Author: Trafficblast

Episode 7 – Fighting In The Streets

Whoa! At the end of the last episode, we were just about to meet up with Guillermo Del Toro at his cabin and have a nice night in together, and now we’re… here? What happened?

Well, no time to sit around and soak in the atmosphere, time to go to the sewers!

You’ll notice that all the cargo you were carrying will be scattered across the street ahead (and potentially behind you). Move briskly from cover to cover and grab your stuff.

If you still have access to the armor plates you got from the Photographer last episode, equip them. If you need to leave some stuff behind, choose stuff that isn’t useful for combat because, surprise, you’re in a warzone.

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A new official, canon Overwatch short story has been released. Valkyrie, written by the game’s senior lore and story designer Michael Chu, is a first-person story about Mercy coming to terms with the role she performed in the Overwatch organization after it has disbanded. The short story appears to be set shortly before the beginning of the game, and ties in to an in-game story event that can net you a new Mercy costume.

We’ve gone through the story and summed up the lore highlights from it below–stop now if you’d like to read it yourself without spoilers.

The story begins with Mercy remembering her parents, who were volunteering at a hospital in Switzerland during the Omnic Crisis, and were killed by an airstrike one day when she was still young. The story jumps forward to Mercy as an adult, working at an aid camp just outside Cairo. She’s been there for two years removed, having ended her tenure as head of medical research for Overwatch when the organization collapsed sometime earlier. Her reputation was in tatters when Overwatch was disbanded, and she headed to Egypt to help out because Overwatch was “responsible for much of the country’s suffering.”

The story then cuts to Mercy being reunited with Soldier 76 and Ana, who have tracked her down as 76 badly needs healing. Mercy and 76 have a heated discussion about the state of things–76 is out for revenge, especially against Reaper, and the two don’t see eye to eye.

The story flashes back to Mercy and 76’s first meeting, sparked by Mercy’s research into nanobiotic healing (which is, the story assures us, not related to nanobot technology). We’re given some insights into Mercy’s research background, and how she was brought on bought with the promise of letting her develop healing technologies for use off the battlefield–which is, of course, not exactly what happened.

Back in the present, the trio is jolted by an explosion at the nearby Anubis facility, and a reluctant Mercy straps into her Valkyrie suit alongside the other two to go help fend off Talon forces. In the heat of battle, Mercy finds Hanan, a young girl trapped by rubble, who recognizes her as Mercy when she uses her healing staff. She soon finds herself having to rescue Hanan’s brother, too, who is trapped in a collapsing building.

A mortar hits the building during the rescue attempt, and Mercy’s suit is badly damaged. She manages to save both children as the building collapses, getting trapped as the building collapses around her. But 76 comes back for her, and ultimately everyone survives. In the aftermath, 76 and Ana tell Mercy that they’re leaving to continue hunting Reaper, who was responsible for what happened that day. Mercy does not go with them, but as she continues her work, and as she reflects on saving the two children and how excited they were to meet Mercy, she starts to reassess the value of her work with Overwatch.

If you’re hungry for more Overwatch lore, the recently announced Overwatch 2 promises to deliver much more.

This week we are putting the spotlight on Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress Frances Conroy. In Season 1 – Murder House, we first met her as Moira O’Hara, the housekeeper and maid at the Murder House. In season 2 – Asylum, Conroy played Shachath, the Angel of Death. Her most iconic AHS character is Myrtle Snow, from Season 3 – Coven, and Season 8 – Apocalypse.

In Season 4 – Freak Show, Conroy played Gloria Mott, the wealthy and widowed mother of Dandy Mott. After taking a season off of American Horror Story, Frances returned to the show for Roanoke’s reality-show reenactment of Mama Polk. Here she played an actress playing the part of the Polk family matriarch in “My Roanoke Nightmare.” For AHS Season 7 – Cult, Frances appeared as Bebe Babbitt in a pair of episodes.

Ryan breaks down each one of Conroy’s AHS roles in the video above. You can check out last week’s spotlight on The Best of Lily Rabe. And if you’re watching AHS:1984, don’t miss our latest breakdown of episode 8, “Rest In Pieces”.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint’s 1.0.3 title update patch is available from today on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and the full patch notes have been released. The patch weighs in at 7GB on both PS4 and Xbox One, and a slightly slimmer 6.7GB on PC. It includes a number of bug fixes, tweaks, and improvements, as well as a few basic gameplay updates.

Some major issues have been addressed–drones will now deploy reliably, and players should no longer respawn under the map. The “Mission Completion” tutorial pop-up won’t display after loading screens anymore, and mission interactions are now prioritized over vehicle interactions. These are just a few examples, with the full patch notes listing many more.

Some controls and mechanics have changed too to make for a more enjoyable experience. Players can now do a camera shoulder swap in cover, which was not possible before. Your character’s base stamina has increased by 66% and regenerates 75% faster than before, while sliding now only consumes half the stamina it used to. This should make for a less frustrating game.

The full patch makes multiple changes to the enemy and NPC AI, as well as animation, audio, camera, chat, loot, and menu updates. Missions and general gameplay have also seen multiple improvements. The patch notes detail over 100 changes that have been made as of 1.0.3, which will hopefully go some way to improve the experience.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint has had a difficult launch period, and the game’s middling-to-negative reviews have disappointed Ubisoft, especially as the game has not sold as expected. In the wake of this disappointment, Ubisoft promised that the game would become a more “gritty and authentic military experience” in the future, and promised two major updates for November; this is the first of those.

If you’re jumping back in post-patch, make sure you check out our guide for dealing with drones in Breakpoint.

13 Reasons Why actress Katherine Langford filmed a scene for Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, but it was left on the cutting room floor. Langford never shared any official details about what the scene was, but now we know. Those who booted up Avengers: Endgame on the just-launched Disney+ streaming service might have noticed an “Extras” tab on the Endgame page which features a deleted scene: “Tony at the Way Station.” This scene reveals all the details–SPOILERS FOLLOW BELOW.

Tony Stark, in the wake of his fatal hero moments, enters a “metaphysical waystation” where he meets a young woman named Morgan. After a period of uncertainty, he recognizes her as the daughter he had with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Morgan tells Stark that she “got to live [and] grow up,” according to GamesRadar. She later says to her father, “I’m proud of you” for sacrificing himself and saving humanity with this selfless and courageous act. The scene ends with Morgan telling her father, “I love you.” Stark then leans in and plants a kiss on her cheek; he replies, “I love you 3000.”

It’s a nice scene, but it’s not hard to see why it was cut. After all, the surviving members of The Avengers assembled for Stark’s funeral which wrapped up his story in an emotional and impactful way.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo spoke about the deleted scene back in May and why they decided to cut it.

“What we realized about it was we didn’t feel an emotional association with the adult version of his daughter. It wasn’t resonating with us on an emotional level, which is why we moved away [from] it,” the Russos said. “The intention was that his future daughter forgave him, and gave him peace to go. And the idea felt resonant, but there were just too many ideas in an overly complicated movie.”

This scene, and the entire Endgame movie, are now available to stream on Disney+. The film was initially expected to come to the streaming service in December, but Disney moved up the release to launch day.

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31. Is That Boba Fett?

Maybe, maybe not. Before The Mandalorian meets the Mandore Blacksmith, he passes by a guard that sure does look a whole lot like Boba Fett. The infamous bounty hunter supposedly died in the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi. There’s no way of truly knowing at this point in time whether or not that Mandalorian is in fact one of Star Wars’ most popular characters–even though Boba isn’t truly a Mandalorian. However, we do know his job, and that’s guarding the entrance. And aside from the fact, it appears he’s doing that, his helmet is green, and in Mandalorian warrior culture, the color of your helmet means a lot. Green is the symbol of duty. He has a duty to guard that door and everyone inside.

iPhone company Apple is looking to expand its business into VR and AR, according to a new report. Bloomberg reports that the giant tech company might release a headset that combines virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in 2021 or 2022. This headset would have a “focus on gaming.”

Bloomberg added that Apple currently employs a team of around 1,000 engineers who are working on the company’s various VR and AR projects. The team is said to be made up of executives who previously worked on Apple’s gaming projects, among other things. Former game developers and graphics “experts” are also on the team, as are former NASA engineers, according to the report. The team is said to be operating out of a “nondescript area” in Sunnyvale, California, which is close to Apple’s main HQ in Cupertino, California.

The new VR and AR technology will reportedly join other existing Apple wearable products such as AirPods, Beats headphones, and the Apple Watch. With iPhone sales slowing down, wearables are primed to take more of a focus at Apple going forward, it seems.

The Bloomberg report also claims that Apple is working on a new iPad for release in 2020 that would feature two camera sensors and a “small hole” for a new “3D system” that would allow people to create 3D models of objects, people, and rooms. This technology is also said to be introduced in high-end iPhones in 2020.

Apple has been a big player in gaming for a long time already. The company recently pushed further into gaming with its Apple Arcade subscription service.

Apple will be a latecomer to VR. Microsoft created a “mixed reality” headset that incorporates VR and AR called HoloLens. The headset could have interesting applications for gaming, but right now Microsoft is focusing on commercial instead of consumer use. In 2018, the US government paid Microsoft around $500 million for a contract to use HoloLens headsets to create new military equipment.

Disney’s new Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian, is finally out in some parts of the world with the release of Disney+. One of the show’s main actors, Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Jack Reacher), has given Variety an interview about it, and it contains some surprising and delightful answers.

Herzog, who hasn’t seen any Star Wars movies before, told Variety is “doesn’t really matter” that he isn’t too knowledgeable about the source material. Show creator Jon Favreau helped brief Herzog on what he needed to know, and that was enough.

“You see, it was a very lively exchange, man-to-man so to speak, between Jon Favreau and myself. I was not tossed into unknown territory. I was very well briefed,” Herzog said. “I knew what was expected of me–I knew the interior landscape of the character and I knew the exterior landscape.”

Herzog added that he doesn’t watch more than four movies every year anyway, so it’s not surprising that he hasn’t seen Star Wars.

He does, however, watch some television–and the programs he called out are unexpected. He tunes in for WrestleMania and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. “As vulgar as they may be, it doesn’t matter that much, but you have to find some sort of orientation. As I always say, the poet must not close his eyes, must not avert them,” Herzog said.

Herzog said he was drawn to Keeping Up with the Kardashians, specifically, because he is passionate about experiencing new things. “I’m curious; that’s my guiding principal,” he said.

Continuing in the delightful interview, which you should read in full to completely appreciate, Herzog said he doesn’t expect to watch The Mandalorian. It’s only available on Disney+, and Herzog said he isn’t very enthusiastic about signing up. He is already a subscriber to the Criterion streaming service, and he’s enjoying that. “They have hundreds of films, and every one of them is great.”

In The Mandalorian, Herzog plays a character called the Client, a mysterious man who gives The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) a bounty to track someone down. GameSpot sister site CNET said Herzog’s appearance in the show is “absolutely brilliant.”

GameSpot’s review of The Mandalorian Episode 1 scored it a 7/10.

“With its first episode, The Mandalorian has made a statement about what a live-action Star Wars TV show looks like,” Chris Hayner said. “Now, with the remaining seven episodes in Season 1, it needs to make a statement about how a Star Wars plot should unfold over a longer form of storytelling.”

Unlike shows on Netflix, episodes of The Mandalorian aren’t released all at once. Future episodes will follow on a weekly basis, except for Episode 2 which premieres November 15.