Halo Infinite’s Open World Honors The Old While Embracing Brand-New Ideas

343 Industries has released an interview-focused blog post for Halo Infinite, which looks at Zeta Halo, the open-world setting of the upcoming game. Halo Infinite campaign art lead Justin Dinges said that one of the largest challenges of creating the space was honoring the nostalgic feel of Halo, while creating something that feels brand-new.

“With Halo Infinite, we wanted to take this new adventure back to its roots and create a visually pleasing experience that doesn’t overwhelm with unnecessary complexity where readability and clear artistic composition prevail,” Dinges said. “This is our artistic interpretation of a beautiful world to exist within–rather than something that is purely grounded in photo realism. Both goals have been a true challenge to balance, especially against the expectations of what it means to be a ‘next-gen’ title.”

Part of honoring the appeal of Halo’s roots comes from Zeta Halo’s layout. As an open world, Zeta Halo invokes the same sensation of Halo: Combat Evolved’s opening hours when you could approach problems in different ways depending on what weapons you have, vehicles you’re driving, or pathways you uncover.

“I love the agency we are creating that really doubles down on that premise of delivering on the promise of Halo: CE,” Halo Infinite world design lead John Mulkey said. “Enemy strongholds can be approached from any direction and there are so many options available for how you take on the challenges at hand.”

Part of this new freedom of movement comes from the Grappleshot, Halo’s take on a grappling hook. The new mechanic will allow you to drag smaller enemies to you, propel yourself into larger targets, and reach seemingly inaccessible areas.

“Having a tool like the Grappleshot definitely challenged us to rethink the way we build our environments because it’s such a versatile and fun mechanic that allows players to get nearly anywhere that they can reach,” Dinges said.

With that in mind, we can expect Halo Infinite’s levels to further shy away from the linear manner seen in the more recent entries in the series–with a tool like the Grappleshot, you’d be able to circumnavigate almost every obstacle in your path and just reach the end without needing to fight. It would take the fun out of a linear first-person shooter.

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Halo Infinite gameplay director Troy Mashburn said that from a development standpoint, this change is “both terrifying and completely liberating” as this adjustment has “helped the team break out of the single path design mindset and evolve into something much more exciting.”

Currently slated to launch for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in Fall 2021, Halo Infinite is in the final months of development. Dinges said that most of the development team is finishing up their remaining tasks. “The team is 100 percent focused on wrapping up the campaign experience which includes gathering and addressing user feedback–both internal playtests and User Research data–bug fixing, performance, and balancing,” Mashburn added.

For more on Halo Infinite, check out our previous coverage of the game:

Now Playing: Halo Infinite – Everything You Need To Know

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Hulu Announces Mike Tyson Biopic Series Iron Mike, Tyson Punches Back

Hulu is working with the team behind 2017’s I, Tonya to examine the life of another infamous sports figure. This time, the team is taking on the baddest boxer to ever step into the ring, and the only one to get an iconic NES game, Mike Tyson, in Hulu’s Iron Mike.

Iron Mike will be an eight-episode limited series that Hulu says will explore “the wild, tragic and controversial life and career behind one of the most polarizing figures in sports culture–heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.”

Tyson himself is not involved with the show and is, in fact, not happy about the announcement. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Tyson had no kind words for the production.

“Hulu’s announcement to do an unauthorized miniseries of my life, although unfortunate, isn’t surprising,” Tyson said in an official statement. “This announcement on the heels of social disparities in our country is a prime example of how Hulu’s corporate greed led to this tone-deaf cultural misappropriation of my life story. To make this announcement during Black History Month only confirms Hulu’s concern for dollars over respect for Black story rights. Hollywood needs to be more sensitive to Black experiences especially after all that has transpired in 2020. My authorized story is in development and will be announced in coming days.”

I, Tonya screenwriter Steven Rogers (not Captain America) created the series, and Karin Gist is showrunner and executive producer. Other executive producers include I Tonya’s Margot Robbie and Craig Gillespie among others.

Hulu has not yet revealed a release window for Iron Mike.

Cherry Review

Cherry hits theaters on February 26, and on Apple TV+ on March 12.

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Avengers: Endgame’s Joe and Anthony Russo, who have now spent the majority of their filmmaking careers in the trenches of the MCU, switch gears for a sullen and sulky dive into the unwell mind of trauma and addiction in Cherry, featuring Marvel’s own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland. But Holland’s riveting, anti-Peter Parker turn here isn’t enough to save Cherry from being a struggle to get through.

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Nico Walker, Cherry tells the story of an introspective Holden Caulfield type, from a hard-knock area of Cleveland, who joins the army after a bad break-up only to wind up severely wrecked by his wartime experience overseas as a medic. He crash-lands back home, adorned in medals, with very few recourses other than to escape via heroin — and then bank robbery to support that horrific lifestyle loop.

The film itself is separated into named chapters, like a book, and that helps slice up the story into more digestible pieces, but it never fully prevents Cherry from falling into a repetitive rut of feelings and themes. Drug addiction is a heavy topic and films about it can be a thick wall to chisel through. Cherry doesn’t offer up anything new nor does it tighten its runtime for the sake of brevity. So the end result is, well, nothing you haven’t seen play out in other movies about maladjustment, anxiety, and drug use.

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As mentioned, the acting is quite compelling here. Most of it falls squarely on Holland’s shoulders as he’s not only the lead but also the narrator and a fourth-wall breaker. Nothing happens here outside of Holland’s scope as he’s in practically every scene, and when he’s not in a moment his voice still looms over it.

Most of the sad-sack characters who orbit Holland’s unnamed character (though he’s supposed to be “Cherry”) feel overly quirky and ornamental, as they’re always viewed through his eyes and he’s a borderline sociopath. The one exception is Ciara Bravo’s Emily, Cherry’s long-suffering partner who winds up meeting his madness halfway and getting torn to pieces in the process. Bravo’s showing is a strong second here, but overall the film is still Holland’s clunky cart to pull.

The gimmicky entryway for Cherry is that it’s from the directors of some of Marvel’s most complicated, and rewarding, films, starring arguably the most likable MCU actor. But it’s a wholly different story and the MCU star is delivering the goods in an Oscar bait-ish role that’s a far cry from what most people are familiar with him doing.

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Once you get through all that webbing (heh) though, there’s some really good stuff in Cherry that can exist on its own merit. It can, at times, offer up quiet devastation. It’s just that, all lined up, it’s a slog that needs a trim down. It’s ambitious, sure, but threading multiple stories together, each of which could be their own movie really makes for a lot of bad bloat.

Cherry certainly has a distinct vibe to it, which is sometimes darkly comedic, and it’s definitely a welcome and ambitious swerve for the Russos and Holland, as the latter says he never wants to stop playing Spider-Man but also wants to play someone other than a teenager (The Devil All the Time, Uncharted, etc), but the movie regurgitates a familiar story (several, in fact) while stretching things out to a sometimes unnerving degree.

Ripley and the Alien Xenomorph Join Fortnite

The Alien franchise has invaded Fortnite, as both Ripley and the Xenomorph are now available for purchase.

Announced by The Fortnite Team, Ripley arrives with her Nostromo Crew Outfit variant and the Weyland-Yutani Cat Carrier, which comes complete with Jonesy the Cat.

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The Xenomorph comes equipped with not only the Xenomorph Tail Back Bling, but also the Xeno Menace built-in Emote.

The Space Gear Bundle is another purchasable addition from the Alien universe, and includes the P-500 Power Loader Arm Pickaxe, the Cheyenne Dropship Glider, and a new emote that’s “bursting on the scene.”

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Ripley and the Xenomorph follow both Fortnite’s addition of Street Fighter’s Chun-Li and Ryu and the crossover with Tron.

This news also arrives a few days after Epic Games announced that any player who purchased its loot boxes called Loot Llamas in the Fortnite: Save the World mode will receive 1,000 V-Bucks for free following a class-action settlement.

For more on Fortnite, check out where you can find every Surface Hub so you can scan every server, and other crossovers including the Flash, The Terminator, and Sarah Connor.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Division Film Starring Jake Gyllenhaal Hires Red Notice Director

Red Notice director, Rawson Marshall Thurber, has stepped in to replace David Leitch as the director fof The Division movie.

This news comes by way of Deadline, which reports Leitch, who is perhaps best known as the director of Deadpool 2, had to step down as director of Netflix’s Division movie due to scheduling conflicts with his current project, Bullet Train.

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Thurber, who also directed Skyscraper and Dodgeball, has stepped in to fill the role and will also co-write the script with Ellen Shanman.

Leitch will remain attached to the movie as a producer.

Netflix purchased film rights to Tom Clancy’s The Division back in 2019 and it was announced at E3 that year with Leitch on board to direct. He said at the time that he planned to “break the video game curse” with this movie and that chance to do so is still there — just not as a director.

The Division stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain.

The story of this film is set to follow the general events of Ubisoft’s first Division game released in 2016, which follows Division agents activated to take back New York City after it is razed by a virus spread through paper money distributed on Black Friday.

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Thurber’s Bad Version production company will produce the film alongside Ubisoft Film and Television, Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North Productions, Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories, and Chastain’s Freckle Films.

The Division was a movie that was supposed to release before the end of the last decade, but it joins 32 other films not yet released that were supposed to be out before 2021. It’s not the only Ubisoft property being adapted for film for Netflix as Detective Pikachu director, Rob Letterman, is set to direct a Beyond Good and Evil movie for the streaming service.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Bridgerton And Winx Saga Top Neilsen’s Latest Streaming Ratings

Did you know Netflix’s Bridgerton is a popular show? If not, you may have been living on another planet for the last few months. Nielsen released its latest streaming ratings this week, for the week of January 25 to January 31, and guess who’s on top?

Indeed, Bridgerton is once again the single most popular streaming program, though it finally dipped below one billion minutes streamed. Fate: The Winx Saga, a live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon Winx Club series, comes in second. The math here can be deceptive; people streamed 936 million minutes of Bridgerton, and 918 million minutes of Fate: The Winx Saga. The thing to remember is that Bridgerton has been out for two full months, having released on December 25, 2020. Netflix’s dump-and-binge method of show releases often means that shows come and go quickly, but Bridgerton is staying strong. Bridgerton viewers between January 4 and January 10 streamed 1.6 billion minutes of the show. For comparison, Cobra Kai, which is still ranked third, dropped from 2.1 billion minutes for the week of January 4 to 568 million for the week of January 25. That’s still nothing to sneeze at, but it demonstrates how well Bridgerton is doing.

Netflix makes up all of the top ten streams but for one. Marvel Studios’ WandaVision on Disney+ ranked in at #5. But again, those numbers don’t tell the whole story. WandaVision only had four episodes out at the time (we didn’t even know yet who it had been All Along!), and Disney is releasing the show week by week rather than all at once. Disney+ is growing quickly, but also has far fewer subscribers when compared to Netflix. That all goes to suggest that a huge portion of Disney Plus’s 94 million subscribers are tuning in week to week to get the numbers up as high as they are with so few episodes and a traditional weekly release schedule.

The rest of the shows on the list are from Netflix. Blown Away, The Crown, Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Longmire, and the Great British Baking Show round out the list.

Nielsen’s SVP of Product Strategy Brian Fuhrer points out in the company’s latest update that Netflix’s Bridgerton and The Crown make for an interesting comparison. Both are shows about British upper-crust and are steady members of Netflix’s recent top 10 lists. But for Bridgerton, Fuhrer states, the audience is three times more likely to be aged 18-34, and twice as likely to be African American viewers. Further, nearly a third of The Crown’s viewers watch Bridgerton, but only 8% of Bridgerton viewers watch The Crown.

On the list of acquired shows, things are mostly familar, with Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy topping the list, but the Spanish-language show Marioposa de Barrio continues to perform well, standing out from the list of weekly streaming stalwarts. Other shows include New Girl, Supernatural, and children’s programming like Cocomelon.

Finally, in movies, Netflix once again owns the majority of the top list with The Next Three Days, The Dig, and Homefront, but Disney+ fares better thanks to the continued popularity of Moana and Frozen 2, and Pixar’s latest feature, Soul.

With Netflix planning to release 52+ movies throughout 2021 and Disney’s Marvel Studios ramping up its television production as it prepares to restart movie distribution, this list will be worth keeping an eye on as the year progresses. And once HBO Max starts its simultaneous release schedule, in which HBO Max subscribers will get access to Warner Bros.’ new theatrical films, such as Godzilla vs. Kong, day and date, we might even see that service appear in the top 10 again.