What Rampage and Tomb Raider Understood That Other Game Movies Didn’t

It hardly needs reiterating that major studio feature films based on popular video games have been roundly rejected by audiences and critics pretty much since the mid-1990s. For the longest time, 1995’s Mortal Kombat and 2002’s Resident Evil were often held up as the exemplars of what the genre could provide, and any world wherein Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil are the best of anything is a sad one indeed.

Throughout the decades, video game fans have been disappointed again and again by flicks like Super Mario Bros. (a cult hit at best), Silent Hill, Silent Hill: Revelation, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Doom, Max Payne, Prince of Persia, Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, and a slew of features directed by notorious schlock auteur Uwe Boll. The best that can be said of any of these is that they’re “kinda good if they’re on cable and nothing else is on.” Not exactly a high standard.

Continue reading…

The Best PC Games of 2018 By Score

Destiny 2: Forsaken Xur Location Guide (Dec. 28-Jan. 1)

Xur is back for the final week of The Dawning, Destiny 2‘s holiday event. As usual, he’s selling Year One Exotics, helping you to complete your collections of weapons and armor from before the release of the Forsaken expansion. Check out the video above for everything you need to know about where to find Xur and what he’s selling.

The arrival of Xur this week is also your last chance to complete one of the Triumphs that are part of The Dawning. The event has you delivering holiday gifts to most of the game’s characters, and this year, those gifts are baked goods you can create from items you get from enemies you kill throughout the game. You’ll need to bring Strange Cookies to Xur to complete the Triumph, so check out our Dawning recipe guide to see what you need and how to bake them.

Even though The Dawning is almost over, there’s still a lot going on in Destiny 2. We recently saw the opening of the third Forge in the Black Armory expansion, and this week marks the return of the Iron Banner player-versus-player event–so there are plenty of opportunities to gather up cool new gear and push toward the new 650 Power level cap.

Get Another Free PC Game From The Epic Games Store

Between now and January 10, you don’t have to spend any money to get one of the best platformers of the decade. The Epic Games Store is giving away free copies of Super Meat Boy to anyone with an account. And if you don’t have an account, signing up is free. All you have to do is sign in, claim the game, and you’re good to go. The only catch is that you’ll need to use the Epic Games Launcher to play it.

Super Meat Boy is an ultra-challenging side-scrolling platformer that stars an anthropomorphic slab of meat. Your job is to navigate the fragile hero through dozens of stages that are filled with obstacles like saw blades, shards of glass, and piles of deadly salt. It’s a tough game, but the levels are mostly short, and you respawn instantly.

No Caption ProvidedGallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3Gallery image 4Gallery image 5Gallery image 6Gallery image 7Gallery image 8Gallery image 9Gallery image 10

In GameSpot’s 9.5/10 Super Meat Boy review, Tom McShae wrote, “It’s impossible to point to just one element that makes Super Meat Boy such an extraordinary game. From the intense-though-always-fair difficulty and the inspired level design, to the pinpoint controls and catchy soundtrack, all of the different aspects converge into something that is truly outstanding.”

The Epic Games Store launched earlier this month, offering a small selection of games initially, with a promise to increase the selection over time. The company also said it will hand out a PC game for free every two weeks throughout 2019, giving potential customers a reason to keep coming back. The first freebie was Subnautica, but that’s now been replaced by Super Meat Boy. Epic has yet to announce what game will be free when Super Meat Boy goes back to regular price on January 10.

Where Is Xur? Destiny 2 Location And Exotic Weapons Guide (Dec. 28-Jan. 1)

The Dawning, Destiny 2‘s holiday event, is nearly over, which makes this weekend your last chance to give a few holiday cookies to Xur. The special vendor who only appears from Friday to Tuesday each week also has his usual crop of products: Exotic weapons and armor. Here’s everything you need to know about where to find Xur and what you can buy from him during your final Exotic shopping days of 2018.

For the final weekend of December, you’ll be able to find Xur on Titan in the area known as The Rig. If you still need to deliver him Strange Cookies to get all the Triumphs for the Dawning event, check out our Dawning recipe guide before you miss your chance.

No Caption ProvidedGallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3Gallery image 4Gallery image 5Gallery image 6

As usual, he’s offering Exotics from the Year One collection to help you get all the best weapons and armor from before the release of Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion. This week, Xur has D.A.R.C.I., a powerful sniper rifle that gives you a whole bunch of information about enemies when you activate its “Personal Assistant” perk by aiming through the scope. When the Personal Assistant is activated, the rifle does a lot more damage and has better targeting acquisition, making it a pretty great tool both in the Crucible and against enemies throughout the solar system.

Xur also carries three pieces of Exotic armor, one for each class of character. This week, Warlocks can grab the Stag helmet, which gives you additional Rift energy when you’re critically injured and creates a healing Rift on your body if you die–making it a lot easier for teammates to revive you. For Hunters, Xur has the Ophidia Spathe chest piece, which gives you an extra throwing knife melee charge. Finally for Titans, there’s the Ashen Wake gauntlets, which make your fusion grenades explode on contact and increase your grenade throwing speed and distance.

Here are all the Exotics Xur offers this week and what they’ll cost you:

  • D.A.R.C.I. (Exotic auto rifle) — 29 Legendary Shards
  • Ashen Wake (Exotic Titan gauntlets) — 23 Legendary Shards
  • Ophidia Spathe (Exotic Hunter chest armor) — 23 Legendary Shards
  • The Stag (Exotic Warlock helmet) — 23 Legendary Shards

You can also buy a Fated Engram, if you can afford it. Dropping 97 Legendary Shards on the item will grant you one Year One Exotic you don’t already have for that character. You can also snag a Five of Swords challenge card for free, which allows you to add difficulty modifiers that increase your score in Nightfall runs.

These are the last few days of the Dawning, so don’t forget to knock out your Triumphs and unlock the Dawning Cheer sparrow. There’s also Iron Banner this week, a great place to get Powerful gear while you drive your characters up to the new 650 Power level cap. And last week saw the release of the Izanami Forge, the third of four new forges as part of the Black Armory expansion.