Call of Duty: WWII Ditches Superheroes for Humanity and Horror
Call of Duty, and shooters in general, have slowly moved away from telling the stories of flawed, limited humans, instead focusing on giving players the power fantasy of embodying what amounts to a defacto superhero. Wall running, double jumping, future tech – these all work in harmony to give us an experience that’s fun, rather than one that bears any semblance to reality. But with Call of Duty: WWII, developer Sledgehammer Games wants to change that.
I spent the afternoon at Sledgehammer’s studio speaking with developers of every discipline, seeing a handful of different levels, and digging through the mission statement of Call of Duty: WWII. Here’s what I learned.
Call of Duty: WWII Release Date, Beta Officially Confirmed
Activision has confirmed just when Call of Duty: WWII will be released, while also offering the first details about the game’s campaign.
Following a leak of marketing materials earlier this week, Activision announced today that Call of Duty: WWII, developed by Sledgehammer Games, will release for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 3. Those who pre-order Call of Duty: WWII will get access to a private beta later this year, which will be available first on PS4.
Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels Expansion Coming Next Month
Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels, the open-world racer's second expansion pack, will be released on May 9 for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs.
The expansion adds a new campaign, a new mode called Playground Arena, 28 achievements, and 10 cars, including Hot Wheels classics such as the Twin Mill and Bone Shaker. It also includes six new islands, all connected by Hot Wheels' signature orange tracks, featuring "boost pads, high-bank turns, half-pipes, insane jumps, and even giant mechanical dinosaurs," according to Xbox Wire.
The Hot Wheels expansion will be free for Expansion Pass owners or available on its own for $20 USD.
Gravity Rush 2 Gets Nier: Automata Outfit as Free DLC
Gravity Rush 2 players will soon be able to dress up Kat as 2B from Nier: Automata, thanks to a free outfit that will release as DLC for the game on next month.
The official PlayStation Twitter account shared the news, along with a trio of images showcasing the outfit, which you can check out in the gallery below:
2B's outfit is one of many outfits Kat can wear. There are a total of twelve featured in the base game, plus another handful for those who own Gravity Rush Remastered. Check out our Gravity Rush 2 costume wiki for a look at the array of alternate outfits Kat can wear, and for our thoughts on the game, read IGN's Gravity Rush 2 review.
Why Pixar Revealed Cars 3 With Lightning McQueen’s Crash
Cars 3 made its first splash with an unexpectedly dark teaser trailer. The franchise’s hero, Lightning McQueen, suffers a seemingly fatal crash, toppling end over end across the race track, battered and broken.
It’s a surprisingly grim way to reveal the next entry in a franchise beloved by a younger audiences and intended for families around the world. But that’s the impression the filmmakers of the third Cars film not only anticipated — it’s the one they were hoping audiences would be left with after the trailer.
"We had one thing we wanted to say," director Brian Fee said during a recent press event for Cars 3, which hits theaters on June 16. "We wanted to basically come right out of the gate and say this is probably not the Cars movie you're expecting, because the Cars movie we're making is probably not the Cars movie you're expecting.
Jonathan Demme, Director of Silence of the Lambs, Has Died
Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of Silence of the Lambs, has died at the age of 73. The veteran filmmaker reportedly died due to complications from heart disease, as well as esophageal cancer.
Demme's death was confirmed early this morning.
Jonathan Demme (right) on the set of Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep and Rick Springfield
Arrival’s Eric Heisserer Unleashes Valiant’s Secret Weapons
With Valiant’s new Secret Weapons comic book coming in June, we chatted with writer Eric Heisserer about what to expect from the new series.
Heisserer’s name may sound familiar because he wrote the screenplay for last year’s sci-fi hit Arrival, which earned him an Oscar nomination. He’s also working on two screenplays for Valiant’s upcoming movie slate, which we ask him about at the end of this interview.
Secret Weapons follows the hero Livewire as she tracks down people discarded from Harbringer’s super-power program for having abilities deemed useless -- talking to birds, making an object softly glow, etc.
A villain named Rexo (re-introduced from Valiant’s publishing past) is hunting them down for mysterious reasons, so Livewire makes it her mission to find and protect them. They might seem useless at first glance, but they will be her secret weapons.
PlayStation Plus May Free Games Revealed
May's set of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers has been revealed, with beautiful ocean explorer, Abzu at the forefront.
The complete Tales from the Borderlands series makes up the other half of this month's very strong PS4 offerings.
Check out the full line-up of games below:
- Tales from the Borderlands, PS4
- Abzu, PS4
- Blood Knights, PS3
- Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants, PS3
- Laser Disco Defenders, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4)
McDonald’s Happy Meals Now Include Mario Toys
Nintendo and McDonald's have joined forces to put Mario toys into Happy Meals from April 26 until May 22.
There are eight different toys, including Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Princess Peach, Invincible Mario, a 1-Up Mushroom, and a Red Koopa Shell. Invincible Mario will light up in different colors, and Nintendo teased a similar "special function" in each of the other toys.
McDonald's Super Mario Happy Meal toys.
Lucasfilm: No Restoration of Original Star Wars Trilogy
Lucasfilm doesn't plan on restoring the original versions of the first Star Wars trilogy anytime soon.
In an interview with Steelewars Podcast, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy confirmed they won't alter George Lucas' version of the trilogy and will leave the first three films (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) the way Lucas did when he revisited them in the 1990s.
"I wouldn't touch those, are you kidding me?", said Kennedy. "Those will always remain his."
When Lucas changed the original trilogy by adding new scenes and special effects in the '90s, he reportedly altered the actual film prints, with the original cuts apparently no longer in existence. Lucasfilm would have to reassemble them, but it seems that won't be happening.