The Collection has been expanded and now allows you to track and retrieve more item types. The most notable are transmat effects. Any that you've gotten your hands on, used, or dismantled since Forsaken launched on September 4 will already be available in the Collection for you. Just be aware of how these are added to your Collection: simply obtaining a ship with a new transmat effect won't do the trick. You'll need to actually get the transmat effect in your inventory for it to unlock. Additionally, the Collection is now home to Ghosts tied to events, Forsaken emblem variants, and a variety of other emblems that were previously missing.There are few guns more notorious than Edge Transit in Forsaken. It's an extremely common Heavy weapon drop, much to the annoyance of players who have gotten dozens of them. It should now drop less often, as the so-called "world Legendary pool" has added several new items: Through Fire and Flood, Zenobia D, and Crooked Fang-4fr.One weapon that does draw more ire than Edge Transit is Sleeper Simulant. The previously announced nerf to the gun in Gambit will be coming in the patch launching on October 30. In the meantime, linear fusion rifles have been given an aim assist buff--with the exception of Sleeper. That might result in a more varied assortment of linear fusion rifles being used.The patch is now available in Destiny 2 alongside Iron Banner, Festival of the Lost, and the latest appearance by Xur. Iron Banner runs until October 23, while the Halloween-themed event goes until November 6. Info from Gamespot.com

October 19 marks the date Battlefield V was originally scheduled to launch, before EA eventually pushed the game back to November. While most developers wouldn't typically acknowledge a title's original planned release date, EA DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson shared a message with fans today, thanking them for their support and revealing a small gift that'll be waiting when the game launches.In a video shared on Twitter, which you can watch below, Gabrielson announced that as a token of DICE's appreciation, players will receive two free items--the Oscar Mike Helmet and Oscar Mike Emblem--when they start the game. According to an accompanying press release, the name of the items is taken from "military radio jargon used on the front lines." To receive them, players will need to log into the game within the first week of its release; the helmet and emblem will then appear in their shipments in the Armory.Today we were going to launch #BattlefieldV, but as you know we pushed the release a month to get extra time for polish and act on all the feedback you’ve given us. You've been super patient with us and as a token of our appreciation, our team built a small gift. Check it out! pic.twitter.com/q1kyUtXh6c — Oskar Gabrielson (@ogabrielson) October 19, 2018EA announced Battlefield V's delay in early September. According to a statement developer DICE released at the time, the reason for the delay was to allow the studio to further improve the gameplay based on the player feedback it received during the game's closed alpha tests."We're going to take the time to continue to make some final adjustments to core gameplay, and to ensure we really deliver on the potential of [new Battlefield live service] Tides of War," Gabrielson wrote at the time. "We know moving the launch date means that we all have to wait a little longer. But we're going to take our time to make sure we get it right."Battlefield V launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 20. EA Access subscribers, meanwhile, will be able to play up to 10 hours of the game early beginning November 9, and any progress you make will carry over when the title launches. Like this year's Call of Duty title, Black Ops 4, Battlefield V introduces its own battle royale-style mode called Firestorm.Info from Gamespot.com

New Fortnite challenges for Week 4 of Season 6 are live, and unlike some recent weeks, these include some trickier ones that require you to know the map well. One such challenges involves getting your dance on while being on top of a Clock Tower (followed by two other specific but vaguely named locations, the Pink Tree and Porcelain Throne). By doing this you'll earn yourself some experience but, more importantly, you'll get the Battle Stars needed to level up your Battle Pass and get those sweet, sweet cosmetics. To do this specific challenge, you'll actually need to own a Battle Pass, as it's exclusive to those players that do. As it stands, we're only aware of one Clock Tower, so here's where you'll need to go to find it and what to do to ensure you've completed the challenge.The Clock Tower in question can be found at Tilted Towers. If you're flying in, get your glider out and it's very easy to spot in the southwestern corner. Of course, you'll need to aim for the very top of it, but if you flub the landing and end up at the bottom, you can always build your way there. One thing to note is that the roof of the clock tower can be destroyed, which makes it considerably easier to land in, but planting yourself on top of a non-busted clock tower isn't difficult either. Once you're in or on the clock tower, bring up your emote wheel and bust some moves.Click images to view in full screenOnce that's done you'll need to dance on top of a Pink Tree. You'll find one of these at the centre of Lucky Landing. The strategy is the same here: land on top of it, and do a little jig. Sadly, you might find that people are trying to--or already have--cut down the tree, in which case you'll need to quit out and jump into another match to try again.For the third part of this challenge head to Flush Factory, where you'll have to dance on top of a Porcelain Throne. If you hadn't figured it out, that's a fancy way of saying "toilet." Once that's done, you should be finished. Just keep an eye out for the pop-up that confirms that the challenge has been completed. You can see all three locations in the images above.The other difficult challenge for the week asks players to go to five shooting galleries and score three points at each one. There's a bunch of shooting galleries scattered around the island, but if you're not familiar with their locations you may end up running around aimlessly. We've put together a map of exactly where you need to go to find the targets in our Shooting Gallery location guide. Info from Gamespot.com

Nintendo Switch's first pair of Pokemon RPGs, Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, may be geared toward newer and younger players, but that doesn't mean they'll be devoid of challenge, especially once you've become the Pokemon League Champion. The Pokemon Company revealed new details about the games' Master Trainers--tough opponents who'll only appear around the Kanto region after you've conquered the Elite Four.Each Master Trainer specializes in one particular Pokemon, and The Pokemon Company says there will be one Master Trainer for every monster from the Kanto region. You'll be able to easily tell them apart from other trainers on the overworld by their different clothing, and each will have a speech bubble above their heads indicating which Pokemon they use.Most of the Master Trainers will challenge you to a battle, although some will instead have a request, such as showing them a powerful Pokemon. What makes these trainers particularly challenging is that you'll only be able to compete against them using the Pokemon they specialize in; for instance, you can only battle the Charizard Master Trainer using your own Charizard.Further ramping up the challenge, their Pokemon will also know unexpected moves that give them an advantage over you; in the reveal trailer, you can see a Master Trainer's Gyarados using Thunderbolt. You also won't be able to use any items or switch Pokemon during these battles.If you defeat a Master Trainer, you'll earn their title, which you can display in-game to other players when challenging them to Link Battles. You can get a closer look at the Master Trainers in the new trailer above. Make sure to watch to the end, as the video is capped off with a humorous nod to the greatest battle ever depicted in the Pokemon anime series.Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee launch for Nintendo Switch on November 16. We recently went hands-on with the games and thought they made some welcome changes to the series, as well as some concerning ones. We also got to speak with Let's Go director Junichi Masuda about the challenges of updating Pokemon Yellow and why your rivals aren't jerks anymore.Info from Gamespot.com

If there's something Spider-Man PS4 needs, it's more puddles. With its new update to Marvel's Spider-Man, developer Insomniac Games has made sure all players' versions of New York City are up to the requisite level of dampness, as required by internet law. The new update to the game includes a new difficulty mode and a New Game Plus mode, as well as additional stickers for Spider-Man's Photo mode--specifically, puddles.Insomniac User Interface and Experience Lead Gil Doron shared a shot of the new puddle capabilities on Twitter. It was also shared by Insomniac Community Manager James Stevenson, who cheekily wrote, "You can add your own puddles in Photo mode now with puddle stickers. You're welcome."You can add your own puddles in photo mode now with puddle stickers.You're welcome. https://t.co/l0Jem6SWcL — James Stevenson (@JamesStevenson) October 19, 2018The addition of puddle stickers allows players to add as many puddles as they like to the game, in a hilarious throwing of moist shade by Insomniac. The puddle gag is a reference to an internet controversy that pooled up before the September release of Spider-Man, when some Reddit users claimed one shot of the game included fewer puddles than were shown in the same scene at E3 2018.The lack of puddles led to some players claiming Spider-Man had received a graphical downgrade as compared to the E3 demo, maybe to hide the limitations of the PS4, and they were not happy about it. The situation became, as some dubbed it, Puddle-gate. Insomniac answered back by saying the puddle sizes had been reduced, but there was no graphical downgrade. The Photo mode answer to the Puddle-gate question is undeniably better.Apparently the controversy wasn't a wet blanket for too many players, since Spider-Man broke Sony's sales records in its first three days on store shelves.Info from Gamespot.com

Making a Venom movie without Spider-Man is a unique challenge. But many of Venom's issues have nothing to do with Spidey's absence.For example: Early in Venom, the Symbiote that will later be revealed as Riot escapes the Life Foundation's custody and infects a woman in a marketplace in Malaysia, with the explicit goal of reaching San Francisco. The movie's main story then begins: Eddie Brock makes some poor decisions, loses his job and his fiancé (Michelle Williams' Anne Weying), and hits rock bottom. Cue a six month time jump--and our friend Riot, still inhabiting the old woman from the marketplace, has finally made it--to the airport?What was Riot doing for the six months between then and now? Did it go on a killing spree across Malaysia? Was it dormant or hibernating--something the movie never gives any hint that Symbiotes might be capable of? Was it biding its time pretending to be someone's grandma? That blatant plot hole has nothing to do with Venom's general 1990s cheesiness as a character, or the considerable challenge of trying to make a Venom movie without a single reference to Spider-Man. It's just good, old fashioned, avoidable sloppiness.Don't get me wrong: The lack of Spider-Man does cause problems. Specifically, the entire premise--that Venom chooses to stick around on Earth, attach itself permanently to Eddie Brock, and betray its entire species--doesn't really work in this movie. In the books, Venom's obsession with Spider-Man gives it common purpose with Eddie, and cutting Spidey out of the equation necessitates something take his place as their end goal. The movie tries to get around that by clumsily painting Eddie and Venom as Breakfast Club style lovable "losers" (actual, direct quote: "On my planet, I am kind of a loser, like you"). It's nonsensical, implausible, under-explained, and tonally weird; that line is easily the movie's biggest laugh, but not in a good way.Venom is surprisingly funny, mostly in the verbal abuse the Symbiote whispers directly into Eddie's brain, usually after Tom Hardy's character does something Venom considers cowardly or embarrassing. When Eddie holds his hands up in surrender to law enforcement, Venom laments that he's "making us look bad;" when Eddie opts to take the elevator rather than jumping from a skyscraper, Venom calls him a "pussy." These moments are deliberately played for laughs, and they land well enough. The bigger problem is why an alien parasite from space talks like a frat bro, or, extrapolating further, why it needs eyes and teeth if its main form is a shapeless, pulsing black goo. These essential curiosities of Venom as a character are never so much as acknowledged, much less explained.On the plus side, Venom and the other Symbiotes look pretty good in this movie. The CG work is somewhat inconsistent, and it definitely goes through ups and downs when it comes to raw fidelity. But unlike in his other live action incarnations (looking at you, Spider-Man 3), Venom actually looks like Venom here. The alien comes off as both lithe and powerful; it leaps around gracefully, but its hulking form also exudes menace and strength. The visual effect of Venom's vicious visage wrapping itself over Eddie's head is creatively executed, and Symbiote-on-Symbiote fight scenes play out in unexpected ways, with human hosts and alien parasites struggling to remain linked while trying to rip and tear their opponents apart.Hardy is as baffling in this role as the movie's trailers have suggested he'd be. As a New York transplant living in San Francisco, he's doing something like a caricature of an NYC cab driver's accent, mixed with frequent slurred mutterings--and that's before he encounters the Symbiote and his behavior becomes understandably erratic. Besides Hardy's strange performance, Brock himself is not a likeable or relatable character. He thoughtlessly uses his fiancé in a half-baked gotcha journalism scheme that gets them both fired, and it literally never occurs to him to so much as apologize to her, until Venom for some unknowable reason nudges him in the right direction later in the film. Brock lacks the depth of character to carry this movie, and Hardy lacks the charm to make up for the character's shallowness.Michelle Williams does just fine as Anne, although her attachment to Eddie is really inexplicable, as the two have zero chemistry. Even weirder is the willingness of her new doctor boyfriend (Reid Scott) to administer Eddie multiple MRI screenings, even after Eddie interrupts their fancy lunch date by climbing into a lobster tank (the Symbiote affects him in some truly strange ways).Riz Ahmed does a great job as the megalomaniacal head of the Life Foundation, totally selling his character's belief that humans will have to mutate themselves using alien parasites if we want to survive climate change. That said, it's a pretty thin motivation, and Dr. Carlton Drake is an utterly one note villain. To be honest, the only character who actually experiences any kind of growth or change is the scientist played by comedian and actress Jenny Slate, who is terrific in this movie--and, unfortunately, underused.Venom has all the ingredients of a decent superhero movie--10 or 15 years ago. With spotty CGI, poorly drawn characters, tonal inconsistency including forced "edginess" and awkward humor, sidelined female characters, and even cringeworthy licensed musical cues, it feels like a relic from the distant, pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe past. That may in part be attributed to the fact that it's been in production in one form or another since at least 2008. But its problems go way past simply being "old school," and ultimately, Venom lacks the charm, clarity, and ambition superhero fans have come to expect.The GoodThe BadSurprisingly funnyInconsistent CGI qualityVenom looks like VenomUnlikeable, shallow charactersSome creative action and visual effectsTom Hardy's strange performanceBetter than Venom portrayal in Spider-Man 3Multiple plot holes Venom makes little sense as a characterInfo from Gamespot.com

It's almost a new month, and with October wrapping up, Hulu subscribers are probably wondering what's coming out next month. Starting on the first of next month, there is a ton of new content coming to the service; however, there are plenty of movies leaving as well.The first of the month is when Hulu dumps plenty of new movies, including 28 Days Later. In the 2002 film, director Danny Boyle puts a new spin on the zombie franchise by having the infected run, which created a terrifying atmosphere for the movie's characters and the audience watching. Sure, it's not technically a zombie movie--as those afflicted with the disease become filled with rage and are reduced to a primal state--but it's still one of the best mass-infection movies of the 21st century.Additionally, all three movies in the original Ocean's franchise hit the streaming service, along with the James Bond film Dr. No, the ridiculous alien invasion movie The Faculty, and the super-extreme XXX. All of these movies will be available to watch on November 1.On November 15, Hulu is rolling out some Christmas movies to prepare you for the upcoming holiday season, including A Christmas Kiss II and A Puppy For Christmas. No, we've never heard of these movies either, but who wouldn't want a puppy for Christmas?November 30 is the date when lots of movies are leaving Hulu, so you may want to take note and check out movies like Escape from New York, American Psycho, and The Terminator. The full list of everything coming and going from Hulu is listed below.Here's What's Coming To Hulu In NovemberAvailable November 1K: Complete Season 2 (Dubbed) (Viz)Sailor Moon: Complete Season 3 (Dubbed) (Viz)Six: Complete Season 2 (History)10 to Midnight (1983)28 Days Later (2002)2001 Maniacs (2005)The Accused (1988)The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)A Fairly Odd Christmas (2012)A Fistful of Dynamite (1972)A View to Kill (1985)Albert (2016)Alice (1990)Amelie (2001)Bachelor Party (1984)Barbie Mariposa and Her Butterfly Fairy Friends (2008)Barbie The Pearl Princess (2014)The Big Lebowski (1998)The Birdcage (1997)Benny & Joon (1993)Blue Chips (1994Boo 2! A Medea Halloween (2017Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999Carnage Park (2016De-Lovely (2004Death Wish (1974Death Wish 3 (1985Death Wish IV: The Crackdown (1987Desperate Hours (1990Diamonds are Forever (1971Die Another Day (2002Dr. No (1962)Dysfunktional Family (2003)Existenz (1999)The Faculty (1998)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Four Rooms (1995)From Russia with Love (1964)Gloria (2014)Goldeneye (1995)Goldfinger (1964)Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)Happy Christmas (2014)Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996)Hoosiers (1986)Hostel (2006)Hostel 2 (2007)The Interpreter (2005)Invasion U.S.A. (1985)Italian for Beginners (2000)Jane Eyre (2011)Joey (1988)Johnny Reno (1966)K2 (1991)Leaving Las Vegas (1995)License to Kill (1989)Like Water (2012)Little Black Book (2004)Little Man Tate (1991)Little Odessa (1994)Live and Let Die (1973)The Living Daylights (1987)Lord of War (2005)Made (2001)The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)Map of the Human Heart (1992)The Mighty (1998)Missing in Action II: The Beginning (1985)The Mod Squad (1999)Moonraker (1979)Mullholland Falls (1996)Never Back Down (2008)Never Say Never Again (1983)Ninja III: The Domination (1984)Ocean’s Eleven (2001)Ocean’s Twelve (2004)Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)Phantoms (1998)Pleasantville (1998)Radio Days (1987)The Red Violin (1999)Rescue Dawn (2006)Revenge of the Ninja (1983)Rob Roy (1995)Santa Hunters (2014)Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)Soapdish (1991)Soufra (2017)Species: the Awakening (2007)Supercop (1996)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Thunderball (1965)Tiny Christmas (2017)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)Wicker Park (2004)The World is Not Enough (1999)XXX (2002)XXX: State of the Union (2005)You Only Live Twice (1967)Available November 2Into The Dark: Flesh & Blood: Episode 2 Premiere (Hulu Original)Dietland: Complete Season 1 (AMC)Wonder (2017)Available November 3Vanderpump Rules: Complete Season 6 (Bravo)Kick-Ass (2010)Larger Than Life (2018)An Ordinary Man (2017)Available November 6Top Chef: Complete Season 15 (Bravo)Available November 7Europa Report (2013)Available November 8Under the Tree (2018)Available November 9Married With Children: Complete Seasons 1-11 (Sony)Available November 10Big Hero 6 (2014)Available November 11Monster’s Ball (2001)Available November 12The Little Death (2014)The Wolfpack (2015)Available November 13Bigfoot (2018)Keepers of the Magic (2018)Killer Bees (2018)Available November 15Hip-hop Houdini: Complete Season 1 (Fuse)12 Dog Days Till Christmas (2014)A Christmas Kiss II (2011)A Cinderella Christmas (2016)A Dogwalker’s Christmas Tale (2015)A Puppy for Christmas (2016)Angels in the Snow (2015)Back to Christmas (2014)Cartel Land (2015)Christmas Belle (2013)Christmas with the Andersons (2016)Dust 2 Glory (2018)Girlfriends of Christmas Past (2016)Holly’s Holiday (2012)Luis & The Aliens (2018)Married by Christmas (2016)My Dad is Scrooge (2014)My Santa (2013)Naughty & Nice (2014)Rodeo & Juliet (2015)The Bank Job (2008)The Christmas Calendar (2017)The March Sisters at Christmas (2012)The Secret of the Nutcracker (2007)Available November 16The Bisexual: Complete Season 1 Premiere (Hulu Original)Holly Hobbie: Complete Season 1 (Hulu Original)Dept. Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (2016)Dept Q: The Absent One (2016)Dept. Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (2016)Available November 18Nina’s World: Complete Season 2 (Universal Kids)Hero (“Ying Xiong”) (2002)The Condemned (2007)Available November 20Aliens and Agenda 21 (2018)Available November 21Box of Moonlight (1997)Damascus Cover (2018)Available November 22Hollywood Game Night: Season 6 Premiere (NBC)Available November 23Baskets: Complete Season 3 (FX)Available November 24Downsizing (2017)Available November 28Best of Enemies (2015)Available November 29Mighty Magiswords: Complete Season 1B (Cartoon Network)Harry Brown (2009)Available November 30Broken Star (2018)Daylight’s End (2016)Scenic Route (2013)The Remains (2016)Undrafted (2016)Here's what is leaving Hulu in November:November 30A Good Woman (2006)A Murder of Crows (1999)Always Watching (2015)American Psycho (2000)American Psycho 2 (2002)Anaconda (1997)Anarchy Parlor (2015)Be Cool (2005)Burnt Offerings (1976)Cake (2015)City Island (2010)Cool It (2010)Darkness (2002)Doctor Dolittle 2 (2001)Driftwood (2016)Emma (1996)Escape From New York (1981)Extortion (2017)Fall Time (1993)Get Shorty (1995)Ghost In the Shell (1995)Going Overboard (1989)Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (19914)I Am David (2004)Joyride (1997)Prancer (1989)Primal Fear (1996)Pumpkinhead (1988)Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994)Roger Dodger (2002)Senorita Justice (2004)Small Town Saturday Night (2010)Species (1995)Species II (1998)Species III (2004)Stanley & Iris (1990)Stealth Fighter (1999)The Terminator (1984)They Came Together (2014)What Dreams May Come (1998)What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)Without (2012)Info from Gamespot.com

November is almost here, and that means Amazon Prime Video will have plenty of new movies, TV shows, and original series for its subscribers to watch. On top of the traditional fair, Amazon is also offering NFL games, streaming live on Thursday nights.Easily the best movie coming to Amazon on November 1 is the 1985 classic Weird Science. In the John Hughes film, a couple of high school nerds use computer technology to create what they think is the perfect woman. Somehow, their creation comes to life, but she ends up making them better and more confident people. While the technology in the movie may not speak well to a younger, contemporary audience, the themes of fitting in and being cool still hold true today.Speaking of coming-of-age movies, the 1991 feature My Girl is also headed to Amazon on November 1. Anna Chlumsky plays Vada, a young girl who is about to become a teenager and living with her widowed mortician father. She learns a bit about life and relationships with her friend Thomas, played by Macaulay Culkin. Sure, it's more of a family drama, but there are still some fun, comedic moments that make this a classic flick.If horror is your thing, there are a few solid choices for November. On November 1, Candyman: Day of the Dead, Hostel, and Child's Play all arrive to Amazon. Yes, it's a weak month for horror, but you may want to mark your calendars for November 15 when Season 3 of Syfy's The Expanse hits Amazon, as it is a spectacular series.Everything Coming To Amazon Prime In November 2018November 1Live SportsThursday Night Football: Oakland Raiders vs. San Francisco 49ersMovies21 (2008)2001 Maniacs (2005)Alice (2016)Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)Child's Play (1988)Christmas with the Kranks (2004)Cruel Intentions (1999)De-Lovely (2004)Desperate Hours (1990)Die Another Day (2002)Duck, You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite) (1971)Excalibur (1981)Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)Hostel (2005)Hostel: Part II (2007)Jacob's Ladder (1990)Leaving Las Vegas (1995)Like Water (2011)Little Man Tate (1991)Little Odessa (1994)Lord of War (2005)Made (2001)Making Contact (Joey) (1985)Michael Clayton (2007)Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)Mulholland Falls (1996)My Girl (1991)Terms of Endearment (1983)The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)The Adventures of Tintin (2011)The Birdcage (1996)The Living Daylights (1987)The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)The Mexican (2001)The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta) (2004)The Red Violin (Le violon rouge) (1998)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Tyler Perry's Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)Weird Science (1985)November 2SeriesHomecoming (Prime Original series), Season 1MoviesWonder (2017)November 3MoviesKick-Ass (2010)November 6SeriesThe Durrells in Corfu, Season 3November 8Live SportsThursday Night Football: Carolina Panthers vs. Pittsburgh SteelersNovember 9SeriesBeat (Prime Original series), Season 1Little Big Awesome (Prime Original series), Season 1bPatriot (Prime Original series), Season 2November 10MoviesThe Children Act (2017)November 15Live SportsThursday Night Football: Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle SeahawksSeriesThe Expanse, Season 3MoviesGotti (2018)November 16SeriesGymkhana Files (Prime Original series), Season 1Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny (Prime Original series), Season 1aMoviesColdplay: A Head Full of Dreams (Prime Exclusive; available on Prime Video shortly following the theatrical release) (2018)November 17MoviesMcQueen (2018)Siberia (2018)November 18MoviesCondemned (2015)November 20SeriesCreative Galaxy: Arty’s Holiday Masterpiece (Prime Original series), SpecialPete the Cat: A Very Groovy Christmas (Prime Original series), SpecialLittle Women, Season 1November 21MoviesBox of Moon Light (1996)Loving Pablo (2017)November 22MoviesWild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea (2016)November 24MoviesDownsizing (2017)November 29Live SportsThursday Night Football: New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas CowboysMoviesHarry Brown (2009)November 30SeriesInside Jokes (Prime Original series), Season 1MoviesSleepless (2017) Info from Gamespot.com

When players finally complete the new Haunted Forest event in Destiny 2's Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost, they're greeted by the usual: a loot chest that holds all their hard-earned winnings. The trouble is, the walkway between players and the chest gives out almost as soon as their feet touch it, tossing them into a frightening, blood red pit below. Inside: an unkillable Hive Knight called The Invincible Nightmare.It's a fighting twist to the horror-themed activity. Instead of getting your loot, you get stuck with an unkillable monster, like that moment in every slasher movie when the killer inevitably isn't actually dead, and gets in one final scare. The trouble with the pit, though, is that at first blush, it seems to rob you of everything you fought for in the Haunted Forest, and makes it seem like there's no way to reach the reward chest.The good news is, even if you don't open the chest at the end of the Haunted Forest, you still get your winnings. They're automatically sent to the Postmaster, just like the stuff from chests in just about any other activity. Once you've earned rewards in the Haunted Forest, they're yours, no matter what condition you're left in by the Invincible Nightmare.Just because you fall into the Nightmare's pit doesn't mean you're stuck there, though. There's actually a secret escape out of the pit on one of the walls. Look up about midway to one side of the pit and you'll see a small indentation that marks a hole you players can leap through. It takes you out of the pit and onto the side of the bridge under which it hides. Following the narrow pathway from there allows you to climb back up onto the far side of the bridge and claim your loot chest, while also giving you a second to let your heart stop pounding.It's also possible to avoid falling into the pit altogether, if you're quick. When the stones of the walkway give out beneath Guardians as they cross, they're pulled down thanks to a sort of suction, but it's possible to jump free with the right timing (or, at least, with the triple jump of the Hunter class). You can also stick to the side edges of the bridge and potentially avoid any tricky cobblestones altogether.If Bungie is following the usual horror movie script with the Haunted Forest, the question now becomes one of how to kill the Invincible Nightmare, like the characters of a Friday the Thirteenth or Halloween movie might try to do. Like all good slasher movies, though, even if players successfully take the Nightmare down, we'll all still be wondering if it's really dead.Info from Gamespot.com

Fallout 76's release date is a month away, but some players will have a chance to try Bethesda's new multiplayer-focused RPG very soon. Following the recent pre-beta stress test, Bethesda is kicking off the first Fallout 76 beta session on Xbox One on October 23 (before expanding it to PS4 and PC the following week), and those who've qualified are able to pre-load it right now.The Fallout 76 beta is open exclusively to those who've pre-ordered the game, so if you want to jump in, you'll need to reserve Fallout 76 on your platform of choice. Not everyone who pre-orders will get into the beta right away, however, as Bethesda will gradually invite more players in waves. You'll also need to have an Xbox Live Gold or PS Plus subscription in order to participate.As Bethesda details on its FAQ page, to download the beta, you'll first need to find the redemption code on your pre-order receipt or in the email confirmation you received. After that, you'll need to log in to Bethesda's website, then input the code using the link on the FAQ. Once that is completed, Bethesda says it will send an email with further instructions.The first beta session is scheduled to begin on October 23 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET and run until 8 PM PT / 11 PM ET. No further dates and times have been announced yet, but Bethesda says it will be running during "targeted time frames." According to the developer, the purpose of the beta is to "stress test and break the game," so players should expect some hiccups along the way. The beta will go on until shortly before the game's launch next month.Fallout 76 releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 14. Unlike previous installments in the series, 76 is an always-online RPG with an emphasis on multiplayer, which we found makes for a very different kind of Fallout game. You can learn more about the title in our roundup of everything we know about Fallout 76.Info from Gamespot.com