Month: May 2018

Detroit: Become Human, the latest narrative adventure game from David Cage’s studio Quantic Dream, debuts this week. The developer has a history of story-heavy games with mature themes and dramatic cinematography, and Detroit is no exception. Taking place in a near-future setting where androids are treated as second-class citizens, you follow the journeys of three such automatons as they impact the coming revolution.

How does it handle this heady subject matter? Unevenly, judging by the critical response. According to our verdict, the story intertwines gracefully and captures some unforgettable moments, but it appropriates real-life events like the Civil Rights movement clumsily. Our Detroit: Become Human review also concluded that despite being built for multiple playthroughs with branching story paths, going back and seeing another possibility didn’t feel fulfilling or worthwhile. Read on for a quick glance at impressions from around the industry, or go to GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic for the wider consensus.

• Game: Detroit: Become Human
• Developer / Publisher: Quantic Dream / Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Platforms: PlayStation 4
• Release date: May 25
• Price: US $60 / £49 / AU $78

GameSpot — 7/10

“Things didn’t always go the way I wanted, but that was a burden I chose to bear, and the story benefitted from my commitment, flowcharts be damned. After completing the game, I tried to go back and fight my instincts to see what would happen if I chose a darker path. It never felt justified nor worthwhile. Detroit is well worth playing, but it struggles to strike the right balance between giving you freedom of choice and reminding you that it’s all a game in the end. Cage and Quantic Dream are getting closer to nailing this style of game, but it’s obvious that there’s still room to grow..” — Peter Brown [Full review]

GamesRadar+ — 4.5/5

“Detroit: Become Human is a game with grand ideals, wonderful levels of polish, and tiny imperfections. It’s an ambitious, wonderfully executed piece of storytelling, and one of the most interesting games of this generation. It will split opinion, and give birth to a litany of opinion pieces–some deep and thoughtful, others half-baked and sensationalist.” — Andy Hartup [Full review]

Guardian — 4/5

“Detroit: Become Human is a spectacularly crafted game that bends and branches out around the player’s choices in an astonishing and unparalleled way. Although hampered by tired central plots and some predictable, occasionally hokey storytelling, the result is a technical feat in video game development and a meticulously detailed cinematic achievement.” — Oliver Holmes [Full review]

Game Informer — 8/10

“Detroit made me think about topics I’ve avoided about humanity and our future, and that’s a good thing. These are hard issues to explore, and I’m glad Quantic Dream took on the challenge knowing it could result in failure. Detroit both succeeds and stumbles in that area.” — Kimberley Wallace [Full review]

IGN — 8/10

“Detroit: Become Human is a poignantly pulpy interactive sci-fi drama where your choices can impact events to a greater and more satisfying degree than in most games of this type. Though I wish its story had been handled with a softer touch, especially considering the subtlety that can be conveyed through its tech and performances, its well-written and acted central trio were vital enough to me that I found myself feeling genuine distress when they were in danger and a sense of victory when they triumphed. Most importantly, Detroit offers a multitude of transparent branching paths that entice further playthroughs, and choices have a permanence that raise the stakes throughout.” — Lucy O’Brien [Full review]

USGamer — 3.5/5

“Detroit: Become Human improves upon its predecessors by having a cast that you enjoy and want to spend more time around. Quantic Dream’s visual craft and presentation is top-notch, but the writing hasn’t quite caught up yet. It isn’t subtle and some of the references to social ills are amazingly on-the-nose instead of being more unique. It’s better than Beyond: Two Souls, but there’s still room to grow.” — Mike Williams [Full review]

Destructoid — 7/10

“Detroit: Become Human, like most Quantic Dream games, is filled with muddled symbolism and a spark of hope amidst its most interesting universe yet. It doesn’t have anything particular new to say, but it delivers in terms of drama, to the point where I started a second playthrough shortly after my first seven hour-ish run. It’s flawed, but coherent, which is an upgrade.” – Chris Carter [Full review]

Monster Hunter World‘s PC release may still be a few months away, but players looking for a fun alternative can now take down towering monsters together in Dauntless. Phoenix Labs’ free-to-play action RPG has entered open beta, meaning everyone can download and begin playing it free of charge–although you may have some trouble connecting to it at the moment.

Like Capcom’s monster-slaying series, Dauntless puts players in the role of Slayers, and they must work together to hunt ferocious Behemoths that are draining the Shattered Isles of their aether. Up to four players are able to band together and take on the monsters, using an array of different weapon types and armor.

Those looking to jump into the game can download it for free from its official website; however, like many online titles at launch, Dauntless is currently experiencing some technical issues. Many players are reportedly having trouble connecting to the server, with queue wait times estimated to last an hour or longer. Phoenix Labs has acknowledged the issues on Twitter, saying it is “working to resolve issues with matchmaking.”

Phoenix Labs says that Dauntless and all of its future expansions will remain free-to-play, but players will also have the option to purchase customization items for their Slayers. However, the developer stress that these will strictly be cosmetic in nature and won’t have any bearing on the gameplay. Likewise, Dauntless does not offer any type of loot boxes to purchase.

We had an opportunity to go hands-on with Dauntless at PAX East 2018 last month. In the video above, you can see us team up with several developers from Phoenix Labs to take on Shrike, a giant owl-like monster that makes its home in a forest. You can also read our previous impressions of Dauntless here for more on the title.

For Season 4 Battle Pass owners, Tuesdays are an exciting day in Fortnite. A new set of weekly challenges is released, and although you have the full season to complete them, players are eager to get them done and earn new rewards. That process is about to become a more pleasant one, thanks to one of several new quality-of-life changes coming soon.

Epic Games has outlined many of the new features and changes that are slated for update 4.3 and beyond. One thing that is coming in 4.3 is challenge progress notifications. As you accomplish your objectives, a message will pop up during matches to let you know where you stand toward finishing a given challenge.

Currently, you can only check on how you’re doing with challenges in between matches from the main menu. You can also take mental notes (or physical ones, if you really want to get wild), but that becomes difficult when a bunch of challenges pile up. Was I supposed to get Eliminations in Tomato Town and open chests in Greasy Grove, or the other way around? How many more shotgun kills did I need? It gets confusing and can impact your ability to get things done if you’re shooting at enemies with a pistol when you’re already done with that challenge.

It’s a minor adjustment, but it’s just the sort of thing that’s much appreciated by players–especially when Epic continues to roll out new playable content. It’s also not the only quality-of-life improvement that will benefit those seeking to complete challenges, although others are useful to everyone. For instance, Epic is experimenting with adding in-world markers (to go along with those you see on the map and compass) and continuing to reduce load times.

The latest Fortnite update, 4.2, introduced the long-awaited jetpack for a limited time. There’s a lot more to look forward to on the horizon, as we’re also on the verge of seeing more new limited-time modes, including one called Playground that includes respawns and friendly fire.

Whether you’re taking the Dark Souls plunge for the first time or making your big return, we’ve got 50 essential trips and tricks for every player.

Warning! Full SPOILERS follow for Season 1 of Syfy’s Krypton.

Krypton’s Season 1 finale, titled “The Phantom Zone,” had some fascinating WTF moments (check out my review here), that set up an intriguing second season that can’t come soon enough.

Leading man Cameron Cuffe, who plays Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El, recently spoke with IGN about that crazy finale and what it could all mean for Season 2.

“We’ve been hinting at it for a long time, that this show is not what you think it is,” Cuffe said, adding, “and the finale is the epitome of that. The really cool thing is that it’s an interesting way to end the Season 1 arc, but it also blows the doors open in terms of what we can achieve in the second series.”

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If you’re trying to figure out how Chewbacca’s age in the new Solo movie lines up with the Star Wars timeline, you’re not alone. This Wookiee’s been around for a long, long time.

While we didn’t get to see real gameplay, EA and DICE’s reveal of Battlefield V did shine a light on a lot of details about the upcoming game. It’s coming out October 19, it’s going back to the series’ World War II roots, and it will not have a premium pass, meaning that all major post-release content will be free to everybody.

But along with these facts has come a backlash from a vocal minority around the fact that the trailer and box art focus on a female soldier with a prosthetic arm. The argument is that this detail means that we won’t be getting an “authentic” World War 2 experience from Battlefield V because there were no women in combat in World War 2. We’ll revisit the accuracy of that last assertion in a bit, but before we do, we have to challenge the premise that anyone has ever gotten an “authentic World War 2 experience” from any Battlefield game.

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Warner Bros. has delayed its Godzilla sequel, King of the Monsters.

Deadline reports the film has been pushed back from March 22, 2019 to May 31, 2019. King of the Monsters is directed by Mike Dougherty and will feature Godzilla battling Mothra, Rodan, and the three-headed King Ghidorah.

The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep received an official release date. The film, which follows a 40-year-old Danny Torrance, will hit theaters on January 24, 2020. Gerald’s Game director Mike Flanagan will helm the movie.

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James Mangold, the writer and director of Logan, reportedly is set to pull double duty on a standalone Star Wars movie focused around bounty hunter Boba Fett.

THR reports Mangold will write and direct the film, which would follow in line with the “A Star Wars Story” standalone features Lucasfilm has released alongside the main, episodic Star Wars films. No story details about the solo film have been revealed yet, however.

IGN has reached out to Lucasfilm for comment and will update this story should they respond.

A Boba Fett Star Wars movie from Fantastic Four director Josh Trank was reportedly in the works and allegedly supposed to follow Rogue One as the next Star Wars anthology film. Trank reportedly left the project in 2015, though plans for it had apparently progressed far enough that reports suggested a Boba Fett movie announcement was canceled “at the last minute” in 2015.

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