Month: September 2019

It’s time to clear up some space on your coffee table. Here are our picks for the best universal remotes.

Looking for the best budget gaming TV? We’ve picked out a diverse list of cheap HD, Full HD, and even 4K TVs to meet your needs.

FIFA 20’s Volta Mode lets you create your own character and join a team with hopes of raising your notoriety through tournaments and matches. Here’s an early cutscene and a full 4v4 Volta match, captured on Xbox One X.

I’ve had to reassess the way I’ve played FIFA this year, which is something I haven’t had to do in many years through all the tweaks, changes and so called “game-changing mechanics”. FIFA 20 feels different to previous years; in some ways for the better, but in others not. Volta, a brand-new way to play FIFA that offers a breath of fresh air to the series – albeit not without its own faults – is here, but does it come at the expense of the game as a whole?

Last year, many of FIFA 19’s gameplay innovations were based on the attacking game, from timed-finishes to the basics of how the ball could be nudged into space with a flick of the stick. FIFA 20 swings the pendulum back the other way and puts much more emphasis on the other side of the ball. The way you defend has been overhauled and has never felt more crucial. You can no longer heedlessly charge at a defender, hold down the tackle button, and hope for the best. You’re punished for not thinking about defensive play to the same extent you would building an attack, due to the high level of risk-reward when going in for a challenge; time it well and you’ll likely take the ball cleanly and win possession. Misjudge the timing, however, and you’re punished with a foul or left watching as your opponent skips over your trailing leg.

Continue reading…

With the status of New Mutants unknown, Dark Phoenix may be the last film we’ll see from the current X-Men movie franchise. The movie, which adapts the Dark Phoenix Saga from the comics, wasn’t a massive box office or critical hit, though it does provide some closure to the series of films that launched with 2000’s X-Men.

With Dark Phoenix now available on digital, 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD, we decided to spend some time with the audio commentary included on the home release. Writer/director Simon Kinberg and producer Hutch Parker devote the entirety of the film to discussing the difficulty in filming certain shots, some changes that were made from the script, and several other interesting tidbits–including how fake the Xavier School location is.

Follow along to find out what we learned from the Dark Phoenix home release. And make sure to check out GameSpot’s review of the film, as well as our explanation of the movie’s ending and a look at how the mutant Dazzler was finally brought to life.

1. If New Mutants happens, it won’t be a Fox movie.

“I think this will be the last time we see this in front of an X-Men movie,” Kinberg says over the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

2. Jean Grey’s narration was added late in the process.

“We went back and forth a lot on that opening narration,” Kinberg explained. “That was a late-breaking decision that we wrote in [post production] with our story editor Lee Smith.” He noted that while X-Men movies traditionally have voiceover from Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), they used Jean (Sophie Turner) to open the film to show how different this installment was.

3. Xavier’s mansion is a lie.

Kinberg admits that outside of X-Men 2 and 3, the Xavier School estate has been different for every film. What’s more, though, starting with Days of Future Past, the mansion has been created using CGI. The front door was built, but everything else was created with a computer. They ended up shooting mansion scenes on an abandoned golf course.

4. The crew is everywhere.

Many of those working behind the scenes on Dark Phoenix also got a chance to shine on-camera as they were sprinkled throughout the film as extras and non-speaking characters. The image above of a NASA employee is an assistant director on the movie.

5. This was a nod to X-Men 1.

According to Kinberg, this moment was a tribute to the first X-Men film, with the basketball court opening up to reveal the X-jet.

6. A little something called teamwork.

According to Kinberg, one of his goals was to show the X-Men working together as a team. He doesn’t believe it’s been a regular enough occurrence and went out of his way to make sure we see them working together this time–and working in two separate teams against each other.

7. A very cool cameo.

Shaking hands with Charles in this scene is none other than Dark Phoenix Saga creator Chris Claremont. “He is, I would say, just short of as important to the X-Men as Stan Lee,” Kinberg said.

8. There were very deliberate shot changes.

Unlike previously movies, which used crane and steady-cam shots in most sequences, Kinberg and his team worked in more close-ups and handheld camera moments in the film to further illustrate how different of a story they were telling. “Even this push-in on Charles, as an example, traditionally would be a crane move,” he explained.

9. Juggling schedules was not easy.

With such a big cast filled with in-demand actors, getting them all into certain scenes was not easy. That’s very apparent when the team tries to rescue Jean, with a very odd shot of Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) standing nowhere near the rest of the X-Men. “That shot of Jennifer is not my favorite shot in the entire movie,” Kinberg admitted. “But the reality is when sometimes shooting with these types of ensembles, you don’t get all the actors in the same place at the same time. So you have to shoot what’s called block shooting. If you’ve seen Harry Potter, you know what it looks like. And you just grab Jennifer Lawrence when you got Jennifer Lawrence for that day.”

10. RIP Jennifer Lawrence

According to Kinberg, Jennifer Lawrence revealed to him that this was the first time she’s died in a movie. She survived the Hunger Games, though, so that’s something.

11. Genosha was long in the making.

Kinberg said that he’s wanted to create the mutant island nation of Genosha in the films going as far back as X-Men: The Last Stand. “I’ve always wanted to do it and had the opportunity to do it in this movie,” he explained.

12. Cup problems.

There’s a moment when confronting Jean that Magneto (Michael Fassbender) fumbles slightly when putting a cup on a shelf. According to Kinberg, he tried to use another take of the moment without the fumbling, but the performance wasn’t as good in any other version they captured. “That one annoys me a little bit,” he admitted.

13. That’s not the French consulate.

In designing the headquarters for the D’Bari alien race, Kinberg says the compound was initially made to look like the French consulate, which includes the rug scene above. However, they dropped that idea from the movie after it was built. Instead, these aliens just love France.

14. Getting Han Zimmer wasn’t easy.

Kinberg says he emailed, called, and begged composer Han Zimmer to come out of superhero movie retirement to create the score for Dark Phoenix. “I think the reason he committed to doing the film was this was going to be a different kind of superhero film,” the director said.

15. That’s not New York City.

While it seems as though mutants are fighting on the streets of New York in one of the movie’s more significant action scenes, the set was actually built on a soundstage in Montreal, where the rest of the movie was shot. The crew used digital set extensions to complete the block.

16. About that subway…

Producer Hutch Parker says Kinberg was convinced early on that he wanted to include the sequence where Magneto pulls a subway car through the ground. However, Parker admits he didn’t think it would work. In the end, they were both happy with how it turned out–and that they didn’t have to destroy an actual city street to do it.

17. Charles walking was James McAvoy’s idea.

As originally scripted, Jean was supposed to torture Charles in his chair when he finally made it into the D’Bari compound. However, James McAvoy believed it would be a far darker moment if Jean forced him out of the chair and made him walk to her. He was right.

18. Nightcrawler has more than jokes.

Kinberg said a concerted effort was made to give Nightcrawler a more severe and darker edge in this movie, rather than remaining as comic relief. To reach that turning point, the film shows a member of the military who trusted the X-Men dying in his arms after an attack by the D’Bari.

19. What a way to end it.

The final scene filmed for the movie is the final encounter between Xavier and Erik. It’s a fitting end to the franchise. “This notion that these guys started as strangers, became enemies, and by the end become brothers is a very emotional journey to me,” Kinberg said.

We venture around the gritty neon town of Stellar Bay to get to the bottom of a murder. The Outer Worlds will arrive on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 25th.

The gruesome opening of Blasphemous bluntly sets the stage for the type of game you’re in for. After awakening amongst a sea of deceased worshipers, the silent protagonist, known only as The Penitent One, slowly makes his way through a long-abandoned citadel. Blocking his exit, however, is a so-called warden who wields a golden chandelier as a club. After dodging its attacks and striking when its most vulnerable, The Penitent One removes his helmet near the slain beast, fills it with the blood of the defeated foe, and immediately pours it over his head.

It’s undoubtedly an over-the-top intro, yet its feats pale in comparison to the other horrors that await. Blasphemous is an exceedingly bleak adventure with strong religious undertones throughout. What’s driving you as The Penitent One is your goal to find the source of the mysterious Miracle, a supernatural force that has created tangible manifestations of people’s guilt throughout the land. The structure for Blasphemous’ peculiar narrative and hack-and-slash gameplay pays hearty tribute to the Souls series and metroidvania subgenre. Though this reverence for established formulas can come off as derivative, the concepts are suited perfectly to the macabre atmosphere.

Despite its grim nature, however, there is an alluring quality to the dark setting. It can often be oppressive with how unrelenting it all is, yet I still felt intrigued by it all. Some of the most fascinating and exciting moments come from unraveling more locations and minor storylines that fold back onto themselves, reconnecting forgotten areas and characters in unexpected ways. Blasphemous has an array of stoic NPCs with unique motivations and stakes–whether you’re trying to ease the suffering of afflicted peasants or assisting a pilgrim struggling to complete his ill-fated pilgrimage, there’s an emotional investment in figuring out how this nightmarish reality came to be. This investment is bolstered by the game’s stunning visuals, which convey a sense of dread that feels increasingly palpable as new areas are introduced.

Blasphemous’ impeccably detailed sprite artwork gives a greater presence to the grotesque monsters and locales that you’ll come to know well throughout the journey. Nearly every area of the game features a climactic battle, which has you face off against some lavishly designed boss that offers a fun and challenging change of pace from the long hallways filled with monsters and spike-filled pitfalls. Most of these boss battles are a real standout in Blasphemous, which pit you against extravagant and grotesque monsters–like the giant baby who will rip The Penitent One limb from limb if you get too close to it. Many of these clashes are where the heavy religious imagery reaches its peak, making for some particularly gruesome fights that pull upon larger themes of repentance and sacrifice.

There’s an impressive level of world-building in the game, and several essential items and artifacts throughout also feature unique bits of lore that flesh out the land’s history. A few of the characters also have minor quests that can span an entire playthrough, some of which are entirely missable given how loose the game’s sense of direction is. From the opening, and all the way to the climax, Blasphemous leans heavily on that familiar loop of exploration, discovery, and the ensuing trials by traversal and combat.

It’s simple enough to get into the rhythm of trading steel with foes and leaping across perilous jumps, though you’ll most certainly suffer from an inevitable death at some point–often in gruesome fashion. There are a generous amount of spawn points, and without the loss of currency upon death, death isn’t as taxing as it seems. However, repeated deaths will accrue guilt, weakening your mana bar and currency gain. If you don’t shake off the guilt by returning to your death-point or spending the funds to purge at guilt statues, your character will become significantly disadvantaged. This system is lenient enough that you don’t feel too discouraged about death, yet it still inspires anxiety in life or death situations, such as a leap of faith across a bottomless pit.

Blasphemous’ impeccably detailed sprite artwork gives a greater presence to the grotesque monsters and locales that you’ll come to know well throughout the journey.

While these mechanics surrounding death are undeniably influenced by From Software’s Souls games, Blasphemous isn’t just a 2D Dark Souls experience. It shares more blood with classic action games like Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, putting less of a focus on RPG mechanics and more on the in-the-moment action and platforming. The core combat and traversal systems are lean and very reflex-driven, and you’ll spend most of your time honing your limited, yet still refined skills. One of the more satisfying moments can come from successfully parrying strikes with your sword, opening up a gory execution attack on your opponent. To give you more of an edge, you can boost your attributes with collectible relics and other upgrades, allowing you to stand against the tougher challenges with greater ease.

As you rack up new abilities, access to new areas opens up, revealing pathways from previous locations that can give you a renewed sense of appreciation for the world itself. However, while these new skills and tools present some change, the core gameplay of running, jumping, and slashing from the opening hour to the closing act remains mostly the same. Without any significant advancements to your skillset, later sections of the game come across as incredibly repetitive and, at worst, dull.

This feeling is magnified by how tedious exploration can be after getting settled with the lay of the land. While fast-travel points are present, they’re few and far between, meaning you have to hoof it through long stretches of treacherous dungeons you’ve come to know inside and out. During these backtracking sessions, you continue to fight the same enemies with the same abilities. Moreover, you can easily fall prey to a stray projectile from an out-of-sight enemy, sending you careening down onto spike traps. This can be especially frustrating when handling particular tasks that require you to avoid death in order to complete them.

The lack of change in the overall flow is noticeable, especially when approaching the mid-to-late portion of the game. As the plot escalates, showing off increasingly spellbinding visuals, your tactics and the general flow see little change. This is disappointing for a game that prides itself on a core loop that’s about revealing hidden details around you and overcoming more challenging foes. Still, I can’t deny that Blasphemous presents an evocative setting that becomes far grimmer as it progresses.

Though it can be frustrating that its core gameplay never evolves past the often one-note rhythm of hacking and jumping across different levels, keeping it from reaching greater heights, I still came away impressed with how much Blasphemous stuck close to its haunting, dark storyline. To that end, playing through this send-up to metroidvania games was a satisfying trial to overcome in its own right.

Activision is giving players another chance to try out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ahead of its release. The game’s second open beta session kicks off tomorrow those who’ve pre-ordered the game on Xbox One and PC (as well as all player on PS4). If you fall in that category, you can now pre-load the beta client on your respective platform, and if you’re planning on jumping in on PC, Activision has revealed what kind of rig you’ll need to run the test.

On its official site, the publisher shared a blog post detailing the minimum and recommended specs your PC will need for the Modern Warfare beta. In both cases, you’ll need to have a DirectX 12-compatible system, a DirectX-compatible sound card, and at least 45 GB of space on your hard drive. You can take a look at the full minimum and recommended specs below:

Minimum Specs

• Requires DirectX 12 compatible system
• OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (SP1) or Windows 10 64-Bit (1709 or later)
• CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k or AMD equivalent
• Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 2GB / GTX 1650 4GB or AMD Radeon HD 7950
• RAM: 8GB RAM
• HDD: 45GB HD space
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

Recommended Specs

• Requires DirectX 12 compatible system
• OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest Service Pack)
• CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k or AMD equivalent
• Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB / GTX 1660 6GB or AMD Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580
• RAM: 16GB RAM
• HDD: 45GB HD space
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

The first Modern Warfare open beta took place last week on PS4 from September 12-15. This week, Activision is expanding the test to include Xbox One and PC players as well. If you pre-ordered any edition of the game on those platforms, you’ll get early access to the beta from September 19-20. The test will then open up to all players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC from September 21-23.

Among other things, this week’s beta test will give players their first chance to sample cross-play (although you can opt out of that if you so choose). The beta will also feature Ground War, a massive team-based multiplayer mode that can support 100 players. You can read more about the upcoming test in our Modern Warfare beta roundup.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 25. Unlike previous games in the series, Activision says that “most” of Modern Warfare’s DLC will launch simultaneously on all platforms rather than arriving first on PS4, but the publisher teased that PS4 players will “have an exciting day one advantage.” It’s still unclear what the publisher means by that, but in the meantime, you can find out where to secure your own copy of the game in our Modern Warfare pre-order guide.

As developer DICE prepares Star Wars Battlefront II for its upcoming Cooperation update, publisher EA has confirmed that the first-person shooter will add the planet Felucia to the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One game on September 25.

According to an EA blog post, Felucia is broken up into five distinct posts, each with a set theme. Command Post Village will feature structures that “almost blend into the environment.” Command Post Sarlacc is a “narrow structure overlook[ing] the now-deceased Sarlacc.” Command Post Farm is a “relatively open [area]” with multiple entrances. Command Post Caves contains a “network of open-air caves” in a fairly secluded location. Finally, Command Post Swamp is “surrounded by fairly open terrain” with an ample amount of cover.

EA says that while Felucia looks captivating, the environment is pretty hostile. Harmless-looking mushrooms will explode and a few of the planet’s flora can leave behind a dangerous gas that will inflict damage on anyone caught in it. Felucia comes packaged in Battlefront II’s Cooperation update, which is scheduled to launch on September 25. Full release notes are expected to arrive early next week.

In June, franchise design director Dennis Brännvall outlined some new content headed to Battlefront II. This includes the Droidekas and the Galactic Republic TX-130 tank from the Clone Wars. Further, DICE revealed a roadmap for Battlefront II that features new single-player content, a four-player online co-op mode, tweaks and changes to certain game types, and more.

Battlefront II is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game comes included in an EA Access/EA Play subscription on PC/Xbox One.