If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
Think of a song you want to listen to. Chances are it’s one of the 50 million tracks you can stream from Amazon Music Unlimited. And right now, for a limited time, new customers can try out Amazon’s ad-free music service for three months without spending a single cent. That’s a great way to listen to any music you for free. There’s no reason not to give it a try.
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
Capcom isn’t done with Monster Hunter World yet. The company’s best-selling game ever is getting a major expansion. It’s called Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, and it’s landing on PS4 and Xbox One on September 6, with the PC following sometime later this winter. Iceborne will introduce a frigid new environment, as well as new weapons, combos, and monsters, including some beasts from previous games in the series.
The original John Wick is one of the greatest standalone action movies ever. John Wick Chapter 2, which came out nearly three years later in 2017, added countless new wrinkles to the series’ surprisingly complex mythology, peeling back layers of the clandestine hierarchy of assassins operating under the High Table. But the sequel didn’t lose focus–it kept advancing the character John Wick’s personal story, even as the mythology around him expanded to become wider and deeper.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, which turns John Wick into just another pawn in the High Table’s hidden wars, and sends the character’s personal story careening around a narrative cul-de-sac that ultimately leaves him virtually unchanged by the events of this movie.
That’s not a dealbreaker, because ultimately, it’s more John Wick. But it’s a bad sign for the future: If series director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves plan to keep this franchise going forever, John Wick will eventually run out of steam. John Wick 3 is full of the series’ signature awesome, tightly designed action, subtle, dark humor, intriguing lore and mythological symbolism, and well drawn, larger-than-life characters. But the cracks in the engine are starting to show as well.
At the end of John Wick 2, our titular antihero was given a one-hour head start before becoming officially excommunicated by the Continental Hotel–and thus, cast out from under the High Table’s laws, which keep the business of assassination professional and predictable, as long as everybody stays in line. John Wick 3 picks up immediately, as Wick jogs through New York City’s rainy, neon-lit streets, his unnamed pit bull at his side, a plan to preserve his own hide quickly taking shape. No matter how dire John’s circumstances, it seems, there’s always another safe house or weapons stash disguised as a deli or a tailor, and always more favors from past associates that Wick can call in when he needs it most. Despite ostensibly having every assassin in the known world gunning for him, John is never truly on his own.
After the series visited Rome in John Wick 2, Parabellum sees the assassin travel to another new Continental location, this time in the Moroccan city of Casablanca. There he teams up with Halle Berry‘s Sofia, whose gorgeous and impeccably trained Belgian Malinois dogs completely steal the show. There’s an action scene in Morocco that will leave you marveling at the gargantuan amount of training and rehearsal that must have gone into it, even as your pulse quickens and your pupils dilate from the sheer gruesome, ultraviolent insanity.
Actions have consequences in the world of John Wick, and John Wick 3’s main new driving force is Asia Kate Dillon‘s character, the Adjudicator, a representative of the High Table who arrives in New York to pass judgment and execute punishment against all those who have helped John Wick throughout the series. The Adjudicator is an agent of raw, unstoppable neutrality who cares nothing for the excuses, circumstances, or personal histories that influence events. All that matters is the High Table’s laws, and those who violate them will pay the price. The Adjudicator is, frankly, terrifying, dominating the movie with a scene-stealing authority and presence.
Most of this third movie is spent dealing with the fallout of John’s actions in the last one. The New York Continental’s Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) are featured more prominently than ever before, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) returns as well. We even learn some intriguing details of John Wick’s past, although I won’t spoil what.
It’s great to spend more time with these existing characters, but not every new addition hits the mark as effectively as the Adjudicator does. Mark Dacascos plays Zero, another assassin who takes Wick on, and his action scenes are air-tight. Zero also happens to be an actual John Wick fanboy, which is hilarious, but the movie never stops to ask whether it makes sense for John to be a mini-celebrity in the world of underground assassins. Is he the terrifying boogeyman–the Baba Yaga of the New York Continental scene, an agent of pure murder, to be dreaded and feared? Or is John Wick an idol that other assassins want to test their strength against and maybe ask for an autograph? The movie wants to have it both ways, but it doesn’t completely work.
John Wick 3 has some of the coolest action scenes in the whole franchise, including one late in the film that forces John to rethink his entire fighting style, making for some brutally creative tactics. However, there’s also a scene where the assassin somehow coerces a horse into kicking multiple of his enemies in the face, with some weirdly goofy-looking CG. This movie adds fantastic new characters like the grim Adjudicator and deadly dog mom Sofia, but it also takes the lore in some strange directions that get way too overtly biblical for a series that was arguably at its best when a dude just wanted revenge for his dog.
Worst of all, John Wick 3 essentially treads water in terms of actual narrative progression. It’s a middle chapter in a larger saga, one that–for the first time–feels like it might go on too long if it remains on the same path. A trilogy is one thing, but Parabellum goes way past setting up a sequel and veers hard into the territory of “they forgot to write an ending so the movie just kind of ends.”
It all combines for the weakest entry yet in a series that, overall, remains head and shoulders above most of its competition in terms of style, action, writing, world-building, and characters. Keanu Reeves’ John Wick is still the instant classic action anti-hero he’s always been, and John Wick 3 absolutely delivers loads more of what the series’ fans love. It’s just that, for the first time, it’s possible to envision a future in which we love it less and less.
Marvel Comics has revealed ambitious plans for celebrating its 80th anniversary. The publisher will celebrate by releasing Marvel Comics #1000 in August 2019.
As revealed by The New York Times, this oversized anniversary issue is timed to hit on the 80th anniversary of the very first Marvel book ever published – 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. Check out artist Alex Ross’ cover below:
Marvel Comics #1000 cover by Alex Ross. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
Welcome to Daily Win, our way of giving back to the IGN community. To thank our awesome audience, we’re giving away a new game each day to one lucky winner. Be sure to check IGN.com every day to enter in each new giveaway.
Today we’re giving away NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 for Xbox One. To enter into this sweepstake, fill out the form below. You must be at least 13 years old and a legal U.S. resident to enter. Today’s sweepstake will end at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Entries entered after this time will not be considered.
Blizzard has announced Season 17 of Diablo III will begin on May 17. The new season launches alongside the latest patch for Diablo III, which implements numerous quality-of-life changes into the game.
During Season 17, players will receive a set bonus provided by Legacy of Nightmares. “Classes with especially powerful Legacy of Nightmare builds will be able to experiment with new combinations, particularly ones centered around their ring slots,” Diablo III associate community manager Brandy Camel wrote in a blog post. “Meanwhile, classes traditionally dependent on a heavy amount of survivability from their ring slots have more freedom to experiment with build-changing Legendaries that don’t rely on a Class Set.”
Tap To Unmute
Diablo 3 On Switch Video Review
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
Sorry, but you can’t access this content!
By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Season 17 brings with it more cosmetics to earn, some old and some new. Several cosmetics from Season 5 make their return, allowing you to unlock them if you missed out the first time. Starting May 17, you’ll be able to unlock Season 5’s pants and boots slots of the Conqueror Set, Greyhollow Island portrait frames, and the Wickerman pet. In terms of something new, completing all nine chapters of the Season Journey will earn you the Galactic Wings.
The seasonal conquest rotation continues in Season 17 as well. Sprinter, Speed Racer, Avarice, Avaritia, The Thrill, Superhuman, Years of War, Dynasty, Masters of the Universe, and Masters of Sets all go live on May 17. In Season 17, the class set rewarded have rotated as well. Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey earns you the three necessary Haedrig’s Gifts necessary to unlock a full class set. Each of Season 17’s class sets are listed below.
May 17 also sees the release of a new patch for Diablo III that implements many quality-of-life changes. The full patch notes can be found in the blog post linked to in the text above, but we’ve outlined the highlights below.
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
If you don’t have ESPN+, new subscribers can get a deal right now on a full year of the streaming sports service and get the UFC 237 Pay Per View event, both for just $79.99. That saves you almost 30% off the price of purchasing them separately.
If you’re like me and you already signed up for ESPN+, you’re eligible to order UFC 237: Namajunas vs Andrade PPV for $59.99.
Interest seems high in Ash Ketchum’s yellow-fur companion, as the Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu has opened at the box office with an impressive $5.7 million on Thursday night in the US.
According to Variety, Detective Pikachu–directed by Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Shark Tale)–came in not far behind Shazam’s $5.9 million Thursday opening last month. With the movie expanding to 4,202 theatres Friday, the Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures collaboration has positioned itself to take on the second biggest movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame, which is currently sitting comfy at $2.321 billion worldwide since its April 26 debut.
Variety suggests forecasts for Detective Pikachu shoot “as high as $80 million,” but Warner Bros. estimate it’ll fall closer to $50 million. We’ll know for sure in a few days.
Detective Pikachu, based on the 2018 3DS game of the same name, sees Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2, The Hitman’s Bodyguard) and Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Paper Towns) team up to search for Smith’s character’s missing father.
Detective Pikachu also stars Kathryn Newton (Blockers, Lady Bird), Karan Soni (Deadpool 2, Ghostbusters), Ken Watanabe (Isle of Dogs, Transformers: The Last Knight), Rita Ora (Fifty Shades Freed, Southpaw), and Suki Waterhouse (Billionaire Boys Club, Divergent: Insurgent).
In our Detective Pikachu review, we said the movie “should prove enjoyable for any and all Pokémon fans, young or old.” If you’ve seen the movie, be sure to check out our look at all the Detective Pikachu Easter eggs and references.
This is a (mostly) spoiler-free review of Netflix’s Lucifer Season 4. All 10 episodes are currently available to stream globally on Netflix. Check what else is new to Netflix in May, including teen sci-fi series The Society.
The titular crime-solving devil is back for season 4 of Lucifer, cast out of TV heaven by Fox and resurrected by Netflix thanks to the social media prayers of “Lucifans.”
If you’re wondering how much the show itself has changed with the switch to Netflix, the answer is… not much at all. Though it’s only 10 episodes as opposed to 22, the fourth season looks, sounds, and acts very much like the previous three. It’s still, at its core, a supernatural-police procedural with a campy, pun and double entendre-filled sense of humor. Though Netflix could have thrown it in, there’s not a lot of additional profanity, violence, or sex, though Tom Ellis’ bare butt makes its first appearance less than six minutes into episode 1, “Everything’s Okay.”
Square Enix finally released a new Final Fantasy VII remake trailer during Sony’s State of Play presentation on Thursday. While light on new details, the video did give us another look at how the highly anticipated PS4 remake is shaping up, and now the publisher has shared a few more tidbits about the game.
Following the State of Play broadcast, Square Enix sent out a Japanese press release about the new Final Fantasy VII remake trailer. According to Siliconera, the press release reaffirms that the remake will be a “multi-part production,” and that more information about the game will be revealed in June, presumably during Square Enix’s E3 press conference.
The Final Fantasy VII remake was first announced during Sony’s E3 2015 press conference, but since then, details about the game have been scarce. One aspect that Square Enix did confirm soon after the game’s reveal, however, was that it would be released in installments. The company further elaborated on this remark, clarifying the remake would be made up of multiple, full-sized games instead of a series of smaller episodes.
“It will essentially be a full scale game for each part of the multi-part series,” producer Yoshinori Kitase told Game Informer in 2016, likening the production to Final Fantasy XIII. “In XIII, each installment told the story from a different angle. It was kind of like approaching an unknown territory in a sense.
“Whereas with Final Fantasy VII Remake, we already have a preexisting story, so it wouldn’t really make sense if that isn’t encompassed in a multi-part series… So if we’re just looking at each of these parts, one part should be on par with the scale of one Final Fantasy XIII game.”
Following Thursday’s presentation, the official Final Fantasy Twitter account shared a message from Final Fantasy VII remake director Tetsuya Nomura, reiterating that more details about the game are on the way soon. “Most of the plans are already in place in the run up to launch, so please bear with us a little longer until we can release more information next month,” the message read.
The Final Fantasy VII remake is still without a release date, but it looks like the publisher is gearing up to finally pull back the curtain on the game. Square Enix’s E3 press conference takes place on Monday, June 10, at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET–the time slot Sony’s E3 briefing traditionally occupies. Of course, the company isn’t using that slot this year, as it announced back in November that it is skipping E3 2019.