Monthly Archives: June 2020
West Of Dead Review – Run And Cover
There are a lot of reasons to take a look at West of Dead. Cowboys and Wild West aesthetics are hot in games right now, in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2. Run-based games are, likewise, very much a structure du jour. It's dusted with voiceover narration from Ron Perlman, who you might know from Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy films or the FX TV Show Sons of Anarchy. And it certainly doesn't hurt that its core mechanical conceit, as a cover-based twin-stick shooter, helps Frankenstein it to original and, dare I say, innovative gameplay. Unfortunately, West of Dead is a textbook case of a half-baked concept: Though its big sweeping ideas work well, the minutiae, from scaling the difficulty of encounters to unrefined enemies and plain old technical issues, threaten to undo the experience at any time.
West of Dead's conceit builds up a simple but interesting little tale. In Purgatory--which is apparently in Wyoming--the dead have stopped filtering "east" to heaven or "west" to hell. You play an undead cowboy called the Marshall who's lost his memory, save for his mission to kill the evil preacher holding up the afterlife. Though it's more narrative glue than captivating storytelling, the Marshall's inner monologue, in subdued performance from Perlman, keeps the story in mind, evoking a world that you might not see in its generic, monotonous Wild West-themed levels.
Like so many of today's Rogue-inspired games, the story naturally falls away at a certain point, as you play and replay the game over and over, attempting to reach your goal. West of Dead retains many of the tropes established by the many, many rogue-lites that have launched in the last few years, and it cribs its structure specifically from 2018's wildly successful version, Dead Cells. West of Dead procedurally generates long levels, which are punctuated with a store where you must spend Sin points to permanently expand your arsenal of weapons. In each run, you find upgrades to your specs and more powerful gear--two weapons, two accessories, and a passive charm. By defeating optional bosses, you gain access to branching paths with harder levels. You carry an upgradable healing flask, which you refill between levels. There's even a hall at the start of each run where you can see all the weapons and upgrades you've bought. Though it comes dangerously close to getting branded as a "Dead Cells clone," using familiar structure makes it easy to focus on West of Dead's combat, where its real innovations lie.
Continue Reading at GameSpotWarners Launches Investigation Into Ray Fisher’s Justice League Allegations
Our original report from June 29 follows. Cyborg actor Ray Fisher was onstage alongside his fellow Justice League cast members at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 to promote Joss Whedon's reshot, reedited version of the DC movie that Zack Snyder had originally been hired to make. Fisher said at the time, "Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a good person to come in and clean up, finish up for him." That was then. On Monday, Fisher tweeted a video of him saying those very words at SDCC 2017 with this caption: "I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement."Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.
He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment — Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020
Fisher, a theater actor who made his big-screen debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before segueing to Justice League, did not provide any further context for retracting his past praise of Whedon. It's unclear whether Fisher's slam is a personal beef with Whedon or simply about not liking the theatrical version of Justice League that Whedon shepherded, which was mandated to lighten up the darker tone of Snyder's version of the film. It's also worth noting Jason Momoa's stone-faced expression and seemingly half-hearted nod reacting to Fisher's praise. Fisher has long been a supporter of #ReleaseTheSnyderCut on his social media. Given that Snyder gave Fisher, whose sole credit since 2017's Justice League was a recurring role in Season 3 on HBO's True Detective, his start as a screen actor perhaps it's a matter of loyalty for him. However, actor Joe Morton, who played Cyborg's dad Silas Stone, told IGN in 2017 that Whedon's reshoots were in part to alter the tone of the Cyborg character, a creative shift that could get to the heart of Fisher's retraction of his past praise for Whedon. "Well, the stuff that I had to do were just really small little bits and pieces, nothing necessarily having to do with tone. I know that with Ray [Fisher], the young man who plays Victor, there were some adjustments that they made in terms of the tone of that character," according to Morton. "I think what I heard was that there was a need from the studio to lighten up the film in a way, that the film felt too dark. I don't know what that meant in terms of how it actually got translated in terms of the reshoots but that's what I heard. That's what I thought some of the reshoots were about." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-movies-possible-dceu-cameos&captions=true"] This isn't the first time Fisher has criticized creative personnel that worked on past DC films. In June, Fisher responded to a tweet from Suicide Squad director David Ayer who answered a fan question about his film's timeline. In the tweet (seen below), Ayer claims Geoff Johns -- the DC Comics writer who was also then leading point on Warner Bros.' overhaul of DC Films -- added an element to Suicide Squad, which was also infamously retooled before release, that he felt "broke my timeline" of Joker. To which Fisher replied, seemingly throwing shade at Johns, "I feel your pain."I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement: pic.twitter.com/1ECwwu6TG1
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) June 29, 2020
Zack Snyder's Justice League is being completed and is expected to debut on HBO Max in early-to-mid-2021. For more Snyder Cut coverage, watch the first Darkseid clip and find out about some of the visual changes the movie will have from Justice League's theatrical release.I feel your pain...
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) June 10, 2020
Warners Launches Investigation Into Ray Fisher’s Justice League Allegations
Our original report from June 29 follows. Cyborg actor Ray Fisher was onstage alongside his fellow Justice League cast members at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 to promote Joss Whedon's reshot, reedited version of the DC movie that Zack Snyder had originally been hired to make. Fisher said at the time, "Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a good person to come in and clean up, finish up for him." That was then. On Monday, Fisher tweeted a video of him saying those very words at SDCC 2017 with this caption: "I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement."Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.
He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment — Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020
Fisher, a theater actor who made his big-screen debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice before segueing to Justice League, did not provide any further context for retracting his past praise of Whedon. It's unclear whether Fisher's slam is a personal beef with Whedon or simply about not liking the theatrical version of Justice League that Whedon shepherded, which was mandated to lighten up the darker tone of Snyder's version of the film. It's also worth noting Jason Momoa's stone-faced expression and seemingly half-hearted nod reacting to Fisher's praise. Fisher has long been a supporter of #ReleaseTheSnyderCut on his social media. Given that Snyder gave Fisher, whose sole credit since 2017's Justice League was a recurring role in Season 3 on HBO's True Detective, his start as a screen actor perhaps it's a matter of loyalty for him. However, actor Joe Morton, who played Cyborg's dad Silas Stone, told IGN in 2017 that Whedon's reshoots were in part to alter the tone of the Cyborg character, a creative shift that could get to the heart of Fisher's retraction of his past praise for Whedon. "Well, the stuff that I had to do were just really small little bits and pieces, nothing necessarily having to do with tone. I know that with Ray [Fisher], the young man who plays Victor, there were some adjustments that they made in terms of the tone of that character," according to Morton. "I think what I heard was that there was a need from the studio to lighten up the film in a way, that the film felt too dark. I don't know what that meant in terms of how it actually got translated in terms of the reshoots but that's what I heard. That's what I thought some of the reshoots were about." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-movies-possible-dceu-cameos&captions=true"] This isn't the first time Fisher has criticized creative personnel that worked on past DC films. In June, Fisher responded to a tweet from Suicide Squad director David Ayer who answered a fan question about his film's timeline. In the tweet (seen below), Ayer claims Geoff Johns -- the DC Comics writer who was also then leading point on Warner Bros.' overhaul of DC Films -- added an element to Suicide Squad, which was also infamously retooled before release, that he felt "broke my timeline" of Joker. To which Fisher replied, seemingly throwing shade at Johns, "I feel your pain."I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement: pic.twitter.com/1ECwwu6TG1
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) June 29, 2020
Zack Snyder's Justice League is being completed and is expected to debut on HBO Max in early-to-mid-2021. For more Snyder Cut coverage, watch the first Darkseid clip and find out about some of the visual changes the movie will have from Justice League's theatrical release.I feel your pain...
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) June 10, 2020
The Last of Us Part 2 Was Once More Open World in Development
The Last of Us Part 2 Was Once More Open World in Development
Donald Trump’s Official Twitch Channel Suspended
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.”Twitch cited a second comment made during a Twitch stream from Trump’s Tulsa Rally:
“Hey, it’s 1:00 o’clock in the morning and a very tough, I’ve used the word on occasion, hombre, a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911 and they say, “I’m sorry, this number’s no longer working.” By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you’re sleeping.”Twitch told the President’s team when the channel was started last year that, “Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/03/08/president-trumps-violence-in-video-games-highlight-reel"] Several other politicians have Twitch channels, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Trump’s suspension from Twitch comes on the same day Reddit banned subreddits deemed as propagating hateful content, including the r/The_Donald subreddit which is not officially associated with the President. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. Blogroll photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Donald Trump’s Official Twitch Channel Suspended
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.”Twitch cited a second comment made during a Twitch stream from Trump’s Tulsa Rally:
“Hey, it’s 1:00 o’clock in the morning and a very tough, I’ve used the word on occasion, hombre, a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911 and they say, “I’m sorry, this number’s no longer working.” By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you’re sleeping.”Twitch told the President’s team when the channel was started last year that, “Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/03/08/president-trumps-violence-in-video-games-highlight-reel"] Several other politicians have Twitch channels, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Trump’s suspension from Twitch comes on the same day Reddit banned subreddits deemed as propagating hateful content, including the r/The_Donald subreddit which is not officially associated with the President. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. Blogroll photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Some rights reserved.