Following its official reveal trailer during DC Fandome, WB Games Montreal has posted an extended gameplay demonstration for Gotham Knights. The demonstration shows off Batgirl’s combat prowess, which is distinctly different from how she, and other characters, played in previous Batman: Arkham games.
The video, narrated by creative director Patrick Redding, takes place about a dozen hours into Batgirl’s progression in the game. Featuring an attack on Elliot Center–where Mr. Freeze has set up shop–it shows off several of the other playable characters in the game, including Red Hood. Freeze has manipulated the weather to actually flash-freeze the city, and it will take everything the young cast of heroes has to take him down.
Batgirl’s agile fighting style allows her to quickly close the gaps on enemies and use their aggression against them. It’s a far cry from the brutal and power-focused style of Batman, and should help to separate her from the other playable characters.
At the very end of the trailer, we get a taste of a boss fight between Mr. Freeze and Batgirl. Robin also joins in the fight, and Redding explained that your experiences against bosses will actually change depending on your level. Different attacks and abilities can pop up if you attempt the fight at level five versus level 20, for instance. However, the walkthrough ends before we could actually see how this would play out. More like Mr. Tease.
Gotham Knights releases on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC in 2021.
There’s a scene in The Last of Us Part 2 where, after approaching a workbench and dismantling your gun, you are mauled from behind by a group of rogue assailants. They have the upper hand, having quietly arranged a tactical formation on the dilapidated building’s upper floor–they take cover behind sofas, kitchen counters, and half-open doors. But this shocking scene isn’t all that surprising–or at least it wouldn’t be, if you’d been reading the handwritten notes sporadically dotted across the surrounding town.
The Last of Us Part 2 weaves together a grimdark narrative filled with colour and noise, and yet, it teems with quieter, often untold stories contained within the pages of its virtual journaling. A man loses two sons to a radical religious cult because he was too afraid to leave the safety of their aquarium hideout, and dies sitting in the chair they berated him for never leaving; a parent passes away beneath the crumbling roof of a flooded factory, with medicine he never got to deliver to his sick family; a soldier whiles away his final hours behind the blast doors of a bank vault, dying to protect something that was not his own from a group of thieves seeking to capitalize on the maelstrom induced by the cordyceps outbreak. These are the quieter tales that The Last of Us Part 2’s world is founded upon.
The stories of Ellie, Dina, Abby, and Lev are essential to The Last of Us Part 2’s overarching narrative, but not necessarily to the construction of its wider world. They mirror it in unique ways and react to it at different times with distinct emotional responses, but their tales are likely no more significant than those we don’t play through. This can be said of most stories: Just because Frodo bears the One Ring doesn’t necessarily mean that his particular hardships are greater than those of anybody else–something that is particularly resonant in J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings books, where Saruman returns to destroy The Shire, taking the lives of the nameless and unwritten in the process.
That’s not a failure–storytelling often revolves around a small cast of characters in order to foster emotional investment, without which there are usually no stakes people deem worth reading or playing on for. The Last of Us Part 2 offers a clever solution to this by littering its suburban battlefields with notes and trinkets, adding historical context to places that history has already forgotten.
The best part about this structure is that it’s completely optional. By no means do you have to read about a WLF deserter’s slow descent into religious fundamentalism. It is not essential to learn about Seattle’s many separated families attempting to reunite with one another by leaving trails of letters and heirlooms. However, choosing to invest time into these disparate tales allows you to understand the world of The Last of Us Part 2 in a more intimate way, which, in turn, heightens the stakes for everything precious to Ellie and Abby alike.
This is a world where people fail to save their loved ones despite sacrificing everything for them; where families turn on another for interpreting the creed of a martyred prophet in different ways; where a couple who once had kids and a golden retriever all tucked up in a little house on the prairie become common bandits, out of an odious cocktail of necessity, apathy, and pent-up hatred.
The way in which The Last of Us Part 2 revolves around this is meticulously well-designed. On one hand, people often complain about collectibles in games, stating that they can break immersion and distill tension. This is largely true, and there’s a concrete argument to be made for that in relation to The Last of Us Part 2–I personally gave up on my quest to find every coin and trading card long before the end.
choosing to invest time into these disparate tales allows you to understand the world of The Last of Us Part 2 in a more intimate way
But the other collectibles are different. Whether you’re playing Ellie or Abby, it’s often in your best interest to read the notes withering away in derelict buildings. They could have a safe code scrawled across the bottom, permitting you access to valuable resources that are necessary for the progression of your odyssey across America. Or they could simply inform you of what happened years before you arrived in a place that has been deserted since the note was written–there’s a solid chance you’re the first person to ever read it, and the first person to be able to benefit from its contents as a result.
Once you learn that these notes are inherently intertwined with the landscapes you traverse, everything begins to change. Even when there are no words, The Last of Us Part 2’s environments tell stories of their own.
For example, when Ellie arrives at Hillcrest after having left Dina behind at the theater, you start to discover notes referring to Boris, a person who has gone rogue and decided to go on a rampage around the surrounding area. Shortly afterwards, during a mini cutscene that plays as you attempt to enter a garage leading to the next street, you’re ambushed by a feral Clicker. After you emerge victorious, you’ll notice the bow on its back, accompanied by a full quiver of arrows–this, by implication, is Boris, who eventually fell victim to the cordyceps infection himself, and was probably completely unaware the bow he wreaked havoc with was still attached to his person.
There’s even one section where you come across a partially fenced-off building. The door is barricaded with a dumpster–in some games you might think this is the environment telling you that you can climb on the roof. Or perhaps you’re someone who just beelines towards the next waypoint–it’s a dumpster, who cares?
In actuality, this dumpster is–and if you’ve been paying attention to the environments up until this point, it should be obvious–a cheap substitute for prison bars. When you approach it, you begin to hear the groans–the miserable wailing of the bitten who were confined here to live out their days as hungry, mindless Infected. Once you move the dumpster, their keening reaches a new pitch–this is the first time their meditative melancholy has been interrupted. Being in the know, I put down three trip mines before opening the door and retreating to a safe space.
As they emerged from the darkness of their makeshift cell, feeling the warmth of sunlight for the first time in weeks, or months, or years, I detonated the mines. Cruel, but necessary–I only had two bullets left, and there were dozens of WLF marauders between where I stood and my destination. I went inside, plundered the safe that had been of no use to the infected, and went on my way. As it turns out, there are various notes scattered amid the surrounding buildings alluding to the fact these poor souls had been herded here to live out their days in captivity, but the partially-written tales of misery and woe contained in said notes remain unfinished until you arrive to emphatically finish them–to put the nail in the coffin, so to speak.
It is the tantalizing pull towards exploring every nook and cranny in The Last of Us Part 2 that allows us to learn some of its most intriguing stories
Whether it’s a note written to a lost love, a trinket left for posterity, or a conveniently-placed dumpster, street lamp, or burnt-out-car, there is nothing in The Last of Us Part 2’s environments that is placed without intent. At face value, it may seem as if buildings and landscapes are populated with crafting materials, trading cards, and coins purely to promote exploration and reward you for spending time drinking in the scenery–but there’s more to it than that.
While I agree that some of the more trivial trading cards may purely be the passion of the most intense trophy hunters, it is the tantalizing pull towards exploring every nook and cranny in The Last of Us Part 2 that allows us to learn some of its most intriguing stories. Most are miserable, if not downright harrowing–but every so often, once in tens of notes, there is hope. It may be modest, and it may have since fizzled out, but it’s only after committing to reading the tragedies of countless people that you finally come across that one tale dashed with a slight, but tangible optimism. And that makes the world of The Last of Us Part 2 make sense in a way that the story never explicitly addresses, but absolutely and intentionally accommodates for.
The environmental storytelling of The Last of Us Part 2 isn’t just some optional addendum you undertake to pop a couple of trophies–it’s a collection of distinct esoterica that enriches the entire experience. When you spend time learning about the characters you’ll never meet, or see, or hear about again, you’ll realize that there is humanity yet in this world, and that it’s not something worth fighting for, but something it is necessary to come together for.
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We’re back with more backstory for Cyberpunk 2077 in our fourth entry of our video series exploring the lore of CD Projekt Red’s upcoming first-person RPG. This time around, we’re delving into the history of the wars between the corporations that defined Night City–and there was none more influential than the 4th Corporate War.
In the video above, Jake Dekker briefly details the major rivalries that popped up in the first three corporate wars before launching into an in-depth look at the 4th Corporate War, which occurred roughly 50 years prior to the events of Cyberpunk 2077. Despite taking place half a century before CD Projekt Red’s upcoming game, the 4th Corporate War played a significant role in shaping Night City and the world at large.
For the full scoop on the story, you’ll have to watch the whole video. Come for the interesting lore, stay to hear Jake try to pronounce all of the company names in Cyberpunk’s world, including Internationale Handelsmarine Aketiengesellschaft. It’s pretty funny.
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on November 19. A version for Google Stadia is set to release later this year as well, and both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 next-gen ports are in the works too, though they don’t have an exact release window.
Season 6: Boosted adds Rampart to Apex Legends. The new defense-focused legend is all about creating choke points and deterring enemy squads from getting too close. She’s not terribly difficult to figure out, but we’ve put together some tips and tricks if you’re struggling to use her abilities effectively.
In the video above, Max Blumenthal and Jordan Ramée discuss Rampart’s three abilities (Amped Cover, Modded Loader, and Emplaced Minigun “Sheila”), and point out which enemy counters she has to watch out for and which legends she can easily pair up with to buff her squad as a whole.
Rampart isn’t the ideal character for players looking to rush into the next fight. Her tactical and ultimate abilities can prove to be devastatingly strong but only if Rampart has the time to set both of them up. So instead of running towards gunfire, you want to find a nice chokepoint to prepare your defenses and let the enemy come to you. Pair a Rampart with a Wattson and you can shut down entire rotation lanes.
Season 6: Boosted makes several changes to Apex Legends, such as implementing a new battle pass, adding new landmarks to World’s Edge, and adjusting the loot pool. The new season adds a fan-favorite Titanfall 2 firearm to Apex Legends as well, an energy-ammo using SMG called the Volt.
If you’ve already finished Marvel’s Iron Man VR but aren’t ready to leave the world of Tony Stark, developer Camouflaj has just what you need. The game has added New Game Plus as a free update, and that isn’t the only new feature included in the newest version.
Starting the game in New Game Plus mode will let you keep any unlocks you’ve acquired on your armor as well as any unspent Research Points. You can only activate this mode once you’ve beaten the game, of course, and there is a new harder Ultimate difficulty mode to try out, too. As you can now skip a few of the side missions and can skip cinematics–all with faster loading times in the game itself–it should be less-frustrating to play through the game again.
You can find eight new armor decorations in the Armor Station of your garage, though you need to complete challenges first. The launch-week-exclusive Iron Patriot is one of them, as well.
Several new weapons were added to the game, including a Continuous Beam Repulsor, the Micro Swarm, Gravity Bomb, and EM Charge Cannon. They should all help you to take down the hordes of enemies flying toward you in the air.
Iron Man VR is available exclusively for PS4. Tony Stark will also appear in Marvel’s Avengers, out September 4 on PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC, with Xbox Series X and PS5 versions coming later with cross-buy support.
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Lego is no stranger to video game sets, having just released the incredible Lego NES and several Super Mario Bros. products, and it regularly receives requests for future sets via its online portal. One such request was made to turn smash-hit game Fall Guys into a building set, and the developers are completely supportive.
YouTuber Ashnflash made the request for a functional Fall Guys obstacle course set. His idea would contain several different obstacles, including the spinning Whirlygig, the infuriating See Saw, and Door Dash. As the titular Fall Guys attempt to pass these obstacles, they’ll inevitably fall off the edge to their doom. Of course, this is the whole point, and the pitch images Ashnflash submitted look almost exactly like the actual game.
More than 2,500 people have already said they support the petition thus far, but more importantly, the official Fall Guys Twitter account took notice.
Given how Fall Guys games are made up of individual mini-games, the possibilities for future sets are almost endless. If you got 60 of the little guys together for one enormous round, it would cause total chaos.
Fall Guys recently awarded streamer DrLupo a special outfit for being the statistically best player in the world. New content, including an official Season 2, are coming soon.
One of the latest developments in the ongoing Epic vs. Apple legal battle has turned the controversial antitrust lawsuit filed by Fortnite developer Epic Games into a public “he said, she said.” A recent legal filing from Apple reveals that Epic had originally reached out with a request to introduce features which would allow it, among other things, to circumvent Apple’s 30% fee on Fortnite microtransactions back in late-June. Despite Apple’s rejection of Epic’s request, Epic went ahead with its plan in August, which Apple characterizes in the legal filing as a “deliberate choice” Epic made to “cheat Apple.”
The way Apple presents Epic’s request from June characterizes the studio as expecting special treatment for its IP before enacting a “calculated decision to breach” the App Store’s policies when not given its way. But Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has spoken up on social media about what he refers to as a “misleading” characterization of Epic’s original request.
“Apple’s statement is misleading,” Sweeney stated in a tweet. “You can read my email in Apple’s filing, which is publicly available. I specifically said in Epic’s request to the Apple execs, ‘We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…'”
Apple’s statement is misleading. You can read my email in Apple’s filing, which is publicly available. I specifically said in Epic’s request to the Apple execs, “We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…” https://t.co/yRio08fPSypic.twitter.com/HsqjApFQeo
Sweeney’s tweet also provides a screenshot of the email correspondence from June 30, sent from Tim Sweeney to Apple’s Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Matt Fischer, with the subject line Consumer Choice & Competition.
In the email, Sweeney proposes a number of features Epic would like to offer consumers that “restrictions imposed by Apple” currently prevent, including competing payment processing options and an Epic Games Store app that could be downloaded through the iOS App Store. (Apple currently does not provide a way for iOS users to download apps that are not distributed via its official App Store.)
“Epic is requesting that Apple agree in principle to permit Epic to roll out these options for the benefits of all iOS customers,” the email states. “We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers in order to make software sales and distribution on the iOS platform as open and competitive as it is on personal computers.”
Recently, Epic requested a temporary restraining order against Apple in an attempt to get Fortnite reinstated on the App Store until court proceedings have concluded. In response, Apple asked the judge to reject the request, claiming that Epic brought all “alleged injury” upon itself by knowingly breaching Apple’s terms of service. While the recent court filings reveal what many observers presumed–that Epic Games has had this plan in the works for a while–it didn’t reach the public eye until August 13, when Epic introduced its own third-party payment system for Fortnite’s iOS and Android versions, in direct violation of Apple and Google’s terms of service. This led to Apple and Google banning Fortnite from their digital storefronts, which led to Epic suing both companies for antitrust violations.
The outcome of Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple (and Google) will have huge implications for mobile game developers–not just giants like Epic Games, but independent software creators as well. You can learn about the ins-and-outs of the ongoing legal feud between Epic, Apple, and Google in our explainer.
Final Fantasy XIV‘s latest update has a ton of new content that I’m still just trying to process myself, even after extolling the virtues of FFXIV 5.3’s main story events. But the update isn’t all about MSQ since there are some substantial optional quests, one of which is another chapter in the Sorrow of Werlyt questline. And the latest mission has you piloting a Gundam…I mean, G-Warrior.
Previously in Sorrow of Werlyt, you had to fight Ruby Weapon in an 8-player trial boss fight, which was introduced in patch 5.1. Here in 5.3, you face off against Sapphire Weapon in a solo duty, but as the pilot of a G-Warrior flying mech engineered by Cid and his crew at Garlond Ironworks. A bombastic cutscene, with some cheeky dialogue options, plays before the battle like it’s straight out of a mecha anime, too.
A close look at the G-Warrior design.
The G-Warrior has its own moveset such as a powerful sword slash, ranged beam, speed boost, protective barrier, and restoration spell. You need to manage your EP meter in combat–similar to managing MP as a spellcaster–and learn when to execute certain actions so you’re not left vulnerable, as was the challenge in different phases of the Sapphire Weapon fight.
It’s likely that G-Warrior combat missions won’t be a one-off thing in FFXIV either; it’s a fairly intricate system that should probably be used again, but there’s a pretty clear indication that there is more in store. After the Sapphire Weapon fight, you arrive in a small town called Terncliff and if you speak to the Ironworks Technician at the hangar bay door, you can go inside to inspect your G-Warrior. There, you can ask the engineer to examine different parts to get details on them, and the dialogue hints to possible upgrades in the future. If I had to take a wild guess as to what this means, perhaps some customization is in store for the future. But at least it’s highly likely that we’ll have more battles to fight using our shiny new mech.
The G-Warrior inspection screen where you can also climb atop its shoulders for cute screenshots.
Even the story behind the Sorrow of Werlyt questline draws some Gundam influence (spoilers ahead). You find out that the Garlean Empire is creating dastardly machines like Ruby Weapon and Sapphire Weapon–which are also references to Final Fantasy VII‘s series of tough bosses of the same names. And in order to operate the weapons, someone needs to pilot the thing but ultimately sacrifice themselves since they have to merge with it and the neural data of the old FFXIV 1.0 villain Nael van Darnus. These weapons are products of the past work by former Garlean commander Gaius van Baelsar, another old villain.
It seems that Gaius trying to atone for his dark history since defecting after you kicked his ass in A Realm Reborn. Under a watchful eye, he’s cooperating with you in order to destroy these weapons. Turns out that the ones piloting the weapons and sacrificing themselves are the former children Gaius took in as orphans who now serve the Garlean Empire. There’s a lot of political and family drama, and more to unfold as hinted by cutscenes at the end of the quest.
My character piloting the G-Warrior.
If that narrative set up doesn’t scream Gundam to you, then at least the dang name and stylings of these agile mechs you pilot should be enough to make it clear that FFXIV is paying homage to the classic manga/anime.
We’re yet another month closer to the impending launch of Xbox Series X and PS5. While we eagerly await more details on both next-generation consoles, there’s still plenty of exciting games on the horizon for the month of September to fill up your time. You can expect big-budget games like Marvel’s Avengers, NBA 2K21, and Mafia: Definitive Edition. And if you’re big on PC RPGs, the early access release date for Baldur’s Gate III is at the end of the month.
Another notable standout from the month is the highly-anticipated sequel to Spelunky. Nostalgic gamers can also find joy in revisiting the massively popular Pro Skater series with the remaster collection, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, as well as the remaster of another cult-favorite, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning.
Below, we’ve rounded up all of the biggest September 2020 game releases for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch. For a closer look at the titles still to come this year, look at our list of game release dates in 2020. Otherwise, check this article throughout the month, as we’ll be sure to update it with more new release dates that get announced.
Marvel’s Avengers (PS4, Xbox One, PC) — September 4
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Marvel’s Avengers: Broken Team And Rising Threats Trailer
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Marvel’s Avengers is an upcoming game based on Earth’s mightiest heroes from developer Crystal Dynamics–the studio behind the recent Tomb Raider reboot series. Though it appears like a standard action-adventure game, Marvel’s Avengers is actually a bit more complex than that. Its takes on a format akin to popular live-service games, such as Destiny and The Division. Alongside other players, you can complete cooperative missions to advance your chosen character’s progression and earn new gear and abilities to further enhance their power.
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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC) — September 4
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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 – Official Reveal Trailer
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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is an upcoming collection of remasters for the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. Rebuilt from the ground up by Vicarious Visions, the collection includes all the skaters, levels, and modes from the original two games. Most of the old soundtrack will also be featured alongside some new tracks.
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Baldur’s Gate III Early Access (PC) — September 30
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Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Trailer
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After being delayed in August, Baldur’s Gate III is finally coming out in early access at the end of September.Crafted by Divinity: Original Sin developer Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate III has quickly become one of the most anticipated upcoming RPGs. While you might think the early access period may seem limited, it’s actually shaping up to be quite substantial, including quite the hefty number of combat scenarios, dialogue sequences, and characters to keep you busy.
