If you’re looking at building a gaming PC or just upgrading your CPU, then Newegg has an excellent deal on a great 9th-gen i9 processor. The Intel i9-9900K Coffee Lake processor is down to $400 with promo code EMCDPFG42. It’s the same processor we used in our PC build guide and is more than enough for all modern PC games–it’ll keep you from needing to upgrade for quite a long time as well.
This deal is valid through Saturday, August 22, and supplies are limited, so you’ll want to order soon if you’re interested. It comes with free shipping and can arrive as early as Monday, August 24, depending on where you live.
This i9-9900K Intel processor (8-Core, 16-Thread) clocks in at 3.6GHz with a maximum Turbo frequency of 5.0GHz. This means you can use Intel’s Turbo Boost Technology to push the processor even harder to increase your performance. Please note that this CPU is only compatible with Intel 300 Series motherboards.
If you’re curious whether this processor is compatible with your gaming PC, then check out PC Part Picker, where you can plug in all of your components and then see if there are any conflicts with compatibility or power usage. It’s also extremely helpful for building a PC from scratch–it’s what we used for our PC build guide.
Epic is preparing to launch Fortnite Season 4 later this month. Amid an ongoing legal battle with Apple and Google, the studio has started to promote teasers for the upcoming season, including a big cameo from Marvel Comics. Read on for all the details.
When Does Fortnite Season 4 Start?
Epic has revealed that Fortnite Season 4 will begin on August 27, 2020. The studio confirmed the launch date in a blog post regarding the upcoming Free Fortnite tournament. That tourney is another move intended to put pressure on Apple and Google, both by offering exclusive prizes and encouraging players to send feedback to the platform-holders. The tournament will be held on Sunday, August 23.
Since the legal dispute between Epic and the mobile storefronts for Apple and Google began, Epic has used the imminent launch of Season 4 to rally its player base to complain about the game’s removal from its store. That indicated that the launch wasn’t too far off, but the company only recently announced exactly when.
What To Expect From Season 4
Epic hasn’t detailed exactly what to expect from Season 4, but it has already teased a big cameo. A Twitter post shows Marvel branding, along with what appears to be Thor’s glowing eyes and golden locks visible in the logo. This is supported by the tweet itself, which sports a hammer, lightning, and rainbow emoji–all symbols associated with the character.
Another collaboration with Marvel makes sense. Fortnite has incorporated several Marvel Comics characters into its game, from a Thanos tie-in to Infinity War to the recent addition of the popular (and very R-rated) character Deadpool.
Apple and Google Legal Battle Ongoing
Amid all this stage-setting for Fortnite Season 4, the company is moving forward with its antitrust suits against Apple and Google. The legal dispute began when Epic Games introduced a way to circumvent Apple and Google’s payment systems with direct payments to Epic, thereby cutting out their share of the sales. Both platforms then pulled the game, prompting a lawsuit and PR blitz that appeared to have been prepared in advance.
Most recently, Epic says Apple has “retaliated ferociously” against the company, threatening to cut off dev tools like the ones used by Unreal Engine developers across the industry. That could have a wide impact on much more than Fortnite.
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“Don’t try to understand it–feel it.” Laura (Clemence Poesy) says to John David Washington’s character near the beginning of director Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. She’s speaking about the rules defining Tenet’s unique time-bending mechanic, known as “inversion,” and her words guide the entire film.
Time travel is nothing new in media–and it’s worth noting, Tenet is not a time travel movie per se–but the film provides a fresh perspective on it by delivering a story and setting that encourages viewers to question the nature of reality and existence in the here and now.
Tenet’s story involves incredibly high stakes. Early on, it’s suggested that the villain, Kenneth Branagh’s Andrei Sator, wants to bring about World War III, but it’s actually much worse than that. The movie begins in a literally explosive and violent manner, similar in heart-racing action to the beloved beginning of Nolan’s The Dark Knight. This shocking opening sets the tone for what to expect throughout–and that is to constantly be on guard and braced for the unexpected.
After the dramatic opening, John David Washington’s character, known only as The Protagonist, finds himself recruited by a shadowy organization known as Tenet and sets out on a path to take down Sator, who claims to have the power of a god. On his journey, he meets up with Robert Pattinson’s Neil, who draws you in with the mysterious nature of his character from his first scene. The third main character is Elizabeth Debicki’s Kat, Sator’s tortured and somber wife. Kat’s grief and suffering are immediately apparent through Debicki’s brilliant performance, and her story is a central throughline. The Protagonist, Neil, and Kat work together to go after Andrei, and their journeys are distinct but connected in an intelligent way that makes sense and feels rewarding.
Built in concept on the foundation of Nolan’s earlier work, Inception, Tenet zig-zags through genres, blending mystery with thrills, and time travel–sort of–with blockbuster action, and does so to tell its story in a unique way. “Knowledge divided” is a phrase that pops up again and again in Tenet, and this speaks to how the film is presented. The rules of how time travel works–which themselves are not strictly or clearly defined–are such that you are pushed to question what you see happening on the screen. After a while, you, like the Protagonist, begin to understand that Tenet’s world moves in a non-linear fashion. This opens up new possibilities for how the story can unfold and how the motivations–and true realities–of its characters are revealed.
Like the James Bond series, Tenet bounces around to numerous different locations to hammer home the idea that this is a global story that will impact the world. Tenet’s scale is a delight, and the gorgeous sights and sounds in lovely locations like Rome and India inspire awe–this movie shines on the big-screen. However, the “end of the world” plot doesn’t resonate as much as Nolan’s earlier, more character-focused and intimate stories of people and places. I never fully understood the reason behind the high stakes or why Branagh’s character so vehemently wanted to end the world. Nevertheless, Tenet offers a story that is engaging and exciting to watch as the layers peel back and the mysteries of the narrative unfold.
The “inversion” time travel conceit, while confusing at times, leads to some genuinely thrilling action moments and scenes that are visually stunning. There is a striking fight scene where The Protagonist squares off with an enemy who is moving backward through time while he is progressing forward. It’s a remarkable scene that sticks with you. There is also an extended car chase scene involving a firetruck and a high-speed handoff on a motorway that plays out with some elements moving forward and others backward–and at different points in time–and it melted my mind to consider that what I was seeing is happening from two different perspectives and moments in time.
All of the high-octane action sequences in Tenet are bolstered by the thumping soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson, which is excellent.
Tenet holds many mysteries, involving the characters and how the story unfolds and reveals its many layers, and to say too much would edge too close to spoiler territory. That being said, Washington is fantastic as The Protagonist. The character is strong and smart, and Washington’s performance makes you believe that he is just as flummoxed as the viewer about what is happening and why. Though The Protagonist may never fully understand what’s happening around him, he’s confident and decisive in his actions, while also questioning what it all truly means. A standout scene involves a most inventive and brutal use of a cheese grater.
Pattinson adeptly portrays the sidekick with murky motivations and deep mysteries, all of which are eventually unraveled. The actor carries his air of mystery with confidence, constantly challenging the viewer to mark his every word for clues about the existence of reality and his place in it.
Elizabeth Debicki turns in a stirring performance as Kat. She suffers a horrible existence in Tenet, and Debicki believably communicates her character’s pain and turmoil, culminating in a crescendo in the third act that pays off in a satisfying way. Kenneth Branagh, meanwhile, delivers a memorable and haunting take as the villain, but the character is at times too one-note. I never fully connected with his motivations, and thus his character arc fell flat. Some of his scenes turned my stomach but mostly due to the ruthless violence he employed. He didn’t come across as a particularly intelligent person despite having created a time travel machine and a doomsday device. That said, Branagh’s excellent performance as the heartless villain helped explain the motivation behind the rest of the characters for why they would stop at nothing and sacrifice so much to stop him.
Overall, Tenet is a mind-bender of a movie that has action galore, characters you can for the most part connect with and understand, and a time travel story that doesn’t get bogged down in the details and just lets you enjoy the spectacle. It all climaxes with a final action scene that ties together loose ends, intelligently uses the “inversion” mechanics, and delivers a big, Inception-style twist that connects the dots and provides a level of clarity that feels eye-opening. Even then, some questions remain, and fans will no doubt unravel new mysteries as they watch and re-watch in the future.
Typically, when covering what is coming out on Netflix for the upcoming week, we tend to highlight numerous movies or TV shows. However, this upcoming week is special, and we’ll be spending most of the time on one item you need to watch because it’s awesome. Here’s what’s coming to Netflix this weekend and next week.
Lucifer: Season 5 finally hits the service on this Friday. While it was once a Fox series, it luckily found a new home on Netflix, and new episodes–loosely based on a Vertigo/DC comic series of the same name–have arrived. Additionally, Season 3 of the anime series Aggretsuko arrives next Thursday.
Now, let’s chat about one of the greatest shows in the era of streaming: Cobra Kai. Originally a YouTube Premium series–which was not a great home for it–the follow-up show to the classic Karate Kid movies sees the first two seasons land on Netflix on Friday, August 28. And Season 3 is right around the corner.
The show takes place in present-day, following the events of the original Karate Kid trilogy. Daniel LaRusso is married with two children, still living in the San Fernando Valley, and he now owns a car used dealership chain. Johnny Lawrence, however, is having a rough go, trying to make ends meet as a handyman, but he ends up drinking the days away.
However, Lawrence busts out his old karate moves in order to help a kid who is being bullied, and that moment leads him to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo. Of course, LaRusso catches wind of this, and their old rivalry ignites.
This show typically does everything many people disagree with when revamping a series. It takes a beloved property from the ’80s and adds a young supporting cast as the next generation. However, Cobra Kai is the perfect continuation of that classic movie franchise, blending the old with the new, and everything about it works exceptionally well. There’s a reason GameSpot’s Chris E. Hayner and myself have fought for this show to be on the annual Best TV Shows lists for the past two years.
Did this weekly “What’s coming to Netflix” piece just turn into a review essentially? Sure, but do yourself a favor; watch Cobra Kai, especially if you love the Karate Kid movies. Also, check out what’s coming to Netflix for September while you’re at it.
New to Netflix this weekend and next week:
August 21
Alien TV — NETFLIX FAMILY
Fuego negro — NETFLIX FILM
Hoops — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Lucifer: Season 5 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Rust Valley Restorers: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Sleepover — NETFLIX FILM
August 23
1BR
Septembers of Shiraz
August 25
Emily’s Wonder Lab — NETFLIX FAMILY
Trinkets: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
August 26
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
La venganza de Analía — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Million Dollar Beach House — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Rising Phoenix — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
August 27
Aggretsuko: Season 3 — NETFLIX ANIME
The Bridge Curse
The Frozen Ground
August 28
All Together Now — NETFLIX FILM
Cobra Kai: Seasons 1-2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
I AM A KILLER: Released — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Orígenes secretos / Unknown Origins — NETFLIX FILM
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Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is a rousing success for developer Mediatonic. The whimsical battle royale is selling exceptionally well on Steam, and the decision to include it as a PlayStation Plus freebie is a stroke of genius. Early in development, however, no one could have predicted how popular it would eventually be–especially not the publishers who opted not to fund it.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Mediatonic creative designer Jeff Tanton talks about Fall Guys’ initial inception, its early development, the creation of the Beans, and the difficulties the studio had finding a publisher.
It began back in January 2018, when lead game designer Joe Walsh came up with an idea for a 100-person battle royale inspired by Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle. The game was initially titled Fool’s Gauntlet, and while the core conceit of Fall Guys was already there, the first draft was a bit more punishing than the game we eventually got. For one, death always resulted in elimination, and it was possible to finish a game with no winners. How very Takeshi’s Castle.
Cut to Jan 2018 – and I invite Joe Walsh (@gosujoe) to brainstorm on a completely different internal pitch – something just clicked and he had his epiphany moment midway through. I got the one-pager for “FOOLS GAUNTLET” a few days later pic.twitter.com/NBU8PeqdqT
Tanton was immediately sold on the idea and forwarded it to one of the studio’s founders. From here, the team started working on a pitch deck to establish the look and feel of the game. The focus was originally on the courses, but after principal concept artist Dan Hoang designed the Beans as characters, the focus of the game suddenly shifted to the competitors and how heroic they would always be in their “indefatigability.” Tanton says that this is probably where the Fall Guys name emerged from.
Second, the BEANS. Obviously just little capsule shapes Dan had thrown in but suddenly we realized the focus of this game was the competitors… not just the course pic.twitter.com/bKETRIpJS1
That’s probably where ‘Fall Guys’ as a game title first appeared (RIP Fool’s Gauntlet and ‘Stumble Chums’) – our characters that would fail for our amusement, but crucially always get back up again. Always. They would be heroic in their indefatigability. pic.twitter.com/Cjbc1FIE2w
Tanton pitched Fall Guys to about 10 different publishers during GDC 2018 until Devolver Digital decided to fund it. Development began some six months later.
The rest of the thread is well worth reading, as Tanton talks about the original Fall Mountain course, the redesign of the Beans and their costumes, some of the challenges the studio ran into during development, and the decision to drop the player count from 100 to 60.
In other Fall Guys news, Twitch streamer DrLupo has been awarded a special in-game costume for being the statistical best player in the world. Mediatonic has also released a new patch that makes some tweaks to two of the game’s finale modes. If you need some tips to help you win Fall Guys’ coveted Crown, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive beginner’s guide.
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A definitive ending to an excellent story is a truly precious thing. That’s part of why Samurai Jack’s return for a final season in 2017 was so refreshing, as it capped off the legendary cartoon show with an appropriately epic and conclusive sendoff. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time makes a risky choice, then, by attempting to squeeze one more thrilling adventure out of the series post-finale, but it handles that responsibility with care – and manages to be an enjoyable trip into the past of the action game genre in the process.
For those who weren’t tuning into Cartoon Network in the early 2000s, Samurai Jack is about the titular warrior fighting to return to the past and slay the evil wizard Aku. Battle Through Time cleverly posits that Aku had one more trick up his sleeve: he interrupts Jack’s trip back through time and forces the samurai to relive his most exciting battles.
The setup serves as a convenient way for the developers to pick and choose their favorite moments from the series and remake them as scenarios with you in control. And the ends justify the means in this case: it’s fun to revisit fan favorites like The Scotsman and dog explorer Sir Rothchild alongside less well-known characters like the Imakandi tribe and the Witch Hag. Even the common fodder enemies you’ll regularly hack through are all straight from the cartoon. Everything feels authentic to the source material, complete with their original voicework and charming recognizable mannerisms.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20fun%20to%20revisit%20fan%20favorites%20like%20The%20Scotsman%20and%20dog%20explorer%20Sir%20Rothchild.”]That dedication to replicating the show stretches even further: The first thing you see when loading up Battle Through Time is the signature opening speech from Aku; Actual animation from the episode in question bookends the campaign, and other clips from the show occasionally pop up and highlight just how well the 3D graphics mesh with what aired on TV. Each level takes inspiration from the episode it’s based on, changing Jack’s appearance and the environments to mirror the show’s evolution as the campaign goes on.
When Battle Through Time does go into the 3D art style full time, every character and location serves as a stunning recreation of Samurai Jack’s world. It’s been a long time since cel-shading was the peak of making games look like cartoons, and the angled and stylized character models on display here really add dimension to the cast. It’s not quite at the (admittedly high) level of Ubisoft’s South Park games in terms of flawlessly recreating the look of the cartoon, but it’s right up there, making the whole campaign feel like an extended episode of the show.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%20reminds%20me%20of%20PlayStation%202-era%20action%20games%20more%20than%20modern%20trendsetters%20like%20Bloodborne.”]Battle Through Time succeeds in capturing the source material, but its choices when it comes to gameplay are wholly original – at least in terms of 2020. Its combat systems and campaign structure turn the clock back just as far as Aku does, reminding me of PlayStation 2-era action games like Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and the original God of War more than this generation’s trendsetters like Bloodborne.
This retro action style is fitting for a TV show that emerged during the same period as a deluge of licensed products imitating gaming’s greatest hits. If you’d told me Battle Through Time was actually a high-quality remaster of a lost GameCube classic, I’d probably have believed you. It plays like nothing else available today, and the fast-paced sword swinging activates old reflexes I thought I’d long forgotten.
This is an eight to 10-hour linear affair featuring arenas full of enemies, giant boss fights, a shopkeeper that inexplicably stays one step ahead of the player, and a score-based ranking system. It all feels like a spot-on replication of a bygone era, but it doesn’t feel outdated. The graphics and the intricate combo system are totally up to date, leading to a complete package that suggests a return to form rather than a crusty selection from the bargain bin.
Speaking of combat, there are serious advantages to looking backward, especially if you’re tired of the constant parades of Soulslikes the action genre has become in recent times. You can button mash through the fights on lower difficulties, but the combat system supports parries and combo moves that add nuance without going full Dark Souls, and when cranked up you’ll find that there can be just as much challenge in Battle Through Time’s combat arenas as there is in any area guarded by a fog door.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=The%20core%20combat%20is%20designed%20to%20thrill.”]However, I will admit that, much like other games of its era, most will enjoy Battle Through Time more as a breezy adventure than a test of skill. The core combat is designed to thrill with everything from the various ways Jack cuts through robotic opponents to the crunch of the various super moves. Each weapon you wield has a set of combo strings to master, and there are reasons to use everything. Clubs can tear through rock and bone more easily, and the bo staff can take out hordes of foes at once. However, nothing compares to the thrill of slashing enemies one at a time while wielding Jack’s magic sword.
Of course, because Battle Through Time looks back for its design, it also brings forward some problems best left behind. For example, instead of growing stronger through leveling from regular experience gains, you must purchase upgrades with several different currencies picked up from enemies. Awkwardly, some of these resources seemingly stopped dropping a few levels before the end, locking me out of some of the more elaborate upgrades. Even if the currency was available, upgrades have to be unlocked in order, meaning that the complexities of the counter system and longer combo strings were trapped behind useless expansions to an already generous weapon inventory.
There are also a few bizarre quirks, like how Jack will only climb up scalable surfaces one rung at a time. In these moments, the titular samurai looks less like a deft warrior and more like a nervous beetle crawling for the first time. The movement is so slow that it’s always preferable to awkwardly jump up the sheer cliffs then navigate them as intended.
The next generation of consoles creeps ever closer and soon we’ll have the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X under our TVs and in our hands. Which makes it all the more confusing when you consider that, as it stands, we’re not sure how much we’ll be paying for them or, perhaps more importantly, what we’ll be playing on them.
The launch lineup for both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X remain unclear in large part. Sure, we know that there will be Spider-Man: Miles Morales for PS5. And yes, Microsoft has a bunch of titles that are coming to Game Pass. Plus, third-party developers and publishers are also gesturing vaguely towards launch window releases for their games, but we’re still a bit in the fog on what will be there for us to spend our hard-earned cash on come launch day.
With that in mind, we decided to indulge our fantasies and put together our own dream launch lineups for both Sony and Microsoft’s consoles. After a quick chat about the recent delay to Arkane Studios’ Deathloop, we put our heads down and make dream picks for launch day releases in multiple categories. These include platform exclusive, system seller, indie darling, and games as a service. To spice things up, we’ve also thrown in a wildcard category–and it definitely gets spicy.
Join us as we create the ultimate PS5 and Xbox Series X launch lineups. Sure, they probably won’t happen, but we can dream, right?
Generation Next is GameSpot’s weekly video show all about the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Each Friday, join PlayStation Pro Tamoor Hussain, Xbox Xpert Jordan Ramée, and Console Connoisseur Lucy James as they discuss the biggest stories about the new consoles.
A press release touts a number of visual additions, including: “high-quality textures up to 8K, HDR support, temporal anti-aliasing, Screen Space Directional Occlusion (SSDO), Global Illumination (SVOGI), state-of-the-art depth fields, new light settings, motion blur, parallax occlusion mapping, Screen Space Reflections and Shadows (SSR & SSS) as well as new and updated particle effects and more”
On PCs with Nvidia RTX GPUs, as well as Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, the game will also feature ray tracing.
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
After being delayed following negative feedback on its first gameplay showing, Crysis Remastered is now launching on PS4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store on September 18. It will retail for $30.
Criticism was levelled at the project when it was shown off earlier this year, prompting Saber Interactive to revisit most versions (the Nintendo Switch port still launched on time) to further enhance the 2007 shooter. The result is a host of additional graphical features, including reworked lighting, 8K texture assets, and improvements to the CryEngine software-based ray tracing that will allow the feature to work on the Xbox One and PS4.
You can check out some of the enhancements below.
On PC, players will be able to utilize hardware-based ray tracing too, as well as Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 to help reduce the performance overhead of higher resolutions. The remaster is going to be exclusive to the Epic Game Store when it launches on PC, with no word on a Steam release in the future.
Some of these graphical and performance improvements made it into the Nintendo Switch port of Crysis Remastered back in July already, which you can pick up today for $30. The original version of Crysis is still great too, and just as taxing on your PC as you remember. In our Crysis review, critic Jason Ocampo wrote, “Quite simply, Crysis represents the first-person shooter at its finest, most evolved form.”
Epic Games has teased that Thor may be coming to Fortnite as part of Season 4, while rumours swirl that the entire season may be Marvel-themed.
The Fortnite account tweeted out a short clip with the god of thunder overlaid on the game’s logo, as well as a release date of August 27th, 2020. A massive Marvel branding sticker appears underneath the art, suggesting that this promotion extends beyond Thor, and may incorporate more superheroes into the game as the season progresses.
Earlier this week, Fortnite news account HYPEX tweeted that they had heard from a trusted source that Season 4 may be Marvel-themed, suggesting that “Thor & his hammer are gonna be cosmetics.”
Now that the rumour has been made official, HYPEX has teased a number of details about Season 4, claiming that it will feature a “Marvel/Thor Point of Interest,” a Wolverine skin and comic book pages for players to collect, hidden throughout the Fortnite map.
Back in July, Square Enix revealed a Marvel’s Avengers x Fortnite crossover, which offered a pickaxe cosmetic resembling Hulk’s smashing hands to player who finished a set of challenges in the Marvel’s Avengers beta. It’s not clear yet whether this is wrapped up with the wider Marvel promotion, but we’ll be sure to hear more when the Season 4 launch date arrives.
