FIFA 19’s release date is fast approaching, but publisher EA is yet to reveal any substantial gameplay footage. However, a video has surfaced on the FIFA subreddit via user WhadaFack that shows the game in action for the first time.
The video shows a Europa League match between Manchester City and Manchester United running on PS4. You can see the game’s new features, such as the active touch system and new commentary team, as well as an updated set of menus and tactical options.
In addition, it seems Kick Off mode has been expanded with a new suite of options. The pre-match menu shows new features such as House Rules which allow you to enforce laws such as “Long Range” or “Headers and Volleys,” while you can also choose to engage in a “Best Of” series or choose to make your match a Champions League or Europa League game. Finally, there’s a prompt to change something dubbed “Advantage Settings.”
With Gamescom just around the corner, more FIFA 19 news is expected soon. We already know it will feature the Champions League license for the first time in a decade after EA poached the official deal from rivals Konami and PES. There’s plenty more coming to FIFA this year–for more, take a look at our feature on the 19 best new FIFA 19 features you might have missed.
FIFA 19 launches for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 28. Its closest rival, PES 2019, comes out a month earlier, and it’s also receiving a demo in early August. EA has not yet revealed when it will release a demo of FIFA 19.
Funko is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the anti-hero Venom, with a series of Pop figurines that “venomize” some popular characters from the Marvel universe. The lineup is coming in September, with plenty of store-exclusive Pops if you’re set on getting a particular character.
Two classic Venom characters are being immortalized mid-transformation: Eddie Brock as Venom and Cletus Kasady as Carnage. A separate Carnage Pop exclusively at FYE shows him in his fully-suited state. Other Pops pay homage to various Avengers: the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. Black Panther is a GameStop exclusive, Ghost Rider is exclusive to Walmart, and Loki is only available at Target.
Meanwhile, the Venom movie is preparing to hit theaters, but has raised some eyebrows for disassociating the character from Spider-Man. At SDCC, director Ruben Fleischer explained how they couldn’t use the Spidey logo, but still wanted to give him a distinctive pattern for aesthetic purposes and to be able to track him during night scenes.
Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road) will play Eddie Brock and the anti-hero Venom. Also at Comic-Con, Fleischer suggested he’d like to see an eventual crossover with the MCU Spider-Man played by Tom Holland, which would be notable since Venom is being produced under the Sony umbrella. Hardy joked that he’d like to “have a go” against Spider-Man and to work with Holland. Venom releases October 5.
The live-action remake of Mulan has found a new villain. Jason Scott Lee has reportedly been tapped to play Bori Khan, a warrior on a quest of vengeance for his father’s death, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Lee has a long history with Disney movies. He played Mowgli in the 1994 live-action The Jungle Book, Aladdin in the Arabian Nights TV series, and David in Lilo & Stitch and its sequel. More recently he has played a regular part on Hawaii Five-O.
The story behind Bori Khan implies that villains will have a bit more motivation this time around. In the original animated Mulan from 1998, the Hun leader Shan Yu led a villainous army intent on overthrowing the Chinese emperor, but they weren’t given much on-camera motivation. This squares with other reports that this adaptation will have Gong Li playing a powerful witch as the primary villain, bringing a more supernatural element to the antagonist’s side.
Mulan tells the story of a girl who disguises herself as a male soldier to join the army and protect her father, and saves China in the process. The title character will be played by Chinese actress Liu Yifei, and Jet Lee will play the emperor. It’s set to release on March 27, 2020.
Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 5 is now entering its third week, which means developer Epic Games has introduced another new set of challenges for players to complete on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. As with previous weeks in Season 5, the challenges are split into two categories, with some being available to everyone while others are exclusive to Battle Pass owners.
On the free side, this week’s challenges involve dealing 500 damage to opponents in a single match, using a launch pad, and following the treasure map found in Flush Factory. While the first two shouldn’t give you much trouble, the third of the bunch will require a little bit of legwork. Flush Factory can be found in the southern part of the island and it’s there that you’ll find the treasure map.
However, you aren’t actually required to get the map first. Instead you can skip this bit and go to quadrant F8 of the map, where you’ll find a house on a hilltop. If you’re looking at the house head-on, the Star you need to collect will be on the right of the path leading up to the house. Although gliding onto the spot from the Battle Bus is the easiest way to get to it, you can also build your way up. Take a look below to see the location on the map or watch the video above to see us do it.
For those with a Battle Pass, you’ll need to search seven chests in Fatal Fields, shoot a Clay Pigeon at five different locations, eliminate five enemies in Haunted Hills, and then get three eliminations using an explosive weapon. You’ll also get 5K worth of XP for doing completing all of these challenges. If you need help hunting them down, check out our Clay Pigeons location guide. You can also find all of Fortnite Season 5, Week 3’s challenges, along with their rewards, below.
Click image to view in full screen
Fortnite Season 5, Week 3 Challenges
Free
Deal damage to opponents in a single match (500) — 5 Battle Stars
Use a launch pad (1) — 5 Battle Stars
Follow the treasure map found in Flush Factory (1) — 10 Battle Stars
Battle Pass
Search chests in Fatal Fields (7) — 5 Battle Stars
Shoot a Clay Pigeon at different locations (5) — 5 Battle Stars
Eliminate opponents in Haunted Hills (5) — 10 Battle Stars
Explosive weapon eliminations — 10 Battle Stars
In related news, Fortnite’s SMG and Compact SMG have been nerfed, following feedback from the community. Epic Games has tweaked a number of attributes for both guns, including damage, range, fire rate, and accuracy. This, the developer says, brings it more in line with how it wants the guns to perform in-game.
Fortnite is also celebrating its 1st birthday with a set of challenges that will unlock a birthday-themed emote, spray, and bling. The first two challenges are relatively easy, requiring you to do a specified amount of damage and play a certain amount of matches. However, the third challenge is a little trickier. For this you’ll need to find 10 cakes that have been scattered around the island and dance in front of them. To make things a little easier on yourself, check out our Fortnite Birthday Cake Location Guide to watch us do the entire challenge and also see a map of where all the cakes are.
Epic Games is also giving new Fortnite skins to those that have been playing the game from the very beginning. If you purchased the Founder’s Pack when Fortnite’s Save the World mode originally launched, you’ll be prompted about the classic skins when you next boot up the game. These were promised to Founder’s Pack owners when the Battle Royale mode first launched, and have finally been delivered around a year later.
July is turning out to be an incredible month for video game deals. First we got Amazon Prime Day. Then came the (still ongoing) Xbox Ultimate Game Sale. And now the retail giant Best Buy has announced a major sale: Black Friday in July. The event officially begins July 27, but My Best Buy members can get early access to it right now–and you can join the My Best Buy program here for free. Supplies are limited during the sale, so your best chance of getting great deals is to check it out sooner rather than later.
The sale has discounted items in nearly all categories of products Best Buy sells. Tons of video games are on sale, including newer titles that haven’t gotten many discounts yet, like the PS4 exclusives God of War and Detroit: Become Human, both of which are marked down to $50.
Epic Games has rolled out Fortnite’s Season 5, Week 3 challenges, which means there’s lots of new rewards to work towards unlocking. We’ve already got a guide for following the treasure map in Flush Factory, which is the harder of the bunch. If you’re a Battle Pass owner, however, there’s also a challenge that requires you to shoot a clay pigeon at five different locations, which can be tricky if you don’t know where to look. Luckily, we’ve spent some time hunting them down and put together a guide that’ll have you sniping those suckers out of the air in no time.
Thankfully, there’s a whole bunch of Clay Pigeon shooters scattered around the map for you to find, and you only need a total of five, so the odds are heavily in your favor. On our brief trek across the island we managed to find a six, and you can take a look at the locations below.
Fortnite Clay Pigeon Locations
West of Pleasant Park (Quadrant B4)
North east corner of Loot Lake (Quadrant E4)
North west of Tomato Town (Quadrant G3)
Between Lonely Lodge and Wailing Woods (Quadrant J4)
Between Shifty Shafts and Flush Factory (Quadrant D8)
South of Paradise Palms (Quadrant I9)
Once you’ve done that, it’s smooth sailing as the rest of the challenges are pretty simple. You can read a full breakdown of Fortnite Season 5, Week 3’s challenges here and see all the rewards for each one.
In related news, Fortnite’s SMG and Compact SMG have seen nerfs, as developer Epic Games thought they weren’t working quite as intended (read: they were too powerful). After receiving feedback from the community, the studio has tweaked both guns, changing their range, damage output, fire rate, and accuracy.
Netflix is moving forward with its adaptation of Locke and Key, based on the IDW graphic novel series of the same name. Following a rocky start which bounced the show from Hulu to Netflix, its new home implemented some creative changes before moving forward with the 10-episode first season.
Hollywood Reporter details the changes. Meredith Averill (The Good Wife) will join Carlton Cuse (Jack Ryan, Lost) as co-showrunners, while Aaron Eli Coleite (Star Trek: Discovery) will serve as executive producer. Coleite also rewrote the pilot episode with comic author Joe Hill. The original pilot was written by Cuse and Hill before Hulu passed, prompting the changeover and rewrite. A new director has not been announced, and the show will be recast.
Locke and Key is a fantasy series with strong gothic horror themes, following the Locke family’s three siblings. Following a tragedy, the family moves back to their father’s home in Maine. The house holds secrets in the form of keys that unlock a wide array of magical properties, but a demon has its sights set on their power.
The graphic novel series was a critical success, having been nominated and won multiple Eisner and British Fantasy Award accolades. The setting of Maine as a gothic horror backdrop has its own family connection as well, as author Joe Hill is the pen name of Joseph Hillstrom King–the son of horror author Stephen King. The comic was illustrated by Gabriel RodrÃguez.
Note: Care has been taken to avoid major specific spoilers for The Banner Saga 1 and 2. The broad narrative setup for The Banner Saga 3 is discussed.
The Banner Saga 3 begins just like the last installment did: by throwing you into the middle of the series’ ongoing story, Chapter 16, specifically. It is a seamless continuation of the series that began four years ago, meaning this third and final chapter is not a good entry point into the series–even its recap cinematic relies on a lot of assumed knowledge. But Stoic Studio‘s Banner Saga formula–featuring lavish hand-drawn art, a satisfying turn-based combat system, a beautiful Austin Wintory orchestral soundtrack, a compelling Nordic-inspired story, and branching choices with consequences–is still as successful as it was in the first game, and this final chapter provides reassurance that the trilogy has maintained its strength from beginning to end.
Where the first two entries in the series revolved around war and refuge, respectively, The Banner Saga 3 focuses on desperation. As an all-consuming darkness slowly destroys the world, the story again follows the perspectives of two different groups. One is a large, mixed-race clan who have fortified themselves in the city of Arbberang, which serves as the final bastion of all who still remain. The other is a smaller group of mercenaries traveling towards the center of the darkness with a magical escort, hoping to reverse its effects. There’s no longer one particular race or group that serves as the primary enemy. Rather, the primary adversary is the infighting between everyone as the situation worsens–different clans war over power in Arbberang, unable to see the bigger picture, and interpersonal conflicts plague the mercenary group, who also have to deal with new enemy creatures warped by the darkness. There’s a time limit until all is lost–the series’ visible day counter which previously counted up will now eventually tick down to zero–and the high narrative stakes will also see major characters take riskier actions, with greater chances of having them being lost permanently depending on the choices you make.
Although the inherent satisfaction of the game’s combat system can exist without context, nearly every other aspect of The Banner Saga 3 relies on having some prior knowledge for meaningful enjoyment. For example, combat units who enjoyed significant character arcs in The Banner Saga and The Banner Saga 2 may only have a small handful of lines in 3, which can give the mistaken impression of flimsy characterization. Starting a new game from within 3 will let you make a major binary decision that arose at the end of The Banner Saga, but the multitude of other choices and potential consequences from the first 20 or so hours of the series are made for you, and the game doesn’t spend time re-explaining the complex relationship between characters, unique races, and the world itself.
But if you have played through the first two games, and ideally imported save file through them both, then you’ll have a good idea of just how catastrophic things are going into The Banner Saga 3. In this situation, the final game does a wonderful job of taking the discrete set of experiences you’ve had with your roster of surviving characters (as well as the collective long-term resources you’ve strategically acquired over the course of two games) and using them as emotional leverage, creating meaningful, personal impacts as the story climaxes and concludes.
Desperation also informs the additions to the turn- and grid-based combat system. The signature mechanics remain: Strength is a value that informs both your health and attack power, meaning the less health you have, the weaker your attack. An armor value protects against strength damage, and units can choose to focus an attack on either strength or armor. Willpower returns as the limited resource that fuels unique character abilities, as well as allowing you to overexert in basic actions to either move further or hit harder. But a significant number of scenarios are now wave-based, helping to characterize the relentless tides of enemies trying to lay siege to Arbberang and stop the mercenaries at all costs. Failing to stop a wave in a set amount of time results in enemy lineups stacking together, resulting in an overwhelming number of adversaries and all-but-certain failure. Successfully defeating a wave gives you the choice of continuing to fight or fleeing the battle, as well as an opportunity to substitute characters into your active force. Completing the entire battle will reward you with a high-end item to equip.
The thematic appropriateness of the wave-based battles makes the fights themselves incredibly compelling, despite perhaps seeming rudimentary on paper. The higher narrative stakes and stronger enemies mean that you need to fight diligently; the circumstances mean there aren’t many opportunities to give characters time to recover from debilitating injuries after battle if they fall, and even when those opportunities do arise, it’s at the cost of precious time before the doomsday clock runs out. Failing or fleeing a battle after a wave or two can also have negative consequences in the plot. The substitution system is engaging because it not only asks you to draw from the sizable roster of characters you may (or may not) have collected and kept alive over the past two games, but it demands you keep them all upgraded, equipped, and battle-ready rather than letting you rely on a small stable roster, lest a wave battle surprises you. The Banner Saga 3 calls for all hands on deck and motivates you to make the most of what you’ve gathered in the past to stay prepared for the worst.
The worst will come in the form of the new Warped enemies–mutated and more powerful versions of the series’ existing units, including the incredibly ferocious bears–whose behaviors add a new emphasis on spatial considerations. All Warped enemy variants explode upon dying, creating hazardous squares and requiring more careful movement around the battlefield. Other environmental elements, like spreading fires and exploding ice shards, feel like bigger considerations this time around and are more inviting to take advantage of strategically (by using displacement abilities, for example) given the more numerous opposition. One significant holdover annoyance remains from previous games, however: The fixed isometric perspective of combat means units can often obscure the contents of the grid tiles behind them, which is especially troublesome given this game’s increased numbers of foes and hazards.
While you’re given the opportunity to utilize a handful of new and exciting units yourself (depending on your choices), there’s a lot that’s become absent since The Banner Saga 2–though it fits the narrative. Combat training and challenge missions have been lost, as have some of the series’ clan management interactions. While you’ll still need to keep an eye on each group’s overall morale, supplies, and population, there are very few opportunities to bolster these resources. The Banner Saga is no longer a game that revolves around traveling and recruiting, but one that’s a constant task of trying to stave off attrition as best you can during the last stand.
As things come down to the wire the two separate groups become more and more interconnected, the consequences of one group’s choices directly affecting the potential of the other. This exemplifies the best part about The Banner Saga 3: the feeling that every action you’ve made in regards to your clan for three games–the friends you’ve kept and lost, the decisions you’ve made, and the battles you’ve picked–will likely influence how well this finale is going to fare. The Banner Saga 3 won’t have the same kind of meaningful impact if you haven’t experienced the rest of the series. But if you’ve taken the time to journey with these characters from the very beginning, this finale is a worthwhile and cathartic end to your long journey.
Note: Care has been taken to avoid major specific spoilers for The Banner Saga 1 and 2. The broad narrative setup for The Banner Saga 3 is discussed.
The Banner Saga 3 begins just like the last installment did: by throwing you into the middle of the series’ ongoing story, Chapter 16, specifically. It is a seamless continuation of the series that began four years ago, meaning this third and final chapter is not a good entry point into the series–even its recap cinematic relies on a lot of assumed knowledge. But Stoic Studio‘s Banner Saga formula–featuring lavish hand-drawn art, a satisfying turn-based combat system, a beautiful Austin Wintory orchestral soundtrack, a compelling Nordic-inspired story, and branching choices with consequences–is still as successful as it was in the first game, and this final chapter provides reassurance that the trilogy has maintained its strength from beginning to end.
Where the first two entries in the series revolved around war and refuge, respectively, The Banner Saga 3 focuses on desperation. As an all-consuming darkness slowly destroys the world, the story again follows the perspectives of two different groups. One is a large, mixed-race clan who have fortified themselves in the city of Arbberang, which serves as the final bastion of all who still remain. The other is a smaller group of mercenaries traveling towards the center of the darkness with a magical escort, hoping to reverse its effects. There’s no longer one particular race or group that serves as the primary enemy. Rather, the primary adversary is the infighting between everyone as the situation worsens–different clans war over power in Arbberang, unable to see the bigger picture, and interpersonal conflicts plague the mercenary group, who also have to deal with new enemy creatures warped by the darkness. There’s a time limit until all is lost–the series’ visible day counter which previously counted up will now eventually tick down to zero–and the high narrative stakes will also see major characters take riskier actions, with greater chances of having them being lost permanently depending on the choices you make.
Although the inherent satisfaction of the game’s combat system can exist without context, nearly every other aspect of The Banner Saga 3 relies on having some prior knowledge for meaningful enjoyment. For example, combat units who enjoyed significant character arcs in The Banner Saga and The Banner Saga 2 may only have a small handful of lines in 3, which can give the mistaken impression of flimsy characterization. Starting a new game from within 3 will let you make a major binary decision that arose at the end of The Banner Saga, but the multitude of other choices and potential consequences from the first 20 or so hours of the series are made for you, and the game doesn’t spend time re-explaining the complex relationship between characters, unique races, and the world itself.
But if you have played through the first two games, and ideally imported save file through them both, then you’ll have a good idea of just how catastrophic things are going into The Banner Saga 3. In this situation, the final game does a wonderful job of taking the discrete set of experiences you’ve had with your roster of surviving characters (as well as the collective long-term resources you’ve strategically acquired over the course of two games) and using them as emotional leverage, creating meaningful, personal impacts as the story climaxes and concludes.
Desperation also informs the additions to the turn- and grid-based combat system. The signature mechanics remain: Strength is a value that informs both your health and attack power, meaning the less health you have, the weaker your attack. An armor value protects against strength damage, and units can choose to focus an attack on either strength or armor. Willpower returns as the limited resource that fuels unique character abilities, as well as allowing you to overexert in basic actions to either move further or hit harder. But a significant number of scenarios are now wave-based, helping to characterize the relentless tides of enemies trying to lay siege to Arbberang and stop the mercenaries at all costs. Failing to stop a wave in a set amount of time results in enemy lineups stacking together, resulting in an overwhelming number of adversaries and all-but-certain failure. Successfully defeating a wave gives you the choice of continuing to fight or fleeing the battle, as well as an opportunity to substitute characters into your active force. Completing the entire battle will reward you with a high-end item to equip.
The thematic appropriateness of the wave-based battles makes the fights themselves incredibly compelling, despite perhaps seeming rudimentary on paper. The higher narrative stakes and stronger enemies mean that you need to fight diligently; the circumstances mean there aren’t many opportunities to give characters time to recover from debilitating injuries after battle if they fall, and even when those opportunities do arise, it’s at the cost of precious time before the doomsday clock runs out. Failing or fleeing a battle after a wave or two can also have negative consequences in the plot. The substitution system is engaging because it not only asks you to draw from the sizable roster of characters you may (or may not) have collected and kept alive over the past two games, but it demands you keep them all upgraded, equipped, and battle-ready rather than letting you rely on a small stable roster, lest a wave battle surprises you. The Banner Saga 3 calls for all hands on deck and motivates you to make the most of what you’ve gathered in the past to stay prepared for the worst.
The worst will come in the form of the new Warped enemies–mutated and more powerful versions of the series’ existing units, including the incredibly ferocious bears–whose behaviors add a new emphasis on spatial considerations. All Warped enemy variants explode upon dying, creating hazardous squares and requiring more careful movement around the battlefield. Other environmental elements, like spreading fires and exploding ice shards, feel like bigger considerations this time around and are more inviting to take advantage of strategically (by using displacement abilities, for example) given the more numerous opposition. One significant holdover annoyance remains from previous games, however: The fixed isometric perspective of combat means units can often obscure the contents of the grid tiles behind them, which is especially troublesome given this game’s increased numbers of foes and hazards.
While you’re given the opportunity to utilize a handful of new and exciting units yourself (depending on your choices), there’s a lot that’s become absent since The Banner Saga 2–though it fits the narrative. Combat training and challenge missions have been lost, as have some of the series’ clan management interactions. While you’ll still need to keep an eye on each group’s overall morale, supplies, and population, there are very few opportunities to bolster these resources. The Banner Saga is no longer a game that revolves around traveling and recruiting, but one that’s a constant task of trying to stave off attrition as best you can during the last stand.
As things come down to the wire the two separate groups become more and more interconnected, the consequences of one group’s choices directly affecting the potential of the other. This exemplifies the best part about The Banner Saga 3: the feeling that every action you’ve made in regards to your clan for three games–the friends you’ve kept and lost, the decisions you’ve made, and the battles you’ve picked–will likely influence how well this finale is going to fare. The Banner Saga 3 won’t have the same kind of meaningful impact if you haven’t experienced the rest of the series. But if you’ve taken the time to journey with these characters from the very beginning, this finale is a worthwhile and cathartic end to your long journey.
The PlayStation Store has kicked off a new sale in Australia. The Winter Sale is on now, offering discounts of up to 60 percent on “hundreds” of games for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation VR.
Additionally, DLC and expansion packs for a number of games are on sale. Go to the PlayStation Store Winter Sale page to see a rundown of all the deals.
This sale isn’t going on in North America or Europe, where it’s Summer and not Winter, but there are some deals to be had in the US. For example, No Man’s Sky is on sale this week to celebrate the big “Next” update, while Ghost Recon Wildlands is also marked down this week.
