Monthly Archives: September 2016
Dishonored 2: Messing Around With Emily’s Crazy Powers
The sheer anticipation of seeing the next cool gadget, spectacular spell, or awe-inspiring environment can be a driving force on its own, and the most recent demo I played Dishonored 2 conjured that feeling up for me. If I were to sum up my latest turn with it in one sentence, it would be, “What will I see next?” The striking art style, Emily’s crazy powers, and the spectacular transforming walls of the Clockwork Mansion all left me wondering what treats the rest of Dishonored 2 might have in store.
The mission I played, The Clockwork Mansion, takes place roughly half way through the game, tasking Emily or Corvo with two possible objectives: find and rescue your old friend Anton Sokolov and deal with his captor, Kirin Jindosh, whose clockwork mansion has more hidden rooms than Wayne Manor. The original Dishonored was full of beautiful architecture, but the shifting walls in Jindosh’s estate take things to a new level. With a single pull of the many levers I found throughout the area, stair cases transformed, floors broke away, and walls did flip-flops, transforming the landscape around me. It felt like the kind of spectacle many games would save for a finale. If this is an environment halfway through the game, I can’t even imagine what might follow or top it.
Batman, Joker Are 2016’s Top Adult Halloween Costumes
Despite the negative critical reception garnered by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad earlier this year, popularity for the Batman franchise is quite high this Halloween, as the top costume choice among adults between the ages of 18 and 34-years-old is a character from the Caped Crusader's universe.
According to the National Retail Federation's list for this year's top costumes (via TIME), superheroes in general were the top choice among children, just ahead of princesses and animals. Meanwhile, Batman characters, including The Joker, Harley Quinn and Batman, were the top choice among adults under 35 years of age (the list groups related characters together rather than individually rank each of them).
2 New Gears of War 4 Xbox One S Bundles Announced
Microsoft has unveiled two new Gears of War 4 Xbox One S bundles ahead of the shooter's October 11 release.
The first includes Gears of War 4 and a 1 TB white console, according to Xbox Wire. This standard bundle will be available worldwide October 11 for $350 USD.
The second, "special edition" bundle features a 500 GB "deep blue" console and will only be available in the US and Australia for $300 USD. This bundle, exclusive to Microsoft Stores and GameStop (EB Games for Australian shoppers), hits stores November 1.
The deep blue Xbox One S Gears 4 bundle. Image via Xbox
Ranking Halloween Horror Nights’ Awesome Mazes
As a huge fan of Halloween Horror Nights at both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, I love visiting each park every year to see the various mazes. While many of the mazes at the two parks are based on the same property, they are never the exact same, as they are made by different teams for completely different types of configurations and buildings, often resulting in wildly different experiences.
A few days ago, I did my ranking for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, and if you compare my new list below ranking the 2016 mazes at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Hollywood, you’ll find several shared titles with Orlando that have quite different positioning.
War for the Planet of the Apes Coming to NYCC
Those attending New York Comic-Con next week will have the opportunity to get an early glimpse of War for the Planet of the Apes, as 20th Century Fox will showcase a sneak peek of the upcoming film at the convention.
According to Deadline, director Matt Reeves will be joined by motion-capture master and Caesar star Andy Serkis as well as the film's producer, Dylan Clark, to provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the next installment in Fox's Planet of the Apes series. The event will take place at the Regal E-Walk Theater on Thursday, October 6 at 8:30pm.
Paramount Explains Ghost in the Shell’s Glitch Teasers
Several brief teasers for the upcoming Ghost in the Shell live-action film aired during the Mr. Robot: Season 2 finale, and a Paramount Pictures exec has come forward to explain why.
According to Paramount president of worldwide distribution and marketing Megan Colligan, the strategic placement of these 10-second clips was to stir up buzz on social media. In fact, Deadline reports that the studio's marketing team persuaded the sales executives at NBCUniversal and USA to go along with these unconventionally-short and nondescript TV spots.
Ash vs Evil Dead: 7 Reasons Ash Rules
Ash vs. Evil Dead's Season 2 premiere airs on Starz this October 2nd, and to honor the show's gloriously gory return we're taking a quick look at what makes the franchise's battling bonehead of a hero, Ash Williams (iconically portrayed by Bruce Campbell), so damn awesome.
First appearing in 1981's The Evil Dead, Ash, along with his girlfriend, sister and a couple of friends, visited a remote cabin in the woods where he accidentally awakened demonic spirits from beyond. Ash, bloody and disremembered, would survive the night, but then he'd go through all of it again in Evil Dead II - the horror/comedy reboot-quel.
The swashbuckling Army of Darkness would follow in 1992 and then Starz' Ash vs. Evil Dead would resurrect Ash decades later for a new rambunctious run. So how can one man be such an ass and an ass-kicker? How can a hero be so dense but then also be so diabolically good at demolishing deadites? Ash has always been the "reluctant hero," never really stepping up until pushed too far. Selfish to a fault, Ash's own idiocy usually causes the actual trouble he has to clean up. Good thing he's the Boomstick Butcher with the Chainsaw Hand.
Pokemon Generations Episode 4 Released
The Pokemon Company has just released the fourth episode in its web-exclusive series, Pokemon Generations.
Episode 4, aptly titled "Lake of Rage," centers around the Elite Four's iconic Dragon Master, Lance, who travels to the aforementioned lake to investigate reports of an abnormally combative Red Gyarados.
New episodes of Pokemon Generations will launch every week, right up until December 23. The series will feature a total of 18 episodes, with each spotlighting key characters and moments from the first six generations of the popular franchise. You can watch the first two episodes here, and last week's Elite Four-focused episode here.
Lego Releases New Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Sets
Disney and Lego have released a whole new set of Star Wars Lego sets to celebrate Force Friday and the upcoming release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Five new vehicle sets with accompanying minifigures have released, as well as three buildable figures, which include Jyn Erso, the new droid K-2SO, and an Imperial Death Trooper. Take a look at the sets below:
The new sets include: an Imperial Assault Hovertank, an AT-ST Walker, a TIE Striker, a Rebel U-Wing Fighter, and Krennic's Imperial Shuttle. All of the figures and sets, as well as more images of each, are currently available on Amazon.
Daily Deals: Uncharted 4, PS Plus, The Last of Us Remastered
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Get PS Plus for $50 While It Lasts
Amazon is currently offering PS Plus for $50 again. In case you missed the news, the price of PS Plus went up to $60 last week, so you should really snag a year (or two) at the old price, because why pay more?
