Developer Behind PS4-Exclusive The Order: 1886 Sells To Facebook, Will Focus On VR Games

It’s a big day for Facebook as it relates to video games. In addition to Microsoft partnering with Facebook for livestreaming games after closing Mixer, the social network has now acquired a major developer.

Facebook announced that it has acquired Ready at Dawn, the studio known for its work on the God of War franchise. The studio developed God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta for PSP, in addition to the God of War: Origins Collection for PS3. On top of the God of War franchise, Ready at Dawn developed the 2015 PS4-exclusive The Order: 1886.

In 2017, Ready at Dawn started working with the Facebook-owned Oculus Studios on the Rift titles Lone Echo, Echo Arena, and Echo Combat. Echo Combat II is currently in development for Rift.

At Facebook, Ready at Dawn will continue developing “groundbreaking content” for virtual reality. “With Facebook’s latest advancements in VR technology, Ready At Dawn can readily explore a future of rich and immersive original VR content,” Facebook said in its news release announcing the buyout.

Ready at Dawn will continue to operate as an independent studio, Facebook said, and the company won’t move offices; they will stay at their current locations in Irvine, California and Portland, Oregon.

Facebook has been ramping up its game studio acquisitions of late. In addition to Ready at Dawn, the company owns Beat Saber developer Beat Games and Sonic and Spyro developer Sanzaru Games.

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Spider-Man: 24 Things You Probably Missed In Tobey Maguire’s First Superhero Movie

Spider-Man: 24 Things You Probably Missed In Tobey Maguire’s First Superhero Movie – GameSpot

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The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 10: The Resort

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 10: Santa Barbara – The Resort. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

The Resort Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Artifacts: 2
  • Trading Cards: 1
  • Journal Entries: 1
  • Workbenches: 1

Journal Entry – Rattler Van

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After passing the train ticket station, there are more Rattlers patrolling outside the cafe. Once they’re all dead, approach the van with the Rattler graffiti. Interact with it to add it to your journal.

Artifact – Santa Barbara Slave Note

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After climbing up the tank truck and seeing where you need to go you’ll automatically drop down to the other sidewalk forward and go to the crate and cargo on the far left (before continuing through the fence). While looting supplies turn around and look at the dead body. To the right of that body is a barrel with a note attached to it.

Workbench Location – Inside the Garden Shack Near the Chained Runner

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After killing the Rattlers, enter the shack to upgrade your weapons one last time at the final workbench.

Trading Card – Sparkthug

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Near the workbench. Go through a door in the building to the left of where you entered from the fence. To the right of the doorway is a small table where you can find the final trading card.

Artifact – Rattler’s Letter Home

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Enter the mansion near the empty pool with chained infected reach the top. Go up the spiral staircase and keep alongside the banister until you see the mattress, shelves, and nightstand. On the nightstand, by the lantern, is the final note to collect.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 10’s 2425 Constance and Pushing Inland. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 10: Pushing Inland

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 10: Santa Barbara – Pushing Inland. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

Pushing Inland Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Artifacts: 3
  • Trading Cards: 1
  • Journal Entries: 1
  • Workshops: 1

Artifact – Abby’s Note

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You start this section on a boat. Immediately turn left and pick up the note on the counter.

Artifact – Mansion Note

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Once you get up to the street from the beach below, start moving down the road – being wary of infected (including Stalkers!). Look for a U-Haul outside a garage, and head right to enter the open garage where you can find a note.

Trading Card – CBB-73

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Climb up to the roof of the mansion at the top of the hill, and look for a way in through the second floor. Search the floor for a bedroom, and approach the white desk in the bedroom. Pick up the trading card to add to your collection.

Artifact – Runaway Warning

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After defeating all infected in the lower part of the mansion, check the island table in the kitchen (1st floor) and pick up the note.

Workbench Location – Mansion Kitchen (1st Floor)

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After all threats in the mansion have been cleared, move into the large kitchen area. There’s a workbench in the mansion kitchen.

Journal Entry – 2425 Constance

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When you’re outside, after crawling through the hole as you left the mansion, look at the view (when prompted to press L3)  to sketch.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 10’s 2425 Constance and The Resort. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated Review – Expired Nostalgia

Nearing the end of SpongeBob’s journey under the sea, you’re tasked with guiding a ball through a giant Rube Goldberg machine in Mermaid Man’s Lair. Once you activate the machine you have to match the ball’s painstakingly slow speed while using SpongeBob’s arsenal of bubble abilities to make sure it doesn’t fall over. It’s a simple task in concept, but trying to execute it is some of the most unfun and Sisyphean gameplay in recent memory. In one section of the puzzle, all you need to do is stand on a button, and that button opens a gate for you to bowl a bubble into so you can progress. The only problem is that during SpongeBob’s wind-up animation for bowling, he walks forward. That means you fall off of the button, which closes the gate and prevents you from bowling the bubble where you intended, when you intended. These kinds of gameplay barricades are common, and force you to restart and face your demons again, and again, and again.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated is rarely amusing or challenging, and completing it is an entirely dry experience. It looks nice, and brings back fond memories of a classic cartoon through iconic set pieces and tight voice acting, but its uncomfortable and outdated mechanics make you feel frustratingly trapped and are ultimately outclassed by countless other modern and classic platformers.

SpongeBob is a show built on rapid-fire humour and good pacing, but this game misses that mark. The game is a remake of the 2003 cult classic 3D collect-a-thon platformer of the same name. There were three versions of the original: a 2D platformer, a 3D platformer, and one full of minigames. This version took me around 20 hours to play through the main story and get a bunch of bonus collectibles, and from the movement to the jokes, the whole thing feels slow, with none of the comedic timing that makes the show so beloved.

It starts off when Plankton accidentally creates an army of uncontrollable robots that you have to defeat as a rotation of familiar faces: SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, and Sandy Cheeks. The main menu is a hub world where you can select stages based on notable SpongeBob locations like the Flying Dutchman’s Graveyard, Jellyfish Fields, and Goo Lagoon. Your main objective is collecting Golden Spatulas. They’re littered around the world and are used to unlock stages. You can also find Shiny Objects and Socks which can be spent to buy spatulas from Mr. Krabs or Patrick respectively.

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Diving into the game is exciting at the beginning. The Greater Bikini Bottom Area is carefully re-imagined into a clean, revitalized style that’s popping with a new paint job. It looks glossy, but you have to wonder how necessary the whole visual update is when the original doesn’t even look bad. It’s got the same voice track as the original, with almost all of the voice actors from the show picking up their roles for the game, directing you around to various objectives and making short conversation. You can tell the voice actors are trying hard to carry the experience, but they can’t do that because they’re only given a few canned lines that repeat over and over again outside of the cutscenes. In a sense, Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated functions as a SpongeBob museum, highlighting the environments that give life to the series. There’s a keen attention to detail in recreating the original’s charm, which is done well, but this underwater world’s allure falls flat without quality-of-life updates that consider how differently we play today.

After the first few areas, exploring quickly becomes a chore. Some spatulas are thrown at you for doing nothing, and others feel impossible to get due to bad camera angles and unexplained systems that you’re somehow expected to know. Luckily there are a ton of helpful existing forum posts and walkthroughs for the OG game that can guide you through the most annoying parts. But that lack of consideration given to the spatula’s locations is off-putting and causes the game to start dragging within the first few hours.

Movement is just as unpleasant. It’s a constant wrestling match with mechanics that are both restrictive and awkward to a point that they remove your focus from the current objective and makes you want to put the controller down. Moving platforms are slow, and you have to jump on them often. If you miss them you end up bored, sitting there, waiting for the platform again while looking at an idle animation for too long and listening to the same short music loop on repeat. Even if you like the Stephen Hillenburg bangers, this gets annoying fast. Once you ace a moving platform’s weird rhythms, it doesn’t mean it’s over. Sometimes there are robots placed right at the end of those sequences that are too large for your character to move around properly because of their lack of mobility. It just feels cruel. It feels like your only options are to have SpongeBob try to jump to a place out of bounds and get escorted back to the stage by the giant floating hand named “Hans,” or fall to the start.

…this underwater world’s allure falls flat without quality of life updates that consider how differently we play today.

There were multiple points in the game where I climbed up to the top of a high structure and a rogue robot knocked me all the way down into water. Ironically, none of the protagonists can swim, so I instantly died and respawned at a checkpoint. Having to start all over is truly deflating. I’m willing to learn how to excel with a game’s controls even if they’re difficult to grasp at the start, but with Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, it isn’t a matter of understanding the controls and abilities–it’s a case of the controls just not working well. It’s fine for games to punish players for being bad, but this game just feels constantly punishing for no reason, and it doesn’t seem to notice it or acknowledge it. Sometimes there are different ways to get to golden spatulas, but the game also randomly blocks paths with invisible walls, rendering your attempt to get there useless and telling you that your solution isn’t right. Walking into those walls feels like a slap in the face just for thinking creatively.

The levels revolve around walking to recurring characters around the map, picking up tasks from them, fighting robots, and swapping between two characters to utilize their strengths and complete the area. The loop could be enjoyable, but you can’t run in this game. Or dodge. Or swap characters conveniently. It’s grueling. You have to walk around slowly, fight almost every robot in your path (some areas are way too packed with enemies), and frequently move back and forth to Bus Stops that are out of the way 90% of the time for character swaps. The protagonists all have distinct play styles that grant you access to different parts of the maps–if SpongeBob can’t jump there, then run over to a Bus Stop so you can swap characters to Sandy and Lasso Glide over. But if you die, good luck keeping your cool. Deaths can feel beyond unfair, restarting your progress to the point that you may end up looking into the dark depths of the loading screen abyss thinking, “Why? Why me?”

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The fleeting fun I had during this game happened during the boss fights. They wake you up out of autopilot mode by transforming the game’s monotonous motions into something that demands your attention. Your colossal foes and the tricks up their sleeves cause you to start thinking about your movements carefully. The cutscenes before the start of the fights are genuinely funny, backed by an intense synth tune, and each battle is commentated live by a talking fish. These moments are a bright light in the game and make it feel alive, just for a moment. It’s a delight to have the game make you laugh at these points, because most of the other jokes in the game just don’t hit.

If you find you still have fond feelings about the original SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, you should watch a speedrun of it or find your old copy and dust off that PS2. This one isn’t it. Remasters, ports, and remakes are nice because they make games more accessible to new audiences, and the ones that excel understand that some features from the game’s era are antiquated and should be updated or removed. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated flops like a fish out of water when it comes to this. It’s a game so focused on emulating and embellishing the original that it doesn’t know the parts of itself that are fun and the parts that aren’t. It lost sight of the basic elements that make a collectible platformer enjoyable. This game doesn’t promote curious or keen gameplay, the movement isn’t smooth, and gathering collectibles never feels rewarding. Ultimately, the game winds up being an unpleasant nostalgia trip that nobody should pack their bags for.

Now Playing: SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated Review

The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 10: 2425 Constance

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 10: Santa Barbara – 2425 Constance. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

2425 Constance Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Artifacts: 1

Artifact – Rattlers Outside Note

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As you move down the street, some infected will appear on the right – take them down quietly. More of them are inside the house – address number 2418 – that they wandered out of. Go in to kill them and loot for supplies if you’d like as well as a note on the toilet in the bathroom.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 10’s Pushing Inland and The Resort. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Escape

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Escape. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

The Escape Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Coins: 1
  • Workbenches: 1

Coin – Arkansas

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Just after you leave the first small store and before you go under the truck with ‘Harst Brewer’ on it turn left and there’s a coin behind the shopping cart

Workbench Location – Building Entered via Window

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After getting through the watery distillery and abandoned bar, filled with WLF soldiers, you’ll be outside again. Jump over the brick wall. Follow Lev. Approach the ladder and boost Lev up to it. Climb up the ladder too and turn right. Climb into the window of the building ahead and approach the workbench in this small room.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 8’s The Marina and The Island. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Island

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Island. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

The Island Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Artifacts: 4
  • Coins: 3
  • Workbenches: 1

Training Manual – Crafting

If you haven’t found this training manual in a previous area, you may find it on the island. When you get to the top of the ladder, ignore Yara for a second and cut to the left. Go inside the truck and in the back is a training manual called Identify Counter and Destroy.

Coin – Idaho

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Explore the open truck on the left when you climb up the first ladder to a road. Even further into the truck is a coin in the back left corner.

Artifact – WLF Scout Journal

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Just after climbing up the ladder and going right from the open truck, you’ll find one WLF soldier strung up and another on the ground. Loot the body on the ground to fight his note.

Coin – North Carolina

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Follow Yara, jumping over the barricade to continue into the forest. Once you hear an alarm sounding, you’ll be near some waterfalls and a few cars. Look for a car by a tree above the falls, to the left of the path. Check the car’s left side for an open door, and below is a coin on a book.

Artifact – Venison Distribution Note

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When you enter the first Seraphite camp, it will be devoid of people. Look for the large hut in the center and move inside. Here you’ll find plenty of supplies, including some long tables in the middle where a note has been left.

Coin – Montana

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In the first Seraphite encampment full of enemies, your goal is to reach the lumber mill on the far right side of the area. To the left of that mill is the sealed gate and two watchtowers – if you head towards the left watchtower and turn around to face the nearby building (opposite the lumber mill), you can find a ladder placed at the back of the building. Climb up to reach its second floor, and move all the way to the window at the front of the building to find a coin left behind.

Artifact – Young Seraphite’s Journal

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After you spot Isaac’s invasion, move up the road past a watchtower with some supplies to a pair of homes. Enter the first one on the left and pick up the note on the bed.

Workbench Location – Seraphite Shack

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There’s also a workbench in the same shack with the note, in the backroom against the far wall..

Artifact – Mournful Prayer Note

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Of the two huts you encounter, the one on the right is a shrine to the Prophet, and filled with offerings. Look on the right wall to find a prayer note you can read.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 8’s The Marina and The Escape. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

The Last of Us 2 Collectibles Guide Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Marina

This portion of The Last of Us Part Two guide includes all collectible locations in Chapter 8: Seattle Day 3 – The Marina. This includes all Artifacts, Workbenches, Safes, and Collectible Coins. Remember that you can revisit any chapter section to replay an area and collect missing items by returning to the main menu and selecting a chapter once you have completed it.

The Marina Collectibles Overview

View the sections below to locate a collectible in the order they are found.

  • Artifacts: 1
  • Coins: 2

Coin – Kansas

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As soon as the chapter starts, turn around and walk up the small stairs to admire the view. On the ground is a coin.

Coin – Louisiana

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Follow Yara and you’ll reach a train station. Pause and walk on the right of the ramp. There, you’ll see a bucket with a melee weapon in it and a coin on the ground.

Artifact – The Marina Note

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Before going up the red ladder on the dock, move ahead and jump over the concession stand. Then check the counter for a note.

Looking for more Collectibles in The Last of Us Part Two? Find even more artifacts and trading cards in Chapter 8’s The Island and The Escape. Be sure to also check out our complete The Last of Us 2 Collectible Hub to find every secret in every chapter and location.

Cyberpunk 2077 Will Debut A Tie-In Comic Before The Game Launches

Cyberpunk 2077 might have been delayed into November, but we’ll still be able to experience a slice of its world in September. The first issue of a new comic miniseries, Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team, will release on September 9, featuring a story set within the world of the game.

Trauma Team follows Nadia, who lives in Night City (where the game is set) and is the only survivor of a botched rescue conducted by the eponymous Trauma Team International corporation, which she works for. Nadia soon finds herself in peril once more on an extraction mission, where her new team discovers that the corporation isn’t what they thought it was.

The first issue will cost $4, and will weigh in at 32 pages.

Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team #1
Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team #1

The comic will come from a team consisting of writer Cullen Bunn, artist Miguel Valderrama, colorist Jason Wordie, and letterer Frank Cvetkovic. It’ll be published by Dark Horse Comics. Four issues will be published in total; plans for a trade paperback or collected hardback have not been announced.

Cyberpunk 2077 will also come to Xbox Series X and PS5 at a later date.

Now Playing: Cyberpunk 2077 Delayed, Spider-Man: Miles Morales Explained, & PS5 DualSense Trademark | Save State

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