For a triple-A game, PS4's Spider-Man has one of the highest platinum trophy completion rates ever. As of writing this article, it's sitting at 10.2%, so about one in ten players who pick up the game are grabbing every trophy for it.At first glance, this might not seem all that impressive. Game Informer, for example, points out that there are games with much higher rates, like Undertale, which sits at 21.4%. However, when compared to PS4's other big name exclusives, it's apparent that Spider-Man has a pretty high completion rate. According to Twinfinite, after Spider-Man, the next major PS4 exclusive with the highest platinum trophy completion rate is Horizon Zero Dawn at 6.9%. It's followed by 2018's God of War at 5.5%, Until Dawn at 2.9%, and Persona 5 at 2.4%.It certainly helps that Spider-Man, despite its size, is a relatively easy game to 100% complete. The game has no trophies tied to playing the game on a certain difficulty or completing a level in a specific way. Arguably, the four hardest trophies in the game are tied to Taskmaster's challenges--Short Fuse, Spy Hunter, Fists of Fury, and Ninja--that have you get at least Spectacular (two out of three stars) in one Bomb, Drone, Combat, and Stealth challenge respectfully. You don't actually need to get a perfect Ultimate rating in any of the challenges to grab Spider-Man's platinum, though. I Heart Manhattan--which is earned by completing every district in the game--will probably take you the longest to do, but since most of that requirement is tied to finding collectibles and responding to crimes, it's not all that hard.Spider-Man is exclusively available for PS4. The game is scheduled to get three DLC expansions before the end of 2018. The first, titled The Heist, releases on October 23 and focuses on Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat. Insomniac is also working on giving Spider-Man a New Game Plus mode that will allow you to replay through the entire game with all of Spidey's abilities, skills, and gadgets that you unlocked in a previous save.Info from Gamespot.com

Crunchyroll has announced that DanMachi: Memoria Freese, a free mobile RPG that uses characters from the anime Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, will have a limited-time Attack on Titan event. The event is exclusive to North America.The event incorporates lines spoken from the original actors from the Attack on Titan anime. You'll be able to have characters from both Titan and Dungeon team up together as they defend Orario from a Titan's attack. The event launches on October 30 at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET.In DanMachi, you build your team from an assortment of Dungeon's characters and battle your way through an ever-changing dungeon that's different depending on the time of day you play. The game's original stories are created by Dungeon's writer Fujino ÅŒmori, and the anime's original cast voice their characters in the game. As a Gacha game, players spend currency--virtual or real--to unlock new characters to fight with and items to use.Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon tells the story of Bell Cranel, a young solo adventurer who one day discovers the goddess Hestia in a dungeon. He pledges to serve as a part of her Familia and works hard every day to both serve his goddess and become worthy enough of catching the eye of Ais Wallenstein, a famous adventurer he's in love with. The original Japanese version of the anime can be watched on Crunchyroll, and both the Japanese and English versions are available on HiDive.Attack on Titan is in the midst of its third season. In the anime, giant and seemingly mindless Titans roam the Earth for people to eat. The only defense against these Titans are giant walls that keep the monsters out, and the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment that allows soldiers to zip between buildings and trees at dizzying speeds to reach the Titan's only weak point, the neck. Attack on Titan is streaming in Japanese on Crunchyroll and in both Japanese and English on Funimation and Netflix.DanMachi: Memoria Freese is available for both iOS and Android. If you're looking for more anime to watch, be sure to check out our fall 2018 anime guide.Info from Gamespot.com

505 Games has announced that Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice will be getting a physical retail edition. Coming to both Xbox One and PS4, the physical edition will be available on December 4.Originally releasing in 2017 as a PS4 console exclusive, Hellblade eventually launched on Xbox One in 2018. The game was then ported to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and if you already own the game on PC then you'll unlock the VR version of the game for free.Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was one of our top 10 games of 2017. The game puts you in the shoes of Senua, a Pict warrior who's traveling through a long-abandoned Nordic land. Her journey forces her to confront her guilt-ridden past that takes on the form of literal enemies, spectral remnants, and vivid hallucinations. Hellblade forces you to undergo numerous trials--ranging from harrowing fights to perspective-bending puzzles--and captures the surreal experience of someone suffering from poor mental health.In our Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice review, GameSpot editor Alessandro Fillari gave the game an 8/10, writing, "Hellblade's most notable achievement is the handling of an incredibly sensitive subject matter within an engaging and well-crafted action/adventure game. At its heart, the story is about Senua's struggle to come to terms with her illness. In the process, she learns to find the strength within herself to endure, and to make peace with her past. And in a profound and physical way, we go through those same struggles with her, and come away with a better understanding of a piece of something that many people in the world struggle with."Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC; and can be played in VR on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.Info from Gamespot.com

The Farm 51 has announced that the first-person shooter World War 3 will release in early access on October 19. The game costs $28 USD to download and play. We've reached out to ask about European and Australian prices.World War 3 takes tactical, modern day combat and puts it on a global battlefield. Where Halo is sci-fi, Battlefield has destructive environments, and Call of Duty fantasizes high-speed combat, World War 3 is aiming for a more authentic experience. Your character can't perform superhuman feats and the ballistic system for each gun behaves as it would in the real world. You'll have to be careful and rely on your teammates if you hope to win matches.Multiplayer matches host 64 players at a time, and the tide of the war will have your team constantly switching between attacking enemy positions, or defending your own. So far, World War 3 has two modes, Warzone and Recon. In Warzone, you travel to real-world locations--like Berlin and Warsaw--to engage in massive battles where your team will need to respond to multiple threats while planning your own attacks. Recon mode is much smaller, tasking squads with securing "high-value targets in hostile territory" where individual decisions have a more immediate impact.World War 3 launches in early access on PC. The Farm 51 is also considering bringing the game to consoles at a certain point, but nothing has been decided yet.Info from Gamespot.com

With Halloween looming, the launch of Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost activity is drawing near. Bungie had previously only offered a small tease of what to expect, but it's now provided an overview of the new types of activities that await players, as well as a look at the Halloween-themed rewards that will be available during the event.Perhaps the most significant component of Festival of the Lost is something called the Haunted Forest. Either solo or with a team, players will be able to venture inside to defeat its "ghouls and demons, who are spooking up a storm." There will be a 15-minute time limit to contend with, and the area will get more difficult as you make it further inside.Toward the end of the event, there will also be a questline to investigate the killing of Master Ives, a cryptarch previously located in the Vestian Outpost. As you work to uncover the truth, you'll be able to earn a piece of Powerful gear, but this won't begin until the weekly reset on October 30.Amanda Holliday, the shipwright at the Tower, has been charged with leading the general festivities during Festival of the Lost. The Tower will be adorned with spooky decorations, and she'll offer daily bounties that pay out a new type of item called Fragmented Souls. These can be cashed in for Festival of the Lost masks and a new Legendary auto rifle called Horror Story. There will also be new Triumphs to work toward completing, presumably related to all of the aforementioned activities.As with the Solstice of Heroes event back in August, filling your XP bar (if you've reached the level cap) during the event will be particularly valuable. You'll still receive the standard Bright Engram but also get an Ephemeral Engram, which includes new rewards. Those include a guitar emote and a new dance, both of which you can see here, as well as new Ghosts, ships, and a sparrow, which are all pictured above. Ephemeral Engrams will be sold by Tess at Eververse, who will also have a selection of these new items for direct sale in exchange for Bright Dust.Festival of the Lost begins next Tuesday, October 16, the same day that the first of two big updates arrives for Destiny 2. The event concludes on November 6. It does not require owning Forsaken to take part in. Info from Gamespot.com

If you ever wanted to change your PSN Online ID on your PS4 but were frustrated at the lack of ability to do so, there is some good news on the horizon. Sony has announced it will be testing a new feature that allows you to change your name. The much-requested PSN Online ID Change feature is currently entering PlayStation's Preview Program.As of now, the feature will only be available to PlayStation users that have registered as testers for previous PS4 system software betas. For those that do get access, you'll be able to do your first change for free. Changes after that will cost $10 USD/CAD / €9.99 / £7.99. For PlayStation Plus members, it will cost $5 USD/CAD / €4.99 / £3.99 after the first change.To make the change, authorized users can access the feature through the Settings menu or via the Profile page of your PS4. You'll also get the ability to display your previous PSN ID alongside your new one (so your friends can recognize you). This is a choice users will have to make; once you decide to display your old ID or not, you won't be able to change this.Another caveat is that the new feature won't be compatible with all games. It will be compatible with PS4 games released after April 1, 2018, and "the majority of the most-played PS4 games" released before this date. PlayStation is making it clear not all PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games are guaranteed to support the feature, so users might see issues or errors in certain games. If you run into any issues with the change, PlayStation will let you revert back to your old ID free of charge.The preview program is set to go until the end of November 2018, and PlayStation has plans to roll it out for all PS4 players in early 2019. At that time, a full list of compatible games (those published before April 1, 2018) will be released.Info from Gamespot.com

Skybound Entertainment, the media company founded by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman that oversees the franchise, knew that Telltale Games was in trouble before it suffered massive layoffs. But, according to Skybound Interactive president Dan Murray, Telltale's announcement of its "majority studio closure" still took Skybound by surprise.He told Variety that while Skybound was obviously in business with Telltale, the gaming company operated with a degree of independence that apparently meant that Skybound didn't know precisely how dire the situation was."We are plugged in with our partners, but these are businesses being run and we try not to control their business," Murray said. "We knew some of the challenges Telltale was facing, but when the news hits so suddenly everyone was taken off guard."Skybound recently struck a deal with Telltale to help finish Episodes 3 and 4 of The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Skybound intends to hire some of the developers who worked on the franchise to see it through to completion, but not everyone may come back given they had to quickly to try find other work. Game development is difficult, Murray said."It's hard making games," Murray said. "Whenever something like this comes up, our intention is to try and do the right thing, not just by the brand, but by the fans. This was our chance to do both. It's also our intention to make sure to do right by the people we were working with. This is a business that is made by people, and when things like this happen there is a human cost. We are trying to do what we can to work with the original staff and provide a soft landing."Murray cautioned that there are "a lot of moving parts" in its deal with Telltale to finish The Walking Dead. He declined to share specifics, but stressed that Skybound intends to "do right" by the developers.The specifics of how and where the The Walking Dead: The Final Season will be finished remain unclear. But Murray said Skybound is unlikely to create an internal development team, though this has been discussed, he acknowledged.The Walking Dead: The Final Season premiered in August, with the second episode arriving just days after the massive layoffs at Telltale. Skybound will now apparently help finish Episodes 3 and 4, but it remains to be seen when they will be released. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.For more on the Telltale Games situation, check out GameSpot's timeline of the key events.Info from Gamespot.com

The fall 2018 anime season is underway, and there's a bunch of new series airing on Netflix, Amazon, Crunchyroll, Funimation, and HiDive. Here are our seven top recommendations you should add to your queue.Of all the anime this season, Bloom Into You is the must watch. This love story between two high school girls also addresses the pressures of living with low self-worth and the struggles of understanding asexual love. Despite the heaviness of the story's drama, there are both brief snippets of hilarity and quiet moments of internal resilience that draw you into the changing dynamic between the second-year student council president--who can't escape her dead sister's shadow--and the young first-year--who dreams of falling in love but doesn't feel the emotions that manga and music say she should.Animated by Troyca, Inc--the studio responsible for the spectacular 2017 anime Re:Creators--and featuring music by Michiru Oshima--who's composed music for anime like Fullmetal Alchemist and video games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess--Bloom Into You might be the most gorgeous anime this season, both to watch and listen to. The series is exclusively airing on HiDive in both Japanese and English.Zombie Land Saga is about an ordinary high school girl who leaves her house to start her first day of school--only to be struck and killed by a passing truck. She wakes up 10 years later, revived as a zombie by an eccentric young man who wants to manage an idol group entirely composed of the living dead. The story mixes together idol tropes and common zombie story stereotypes to create something truly bizarre, but it's all surprisingly fun to watch. The series airs in English on Funimation and in Japanese on Crunchyroll.A bit more somber, Iroduku: The World in Colors is a series about a teenage witch, named Hitomi, who's colorblind and lives in the year 2078. That is, until her grandmother transports Hitomi 60 years into the past to 2018. Now lost in a world she doesn't completely recognize and lacking the know-how to complete certain tasks--like needing paper money to pay for things--Hitomi struggles to find the teenager who will one day grow up to be her grandmother so she can go home. The anime is already setting itself up to explore similar themes to what we saw in 2016's Orange. Which isn't surprising, as Yuuko Kakihara--who worked on the script for five of Orange's episodes--is the writer for The World in Colors.This season also features a few new isekai--stories where a normal person from our world is transported to another--but the one you want to watch is That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime. It's pretty much exactly about what the name implies. A dude from our world dies and he's reborn as a cute little blob of sentient goo in a fantasy world of dragons and goblins. The series is a little weird at first, but stick with it--the manga that the anime is based on goes to some charming places. The show is airing in the original Japanese on Crunchyroll and in English on Funimation.Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood is a cute story about a doll-loving middle-schooler moving in with a centuries-old otaku vampire who looks to be no older than a high school first-year. The first episode tackles the "but where are the parents" problem that most anime have with a humorous twist, and flips the regular person meeting a vampire dynamic by having the normal girl be the strange one with habits that are difficult to comprehend. The first episode of Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood possesses tremendous comedic timing and plays off your expectations of slice-of-life tropes in pretty hilarious ways. You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll.Golden Kamuy returns on Crunchyroll and Funimation with a second season, continuing the adventures of our favorite band of ridiculous treasure seekers who are racing to find certain escaped convicts who have strange tattoos all over their bodies. When combined, the tattoos complete map that leads to a massive pile of gold, which pretty much everyone in the anime wants for themselves. Golden Kamuy's first season aired this past spring, and ended fairly abruptly in the middle of the anime's story, so it's good to see the show continue again so quickly.Castlevania is also getting its second season this fall. Once again, the anime is exclusive to Netflix, but that also means you get the whole season up front. Capturing the aesthetic of the video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania the anime portrays the bloody tale of Trevor Belmont's quest to defeat Dracula. Castlevania delves into murder, gore, and heroes and villains that are both right in their own way and also deeply flawed. Think Berserk or Devilman Crybaby. Castlevania can be unsettling at times, but the show captures the essence of the Castlevania video game because of itThe full list of anime series and movies that have been confirmed to premier this fall on Amazon, Crunchyroll, Funimation, HiDive, and Netflix are listed below. We'll update the list if additional titles are announced.Fall 2018 Anime Release Date Schedule (U.S.)AmazonOctober 5 Boarding School JulietIroduku: The World in ColorsOctober 11 Le Cirque de KarakuriCrunchyrollOctober 1 That Time I Go Reincarnated as a SlimeOctober 3 RErideD: Derrida, who leaps through timeOctober 4 Zombie Land SagaOctober 5 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden WindOctober 6 Goblin SlayerRadiantSSSS GridmanSword Art Online: AlicizationOctober 7 Ulysses: Jeanne d'Arc and the Alchemist KnightOctober 8 Golden Kamuy (Season 2)October 12 Senran Kagura Shinovi MasterFunimationOctober 1 Space Battleship Tiramisu Zwei (Season 2)That Time I Go Reincarnated as a SlimeOctober 6 Ace Attorney (Season 2)SSSS GridmanOctober 8 Golden Kamuy (Season 2)October 9 Tokyo Ghoul:re (Season 2)HiDiveOctober 1 The Girl in TwilightOctober 5 Bloom Into YouOctober 7 Release The SpyceNetflixOctober 3 Violet Evergarden: SpecialOctober 15 The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The CommandmentsOctober 26 Castlevania (Season 2)October 30 Fate/EXTRA Last Encore: Illustrias Geocentrism TheoryInfo from Gamespot.com

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is off to a flying start. The latest entry in Ubisoft's blockbuster franchise had the best launch-week sales for the franchise on the current generation of consoles, the French publisher announced in a press release. That means the game had a better first-week performance than the first Assassin's Creed game released for PS4 and Xbox One, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013), as well as all the follow-ups including Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015), and Assassin's Creed Origins (2017).Ubisoft did not share a specific first-week sales figure for Odyssey, but the company said the milestone includes internal estimates of game sales--digital and physical--as well as revenue from microtransactions (called "player recurring investment" in the press release).In a statement, Ubisoft marketing executive Geoffroy Sardin said the company is "humbled" by the reception to Odyssey from critics and fans alike. He added that launch is just the beginning for Odyssey, as Ubisoft plans to to release heaps of extra content in the coming year. As announced previously, there will be no new Assassin's Creed game in 2019, so this extra content seems to be all that fans will get for some time.Odyssey was developed by Ubisoft Quebec with support from eight other Ubisoft studios around the world. The game set in Ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War.Regarding the extra content coming to Odyssey, Ubisoft is promising the "biggest and most ambitious" follow-on content in franchise history. This includes two new storylines, Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis, which each contain three instalments that will be released episodically. That content is paid, but Ubisoft is also offering a third storyline, The Lost Tales of Greece, to all players for free.GameSpot's Assassin's Creed Odyssey review scored the game an 8/10."Assassin's Creed Odyssey's ambition is admirable, which is reflected in its rich attention to detail for the era and its approach to handling the multi-faceted narrative with strong protagonists at the lead," reviewer Alessandro Fillari said. "While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting."Info from Gamespot.com

Disney's deal to buy the majority of Fox's entertainment assets may be finalised in a matter of months. Variety reports that Fox executive Peter Rice informed employees this week that the logistics of the buyout--including things like how the payroll changeover will happen--should be in place by January 1.After that, the deal is expected to officially close in the first half of 2019. There is also the matter of approval from regulatory bodies, which could affect the acquisition timeline.Rice held a town hall meeting on the Fox lot where employees were given the opportunity to ask questions. Rice reportedly said the move will result in layoffs, with sources at the meeting telling Variety that the job cuts will come from divisions getting acquired by Disney and less at those that aren't, such as Fox Sports, Fox News, and Fox Broadcasting.The question of culture clash also came up, and Rice pointed out that Disney successfully welcomed companies like Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel into the fold, with each company retaining its independence and culture to some degree.Still, the topic of impending layoffs looms large for Fox employees ahead of the buyout. One staffer told Variety that working at Fox right now is like being on death row.Disney is paying an enormous $71.3 billion to acquire the majority of Fox's entertainment assets. Disney will get the 21st Century Fox movie and TV studios, as well as a number of cable TV networks and international TV businesses. As mentioned, Fox News and Fox Sports are not part of the deal, and will instead remain with a company called New Fox. As part of the deal, Disney will get big-name properties such as X-Men, Avatar, and The Simpsons. Info from Gamespot.com

The latest mobile game from Nintendo is Dragalia Lost, an RPG developed by the Granblue Fantasy studio, Cygames. Despite carrying the Nintendo branding, Dragalia is the furthest throw from Nintendo's baseline in a while. If you expect that your love for Nintendo-published games is a good indicator of how you'll feel towards Dragalia, think again. I went into it expecting a fair amount of the typical free-to-play mobile experience--microtransactions, dopamine-targeted effects, etc.--but I couldn't have guessed how strongly these would come on from the beginning, and how little I would care about the gameplay that breaks it all up.The core adventure loop involves sending out a team of up to five characters to engage in basic action-RPG missions. There's a story involving a prince who seeks to regain control of his kingdom with the help of dragons, but this is all doled out during occasional dialogue sequences that offer little in the way of surprise or substance. A typical quest lasts maybe two minutes, with small maps and a simple procession of scattered grunts standing between you and the inevitable boss battle at the end.The controls afforded to you are equally straightforward. You gently shift your finger in a direction on your device's touchscreen to indicate where you want your party to go, tap it multiple times to execute a brief string of attacks, and swipe vigorously in a direction if you want to dodge . Timing your dodges is about as complex as the game gets during the initial hours, which is another way of saying that combat and exploration are both relentlessly boring.Once you've played for a while, you'll have access to secondary abilities and a full party to cycle through on the fly, taking over for the AI if only for the sake of variety. The fifth character on your team is an AI-driven character based on another Dragalia player's profile, which means you quite frequently get the chance to recruit someone with more experience and higher levels to beef up your squad. The selection of potential recruits seem to be picked at random by the game, but there are options if you want to play with specific players in true co-op fashion.Odds are, however, you won't need much help, at least not at the start. In fact, you can go right ahead and turn on Auto Play if you wish, which lets the computer play out missions for you. This seems counterintuitive for an action-RPG, but after the dozenth shallow mission in a row, you might consider it to be a viable alternative to grinding manually. Each mission telegraphs what power level your party should be at, so you generally have a good idea of whether or not your squad can succeed on their own, without your intervention.Once you begin down the path of automating quests, it becomes clear: Dragalia Lost isn't designed to be a challenging game to play, but it is designed to make you feel good about your modest accomplishments, with tons of flash and pazzaz, and dozens of items doled out after each outing.The question then, is: when does Dragalia Lost become challenging enough that you consider spending money? I don't think I'll ever find out.For as much as I'm curious to see how far down the mobile rabbit hole Dragalia goes, I already feel both bored by its systems and suffocated by the constant barrage of menus, currency, exuberance, and optional schemes that exist to tempt you to spend real money for a better chance at summoning new, high-level party members or top-tier items. Odds are you will spend more time managing all of this than you will actually playing Dragalia, and while it makes perfect sense given Cygames' background, and the mobile free-to-play market in general, it feels completely counterintuitive for Nintendo. Dragalia, like so many of its F2P kin, is little more than a glorified slot machine dressed up as a traditional game.It's not completely surprising to see Nintendo take a stab at one of the most lucrative game types around with a new IP and a proven developer, but I, perhaps foolishly, thought Nintendo's involvement would set Dragalia apart from other money-hungry clickers. Dragalia can look attractive, and it more often than not sounds great thanks to a catchy soundtrack, but I struggle to find much more positive to say about it.Info from Gamespot.com

Treyarch has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will launch with 14 multiplayer maps. There's already a 15th map scheduled for November as a post-launch expansion, but it will be free for all players.When the game releases, you'll have access to Arsenal, Contraband, Firing Range, Frequency, Gridlock, Hacienda, Icebreaker, Jungle, Militia, Morocco, Payload, Seaside, Slums, and Summit. Four of the maps--Firing Range, Jungle, Slums, and Summit--are all from previous Black Ops games, but with a visual upgrade. In November, the Call of Duty classic Nuketown, also remastered with upgraded visuals, will become available. Treyarch hasn't announced how map updates after Nuketown will work, but they'll probably be a part of paid DLC expansions.According to Forbes, the 14 original maps are described as follows:Arsenal: Hostile covert ops on a manufacturing facility of a powerful North American military defense contractor means someone may have stolen the keys to the castle.Contraband: Surveillance of an international arms smuggling operation has uncovered this shipping hub on a remote, uncharted island off the coast of Colombia.Firing Range: US Forces gear up for red team/blue team combat exercises in this Guantanamo Bay military base.Frequency: A covert listening station deep in the mountainous region of Hunan Province is being used to track strategic targets across the globe.Gridlock: A Japanese metropolis whose city center has been jammed up by a bank heist gone wrong.Hacienda: A lavish vineyard estate situated on a quiet lake in the Spanish countryside, home to a high-ranking crime syndicate boss.Icebreaker: A long lost Nuclear submarine in the Arctic houses a uranium supply which a Russian unit has come to salvage.Jungle: The heat is on as Cold War forces collide in the sweltering depths of the Vietnam jungle.Militia: Anti-government extremists backed covertly by a Russian cell are stockpiling weaponry in a remote region of Alaskan wilderness near the Bearing Strait.Morocco: Rebels in a small Moroccan village are using government military supply planes as target practice as they fly over the surrounding Sahara Desert.Payload: A defensive ICBM launch facility deep in an Icelandic mountain range has been infiltrated by hostile forces attempting to steal a nuclear warhead.Seaside: An anti-government protest in this quaint coastal Spanish town grew out of control and forced a military shutdown.Slums: Street battles rage in head to head heat through the center of a run down Panama neighborhood.Summit: Cold War surveillance is at its peak above the clouds in the mountaintop listening post in the Ural Mountains.These maps do not include the ones exclusive to Black Ops 4's Zombies and Blackout mode. In Zombies, IX and Voyage of Despair are the two maps for the new Chaos storyline, while Blood of the Dead is the map for the Aether storyline--which continues the overarching narrative from the previous three Black Ops games. Blackout launches with only one map, but it's the biggest one the Call of Duty franchise has ever seen.Be sure to check out round-up of everything we know about Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The game launches on October 12 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. There are numerous editions available for pre-order.Info from Gamespot.com

You may have read a lot about Assassin's Creed Odyssey leading up to its release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The new open-world game has finally arrived, and below, we've rounded up all of the essential information about the series' latest entry in one place. We'll run down many of Odyssey's broader features and go through the basics of what you should know before jumping in. Everything from story to combat tips are outlined below, along with links to more detailed guides if you wish to dig deeper. Note that there are no major story spoilers in this article.Table of Contents [hide]When And Where Is Odyssey Set?Catch Up On Assassin's Creed LoreHow Long Is Odyssey?Fighting With StyleSetting Sail In The MediterraneanPlay Your PartDifferent Versions, Special Editions, And DLCPC Minimum And Recommended SpecsReviewAll Our Assassin's Creed Odyssey CoverageWhen And Where Is Odyssey Set?You're probably aware that Assassin's Creed Odyssey takes place in Ancient Greece, but it specifically covers the Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta. The game opens with a 300-esque battle scene where you take control of King Leonidas of Sparta during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, then transitions to the start of the main protagonist's story almost 50 years later in 431 BCE.Greece makes for some breathtaking views.If you've followed Odyssey since it was first revealed at E3 2018, then you'll know that you can choose between taking on the role of a female or male lead; Kassandra and Alexios are two sides of the same coin and play exactly the same--the main differences are, of course, the voice acting and character model. Your choice also affects the narrative slightly; whoever you choose to play as is made to be the older sibling of the two. You come from Spartan lineage, but the game doesn't force you into aligning with either side of the war since you're a mercenary trying uncover the truth of your family's disappearance.Prominent Greek figures like Socrates and Hippocrates make appearances throughout Odyssey, and you can interact with them as they offer side quests of their own. While historical fiction has always been the foundation of Assassin's Creed lore, it's never been afraid to incorporate the supernatural. Odyssey takes it a step further by pitting you against mythology itself; one example is a fight against Medusa where you try to avoid getting turned into stone.Catch Up On Assassin's Creed LoreThis is a long-running franchise, but Odyssey can be a good point to jump into the series. Knowledge of previous events isn't necessarily required to enjoy the new game. However, if you need a refresher on the everything that have taken place up to this point, be sure to read our Assassin's Creed story summary.How Long Is Odyssey?It shouldn't come as a surprise that Assassin's Creed Odyssey is huge--its open world is about twice as big as Origins. That may not seem as daunting when you consider the fact that the Mediterranean Sea makes up a large portion of the map and that you'll spend plenty of time sailing the high seas. Regardless, there's still a great deal of ground to cover throughout Greece's mainland and several islands.As for game length, it's difficult to get an accurate range since every player will engage in a varying number of optional quests and activities along the way. Estimates have been around 50 hours to complete the main story and a decent chunk of side activities. GameSpot editor Alessandro Fillari spent 60 hours with the game for the purposes of his review, and there remain more optional content for him to take part in.New to the franchise is Exploration Mode. Instead of having waypoints and objective markers littered on screen in the traditional Guided Mode, Exploration Mode puts the onus on you to figure out where to go to complete quests. This means you'll have to pay closer attention to NPC dialogue and investigate the environment more closely.This is especially true if you take on the optional quest to hunt down a cultist organization. They're a web of mysterious figures with hidden identities scattered throughout Greece and you'll need to do investigative work to locate and assassinate them. Sometimes, you'll happen to take them down in the midst of a side mission that they're involved in, but you'll often have to dig for clues on their whereabouts whether or not you've activated Exploration mode.Fighting With StyleOdyssey builds off of Origins' combat system, but it introduces some key changes. Shields are no longer an option, which naturally pushes fights towards a faster pace. The skill tree remains divided in three categories attributed to specific playstyles (Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin), but it features some neat new abilities. You may think the Spartan Kick is in the game just for kicks and giggles until you realize that it's super effective for booting enemies off cliffs or creating space in fights. Another setting-appropriate ability is the Rush Assassination that lets you put the Spear of Leonidas to use during long-distance stealth kills.The skill tree includes several abilities that allow you to tinker with different character builds.In addition to multiple types of melee weapons (like polearms, swords, and maces), you have a bow that's both useful for attacking long-range and inflicting status effects on enemies. The Arrow Master skill unlocks arrows that can poison, paralyze, or explode on impact, opening up numerous possibilities in combat; combine that with Devastating Shot and your projectiles will be even stronger. The skill tree can be overwhelming at first, but we have a few tips on some good abilities to pick up early and how to use them in clever ways.Don't worry about min-maxing in the skill tree; you can respec at any time for small cost. This affords you the opportunity to experiment with different combat approaches and character builds.Setting Sail In The MediterraneanWith multiple islands scattered across Greece, great emphasis is placed on sailing and ship combat in Odyssey, essentially taking a page out of Black Flag's book. Engaging with hostile ships will have you firing arrow barrages, tossing waves of javelins, or using the naval ram to inflict damage. Once an enemy ship's health is depleted, you can either sink it for a small reward or board it with your crew to get better loot. If you board the ship, you'll have to get your hands dirty and fight the opposing crew.Enemy ships vary in size, health, and strength, so be sure to know what you're up against before engaging. Throughout Odyssey, you'll upgrade your ship and recruit shipmates from quests or smooth dialogue interactions. Different crew members offer specific bonuses and attributes for your ship.Play Your PartOdyssey doubles down on RPG elements. There's leveling up, skill trees, gear scores, and numerous optional quests, which was implemented in Origins, but the series dips its toes into branching story threads for the first time. Dialogue trees permeate character interactions and you'll face consequences for your actions whether they be good or bad. The way you decide to complete some quests will affect the resulting narrative and can also spill into the details of other quest-lines; don't be surprised if there are unforeseen consequences and collateral damage.With branching dialogue comes romance options. You're free to romance as many of the available characters as you want, and the circumstances for which you can romance them may change based on other decisions. Most often, these partners will become part of your ship's crew, which may be a bit of an unceremonious conclusion for love interests. However, these scenarios can play out strangely, and you can see for yourself how romance can feel awkward or forced.By nature of being an RPG that deals with choice and consequence, there are multiple endings in Assassin's Creed Odyssey; nine to be specific. Unfortunately, you'll be hard-pressed to see them all in one playthrough since key decisions early in the game will affect the possible endings open to you.You now have more agency in how the story plays out thanks to branching dialogue and quest decisions.Different Versions, Special Editions, And DLCAssassin's Creed Odyssey is out soon, but you can still snag the pre-order bonuses offered. Pre-ordering from the Ubisoft Store grants you access to the Blind King mission, Best Buy gifts you a $10 rewards certificate, and GameStop includes the Blind King mission and a Spartan helmet keychain. Aside from the standard edition of the game, there's a Deluxe edition ($80) that includes an XP and drachmae (in-game money) boost, the Kronos and Herald of Dusk gear pack, and the Capricornus naval pack. The Gold edition ($110) packs the DLC season pass, Secrets of Greece and Blind King bonus missions, and lets you start playing now. The Ultimate edition ($120) includes all the aforementioned content from both the Deluxe and Gold editions. There are few other special editions with collector's statues that you check out in our pre-order guide.PC Minimum And Recommended SpecsFor the PC players out there, make sure your system is powerful enough to run the game properly. If you're aiming for 4K resolution with High settings, Ubisoft recommends a system with at least an AMD Ryzen 1700X or Intel Core i7-7700 CPU, AMD Vega 64 or Nvidia GTX 1080 video card, and 16GB of RAM. For those not doing 4K, be sure to read up on the minimum and recommended PC specs to run AC Odyssey smoothly.ReviewYou can read or watch our review of Assassin's Creed Odyssey right now; editor Alessandro Fillari concluded: "Assassin's Creed Odyssey's ambition is admirable, which is reflected in its rich attention to detail for the era and its approach to handling the multi-faceted narrative with strong protagonists at the lead. While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting." For perspectives from other critics on the game, you can read through our review roundup.All Our Assassin's Creed Odyssey CoverageGuides And Reviews:Assassin's Creed Odyssey ReviewAssassin's Creed Odyssey Reviews Roundup11 Tips You Should Know Before StartingCombat Tips And The 12 Most Useful AbilitiesFeatures And News:How Long Does This Game Take To Finish?No New Assassin's Creed Game Coming For 2019AC Odyssey Was "Nearly Finished" A Year Ago, Annualization Not PlannedGame Director Talks Story And RPG InspirationsHow Assassin's Creed Odyssey Continues To Transform The SeriesRomance Feels Forced, But Some Of The Dialogue Options Are HilariousAC Odyssey Doesn't Have Multiplayer, But The Franchise Isn't Necessarily Done With ItUbisoft Wants Future Games To Feature Male And Female ProtagonistsAC Odyssey Releasing On Switch In Japan As A Streaming GameAC Odyssey For PC: System Requirements And Recommended SpecsAC Odyssey Is Playable Right Through Google Chrome, If You're ChosenInfo from Gamespot.com

Forza Horizon 4 shifted into high gear for a strong first week. Microsoft announced on its website that the game reached 2 million players in its first week of availability on Xbox One and PC.The company did not provide any details on how this figure breaks down between copies sold outright and people who played using their Xbox Game Pass subscription. We also don't know if the figure includes people playing the free Forza Horizon 4 demo.Whatever the case, 2 million is a lot of people. And that's not the only big number Microsoft shared, as the company also disclosed that people have collectively driven more than 822 million miles in the game. Additionally, players have discovered more than 377 million roads and purchased 4.1 million properties and 74.4 million cars. Additionally, people have spent more than 4.6 million hours watching Forza Horizon 4 gameplay across Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Mixer.Looking ahead, Microsoft will release a new feature, the Route Creator, free for all players on October 25. The Route Creator allows players to do just that: create custom routes. You drive wherever you want, on the road or otherwise, to create a route, and you can drop checkpoints anywhere before sharing it with the wider community.Forza Horizon 4 is currently available on Xbox One and PC. GameSpot's Forza Horizon 4 review scored the racing game a 9/10."The charm of the Horizon series is as palpable as ever, a winning, all-inclusive recipe that celebrates the joy of driving above all else," reviewer Edmond Tran said.As mentioned, Forza Horizon 4 is available at no extra cost for Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox One.Info from Gamespot.com

As is to be expected from a new project that Rockstar has been working on for years, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an incredibly dense open-world game that's jam-packed full of details. We recently got to go hands-on with the high-anticipated sequel, and while playing we discovered numerous mechanics and details that go above and beyond those from the original Red Dead Redemption. While the game features improvements to pre-existing mechanics, there are light survival systems this time around. These require you to pay attention to things like your body temperature, gun maintenance, and meat expiration. As fans of the original, all of these new details are surprising and unexpected. But what has us the most enthused about it all is how these mechanics are likely to foster tons of ridiculous shenanigans in the game's world--especially once Red Dead Online releases.We got to experience many of the new systems at work--most of which you can read about in our comprehensive feature compiling them all. But there were some fascinating standouts we wanted to highlight that we feel will contribute to some of the game's most memorable and entertaining moment-to-moment experiences. Included in this feature are nine of the most unexpected mechanics and details in Red Dead Redemption 2.If you haven't already seen our Red Dead Redemption 2 preview covering the story missions we saw, make sure to read it for our in-depth impressions on the game. Though, if you want to get caught up with everything there is to know about Red Dead Redemption 2, check out our roundup of everything we've learned about RDR2. In the meantime, what details are you most excited to experience in Red Dead Redemption 2? Let us know in the comments below.Clothes Make The OutlawThe game's clothing customization options are comprehensive--each character will have different sets to coincide with hot and cold weather conditions. The type of clothes you wear will affect Arthur's performance. For example, if you wear a weighty jacket during a hot summer day, your running stamina will take a big hit.Other customizations will allow layering and minor adjustments, like the option to roll up your sleeves or tuck your pants into your boots. Whatever you end up choosing, you're free to craft Arthur into the high plains drifter you want him to be.You Can Fire Warning Shots And Whistle For FunBy having your gun unholstered and holding Up on the d-pad, you can fire warning shots into the air. This is handy for intimidating people, scaring off animals, or generally being a rowdy buffoon while you're riding around.Speaking of possible buffoonery, you can even whistle at people to get their attention or call your horse. And if you keep holding down the button, you can keep whistling until Arthur runs out of breath. Imagine combining both warning shots and whistling; you'll become the countryside menace you've always dreamed of being.Your Guns Can Degrade And JamYou need to take care of your weapons in Red Dead Redemption 2. You have the option to clean them, which is incredibly important to do regularly because guns can jam mid-fire due to disrepair and environmental conditions. You don't want to be caught with a rusted gun--lest you seek to dig yourself an early grave.Hunted Materials Can Rot And Be DamagedThe components you acquire from hunting all have an expiration date. If you're not careful, time will eventually take its toll and both the fresh pelt and carcass you've acquired will start to rot and attract vermin, reducing its value and making you generally unpleasant to be around. Not only that, but if you use a firearm to kill an animal as opposed to an arrow or knife, its pelt will be damaged and will sell for less at local stores.Cleaning, Grooming, And Feeding YourselfSpeaking of unpleasantness, NPCs will react not just to the stink of your rotting deer corpse, but also if you haven't taken a bath in a while. Arthur needs to get clean and change his clothes every once in a while, since townsfolk may refuse to talk or serve him based on his appearance--having blood on your jacket doesn't attract the best reactions.Time also has an effect on Arthur's hair, which actually grow longer. Customizing Arthur's haircut and facial hair styling is also dependent on length since you're allowed to cut things shorter, but won't have access to options that require more hair--a more realistic take on customization compared to GTA V. Of course, you're welcome to not pay attention to grooming. In fact, you can totally rock the mountain man look by just letting Arthur's hair and facial hair grow to its max.Arthur will need to eat to keep his health and stamina meters up, but will also lose and gain weight depending on his food intake. He'll have to stay active in order to keep in top shape.You Will Get A CameraWe started a side quest during our time with Red Dead Redemption 2, and the mission giver handed Arthur a camera. This camera could be used at any time via your inventory, and yes, the first thing we did was take a selfie.These aren't arm-out handheld selfies, though. The mode is titled "self-portrait" and will frame Arthur's whole body as if the camera were set up on a tripod. You'll be able to adjust expressions and poses, too--expect to see a whole bunch of self-portraits depicting Arthur squatting in front of various things on Twitter once the game releases.You Can Lose Your HatIf you're not careful, you can easily lose your hat in the midst of a shootout. If you drop your hat, you need to physically pick it back up to get back to looking like a proper outlaw. Though, if you ride away from your hat, it'll appear as an icon on the map. However, it will reappear back on your horse if you go too far away. Alternatively, Arthur can swap his hat for any other one that just happens to fall off someone else's head. Sometimes you just have to adjust your style on the go.There's A Killcam That Changes Depending On Your HonorWhen you take out the final opponent during a gunfight, a killcam will frame that final blow a la Max Payne 3. This will change depending on Arthur's moral standing: If you've been a naughty cowboy, these kill cams will be gorier. If you've been upstanding and honorable, they'll be framed in a more heroic fashion like those from the classic film Westerns of old.You Can Break Enemy's WeaponsSpeaking of heroic behavior: if you want to go the more non-lethal route, it's possible to shoot weapons out of enemy hands. Not only that, but you can even shoot at their weapons and break them. This seems like a handy technique if you're looking to be an outlaw with a heart of gold as opposed to a straight-up cold-blooded killer.Catch A Stage ShowAssuming he isn't too stinky to make it past the ushers, Arthur can kick back and catch a show at the local theater. We're curious the sorts of genre of theater you'll be able to see or what Arthur like watching. You Can Dance (If You Want To!)If you find yourself at camp and the mood strikes you, you can break a leg and dance with your gang. The simple moves in the trailer seems fairly traditional, but we'll put good money on there being sillier options whenever Red Dead Online launches.Horse Dressage And Drifting TechniquesHorses are an important part of Red Dead Redemption 2, but it seems like they're far more capable creatures than they've ever been in previous games. During our hands-on, we were able to rear our horse on its hind legs, perform drifts to change direction quickly (apologies to equestrian enthusiasts), and move our horse precisely by performing dressage techniques.Info from Gamespot.com