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A demo for Mega Man 11 has just dropped for the Nintendo Switch, and is coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One tomorrow, September 7.
Announced through the official Mega Man Twitter account, a new trailer was released to coincide with the demo, introducing a new robot master for the game: Bounce Man. His stage is filled with balloon-like surfaces that the Blue Bomber can bounce off of and is generally filled with odd, colorful contraptions.
Viz Media has announced the worldwide pre-order for Long Story Short, the first of two novels that add additional context to the story and characters in Nier: Automata. The book is already available in Japan, and its English translation will release on October 9.
Long Story Short is written by Jun Eishima and Yoko Taro–the latter of which is the director of Nier: Automata–and works as both an entry point for those unfamiliar with Automata and as an avenue for those experienced with the game to further explore its lore. The novel includes story details and character thoughts that weren’t included in Nier: Automata, some of which change your perception of certain actions taken by the game’s protagonists.
In 2019, another Nier: Automata novel, titled Short Story Long, will release. Instead of following the events of the game, Short Story Long is a collection of short stories that take place within the Nier: Automata universe. The original Japanese version of Short Story Long is also already out and includes seven stories, but it has not been confirmed whether the English translation will include the same number. Short Story Long is also written by Jun Eishima and Yoko Taro.
You can pre-order Long Story Short for $15 in the U.S. and $20 in Canada, or nab it at a discount if you buy the digital version.
Nier: Automata was one of our favorite PS4 games in 2017 and we gave it a 9/10. In our Nier: Automata review, we described it as “Taro’s most exciting game to date” and praised the combat mechanics and powerful storytelling–all of which remained in the game when it released on Xbox One in 2018.
Ryan Reynolds has started a war with what some might consider too great a foe. He went after Paddington Bear, and the bear himself, those involved in the making of the Paddington films, and his fans, didn’t back down.
This all began when Ryan Reynolds, star of Deadpool 2, which has been nominated Best Movie and Best Action Movie at the 2018 E! People’s Choice Awards, said how he was “honored by all the @peoplschioce noms.” It then took a dark turn when he asked his fans to vote Deadpool 2 in for best family film, and then proceeded to go after the lovable bear.
A demo for FIFA 19 will be available soon, EA Sports has announced. The demo will arrive on Thursday, September 13, the company announced today. There is no word yet on what teams, stadiums, and modes will be available in the demo, though those details should be announced soon given that the demo is just days away.
The demo will presumably be available on all FIFA 19 platforms: PS4, Xbox One, and PC. FIFA 19 adds a number of new features and updates this year, so hopefully the demo lets players try out some of these.
A demo for FIFA 19 competitor PES 2019 has been available for weeks now–here’s how to get it.
In other FIFA 19 news, EA has announced the first 20 of the top 100 rated players, so that’s the players rated 100-81. Some of football’s biggest names are represented there, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic (No. 98) and Diego Costa (No. 81). You can see the full 100-81 list here.
FIFA 19 launches worldwide on September 28 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, as well as last-generation consoles. EA/Origin Access subscribers will get to play sooner.
EA has revealed more details on Battlefield V‘s highly anticipated battle royale mode, Firestorm. Following the tidbits we learned from the game’s latest trailer, the publisher has shared a blog post that provides further information on the mode and how it differs from other takes on the genre.
Unlike the main game, Firestorm isn’t being developed by DICE, but by Criterion, the studio behind the Burnout series. True to its name, Firestorm drops players onto an expansive battlefield encircled by a ring of fire, which is continually closing in as the match progresses. As in other battle royale games, the objective is to scrounge for weapons and resources to defeat other players and be the last team remaining.
One notable area in which Firestorm differs from other battle royale games is its player count. Unlike PUBG and Fortnite, both of which pit 100 players against each other, Firestorm supports up to 64 players, who are divided up into teams of four. The mode also features destructible environments, as well as tanks and other transport vehicles that you can commandeer to battle other players.
Additionally, Firestorm will offer its own set of challenges to complete during matches known as Objectives. EA says these will function similar to those in Conquest mode. Objectives will be dispersed at some fixed and random locations, and completing them will in turn unlock better gear during the match to give you an advantage over other teams.
On top of that, EA revealed a new pre-order bonus for Battlefield V. Players who reserve the title ahead of its release will receive the Firestorm Ranger Set, which includes goggles, light battle fatigues, and the MKIII(S) Elite Combat Dagger. While the set is inspired by Firestorm, EA says it will be usable across the game. You can see other bonuses in our Battlefield V pre-order guide.
Battlefield V launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 20. The game was originally scheduled to release on October 19 but was recently delayed to further refine it before launch. Players will have a chance to try Battlefield V later this week. Its open beta kicks off on all platforms today, September 6.
Battlefield V isn’t the only major upcoming shooter to feature a battle royale mode. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will also introduce its own take on the genre with Blackout. Activision recently provided a closer look at that battle royale mode with a new trailer.
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The revenge genre might look straightforward, but it’s fundamentally complex. Revenge, in and of itself, is not a “good thing.” Never has been, never will be. But in simplified stories, watching a victim destroy the people who ruined their lives does provide some form of catharsis. The question, then, is whether the movie celebrates the immorality of the protagonist, or goes too far in demonizing the villains, or fails to acknowledge the traumatic reality behind the crime that set these events in motion.
Peppermint tries to navigate this perilous tightrope, and struggles to avoid falling into the pitfalls of the genre. It’s a fiercely directed thriller with a performance from Jennifer Garner that should, by all rights, remind the world that she is a formidable action star. It’s a simplified tale of revenge against drug cartels that shows Garner killing a lot of people of color, but also tries to take the curse off of it by turning her violently loose against corrupt bureaucrats who enable organized crime. And it treats Garner’s protagonist like a tragic individual forced into action, as opposed to a flippant sociopath who falls in love with murder.
Getting into Two Point Hospital is sort of like meeting someone really charming and funny, then after a while, being pleasantly surprised to find they’re also really smart. The readable, disarming art style and chuckle-worthy fictional diseases that make patients think they’re Freddie Mercury or simply turn into a clown complement a layer of deep, strategic problem-solving.
Each of the 15 hospitals you’re asked to manage across Two Point County offers its own unique objectives and challenges, lending a welcome variety to the routine of diagnosing and curing patients to increase reputation and turn a profit. The layout of a facility has a large impact on the problem-solving, as it’s crucial to fit in diagnostic facilities, wards for long-term care, employee amenities, and specialists required to treat some of the wackier and more severe ailments. And there needs to be enough space left over for patients and staff to navigate between these hotspots. It’s a system that requires plenty of planning and rewards clever use of space.
In the wake of the horrible tragedy at a Madden 19 tournament in Florida last month, EA announced it would donate $1 million to the families of those affected by the shooting. Another part of EA’s campaign in response to the shooting is the Jacksonville Tribute livestream event. This is a place where people can come together to remember Elijah Clayton and Taylor Robertson, who were killed in the attack.
The livestream will also help to support the survivors of the attack and encourage the community to come together to “share in the healing power of play.” Madden community members Scott Cole, Rico Williams, Adrienne Lawrence, and Dave Grunfeld will host the event.
The Jacksonville Tribute livestream takes place Thursday, September 6, starting at 5 PM ET and running through 6:30 PM ET. You can stream it above or through any of these locations:
More details about the specific programming of the event will be shared soon.
In response to the shooting, EA created the Jacksonville Tribute Fund in partnership with the National Compassion Fund and GoFundeMe. EA itself donated $1 million, and is currently asking for more donations from the wider community. 100 percent of the funds will go to the families of the victims.
The August 26 shooting left three people dead, including the alleged shooter. Further Madden tournaments in the series have been canceled.
Back in 1997, Theme Hospital laughed us all back to health with its acutely tongue-in-cheek approach to hospital management simulation. 21 years later, Two Point Hospital pulls at the same nostalgic heart strings, channeling Theme Hospital’s brand of brash, British humour and mixing it with some surprisingly deep economic management gameplay. Two Point Hospital simultaneously pays homage to its predecessor while surgically carving out its own place in your heart.
Two Point Hospital puts you behind the administrator’s desk and charges you with both the grander and finer aspects of managing your new hospital empire, from designing the internal layout of each building down to hiring staff and researching treatments. You’ll start out small with only a single hospital and a handful of illnesses to worry about treating and slowly build your way up towards managing larger locations with multiple buildings and a vast range of wacky illnesses that require special rooms and equipment to treat. Its goofy style–bright colours and characters with big, bulbous heads–belies the depth of its management simulation, finding a good balance between both aspects. Helpful tutorials in each mission ease you into the concepts behind new objectives at a comfortable pace, and as you complete them, you’ll earn stars to unlock new missions as well as room types.
For your hospital to run smoothly and make lots of money, patients need to be diagnosed and then treated as quickly as possible. For some that means a quick trip to the GP’s office, then a jab in the injection room. But for most, this means long stays and visits between different rooms for tests and eventual treatment. For these patients, as well as your staff, you’ll need to make sure there’s plenty of things around to keep their mood up, placing importance on how you make use of your space. Getting it right can make the difference between having the best reputation in the business, or causing an innumerable number of patient deaths, dropping your reputation and bank balance into the toilet. Helpfully, you’re given lots of colourful graphs and floor charts to work out what needs improvement, so you’re not left out in the cold trying to work out why all your patients are rage-quitting and storming out the hospital doors before being treated.
The tools for drawing out rooms and placing furnishings feel intuitive and robust; rooms are drawn out like blueprints on a floor plan, then once you’re happy with the layout you can place your items like desks, bookshelves and coffee machines. Items help add prestige to a room, and are unlocked using Kudosh, a reward currency that’s awarded for completing objectives. The larger the room and the more you fill it with items, the higher its prestige and happier staff and patients will be when using it, meaning staff work longer and for less money and patients will pay you more. This creates an interesting dichotomy between saving available space for a bigger variety of rooms, or building larger, higher-level rooms and seeing the effects that both have on your staff and patients.
Later missions go out of their way to shake up the established gameplay loop by throwing machine-damaging natural disasters like storms and earthquakes at you. You need to draw on everything you’ve learned up to that point as mission objectives broaden and your funds start to spread thin. You also have to consider the mind-boggling number of different treatment rooms to research and prioritise which to build and which patients to turn away. While some diseases only require a pharmacy to cure, others require their own rooms with expensive equipment, and putting all your money into the wrong treatments could leave your bank account reeling.
Thankfully anything that’s researched in one mission becomes available in all others, so if you get stuck somewhere and don’t have the funds to research what you need, you can always go back to a previous hospital and get them to front the research bill instead. This grander focus across all your hospitals extends to a light multiplayer portion in the form of leaderboards. All of your stats like cure rates, money earned and reputation are saved to online leaderboards, where you can compare your successes and failures against your friends. It’s only good for bragging rights, but it’s a nice addition regardless.
Part of Two Point Hospital’s overwhelming charm is its sense of humor, which permeates every corner of the game, from the fantastically funny radio station–complete with fake ads and feature segments–to the pun-laden disease names like Jest Infection or 8-bitten. Someone suffering Mock Star shuffles about with the look and swagger of Freddie Mercury, requiring a session with the psychiatrist to pull them out of it. Equally funny are the contraptions used to cure some of the rarer conditions. The Extract-a-Pan treats Pandemic and is a giant magnet on the end of a tube that pulls the pan off the top of the patient’s head. The writing throughout is sharp and witty, with the descriptions of various ailments being a particular high point.
But just discovering those diseases and their often darkly funny symptoms, as well as watching your staff and patients go about their day, feels rewarding enough. Everything moves with the look and flow of a cartoon pantomime; patients will die only to come back as ghosts and haunt your hallways until a janitor can come along and suck them up with a vacuum cleaner. At one point my receptionist got up from his desk, vomited in front of patients because he was disgusted by something, then left to pour a coffee in the break room before demanding a pay raise. It nails the Theme Hospital nostalgia and is so good that even the 20th time you hear the announcer ask patients “not to die in the hallways” is hilarious.
Part of Two Point Hospital’s overwhelming charm is its sense of humor, which permeates every corner of the game.
The one area where the game does suffer is in the minor grind of starting a brand-new hospital for each new mission. After spending hours perfecting several locations, going through the early phases of a new hospital starts to feel more like a chore than it should. It’s not a long process, but it quickly becomes a section you want to rush through to get to the things you haven’t seen yet.
It’s remarkable that it’s taken so long for a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital to show up, but now that it’s here, it feels like it’s been well worth the wait. The exaggerated, cartoon look and relaxed approach to management make it inviting enough for most players, while the deeper aspects of its economy are enough to keep seasoned players engaged. Two Point Hospital not only re-works an old formula into something modern and enjoyable, it also iterates on the classic brand of irresistible charm and wit, making something that’s truly wonderful.