It’s almost June, and that means PlayStation Plus subscribers are getting a new batch of free PS5 and PS4 games very soon as part of their subscriptions. Sony announced these games on Wednesday, and they include Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, Star Wars: Squadrons, and Operation Tango, all of which will be available beginning June 1.
PS5’s Operation Tango is launching day one for PlayStation Plus on Tuesday, June 1. A cooperative spy adventure game, Operation Tango is set in the near future and lets you play as a Hacker or Agent as you work together with only your voice to communicate. As such, the game requires both players to have a microphone. Check out the trailer below to learn more.
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, meanwhile, is a remaster from Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for PS4. It also makes its day one debut through PlayStation Plus, and it will also be available through PlayStation Now. The game has a redesigned UI and improved visuals.
“This project started as a part of Sega’s 60th Anniversary Celebration; it was made as a gift for our community,” chief producer Seiji Aoki said in a chat with GameSpot prior to the reveal. “We want as many people to play it as possible. Launching on both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now allows us to offer the definitive Virtua Fighter experience as an essentially ‘free’ game for millions of players around the world, many of whom may just be trying out the series for the first time!”
Star Wars: Squadrons was originally released in October 2020. The multiplayer dogfighting space game also has a single-player campaign that takes place after the events of Return of the Jedi. You alternate between playing as the Empire and the New Republic.
Best PS Plus deal
You can snag a 12-month PS Plus code for $37.50 at eBay.
While you wait for June’s PS Plus games to arrive, now is a great time to grab the remaining freebies from May before they go away. These include Battlefield V, Stranded Deep, and Wreckfest: Drive Hard Die Last.
June 2021 PS Plus Free Games
Star Wars: Squadrons (available until July 5)
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (available until August 2)
A new series of character posters for the Marvel show Loki has been released. The series premieres on Disney on June 9.
The posters show the four main characters. There’s Loki himself, played by Tom Hiddleston, and three members of the Time Variance Authority, namely Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), Ravonna Lexus Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku). Check them out below:
As the posters suggest, the theme of time travel is set to be central to Loki. The version of Loki in the show is one from the past who created a new timeline in Avengers Endgame–the present day Loki having been killed by Thanos. The Time Variance Authority monitors timelines within the Marvel universe, and will presumably have something to day about Loki skipping around in time. The organization first appeared in a 1986 issue of Thor, but this will be their first appearance in the MCU.
Loki also stars Sophia Di Martino, Richard E. Grant, Sasha Lane, Erika Coleman, and Eugene Cordero. Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) is the head writer and Kate Herron (Sex Education) is the director. The series will have six episodes–check out the trailer here.
Loki is the third MCU Disney+ show, following WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. There are plenty more series in the works, including She-Hulk, Ms Marvel, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight.
A host of new names have been added to the cast of the upcoming Netflix series The Sandman. The show is the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved comic book.
The series has added some high profile names to its already impressive cast. These include Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place, Killing Eve) in the role of Death, Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Victoria) as Desire, Joely Richardson (Color Out of Space) as Ethel Cripps, Stephen Fry (Bones, Veep) as Gilbert, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as John Dee, and Patton Oswalt (MODOK, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as the voice of Matthew the Raven. Check out the full list of new cast members below:
Sandman Cast
Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death
Mason Alexander Park as Desire
Donna Preston as Despair
Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine
Niamh Walsh as Young Ethel Cripps
Joely Richardson as Ethel Cripps
David Thewlis as John Dee
Kyo Ra as Rose Walker
Stephen Fry as Gilbert
Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall
Sandra James Young as Unity Kincaid
Patton Oswalt as Matthew The Raven
The first casting announcements for The Sandman were made back in January. The show will also star Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Asim Chaundhry as Abel, and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain.
The Sandman is currently in production, but doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet. In a statement, Gaiman revealed that he’s regularly sent footage by Netflix. He said, “Every afternoon I get an email telling me that there are ‘dailies’ from The Sandman ready to be watched. It’s the best bit of the day. Once every couple of weeks I get an email letting me know that there’s a finished episode waiting for me to watch it. It’s the best bit of the month.”
The Sandman comic first debuted in 1988, written by Neil Gaiman and art by Sam Keith (issues 1-5) and Mike Dringenberg. The series follows Dream–who is also called The Sandman, Morpheus, Lord of Dreaming, The Shaper, etc–who has been a prisoner for 70 years and must rebuild his kingdom, which has collapsed in his absence.
The series ran until 1996, spanning 76 issues. There have also been numerous spin-offs, including the 2013 limited series The Sandman: Overture. The Sandman series helped pave the way for Vertigo Comics, a DC imprint for darker, more adult comics series.
The Sandman adaptation has been a long time coming. There was a previous attempt made in 2016, when Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon-Levitt was on board to star and produce a movie version, but that collapsed when Gordon-Levitt walked away, stating that he and studio executives couldn’t “see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special.”
Before Ben Affleck signed on to play Batman in Batman v Superman, director Zack Snyder had his eye on a different actor for the role. He said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was looking at Belgian actor and director Matthias Schoenaerts for the part.
Schoenaerts has appeared in numerous films, including Red Sparrow and Netflix’s The Old Guard in recent years. He never put on the Batsuit, but Snyder confirmed he created a “bunch of mock-ups” of what Schoenaerts would look like as Batman. This was all happening because Affleck hadn’t yet made a decision, so Snyder was considering other options.
“Ben was on the fence. And I don’t blame him,” Snyder said. “Everyone should be on the fence when you’re asked, ‘Do you want to play Batman?'”
Affleck ultimately signed on to play Batman, and he portrayed the character in Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. He’s coming back to wear the cape once again for The Flash alongside Michael Keaton, who will also play Batman. Yes, there will be two Batmans, or Batmen, in the movie.
Also during the podcast, Snyder said Warner Bros. considered putting Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight series in the same universe as Snyder’s Superman movie Man of Steel, which released in 2013, one year after The Dark Knight Rises.
“It was not 100% off the table. We did talk about it a little bit,” Snyder said.
Snyder’s latest film is Army of the Dead for Netflix, which is streaming now. Looking ahead, Snyder does not plan to make another superhero film. “I don’t really have like a burning desire to make another comic book movie, I’ll say,” he told Deadline after the release of the Justice League Snyder Cut earlier this year.
Robert Pattinson is the next actor to play Batman; he’ll appear in the title role in director Matt Reeves’ upcoming movie, The Batman, which releases March 2022.
It’s a big day for Epic’s Unreal Engine, as the Fortnite studio announced on Wednesday that Unreal Engine 5 is now available in early access for game developers ahead of its public release in early 2022. Not only that, but Epic also released a stunning new tech demo showing off the new engine and its capabilities, and it’s very, very impressive.
The Valley of the Ancient tech demo shows off new features like Nanite and Lumen that promise to provide a “generational leap” in visual fidelity. The video also covers some of the new systems for developers, such as World Partition, which breaks big game worlds down into chunks so developers can streamline their processes and work more efficiently. Additionally, Unreal Engine 5 now has Quixel built in, so developers can more quickly and easily incorporate photorealistic items and objects into games.
Made with Unreal Engine 5
There are only a handful of games so far that have been announced for Unreal Engine 5, and one of them is Epic’s own Fortnite. The studio said today that it continues to work on the Unreal Engine 5 transition for the game, but it’s not quite ready yet.
“As always, we’re committed to battle-testing the engine in-house, as we prepare to ship Fortnite on UE5 across all platforms down the line,” Epic said.
Unreal Engine 5 should be ready in “early” 2022 for all developers, Epic said, though of course developers may also choose to stay with Unreal Engine 4. As for the early access version, it’s meant to give studios a first look at the technology, with additional features and further enhancements coming for the full 5.0 release next year.
Valley of the Ancient
The Valley of the Ancient demo is free for developers to download and tinker with as a sample project to help familiarize themselves with the new tools.
“Valley of the Ancient is a rich and practical example of how the new features included with Unreal Engine 5 early access can be used, and is the result of our internal stress-testing,” Epic said.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5
Developers are free to modify the project and tailor it to their liking. Like the previous tech demo, Lumen in the Land of Nanite, Valley of the Ancient is not a real game that Epic plans to sell or offer down the road; instead, it’s a showcase of the new engine and its capabilities.
Here is a look at the new Valley of the Ancient showcase and more:
What’s New In Unreal Engine 5
Epic also provided a rundown of the core pillars of what’s new in Unreal Engine 5. You can see the full text at the bottom of the page, but two of the biggest pieces are Nanite and Lumen. Nanite is a “virtualized micropolygon system” that allows developers to import “film-quality” assets with “millions” of polygons directly into the game.
“Nanite intelligently streams and processes only the detail you can perceive, largely removing poly count and draw call constraints, and eliminating time-consuming tasks such as baking details to normal maps and manually authoring LODs–freeing you up to concentrate on creativity,” Epic said.
Lumen, meanwhile, is described as a “fully dynamic global illumination solution” that features advancements to Unreal Engine 4’s lighting systems to make light look and react more realistically. “With Lumen, indirect lighting adapts on the fly to changes to direct lighting or geometry, such as changing the sun’s angle with the time of day, turning on a flashlight, or opening an exterior door,” Epic said.
Also, Lumen does away with the need to author lightmaps or wait for them to bake–which Epic says could often take many hours.
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This is just a sampling of what’s new in Unreal Engine 5–check out the full rundown of details written by Epic below to learn more.
Epic’s engineering VP Nick Penwarden tells GameSpot that the overarching idea and purpose of Unreal Engine 5 is to give developers even more power and control. Developers should also expect a more streamlined experience with Unreal Engine 5.
“We’re really looking at a combination of where the new technology that we’ve been able to build can help to create new, better, and more streamlined workflows,” Penwarden said. “So with Nanite, the ability to ingest high-polygon models directly rather than needing to go and build custom [level of details] for that purpose or with Lumen not having to go pre-bake [global illumination] and create lightmap UVs and go through an overnight baking process, but rather being able to dynamically light your scene. I think the World Partition and UI redesign all have that common thread of how do we streamline and make the developing experience better across the board.”
The new World Partition feature could be a big deal as well, Penwarden says, because it will allow developers to edit their maps as if they are a single unit.
“The idea of being able to edit the world as if it’s just one big map rather than having to subdivide it up manually into sub-levels for the purposes of editing or streaming content,” he said.
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Epic’s Unreal Engine is also used to help make the Disney show Star Wars: The Mandalorian, and specifically to create virtual sets. Penwarden says the advancements coming with Unreal Engine 5 should help improve workflows for those tools, too.
“I don’t know that I can talk specifically about that show but I can say all of the tools and technology we’re building now, it will be in UE5 and it will take the virtual production workflows that we’ve built in UE4 and make sure they’re working in UE5 as well,” he said. “So basically all of these technologies will come together with the full release of UE5 to power virtual production workflows, and technology like real-time high-quality global illumination, as well as being able to import film-quality assets directly, I think is going to have a huge impact on virtual production workflows and the workflow and their ability to iterate on set.”
GameSpot will bring you more from our conversation with Penwarden and senior technology designer Chance Ivey in the days ahead, so keep checking back for more.
Unreal Engine 5 New Features And Systems
Descriptions written by Epic Games
Nanite
Our new Nanite virtualized micropolygon system lets users create games with massive, unprecedented amounts of geometric detail. Directly import film-quality source assets comprised of millions of polygons and place them millions of times, all while maintaining a real-time frame rate, and without any noticeable loss of fidelity. Nanite intelligently streams and processes only the detail you can perceive, largely removing poly count and draw call constraints, and eliminating time-consuming tasks such as baking details to normal maps and manually authoring LODs–freeing you up to concentrate on creativity.
Lumen
Lumen is a fully dynamic global illumination solution that lets users create dynamic, believable scenes. With Lumen, indirect lighting adapts on the fly to changes to direct lighting or geometry, such as changing the sun’s angle with the time of day, turning on a flashlight, or opening an exterior door. This means you no longer have to author lightmap UVs, wait for lightmaps to bake, or place reflection captures–you can simply create and edit lights inside the Unreal Editor and see the same final lighting as when the game is run on console.
Open Worlds
One of our goals is to make the creation of open worlds faster, easier, and more collaborative for teams of all sizes. The new World Partition system in Unreal Engine 5 changes how levels are managed and streamed, automatically dividing the world into a grid and streaming the necessary cells. Team members can also simultaneously work on the same region of the same World without stepping on each other’s toes via the new One File Per Actor system. Data Layers allow you to create different variations of the same World—such as daytime and nighttime versions—as layers that exist in the same space.
Animation
Author incredibly detailed characters in dynamic, real-time environments with Unreal Engine 5’s powerful animation toolset. Working in context, you can iterate faster and more accurately, without the need for time-consuming round-tripping. Artist-friendly tools like Control Rig let you quickly create rigs and share them across multiple characters; pose them in Sequencer and save and apply the poses with the new Pose Browser; and easily create natural movement with the new Full-Body IK solver. And with Motion Warping, you can dynamically adjust a character’s root motion to align to different targets with a single animation.
MetaSounds
Unreal Engine 5 introduces a fundamentally new way of making audio, with MetaSounds, a high-performance system that offers complete control over audio DSP graph generation of sound sources, letting users manage all aspects of audio rendering to drive next-generation procedural audio experiences. MetaSounds is analogous to a fully programmable material and rendering pipeline, bringing all the benefits of procedural content creation to audio that the Material Editor brings to shaders: dynamic data-driven assets, the ability to map game parameters to sound playback, huge workflow improvements, and much more.
Editor Workflow
The revamped Unreal Editor provides an updated visual style, streamlined workflows, and optimized use of screen real estate, making it easier, faster, and more pleasing to use. To free up more space for viewport interactions, we’ve added the ability to easily summon and stow the Content Browser and to dock any editor tab to the collapsible sidebar. You can now quickly access frequently used properties in the Details panel with a new favoriting system, while the new Create button on the main toolbar lets you easily place Actors into your world.
MetaHumans
Want to populate your Unreal Engine 5 worlds? MetaHumans created in MetaHuman Creator are compatible with both UE4 and UE5. Sign up for MetaHuman Creator Early Access to begin importing your own MetaHumans, or simply download any of over 50 premade digital humans from Quixel Bridge.
While Blizzard is spending a lot of time and energy on Overwatch 2, the studio is not yet finished supporting the original game.
Overwatch game director Aaron Keller, who recently took over for Jeff Kaplan, said during a Reddit AMA (via Rock Paper Shotgun) that fans of the original Overwatch have “several exciting things” to look forward to. One of these is a “large feature” that should be announced before long. When it will be added to the game, however, is another story.
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“We have several exciting things coming to Overwatch. As far as rough estimates go–one large feature will be announced somewhere in the timeframe between soon and really soon,” Keller said.
That’s all Keller had to say on the subject, so we can only guess as to what this “large feature” might be. This isn’t the first time that Keller has suggested more might be in store for Overwatch. As part of the five-year anniversary video for Overwatch, Keller said, “Looking ahead, we’re so excited to expand this universe within Overwatch and Overwatch 2.”
In other news about Overwatch 1, Blizzard’s technical director John Lafleur mentioned that Blizzard does not plan to release a 120 FPS patch for Overwatch 1 on PlayStation 5. This would take away valuable time and resources from Overwatch 2.
“We don’t have any plans to do so, at the moment. We would have to invest a non-trivial amount of time to upgrade original Overwatch to recognize and separately treat the PS5 (it involves changing the platform SDK),” Lafleur said. “Instead, we’re taking that time to focus on making OW2 the best we can on the next gen consoles.”
One of the big changes for Overwatch 2 is that it’s dropping the team size from 6v6 to 5v5. The 5v5 structure will consist of one tank, two support, and two DPS players per team. That’s a major change from the 6v6 matches of the original game. But with Overwatch and Overwatch 2’s multiplayer being compatible with one another, Blizzard confirmed to GameSpot that this change will also be introduced to the original game. However, that change won’t happen until Overwatch 2 releases, whenever that might be.
Batman’s war on crime has largely been kept within the borders of Gotham City, but this September will see the Dark Knight go global in Batman: The World.
Unlike older globe-trotting events that had a familiar international taste such as Batman Incorporated or Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert’s current Batman: The Dark Knight mini-series, Batman: The World will feature creative teams across the globe creating short stories that take place in their home countries.
Writer Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo, who previously collaborated on Batman: Damned and Joker, will kick off the 184-page anthology and set Batman on an international crime-fighting path.
“In the story titled Global City, Batman reflects on his time in Gotham, protecting his city and its inhabitants from all manner of threats,” DC’s synopsis reads. “But when he looks beyond the bridges, alleys, and skyscrapers, the Dark Knight realizes that the call for justice knows no borders, as there are wrongs to be righted everywhere.”
Joining Azzarello and Bermejo are the following creative teams:
Mathieu Gabella (writer)/Thierry Martin (artist) – France
Paco Roca (writer/artist) – Spain
Alessandro Bilotta (writer)/Nicola Mari (artist) – Italy
Benjamin von Eckartsberg (writer)/Thomas von Kummant (artist) – Germany
Alberto Chimal (writer)/Rulo Valdés (artist) – Mexico
Carlos Estefan (writer)/Pedro Mauro (Artist) – Brazil
Inpyo Jeon (writer)/Jae-kwang Park, Kim Jung Gi (artists) – Korea)
Xu Xiaodong, Lu Xiaotong (writers)/Qiu Kun, Yi Nan (artists) – China
Kirill Kutuzov, Egor Prutov (writers)/Natalia Zaidova (artist) – Russia
Okadaya Yuichi (writer/artist) – Japan
On top of all that, each international version of Batman: The World will also feature its own unique cover art by the local creative team, which you can see in the gallery below:
If you’d prefer to watch a new Batman adventure, the world’s greatest detective is finally getting a new solo animated series titled Batman: Caped Crusader, which features the creative team of JJ Abrams, Bruce Timm, and Matt Reeves.
A new video from PlayStation Access has given some key glimpses into the new features coming in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade’s Episode Intermission DLC. Players can expect more of what made Final Fantasy VII Remake so memorable, like its updated renditions of classic songs and frantic semi-turn-based combat, along with some new mechanics.
Combat with Yuffie has already been detailed by director Tetsuya Nomura in an interview on the PlayStation Blog, but today’s video on Intergrade goes a bit deeper. Since players will only have access to Yuffie in Episode Intermission, she’s been made as versatile as possible. The ninja can switch between short and long-range attacks using her oversized shuriken and buff herself with any of the four major elements in the game thanks to her ninjitsu abilities. Players will also be able to access a new summon in Intergrade, Ramuh, the god of lightning.
Episode Intermission is also bringing more content back from the game’s original 1997 release. More music from the game, including the Wutai theme and Yuffie’s theme, are being remastered in new, orchestral renditions. The tower defense game mode Fort Condor is also making a return, although it’s largely been changed since appearing in the ’90s. Players will be able to deploy their units, which are broken down into three types, and activate abilities with them using ATB charges.
The city of Midgar itself is also getting some special attention. Yuffie’s story in Episode Intermission takes place at the same time as the main game, but players will be able to delve much deeper into Midgar. They’ll visit new places and meet new characters, as well as some familiar ones.
Traversing through Midgar will also be different. As a ninja, Yuffie can take advantage of some opportunities that someone with a massive 70-pound sword can’t. She can scramble across walls, swing across gaps, and slide down poles throughout the underbelly of the city.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is set to release for the PS5 on June 10. The game is currently available for preorder and comes with the full base game and the Episode Intermission DLC. If you already own Final Fantasy VII Remake, you can digitally upgrade to Intergrade for free, with the caveat that Yuffie’s episode will need to be purchased separately.
Nerf announced back in April that it would be collaborating with Roblox in order to create Roblox-inspired blasters. While these blasters aren’t hitting stores until the fall, GameSpot got their hands on most of the set.
At the time of this writing, I’m 39 years old. I haven’t had my fingers on the pulse of what’s hip in at least 15 years, and even back then, my taste in what’s “cool” was questionable. So when Hasbro sent over a set of Roblox Nerf blasters, I tried to find someone closer in age to Roblox’s target demographic. I landed on my three-year-old son, whose favorite things are a YouTube channel featuring two kids in Dubai playing with toys and watching all the Toy Story movies so often that he has the script memorized. While he’s unfamiliar with Roblox as well, he’s at least closer to the age of someone who would play it on a regular basis more than I am.
So armed with a three-year-old with a 10-minute attention span and a set of Nerf blasters inspired by the game Roblox, we dove into blasting darts across the house over the course of a week. Which blaster did my son love the most? Which blaster did I love the most? The answers you seek are below.
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Jail Break Armory ($20)
This blaster two-pack was a fan favorite for my three-year-old son, but only using one at a time, as the other blaster was destined to be handed off to me, as holding two of these blasters is too much for tiny hands. Upon looking at the package, all these products are aimed at children 8-years-old and up. Obviously, as a father, I have misjudged whether this was appropriate for my child to take part in. Anyway, this is a blaster two-pack, which comes with 10 elite darts.
I have been told that these “pews”–what my son calls Nerf blasters–are great for “getting bad guys.” According to him, the orange blaster is better out of the two for unknown reasons. Upon pressing him about it, he simply replied, “I like this one.”
The Nerf Blasters have a hammer you pull back in order to prime it to be fired. And unlike the blasters from my youth–primarily the Nerf Bow and Arrow–you don’t really want to be hit with one of the darts because they sting a tad.
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MM2 Shark Seeker ($25)
Fans of the song “Deepest Bluest (Shark’s Fin)” by LL Cool J from the movie Deep Blue Sea will surely love this shark-inspired Nerf blaster. It has a shark’s fin on the top, which you pull back to arm the blaster. What sets this one apart from the others in the line is that it uses Mega darts, which are a lot thicker than the others. The blaster holds three at a time, which is how many come with it.
While my son wasn’t a fan of “pewing” the “bad guys” with this blaster, he found me using it one of the most enjoyable things imaginable. My son quickly learned about leading a squad and delegation–two things that will undoubtedly come in handy in his adult years.
The thicker darts are where this blaster shines. They whistle when fired, which resulted in my son demanding the bad guys get pewed over and over again. This became my go-to blaster during the day, but only because my son demanded it.
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Adopt Me! Bees! ($30)
This is the most-bizarre name for a Nerf blaster I’ve ever seen. Are we adopting bees or is someone being adopted then bees are appearing? It’s quite obvious that I do not play Roblox and have very little understanding of what is going on in that game. Regardless, this is one of the most interesting ones in the Roblox series, as it’s a lever action blaster featuring a drum that holds eight darts, and yes, it comes with eight darts as well.
Although the colorful design and unique set-up were something I found wonderful for this particular blaster, my son could not have cared less. After I fired it a few times, he insisted I go back to the MM2 Shark Seeker. This was a little bit of a bummer, considering the fun design and how satisfying the lever action is to use. The fact my son blew this blaster off so quickly was a big disappointment to me.
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Arsenal Pulse Laser ($40)
This one is a hefty beast. It’s big. It’s motorized. The Arsenal Pulse Laser blaster comes with a clip that holds 10 darts, and of course, it needs four AA batteries in order to work at all. The blaster won’t work without power, which is a mild drawback–mainly because you need a screwdriver in order to get those pesky batteries in.
As for what my son thought about this blaster, he was not a fan. First of all, it was too big for him. While he enjoyed a few moments walking through the house, holding this blaster–which made him look like a Marvel Comics character circa 1994–it was simply too big for him. This is when I came to the rescue, powered it up, and fired away at the supposed “bad guys” that had been hiding in front of our door. In turn, this scared my son, and he requested I stop using it because it was too loud for his liking.
While my son was away, I got some time in with the Arsenal Pulse Laser, practicing my shot on the area in front of my door where the “bad guys live.” It’s a lot of fun, but it would be great if you could pick up a second clip in order to be able to reload more quickly.
With most traditional reviews, you’d probably expect a score to pop up; however, when I asked my son to give a score for these blasters, he twisted the conversation to be about wanting a Shinsuke Nakamura action figure. He has all these Nerf blasters, pre-launch to play with, and all he can talk about is wanting more toys, preferably one of the King of Strong Style?
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until this fall for these blasters to hit stores. They’ll be available to pre-order sometime in the near future, so keep your eye on Hasbro Pulse for more info as we get closer to the release date.
Developer carrotcake has announced The Garden Path, an upcoming slice-of-life sim where you play as a gardener. It looks really cute.
As seen in The Garden Path’s announcement trailer, the game sees you dutifully tend to a garden, make tea, fish, decorate your living space, and befriend both the assortment of travelers (who all have animal heads) that wander by and the inhabitants (who all have vegetable heads) that settle down around you.
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Though there are tasks to complete and errands to run, The Garden Path is designed to be a low-pressure experience. If you want to go for a five-hour binge, you can, but checking in on your garden for 20 minutes a few times each week works too.
Similar to Animal Crossing, The Garden Path is beholden to an internal clock. As time passes in the real-world, so too will it in the in-game world. So the seasons will change, your garden will grow, and new folks will appear for you to meet.
If The Garden Path’s hand-drawn storybook aesthetic and beautiful original soundtrack strikes a chord with you, you won’t have to wait too long to play it yourself. The Garden Path is scheduled to launch for PC later this year, with announcements for additional planned platforms coming later. You can wishlist The Garden Path on Steam.
