A new gameplay trailer for the upcoming open-world MMO survival game The Day Before has arrived, and it’s giving off some major The Last of Us vibes. The game is set in a post-pandemic America where zombies are a constant danger and the remaining humans are fighting to control what precious few resources remain.
The 13-minute gameplay trailer from IGN provides the best look at the game yet. We see a player driving down a muddy road in an SUV who pulls into a dilapidated gas station to collect resources. Zombies show up and the player mows them down with an assault rifle and a pistol.
The trailer also shows off the game’s crafting system and some of the attention to detail in the environments. There is also a particularly tense encounter where the player tries to turn off a house alarm… but it doesn’t go so well.
The Day Before is developed by Fntastic, which is headquartered in the coldest city on Earth–Yakutski Russia. The developers don’t all live there, however, as Fntastic is an all-remote studio.
The Day Before is not the first large-scale zombie MMO game, as it follows the likes of DayZ, DayZ, Rust, and others.
Now you can spend more than a PS5 or Xbox Series X on an Optimus Prime figure that transforms itself. Hasbro announced the high-tech robotics toy at Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest, the company showcase of its upcoming lineup. The Optimus Prime Auto-Converting Programmable Advanced Robot – Collector’s Edition is available to preorder for $700. It’s estimated to ship on August 2.
The collectible is the result of a partnership with Robosen Robotics. Hasbro says the Optimus Prime can automatically convert between vehicle and robot form, race in its vehicle form, walk in its robot form, and respond to control commands by voice or mobile app. It will respond to voice commands like “Roll Out,” “Convert,” and “Attack.” It also features programmable tools for you to make your own functionality.
The figure measures 19 inches tall when in robot form and includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Plus, it is still a toy after all, so it comes with a battle axe and blaster, along with a charging cable and travel case. It’s based on the G1 (original) Optimus Prime look.
Gallery
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Hasbro and look forward to ushering in a new standard of robotics with the most advanced Transformers robots for consumers ever created,” said Robosen USA director Sean Tang. “The team is working hard to deliver an amazing user experience for fans of this esteemed franchise and produce Transformers that will be a premium addition to their collection with its superior functionality.”
The developers of theHunter: Call of the Wild recently introduced new DLC that brings a hunting dog to the game for the first time. Hunting dogs have been used for a very long time to track down animals and recover them, and for support and companionship in the field. The history of humans and dogs working together goes back thousands of years, in fact.
Dogs were one of the most-requested features from players, and now they’re in the game as part of a $4 Bloodhound DLC pack for the PC and console hunting game, which has millions of players.
We recently had the chance to speak to developer Expansive Worlds about the Bloodhound DLC and more. Game designer Arshak Ardeshir explained to us where the idea came from, if the dog can die (a bleak question, we know), and if more dogs might come to the game in the future.
The bloodhound dog you see in theHunter moves and acts believably thanks to an extensive motion-capture process that saw the studio bringing in multiple dogs and strapping motion-capture suits on them to record their movements.
Dogs are known to be obedient if they are trained, but you still can’t command them to act like you could with a human.
“The planning and execution of the motion capture was challenging, as unlike with human actors, you can’t tell a dog to ‘do that one more time, but stop on your left foot first please,” Ardeshir said. “This made it difficult to predict how the moment-to-moment actions would go. Quite often though, we ended up getting things we needed in places where we didn’t expect, and sometimes things that would seem simple just weren’t happening.”
With the Bloodhound at your side, the dog–which has 300 million scent receptors in its nose–can help you pick up lost blood trails, locate kills, and track prey even when they’ve stopped dropping blood. Additionally, the dog can help you determine when an animal is about to be spooked. Not only that, but having a canine companion by your side in the wilderness makes the solitude of nature more of a shared experience. The dogs in theHunter have 30 companion levels and 15 tracker levels, so the more time you spend hunting together, the more advanced a hunter you may become.
The Bloodhound DLC came to theHunter in late March and it’s already proving to be popular, according to Ardeshir.
“Quite frankly, we’re overwhelmed with all the positive feedback surrounding the first canine-companion in the game!” he said. “It has been a long-time request from our players, so it’s great to see people having so much fun. Our focus now is to continue to monitor feedback, and work on addressing any issues that players may experience.”
You can check out GameSpot’s full interview with Ardeshir below, in which he also talks about the challenges of using motion-capture for the dogs, what was most important in the studio’s research for the dogs, and more about the resurgence in popularity of dogs in games.
“I’m glad that every cycle of digital dogs raises the bar even further in terms of how life-like and loving they can be in comparison to real dogs,” Ardeshir said.
And just so we’re clear up front–your little dog friend cannot die.
“No, the dog can’t die,” Ardeshir said. “Losing your dog forever would be too much of a loss, and if it was rendered incapacitated for a certain period of time, it would be a nuisance.”
Phew.
theHunter: Call of the Wild is available now on console and PC. The Xbox edition is free with Xbox Game Pass.
For those just catching up, what is the Bloodhound DLC all about?
The Bloodhound is the first ever canine-companion in theHunter: Call of the Wild. It keeps players company on their hunts, and brings a wide selection of useful skills to the table, including being able to sense when an animal is about to be spooked, picking up blood trails, and locating harvests.
What was the inspiration for releasing this Bloodhound DLC and using real dogs for the motion capture? What convinced you to use real dogs instead of creating them entirely from scratch in the computer?
It’s important for us that theHunter: Call of the Wild delivers an immersive experience that is representative of the ‘great outdoors’; the beautiful nature, diverse wildlife, and joy of exploration. When our players visit one of the game’s reserves, we want them to feel as if they are really there.
This ethos is true also for the Bloodhound. We wanted to capture all the minute movements, actions, and behaviors a dog performs in day-to-day situations, and translate that into game animations. Motion capture is one of the best ways to achieve this. That said, there’s still a lot of work involved for our animators to make the recorded raw data usable in our engine.
Good Boy
What kinds of things can your dog do and help you with in the game?
The Bloodhound has several tricks up its paw. First of all, it’s an awesome companion and someone to keep you company on long hunts. From a hunting perspective, there’s a great deal of benefits too; for example, it can sense when an animal is about to be spooked, help pick up lost blood trails, locate harvests, and even continue tracking prey that has stopped dropping visible blood clues.
What were some of the most important factors you wanted to get right when bringing the dog into the game?
Realistic movements, sound, and the look of the dog are super important factors in making the dog fun to interact with. The art and sound team worked hard on getting those areas to feel right. Companion-wise, we also focused on making the Bloodhound behave like a dog would when it’s not doing anything special. What it decides to do when you are not giving it commands is equally as important as how it executes specific commands.
In terms of game design, we focused extensively on the usability of the dog, both in terms of how you interact with it, what tasks it can do and how effective it is at performing those tasks. We realized quickly that in order for players to use the dog, and to keep using it over time, it needed to be unobtrusive, easy to use and helpful in situations where players of different skill might struggle.
What makes a virtual dog look and act realistic?
It’s a combination of having access to believable animation and tech that makes the dog more reactive to the player and environment (e.g. ‘look-at’ systems), and using the underlying AI systems to communicate with the game world and the animations systems in a smart way.
Can you walk us through the challenges of creating a digital dog and the work you did to make sure you got it right?
There are a lot of challenges, many of which are unique to the different disciplines in our team. In the end, communicating and ensuring that solutions synergize is what creates a good end result. While there are obvious overlaps, what makes our digital dog work is not the same as a dog in another game. It boils down to what our dog needs to do and what sentiment we are looking for in the player.
As game design spans multiple areas, one of the challenges we faced involved making the dog behave correctly in regards to its decision-making AI linked to what commands we want it to perform, while overlapping that with the dog’s readability. We wanted there to be a clear line of communication between the player and the dog, so that both understand what the other is trying to do. Like is the case with many parts of game development, it’s about researching, creating a design, testing that design with players, and then adjusting and redesigning until you get the desired reaction.
What kind of research did you do for the game? What was most important?
Naturally, the dogs in our preceding title theHunter Classic served as an inspiration to help us learn what we could improve and streamline for theHunter: Call of the Wild. We researched how the Bloodhound is used in real-life hunting and tracking situations by reading books, watching video material, and more. Of course, we also looked into how other games have implemented canine-companions, both in terms of usability, movement and AI.
What were some of the challenges related to using motion-capture for the dogs? And how did you overcome them?
The planning and execution of the motion capture was challenging, as unlike with human actors, you can’t tell a dog to “do that one more time, but stop on your left foot first please”. This made it difficult to predict how the moment-to-moment actions would go. Quite often though, we ended up getting things we needed in places where we didn’t expect, and sometimes things that would seem simple just weren’t happening.
This was also the first time we worked with motion captured animals, which was a fun challenge for the animation team, both from a technical and animation perspective. Motion capture requires a different approach than making hand-keyed animations, as it’s more about subtly editing the data to make it do what you need while keeping the underlying motion intact.
“No, the dog can’t die. We simply don’t think it adds enough gameplay value. Losing your dog forever would be too much of a loss” — Ardeshir
The most interesting challenge was probably creating the dog-to-player interactions. It’s something we hadn’t done before, so there were many technical hurdles regarding aligning and syncing up multiple characters. The dogs we motion captured were also much smaller than the dog in our engine, which made the re-aligning process more interesting. In the end, I think it worked out well.
Sorry for the dark question, but… can the dog die?
No, the dog can’t die. We simply don’t think it adds enough gameplay value. Losing your dog forever would be too much of a loss, and if it was rendered incapacitated for a certain period of time, it would be a nuisance. To combat that, there would have to be layers of information and control to help the dog avoid threats, which we felt was a player-facing task that was not desirable. But who knows, our approach to this might change over time.
Can you speak to the feeling of companionship that having the pup by your side makes you feel in the game?
There is a natural bond between humans and dogs, which I can only imagine stems from our shared 10,000 year history of friendship and co-dependence. Our goal was to make sure we did that history justice by bringing a dog to life that feels right for our game and our players.
There has been a mini resurgence of dogs in video games lately across a number of titles–what’s your take on that?
Like in most other fields, trends in games have a cyclical nature. The timing of this DLC was more closely tied to what we felt the players wanted and our plans for how we want theHunter: Call of the Wild to develop into the future. I’m glad that every cycle of digital dogs raises the bar even further in terms of how life-like and loving they can be in comparison to real dogs.
Now that the dog DLC has been out for a little while, what are you hearing from fans about it?
Quite frankly, we’re overwhelmed with all the positive feedback surrounding the first canine-companion in the game! It has been a long-time request from our players, so it’s great to see people having so much fun. Our focus now is to continue to monitor feedback, and work on addressing any issues that players may experience.
Do you have plans to introduce any further canine companions in the future?
While I can’t speak about concrete plans, we’re always thinking and evaluating how we can evolve and improve the game to meet and surprise player expectations. We’re lucky to have a very passionate community, which helps us gauge what content to focus on moving forward.
We’re past the halfway point of Falcon and The Winter Soldier with only two episodes remaining, and this week’s “The Whole World Is Watching” offered no answers to the show’s long running questions and conflicts–in fact, if anything, it just made the stakes even more complicated. Here’s what went down, and what we can hope for as we head into the penultimate episode next week.
After Ayo and the Dora cornered Bucky to broker a deal for Zemo’s return to prison, Bucky made a counter offer–Zemo is too useful for his knowledge of super soldiers to give up on now, when they’re so close to running Karli and the Flag Smashers aground. Unsurprisingly, this deal had fairly strict terms–Bucky and Sam were allowed less than a day with Zemo before the Dora would come and collect.
This strict time crunch became even more difficult when John and Lemar showed up, also angling to bring Karli and the Flag Smashers in, but with much less patience and finesse than Bucky and Sam. To make matters worse, everyone has converged on Karli in what might be the worst possible moment–the funeral of her mentor figure Donya. Sam had the first shot at reasoning with her, using some of the counseling skills he learned while working at the VA, but John’s temper and mania escalated things before the two of them could broker any sort of agreement or understanding with one another.
In the chaos of the ensuing fight, Zemo managed to briefly corner Karli and nearly killed her–but became too distracted by destroying the vials of super soldier serum she had, which allowed her to escape. A single vial of serum survived the fight, unbeknownst to Zemo, and was found by John as everyone attempted to regroup.
Things went from bad to worse when the Dora returned to bring Zemo in and found themselves in conflict with not only Sam and Bucky but also John and Lemar–while John, specifically, felt threatened by their authority in the situation. The fight that ensued only left John more humiliated, and also allowed Zemo to escape.
Unable to stand up under the pressure and feelings of inadequacy, John secretly took the last remaining vial of the super soldier serum, just in time for a major confrontation against the Flag Smashers. Unfortunately, however, even the physical upper hand didn’t make much difference for the things that really mattered, because Lemar was caught in the crossfire and killed after a super soldier Flag Smasher threw him into a pillar, presumably breaking his neck.
Consumed with blind rage, John promptly chased down the nearest Flag Smasher and executed him with the shield, in a public square, while a crowd of bystanders looked on. We can certainly expect this to be a main focus for next week’s episode–though it’s not clear how or if it will play into the rest of the show’s conflict, or if the Flag Smashers will capitalize on the inevitable PR crisis for Cap in some way.
Here are some things to keep in mind heading into next week:
Sharon’s mysterious side-gig remains mysterious, but theories about her being the Power Broker have yet to be debunked. She’s certainly got a high powered team at her back in Madripoor.
The Flag Smashers have apparently produced a list of demands, but what those demands are remains unclear–which is to say it’s not clear whether or not any sort of compromise or reconciliation is possible for them.
Zemo is currently in the wind and his motives (aside from staying out of prison) remain unknown.
We can assume Lemar is dead, but this is the MCU so until there’s a funeral or an obituary, it’s probably best not to rule out a miraculous recovery.
John took the last remaining vial of super serum, meaning there’s currently no way to make super soldiers in the MCU, unless another scientist comes along.
Karli is also in the wind, and she knows where Sam’s family is–though why Sam didn’t call in a favor with any of the other superheroes he’s worked with in the past to help protect them after they were directly threatened by a terrorist organization is mysterious.
Chucky is the spin-off show from the long-running Child’s Play horror series. It’s currently shooting and is set to arrive later this year on the Syfy and USA Network.
The franchise kicked off in 1988 with the original Child’s Play. The movie was written by 24-year-old film student Don Mancini, and directed by Tom Holland (not the one that plays Spider-Man), who had previously helmed the hit vampire comedy Fright Night. The movie focused on Andy, a boy who is given a doll named Chucky by his mom. Unfortunately, the toy has been possessed by the spirit of a dead serial killer Charles Lee Ray, and embarks on a bloody killing spree. The film’s mix of dark humor and inventive slasher thrills helped make it a success and launched a franchise.
Since then there have been a six sequels and a reboot. The series took a more comedic and self-referential tone with the fourth film, Bride of Chucky, and Mancini took over directing duties on the series from the fifth movie, Seed of Chucky. The latest film in the main series to date was 2017’s Cult of Chucky.
In 2019, the remake of Child’s Play was released–this movie was made without Mancini’s involvement, and featured Mark Hamill as Chucky. Mancini was vocal about his dissatisfaction with MGM’s decision to remake the film, arguing that it might damage his ability to make more films in his own series. The movie was a modest success, but no sequel has been announced since then.
Thankfully, the original Chucky is coming back. In early 2019 it was reported that Mancini was developing a new TV show, and the title was subsequently confirmed to be simply Chucky. It’s set to air on both Syfy and USA Network, and with production now underway, here’s everything we know so far about the next appearance from the iconic killer doll….
What’s the premiere date?
Chucky’s premiere date hasn’t been announced yet. However, SyFy has confirmed that the show will arrive in the fall.
Who’s the showrunner?
The Chucky showrunner is Don Mancini. With the exception of the 2019 remake, Mancini has written every movie in the series to date, and directed the last three. Mancini has also written every episode of the show, and will direct the first episode, which is titled “Death by Misadventure.”
What’s the story?
Chucky is set to move the doll’s murderous mayhem to smalltown America. The show’s official synopsis reads, “After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies–and allies–from Chucky’s past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll’s untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster.”
Mancini has also stated that the new show will deal with the issues of growing up in the 21st century, as well as delivering some old-school scares.
“It’s a return to the straightforward horror scariness of the first couple of movies involving a whole new group of kids,” he told SyFy Wire. “One thing I think I can probably safely say is that it’s a look at what it means to be a kid today in the 21st century as distinct from what it was like to be a kid in the 1980s when we first showed up on the scene. That’s one thing I think people can look forward to and thinking about, ‘How does Chucky operate in a world where kids spend so much of their time on social media?’ I think the prospect of seeing Chucky sharpen his skills and add to his toolbox, some of the technical goodies that we have at our disposal now, that’s something I think people will find pretty interesting.”
Will Chucky swear?
Chucky is known for his inventively bad language, but while this isn’t an issue for an R-rated movie, things can get a bit trickier on cable TV. Thankfully, Mancini addressed this issue with SyFy early on and reached an agreement about how much swearing will be allowed. “It’s such an intrinsic part of his character, it would just seem wrong if he couldn’t,” Mancini said at last year’s virtual Comic-Con. “Fortunately, before we signed on the dotted line, they confirmed, yes, he can. I think he can drop, like, eight f-bombs per episode, or something like that–eight to ten, something like that–and I think there’s variations depending on what time it airs.” Thank f*** for that.
Who’s coming back?
There are a few familiar names returning to the Child’s Play franchise for the new show. Brad Dourif will be back as the voice of Chucky, having performed the role in every non-reboot movie since the original. He’ll be joined by Jennifer Tilly, who will play Tiffany, Chucky’s equally dangerous bride. It’s not yet known if Tilly will play Tiffany in human form or just voice the doll version, as Tiffany has appeared in both forms in previous movies.
Other returning cast members include Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent, and Christine Elise McCarthy. Dourif played the character of Nina Pierce in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky–the latter film ended with Nina being possessed by Chucky. Vincent starred in the first two Child’s Play movies as Andy, the young boy who is first given the possessed doll, and as an adult he reprised the role in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. McCarthy played Andy’s foster sister Kyle in Child’s Play 2, and appeared in a brief post-credit cameo in Cult of Chucky.
Who are the new cast members?
In terms of the new cast, the line-up includes:
Zackary Arthur (Transparent)
Bjorgvin Arnarson (The Seventh Day)
Teo Briones (Ratched)
Lexa Doig (Stargate SG-1)
Alyvia Alyn Lind (The Young and the Restless)
Devon Sawa (Final Destination)
Barbara Alyn Woods (One Tree Hill)
A few details have been revealed about their characters. Arthur is the show’s young lead, and plays Jake Webber, who is a loner mourning the death of his mom. Sawa plays his dad Logan, while Doig plays his new wife Bree, who hides a “dark secret from her family.” Woods plays Mayor Michelle Cross, while her character’s daughter Lexy is played by Woods’s real-life daughter Lind.
Is there a trailer?
Chucky only started production in early April, so we’re yet to see a trailer or proper footage. However, a teaser was released to mark the start of shooting, that showed the doll being constructed and featured Dourif declaring that Chucky “always comes back!”
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops — Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis — are discussing topics like EA’s plans to possible adjust your game difficulty automatically, the return of E3, Yakuza games, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions. The music in this episode is from The Guardian Legend on NES.
Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.
PlayStation Studios is hiring for a new Head of Mobile, a senior position who will lead the development and strategy of PlayStation’s mobile games, and adapt some of the company’s most popular franchises to mobile.
In a job listing shared on the game forum ResetEra, the PlayStation Studios Head of Mobile job will be based out of San Mateo, California, and “promote the vision, mission, strategy for mobile game development within PlayStation Studios,” according to the listing.
“As Head of Mobile, you will own and develop the mobile games strategy for PlayStation Studios and help build a foundation for future growth opportunities.” Besides expanding mobile game development the job requires “a focus on successfully adapting PlayStation’s most popular franchises for mobile.”
The listing also says the new Head of Mobile will work with the PlayStation Studios Leadership Team to develop a product roadmap for a “3 – 5-year time frame,” so any new mobile products likely won’t be released immediately under this position.
Mobile gaming is a huge, multi-billion dollar sector in gaming and the largest game companies are already occupying this space with varying degrees of success. Of the major console makers, Nintendo is one of the more successful companies operating on mobile thanks to partnerships with developers like Niantic who’ve made hit games like Pokemon Go and are working on a Pikmin AR title.
Sony recently announced it will close the PSN Store on the PlayStation Vita, its dedicated handheld gaming system. But with the power of smartphones, PlayStation may be looking to mobile as a new avenue for handheld gaming.
It also remains to be seen what kind of games exactly PlayStation will look to produce for mobile given its apparent focus on blockbuster games for consoles like the PlayStation 5. But as seen in PlayStation’s acquisition of the fighting game tournament Evo, the company is looking to diversify its product offerings at the very least.
While Diablo 2 was a defining game of my middle school and high school days – one that I would stay up entirely too late playing and get yelled at by my parents telling me to go to sleep – it’s also a game that I haven’t touched in almost 20 years. So my first hours with Diablo 2 Resurrected was a good reminder of three things:
Diablo 2’s music kicks ass
It’s still by far the best in the series when it comes to atmosphere and tone
It’s old as hell
That third point is especially notable because Diablo 2 Resurrected has received a wonderful fresh coat of paint that modernizes its visuals without ever losing that essential dreary atmosphere, painting the picture of a Diablo 2 as it would appear in the most rose tinted of memories.
But it also means that, for both better and for worse, Diablo 2 Resurrected still plays exactly as it did 20 years ago. Better, because it provides an alternative to Diablo 3’s much more streamlined and more forgiving gameplay, while also giving a less complicated alternative to a game like Path of Exile; worse, because in the 20 intervening years since Diablo 2, the action RPG genre as a whole has improved upon Diablo 2’s archaic mechanics in ways that make it a bit hard to go back.
But to start, let’s focus on the good. Diablo 2: Resurrected looks fantastic. This is absolutely not a case like Warcraft 3: Reforged with only marginally improved character models and a bump in resolution. Everything has been completely redone from the ground up, replacing the pixelated sprites with gorgeous 3D models, adding new lighting effects to the environment, and if for whatever reason you prefer the old style, you can switch between the two visuals seamlessly with the press of a button. In a deep dive panel on this remaster, Lead Artist Chris Amaral talked about how there’s a 70/30 philosophy where 70% of the art in any area is left alone as the “classic” art, and that extra 30% is then used to elevate that classic art, and that philosophy was definitely felt as I played.
It really makes a huge difference in atmosphere when you walk into a room with a five-pointed star made of fire, and that fire actually looks like… well, fire, and not just a bunch of copied and pasted fire sprites in the shape of a star.
Controlled Chaos
One other notable difference is the fact that Diablo 2: Resurrected now has controller support, and it’s not just as simple as plugging in a controller and all of sudden all of the keys get mapped to buttons on the controller. When you use a controller, there’s a complete change in the UI, how enemies are targeted, how spells are equipped, and there’s even added functionality to help organize your inventory, since that’s such an important part of Diablo 2, and doing so with a controller is so much slower than using a mouse.
When you use a gamepad, there’s a new auto-sort button that automatically optimizes your inventory space, which is an absolute godsend, and I can only hope that Blizzard eventually adds it to the mouse and keyboard interface as well.
Even beyond just that though, you can map up to six different skills on to the face buttons and bumpers of the controller, as opposed to having to switch between them using the F-keys or mouse wheel on the keyboard and mouse. There’s added information in the character screen that lets you know what extra bonuses you’re getting from your gear outside of ones that just affect your stats, and overall, it goes above and beyond my expectations for adapting Diablo 2 to a controller by also optimizing it with a bunch of quality of life improvements.
Does It Hold Up?
The controller optimizations are where the quality of life adjustments begin and end, because the rest of Diablo 2: Resurrected is exactly as you remember it from 20 years ago, with the small exception of being able to automatically pick up gold now. And that’s where things get a little complicated.
In many ways, Diablo 2 can be a very frustrating game to play in 2021, because many of its mechanics have been dramatically improved in subsequent games within the genre. Potions taking up inventory space sucks, plain and simple. Diablo 2’s inventory space is already very limited thanks to larger weapons taking up as much as 20% of the inventory space alone, on top of also having to reserve space for charms and tomes. Having to add health and mana potions on top of that needlessly clutters up the inventory and makes it so that you constantly have to make trips to town to offload or sell whatever loot you pick up.
The stamina system also feels completely unnecessary and does nothing but slow down the pace of the early part of the game when you don’t have enough vitality to make it a non-issue; stat customization largely feels meaningless with how valuable vitality is compared to everything else for every class; and everything had to be identified either with a scroll or a trip back to town.
That said, there are also ways in which Diablo 2 succeeds in areas that Diablo 3 completely dropped the ball on. There’s a lot of strategy and planning that goes into your build, with meaningful choices that make a huge impact on how strong your character will ultimately become. Skill points could be held onto in preparation for dumping them all into a new skill once you reached the required level, creating a risk/reward situation where you would make things tougher on yourself in the short term by not adding points to skills that are useful now, in favor making a stronger character down the road by having more skill points to put into the more powerful skills.
Diablo 2 is also much tougher much earlier on than its sequel, which makes its combat encounters a lot more tense and enjoyable, while also making the loot drops much more exciting as well, since the challenge is always rising to meet your gear (as opposed to just letting to steamroll through its enemies like Diablo 3 tends to do up until you get to the end game).
So yes, the core of Diablo 2 still holds up 20 years later, even though there are some substantial frustrations to push through caused by certain outdated design issues. All in all, despite being in alpha, Diablo 2: Resurrected shows a ton of promise. It’s still got a way to go in terms of polish – there are framerate drops all over the place, the transition from the new graphics to the old graphics causes the game to stall briefly, and the load times feel longer than they should be – but as a remaster, this is shaping up to do what fans want from it: staying faithful to a beloved classic.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on Twitter @JurassicRabbit
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has received another update that adds Season 2’s final operator, Karla Rivas, to the in-game store. At the same time, however, the newly announced Gunsmith Customs feature has been temporarily disabled.
Developer Treyarch Studios announced on Twitter that the team is performing maintenance on the feature. Until the tinkering is done, Gunsmith Customs will remain offline. Treyarch said it will “update everyone when [the feature] is back up.”
Gunsmith Customs gives Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War players more control over weapon customization. The feature allows for attachments from weapon blueprints to be interchanged with the seam weapon type to create individualized blueprints. Once the gun is customized–which is done in the Create-a-Class menu–these blueprints can be used in the game’s online multiplayer and Zombies modes.
The update also adds Karla Rivas, a seasoned guerrilla warfare specialist, to Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. Her in-store bundle comes with an Epic “Smuggler” skin, two Legendary weapon blueprints, and an Epic melee weapon blueprint.
Karla Rivas, on the hunt.
Lastly, this update makes some small tweaks to Dead Ops Arcade 3 in Zombies. This includes adjusting boss selection in the Room of Judgement, modifying XP, and addressing issues with bosses being auto-killed in the Room of Judgement.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Patch Notes (April 9)
Global
Features:
Gunsmith Customs:
Players can now mix-and-match attachments from Weapon Blueprints of the same weapon type to create new Blueprints with Gunsmith Customs.
Create your own custom Blueprints in Create-a-Class, name and same your creations via Custom Mods, and take them into your next match in Multiplayer or Zombies.
Players can create up to 10 custom Blueprints per weapon.
Operators:
Rivas:
Rivas Operator bundle now available in the Store in Black Ops Cold War and Warzone.
Zombies
Dead Ops Arcade 3:
Gameplay:
Additional XP adjustments.
Adjustment to boss selection in Room of Judgment for Solo adventurers.
Addressed an issue in Room of Judgment sequence where bosses were getting auto-killed before the timer expired.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Last night, LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD hosted its 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, where The Last of Us Part 2 and Tell Me Why tied to receive the honor for Outstanding Video Game.
The Outstanding Video Game category was added in 2018, and has previously been awarded to The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset and The Outer Worlds. The award is intended to honor LGBTQ inclusion and fair, accurate representation in gaming. Dontnod’s Tell Me Why was honored for its depiction of Tyler, a transgender man who returns to his hometown with his twin sister to revisit their complex shared family history. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 was celebrated for Ellie and Dina, two women depicted in a complex, emotional, and often tender relationship throughout the game, and Lev, a transgender young man whose storyline focuses heavily on his identity and whose depiction has been both celebrated and criticized by the trans community.
Other nominees for Outstanding Video Game this year included Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft), Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles (Gearbox Software & 2K Games), Bugnsax (Young Horses), Hades (Supergiant Games), If Found… (Dreamfeel & Annapurna Interactive), Ikenfell (Happy Ray Games & Humble Games), Immortals Fenyx Rising (Ubisoft), and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands (Blizzard Entertainment).
GLAAD has numerous other categories beyond video games, and the awards celebrated films like Happiest Season (Outstanding Film – Wide Release), TV series like Schitt’s Creek (Outstanding Comedy) and Star Trek: Discovery (Outstanding Drama), and children’s programming like The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (Outstanding Children’s Programming). The full list of award winners is as follows:
Outstanding Film – Wide Release: Happiest Season (Hulu/TriStar Pictures)
Outstanding Film – Limited Release: The Boys in the Band (Netflix)
Outstanding Documentary: Disclosure (Netflix)
Outstanding Comedy Series: Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Outstanding Drama Series: Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)
Outstanding TV Movie: Uncle Frank (Amazon Studios)
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series: I May Destroy You (HBO)
Outstanding Reality Program: We’re Here (HBO)
Outstanding Children’s Programming: The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (HBO Max)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming [TIE]: First Day (Hulu) and She-Ra & The Princesses of Power (DreamWorks Animation/Netflix)
Outstanding Music Artist: Sam Smith, Love Goes (Capitol)
Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist: CHIKA, Industry Games (Warner Records)
Outstanding Video Game [TIE]: Tell Me Why (DONTNOD Entertainment & Xbox Game Studios) and The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog & Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Outstanding Comic Book: Empyre, Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling, Empyre: Aftermath Avengers, by Al Ewing, Dan Slott, Chip Zdarsky, Anthony Oliveira, Valerio Schiti, Manuel Garcia, Cam Smith, Marte Gracia, Triona Farrell, Joe Caramagna, Ariana Maher, Travis Lanham (Marvel Comics)
Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode: “Lilly Responds to Comments About Her Sexuality” A Little Late With Lilly Singh (NBC)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Dwyane Wade One-On-One: Basketball Legend Opens Up About Supporting Transgender Daughter” Good Morning America (ABC)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form: “ABC News Joe Biden Town Hall” (ABC)
Outstanding Print Article: “20 LGBTQ+ People Working to Save Lives on the Frontline” by Diane Anderson-Minshall, David Artavia, Tracy Gilchrist, Desiree Guerrero, Jeffrey Masters, Donald Padgett, and Daniel Reynolds (The Advocate)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: People
Outstanding Online Journalism Article: “Gay Men Speak Out After Being Turned Away from Donating Blood During Coronavirus Pandemic: ‘We are Turning Away Perfectly Healthy Donors’” by Tony Morrison and Joel Lyons (GoodMorningAmerica.com)
Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia: “Stop Killing Us: Black Transgender Women’s Lived Experiences” by Complex World (Complex News)
Outstanding Blog: TransGriot
Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media: Windy City Times
Special Recognition: After Forever (Amazon)
Special Recognition: Deadline’s New Hollywood Podcast
Special Recognition: Happiest Season Soundtrack (Facet/Warner Records)
Special Recognition: Noah’s Arc: The ‘Rona Chronicles (Patrik Ian-Polk Entertainment)
Special Recognition: Out (Pixar/Disney+)
Special Recognition: Razor Tongue (YouTube)
Special Recognition: “The Son” Little America (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Scripted Television Series: Veneno (HBO Max)
Outstanding Spanish-Language TV Journalism: “La Hermana de Aleyda Ortiz Narra Cómo Salió del Clóset y Cómo se lo Comunicó a su Familia” Despierta América (Univision)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism Article: “Desapareció en México, Solo se Hallaron sus Restos: La Historia de la Doctora María Elizabeth Montaño y su Importancia para la Comunidad Trans” por Albinson Linares y Marina E. Franco (Telemundo.com)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia: “Soy Trans: El Camino a un Nuevo Despertar” por Sarah Moreno, Esther Piccolino, y José Sepúlveda (El Nuevo Herald)
Special Recognition (Spanish-Language): Jesse & Joy, “Love (Es Nuestro Idioma)”
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
