Currently on sale for $45.49, The Dark Horse Deluxe Mass Effect Alliance: Normandy SR2 is a small-scale figurine of Commander Shepard’s shop from probably the most acclaimed Mass Effect entry. The figurine is just like the in-game ones you can collect and display in your personal quarters, with a metallic N7 symbol to really stand out when on show. Check it out below.
The listing specifically mentions that this is a “Remastered Edition” of this model, which could line up with a potential trilogy remaster soon. The replica is set to launch on November 25, but a previous retailer leak suggested that the trilogy is coming to current-gen consoles and PC this October. EA, Mass Effect’s publisher, has yet to formally announce anything.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was the last entry in the series, with BioWare Montreal attempting to spin-off the franchise in a brand-new galaxy with a whole new cast of characters. While a good game, it failed to capture the splendor of the trilogy before it. “As a Mass Effect game, Andromeda falls well short of the nuanced politics, morality, and storytelling of its predecessors,” critic Scott Butterworth wrote in GameSpot’s Mass Effect: Andromeda review.
You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry–or litigating. Progress is being made on the She-Hulk live-action series, which was first announced at the D23 convention in 2019, even though you might have forgotten it was happening. According to a new report, the title role of She-Hulk has been cast.
Deadline says that Tatiana Maslany, who most will remember as the star of Orphan Black, has been picked to take on the role of Jennifer Walters, an attorney and the cousin of Bruce Banner. She becomes She-Hulk after a transfusion gives her some of Bruce’s blood.
Don’t expect another rage monster like what MCU fans have seen for most of Mark Ruffalo’s run as the Hulk, though. Instead, Jennifer Walters is a lot more like the Hulk, as portrayed in Avengers: Endgame, allowing her to keep her personality and mind for the law even when hulked out.
Marvel Studios seems to be putting a big focus on She-Hulk lately, as this is the second piece of news this week to be revealed about the series. It’s also been reported that Kat Coiro (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) is currently in talks to direct the pilot episode of the series, as well as a number of future episodes.
As for whether Ruffalo would reprise his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk on the show, the Avengers star has said in the past that it’s not out of the question. “There’s some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in She-Hulk. If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting,” he said in an interview with Variety. “Right now that’s about it. That’s all there is on the table.”
Growing up, you probably heard the old “my dad could beat up your dad” line from some random child on the playground. However, on a recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, guest host Samuel L. Jackson took that idea a step further, asking the star of Tenet, John David Washington, if his character could beat up one of his father’s characters.
Washington has known Jackson his whole life, so it was a very friendly and down-to-Earth interview, like two old friends having a chat. Then, Jackson asked if Washinton’s character in Tenet–called Protagonist–could beat up Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer. “Because of the rules of inversion, Protagonist [would win],” Washington told Jackson. “There’s a sci-fi element that we have that Equalizer didn’t have—that gives him the edge.”
Washington tried to dance around a little about why his character could beat up his father’s character, as he can’t say much about the film. “So you’re hitting us with a riddle,” replied Jackson. “So now we got to go to the movie and make up our own minds whether The Equalizer can kick your ass or not.”
Washington replied with a solemn, “Yes, Uncle Sam.” Tenet is out in movie theaters globally, even though many movie theaters in the United States are not open because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the film passed the $200 million box office mark worldwide. Because of the pandemic, it is extremely doubtful that Tenet will be that $1 billion global money-maker for Warner Bros. Studios, regardless of positive critic reviews.
In GameSpot’s review of Tenet, Eddie Makuch said, “Tenet is a mind-bender of a movie that has action galore, characters you can for the most part connect with and understand, and a time travel story that doesn’t get bogged down in the details and just lets you enjoy the spectacle.”
There’s the common saying how iron sharpens iron, but is there an equivalent about chainsaw on chainsaw? In the climax of Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy, an enraged and blood-covered Nicolas Cage picks up a chainsaw and battles it out with a much bigger man who also happens to be holding a much bigger chainsaw.
The memorable chainsaw fight is now captured in a brand-new collectible statue from Legion M and crafted by Level 52 studios, out this December. Just take a look below.
It captures the intensity and raw violence Cage’s Red Miller experienced throughout the film that gave horror fans one of the most insane duels ever.
For those that didn’t catch Mandy in its extremely-limited release, it’s the story of Red Miller (Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) leading a lovely life together in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s. When their existence is savagely destroyed by a cult, led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), Red is thrown into a fast-paced, hellish journey filled with bloody vengeance and purging fire.
This stylized limited-edition collectible statue was made of polystone. It’ll arrive in a Level 52 Studios’ signature premium art box packaging. It measures 1/10 scale, 9 3/4″ tall x 10″ wide x 6 1/2″ deep at a $250 price point. Best news is you can pre-order it now through Legion M.
Microsoft offers the subscription service across both Xbox and PC, giving players over 100 games to download and play for as little as $10 a month. The kicker is that all of Microsoft’s exclusives launch day and date on Games Pass, which is something Ryan doesn’t see as sustainable.
“These games cost many millions of dollars, well over $100 million, to develop. We just don’t see that as sustainable,” Ryan said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
Sony does eventually put its exclusives on PlayStation Now, its own subscription service that allows you to play games via the cloud or download them to your console. The company also announced the PlayStation Plus Collection at the showcase, bundling numerous acclaimed PS4 titles and making them free for PS Plus members on PS5 soon. Despite that, Ryan says that Sony won’t pursue something like Games Pass.
“For us, having a catalogue of games is not something that defines a platform,” Ryan added. “Our pitch, as you’ve heard, is ‘new games, great games.’ We have had this conversation before–we are not going to go down the road of putting new releases titles into a subscription model.”
Sony announced prices for the PS5 during its showcase, with the digital-only PS5 going for $400 and the standard edition for a pricier $500. By comparison, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X will also be $500, while the less powerful Series S comes in at $300. Preorders for the PS5 have already gone live (and are predictably scarce already), while Microsoft will launch its preorders on September 22.
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Disintegration, the sci-fi shooter from Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, is losing all its multiplayer modes over the next few months. Developer V1 Interactive said the game didn’t build enough of a player base in order to sustain online multiplayer.
“We stand by the creative risks taken to launch such a unique, genre-bending game created by this small but talented and passionate team,” a post on the studio’s official site read. “While our player base showed interest in the single player campaign, the game unfortunately struggled to build a significant audience necessary for a compelling multiplayer experience. After weighing options, we have collectively made the decision to sunset the multiplayer support.”
The studio has already removed the in-game store where players could purchase cosmetics. The other multiplayer modes will be removed “in phases” up until November 17.
Disintegration launched earlier this year on June 15 to mixed reviews from critics. Several said that it tried to do too much by combining real-time strategy mechanics with third-person shooter gameplay. Others, like GameSpot’s own Mike Epstein, enjoyed the fusion of genres.
“When Disintegration works, it really works. You’re shooting guns, you’re calling advances and retreats, ordering missile strikes. You really get the sense that you’re in the thick of it, the heart of a battle,” said Epstein in his Disintegration review. “Both the excitement and stress it induces are testaments to how thoroughly the gameplay draws you in. There are elements around the periphery of the experience that could have been better tuned, but they do not detract from what makes it work.”
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The feature lets you seamlessly switch between multiple games without exorbitant loading screens or startup times. With Quick Resume, you can play one game, pause that one to pick up your progress in a completely different game, and repeat without any hiccups. The trailer, embedded below, shows someone switching between Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Minecraft Dungeons, Skate 3, Black, and back to Jedi Fallen Order with only a few seconds of delay between each swap.
Microsoft detailed the Quick Resume feature earlier this month in a comparison video that showed off the load times between the Xbox Series S and the Xbox One S. Thanks to the system’s increased power and new features like Quick Resume, load times on the Series S are as low as 12 seconds for a game like Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds. The Xbox One S took 53 seconds to load the same content.
From the infamous $600 price tag on the PlayStation 3 60 GB launch model, to the Xbox One with Kinect, home consoles can cost a pretty penny. Now that we finally know the launch prices for the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5, we’ve gone back to take a look at some of the most expensive home gaming consoles ever released.
We’ve ranked the top ten by adjusting their launch prices to 2020 value using an online inflation calculator. Believe it or not, some have almost doubled in value since their original launch.
Sony CEO Jim Ryan has said there will be more PS5 units available at launch than there were for the release of PS4 in 2013.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Ryan said there would be more PlayStation 5 units available on release than last-gen. While he offers no concrete number, the Post points out that a million PS4s were sold on day one alone, and 2.1 million were sold in the first two weeks, which should offer some idea of the numbers involved.
Ryan also explained that the ongoing pandemic had made that seem uncertain at one point: “For quite some time, in the early part of covid, that picture was far from clear. Just as the supply things was unclear, would there be any market? Would anyone be allowed to go outside? Would any shops be open? This has been a year like no other. But all of that just reinforced our resolve, and the path we determined at the start of the year was absolutely the right one.”
There’s been much discussion in recent months as to how Sony was being hit by the knock-on effects of factory closures and supply chain issues. Most recently, reports emerged that PS4 had cut production by 4 million units – reports Sony swiftly denied, saying the number had not changed.
PS5 preorders have now opened, after we got confirmed pricings of US$499 / £449 / AU$750 for the full edition, and US$399 / £359 / AU$600 for the digital edition. The console will arrive on November 12 in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea and November 19 in all other territories.
Here’s where you can preorder the PS5 from a number of major retailers:
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
In the ancient Greek myth of Sisyphus, a poor soul is doomed to forever push a boulder uphill without rest. Each time he’d push it up, it would roll back down again and he’d have to start anew. But what if that Herculean climb uphill was actually awesome combat against a randomized variety of enemies as you fight your way out of Hell, with a wide range of godly powers that grow and combine in interesting ways as you progress? And what if, instead of going back to zero, you got a little stronger each time with some help from a colorful cast of allies and enemies who remember each of your attempts? That’s Hades’ premise, and the Greek mythology-themed rogue-lite that developer Supergiant has built around it makes going to Hell a joy.
The journey of Zagreus, son of Hades, through the labyrinthine Underworld toward the freedom of the mortal realm unfolds from an isometric perspective as you take on hordes of colorfully animated undead that fill the screen with danger in every randomly ordered room you pass through. Fortunately, Zag is a skilled warrior capable of wielding six different weapons, each with four different variants. Each of these Infernal Arms is geared to complement a certain playstyle. Want to get in the thick of it and wreck some demons? Then consider the straightforward Stygian Blade. Prefer to peck at foes from a safe distance? Then channel your inner Artemis and use the bow. Later you’ll unlock a bashing shield, a spear, and more, and each plays significantly differently, creating one of many layers of replayability for Hades.
Regardless of your weapon of choice, Zag can use a dash to dart out of trouble or to get into a more advantageous position. And let me tell you — few things in life are as satisfying as a successful last-second dodge that sets you up for stabbing an enemy in the back for bonus damage.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Almost%20inevitably%2C%20the%20forces%20of%20Hades%20will%20overwhelm%20you.”]The final mechanic in Zag’s moveset is the cast: a skill-shot based projectile that fires a red jewel into an enemy for a quick burst of damage. The jewel embeds itself into a target, disqualifying you from firing another cast until you kill the enemy and retrieve your ammunition, so shooting it at the biggest, meanest enemy in the room isn’t always the best idea. As with each one of Zag’s moves, using it well involves a delicate balance between risk and reward.
Almost inevitably, though, the forces of Hades will overwhelm you eventually, and every death sends Zag back home to start over from scratch, save for persistent currencies and progress in relationships with the wonderful cast of characters who inhabit the Underworld, from lord Hades himself all the way down. So you’re going to be spending a lot of time getting to know everyone — and it’s time very well spent.
Zag is a rebellious heartthrob trying to find his place in the world between Hades and Mount Olympus. His sympathetic coming-of-age story brought me in, but I fell in love with his tongue-in-cheek musings on the world around him and snarky back-and-forth with the disembodied voice of the Narrator.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Each%20personality%20feels%20like%20an%20authentic%20reinterpretation%20of%20a%20classic%20Greek%20myth%2C%20and%20they%E2%80%99re%20all%20a%20joy%20to%20behold.”]But the heart and soul of Hades, outside of its combat, lies in Zag’s interaction with various deities and mythic figures from Greek myth, like Achilles, Orpheus, and more. It turns out that adding a dash of dating simulator mechanics to a rogue-lite was the secret sauce in making good use of a large cast of interesting characters. Each personality feels like an authentic reinterpretation of a classic Greek myth, and they’re all a joy to behold. For instance, instead of painting Sisyphus as a tragic character, he’s an optimist who you encounter on a break while the gods aren’t watching. Even his boulder (affectionately known as Bouldy) sports a carved smile that reacts in silence upon interaction. Investing in Zag’s relationships with each character paves the way for interesting backstory reveals, world-building, new sidequests, or even items to assist on your future escape attempts.
Not only are conversations and side stories actively engaging — attempting to reunite Achilles with his life-long partner, Patroclus, or Orpheus with his long-lost muse Euridice, are genuinely moving and hearken back to the kind of melodrama the ancient Greeks were so good at — there are also gameplay benefits! Advancing these relationships far enough grants you persistent keepsakes and companions, which are both invaluable tools in aiding Zag’s quest to run away from home. Of course, not all keepsakes are as useful as others; given the choice between the Lucky Tooth that grants you an additional chance at life if you’re killed or Olympic keepsakes that increase your chance at better drops, I’m going with a second life every time.
Something that’s truly special and unusual about Hades is that Supergiant Games uses these persistent relationships to travel the difficult path of marrying story to gameplay, and in doing so elevates the simple loop of Zag’s escape into something more than the sum of its parts. Within the world of most rogue-lites, a failed run is not typically seen as part of the story (with apologies to Rogue Legacy). But in Hades, a death leads to Zag returning home to mockery (usually from Papa Hades). This transforms something as fundamental as death from a video game-y failure state into in-game world building. Characters remember your triumphs and failures with a staggering amount of incidental dialogue that made me feel like I was constantly chipping away at new content within Zagreus’ story even when I failed. After a while I no longer feared death, I embraced it as an opportunity to learn and revist friends back in the House of Hades to see if they have something new to say.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=I%20no%20longer%20feared%20death%2C%20I%20embraced%20it%20as%20an%20opportunity%20to%20learn%20and%20revist%20friends%20back%20in%20the%20House%20of%20Hades.”]Losing the fear of death is important, because you’re going to do a lot of dying. I didn’t manage a successful escape until attempt 31 (which I hear is roughly the average…I hope). Fortunately, while things with the citizens of the Underworld might be complicated, Zag’s aunts, uncles, and cousins up on Olympus are eager to assist his rebellion thanks in equal part to genuine familial care and wanting to rub Lord Hades’ nose in it if you eventually succeed. Their aid comes in the form of boons (run-specific tokens from the gods that grant Zag godly power-ups) that modify to Zag’s abilities, making every run feel new and unique. Some are smaller, min-max stat-worthy benefits that often feel like a daily vitamin — you’re not sure you notice the difference they make as you play, but they stack up over time and make all the behind-the-scenes numbers larger in your favor, so it’s probably a good thing.
And of course, during each run you also build your relationships with the Gods of Olympus by offering them tokens of appreciation in the form of nectar and ambrosia that you collect, which also grant you access to their own collection of keepsakes and up the chances of receiving rare, epic, and heroic variants of their boons with progressively better stats.
Those familiar with Greek myth are already aware of the fickle nature of the gods.Every now and then, treks through Hades present Zag with a Trial of the Gods, a chamber that allows you to select one of two different deities to commune with. Poseidon may be your bestie early on in your quest, but choose Dionysus over him in a later Trial and he won’t hesitate to make your life a living hell in this particular chamber. Your reward, should you survive, is possessing two different boons at once as opposed to the typical one.
Sometimes the gods play nice together. Say, for example, you have the Curse of Agony from Ares, a boon that allows you to inflict doom status (which inflicts an additional burst of damage after a brief period of time) on an enemy with normal attacks. But if, upon clearing another chamber you find Athena’s Divine Dash (which upgrades your dash move to deflect incoming attacks) a rare duo boon will activate, combining the strengths of both into one convenient package. In this case it creates Merciful End, which inflicts any enemy hit with a deflected attack with doom status. These combinations of powers are wonderful surprises.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=And%20let%20me%20tell%20you%2C%20that%20rabbit%20hole%20runs%20deep.”]And let me tell you, that rabbit hole runs deep. There are a ton of different boons and combinations to earn, and you’ll still be seeing new ones after dozens of runs. Like any good roguelike, Hades forces you to make difficult decisions that either complement your current build or throw caution to the wind and attempt a riskier build that could pay off four chambers down the line…if you survive long enough and luck into the boon you’re hoping for.
All of that feeds into Hades’ impressive replayability. Once again, I’m blown away by the staggering amount of content within Hades. While you may face the same bosses over and over again, they too will adapt to your increase in power level. Whether it be in the form of Street Fighter-style assists from siblings, sprouting new heads, or fancy new armor, repeated encounters with bosses felt fresh because of these clever modifications to how they fight. It makes sense within the fiction as well, considering the bosses remember their past failures and successes against you. Each fight is like a rematch between rivals rather than a repeat.
Like me, after a couple of successful escapes you may find yourself thinking, “How can I make subsequent attempts harder?” Enter the Pacts of Punishment, a challenge board that allows you to activate a number of modifiers to make Hades even more challenging. Toggling one on adds allows you to earn new rewards, making every playthrough fresh and exciting. You’re constantly given incentive to shake up your playstyle, whether it be through rewarding you with a currency buff for using weapons you don’t normally use, or completing objectives within a scroll known as the “Fated List of Minor Prophecies.” (Get it? The optional objectives known as prophecies will eventually come true, it’s just a matter of time.)
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=You’re%20constantly%20given%20incentive%20to%20shake%20up%20your%20playstyle.”]I rolled credits on Hades at approximately 48 hours and I’m still met with new storylines, challenges, and side stories to tackle — and a peak at the achievement list teases an epilogue I’ve yet to discover how to unlock.
