Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult will reportedly be screen testing in full costume to potentially play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming film The Batman.
Revealed by The Wrap reporter Umberto Gonzalez on Twitter, he suspects the two are “screen testing in the Batsuit because Wardrobe Department will need full wardrobe test. Additionally, the film will now start production in Q1 2020.”
BATMAN UPDATE: Robert Pattinson & Nicholas Hoult are screen testing for the role. I suspect they’re screen testing in the Batsuit because Wardrobe Department will need full wardrobe test. Additionally, the film will now start production in Q1 2020. pic.twitter.com/eekafrqomL
Warning: Slight spoilers for HBO’s Chernobyl follow…
With the nightmarish Night King vanquished and go-for-broke Godzilla rampage right around the corner, you might think this year’s summertime scares will come in the form of monstrous Kaiju or sinister lords of frozen death.
What if we told you that the most terrifying thing you’ll see all year is real? A crushing catastrophe from our own recent history. One that opened up the closest thing we’ll ever see to a “Hellmouth.”
HBO’s five-part miniseries, Chernobyl, isn’t just garnering rave reviews because of its stellar performances and sharp direction, but because it’s unrepentantly horrifying. Detailing and dramatizing the devastating 1986 nuclear power plant disaster in northern Soviet Ukraine, Chernobyl unleashes an unnerving and unrelenting assault on the viewer that engages in all forms of terror.
Nintendo is rolling out a new patch for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this week. All the company has said is the update will make an assortment of “fighter adjustments,” but it appears there will be a few new features on the way as well, including Labo VR support.
The in-game notification for the 3.1.0 update was uncovered ahead of the patch’s release (via Twitter). According to that, the update will roll out at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET today, May 30 (2 AM BST on May 31) and add a VR mode, which will give players “a whole new perspective on the Smash action.” To play this mode, you’ll need to have the Toy-Con VR Goggles from the Labo VR kit.
In addition to the VR mode, it appears the 3.1.0 update is adding some new Amiibo functionality. According to the leaked notification, players will be able to send their Amiibo fighters off on “journeys to train” and have them battle against other Amiibo fighters. Additionally, Amiibo fighters will now be able to join Battle Arenas.
Beyond the upcoming update, a new Spirit Board event has been announced. This week’s event is called Super Smash Sisters, and it features heroines from an assortment of different games, including the Legendary Spirits Pyra, Mythra, and Krystal. On top of that, players will be able to unlock a brand-new Spirit Peachette. The Super Smash Sisters event runs from May 31 to June 5.
If Justin Roiland’s name wasn’t on the title screen, it would still be glaringly obvious who was responsible for Trover Saves The Universe. It would be clear within 10 seconds of hitting the start button when a massive blue alien shaped like the galaxy’s most abominable chicken nugget shows up and uses your two adorable pet dogs as his new eyeballs; it would be undeniable the second our hero, the neurotic purple alien Trover, opens his mouth and the voice of Morty comes streaming out. The fascinating thing isn’t that we’ve got another video game from the twisted mind behind Rick & Morty. It’s in watching those twisted M-rated ideas mingle with all the trappings of a bog-standard 3D E-for-Everyone platformer.
The bonkers premise is that the aforementioned chicken nugget, named Glorkon, has somehow obtained god-like power from sticking your dogs in his eyes and will be kickstarting the apocalypse post-haste. You, meanwhile, are a hapless, milquetoast sucker from the suburban world of Chairorpia, where the entire population is bound permanently to floating couches, doomed to forever watch a soap opera that suspiciously feels like it’s trying to teach you the game’s controls. Our hero, Trover, eventually shows up on your doorstep and tells you he needs your help to take down Glorkon. Using the unstoppable might of power babies–an entire species of adorable multicolored cherubs who actually belong in the eyeballs of Trover’s people–and with you at Trover’s back controlling his actions, the two of you set out on a galaxy-spanning quest to figure out how to take Glorkon down.
There’s a lot going on there, and it’s not even scratching the surface of the absolutely bewildering cavalcade of profane oddity that follows. The very first level, your quest for a special crystal that will allow you to visit Glorkon’s home dimension, is interrupted by an annoying little cuss named Mr. Popup who tells you about an alien neighbor who not only ate his family and is holding several pregnant Popup species females hostage so he can eat their babies, but more importantly, has no regard for his neighborhood’s real estate zoning agreements. That’s what kind of ride this is, and it only gets weirder and darker from there. Probably the best running gag in the game is a recurring one in which you inadvertently ruin the lives of the misshapen folks who sell you upgrades, each time accidentally killing their pets or relatives. Conceptually, it’s wonderfully devious and outlandish, peppered in with moments of stomach-churning bodily function humor.
It’s the execution that’s less consistent, mostly due to the long, stuttery, and often yelled improv takes of Roiland and the rest of the cast just endlessly riffing to fill time. The game rarely allows for moments of silence to let the jokes that work land. More annoyingly, it allows too much time for the more obnoxious characters to work your every last nerve. Meanwhile, there’s rarely enough silence to think your way through the more involved puzzles, which sometimes turns tricky into infuriating unless you turn down the dialogue for a couple of minutes. And that’s a shame, because many of the dialogue-based jokes often do land, though you’ll just have to take my word on that since absolutely none of the best examples are even remotely repeatable here. What I can say is the runtime of my first playthrough was likely tanked because I would spend minutes on end just listening to unaware enemies talk amongst themselves about being clones of Glorkon, going on about their workout routines, their weird alien sex lives, and how they’d kill Trover and how much he sucks.
Eventually, though, you need to take out some of those hilarious guards, and unlike Squanch Games’ previous title, the too-obtuse-for-its-own-good Accounting+, Trover Saves The Universe is almost laughably simple when it comes to the action side of being an action platformer. You can jump, deal both light and heavy attacks, and roll. It’s all much like the most elementary action-platforming principles in recent memory, with very few surprises or close shaves or tension until the latter hours. The only real complexity comes from the fact that the game is predominantly designed around VR. The game can be played without it, but the camera in particular is locked to fixed points in the stage and only reorients when Trover stands in a specific point along his path, allowing you to hit a button and teleport to his location. You can raise and lower your chair in-game to get a better vantage point, but the angles still aren’t always where you want them to be, and it’s awkward overall.
There’s a telekinesis ability you pick up later to move blocks and environmental items around, and it’s not nearly as intuitive using the right stick instead of your head to swing the camera around. For most of the game, though, there isn’t really anything you need to formulate strategy around. Enemies are painfully basic grunts, usually taking three or four hits to go down. Shielded enemies have only one attack with a huge wind-up. Combat only gets harder extremely late in the game once enemies with body armor, who can only be taken out using Telekinesis, show up. The only real trick is getting the right perspective to see everything in the environment. You need to be diligent about this to find the extra power babies hidden around every stage, which are worth collecting; they give you extra health, and the descriptions for each are some of the best writing in the game.
Ultimately, even with all his neuroses and nonstop running mouth, Trover is the game’s saving grace.
There’s nothing special about Trover Saves The Universe from a gameplay standpoint. There’s some lip service towards branching paths depending on decisions made during gameplay, but none of them drastically change the game one way or the other, aside from some alternate dialogue in the ending and a few extra trophies (the descriptions for which are hilarious, I might add). That leaves it to the comedy and concept to do most of the heavy lifting, much of which is very aware of its basic nature, and it makes it hard to be bored or unmotivated by how rudimentary it all is when Trover and many of the characters in the world around them are just as irked as you are at having to deal with a lot of the middling parts. Ultimately, even with all his neuroses and nonstop running mouth, Trover is the game’s saving grace. The more Trover adjusts to being your sidekick, the more invested he gets in seeing this quest through, and the more relatable he becomes (even if he is, by his own admission, racist against Chairorpians). He’s the guy trying to save the universe, but just so he can get back to his original plan, which is telling his boss off and getting sloshed at his favorite bar.
Essentially, Trover Saves The Universe is a really messed up alien buddy comedy. The work involved in spending time in this universe with these creatures is easy to a fault, but it’s work being done with a hilarious partner who’s often just as bored, annoyed, angry, or grossed out as you are. It’s not the smoothest ride, but you’ve got the right company.
Apex Legends has been facing numerous issues since launch, including dealing with cheaters, but Respawn Entertainment is committed to improving the game and providing enough content to keep returning players satisfied. The California-based company isn’t divulging too many details yet, but it has teased what’s to come in Season 2 and announced an upcoming, limited-time event that will begin in the free-to-play battle royale game just before E3.
Full details on Season 2 will be shared during the EA Play livestream on Saturday, June 8. Ahead of that reveal, Respawn’s lead product manager, Lee Horn, posted a blog on EA’s website to discuss what’s to come next week.
The headliner is the beginning of the new Legendary Hunt limited-time event. It will last a full two weeks and kicks off on Tuesday, June 6. The event will add an Apex Elite queue (where those who make it into the top five in any match will continue to play against other top fivers), Legendary Hunt rewards (including skins for Bloodhound, Wraith, various weapons, and more), and Battle Pass bonus experience for top fivers in any match. Additionally, double experience weekend returns, starting on Friday, June 7 at 10 AM PT and ending on Monday, June 10 at 10 AM PT.
We’ve heard a few rumblings about the Season 2 Battle Pass for Apex Legends. Though Respawn wants to keep the information as close to the chest as possible, Horn did give some minor details about what to expect from Season 2 of Apex Legends.
To start, daily and weekly challenges will allow you to level up easier. Should you miss any challenges or start late, weekly challenges will remain available to complete and can be completed all at once. Three new Legendary items have been added and one Legendary item will unlock at every 25 Battle Pass levels in the premium pack. Those that reach Battle Pass level 100 will receive an evolving weapon skin, and those that reach Battle Pass level 110 will receive a special recolor version of the skin. Badges and basic stat trackers have been removed from the premium track, while seasonal win trackers will remain in the free track but will be earnable in the first 10 levels. Lastly, voice lines have been replaced by crafting metal. The Season 2 Battle Pass should make earning crafting metal easier and quicker so you can craft that item you’ve been eyeballing.
E3 2019 is just around the corner. With Respawn set to present more information during the EA Play livestream at 10 AM PT on Saturday, June 8, we should walk away from the presentation with a greater understanding of what Respawn’s ideas are for the upcoming season of Apex Legends.
Destiny 2‘s Season of Opulence kicks off on Tuesday, June 4, marking the final new content under its current annual pass subscription. What happens in Destiny 2 after that? There’s been a lot of speculation from players, but it looks like we’re about to find out.
On Twitter, Bungie teased what is seemingly a livestream set to take place at 10 AM PT on Thursday, June 6, to discuss “the next chapter of Destiny 2.” Let the speculation begin, since we have no idea what that next chapter might be.
It’s been clear to Destiny 2 players keeping up with the annual pass–the second since the release of Destiny 2–that Bungie is building its story in a particular direction. The endgame content that came with the Forsaken expansion, concerning the besieged Dreaming City, has slowly unfolded over the last two seasons, hinting that secret enemies are executing plans of which we’ve only seen the edges and margins. That conflict might come to a head in the Season of Opulence, but that seems unlikely since the next content drop returns players to the Leviathan, the scene of Destiny 2’s first raid, and concerns a different group of characters.
The Dreaming City situation doesn’t seem primed to wrap up anytime soon, and that suggests there’s more content coming for Destiny 2 before the release of the seemingly inevitable Destiny 3. A third year of Destiny 2 content is in line with what a lot of players have been expecting, and it would make sense for Bungie to hold back a new Destiny title to correspond with the start of a new console generation.
The timing of the announcement also seems remarkable. Breaking with the usual pattern, Bungie is releasing Destiny 2’s new raid, Crown of Sorrows, with the start of the Season of Opulence, rather than waiting a few days for players to gear up for it. Bungie’s announcement about Destiny 2’s future takes place two days later, which would give the game’s top raid teams all the time they’ll need to finish Crown of Sorrows–and discover whatever story implications it presents. Fans on Reddit are already expecting that whatever happens on the Crown of Sorrows will point players back to the Dreadnaught, a Destiny 1 location that leaks and speculation have suggested would be the setting for the game’s next expansion.
It’s also worth remembering that the Season of Opulence marks the last of the announced Destiny 2 content from before Bungie’s split with publisher Activision. Whatever comes next, it’ll be the first Destiny content Bungie creates purely on its own. With the way Destiny’s story has been going of late, suggesting the approach of more evil aliens and the possibility that some heroes could fall to darkness, there’s a lot the developer could explore.
2009’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game is being remastered for the PlayStation 4. A trailer for the game has been released and confirms that it is being developed by Saber Interactive, which recently worked on World War Z and NBA 2K Playgrounds. The PS4 game is set to launch in 2019.
The trailer states that Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered will feature high-resolution visuals, but there’s no further information on any additional bells and whistles that may be included. It also seems that the original cast will once again be voicing their characters. In the game, players take control of a new member of the team, but work alongside the core cast of the movie franchise.
Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who wrote the original movies, were involved in the creation of the game’s script, and this helped give it authenticity. In GameSpot’s original Ghostbusters: The Video Game review, Kevin VanOrd said, “If you’re a fan of the films, or just like a little bit of supernatural fun, there’s no need to glance about furtively when picking up your copy. Instead, hold your head high, confident that you’ve spent your money on a fun game worthy of its beloved license.
“The production values nail the Ghostbusters vibe. The sound effects in particular are fantastic, from eerie whispers in hotel hallways and groans of bosses to the whooshes and slurps of pulling a ghost into a trap. And while the game isn’t amazing from a technical perspective, a vibrant color palette and detailed ghost designs make the story come alive.”
A new Ghostbusters film is also in production and expected to release in 2020. It is set in the world of the of the original Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989). Jason Reitman (Up In The Air, Juno), the son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, is writing and directing the movie.
