Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Dead Space 2 Available Now With Games With Gold

April’s second round of free games of Games with Gold on Xbox One and 360 are available now. The Witness is still in rotation until April 30, but this round’s new additions are Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Dead Space 2.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate follows the story of twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they take back London from the Templars in the Victorian era. The game not only allows you to freely explore London, but also switch between the twins for most missions. Jacob is brutish, while Evie is a rouge-like character. Syndicate will be free for Gold member through May 15.

Dead Space 2 on the other hand is a bit more visceral. This is backwards compatible title is set three years after the events of Dead Space, following Issac’s battle against the Necromorphs on Sprawl. Unlike the first game, this sequel also has a multiplayer mode, pitting humans against Necromorphs. It’s available for download through April 30.

In other Xbox One news, 19 new backwards compatible titles from the OG Xbox were added to the catalog this week. Xbox’s big spring sale is still running strong too, slashing deals until April 17.

April 2018 Games With Gold

Xbox One

  • The Witness (April 1-30)
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (April 16-May 15)

Xbox 360 (playable on Xbox One)

  • Cars 2 (April 1-15)
  • Dead Space 2 (April 16-30)

Top New Games Out This Week on Switch, PS4, And Xbox One — April 25-21

Top New Games Out This Week on Switch, PS4, And Xbox One — April 25-21

Big names like God of War, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, and Nintendo Labo finally arrive.

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This week is jam-packed with big exclusives. Kicking things off is Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, which is finally coming to PS4s outside of Japan. PS4 is also getting the much-anticipated God of War, and Nintendo Labo brings all of its cardboard craziness to Switch. The Switch is also getting a port of the top-down arcade racer BAFL: Brakes Are For Losers, while Xbox One gets a big port of its own with the Don’t Starve Mega Pack.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life — April 17

Available on: PS4

The next chapter in Kazuma Kiryu’s life sees him balancing a criminal past with raising a baby–the child of his own adopted daughter Haruka, who’s in a coma after a hit-and-run. Kiryu must investigate what happened, all the while throwing down in street fights and engaging in the series’ trademark minigames.

Further Reading:

BAFL: Brakes Are For Losers — April 17

Available on: Switch

If you’ve been looking for a top-down racer on Nintendo’s latest console, here it is. BAFL has a bunch of options for racing against your friends, with up to eight drivers supported locally. You can also race for your personal best in Time Attack or go for a flawless run in Perfect Race Mode. That name isn’t just for fun by the way–there really are no brakes on these cars.

Don’t Starve Mega Pack — April 17

Available on: Xbox One

Xbox One players are in for a serious game of survival with this one. The Mega Pack includes Don’t Starve’s base game, the Don’t Starve Together multiplayer pack, and the Reign of Giants and Shipwrecked expansions. It might be tough to survive out there, but at least you have plenty of options for trying to make it by on a new platform.

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Nintendo Labo — April 20

Available on: Switch

Nintendo Labo is a unique concept: build peripherals called Toy-Cons from cardboard, then use them to play minigames. There are cardboard blueprints included, but the real hook is building any contraption you want, then programming it to work with the Joy-Cons using the Toy-Con Garage mode. Building and playing together could be a great family experience.

Further Reading:

God of War — April 20

Available on: PS4

Speaking of family, Kratos now has a son named Atreus. He’ll accompany the demigod as he battles the Norse pantheon in a new, much more open adventure. There are bigger areas to explore and optional bosses to take down as Kratos finds more outlets for this untamable rage. That rage is funneled through a Battle Axe now, not the Blades of Chaos he fought with previously.

Further Reading:

New Releases

Persona 3 and 5 Dancing Games Getting SEGA Costumes

Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night are getting a variety of new costumes from popular SEGA franchises.

Persona Central reports SEGA announced Virtua Fighter costumes are coming to Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night, and Sonic and Yakuza costumes are coming to Persona 5: Dancing Star Night.

The publisher made the announcement during a special stage show for the games during SEGA FES 2018. Last week, SEGA asked fans on Twitter what DLC costumes they’d like to see featured in the upcoming dancing games.

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Fear the Walking Dead: Morgan Enters the Story… and You Won’t Believe How it Ends

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…

As someone who thinks Fear the Walking Dead definitely got better with each passing season, while also recognizing that it never existed without flaws (the plot would often drive the story more than the characters, meaning the characters would make unbelievable and/or bad choices so that certain story elements could happen) “What’s Your Story?” nicely reinvigorated the show with a shakeup-slash-overhaul.

I’m resisting the term “reboot” here, but the series shot us way ahead in time so that Morgan, from The Walking Dead, could join the story.

Keep in mind too that Fear the Walking Dead’s Season 3 finale ended with a huge action beat and a massive cliffhanger where many characters’ fates were unknown. Sure, you can look at the press materials and trailers for Season 4 and spot who survived the dam explosion, but it’s still a bold move for a show to leap way past the aftermath of such an event. For sure, it’s possible that future Season 4 episodes will fill us in on what exactly happened following the dam collapse but this premiere episode, “What’s Your Story?” pays it no mind at all.

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The Walking Dead Ended a War…But is a Civil War Coming?

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…

Firstly, I’ll just put it out there that most everything in this Season 8 finale, “Wrath,” (hey, Fear the Walking Dead had an episode called “Wrath back its second season!) tracked just fine.

Maybe some of it went down a bit too predictably, yes, as I’m pretty sure I called out last week that it’d be faulty bullets and the Oceanside women that would save Rick from Negan’s trap, and Rick’s decision to spare Negan was straight from the comics. Though, even if you hadn’t read the comics, this season has been absolutely bluntly beating you over the head with a hefty tome about mercy and “a better way.” This has not been subtle messaging.

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Rampage Tops Weekend Box Office

Despite performing below projections, Rampage topped the box office in its domestic debut, earning an estimated $34.5 million.

Director Brad Peyton’s video game-inspired adaptation earned $2.4 million in Thursday previews and was expected to make between $35M-$40M opening weekend. Rampage received an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers who saw the film opening night.

Internationally, the Dwayne Johnson-led action movie fared better. Rampage earned approximately $114.1 million outside of North America, making for a current global total of $148.6 million.

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Full Metal Jacket, Toy Story Actor R. Lee Ermey Dies

Actor R. Lee Ermey, best known for his iconic role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, has died. He was 74.

The news was announced by Ermey’s manager Bill Rogin via Ermey’s official Twitter account.

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Ed Sheeran May Appear In Slumdog Millionaire Director’s New Movie

According to Deadline, super-popular singer Ed Sheeran is in discussions to have a role in a new music-focused comedy from Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle. Sheeran already had cameos in The Bastard Executioner, Game of Thrones, and Bridget Jones’ Baby, so this would be a continuation of his push into film and TV.

There are no further details about Sheeran’s supposed involvement in the film, which doesn’t have a title yet. What we do know is that Lily James (Baby Driver) and Himesh Patel (Eastenders) will star in it, with SNL actress Kate McKinnon in discussions for it.

Love Actually writer Richard Curtis is writing Boyle’s new movie. According to The Daily Mail, the film is tentatively titled All You Need Is Love, and it will follow a man who wakes up to discover he’s the only one on Earth who remembers the songs of The Beatles. The report claims Sheeran will also write music for the film; classic Beatles songs are also expected to be featured, according to the report.

In addition to this new movie, Boyle is apparently working on the next Bond movie that will star Daniel Craig in the lead role for the last time. That film opens in November 2019. Boyle won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire; he also directed Trainspotting and 127 Hours.

Sheeran’s involvement in Game of Thrones last season was highly criticised, and the episode’s director spoke out to defend the singer’s role in the show.