Sea of Thieves: New ‘Ships of Fortune’ Update Now Live

Sean McCarthy
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0
Sea of Thieves: New ‘Ships of Fortune’ Update Now Live

Got a favourite Trading Company on the Sea of Thieves? The original Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls and Athena’s Fortune each appeal to different players – and we’re expanding them with the option for players to become Emissaries in Ships of Fortune. Taking on this special duty allows pirates to earn boosted rewards from their usual Voyages, plus special cosmetic rewards for those who perform best!

To find out about becoming an Emissary for one of the Outpost Trading Companies, speak to their representatives at the Outposts and inspect the nearby table. Emissary roles are highly prized, so you’ll need to make a significant donation to prove you appreciate the privilege!

Hoist the Emissary Flag as you serve in this prestigious role, and advance through five Grades by exemplifying your chosen Company – for example, by finding and unearthing chests as a Gold Hoarder. The higher your Grade, the bigger the multiplier you’ll get when cashing in your haul! Beware, as other pirates will know that an Emissary’s ship is likely to be laden with loot.

You’ll soon be able to dress your pirate and ship to suit your current Company of choice, heading out as a true ambassador to earn big rewards and prove your skills against other players in the competitive Emissary Ledger. Earn Titles for increasing your standing and compare your progress to that of your friends. Remember, however, that while sailing as an Emissary you will get noticed – especially by the rival Emissaries of a new, glory-hungry Trading Company…

A new and mysterious Company known as The Reaper’s Bones, teased throughout our previous monthly updates, has emerged! Keeping your fancy Emissary status with The Reaper’s Bones around won’t be so easy, as their own Emissaries have but one duty – to lay their rivals low and take their Emissary Flags as trophies! Of course, taking their loot is a close-running second priority.

The new Company can be found at The Reaper’s Hideout, where they seem to encourage their ideals of ‘true piracy’ without the need for honour among thieves. For the Reapers, following your passion and having the will to come out on top is what being ‘a pirate for all eternity’ really means. If you choose to become an Emissary for a Company other than theirs, expect no quarter from these merciless miscreants.

Players excited at the thought of some competitive action should also check out overhauled matches in our dedicated Arena mode. Old treasure maps have been replaced by a single chest marked by a Sea Dog Beacon, with just one cash-in location to ensure a furious battle for victory! Contest times have also been slashed to 15 minutes, guaranteeing a frantic pace in each match.

Whether your battles take place in Adventure or Arena, we’re also adding a new way for crews to look out for each other on the seas. Now, when pirates are defeated, there will be a brief window during which their crewmates can revive them before their soul drifts to the Ferry of the Damned. This should allow for quicker gameplay loops as well as some new tactical choices for co-operative crews.

But enough about this free update’s new Emissary system, Trading Company, rewards, cosmetics and mechanics – we need to talk cats! No longer satisfied with just parrots and monkeys, the Pirate Emporium will now have three breeds of feline friend for your pirate: the scruffy Wildcat, fluffy Ragamuffin and slinky Mau. Each breed comes in a variety of colour options, so you can hand-pick the kitty that best suits your pirate and ship.

You’ll also be able to dress up your cat, of course. Starting out with very regal Sovereign outfits and special Legendary outfits – check out the bundle offers in the Emporium for the quickest way to get yourself a new cat companion in cute clobber. Elsewhere in the Emporium you can pick up the Night Wulf Ship Collection inspired by tales of heroism from the (very) olden days, or perhaps a range of crabby new emotes – all valid ways of attracting attention to your new cat.

There’s a lot coming your way in Ships of Fortune and RARE is excited to see how players go about using the new Emissary system, either to roleplay as their favourite Trading Company or simply to maximise their earnings and boast of their achievements. Or maybe they’ll choose to earn bragging rights through the daring Reaper’s Bones. Whether you’re most excited about a grand new calling as an Order of Souls Emissary, taking on other players for trophies and plunder or simply getting to pet a cat dressed as a pirate, we look forward to seeing you on the seas very soon.

For more information on the Ships of Fortune update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Xbox One or on Windows 10 PC, or players who have access to it with Xbox Game Pass. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience separate from Adventure and Arena modes. New Sea of Thieves players will begin their travels within this scenario, which provides guidance and information to fledgling sailors. What’s more, we’re officially coming to Steam! You can read the latest here, and we can’t wait to share more information soon.

To see everything that’s been added to Sea of Thieves since launch, head to the official What’s New page: https://www.seaofthieves.com/whats-new

Sea of Thieves Social Media Links:

Sea of Thieves website: https://www.seaofthieves.com
Sea of Thieves Forums: https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum
Sea of Thieves on Discord: https://discord.gg/seaofthieves
Sea of Thieves on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeaOfThieves
Sea of Thieves on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeaOfThievesGame
Sea of Thieves on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SeaofThieves
Sea of Thieves on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/SeaofThieves
Sea of Thieves on Mixer: https://mixer.com/SeaofThieves

Venom Let There Be Carnage Delayed Until June 2021

Sean McCarthy
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0
Venom Let There Be Carnage Delayed Until June 2021

Overnight the title for the follow up to Sony Picture’s ‘Venom’ was officially announced over night with a new teaser trailer but also included a brand new release date for June 2021, nine months later than previously planned:

Tom Hardy will reprise the lead role of Eddie Brock. Michelle Williams and Naomie Harris co-star respectively and following the most on the nose post credit scene teaser at the end of Venom, Woody Harrelson will take on the role of Cletus Kasady who is the human host for the Symbiote Carnage!

#Venom: Let There Be Carnage will now come to cinemas on June 21st 2021

Follow VENOM on Social:

Review: The Complex

Sean McCarthy
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0
Review: The Complex

Player Choice has been a fundamental element in gaming for many years and crosses into so many different genres of games that in 2020, it really has just become a basic part of any gaming experience now whether you the player are really aware of it or not. That conversation choice that results in characters replying in different ways, choosing path C instead of Path A and going to one location instead of another are all examples of how player choice can shape the narrative of a story with perhaps the most obvious example of this being titles from Telltale Games. Of course, player choice came before gaming with choose your own adventure books, which I grew up reading and loving and more recently, an interactive film experience was had with Bandersnatch on Netflix. So, it came as no surprise to learn that this experience was finally coming to gaming in the form of interactive game ‘The Complex’.

The Complex focuses on the story of Doctor Amy Tenant who in the prologue of the story is in the fictional county of Kindar, very much inspired by North Korea, trying to treat patients who have been attacked with chemical warfare. Amy’s is trying to treat them alongside another Doctor called Rees who is clearly also her romantic partner. The prologue is a full on tutorial which not only introduces you to the main character Amy, played by Michelle Mylett, but on how decision making will work as you are giving choices as to be honest or kind when talking with the patients before making the ultimate decision, with only one vial of medicine you will only be able to save one of them but who do you choose?

What follows is a rather average sci-fi tale as the story jumps months into the future and Amy is now working for a massive company called Kensington, working to complete her development of Nanocell technology which will help cure disease which is why she was doing research in Kindar as seen in the prologue. During a meeting where Amy is trying to sell her Nanocell technology to investors, the player will have to make decisions as one rather drunk but clearly rich and powerful possible investor, is being rather rude about Kensington and her research which you can choose to engage with in order to defuse the situation or ignore it, which might worry some of the other investors. Amy is suddenly interrupted by another member of Kensington who alerts her to a situation which needs her immediate attention as somewhere on the local Tube, someone is failing very very ill and in true millennial fashion, is being filmed on a phone by the most awesome Leahviathan who many will recognise from Twitch.

The most enjoyable time with this story will come in your very first playthrough as you discover the story and the characters and making decisions based on the very little information you have. The Complex has nine different possible endings and over 100 scenes to unlock based on the decisions you make, so replayability is where players will get the most out of this game. The cast is full of relatively unknown performers and the quality of the acting is very much in line with a rather average script that loses even more quality once you the player or audience, complete the story the first time and start experimenting with different choices to reveal different scenes and the few story twists that come from making those different choices.

The performance of the cast really struggles when its obvious they have hand to film multiple versions of the same scene due to the different choices that the audience can make and you can see via the scene cuts that not every scene flows cleanly into the next one once you have made your decision. Other than Amy Mylett herself, the only other really recognisable name is Kate Dickie, the Scottish Actress who plays the role of Kensington’s CEO and completely hams up the role to a distracting level. But taking into account the obvious low budget of the game it can be forgiven a little but it will not take long at all after you being to replay the game for different choices, for the story to really become nothing more than an autopilot fast pressing of RB (after unlocking scene you can simply press RB to skip them going forward) to either see a different outcome or to unlock the achievements for doing so. When you do complete a full run of the story you will be greeted with a results screen, letting you know how your decisions matched those of other players and how your playstyle measured up to show how ethical your decisions were.

Ultimately The Complex suffers from the rather black and white choices you will be asked to make, whilst some have a simply fun aspect to them, others are quite clear cut which will make replaying to see the other outcome far simpler to choose. I have avoided talking too much about the main story as playing it at least once will be worthwhile and I also enjoyed the built in feature for streamers such as for those on Twitch, a feature to allow Chat to make all the decisions or for those on other platforms or players who do not liked to be pressured into make a decision under the time limit, you can use the option to pause the timer which has the effect that once a decision timer has run out, it will still wait for you to make a choice.

One for the sales for sure as once you have experienced the story for the 2nd or 3rd time, all there is left is to spam RB to make other choices to unlock all the possible achievements leaving there very little reason to fire this experience up again. It is impressive to see what they accomplished with the low budget but you can vastly see the difference between this and Bandersnatch on Netflix, and for the asking price, you would probably be better buying a month subscription to Netflix to experience that then The Complex.

Xbox Reveal ‘Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X’ Console and Accessory Range

Sean McCarthy
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0
Xbox Reveal ‘Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X’ Console and Accessory Range

Towards the end of last week (week ending 17/04/2020) the Xbox Social media channels began teasing with some cryptic clues that all had a Cyberpunk 2077 theme to them with the aim for fans to work out the “Code”. Sadly over the weekend, the full on trailer for the reveal went viral and so the surprise was spoiled a little.

Created in collaboration between designers from CD PROJEKT RED and Microsoft, the limited-edition, 1TB console encapsulates the urban decay and vibrant tech of Night City. Its design features glow-in-the-dark elements, custom decorative panels, LEDs, color-shift effects, and textures — all evoking numerous facets of Cyberpunk 2077’s dark future setting. The console comes with an Xbox wireless controller uniquely inspired by the character of Johnny Silverhand, featuring a half natural, half cyber-enhancement chrome design. Available as part of the bundle later this year, the controller can also be purchased separately right now at select retailers, including the Microsoft Store.

Bundled alongside the console and controller will be an Xbox One digital download code for Cyberpunk 2077 and other surprises that will be announced soon. Additional details regarding the bundle and controller are available on the dedicated website.

On top of the console, a new custom Xbox Wireless Controller alongside with a special designed charging station and Seagate External Hardrive will also be launched:

Cyberpunk 2077 will release September 17th, 2020, for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with the version for Google Stadia set to launch the same year.

For more information regarding the game, follow Facebook, Twitter, and visit cyberpunk.net.

My Thoughts…

As someone who is a huge fan of custom consoles and as someone who proudly owns the Gears 5 Custom Xbox One X console, I have to say that the teams at Xbox and CD Projekt Red have knocked this right out the park. The console itself is just stunning, capturing the essence of the Cyberpunk universe and yet again, the extra detailing of the glow in the dark writing is going to make this stand out in any gamer’s setup.

The controller is equally stunning and has already gone on my Birthday list to go with the game come its September launch, I love the decals on it and the colour scheme really pops for me with the red and the black against the silver. The Seagate external drive fits in perfectly as well, you can really see the care and attention that has gone into the design of this console and accessory range.

Definitely one for collectors out there and I am loving this partnership between Xbox and CD Projekt Red for Cyberpunk 2077, nice to have some little treats as we count down the months to finally get to play Cyberpunk 2077.

Fair to say that this console and range….are simply “Breathtaking”!

Win Star Wars – The Rise Of Skywalker on Blu-ray

Andrew Edney
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118
Win Star Wars – The Rise Of Skywalker on Blu-ray

To celebrate the release of Star Wars – The Rise Of Skywalker on DVD and Blu-ray, we are offering you the change to win a copy on Blu-ray.

The ninth and final episode in the Skywalker saga welcomed the return of original characters Luke Skywalker, General Leia Organa, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Emperor Palpatine and Lando Calrissian, along with the latest generation of heroes and villains, including Rey, Finn, Poe, BB-8, Maz, Rose, General Hux and Kylo Ren. Newcomers include Jannah, a new ally of the Resistance; Allegiant General Pryde of the First Order; and smuggler Zorii Bliss. 

Coinciding with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, eight Star Wars films are being released on 4K UHD for the first time: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. 

How to enter to win

We have two copies on Blu-ray to give away, simply enter below:

Win Star Wars – The Rise Of Skywalker on Blu-ray

The contest closes at midnight on 5th May 2020.

This contest is only open to those in the UK – sorry!

Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker is available on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD now.



San Diego Comic-Con 2020 Event Officially Cancelled

Sean McCarthy
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0
San Diego Comic-Con 2020 Event Officially Cancelled

In what is probably the least surprising news following the cancellation of multiple physical big events such as E3 and Gamescom in the world of Video Games and TV and cinema releases all coming to a halt and being delayed months or a full year, the organisers of San Diego Comic-Con have finally officially announced that the annual July held event has been cancelled for  2020:

In an official statement on their website:

For the first time in its 50-year history San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), the organizers behind the annual pop culture celebration, announced today with deep regret that there will be no Comic-Con in 2020. The event will instead return to the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021. 

Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer. Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.

Similarly, WonderCon Anaheim, which was to have been held April 10-12, 2020 will return to the Anaheim Convention Center from March 26-28, 2021.

In addition to their conventions, Comic-Con has been planning a major renovation of Balboa Park’s Federal Building to be completed for the grand opening of the Comic-Con Museum in the summer of 2021. However, the COVID-19 situation has had an effect on those efforts as well. As such, they will be rephasing the Museum’s initially planned major renovations, but will not scale back the experience to be offered to visitors upon the Museum’s grand opening. They anticipate releasing building plans illustrating the Museum’s transformation and sharing more information about those efforts in the coming months.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” said David Glanzer, spokesperson for the organization. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

To those who have purchased tickets and booked hotels ready for the event before it was cancelled, the statement continues to explain:

SDCC also announced that individuals who purchased badges for Comic-Con 2020 will have the option to request a refund or transfer their badges to Comic-Con 2021. All 2020 badge holders will receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to request a refund. Exhibitors for Comic-Con 2020 will also have the option to request a refund or transfer their payments to Comic-Con 2021 and will also receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to process their request.

In the next few days onPeak, Comic-Con’s official hotel affiliate, will be canceling all hotel reservations and refunding all deposits made through them. There is no need for anyone who booked through onPeak to take any action, including trying to cancel their reservations online or contacting the company via phone as the process will be handled automatically. Those who booked rooms through onPeak will be notified when refunds have been completed.

Even if the event was somehow still able to go on, and its hard to imagine that for the first time in 50 years the event will not be held, with so much content having been delayed especially all things MARVEL and DC big screen films, it quite possibly would have been a very empty experience even if social distancing rules for the state had been lifted in time.

It is going to feel very strange not having panels to watch and surprises from HALL H until 2021.

Streets of Rage 4 to Bring the Fight on April 30th 2020

Sean McCarthy
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0
Streets of Rage 4 to Bring the Fight on April 30th 2020

Publisher and co-developer Dotemu (publisher of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, developer of Windjammers 1 and 2) with co-developers Lizardcube (Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap) and Guard Crush Games (Streets of Fury) proudly announced today that Streets of Rage 4, the long-awaited return of SEGA’s iconic beat-em-up series, will hit PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One as well as Xbox Game Pass on April 30 for $24.99.

The news arrived alongside a trailer revealing the first look at Streets of Rage 4’s Battle Mode, a legacy experience returning from Streets of Rage 2 and 3. This feud-settling battleground is bound to help rivals recognise who truly is Wood Oak City’s finest alley-clearing ruffian, as well as settle grudges spurred by accidental friendly strikes during multiplayer sessions. Witness just a few of the ways champions will be able to dominate their allies by viewing the trailer here:

Streets of Rage 4 is the franchise’s first mainline entry in more than 25 years, reuniting Axel, Blaze, and Adam while introducing fresh fighters and combat depth, an arrestingly fluid hand-drawn art style, and an all-new scenario as well as city boroughs to crack skulls in. With an original soundtrack from Olivier Derivière incorporating worldwide talent, including massive contributions from series composers Yūzō Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima, Streets of Rage 4’s pairing of classic elements with distinctive modern direction makes this highly anticipated return the fight of a lifetime.

To keep up with all things Streets of Rage 4 head to http://www.streets4rage.com, check out http://www.facebook.com/StreetsofRage4, pummel @Dotemu, @Lizardcube, and @Guard_Crush’s follow buttons on Twitter, and join on Discord: https://discord.gg/DvVq4yz.

Gamescom 2020 ‘Physical Event’ Officially Cancelled, Moving to Digital Online Event

Sean McCarthy
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0
Gamescom 2020 ‘Physical Event’ Officially Cancelled, Moving to Digital Online Event

The organisers of Gamescom 2020 have officially confirmed that the event has been cancelled and will not take place this year which sadly comes as no surprise and follows on from E3 2020 being cancelled.

The official statement, released via their Twitter account reads:

It is going to feel very strange indeed as we head into a brand new console generation launch at the end of this year with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, not to have any big events such as E3 and Gamescom to look forward for reveals and news. This may also put more pressure on EGX 2020, which was only recently confirmed to take place in September this year but could possibly also now be cancelled like other events. Will have to wait and see how that develops going forward.

Digital events seem to be the way forward now and Xbox have already confirmed they will have online events leading up to the release of the Xbox Series X this year and no doubt others including Sony PlayStation and Nintendo will do the same.

F1 2020 to Release July 10th 2020

Sean McCarthy
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0
F1 2020 to Release July 10th 2020

Codemasters has  today announced that F1 2020, the official videogame of the 2020 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, will release worldwide on Friday 10th July 2020 for PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, Windows PC (DVD and via Steam), and for the first time, Google Stadia. In the season where Lewis Hamilton can equal the World Championship record of seven wins, Codemasters celebrates the career of the current holder with a Michael Schumacher Deluxe Edition which comes with exclusive content and three days early access.

In a series of firsts for the F1 franchise, F1 2020 offers ‘My Team’. This major new game mode allows players to create their F1 team and take their place alongside the established 2020 line-up, with a new driver-manager experience offering a unique insight into the world of F1®.

My Team and the well-established and critically acclaimed Career mode will allow players more flexibility with the choice of three season lengths. Players can choose from the original full 22 race season, and shorter 10 and 16 race season options, which now includes Hanoi Circuit and Circuit Zandvoort.

For social play with friends, two-player split-screen makes its welcome return, alongside a host of new options designed to help new players and adjust the F1 challenge to match their expertise. These modes are in addition to the core F1 and F2 racing experiences which remain as challenging as ever for those who love the intensity of simulation racing.
 
Fans who purchase the F1 2020 Deluxe Schumacher Edition will get to drive as the legendary German driver Michael Schumacher in four of his most iconic cars. Players will also receive exclusive content including themed car liveries and driver customisation items, including a unique podium celebration. The four cars included in the F1 2020 Deluxe Schumacher Edition are:

1991: Jordan 191
1994: Benetton B194
1995: Benetton B195
 2000: Ferrari F1-2000

Additionally, to celebrate the Seventieth Anniversary of Formula 1 itself, fans who pre-order or purchase the Schumacher Deluxe Edition or the ‘F1 2020: F1Seventy Edition’ will receive an exclusive set of in-game items. A Limited Edition F1 2020 Steelbook will also be available in local markets via selected retailers.  

“F1 2020 promises to be our biggest and most innovative title to date,” said Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters. “Our core players will welcome even greater gameplay depth with the introduction of our brand-new My Team feature, alongside three customisable season lengths which allows them to pick their favourite tracks. In the year where Lewis Hamilton is going for his seventh World Championship, we celebrate the greatest F1 driver of all time with our Michael Schumacher Deluxe Edition, which we know will prove popular with our community.”

“As huge fans of F1, we continue to innovate and develop game modes that bring players even closer to the real-world sport,” said Lee Mather, F1 Game Director at Codemasters. “We’ve also added new modes to enable more casual players to get up to speed more easily, and we’ve brought back split-screen for social play with friends. The additions reduce both the difficulty and time barrier to entry while retaining the car handling that our simulation players love.”

For future news and details on all the new features follow Formula 1 game website and social channels on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

PUBG Season 7 Sees the Return of Vikendi!

Sean McCarthy
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0
PUBG Season 7 Sees the Return of Vikendi!

PUBG Corporation is bringing an island back after a little time off with the return of Vikendi in PUBG Season 7. Players can experience the new looks for Dinoland and the Cosmodrome areas, plus a nonstop railroad circuit for free as part of the 7.1 update. The Survivor Pass: Cold Front premium upgrade rewards the hardiest players with limited-edition weapon skins, costumes, and more goodies that hint at Vikendi’s turbulent past with the Lindh family.

The train system running through Vikendi puts mobility in PUBG on the fast track to conflict. The opportunities for ambushes, quick escapes, trick shots, and more are endless as players learn the timing and angles of the train lines. The Dinoland-themed passenger line and the heavy-duty cargo line each have different routes and unique engine/car configurations that will offer plenty of advantages and options for sharp players as Season 7 unfolds.

The story of Vikendi will take shape through Survivor Pass: Cold Front as players unlock bits of the Lindh family’s plans for the island. Horseback riding gear and battered mascot costumes cover both the Lindhs’ posh upbringing and the broken dreams that follow poor planning and naked ambition. Dinoland was supposed to be the centerpiece of a vacation paradise that would sprawl all over the island, but dangerous family dynamics brought it all crashing down.

When dinosaurs “win” and take over the island in the movies, they go from villains to heroes in an instant. When Vikendi suddenly becomes a battleground with players dropping in by the dozens, what does that make them?

The next chapter in PUBG opens up April 21 on PC and April 28 on consoles with the 7.1 update. For those that want to experience the action right away, the PC Test Server is open today! Your Fight. Your Story. Your Battlegrounds.

To view the full patch details, check out the latest patch notes here: https://www.pubg.com/2020/04/14/update-7-1/

Desperados III Collector’s Edition Revealed in New Trailer

Sean McCarthy
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0
Desperados III Collector’s Edition Revealed in New Trailer

Check out the new Desperados III Collector’s Edition trailer and listen to the music box unfolding its magnificent magic. The Collector’s Edition comes with 5 figurines of the five fabulous Desperados, John Cooper, Kate O’Hara, Doc McCoy, Isabelle Moreau and Hector Mendoza. Additionally, the Collector’s Edition will come with the Desperados III season pass including 3 DLCs, each featuring a brand new mission. These DLCs will be released post-launch in 2020 and tell the story of a new adventure that takes place after the events of the main game.

The full content list for the Desperados III Collector’s Edition: 

  • 5x 6-inch figurines
  • A music box, playing a piece of the soundtrack
  • Official Artbook
  • Official Soundtrack on CD
  • The Desperados III Season Pass including 3 new missions, coming in 2020
  • 8x Postcards
  • The game itself
  • All packed in a large premium box!

The Collector’s Edition is available for preorder now and has an SRP of € 109.99 / $ 109.99 / £ 99.99 (PC) and € 119.99 / $ 119.99 / £ 109.99 (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). Check out our pre-order website: https://desperadosgame.com/#order-here

You can start collecting your real-time tactical memories with Desperados III on your PC, your PlayStation 4 or your Xbox One in Summer 2020.

Dark Pictures: Little Hope Set for Summer Release

Sean McCarthy
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0
Dark Pictures: Little Hope Set for Summer Release

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe and Supermassive Games are proud to announce that The Dark Pictures: Little Hope, the second story in The Dark Pictures Anthology will be released this summer 2020. The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of stand-alone, cinematic horror games, designed to present a new terrifying experience on a regular basis. Each game is unconnected and will feature a brand-new story, setting and new cast of characters.

In Little Hope, abandoned and all alone, four college students and their professor are trapped by a mysterious fog in the isolated eponym town. They search desperately for a means of escape whilst visions from the town’s occult-steeped past haunt them from the shadows. In order to stay alive, they must uncover the mysteries behind these relentlessly-pursuing dark apparitions before evil forces drag each of their souls to hell!
 
Players can take the role of each of the five protagonists of this brand-new cast, one of them being represented by Will Poulter. Like the first game, Man of Medan, Little Hope is designed to be replayable with multiple storylines, paths and endings. Each decision will matter and can have repercussions on who survives or meets their demise!
 
The Curator, the omniscient figure voiced by Pip Torrens which overarches the series, will be back to witness the progress of players, giving them an occasional “hint” if they wish so. The Shared Story mode and the Movie Night mode, allowing multiple players to share their story online or offline, will also return as game modes, alongside the standard Theatrical Cut and the Curator’s Cut. The latter will be available earlier as a pre-order bonus.
 
“We’re really excited to talk more about Little Hope! As the second chapter in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Little Hope is an all new and disturbing story for players to experience. Whether they are playing alone or with friends we can’t wait for players to get their hands on the Little Hope this summer”, said Pete Samuels, CEO Supermassive Games and Executive Producer of The Dark Pictures.
 
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope will launch this summer 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC Digital. 

For more information regarding titles from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe please visit:

Review: Mortal Kombat Legends – Scorpion’s Revenge

Sean McCarthy
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0
Review: Mortal Kombat Legends – Scorpion’s Revenge

There really is so much about the Mortal Kombat video game series that I have come to love since y very first discovery of its original arcade version. Now a lot of time has passes since that 1992 version of me standing in awe of this brutally no holds barred fighting game including many more video games, a couple of reboots to the series and the universe expanding even more with comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and animated TV shows. Now whilst the first big screen live action adaptation of Mortal Kombat is still held in high regards by most fans, the sequels definitely did not. One big reason for this is just simply the fact that Mortal Kombat is very hard to translate into live action but what the lore of Mortal Kombat does suit is animation, and from the same studio that has brought the DC universe to light, WB Animation has now taken the first steps into doing the same with Mortal Kombat.

When it comes to Mortal Kombat, amongst the massive roster of characters and all the relationships and story arcs they have, it will also come down to the iconic rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero for me. Their story will always standout for me and has done in every single video game where it has been explored but sadly big screen versions and TV shows have never actually focused on their story until now, as this animated adaptation puts Scorpion’s origin story at the heart of the narrative and the opening ten minutes is just what I had hoped for.

The opening to the film features Hanzo Hasashi, voiced incredibly by Patrick Seitz, out with his young son giving him a life lesson about the will to carry on fighting no matter who against you the odds of the fight may be. Conveniently and perhaps far too cheesy for the audience, the example is that of a wild scorpion is being attacked by a colony of deadly ants, with the son fearing the scorpion would be killed but instead it continues to fight back and soon the ants are in retreat with the scorpion now with the upper hand. With the oh so introduction of the Scorpion metaphor out the way, we see Hanzo and son return to their home only to discover that their rival clan, the Lin Kuie led by Sub Zero have attacked in their absence and killed everyone causing Hanzo to rush to his home where he finds his wife and family murdered. Rage overcomes him and he lashes out at the remaining Lin Kuei warriors, reaping their lives in true ultra-violent ways before he is stopped in his tracks as Sub Zero has his son, ordering Hanzo to drop to his knees, which he does only for Sub Zero to murder his son before his eyes. Vowing vengeance but encased in the ice Sub Zero trapped him in, Hanzo is only able to face his final moments with fury and rage before Sub Zero kills him as well.

I need to really begin by saying how much I love the animation and visual style used for this adaptation with its almost Todd McFarlene style of dark shadows and vibrant colours. By using animation, it manages to do something that is really lost in the use of CGI for a live action film or TV show, it gets the ultra-violence that fans of the games will be accustomed to absolutely spot on. Make no mistakes, this is very much an adult orientated film so be mindful before letting your youngsters watch it, even if they know the video game. The animators even included the X-ray moves from the most recent Mortal Kombat games in very brutal fashion and it is rather glorious to see it as it shows an intent not to water down the source material which other adaptations have had to do. The violence is graphic and it is visceral and it is beautiful brought to life in the animation throughout the film.

The story is where I sadly have to take issues with this film because it does forget the title it has far too much once the opening sequence has finished. I was hoping this would remain a Scorpion focused film but sadly he has to share his story with the retelling of the Mortal Kombat origin as well. It is not long before we are taken to Raiden gathering the heroes of Earth to take part in Mortal Kombat. As fans will know, Outworld has won the last nine Mortal Kombat tournaments and only need one more victory in order to gain entry to invade Earth Realm. We see Liu Kang who has been training his whole life for this tournament, Sonya Blade who is searching for Kano in order to save the now captured Jaxx and Johnny Cage who in this story is an action hero out of favour and is so desperate to find another hit role that he spends almost the entire tournament believing it is a film set with a lot of improvisation. I do understand that much like how the DC Animated Universe had to setup their own Justice League, you do have to provide the audience who may not actually know the video game series or lore, the set up as to what the Mortal Kombat story actually is.

But it just feels strange to cut away from Scorpion’s story and even more when it goes from being the initial focus of the narrative to being cut in-between tournament sections. We do get to see how Hanzo became Scorpion which is very cool to see on screen as following the opening we then see him being tortured in the NetherRealm, where after fighting his way through a legion of NetherRealm warriors, Hanzo confronts the Sorcerer Quan Chi, who tasks Hanzo with a mission and if he succeeds, he will see himself and his family returned to life. After this we next see Scorpion as everyone gathers on Shang Tsung’s island for the tournament, now fully transformed into Scorpion. There was certainly a missed opportunity to see the actual process of Hanzo becoming Scorpion, being given his hell fire abilities instead it simply jumps to be the classic Scorpion fans will instantly recognise.

Now it has to be said that the writing for this story has done the clever thing by changing certain aspects of the story up including character interactions to make them more refreshed such as the Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade romance with Sonya seeing Johnny has just flaky washed up actor with terrible chat up lines for the most part with the gradual softening of her demeanour as Johnny Cage becomes more of the fighter we know him to be than the arrogant failing Hollywood star. Cage has some of the best comedic dialogue in the game which is exactly how he should be and his journey from start to end is well told. In fact, all of the characters are so well written and performed by the brilliant voice cast that I do expect this to be a very successful run of films in this universe.

Though the narrative of Scorpion seeking his revenge takes a back seat for that of the tournament and the way in which his story is rather clumsily used to bookend the story itself, it is still a highly enjoyable opening chapter in a series of films, which going by the not so surprising ending, is likely to at least get a sequel. In the just shy run time of two hours, they manage to both give an origin story to Mortal Kombat and to Scorpion as well as lay the groundwork for future story arcs for the characters. Sadly it is very noticeable when the title of the film is ‘Scorpion’s Revenge’ and with such a tremendous opening that focused on the character that when the story moves away from him to tell the rest of the story, it is very noticeable that Scorpion is not there, even the ending which has an attempt at a twist to the how this Mortal Kombat tournament that launched the video game series, felt more “oh he’s back” instead of a big wow moment.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is a solid adaptation of a large video game universe and has a style of animation that compliments the video games incredibly well. I really do hope this is just the first of many films set in this universe but I hope if they do decide to have a character’s name in the title that they spend as much time with them and allow the story to really showcase that story instead of burying it under the bigger picture. Scorpion is such an iconic character and his origin story is well told, it just could have been so much more in this film rather than the focus shifting to the Tournament and ultimately setting up the sequel. Fans of the games will get a real kick out of this and for those like me who have really enjoyed the DC Animation series from WB Animation, this is another example of how animated films can accomplish far more than the live action versions.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge will be available digitally from April 14th and on physical release from April 27th from your favourite retailer.

GEARS Tactics Launch Trailer

Sean McCarthy
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GEARS Tactics Launch Trailer

Rise up and Fight! Pre-install on PC now and get ready to play April 28 on Steam, Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) & Windows 10.

Gears Tactics is the fast-paced, turn-based strategy game from one of the most-acclaimed video game franchises – Gears of War. Outnumbered and fighting for survival, recruit and command your squad to hunt down an evil mastermind who makes monsters.

For more information go to: https://www.xbox.com/games/gears-tactics

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