Category: Games

The next big update for Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online mode has arrived, and it adds a new challenge and multiplayer mode, as well as a cool raccoon hat and more.

The new Challenge is the Wild Animal Kills Challenge, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. In the new free roam event, you face off against other hunters with the aim of bagging the biggest animals. Small animals are 1 point, medium are 2 points, and large are 3 points. As the match progresses, terrifying animals like wolves, cougars, and bears will appear, and you can earn bonus points for killing them. You cannot attack other human hunters in this new challenge.

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The new Red Dead Online multiplayer mode, meanwhile, is called Head for the Hills. A Showdown mode, it sounds like a lot of fun. Here is the description:

“Players take turns making a last-ditch run across no-man’s-land to their safe house, while opponents have only one objective: to hunt you down. Stake out the high ground, hide in the shadows or stalk your enemies out in the open, but don’t let them get to safety.”

Two more Showdown modes, Public Enemy and Sport of Kings, will be released over the next two weeks, and more details are coming soon, Rockstar said.

Also new in Red Dead Online with the update is a nice bonus of $50 RDO for completing the first Land of Opportunities mission, which is called Honor Among Horse Thieves. Players can get $75 RDO for beating the Kill Them, Each and Every One mission, while you can also earn 10 Gold bars for completing the Destroyed by Grief mission.

Additionally, Rockstar is giving all Red Dead Online players a care package that comes with:

• 5x Potent Miracle Tonic
• 5x Potent Snake Oil
• 5x Potent Health Cure
• 5x Potent Bitters
• 120x Express Revolver Ammo

You can pick up the package in your camp lockbox or through the post office.

Also new in Red Dead Online this week are a variety of new outfits, including the Flora Corseted Chemise and Paddon shirts, as well as the plaid cap, racoon hat, and shaffer chaps. A new emote, “How Dare You,” is also now available. Finally, everyone who enables 2-Step Verification gets a special version of the raccoon hat; you can see it below. Players who enabled 2-Step Verification also get 10 Gold bars and $500,000 in cash for GTA Online.

Go to the Rockstar Newswire to see a full rundown of what’s in the new Red Dead Online update.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has shipped 24 million copies, making it one of the most successful games ever released. The online mode recently left beta, and Rockstar has big plans to continue to support it with new content over time.

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2. Money Owed To The Iron Bank

In Season 7, Cersei established a professional, courteous relationship with Tycho Nestoris, a debt collector for the Iron Bank of Braavos. She paid off the bulk of House Lannister’s debt, and was planning to pay off the remainder by using the gold that Jaime seized from Highgarden.

Later, the Lannister forces carrying the money were attacked by Daenerys. And although Lord Tarly confirmed the gold safely made it to King’s Landing, the presence of Dany’s forces may have prevented getting the gold to Braavos.

Later, we see that Cersei has bought the services of The Golden Company. Does that mean that Braavos has received their gold? Or does that mean that Cersei is spending money she doesn’t have?

Regardless, it’s odd that the show would feature Tycho Nestoris front and center in Season 7, and then never again. And if QueenCersei died with debt, then would the debt pass to Bran, the new king, or to Tyrion, the new Lord of Casterly Rock? Bronn, the new Master of Coin, might want to make sure the Bank is satisfied before rebuilding the brothels.

On paper, it may seem like there aren’t many ingredients needed for a good kaiju movie–you need the kaiju, of course, some sort of city, town, or other major set piece for them to destroy, and a handful of humans to motivate the story in one way or another. And yeah, getting those things right will give you a spectacle, to be sure. But what separates the good kaiju movies from the great ones is a little harder to pin down, and something that Godzilla: King Of The Monsters seems to understand perfectly.

A successor to both 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters picks up some of the ongoing threads in the burgeoning franchise universe. It centers around the activities of Monarch, a semi-shady research organization dedicated to studying “titans” (read: kaiju) that have been discovered around the world. They’re not exactly working in secret, thanks to Godzilla’s rampage against another type of titan creature–the “Mutos”–that destroyed San Francisco back in the series’ first movie. King Of The Monsters deals with that fallout directly: This is a world where everyone knows monsters exist and Monarch is under direct scrutiny from the military for their potentially irresponsible ideologies and practices.

But don’t panic if you don’t remember all that much about 2014 Godzilla–King Of The Monsters deals out a handful of recaps for anyone who isn’t already in the know. They’re a little clunky in terms of exposition, but they get the job done just fine. This isn’t a movie interested in assigning any pre-requisite viewing homework–it really just wants to get out of its own way and show you some giant monsters.

That said, the human characters actually suffer a little from the plot’s blatant need to get as much information about who they are and what they want out as quickly and as plainly as possible. Vera Farmiga’s Dr. Emma Russell has a few confusing turns alongside Charles Dance’s Jonah Allen–an ecoterrorist who really just feels like a modern Tywin Lannister out of Game of Thrones, right down to his line delivery and permanent scowl. Meanwhile, Bradley Whitford’s Dr. Standon sometimes feels like he wandered in from a completely different, way more comedic movie. It can be a little jarring whenever the humans are the focus of a scene, but it’s far from catastrophic, especially once you realize that they’re ultimately just the utilitarian part of the story. The kaiju can’t actually talk, so the humans have to do that part for them, even if their lines are a little clunky from time to time.

The plot can feel a little contrived now and then. Sometimes it wants to be a family drama between Dr. Russell and her estranged husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) with their daughter, Maddie (Millie Bobbie Brown), caught in the middle. Other times it’s a deeply mythological worldbuilding extravaganza with Monarch’s Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Dr. Chen (Ziyi Zhang), and Dr. Graham (Sally Hawkins) dropping any number of insane titan-related facts about the way the Earth and nature work in the franchise. Neither of the narrative avenues really feel like they matter in this particular movie–though the worldbuilding will likely pay off at some point down the line in future installments. Still, if there’s a weak link here, it’s all the stuff happening between the giant monster fights.

The kaiju themselves are the heart of the movie. The core four, Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah, all manage to have their own unique characteristics and mannerisms. Ghidorah’s three heads squabble with one another. Mothra somehow comes across as a sort of soothing, gentle presence despite being an absolutely massive and deadly bug. Rodan–and don’t ask me how they accomplished this–genuinely manifests the weirdest sort of sycophant toady personality despite being a giant flaming pterodactyl. All while Godzilla himself brings it home with his benevolent and charming ferocity.

Watching them fight is an absolute blast. It’s noisy and explosive, splashed with the sort of mesmerizing wide shots of stormy skies and silhouetted dragon wings that would look at home airbrushed on the side of a van–and I mean that in the best way possible. The fights are brutal and massive, but they’re never too self-serious and they never lose focus on the fact that we, the audience, are actively watching and rooting for one giant monster to beat up another giant monster because one giant monster is our friend and the other is basically an overgrown playground bully.

Simply put: It’s fun. It’s fun to sit around and root for Godzilla to come save us, even if he’s completely obliterating whole cities in the process. King Of The Monsters knows this in its bones, and that’s what it wants to deliver. It’s a kaiju movie where the kaiju themselves are the stars and that’s what makes it such a great ride.

Aladdin spoilers ahead–for both versions!

EA has announced that the narrative adventure game Sea of Solitude will launch on July 5, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. This narrows it down from its previously announced launch window of Q3 2019.

The bittersweet adventure follows a young girl named Kay as she tries to overcome her struggles with loneliness. The world is a flooded cityscape that reflects insecurities that change according to her own state of mind. As she navigates it she’ll meet mythic beasts and help solve puzzles to clear tainted memories and introduce color and light to the dark world.

The title from German developer Jo-Mei Games is part of EA Originals program, which puts some big-name publisher muscle behind smaller, indie-like projects. This is the third game to participate in the program, after Fe and A Way Out.

“Sea of Solitude centers on the essence of loneliness and tugs on the heartstrings of its players by mirroring their own reality. It’s by far the most artistic and personal project I’ve ever created, written during a very emotional time in my life,” Jo-Mei CEO Cornelia Geppert said in the announcement. “Designing characters based on emotions was a deeply personal achievement for our team and we’re so excited for players to soon experience Kay’s powerful story of self-discovery and healing.”

There’s less than a month before Toy Story 4 lands in theaters–advanced tickets are now on sale–which continues the adventures of Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and their motley crew of toy companions. There are also a couple of new faces in the mix–and the return of an old one. We know Bo Peep (Annie Potts) is returning to the franchise after sitting out Toy Story 3, while new carnival toys played by Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are popping up.

Another new addition is Forky (Tony Hale), the toy that Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw)–who inherited the Woody and his pals from Andy–made herself that is the subject of a brand-new clip from the film. The new toy, who was first introduced in a Toy Story 4 teaser trailer, looks like an art project gone horribly wrong, as Bonnie seems to have attached pipe cleaners and googly eyes to a spork, which brought it to life.

In the clip, it’s revealed that Woody seemingly snuck into Bonnie’s backpack and went to school with her for the day, only to come home with Forky in tow. The little spork looks downright terrified of his fellow toys, while the gang is mostly fascinated. Woody also mentions there’s a road trip coming for the toys.

This road trip is central to the movie’s plot. Along the way, Woody ends up reuniting with Bo Peep, who isn’t the same toy you remember from Toy Story 2. According to the movie’s synopsis, “Bo’s adventurous spirit and life on the road belie her delicate porcelain exterior. As Woody and Bo realize they’re worlds apart when it comes to life as a toy, they soon come to find that’s the least of their worries.”

This new evolution of Bo Peep is an important one, as the character steps into the spotlight. When GameSpot visited Pixar headquarters to learn more about Toy Story 4, the movies story artist Carrie Hobson explained, “Ultimately, we decided she’s a character who decided she didn’t just want to sit on a shelf waiting for life to happen. She learned to adapt. She takes chances and is somewhat unpredictable–a lot different from Woody. She doesn’t play by toy rules, so she can literally change her default ‘toy mode,’ which means when a kid picks her up, she can change what pose she’s locked into, enabling her to be a different type of toy depending on the kid that’s playing with her. She’s more active and resourceful in her life as a lost toy.”

Thanks to this growth in Bo Peep, Woody will face some changes of his own. Story supervisor Valerie LaPoint teased the cowboy is “going to evolve and change and grow through this film.”

After toy toys found new life with Bonnie in Toy Story 4, it sounds like it may be time for them to find themselves in the new movie. Toy Story 4 is in theaters on June 21.