Author: Trafficblast

Fortnite is almost always in the midst of a collaboration with someone or something, and the latest is Free Guy, the Ryan Reynolds live-action comedy about a man who discovers he’s actually an NPC in a sandbox video game. While a Guy skin is coming to the Item Shop very soon, you don’t have to spend a single V-Buck to earn his emote and finish off some bonus challenges. Here’s what you need to know about the Fortnite Free Guy collaboration.

Fortnite Free Guy Quests

Between August 12 and September 6, all Fortnite players will have access to the Free Guy quests, a range of new in-game quests as delivered to you by Ryan Reynolds’ character via new video-enabled ATM machines popping up all over the island. Just like you’ve been taking orders from Slone via payphone all season, you’ll now be taking orders from the Deadpool star via his latest fourth wall-breaking role. Here are the Free Guy challenges:

• Get hit by a moving vehicle (1)
• Take melee damage (1)
• Place coins around the map (3)
• Talk with any NPC (1)
• Reboot or revive teammates, or interact with campfires (1)

Doing the above challenges will grant you the Free Guy emote, which includes a voice line straight from the movie. Once you’ve unlocked it, you’ll have one more challenge to complete:

• Use Free Guy emote near any opponent (1)

Look for ATMs in any major location. You’ll know when you’re close because your mini-map will show a speech bubble just like it does when you’re approaching any other Fortnite NPC. If you’re not being swarmed by enemy players, you can enjoy the one-liners Reynolds delivers with each quest, or just head off to complete the quest right away. While these quests don’t reward XP, they do deposit Gold Bars into your account once completed–and the free emote is a nice bonus too.

Fortnite Free Guy Skin

If your appreciation for Ryan Reynolds’ biting wit goes beyond a free emote, you can find his character, Guy, in the Item Shop starting on August 12 at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET. No price has yet been revealed and the skin is a strange one if you haven’t seen the movie.

Of course, that’s just the start of the busiest week of Fortnite challenges we’ve ever seen. Don’t miss the Week 10 challenges, Week 10 Alien Artifacts, the Superman quests, or the Rift Tour quests. There’s a ton on offer this week.

Heirlooms in Apex Legends are special melee cosmetic items that can be equipped to unlock unique melee attacks and inspection animations. These cosmetics are extremely rare–and expensive, too–though they can be easier to acquire for a limited time when they’re first added to the game. Here is a complete guide to which Legends have heirlooms, how to acquire them, and what they actually do.

What is an Heirloom?

An Heirloom in Apex Legends is a special cosmetic item that gives an individual Legend a special melee animation. The Heirloom does not give Legends a faster or more powerful melee attack; it is just a special animation. Legends will also hold the Heirloom item if they put away their weapons. Additionally, Heirlooms come with a unique banner pose and intro quip.

How to get an Heirloom set

Heirloom sets can be acquired in one of two ways, though the faster and potentially cheaper option is only available for a limited time. Currently, brand-new heirloom sets are added to Apex Legends during collection events. These collection events typically run for about two weeks and have 24 special cosmetic items available for direct purchase or obtainable through special event loot boxes. Purchasing all 24 items in the collection will automatically unlock the new heirloom.

While the items in a collection event can typically be directly purchased or crafted, the cheapest way to get all of them (assuming you don’t have or want to spend any Crafting Metals) will be to purchase 24 event loot boxes. These boxes are typically priced at 700 coins per pack, which equates to roughly $7 USD–although you get bonus coins for larger packs and can get a 10% discount for being a member of EA Play–so purchasing all of the items will take 16,800 Apex Coins, or roughly $168.

However, that number can fluctuate–Respawn has recently started including bundles in collection events that allow you to buy a lot of event-exclusive Apex Packs for cheaper than buying each pack individually, and certain events (like the Anniversary Collection event) don’t charge as much money for each individual pack. They aren’t huge savings (in the Anniversary Collection event’s case, as an example, buying all 24 packs was closer to $140). So it’s going to be very expensive regardless; however, it’s the fastest way to get an Heirloom item when it’s first added to the game.

How shards work

The other way to get an Heirloom item is to open an Apex Pack and earn 150 Heirloom shards. Heirloom shards are given in sets of 150 shards, the exact amount needed to get one Heirloom set. All of the Heirloom items can be obtained this way once they rotate out of their collection event and into the general cosmetic pool, but getting 150 Heirloom shards is a matter of pure luck. There is a less than 1% chance of obtaining these shards whenever you open a regular Apex Pack, although players are automatically guaranteed to earn 150 Heirloom Shards every 500 packs. So you can remove the need for luck by buying 500 Apex Packs, which at a cost of 1000 Apex Coins per pack would cost $500. Players who have all available Heirlooms cannot obtain more shards until a new Heirloom is available.

All Heirlooms currently available

Wraith

• Kunai Heirloom
• Fearless Banner Pose
• “You know what I look like – come find me.” Intro Quip

Bloodhound

• Raven’s Bite Heirloom
• Glory Hound Banner Pose
• “I honor those who’ve risen, not those who’ve fallen.” Intro Quip

Lifeline

• Shock Sticks Heirloom
• Shock Sticks Banner Pose
• “Check yo self – or wreck yo self.” Intro Quip

Pathfinder

• Boxing Gloves Heirloom
• Lights Out Banner Pose
• “Did you see how great I was? I did all kinds of really amazing moves… are you listening?” Kill Quip

Octane

• Butterfly Knife Heirloom
• Spin and Flick Banner Pose
• “Run fast. Hit fast. Win fast.” Intro Quip

Mirage

• Too Much Witt Heirloom
• You Really Love Me Banner Pose
• “Excited to see you all in the ring. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of ‘mes’ to go around.” Intro Quip

Caustic

• Death Hammer Heirloom
• Hammer Time Banner Pose
• “I look forward to getting my hands on you.” Intro Quip

Gibraltar

• War Club Heirloom
• Like a Rock Banner Pose
• “When this is over, they’ll all know the name ‘Gibraltar.'” Intro Quip

Bangalore

• Cold Steel Heirloom
• No Gun, No Problem Banner Pose
• “Hope you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty” Intro Quip

Revenant

• Dead Man’s Curve Heirloom
• No Escape Banner Pose
• “You don’t want to see this up close, skin bag.” Intro Quip

Legends without Heirloom sets:

• Crypto
• Fuse
• Horizon
• Loba
• Rampart
• Seer
• Valkyrie
• Wattson

Following last week’s update to the game’s PC version, PlayStation and Xbox players will receive update 13.1 of PUBG Battlegrounds later tonight. The hyper-realistic battle royale title’s latest update introduced a myriad of changes, including adjustments to its latest map and dynamic crash landings.

The update is set to go live tonight during a scheduled maintenance period. PUBG Battlegrounds will be updated from 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET to 3:30 AM PT / 6:30 AM ET, so players may not be able to queue up for a game for most of tonight.

Once everything is updated though, players should notice some differences once they get into a match. For instance, more players will be able to get Care Package airdrops each match. Instead of one large crate landing on the battlefield, players will find a single standard care package and between five and 15 smaller care packages.

Players may also notice that the plane ride ferrying them to the battlefield isn’t that smooth anymore. Emergency landings, caused by the plane’s engines blowing up, make the landing plane move faster and gradually get lower on the map. Players can still jump out whenever they want, but if they stay in the plane until it crashes into the map, they’ll lose half of their health.

Over on Taego, things are looking a bit better, with a new secret room being added that players can use to change the course of their game. The secret room can be opened up by picking up a hidden key, granting access to loot that won’t be found anywhere else on the map. While secret rooms are scattered across maps, keys are much less common.

A full list of patch notes for PUBG Battlegrounds’ 13.1 update on consoles can be found on the game’s website. And if you’re wondering why we’re calling the game “PUBG Battlegrounds,” it’s not by choice. As of July, the game’s name was changed to reflect PUBG becoming a larger brand.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season two premieres Aug. 12 on Paramount+. Below is a spoiler-free review of the first five episodes.

When Star Trek: Lower Decks dropped last year, there was no question that the series was lovingly brought to life by people who know their Trek inside and out. Where it faltered was thinking hyper-fast delivery and overly busy episodes was a fun, sustainable watch. Gratefully, creator Mike McMahan (Solar Opposites) allowed the show to mellow out by the end of its first season, giving us a lot more depth for both the stories and characters who live and work in the bowels of the U.S.S. Cerritos. In season two, Lower Decks continues that balanced groove with even more confidence in mixing comedy with away mission hijinks and character progression.

In particular, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is more fun to be around this season because she’s not just dragging crewmates Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) into an endless string of ill-considered adventures. She’s still a purposefully rebellious screw-up who leaps before thinking, but the new episodes also give us more quiet moments where she reveals what her abrasive walls are really all about.

Speaking of Boimler, the season opens with Mariner stewing with mighty resentment after he abruptly left to accept a promotion on Captain William Riker’s (Jonathan Frakes) U.S.S. Titan. How he’s doing in his new gig, and the physical and emotional hole he left behind is played to great effect in the first half of the season. It says a lot about the writing maturity of the series to have choices like the one he made have real stakes, and then play out as such when many comedies would just blow past anything that messy.

But a big benefit of Boimler’s absence is that it leaves a lot of room for Tendi and Rutherford to get fleshed out with storylines that focus more on their vulnerabilities. Rutherford struggles with the repercussions of his cyborg implant and the ghost of his former self, while Tendi’s need to please is challenged on all fronts. Plus, the season’s early Boimler vacuum allows the unhealthy mother/daughter work dynamic between Mariner and Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) to be addressed in the season premiere for the disaster it’s become.

When Boimler does return, it proves how far this ensemble has come in truly endearing itself to us. Still a big ball of anxiety, he clearly tames Mariner’s boundless energy and impulsiveness. And he’s also the perfect nerd compliment to good kids Tendi and Rutherford. Together, they tease, challenge and better one another, which makes even their dumbest screw-ups fun to watch. They’re also true believers in the goals of the Federation, which is endearing, hopeful and would certainly make Gene Roddenberry proud.

As for this season’s overall story scope, in the five episodes provided, Lower Decks remains a standalone adventure show that isn’t shy about mining a tremendous amount of Original Trek and The Next Generation Trek mythology to build episodes around. Whether it’s featuring very familiar races or creatures, or even namechecking characters like Data, Thomas Riker, and Gary Mitchell, the season is packed with callbacks, deep cuts, and visual references galore. And frankly, it’s too much at times. Every episode is so densely packed with nostalgia hat tips, there’s almost no story real estate to create original Lower Decks mythology. But when Lower Decks does venture into making its own lore, like episode five’s hilarious replicating race, the Dooplers, it proves the show is more than capable of adding plenty to the Trek pantheon. Hopefully, the third season (or the latter half of the second) is where McMahan and his writers gift themselves, and us, with more of what we haven’t seen before.

Three years since Netflix first announced its plans for a live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the streaming giant has finally revealed the core cast and creative team that will bring Nickelodeon’s acclaimed animated series to life.

Check out the gallery below, or read on to find out who’s portraying Avatar’s most iconic characters.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast

• Gordon Cormier (The Stand, Lost in Space) as Aang: A fearless and fun-loving twelve-year-old who just happens to be the Avatar, master of all four elements, and the keeper of balance and peace in the world. An airbending prodigy, Aang is a reluctant hero, struggling to deal with the burden of his duties while still holding on to his adventurous and playful nature.
• Kiawentiio (Anne with an E) as Katara: A determined and hopeful waterbender, the last in her small village. Though only fourteen, she’s already endured great personal tragedy, which has held her back from rising to her true potential, though it’s never dimmed her warm and caring spirit.
• Ian Ousley (Physical, 13 Reasons Why) as Sokka: Katara’s sardonic and resourceful 16-year-old brother. Outwardly confident, even brash, he takes his responsibility as the leader of his tribe seriously, despite his inner doubts over his warrior skills… doubts that he masks with his wit and deadpan sense of humor.
• Dallas Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as Zuko: A skilled firebender and the intense and guarded Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Currently roaming the world in exile, he’s on an obsessive quest to capture the Avatar because he believes that is the only way to reclaim his life and live up to the demands of his cruel and controlling father, the Fire Lord.

With Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko no longer involved in the Netflix series due to creative differences, Albert Kim (Sleepy Hollow, Nikita) will serve as showrunner and executive producer, alongside executive producers Dan Lin (The Lego Movie), Lindsey Liberatore (Walker), and Michael Goi (Swamp Thing).

In a Netflix blog post, Kim talked about the importance of authenticity:

“We’ll be expanding and growing the world, and there will be surprises for existing fans and those new to the tale,” Kim explained. “But throughout this process, our byword has been ‘authenticity.’ To the story. To the characters. To the cultural influences. Authenticity is what keeps us going, both in front of the camera and behind it, which is why we’ve assembled a team unlike any seen before — a group of talented and passionate artists who are working around the clock to bring this rich and incredibly beautiful world to life.”

What do you think of the casting announcement? Let us know in the comments. And for more Avatar, watch the OG Korra and Zuko voice actors answer our biggest what-if questions and learn how the Avatar Legends tabletop RPG reached $1 million in a day.

David Griffin is the TV Streaming Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

We all know that a new Call of Duty game will drop this year, as they do every year, and it looks like more details on the next installment have been leaked via the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War update.

The news comes by the way of Charlie Intel, which says the leak – seemingly confirming the reported title of Call of Duty: Vanguard – was discovered in the latest Season 5 update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, including artwork, the game logo, and perhaps most interestingly for fans, mention of an Open Beta. Fans quickly discovered the leaked material through datamining the game files for the latest update.

Call Of Duty: Vanguard. Image officiel ! (Via @Cheezburgerboyz) pic.twitter.com/eAFlHxfQLA

— RDPGKellyTV (@rdpgkellytv) August 12, 2021

Vanguard does indeed look like another World War 2-inspired setting, given the clothing and guns the characters are using. This seems to confirm the report from earlier this year, which countered ideas that the game would be set in an alternate timeline in which WW2 hadn’t ended. Once leaked, the images quickly began to make the rounds on social media, particularly Twitter, though Activision has been quick to begin taking down many of the leaked images from websites.

The leaks suggest the game will receive three editions, similar to those Black Ops Cold War received: Standard, Cross-Gen, and Ultimate. A screenshot detailing an Early Access Open Beta was also discovered, likely available for players that pre-order the game.

Activision has yet to comment on the leak, but if the game is scheduled to launch this year, it’s likely to not be too long before an official announcement is made. The company is currently embroiled in a lawsuit regarding multiple acts of sexual misconduct, harassment, and misogyny, which has led to staff walkouts and some senior staff leaving the company.

Liam Wiseman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN.

The world of Fortnite Marvel skins is, like the game itself, ever-expanding. It’s to be expected given that Fortnite and Marvel represent two of the biggest brands in video games and movies respectively. There have already been dozens of Marvel-themed in-game outfits, or “skins,” as well as boss battles, easter eggs, and so much more.

Most excitingly, we’ve apparently only seen the tip of the iceberg with regard to the collaboration potential between Fortnite and Marvel Comics. According to Epic Games chief creative officer Donald Mustard, the Fortnite and Marvel crossovers will continue long into the future, and 2020’s all-Marvel Fortnite Season 4 was just the first major wave of this elongated rollout.

Call it what you’d like–the metaverse, brand synergy, or just clever advertising for whichever major Marvel vehicle is hitting theaters or Disney+ at any given time, but there are no brakes on this ride. Not even Spider-Man could stop this train.

Speaking to the hosts of the This Week In Marvel podcast back in 2020, Mustard said the roadmap is planned for ahead for Fortnite and Marvel: “This is just the start. This is the start of lots of stuff we have planned for many years in this Marvel integration. Like, this is not the end. This is the beginning.”

Since then, we’ve seen even more collaborations between the two mega-brands that have included things like Guardians of the Galaxy’s Gamora, the god of mischief, Loki, featured in the Fortnite Crew subscription, and the Mad Titan himself, Thanos, return to the game for the first time in three years.

Gallery

While the list below will be updated whenever more Marvel heroes and villains debut in Epic’s platform of the century, note that a few characters remain painfully off the list to this day. Most wanted of all is Spider-Man, who is likely planned for some time in the future and will be given a red carpet rollout, no doubt. Other major characters like The Incredible Hulk, Miss Marvel, and Dr. Strange haven’t been revealed yet either, while Drax is the last Guardian to not yet appear in Fortnite.

For now, take in this nonetheless massive list of Marvel icons already in Fortnite, and be on the lookout for the next time they hit the rotating, limited-time Item Shop. We’ve listed the characters in chronological order starting with the newest skins at the top.

Every Fortnite Marvel Skin So Far

• Gamora
• Loki^
• Thanos
• Ant-Man
• Venom
• Black Widow
• Ghost Rider
• Daredevil
• Blade
• Silver Surfer
• Captain Marvel
• Black Panther
• Taskmaster
• Wolverine*
• Iron Man*
• Thor*
• Storm*
• Mystique*
• She-Hulk*
• Groot*
• Rocket Raccoon* (back bling only)
• Doctor Doom*
• Captain America
• Psylocke
• Domino
• Cable
• Ravenpool**
• Cuddlepool**
• Deadpool*
• Star-Lord

^ part of a previous Fortnite Crew Pack, no longer available for purchase

* part of a previous battle pass, no longer available for purchase

** Fortnite original character

If you’ve been wondering what the story is at the heart of Shin Megami Tensei V is, the latest trailer from the Atlus-developed game has plenty of exposition to share. Like previous games in the series, Shin Megami Tensei V focuses on a protagonist who has to battle numerous demons, having somehow been transported to an alternate dimension version where Tokyo has been overrun by the forces of the underworld.

On the verge of being killed by the demonic forces, the nameless protagonist merges with a powerful being to become a Nahobino, an entity that is neither human nor a demon. You can see the story unfold in the trailer below:

Returning gameplay elements include the ability to fuse with demons, along with new gameplay mechanics such as the Press Turn Battle System that allows players to pinpoint enemy weaknesses and perform risky consecutive actions. Atlus has also teased that the story will be filled with tragedy based on the choices that players make as they gain the power to survive the Da’at wastelands.

If you’re in Japan, the game has some colorful accessories to grab such as a protective cover and an adorable carrying case for Switch and 3DS games.

Gallery

Shin Megami Tensei V launches on 12 November as a Nintendo Switch exclusive.