Netflix has released the first trailer for Escape the Undertaker, an upcoming WWE-themed special that allows viewers to control how the plot unfolds.
The trailer for the choose-your-own-adventure experience sees The New Day’s Big E, Xavier Woods, and Kofi Kingston take on a series of supernatural challenges at The Undertaker’s mansion, which has been transformed into an extreme haunted house, with viewers granted the authority to choose their fate through various options presented on screen.
The footage shows Taker unleashing the powers of his urn and warning the wrestling tag team that they must confront their “deepest darkest fears.” One clip shows the trio entering the WWE legend’s morgue, where Xavier bravely ventures further into the mists of the foggy room whilst audiences at home choose whether to follow him or stay with the others.
Netflix’s Escape the Undertaker continues the streaming service’s ongoing partnership with WWE. The landing hub for the interactive horror adventure states that it’s 31 minutes in length, though it’s unclear exactly how many different endings and variants of additional scenes are locked inside that runtime, just waiting to be uncovered.
This isn’t the first time that Netflix has offered an interactive title to its subscribers — perhaps one of the most memorable additions to the choose-your-own-adventure genre was Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch event. The film, released in 2018, allowed viewers to make choices that would lead them to different stories, with five main endings to unlock.
Escape The Undertaker will be released on Netflix on October 5 as part of this year’s Netflix and Chills lineup, which features a skele-ton of hair-raising, door-locking, keep-the-lights-on treats for streamers this coming season. Other notable additions include the final season of Lucifer, the second season of Locke & Key, and Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass.
Update: The trade paperback collection of The Wrong Earth: Night & Day is in stores now. To celebrate, Ahoy Comics has provided IGN with a lengthy new preview of this “Batman ’66 Meets The Dark Knight Returns”-inspired mash-up.
Check out the slideshow gallery below to read the entire first issue of the series:
Ahoy Comics’ miniseries The Wrong Earth struck a chord with superhero fans on the strength of a killer premise. What if two versions of the vigilante Dragonfly traded Earths? What happens when the gritty, Dark Knight Returns-inspired Dragonfly trades places with the campy, Batman ’66-style Dragonflyman? Now creators Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle are back with a sequel, and IGN has an exclusive preview.
The Wrong Earth: Night & Day takes this multiversal romp to its next logical step. This time, Dragonfly and Dragonflyman will directly face off when they’re both dragged to a third Earth. Check out a preview of issue #1 below:
Here’s the publisher’s official description for The Wrong Earth: Night and Day:
“The vengeance-dealing Dragonfly sticks it to the man! The acrobatic sleuth Dragonflyman assists the police! These alternate-earth versions of the same masked crimefighter meet face-to-face for the first time in this new series by the original creators of the smash-hit The Wrong Earth! Will their impossible encounter result in a team-up…or an all-out war?”
The original series has received plenty of praise from other creators as well as fans. Mark Waid writes, “THE WRONG EARTH is far more than a one-note gag—Tom and Jamal have made a surprisingly deep exploration and commentary on where this medium has been, how it got to where it is, and where it can go.”
The Wrong Earth: Night & Day #1 is priced at $3.99 and is scheduled for release on January 6, 2021.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the PlayStation’s latest console-exclusive action-adventure title, and much like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart before it, the game is rather linear. The game will take players from place to place, pitting them against puzzles that can be solved with the help of adorable sprites called Rot, and they’ll also face off against vicious enemies. It’s the standard fare for a game like this, and players shouldn’t expect especially difficult segments or confounding puzzles to get in their way.
Of course, not everyone will traverse the forests and other various vistas of Kena: Bridge of Spirits at the same pace, especially if they find themselves looking to leave no stone unturned. Kena has a suite of collectibles to hunt down, all of which require a bit more exploration and attention from players.
All that being said, Kena: Bridge of Spirits won’t demand the player’s time like some other titles. It’s a linear action-adventure game through and through, so completing the game really depends on how much of it they’re comfortable with actually finishing.
How Long To Beat Kena: Bridge Of Spirits?
Critical Path
Once again, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action-adventure game, and that means it’s not going to take too long for players to beat. That’s doubly so if someone is just trying to make their way through the game’s main storyline and shelve it immediately after the credits roll.
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Kena: Bridge of Spirits First 20 Minutes Gameplay
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According to Phil Hornshaw, who reviewed Kena: Bridge of Spirits for GameSpot, reaching the game’s credits will take around 12 hours. Once again, that’s not an excessive amount of time to spend on a single-player game, especially one that was developed by an indie studio. Of course, that time can fluctuate depending on what difficulty someone plays on, but it shouldn’t stretch much longer than half a day.
Completionist Path
Players who are really trying to get their money’s worth out of Kena: Bridge of Spirits won’t actually end up spending much more time in the game than those who just want to reach the credits. While Kena has some buffers that can keep players playing, like collectibles, extra puzzles, and exploration, they don’t amount to much.
Completing all of Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ story and collecting every collectible along the way will take players around 15 hours of playtime. Again, that’s not a lot of time to spend in the game, but it hinges on what difficulty players decide to tackle the game on. Naturally, earning all the game’s trophies will also tack on some extra time, but the game won’t take long to beat, even for completionists.
If you’re just getting into Kena: Bridge of Spirits and need some extra help getting along, we have a guide highlighting some of Kena Bridge of Spirits’ tips and tricks for mastering the game. And if you’re on the fence about picking the game up, check out our Kena: Bridge of Spirits review, where Hornshaw called the game “an exciting, often heartbreaking journey that will make you want to explore every corner and crevice to see all that you can.”
Kena: Bridge of Spirits, developer Ember Lab’s new adventure game for PlayStation consoles and PC, is out now, and reviews for the game have arrived as well. To help you decide if the game is worth your time and money, we’re collecting review scores and excerpts for Bridge of Spirits.
In our own Kena: Bridge of Spirits review, Phil Hornshaw praised the $40 game’s combat, puzzles, and story. Hornshaw also lauded the game for its art direction and music in the 9/10 review.
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Now Playing: Kena: Bridge of Spirits Hardest Difficulty Gameplay
Bridge of Spirits follows the story of a young woman, Kena, who is seeking out a sacred mountain shrine in an overgrown forest filled with trapped spirits. The world is populated by adorable little critters known as Rot, and collecting them helps give you more abilities.
Ember Lab was founded in 2009 by brothers Mike and Josh Grier, and the team initially worked on animation for partners like Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball before becoming a game studio and releasing Kena as its first game. Ember partnered with Sony to bring Bridge of Spirits to PlayStation exclusively on console, while the PC edition is only available on Epic’s storefront.
For an even more detailed look, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Game: Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Platforms: PS5, PS4, PC
Developer: Embed Lab
Release Date: September 21
Price: $40
Estimated Length: About 12 hours for the critical path [read more]
GameSpot — 9/10
“It’s about exploring a world and seeing what it once was, and helping to restore it again. And while Kena: Bridge of Spirits is full of familiar-feeling combat and exploration, its ability to find different ways to look at those ideas makes for a beautiful, emotional, and exciting journey.” — Phil Hornshaw [Full review]
Polygon
“Inspirations should always serve as a jumping-off point, something to build upon. But it often feels less like Kena: Bridge of Spirits was inspired by things, and more like it decided it could squish its beautifully realized world of magic and spirits into a ready-made mold. The result is a thoughtless blend; a hybridized paste. Vibrant and undoubtedly beautiful, Kena: Bridge of Spirits shows us every color in the spectrum. But strangely, it all feels brown–a muddy, grayish brown that comes from having mixed together every color on the palette.” — Ewan Wilson [Full review]
Hello there, little Rot
Press Start — 8/10
“Kena: Bridge of Spirits makes a good impression. It balances simplicity and challenge while weaving a neatly-paced story into something that can be played over a chill couple of days. Despite fantastic production values it’s still far from a AAA title–so it’s important to keep expectations in check, but anyone looking to lose themselves in a charming, gorgeous world ripe for exploration should look no further. It’s exactly what I needed right now–perfect cozy weekend entertainment.” — Kieron Verbrugge [Full review]
Eurogamer
“To me, Kena: Bridge of Spirits very much has first game syndrome–something with all the right ideas, weakened by their execution. If it does well–and given the fever with which it’s been followed leading up to its release, I expect it will–it’ll be because we often value AAA looks and mechanics more highly than attempts at innovation. I’m sure with this foundation Ember Lab has a great game in it, but this isn’t it just yet.” — Malindy Hetfeld [Full review]
IGN — 8/10
“With its elegantly simple combat and beautiful world, Kena: Bridge of Spirits harkens back to the days of the N64/GameCube-era Zeldas, Okami, and Star Fox Adventures, while also adding modern sensibilities and a distinct personal touch.” — Mitchell Saltzman [Full review]
Game Informer — 9/10
“Bridge of Spirits stumbles a little in spots, yet confidently sprints into the heart of the adventure, rewarding the player with secrets galore and visuals that are almost always worth admiring. If you love Zelda-like games or are just looking for an experience that will make you smile every step of the way, you can’t go wrong with Kena: Bridge of Spirits.” — Andrew Reiner [Full review]
If you ever find yourself stuck sprucing up a rusty, beaten-down laundromat owned by your business mogul dad — who just happens to be Geralt of Rivia voice actor Doug Cockle — you might consider sticking it to the old man by secretly converting the entire thing into a classic 1990s-style arcade. If that’s up your alley, then you’ll be pleased as fruit punch to discover the upcoming Arcade Paradise, a management sim in the vein of Stardew Valley that has you running and managing your very own arcade from the ground up.
But this isn’t just any management sim. Not only will you run the laundromat and arcade businesses side-by-side as you manage each of your different funnels of income, it sounds like you’ll also get to dive into and play all 50 of these fully-realized arcade games.
There are a decent variety of cabinets to start with, like Video Air Hockey, a Candy Crush-style adventure game, and an F-Zero-like racer. But it’s cool that you can add other non-gaming features, such as a jukebox, which is full of retro-80s and retro-90s-themed original music.
Expect it to take a little while before you get anywhere, however. When your arcade venture is brand new and doesn’t generate much revenue as a result, your main hustle will boil down to running laundry cycles, unclogging toilets, cleaning up gum, and taking out the trash. At the end of each day, you’ll want to place your funds into a conveniently-located safe in the backroom office so you can buy sleek renovations and new arcade cabinets that arrive the next day, like clockwork. But watch out — if you stay at work for too long instead of going home to get a good night’s rest, you can pass out, which makes you miss time at work the next day.
It’s not as sophisticated as Stardew Valley’s loop, but it certainly adds a reason for you to keep an eye on the time via your nifty wrist watch — especially when planning out laundry cycles that can take several real-world minutes, or several in-game hours, to complete. It’s also worth mentioning that I didn’t see any other NPCs, and it doesn’t seem like there’s an option to hire employees to run these basic tasks for you.
Towards the beginning of a fresh save, it seems like you’re able to sink a minute or two at a time into an arcade cabinet while you wait for laundry cycles to finish automating, but since your main focus early on is leaning on the laundromat side of your business for steady cash flow, you won’t be doing too much in the arcade.
But you can expect things to become much more relaxed once you’ve purchased and collected enough different arcade cabinets.
Once that steady inflow of arcade money comes in, expect to give these arcade cabinets far more of your sustained focus, since you can ride on the passive income that they generate while you play to your heart’s content — at least until you need to go home at the end of the day. At this point, about two and a half hours into my preview session, I basically stopped paying attention to laundry cycles at all — instead, racking up points in the surprisingly accurate homages to Pac-Man and Grand Theft Auto.
Your main hustle will boil down to running laundry cycles, unclogging toilets, cleaning up gum, and taking out the trash.
As you play games, work your way through a to-do list, and score achievements, you can earn pounds in addition to regular cash. If you’d like to, you can then log into your PC and spend these neat pounds on extra cosmetic benefits, but it’s all optional. It’s nice that you can also alter the different settings of each arcade cabinet, which changes how much profit it generates on its own.
The PC in your backroom office is an effective base of operations that serves to add even more 1990s flavor to your arcade. This is where you receive emails, where you can chat with your dad and sibling about how your business is progressing, and where you’ll shop for upgrades. In fact, this retro-style computer has a few extra authentic tricks up its sleeve, coming in hot with a Windows 95-esque interface and even featuring classic dial-up sounds to boot.
The PC in your backroom office is an effective base of operations that serves to add even more 1990s flavor to your arcade.
There’s a story to follow here, too, but in the first few hours at least, it seems like it’ll take a back seat to managing and building your business. The story that exists is enough to guide you through the process of learning everything you need to know, and Doug Cockle is entertaining in his role as business dad, where he sometimes shouts orders at you over the phone but doesn’t overstay his welcome.
In this early build, I found that the keyboard and mouse controls were a bit rough and unclear, and I couldn’t find a menu where the keybinds were laid out. However, I found that plugging in an Xbox Elite Controller made Arcade Paradise far more enjoyable to play overall. The button layout is simpler; for example, you only need to hold the Y button in order to exit your PC or arcade cabinet. Whereas, relying on my keyboard and mouse setup, I got stuck in an arcade cabinet for an entire in-game workday.
Witcher 3 voice actor Doug Cockle is entertaining in his role as business dad, where he sometimes shouts orders at you over the phone.
Given that I’m playing with a preview build, this is all subject to change, especially including the quality of life features. But after spending over three hours exploring only a mere handful of these authentically-designed arcade cabinets, I can confidently say that Arcade Paradise promises a surprising amount of variety and depth thus far. Overall, it sounds like there are still quite a few features and arcade cabinets that I didn’t get a chance to see, but I’m excited to give Arcade Paradise a proper dive when it launches later this year.
It’s another year, another super-ultrawide monitor from Samsung. Now in its fourth year (including the original C49HG90, which didn’t bear the Odyssey brand), each new super-ultrawide has brought new features that help the G9 series excel in more than mere size. 2021 brings the most significant upgrade yet: a Mini-LED backlight.
Mini-LED can precisely control the light beneath the LCD panel and, in some cases, turn it off completely. This improves contrast, brings big gains to HDR brightness, and eliminates the dreaded edge-lit glow common to gaming monitors.
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 delivers all of the above yet suffers new problems that take the shine off its best feature.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Design
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9’s exterior is nearly identical to last year’s G9. The only aesthetic change is on the monitor’s lower left bezel, where the prior model’s bright green Nvidia G-Sync logo is replaced by a more subtle monochrome badge. It’s a minor, but positive, tweak.
I don’t blame Samsung for keeping the prior model’s look. Why mess with what works? The Neo G9’s glossy white rear plastic looks sleek, futuristic, and luxurious. A vent near the top provides sporty flair and the massive stand makes a statement on any desk. There’s also a vent-like ring rounding the stand’s connection with the monitor. This is where you’ll find the monitor’s customizable RGB light.
Samsung also leaves the monitor’s functional problems untouched. The stand is an absolute unit that measures 31 inches wide and 9 inches deep. The full depth is 17 inches which, on my desk, places the edges of the monitor closer to the front of the desk than the rear. You might need to plan a desk upgrade to go along with the monitor.
I get it. This is a big monitor with a big curve, so it’s going to take up space. Still, I can’t help but think the monitor would be more practical with a less extreme curve and a stand that trades size for heft.
The stand does its job, at least. It keeps the monitor stable and includes adjustment for height, tilt, and swivel. The tilt and swivel action are well-tuned, making it possible to adjust the monitor with a light yet intentional touch. VESA mounting is supported with an included adapter. You might want to look up your monitor arm’s maximum weight, however, as the Neo G9’s display panel tips the scales at a hefty 26 pounds.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Features
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 includes two HDMI 2.1 ports, an upgrade from HDMI 2.0 on last year’s G9, and one DisplayPort 1.4 port. The HDMI 2.1 ports can handle a refresh rate up to 144Hz.
The monitor’s maximum 240Hz refresh rate is only available over DisplayPort 1.4, and only with a video card that supports Display Stream Compression (DSC). Cards prior to Nvidia’s RTX 20-series and AMD’s 5000-series lack this feature. This includes the Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti in my desktop, so I was limited to a refresh rate of 120Hz on my main gaming rig (I also tested with an RTX 30-series laptop).
Samsung’s inclusion of two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort might sound like an upgrade, but it’s not. It’s actually a downgrade from the prior model, which had one HDMI 2.0 and two DisplayPort ports.
Yes, you can now connect an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 at once, but neither supports an ultrawide or super-ultrawide aspect ratio. The Neo G9 can’t even deliver 4K from a console because its native resolution is 5,120 x 1,440, which is too low to handle 4K’s vertical resolution of 2160 pixels. HDMI 2.1 serves no purpose aside from letting Samsung slap that label on the monitor’s marketing.
Input and monitor settings are handled through a joystick control on the monitor’s lower right bezel. Monitor settings are placed in clearly labeled menus that are easy to navigate. An instrument panel at the top of the menu provides at-a-glance information about critical settings like refresh rate and response time.
There is one new feature for 2021: three buttons beside the joystick that can be used to switch between customized settings. This is great if you switch between different settings in different games. That’s not how I play, but gamers who use the black equalizer feature to boost visibility in dark games will enjoy it.
Speakers aren’t included. The monitor also lacks support for USB-C connectivity, but it does have two USB-A ports for adding wired peripherals.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Gaming Performance
It’s no exaggeration to say the super-ultrawide Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is a game-changing monitor. It can deliver not just stunning visuals but improve the way you play some titles. Unfortunately, it falls far short of perfection.
The Neo G9 is the ultimate monitor for simulation gaming. A visual landing in Microsoft Flight Simulator is easy, as the monitor’s wider perspective offers a realistic sense of speed and elevation. This same perspective can be great in open-world games and MMORPGs, making the Neo G9 a superb choice for Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft.
Not all games are better on a super-ultrawide monitor, however. Most place important UI elements along the edges or corners of a display. This is a problem on a super-ultrawide, as the width will push important information outside your center of attention. You’ll have to tilt your head to see information that’s normally a glance away.
The Mini-LED backlight includes 2,048 individual dimming zones and is paired with a VA panel. Last year’s edge-lit G9 already had a solid measured contrast ratio of 1760:1, but the Neo G9 blows that away with an incredible measured contrast ratio of 8780:1. This beats Asus’ ROG Swift PG32UQX, which also uses Mini-LED. That display reached a measured contrast ratio of 4890:1.
The Neo G9’s incredible contrast provides a rich, deep image with great dimensionality. Yet, if anything, the high contrast ratio undersells the display’s strengths. Mini-LED completely eliminates the edge-lit glow that plagues most gaming monitors and ruins the ambience of dark scenes. Watching the sun set in an open-world game is a truly beautiful experience.
What about brightness? Yeah, the Neo G9 has it. Samsung claims a maximum peak brightness of 2000 nits. I measured a sustained brightness of 647 nits – the second highest I’ve ever recorded. The Neo G9’s overall HDR performance is great, with sharp, detailed highlights. Asus’ PG32UQX looks more vivid and delivers bolder, brighter color in HDR, but the Neo G9 defeats every other monitor on the market. A monitor with a conventional backlight, like the Alienware AW3821DW, can’t hope to keep up.
However, the Neo G9 has a problem. The Mini-LED backlight has a subtle pattern I noticed even on the Windows desktop. It’s not always visible in games but can create a series of horizontal bars that stand out in motion. The problem is most significant in bright scenes like a sunlit sky or a sterile laboratory room.
The Neo G9 also struggles with severe blooming, which causes bright halos to appear around objects on a dark background. You’ll see blooming around big objects, small objects, fast objects, and slow objects. You’ll even see inverse blooming, where the edge of bright objects appear faded against a darker background.
Some blooming and uniformity problems can be expected with Mini-LED, but Samsung can do better. The Asus ROG Swift PG32UQX does not have the same uniformity issues and while blooming does occur, it’s much less distracting.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Motion Performance
The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 has a cutting-edge VA panel that all but eliminates the smearing issues that cause gamers to believe “VA” is a dirty word. I was able to identify some smearing of dark borders around objects when looking for it specifically, but the problem is so minor that I have trouble finding it even when examining content I know will show it.
Overall, the Neo G9’s clarity beats most gaming monitors sold today. It delivers fast response times and crisp, clean lines at the maximum refresh rate of 240Hz. Clarity holds up at lower refresh rates, too, and that’s important. Odds are good your video card can’t actually play your favorite tiles at 240 fps at this monitor’s native resolution of 5,120 x 1,440.
The Mini-LED backlight can be distracting, though. Blooming doesn’t reduce motion clarity but can lead to image quality issues that harm the monitor’s visual appeal in fast-paced games. Blooming behind a fast-moving object isn’t a motion clarity issue in the traditional sense – but it still doesn’t look great.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – Day-to-Day Performance
Unboxing the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 and placing it on your desk will leave you awestruck. It’s impossible not to be impressed by not only its size but also its image quality. As mentioned, the Neo G9 has an outstanding contrast ratio and very high maximum brightness. Its color performance isn’t exceptional but holds its own against other high-end monitors and will prove more than adequate for most people.
Despite this, the Neo G9 isn’t a great monitor for day-to-day use or content creation. The super-ultrawide aspect ratio and aggressive 1000R curvature are a problem when using the monitor to view and edit photos and videos. A 32:9 aspect ratio isn’t a great fit when editing content for a 16:9 display. You’ll also see distortion introduced by the curve. A straight line will never look straight.
The Mini-LED backlight’s issues are a problem. It’s so slow, and blooming is so noticeable, that you’ll see issues around the edges of windows. I’m not sure this is a functional problem for content creators, but it certainly feels unworthy of a premium monitor. Photo editors will despise the subtle pattern created by the backlight’s uniformity problems.
While the Neo G9’s HDR performance is great in games, it’s not ideal in Windows. Turning on HDR makes the display appear washed out and dull rather than more vivid. You’ll want to turn HDR off outside of games or HDR movies. This is a common problem for all monitors, but one the Neo G9 doesn’t resolve.
Quantic Dream, the developer behind Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human, has successfully won its libel case against French newspaper Le Monde, while also losing another to Mediapart.
Back in 2018, the Heavy Rain developer took issue after a joint report published in French publications Le Monde, Mediapart, and Canard PC made accusations of inappropriate behaviour, overworked staff and a “schoolboy culture” that allowed for racism, sexism and homophobia at the studio.
The studio won its case against Le Monde earlier this month, on September 9. According to Solidaires Informatique (as translated by Eurogamer) Le Monde’s case was weakened as it could not prove certain factors of its reporting without revealing the name of its anonymous sources. Despite the ruling, neither Le Monde nor Quantic Dream has publicly commented on the judgment.
As part of the same case, Quantic Dream also sued French outlet Mediapart. However, the studio was unsuccessful and Mediapart was subsequently completely cleared. During the trial, which took place in May, a spokesperson for Quantic Dream told GamesIndustry.biz that it had taken the outlets to court for “publishing articles that we felt were not printed in good faith, nor with reasonable research nor evidence, and which drew false conclusions which extensively damaged the reputation and morale of the studio.
IGN covered the reports at the time, relaying claims made about the studio’s leadership as well as reports of a “cache” of controversially photoshopped images that allegedly existed on Quantic Dream’s servers.
At the time, Quantic Dream co-leads David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière categorically denied the allegations calling them “ridiculous, absurd and grotesque” before issuing a formal statement with the studio.
It’s Week 2 of Fortnite Season 8, and there’s a new NPC, Wrath, bringing five new quests to the island for all players. Unlike previous seasons, Fortnite Season 8’s weekly challenge system will largely focus on adding new NPCs and giving each of them five quests every week. In future weeks, there may be multiple new NPCs, but for now, it’s only Wrath that up-to-date Fortnite players will need to meet in order to finish off their punchcards. Here’s where to find Wrath in Fortnite and what’s included in the Wrath NPC quests.
Fortnite Wrath NPC Location
Wrath can be found within Stealthy Stronghold, which is the octagonal jungle encampment east of Coral Castle. Though Stealthy Stronghold isn’t named on the map anymore, it’s still there and intact if you’re looking to scavenge after you chat with Wrath to begin his questline. You can see his precise location on the map below.
Wrath NPC location in Fortnite Season 8
Fortnite Wrath NPC Quests
Like other NPCs this season, Wrath offers five quests of increasing rarity from Common all the way to Legendary. When you complete all five of his quests the first time, you’ll earn XP and gold bars, though his and other NPC quests are repeatable throughout the season. Note that successive completions of NPC quests only get you the gold, though. Here’s Wrath’s full questline called Escaped Tenant:
Spot two players with a recon scanner – 12,500 XP
Use a jump pad or jump vent and travel 100 meters before landing – 14,000 XP
Get a storm forecast from a character – 16,000 XP
Get a bounty from a bounty board – 18,000 XP
Complete a bounty – 20,000 XP
Wrath is the 17th NPC to come to Fortnite this season.
To spot two players with a recon scanner, look for one within Stealthy Stronghold, which still contains the remnants of the IO dish station from Season 7. This and other abandoned dish stations still hold IO chests, which in Season 8 are the only place you’ll find IO tech weapons such as the recon scanner. Then all you need to do is fire it near two enemy players so they appear as red outlines on your screen.
If you’re able to complete the first quest without leaving the dish station, you’ll also easily complete the second quest to use a jump pad or jump vent and travel 100 meters before landing. All dish stations have built-in jump pads and each should easily allow you to travel for 100 meters provided you keep pushing forward once airborne.
You can get a storm forecast from one of several other NPCs around the island, including J.P. Chimpanski, Pitstop, and Torrance. Use our Season 8 NPC locations guide for a reminder of where these characters reside.
For the last two quests, you’ll need to get a bounty and then complete a bounty. You can pick up bounties from any bounty boards around the island, like those within Believer Beach, Sludgy Swamp, or Catty Corner among others.
A bounty will give you the vague location of an enemy player, and hunting them down and eliminating them is all you need to do to complete it. Should your target be eliminated by another means, no worries, that will count too–you’ll just get less gold as a reward. The XP will still be yours if it’s your first time completing the quest.
Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has addressed player concerns about the game’s challenge-based multiplayer progression, stating that it “it should take a player 16 to 18 hours of playing” before they run out of daily challenges.
On the latest Inside Infinite post on Halo Waypoint, 343’s community manager John Junyszek outlined how Halo Infinite’s progression will work. Rather than progressing through Infinite’s Battle Pass system with traditional XP granted for kills, assists, and wins, XP will instead be provided for completing weekly and daily challenges. Players have previously voiced concern about how this system time-gates progression, as if you run out of challenges then there’s no way to push forward through the Battle Pass. However, 343 states that it will take many hours for that to happen.
“At launch, we anticipate that on average, it should take a player 16 to 18 hours of playing, and eventually winning, before they run out of Daily Challenges,” said Junyszek.
“While we understand the community’s feedback around wanting a steady drip of match XP and more ways to earn XP for the battle pass, we are optimistic that the system available at launch will give players adequate means of continually having something to accomplish and a means to progress,” he added. “Looking further ahead beyond launch, we expect these systems to evolve in direct partnership with player feedback.”
The Inside Infinite post also goes into great detail to break down how Halo Infinite’s daily and weekly challenges work, which is notably more complex than most games that use a similar system. Infinite has a three stage approach, in which the first challenges provided on any given day will be “easy tier”, such as simply playing a match. After this “large pool” of challenges are completed, you’ll progress to a second stage of challenges that hand out slightly more XP but are slightly more difficult (and must be played against real players, not bots). Completing all these challenges moves you up to the more valuable stage three, in which winning matches is a requirement. This system resets each day, starting again at stage one.
Daily challenges are said to be “strictly engagement-focused” and appear to be more about simply playing matches. Weekly challenges, meanwhile, are more directed. 343 has offered some examples, including ‘Stay Off My Yard’ which requires you to kill an enemy Spartan who is attacking a friendly zone, or ‘Grapple-jack’, which demands you grapple to and hijack three enemy vehicles in PvP. Each player will be given approximately 20 of these each week, and they are randomised per player to avoid everyone chasing the same goals.
Completing all weekly challenges unlocks a “Capstone” challenge, which is the same for all players each week, and grants a coating or emblem as a reward for completion. An example is ‘Tactical Precision’, which requires 15 headshot kills.
There are still elements that could cause contention, though. Players can only have three challenges active at any one time, although this can be increased to four by purchasing a Battle Pass. It means those who spend money can complete challenges a little quicker than those who don’t. But 343 point out that it is still exploring progression options.
“We have heard community feedback around wanting more progression options including things like ‘match XP’ to feed into the battle pass and an entirely separate, incremental system along the lines of earning SR152 in Halo 5: Guardians,” said Junyszek. “Expanding multiplayer progression offerings is something the team is actively exploring, and we look forward to continuing to evolve the experience in future seasons post-launch.”
CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement that the gaming giant is “deeply committed to making Activision Blizzard one of the best, most inclusive places to work anywhere.” He added that “discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind” have no place at Activision Blizzard.
“While we continue to work in good faith with regulators to address and resolve past workplace issues, we also continue to move ahead with our own initiatives to ensure that we are the very best place to work. We remain committed to addressing all workplace issues in a forthright and prompt manner,” Kotick said.
Activision Blizzard is working with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing with the aim of “improving its workplace policies and procedures and ensuring compliance.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently served subpoenas to Activision Blizzard management, including Kotick. In response to this, Activision Blizzard said that the company is “confident in its prior disclosures and is cooperating with the SEC’s investigation.”
Activision Blizzard also said in its statement that it has already taken action to improve its workplace by firing certain employees, or “exiting” them, in the term used in the news release. Activision Blizzard also noted that it is “expanding compliance resources” and “refreshed” its HR organization. What’s more, the company pointed out that it just recently hired Disney’s Julie Hodges to become Activision Blizzard’s new Chief People Officer, while it has done more in the way of providing “training, performance management, and anti-harassment resources.”
The SEC is asking Activision Blizzard to turn over board meeting notes since 2019, personnel files of six former employees, and other documents. The SEC is also calling on Activision Blizzard to release Kotick’s own notes with senior executives pertaining to complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination.
The SEC primarily deals with financial matters, and the government group in this case is attempting to learn if Activision Blizzard acted properly with regards to the disclosure of allegations of harassment, discrimination, and gender-pay issues with investors and other key stakeholders.
