And now, we love you! Somehow, this episode’s writer Michelle Paradise, director Jonathan Frakes, and Airiam actress Hannah Cheesman managed to take what was, essentially, a glorified extra for the past season and a half and give her a fleshed-out back story and a character arc that ends tragically yet heroically, all in less than hour. It’s a fairly miraculous feat, and continues Discovery’s strong upward swing that began with last week’s visit to Talos IV.
Airiam is one of several bridge characters in Discovery who has served to give the ship (and show) a sense of continuity, always hard at work with the main cast but rarely getting more than a few lines of dialogue here or a reaction shot there. This group, which also includes helmsman Detmer, ops officer Owosekun, tactical officer Rhys, and communications officer Bryce, has gotten a bit more to do in Season 2, but this is the first time that one of them has really been treated as a full character. And man, in Airiam’s case it was worth the wait.
There have been countless different approaches to the alien invasion story, from sci-fi epics like Independence Day and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to more personal cultural and political commentaries like USA’s Colony. Director Rupert Wyatt, perhaps best known for his work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, opted for the latter with his new film Captive State, which is set in Chicago nearly a decade after militarized aliens occupied America and tells the story of both those who are for and against the extra-terrestrial forces.
Wyatt, who co-wrote the story with his wife Erica Beeney, knew they wanted to tell a more modern, timely story through the lens of science fiction. The origin of Captive State was the idea of exploring the stories both the collaborators and dissidents on both sides of an occupied state. But Wyatt and Beeney opted not to go the route of a historical drama (which, coincidentally, he already directed in the pilot of AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies) and instead looked to the near future and “create this idea of we’re putting a documentary film crew into the future and we’re under occupation by an alien life form.”
Speaking of that trailer, you can watch it again below:
If there’s one lesson we learned from the Avengers: Infinity War trailers, however, it’s that sometimes this footage can be misleading. Marvel went through the trouble of adding fake scenes to Infinity War’s trailers, leading fans to believe Hulk would find in Wakanda, Tony Stark would don the Hulkbuster armor again and Thor still had his eye.
The first 150 Pokemon are now part of designs that can be incorporated into shirts through Original Stitch – though they’re currently only available in Japan, and Mew is notably absent.
Through Original Stitch, the designs shown in the gallery below can be incorporated into both men’s and women’s styles of casual, dress and Hawaiian shirts. What’s more, after selecting a size for the shirt, users can mix and match both plain and specific Pokemon designs into the shirt’s base fabric, collar, cuffs and pockets. Theoretically, fans could have a Charizard base with a Tauros collar, Vulpix cuffs and Mewtwo Pockets – though that would look like one hot Poke-mess.
Treyarch is giving players plenty of incentives to jump into Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 this weekend. On top of the ongoing Shamrock & Awe event, the developer is holding a free access period for all of the game’s Black Ops Pass multiplayer maps, with a double XP event on top of that for good measure.
Beginning at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET on March 15, players across PS4, Xbox One, and PC will be able to jump into all four of the maps included in the paid Black Ops Pass–Elevation, Madagascar, Casino, and Lockup–at no charge. The free period is scheduled to run until the same time on Monday, March 18.
In addition to that, Treyarch is doling out double rewards in all of the game’s modes this weekend. Those who dive into multiplayer or Zombies will receive twice as much XP as normal, while Blackout players will get double Merits. On top of that, Treyarch is offering 2x tier progression this weekend, allowing you to unlock Black Market rewards much faster.
Beyond this weekend’s events, Treyarch has also rolled out a new patch for Black Ops 4. This one primarily addresses numerous bugs and implements stability improvements across modes. Among other things, the developer has adjusted the new Hellcatraz Gauntlet in Zombies and reduced the Purifier’s damage and range in Blackout. You can read the full patch notes on Reddit.
The aforementioned Shamrock & Awe event is now live on PS4 and will expand to Xbox One and PC next week. It adds new content to all of Black Ops 4’s modes, along with St. Patrick’s Day-themed goodies in the Black Market. Everyone who simply logs into the game during the event will also unlock the “Precious” gesture and a new animated calling card.
Weeeelcooome to NVC, IGN’s weekly Nintendo podcast! Host Casey DeFreitas is joined by Zach Ryan, Tom Marks, and Samual Claiborn to reminisce for Mario Day, give early Yoshi’s Crafted World impressions, and more! Yes, Brian Altano and Peer Schneider were out this week, but don’t worry, they’ll be back.
Our curse struck again last week, and Nintendo announced Labo VR just hours after we recorded, so we discuss it this week. Dead Cells is getting DLC, Octopath Traveler is getting more games, and Nintendo Switch Online updated with more games this week. Tune in for all of that plus a heated Yoshi discussion, our definitive best first game to play, and more.
I am being hunted by an enemy that refuses to die.
This statement is a bit ironic, considering that in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, I play as Talion, aka the Gravewalker, whose whole thing is that he keeps coming back from the dead. It’s also true that the enemy orcs and trolls you kill in Shadow of War also have a nasty habit of cheating death to oppose you again, but this time… it’s personal.
I didn’t just kill this particular enemy — I completely deleted him. I made the decision recently to replay Shadow of War, and wanted a brand new save file. This meant not only erasing my old my save file, but also erasing my fated enemy’s story, his powers, and all of our interactions, and yet it appears that one does not simply erase revenge. Somehow, though, this particular nemesis has transcended game files and folders, clawing his way back from the icy pits of digital hell, to haunt my new playthrough of Shadow of War — and I am terrified.
If you’re active on Steam, you’re probably very familiar with Steam’s free weekend sales, where a couple of games are given a free-to-play trial period for players who may not otherwise try them. This weekend’s games have been announced, so let’s take a look at what’s free to play on Steam right now, as well as discounts for the games themselves.
Steam’s latest free weekend kicks off with Two Point Hospital, a business simulation games released last year in which you play as a hospital administrator who runs a hospital–including designing the layout and hiring staff–with the goal of quickly curing patients of various made-up, comical illnesses. In GameSpot’s Two Point Hospital review, critic James Swinbanks described the game as “modern and enjoyable,” with “irresistible charm and wit.”
“The exaggerated, cartoon look and relaxed approach to management make it inviting enough for most players, while the deeper aspects of its economy are enough to keep seasoned players engaged,” he wrote.
Two Point Hospital is free to play now through Monday, March 18 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. It’s a great time to give the game a try, as new items will be available in-game this weekend, and the second DLC, Pebberley Island, launches on Monday. If you like Two Point Hospital, the game will also be 33% off all weekend.
If you like digital collectible card games like Hearthstone, you’ll probably like Faeria, which is also free to play on Steam this weekend. A cross between card game and board game, Faeria is a strategy game with a unique living board that you can shape into lakes, mountains, deserts, and more, creating your own unique territory (which allows for unique abilities) while also pursuing your opponent. All 300 cards can be collected in under 50 hours, according to Steam. Free to play through Sunday, Faeria is also 50% off at just $12.49 until Monday, March 18 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. The premium bundle is also on sale for just $28.56 (61% off).
Several developer tools are also free on Steam this week and through the weekend. Create the RPG of your dreams with RPG Maker MV, or make a retro-style pixel game using Pixel Game Maker. If visual novels are more your jam, then you can use (you guessed it) Visual Novel Maker to bring your story to life. And of course, they’re all discounted to purchase this weekend: RPG Maker MV is just $20 (75% off), Pixel Game Maker MV is $63.74 (25% off), and Visual Novel Maker is $36 (40% off) until Tuesday, March 19 (you get an extra day with these).
For an even better deal, the Maker Series is available as a bundle for $76.14 (63% off), with several different packages and DLC for RPG Maker and Visual Novel Maker. Pixel Game Maker is still in Steam Early Access, so that software isn’t part of the bundle and will continue to be updated.
While not part of this weekend’s free-to-play Steam sale, it’s worth mentioning that Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT‘s free edition is now available indefinitely on Steam. The RPG is a console port of Dissidia Final Fantasy, which traded turn-based action for real-time battles. In our Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT review, GameSpot’s Alessandro Fillari felt the game faltered in many aspects, but did offer a diverse range of interesting characters, clever combat, and a charming story. Since it’s now free to play, you might as well check it out.
Gearbox Software is headed to PAX East later this month in Boston, and the developer will apparently have a lot to show and discuss. The studio has now released a third teaser image, and this one really looks like Borderlands.
A pixelated photo posted to Gearbox’s Twitter account shows what appears to be a Borderlands character staring at … something in the distance. Despite being fuzzy, the image seems to depict a Borderlands-like setting.
It’s a decidedly different look from the teaser image released earlier, which shows some kind of robotic creature on an operating table. That teaser image doesn’t contain the kind of cel-shaded presentation that the Borderlands series is known for.
Interestingly, today’s teaser, and the one released the day prior, were labeled as teaser images for “another game” to be revealed at PAX. This suggests that Gearbox may have two or more games to reveal at the show.
In addition to operating as a development studio, Gearbox is a publisher as well. The company most recently published We Happy Few and Bulletstorm: Full Clip, so it’s possible Gearbox announces a published game at PAX East in addition to the expected Borderlands 3.
Whatever Gearbox has to reveal, it’ll likely happen during the company’s panel at PAX East’s biggest hall. That panel, to take place on March 28, promises “never-before-seen reveals, exclusives, and surprises.” It will also be live streamed for those not attending the Boston, Mass. event.
