When horror fans think of the Halloween movie franchise, the name John Carpenter always comes to mind. After all, he directed the original movie and served as a co-writer on the first three installments--even stepping in as a producer on Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch.Now that Carpenter is returning to the franchise with the newest Halloween film, there's something missing--a name that's been next to his in the credits of various Halloween films. Debra Hill may not be as closely associated with Michael Myers and his never-ending battle with Laurie Strode as Carpenter, but according to star Jamie Lee Curtis, she's as important to the movies as he is."Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without Debra Hill," Curtis told GameSpot and a small group of press at the junket for the new film. "The voice of those girls is all Deborah Hill."The girls in question are Laurie Strode (Curtis), Lynda Van Der Klok (PJ Soles), and Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes). "John is a talented man, but he's a, you know, guy from Kentucky," the actress explained. "He doesn't speak teenage girl like Debra Hill. I think those three women are Debra Hill. That intellectual side, the snarky, smart-aleck side, and the [frisky side]."And in writing them how they did, Hill and Carpenter created a trio of women viewers cared about--especially with Strode. Halloween was the beginning of the slasher craze that went on to view victims as disposable chunks of meat, simply waiting to be slaughtered by whatever maniac was on the prowl. Laurie was never treated that way, though, and her friends were fully-formed humans. It hurt when they were killed by Michael."I think she was all three of those young women, and she, therefore, is responsible," Curtis said.Halloween, which sees Curtis return to the franchise as Laurie one more time, hits theaters on October 19. Make sure to read our review of the film, as well as the franchise's most brutal kills, and why the new film could not have happened without Curtis.Info from Gamespot.com

It's October again, and that means time for Halloween festivities throughout a whole host of online games. Many announcements have already begun to outline the upcoming festivities, so we're keeping track of all the spooky specials. Many of these will be time-limited events with special rewards, like the Overwatch Halloween Terror event, so check out the active dates and plan your gaming accordingly.Call of Duty: Black Ops 4Black Ops 4 is offering Halloween themed cosmetic items as part of its Black Market store front. Regularly rotating Contraband seasons, called Operations, will offer a list of free cosmetic items as rewards for earning game progress. Special seasonal Operations will be swapped in periodically as well, starting with the Halloween event. It will offer spooky gear to earn starting October 20 on PS4 and then follow a week later on PC and Xbox One. That only leaves a few days to get in on the Halloween action on certain platforms.DatesBegins October 20 (PS4) and October 27 (PC, Xbox One)DauntlessThe Dauntless Dark Harvest event will kick off in the middle of the month, casting a shadow on the hub city of Ramsgate. It will introduce a new cult known as the Unseen, who worship a Behemoth. Slayers can test their might against a new Behemoth in the Shattered Isles and stores will offer limited-time exclusive items.DatesOctober 17-November 1DC Universe OnlineDC Universe Online is introducing The Witching Hour. You can head into the East End safehouse and speak to the Phantom Stranger if you're a hero, or talk to Tala in Burnley's The Tap Room if you're a villain, to begin the quest. You can also unlock Halloween-themed feats, collections, and base items.DatesOctober 1-31Destiny 2Destiny is bringing back its annual Festival of the Lost, the Halloween-themed celebration that offers some special masks and exclusive loot. This year, it will include a horde-like PvE mode, a special quest-line to solve a murder, and a unique currency to purchase masks and a special auto rifle called Horror Story. You can also earn new Ephemeral Engrams for exclusive cosmetic items. This will all be accompanied by the return of the Iron Banner event, with some tweaks to make it easier to obtain Powerful gear.DatesBegins October 16FortniteFortnite's Halloween event this year is "Fortnitemares," an ongoing world event that offers special challenges and spooky cosmetic items and special play modes and challenges in Battle Royale and Save the World modes. You can take on AI-controlled enemies in the PvP mode to earn rewards, or head into Hexylvania in PvE. DatesOctober 23-November 26Further ReadingFortnite "Fortnitemares" Event RoundupHearthstoneHearthstone's annual "Hallow's End" celebration starts on October 17 and lasts through Halloween on October 31. Logging in during the event will net you a free golden Witch's Cauldron card, and the Headless Horseman will return for a new Tavern Brawl starring the characters from the Monster Hunt mode. You'll also be able to take part in a dual class Arena mode, and characters will use Hallow's End emotes. Finally, the event will accompany the launch of a new Paladin hero for purchase with a new Witchwood bundle.DatesOctober 17-31Further ReadingOfficial SiteHitmanAs part of its promotion for Hitman 2, IO interactive is offering a free mission in the original Hitman. The entire stage of Colorado is free for anyone to download and play for a limited time, along with all of its Escalation and Featured Contracts. IO has also made a series of ten new Featured Contracts as well, with a focus on the spooky or disguise-focused. Plus, as part of the promotion Agent 47 gets a free Scarecrow costume that he can wear around to be generally creepy.DatesBegins October 19Killing Floor 2Killing Floor 2 has already introduced its Halloween Horrors: Monster Masquerade update. The sprawling update includes a new Monster Ball map, along with Halloween-themed looks and effects for all the zeds and bosses. Plus you can access new weapons and limited-time items to take them all down.DatesAvailable NowFurther ReadingOfficial SiteOverwatchOverwatch's annual Halloween Terror event is once again here. Each year the Halloween Terror event continues the story of Junkenstein's monster, and this one serves up two separate PvE modes: Classic and Endless Night. The event is always a debuts several new Halloween-themed skins, emotes, sprays, and more. It is going on now through October 31, and Blizzard has revealed all the nifty new costumes.DatesOctober 9-31Rocket LeagueRocket League is bringing back its Haunted Hallows event on October 15. You can earn "Candy Corn" currency for playing online matches, which can then be used to cash in for limited cosmetics like decals, toppers, and wheels. You can also gain a Golden Pumpkin that will contain a customization item from the Nitro, Turbo, or Player's choice crates. The event will end on November 5, and your Candy Corn will expire on November 8, so make sure you cash it in fast.DatesOctober 15Further ReadingOfficial SiteSplatoon 2The Splatoon 2 version of a Halloween gathering is a twist on its usual monthly Splatfests, appropriately named Splatoween. It will start October 19 and last through October 21, with players picking their sides in a Turf Wars between Team Trick and Team Treat. Inkopolis will also be updated with Halloween decorations, and the squid kids will get a chance at four special Splatoween headgear that can be kept after the event is over. You'll have to go through the Nintendo Switch News app to get them, however.DatesOctober 19-21World of Tanks BlitzWorld of Tanks Blitz is introducing its own Halloween-themed mode, called Mad Games. The event was produced in collaboration with Peter Pound, the principle vehicle designer for Mad Max: Fury Road. Pound has created two special tanks that are only unlockable during the Mad Games event: the V level Scavenger and the VII level Gravedigger. Players can also take their tanks, new or old, into a post-apocalyptic map complete with sandstorms and special powers like invisibility and vampirism. The game has also added special holiday flair, a post-apocalyptic hangar, and brought back some of the most beloved tanks from past Halloween events.DatesOctober 17-November 12Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has brought back its in-game shop, the Black Market. It's launching first on PlayStation 4 on October 19, then following on PC and Xbox One on October 26. It will serve as the central hub for cosmetics and customization throughout Black Ops 4's Multiplayer and Blackout modes.The Contraband stream is a free progression path for all players to earn new cosmetic gear. It will be swapped out with seasonal Operations rotating roughly every two months. The first one, available today, is Operation First Strike. It offers new Blackout characters, signature weapons, outfits for your Specialists, and tags and gestures. You'll earn progress toward these cosmetic items by playing the game regularly.Special limited-time events will also rotate in from time to time. The first, starting October 20 on PS4 and then PC and Xbox One on October 27, is a limited time Halloween event with special spooky gear.Finally, the Black Market store front will update with the Blackjack's Shop in November. That will house premium real-money purchases with limited availability. It will rotate on a weekly basis.Black Ops 4 is also hosting a Double XP weekend to let you boost your ranks quickly. For more on Black Ops 4, check out our tips for beginners and Blackout perks guide.Info from Gamespot.com

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's next giant open world epic, but its impending release has been marred this week by a controversy. In an interview, co-founder Dan Houser seemed to imply that the studio had undergone a hard "crunch" cycle with 100-hour work weeks. He quickly clarified that he was only referring to a handful of senior members of the writing team, including himself. But in a continued effort to clear the air, the studio is now encouraging employees to speak for themselves.Tools programmer Vivianne Langdon spoke extensively in a Twitter thread about her own experiences. She said she's never worked more than 50 hours in a week, that such overtime was her choice when she was "in the zone" on solving a tricky problem, and that she was compensated for it with overtime pay. She stressed that she's not being compensated for making these disclosures, and also cautioned that her experiences may not be universal.Another employee, interior artist Miriam Bellard, has been retweeting several employees who say they do not feel overworked, and expressing frustration with the controversy.Seeing people's responses to the "100 hours" articles has been so disheartening and honestly quite upsetting to read. It's been horrible seeing friends and fellow devs sharing posts that don't reflect the current situation and telling others to boycott the game. — Lucy 🎃 (@lucyofrivia) October 18, 2018Just wanted to point out that I was never asked to work anything near a 100 hour work week in the 18+ years I have been working at Rockstar. Overtime? At my own discretion, yes. — Rich Rosado (@RichRosado) October 18, 2018Some employees have pointed out that Rockstar has had difficult crunch periods in the past, but that the studio has made real strides in recent years to reduce the impact of these long overtime hours.It is getting better, but it still absolutely happens. Normal crunch for me nowadays is more like 50-55 hours, and I've not personally had it as bad as other colleagues I know. I have several friends who have recently worked until the early hours of the morning many times. — Hall🎃wain (@Ploddish) October 18, 2018And others have stated that they were encouraged to speak openly and honestly.Nope. We were told we could say good and bad things and not to sugarcoat anything. — Wesley Mackinder (@WesleyMackinder) October 18, 2018On the whole, the impression given by Rockstar employees speaking on social media is that it has gone into overtime, but within reason--not the 100-hour overtime some people interpreted Houser's initial comments as. On the other hand, employees with less positive things to say may feel apprehensive about coming forward on social media, regardless of Rockstar's encouragement to be honest.This all comes alongside the official launch trailer, and very soon you'll be able to begin pre-loading the game through the PlayStation and Xbox digital stores. Red Dead Redemption 2 launches for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 26. Its online mode, Red Dead Online, will follow in November.Info from Gamespot.com

Fallout 76 is a very different kind of Fallout game, with a new focus on multiplayer across a massive open world. Bethesda is putting it through its paces with a beta test releasing very soon, and you can join in to help explore the wastes and gather technical feedback before its official launch. However, while pre-ordering is your ticket to the beta, it won't necessarily get you in quickly. Here's everything to know about the beta.When does the beta start?The beta for Fallout 76 will begin on October 23 on Xbox One, and then expand to PC and PlayStation 4 the following week on October 30. Pre-loading for the Xbox One version is now available. The first session on Xbox One will begin at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT and end at 11 PM ET / 8 PM PT on October 23.Even if you've received a code, though, you may not necessarily be invited to the first wave. Bethesda plans to start small to stress test the game and expand slowly, so your actual start date may vary.A separate pre-beta stress test also took place starting on October 13. That one was exclusive to Xbox One Insiders who have pre-ordered the game, and even then fulfilling those criteria only entered them into the pool of possible participants. Players of this stress test were under NDA and unlike the beta, game progress was not saved.How long will the beta last?Bethesda has not given a specific end-date for the beta, but it has explained that the servers won't be available 24/7 during the beta period. The studio says it will be running "targeted time frames" to force interested players together at the same time, which in turn will mark a better technical test. The game may be available for 4-8 hours on any given day, with Bethesda making adjustments and fixes during the off periods. This process will repeat until a few days before launch on November 14.How do I get in?The beta will be available exclusively for those who pre-order the game across PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Digital pre-orders will be entered into the pool automatically, while physical pre-orders will receive a code to enter into the accounts page once the beta has gone live on your platform of choice.It's important to note that this code is not the beta code you enter to access the actual game download. Instead, the pre-order code is the one you enter into Bethesda's system to be put into the pool for code distribution. A separate code, which gives you access to the install, will follow at a later time as Bethesda rolls out its invites.In the meantime, you can be sure you're prepared by creating a free Bethesda.net login. Also, make sure you have an active Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus membership if you're playing on either console, since those will be required to access the online-only game.Is the beta the full game?The Fallout 76 beta is the full experience, and Bethesda says it is currently planning to allow players to carry progress over into the full game. However, console players will need to redownload the launch version, whereas PC players will not need to download a new version upon launch. The beta will be 45 GB.How do I submit feedback?Bethesda is inviting feedback across its variety of social media channels.What else will I get for pre-ordering?Aside from beta access, pre-ordering will get you 500 Atoms--Fallout 76's in-game currency. Atoms allow you to purchase cosmetic items from the shop. Bethesda has indicated that Atoms will be plentiful, but as we haven't seen the shop or prices yet, it's hard to say just how far 500 Atoms will go.Info from Gamespot.com

The long-awaited Red Dead Redemption 2 is due this week, but Rockstar is working to counteract an unexpected controversy. Following comments about 100-hour work weeks, the studio has repeatedly made attempts to tell fans that it doesn't expect such long hours from everyone. Now it has reportedly sent that message to its own employees too.Variety reports that Rockstar held a meeting on Friday to tell its employees that overtime is not mandatory, though it is occasionally requested and scheduled. Rockstar's Jennifer Kolbe said the meeting was held to clear up any misconceptions about what was expected of employees."Some people have said that they felt it was effectively mandatory because it was expected of them. In light of the discussion around this issue, we got the team together today to make sure it is clear to them that OT work is not mandatory," she said. "We are also pushing to make any OT worked more flexible in terms of schedule (i.e. 'work when makes sense for you')."Rockstar Lincoln is said to have worked the longest hours approaching the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2, with some weeks topping 60-70 hours. The meeting came to light after Flik Green, an animation assistant at Rockstar North, spoke about it on social media. She went on to say that when she worked at Lincoln as a QA tester she and her coworkers never assumed the overtime to be optional--but that the environment at North has been very different with more standard hours and only slight overtime.The controversy kicked off when co-founder Dan Houser casually mentioned working 100-hour weeks several times in 2018. He later clarified that he was referring only to the senior writing team, including himself, but it had sparked a larger discussion about development crunch and the expectations put on developers.Rockstar encouraged its employees to speak out about their own experiences, and several gave anecdotes about their time at the company. Many anecdotes noted that the studio does go through crunch, but that the environment had improved over the years and isn't as extreme as 100-hour weeks.Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming on October 26. For more details check out our pre-order guide.Info from Gamespot.com

Jade Raymond has departed EA Motive, the studio she helped found, making way for another executive to take on additional responsibilities. VentureBeat reports that Samantha Ryan is currently running EA's mobile, Maxis, and BioWare studios, and will add Motive to her portfolio. That puts Ryan in charge of all North American studios except Respawn and EA Sports.EA Motive has been at work on an unnamed Star Wars title, and it most recently helped DICE on development of Star Wars Battlefront 2. That Star Wars game is the same one Amy Hennig had been at work on before leaving the company upon the closure of Visceral. Raymond had said in an interview with Game Informer that her studio was planning to use a lot of the material produced by Visceral, but to pivot more towards "player agency.""EA Studios is focused on bringing more creative new games and content to players," an EA spokesperson told GameSpot in a statement. "Laura Miele and her team have taken several steps internally to better support our game makers in this pursuit, such as expanding Samantha Ryan's portfolio to lead additional studios, including Motive. Samantha is known for driving creative design and supporting game teams so they can bring their visions to life. She is a deeply experienced game-maker with a gameography that spans from The Sims to Batman: Arkham City to No One Lives Forever to the highly-anticipated Anthem."With this change, Jade Raymond has decided to leave Electronic Arts. In her time with us, Jade helped to build great teams, and our projects underway at Motive and other studios continue unchanged. We're appreciative of all of her efforts, and we wish Jade all the best as she moves on to her next adventure. We are driving greater creativity into everything we do across EA Studios, and we'll look forward to sharing more in the months to come."Respawn is working on its own Star Wars game, Jedi Fallen Order. It's expected in holiday 2019.Info from Gamespot.com

2017's Wonder Woman was a breakout critical success for the often uneven DC cinematic universe. Its sequel is set decades later, in the 1980s--hence the title Wonder Woman 1984--and will take the character into the Cold War. But its debut has been delayed, and it'll no longer hit theaters next year. Warner Bros. has announced a seven-month delay, pushing the the return of Princess Diana to mid-2020.Star Gal Gadot, who plays the title character, first shared news of the delay via Twitter. Rather than its planned November 1, 2019 date, it will now release on June 5, 2020. Gadot calls this date its "rightful home," presumably a reference to its placement among tent-pole summer movies rather than a fall release. The first movie was released in May 2017.The news was subsequently confirmed in a statement WB shared with GameSpot. "We had tremendous success releasing the first Wonder Woman film during the summer so when we saw an opportunity to take advantage of the changing competitive landscape, we did," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution. "This move lands the film exactly where it belongs."Super excited to announce that, thanks to the changing landscape, we are able to put Wonder Woman back to its rightful home. June 5, 2020. Be there or be square!!!✨🙅‍♀️✨ pic.twitter.com/Wj8ORUQLdg — Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) October 22, 2018No other reason was given for the delay other than the "changing landscape" Gadot mentioned. That could mean that next fall is simply getting too crowded or that space has opened up in the following summer. DC has scheduled its Joker movie for October 2019, so keeping Wonder Woman 1984 in the November slot could have overlapped with it. The gap left behind by the movie has already been filled by two other films, with the upcoming Charlie's Angels and Terminator 6 now set for November 1, 2019.So far we haven't seen a trailer for WW84, so details are still scarce. Patty Jenkins is returning to direct, and Chris Pine is coming back in some capacity as Steve Trevor. We also know that Kristen Wiig has been cast as one of Wonder Woman's most iconic nemeses, Cheetah.Info from Gamespot.com

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has issued a patch to address a wide variety of stability bugs and to fix a few crashing errors. In the announcement, Treyarch also addressed complaints about network performance, promising to continue working on it moving forward, now that it's past the initial launch day push.According to the patch notes, the October 21 update fixes a crash that was impacting Master Prestige players in Multiplayer and Zombies modes, and future updates should be coming to address some related UI issues. It also takes on a crash when crafting a Shield with the Frugal Fetish equipped in Zombies. Other issues include the Shield not displaying correctly in Blood of the Dead, items not appearing correctly in the Stash list of Blackout, fixing a bug that was causing the Collapse circle to appear invisible, and other assorted issues. It also promised a batch of updates aimed at network performance to take place over the next few weeks."We're constantly working to optimize the game, and particularly network performance, to ensure the highest quality online experience for our players," the notes read. "For a game launch with as massive a population as ours hitting so many global servers at once, we configure our infrastructure to ensure game stability as the highest priority over all other factors."Now that we're past the initial launch of the game, we are focusing on fine-tuning network performance around the globe, using the real-world data that we have collected. Over the course of the next two weeks, we will roll out several updates to our network setup that will continue to improve upon the experience of our players since launch. As we have always said, launch is just the beginning, and we're committed to making Black Ops 4 the best-supported game we’ve ever delivered."Black Ops 4 just kicked off its Black Market cosmetic shop, and is now offering special limited-time Halloween cosmetics as well. If you need some assistance being the best Specialist you can be, check out our tips and guide to the perks system.Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 October 21 Update General MiscellaneousAddressed a crash at the end of matches for Master Prestige players in Multiplayer and Zombies. We’re planning further improvements for related UI issues in a future update.General stability improvements across all modes. Zombies MiscellaneousAddressed a crash when crafting the Shield with Frugal Fetish equipped.Various stability fixes across all maps.Blood of the DeadAddressed an issue with the Shield not displaying the correct updated version for the player.ClassifiedAddressed a crash when turning on the power in a Custom Mutations match. Blackout Stash LootingAddressed an issue where players had to scroll right or left on the d-pad multiple times to navigate through Stash lists.Circle CollapseAddressed an issue where the Collapse circle would sometimes appear invisible to players. Multiplayer ScoreboardAddressed an issue that highlighted the wrong score on the scoreboard if the scoreboard was opened immediately after death.SpecialistsJumping while sprinting with Ruin now performs the same as with all other Specialists.Info from Gamespot.com

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is quickly approaching, bringing the mascot character back to his roots before his trip to Skylands. The latest trailer shows the little dragon and his surrounding cast looking better than ever.The reignited trilogy features three Spyro games that hit the PlayStation from 1998-2000. That includes Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The character was notable at the time for its characterization and animation, and that shows well in this visual overhaul. Developer Toys for Bob had its work cut out for it creating an updated style that remains true to the original, which required some filling in the gaps."When you look at the original game and you squint your eyes at it, there's a lot of imagination that you had to do at the time to fill in the blanks." Toys For Bob co-studio head Paul Yan told us. "For us, it's taking the game, and asking: What do people remember about this? It was important to start with the memories as opposed to how do you interpret exactly what's on the screen."Pre-ordering can get you a Spyro keychain. There's only one version of the game, so you don't have to pick and choose between editions that are special or definitive. As a remaster of a classic trilogy, it comes in at a budget price of $40. It's due to release on November 13 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.Info from Gamespot.com

Overwatch is one of Blizzard's ongoing live games, but the company wants to manage expectations ahead of next month's BlizzCon event. In a developer update, game director Jeff Kaplan noted that fans shouldn't expect a new map to be announced at the fan celebration.He said that given that fans may be expecting this year's announcement to be similar to those of previous years, which would include a new map. For that reason, he wanted to be "explicitly clear" that no new map is coming this time around. He said that new maps announced at BlizzCon have gotten "a little lost in the shuffle" and "didn't have as big of an impact as we wanted."That said, he did note that the company is working on new map content in general. It sounds as if it simply wants to strategically time it so that it doesn't get overshadowed by a lot of the other happenings around the event. Plus he promised Overwatch announcements for the event without specifying what those might be. Finally, he announced buffs in the works for several characters, which we're currently seeing on the public test realm.One pre-BlizzCon announcement detailed in the developer update is a new feature called the World Cup Viewer. A beta version will go up before the event through the Battle.net client for PC players. It will let you watch matches live in the spectator point-of-view, with full control over camera movement or even watch in first-person through the eyes of a player.Blizzard similarly did some pre-event expectation-setting for Diablo. To see all that the event has in store this year, you can enter to win some free virtual tickets. BlizzCon kicks off on November 2.Info from Gamespot.com

Fallout 76's beta is beginning today on Xbox One, and Bethesda has released a whole new batch of screenshots to mark the occasion. These images put an emphasis on the lovely vistas of West Virginia, albeit a slightly more irradiated version than you may have seen in the state's tourism ads. [Update: The first beta test has wrapped up, and you can watch us trying it out in the video above.]To prepare for launch, the company also released a letter to its fans thanking them for their support and cautioning that this is a very different kind of Fallout game. It stressed that the studio cares about these worlds and wants to do right by them, and that as an online and live game the launch of Fallout 76 would be just the beginning. The studio is looking ahead to a long period of bug fixes and other support."Given what we're doing with 76, we know we're opening everyone up to all new spectacular issues none of us have encountered," Bethesda wrote. "Some we're aware of, such as areas where performance needs to improve with lots of players."The beta is coming first to Xbox One, with PC and PS4 to follow on October 30. Pre-ordering will grant you access to the beta but you may not get in right away. Instead, Bethesda will be giving out codes for the beta itself as it invites in more players to stress test. For that same reason, the tests themselves will take place in concentrated chunks of a few hours at a time to force players together.The beta is said to be the the full game and your progress will carry over to the full game. The full game launches on November 14.Info from Gamespot.com

We may long for the days of NBA Jam or NBA Street and their brands of over-the-top basketball, but the closest modern equivalent is NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. Coming off of last year's game, Playgrounds 2 continues the two-on-two ridiculousness in an arcade style that's incredibly easy to pick up and play. Anything goes on the court where there aren't fouls or rules against goaltending, and double-front-flip dunks with a 12-foot vertical leap are standard. It's certainly fun to go back-and-forth with opponents to light up the scoreboard, but even all that flash has its limitations; the game hits one note that gets old rather quickly.NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 keeps things simple by only giving you the essentials for balling up. Aside from shooting, passing, and crossover dribbles on offense, holding sprint turns normal shots into high-flying dunks. Alley-oops come in handy for throwing down on unsuspecting defenders thanks to easy execution. And if defenders are pressing hard, throwing your elbows provides an option for creating space. Although this style of basketball thrives off of offensive showmanship, defense still plays a big role in winning. Shoving and stealing can effectively create turnovers, and you need to be smart about when to use these as they take up your endurance meter and leave you vulnerable. You also have opportunities to disrupt dunks that seem like they'd be easy buckets just by getting in the paint and trying to block. It's a basic toolset that takes little time to get familiar with.To keep games interesting, teams build up a meter that unleashes court-altering power-ups called Lottery Picks. The Lottery Pick meter recharges when you do anything that fills the stat sheet, and once it's full, you get a random power-up. There are nine in total, which range from double points for dunks or three-pointers for a limited time to freezing the opposing basket that'll take a few shots to break. This system can seem unfair at times, but there's no denying it's fun to run wild with the infinite stamina power for a short period, for example. If anything, it adds a bit of variety to a very basic game.There's a decent foundation that Playgrounds 2 works with, but it doesn't quite come together as seamlessly as you'd hope. Uncontested dunks bounce out of the rim more often than they should because it's subject to the shot-percentage meter--you can be on a fastbreak and still miss. Shooting open threes with the likes of Steph Curry or Ray Allen still a large window of failure. As a result, the shot meter calculation often feels at odds with this style of basketball game. Playgrounds 2 suffers from a simple, yet damaging flaw--the shot-timing meter is displayed at the bottom of the screen. For a game that's built around fast and flashy action, relegating the most important element for scoring to a position away from what's happening on court is a big misstep. Instead of watching those sweet dunks unfold, you end up shifting attention to the meter to make sure the shot goes down. This also prevents you from seeing what develops on the court during key moments, like anticipating blocks and reacting to them.Playgrounds 2 is at its best when playing competitive games with either an AI-controlled teammate or a real player against others. Online matches can take a while to find, but games get going quickly once matchmaking is set. And thanks to the fast pace of games, action is always just a few moments away. The game keeps track of your overall record, and you'll earn in-game currency whether you win or lose. There's also an online version of the three-point contest and a two-player cooperative mode that pits your team against the AI, but neither inspires much competition.A few options exist for playing offline, like local multiplayer in exhibition mode and the new NBA season mode. The latter will have you play a condensed 14-game season with an NBA team, and you pick two players from the roster for each game. If you get seeded in conference standings, you'll move on to the playoffs. And if you win the championship, you'll unlock a historical player for the team you played as. Since there is a tangible reward for winning it all, playoff matches provide some challenge and tension. It's all a bit unceremonious; you play one season and it ends, and you just start another separate season. And with the starting roster you're given at the outset, it can be frustrating to grind away as players with lower stat ratings.You can bypass most of the grind by using Golden Bucks, an in-game currency that can be earned at a fairly slow rate or bought with real money (which undermines the point of the NBA season mode, too). If you don’t want to unlock the full roster through microtransactions, you’ll have to get card packs using Golden Bucks or another in-game currency called Baller Bucks. Packs get you random players on the roster or cosmetics to dress up players. While the system gives you something to work for, it still feels somewhat exploitative. At the very least, player progression incentivizes using different players since they individually earn XP--leveling them up to silver and gold rank boosts their overall stats.NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 tries to capture the more lighthearted side of basketball culture but doesn't bring with it a discernible sense of personality. NBA players are designed with big heads and exaggerated features to coincide with the ridiculous arcade approach. But it comes off as just absurd, and not in a charming sense--instead, most player models look like badly drawn caricatures by an amateur street artist. Courts don't inspire much of a basketball atmosphere either, with nonsensical locations and crowds that look like old Xbox 360 avatars. Seeing Playgrounds 2 in action is like watching expressionless bobbleheads floundering about in silly animations.It's fun to jump in for a few games and rack up points through extravagant slam dunks with your favorite players from the past and present. However, the novelty of arcade-style basketball wears thin quickly in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. There isn't much to keep you coming back once you've had your fill, and the nagging gameplay flaws hold back the experience. The game lacks a distinct personality, and that's a missed opportunity for any basketball game, let alone one that tries so hard to have one.Info from Gamespot.com

Like Lucas Pope's previous game, Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn is primarily concerned with processing information. In the latter, you play as an insurance clerk assessing claims on a mysteriously abandoned ship rather than a customs agent assessing documents at the border of a totalitarian country, but in both games, you are presented with fragments of data and asked to check their veracity through cross-reference and deductive logic. Both games are also grim in their own ways, but while Papers, Please forces you to consider your personal moral compass and where you're willing to see it compromised, Return of the Obra Dinn leaves you in a more detached role as the time-traveling observer of a naval journey gone horribly wrong.In 1802 the "good ship" Obra Dinn set sail from London to "the Orient" but never reached its destination. Five years later it is found drifting into the port of Falmouth in southwest England with no one left alive on board. As a clerk at the East India Company it's your job to explore the ship and find out what happened. You're given a nifty book--which includes a full crew and passenger manifest, annotated deck maps, a glossary of basic sailing terms, and a group sketch of the people on board drawn by one of the passengers--into which you are expected to record all the relevant details.Like most insurance clerks, one suspects, you are also equipped with a magical pocket watch that, when opened and activated in the presence of a corpse, allows you to travel back in time to the moment of the person's death. It's almost literally a single moment, too, as the screen fades to black and you hear but a few seconds of speech or other sounds leading up to the fatal incident before you find yourself inside a scene that's been frozen in time, and the investigation begins.In this space (which, like the entire game is explored in first-person) you can walk around a confined section of the ship but you cannot interact with anything. You can only zoom in for a closer look at any object, and beyond the immediate surroundings, the background just fades out into nothingness. The entire game is presented in a starkly beautiful monochromatic color scheme, a graphical style described by the developer as "1-bit". When still, it resembles something from an early '80s PC, albeit displaying at a much higher resolution. But in motion, when you're walking around the decks, it looks quite unlike anything seen before--a startling retro throwback that is as alien as it is familiar, and that inherent strangeness works only to enhance the sense of mystery.Once inside an investigation space--or memory, as the game refers to them--the first thing you're compelled to do is examine the now-deceased body in front of you, matching their face to the artist's sketch in your book to commence the process of identification. You still don't know their name, but perhaps there was something you heard just before they died that could be a clue? Maybe there's something about what they were doing or wearing or where they were on the ship or who they were with? You also need to determine their fate--were they shot or stabbed or poisoned or crushed or worse? And, if they were murdered, then by whom? Which likely means having to identify someone else through another series of clues. Or maybe you'll need to find the answers in another memory instead?At first, you won't have enough information to draw any firm conclusions about the fate of the ship. However, as you explore the ship and find more bodies, which in turn open up new areas of the ship and reveal yet more bodies, the gaps in your knowledge will start to close. Soon you'll have access to a series of memories that, by the time you're done identifying everyone and discovering their fates, come together to tell the story of the Obra Dinn and the sixty people on board. It's at this point, as you stand over an unknown corpse with your trusty notebook in hand, that Return of the Obra Dinn solidifies into an exceptionally compelling representation of detective work.Unlocking a person's identity requires you to pay attention to every last detail across multiple memories. To narrow your search you can bookmark a specific person and revisit only the memories in which they appear, letting you focus on their individual story in an attempt to clarify their actions and link them to a particular role on the ship. Further, the Obra Dinn had a fairly multicultural crew so you'll do well to note the different languages spoken and the varying accents of the English-speaking majority, as well as the details of each person's physical appearance.At any point, you can pull out your book to pencil in a detail. Perhaps you think this chap is the First Mate or this fellow with the beard got shot by the ship's surgeon. Correctly identify three people and their fates and the game will let you know by properly typesetting your penciled notes. Some will be obvious, most will not, and many will require keeping track of multiple scenes and threading together numerous what-at-first-seemed-inconsequential pieces of information. When a clutch of clues fall into place and you crack the case, as it were, it feels immensely satisfying.Plenty of games promise to make you feel like a detective only to have you checking boxes, but here it's different. Return of the Obra Dinn gives you all the tools you'll need to solve its puzzles--the book interface is a masterpiece of connected design--and then trusts that you'll be capable of arriving at the correct answers by yourself.But it's more than that. Your magical pocket watch and its time-traveling, corpse-identifying mechanic offers far more than just an exceptionally clever puzzle game--as if that wasn't already enough. It also delivers a wonderfully evocative method of storytelling as you gain glimpses into the lives of each person on board at vital moments along the Obra Dinn's journey and piece together who they were, what they had to deal, what motivated them, and how they responded when tragedy struck. You may only see them in scratchy monochrome stills and hear them in brief snatches of urgent conversation, if at all, but if you're paying attention then you should feel like you know (almost) every one of these sixty people intimately by the end of the game. Info from Gamespot.com

Only a couple years after Fallout 4's release, Bethesda surprised fans by officially announcing Fallout 76, the next entry in its beloved post-apocalyptic RPG franchise. The new game was revealed in a trailer after a series of teases, and Bethesda discussed it in more detail at E3 2018 and at QuakeCon 2018. We even got an opportunity to play the game at a recent hands-on preview event. While there's still so much we do not yet know about Bethesda's upcoming game, the company has offered some clarity on Fallout 76's most curious features and additions to the Fallout formula.To ensure you're kept up to date on everything there is to know about Fallout 76, we've compiled all the information we have on the game so far: our in-depth preview, the platforms it's on, its online functionality, its anti-griefing features, and where the game falls in the series' timeline. You'll be able to try the game for yourself as part of a beta, the first instance of which happens for some Xbox One owners on October 23. With these test periods being very limited in time, we've also put together a list of what you should do first.Table of Contents [hide]What is Fallout 76?Who's Developing It?Is It An Online Survival Game?How Big Is The World?What Can You Do?How Does Character Creation And Progression Work?How Does PvP Work?How It Plays: Our In-Depth PreviewAny Voice Chat?When's the Beta?Release DateWhat is Fallout 76?Fallout 76 is a prequel to all of the previous Fallout games. Set in 2102, you play an inhabitant of Vault 76 who emerges from the shelter 25 years after the bombs fell on America. Your task is simple: explore what remains of post-apocalyptic America and rebuild civilization.Longtime fans will likely recognize Vault 76; although it's not a place we've visited before, this isn't the series' first mention of it. Both Fallout 3 and 4 reference it and, according to the Fallout Wikia, this West Virginia-based vault was occupied by 500 of of America's best and brightest minds. Unlike the more grotesque experimental vaults in the Fallout universe, Vault 76 is a control vault intended to be opened 20 or so years after a nuclear war. But if the Vault was supposed to open 20 years after the bombs fell, why have 25 years gone by? The story likely has a few surprises in store.Fallout 76 uses the Creation Engine, the same engine used to make Fallout 4, but it will purportedly feature much more graphical detail than its predecessor. Game director Todd Howard has said that Fallout 76 has new rendering and lighting technology, which allows for "16 times" the detail.Who's Developing It?Bethesda Game Studios, the Maryland-based developer responsible for the Elder Scrolls series and both Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, is at work on the game. In addition, Bethesda Game Studios Austin--formerly BattleCry Studios--assisted in fine-tuning the Creation Engine to support multiplayer functionality.Is It An Online Survival Game?Fallout 76 is a much different sort of game from its predecessors. It's "entirely online," but don't worry, you'll be able to play it solo too. According to Bethesda, the idea to take this approach to open-world survival came four years ago, when it started to work on building a multiplayer Fallout experience. Howard described the game's approach to survival as "softcore," which means death doesn't equal loss of progression.You can form a party with up to three other players. You won't be able to manage your placement in servers when you login, as you'll automatically be inserted into a session with others upon booting up the game. Of course, you also have the option simply join alongside your friends and play together.Howard commented that Fallout 76 will have dedicated servers that will support the game "now and for years to come." At launch, there will only be public servers, but Bethesda plans to introduce private servers that will allow players to invite friends to play in order to prevent undesirable behavior.Some classic mechanics from past games will be changing to accommodate the shift to online play. For example, V.A.T.S has been reconfigured to work in real time, while still allowing players to target specific enemy body parts. But this time around, it has been updated to be more of a tool that allows you to spot out dangers in the environment.How Big Is The World?According to Howard, Fallout 76's world is four times the size of Fallout 4. There are six different regions to explore, and each has its own unique style, risks, and rewards. Confirmed areas include the West Virginia State Capitol, The Greenbrier, Woodburn Circle, New River Gorge Bridge, and Camden Park. Contained within each area is a variety of new creatures to encounter, some of which are based on West Virginian folklore. You can take at the full map in the image below.What Can You Do?Like previous games, players will spend the majority of their time exploring and completing quests. However, Fallout 76 will not feature any human non-player characters, as all surviving humans will be controlled by active players. Instead, the game will use combination of robot NPCs, collectible recordings, and environmental storytelling in order to give players what they need to piece together quests and the story at large.Given the game's premise of rebuilding the world, there will be base-building elements similar to Fallout 4. You will be able to set up a bases anywhere using an item called the Construction and Assembly Mobile Platform, or CAMP. These can be placed down in the world and allow you to construct an impromptu camp. At E3, we got to see the player laying down walls and decorating the base with pool tables, toilets, and other household objects. As the "mobile platform" part of the name implies, your CAMP can also be picked up and relocated, allowing you to move your base anywhere in the world.While you can help build the world, you can also destroy it. If you have the necessary nuclear launch codes, it's actually possible to access a missile silo to fire a nuke at any point on the map. Doing so irradiates the chosen area, but it also allows for the opportunity to discover rare weapons, gear, and items. Be wary; nuking an area also causes more powerful enemies to show up, making it more difficult to survive. But don't be discouraged by this, the CAMP blueprint system makes it easy for players to quickly rebuild their homes, and if they're privy to an incoming threat, they can pack their things and move to a new location.As an online experience, player choice is said to be incredibly important, going as far as giving players the freedom to choose who are the heroes and who are the villains. Early footage showcased multiple players engaging in combat and participating in friendly activities, which seems to indicate that players have the freedom to choose their paths in the world of Fallout 76.How Does Character Creation And Progression Work?You'll have similar character creation tools as Fallout 4. However, you're free to change your appearance at any point. In addition, you can also utilize the game's new photo mode during the creation process to better see how your character looks, as well as snap some shots you can share on social media.The SPECIAL system returns and it's a bit different. Like previous games, SPECIAL encompasses the following stats: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck. You're given one point to put into any of those stats every time you level up. The first thing you do when you emerge from the vault is pick a SPECIAL and then you pick a perk in that particular SPECIAL. Essentially, every SPECIAL is a pool of points for your perks.But unlike previous games, perks are now cards you can equip and unlock as you rank up in a given SPECIAL; though, you're free to swap cards out at any time if you want to alter your build. Each SPECIAL characteristic you develop has a perk card cap of 15. These perk cards can be enhanced further from one to five points to increase their power.You can obtain additional perk cards via Perk Card Packs (four random cards), which you earn every two levels initially (1-10), and then every 5 after that. You can also pick one perk card per level, usually from your SPECIAL choice. There are hundreds of Perks cards you can unlock, so naturally SPECIAL ranks cap out after a while (you gain a rank up in a SPECIAL each time you level up). At level 50, you'll stop increasing SPECIAL ranks, but you'll still get card packs.How Does PvP Work?When you shoot someone you do a little bit of damage, which can be equated to lightly slapping them in order to challenge them to a duel. In response to this, the other player can choose to ignore or engage. If they engage in a battle with you, they'll start to take full damage. The one who is killed in this consenting PvP match has the option to seek revenge. Doing so gives that person the opportunity to get double the rewards granted they're successful.If you'd rather choose to ignore a PvP match, there's no way to escape being killed--despite the small damage dealt to you during the initiation phases. However, if you are killed by a player under these circumstances, that player becomes a Wanted Murderer and will receive no rewards from having killed you.A Wanted Murderer is marked on the map as a red star and a bounty is placed on their head. Players looking to cash in on this bounty aren't visible on the Murderer's map. If the murderer is killed, the money from that bounty is taken out their stock.In order to give players time to properly acclimate to how Fallout 76 plays, PvP won't be available to players until level five. And if you perish from any PvP encounter, the only thing you'll lose is the junk you've been collecting, which can be reclaimed after death if not already picked up by other players. You can always store junk in stashes found around the world, so as to safeguard a portion of your stock. Armor and weapons are retained in your inventory after death.How It Plays: Our In-Depth PreviewWe recently got a hands-on with a build of Fallout 76. It plays similarly to Fallout 4, but it features some new additions that subtly shift the paradigm established by past entries in the series. We got to experience three hours of the game, exploring a decent chunk of the opening area while taking on quests and generally working cooperatively with the players around us. There's a lot to unpack about how the upcoming multiplayer open-world RPG, so be sure to watch the video above and read our full thoughts in our in-depth preview detailing what we got to play.Any Voice Chat?It's possible to chat with your teammates and even strangers you discover out in the world. It's area-based so your ability to hear other plays will vary. But if you want nothing to do with strangers, it's possible to mute their voices entirely.When's the Beta?Fallout 76's beta will be available exclusively to those who pre-order the game. Bethesda said that it will begin selecting participants from the pool of pre-orders on October 23 on Xbox One first. The plan is to start small and expand over time with PS4 and PC to follow on October 30. For more details, you can check out Bethesda's Fallout 76 FAQ for more details on how to redeem your code.Release DateFallout 76 is being developed for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is currently scheduled to be released on November 14. Unfortunately, there's no word about a Nintendo Switch release, which didn't seem out of the question after the Skyrim re-release made it to that platform.Info from Gamespot.com