Starting today, the classic FPS XIII is free to download and own forever on GOG until April 1. Developed by Ubisoft, XIII is a stealth-action FPS with a cell-shaded art-style that has a cult-following in the years since its release. In order to snag this game, you’ll need a GOG account and log into the site or the GOG Galaxy client. The special deal will end on April 1at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, so be sure to grab your copy of the game when you have the chance.
Originally released in 2003, the FPS was a modern adaptation of the original Belgian graphical novel from 1984, which saw a mysterious operative with amnesia try to piece together his past. In the years since its release, XIII has become a cult-favorite due to its involved story and striking cel-shaded visuals that paid tribute to its comic origins. While XIII recently had a remaster that attempted to update the story and visuals, it ended up releasing to mixed response from fans and critics alike. Still, the original XIII holds up quite well, and you can now download the game at no cost.
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Right now, GOG has a number of deals on games for the ongoing Spring Sale. Though they’re not free like XIII, there are several titles that are on sale for a steep discount right now:
We also have a roundup of other deals online right now, which includes the discounted launch of Kingdom Hearts 3 on the Epic Games Store, and Best Buy’s current deal on Bravely Default II. Also, be sure to check out our round up of PC games on sale now.
The next chapter of Dead by Daylight, All-Kill, is now live. All-Kill adds a new killer, The Trickster, and a new survivor, Yun-Jin Lee, to Dead by Daylight.
All-Kill goes live as part of Update 4.6.0. The update also adds colorblind options to Dead by Daylight and implements balancing adjustments for The Wraith and The Blight. The full patch notes for Update 4.6.0 also contain a ton of bug fixes. We’ve outlined the full update below–full warning, it’s a doozy of a list of changes.
In GameSpot’s Dead by Daylight (2020) review, Joab Gilroy wrote, “At launch, Dead by Daylight suffered because of its reliance on peer-to-peer hosting and absent social features, but over time it rectified these issues. And while a brief and premature tussle with skill-based matchmaking turned the new player experience into a bit of a horror show (a problem which is now fixed), thanks to its community of players Dead by Daylight is without peer in the asymmetrical competitive multiplayer arena, and has grown into one of the most robust horror experiences around.”
Dead By Daylight Update 4.6.0 Patch Notes
Features
Added a new Killer – The Trickster
Added a new Survivor – Yun-Jin Lee
Added Party Privacy options – You can now set your party privacy to automatically block join requests from strangers, allow friends to join without approval, etc.
Added the Chat Filter feature
Added an error message when a user fails to add a friend because he has too many friends
Content
The Blight
Adjusted his first person animations and camera position to be higher up
Reworked the collision detection for his power. It should now be consistent with basic attack obstruction and no longer result in sliding off various surfaces.
The Wraith
Increased his cloaked move speed
Decreased his move speed while uncloaking
Reduced the Windstorm addon move speed bonuses to compensate for the above speed changes
Removed the uncloaking move speed penalties from the Windstorm addons
Accessibility
Colorblind modes have been added and can be accessed VIA the Options menu.
Perks
Decisive Strike – Now deactivates when performing certain actions that are not part of evading the Killer
HUD
Increased the visibility and size of the negative status effect timer fill.
Made adjustments to the player status timer bar to be more accurate and added back the glows to indicate when the timer bar is paused or requires attention.
Improved performance.
Menus
Updated the accept and cancel buttons on Friend and Group requests to have a greater visual difference.
Audio
The warning and max stingers for Laceration Meter (from Killer’s perspective) have been changed
The bat swing attenuation was reduced for Survivors
The 2D scream on the Mori was fixed
Main Event cooldown now has SFX support
New VO for The Trickster while in Chase mode
Visual Update
Visual Update for the main Lobby, Store, and Tally
Bug Fixes
Fixed a crash in the initial interaction screen.
Fixed a crash in the Play as Killer lobby that could occur when repeatedly holding the Ready button to cancel the search.
Fixed an issue that could cause lockers to play loud noise notifications when slowly entered
Fixed an issue that prevented Killers to drop on top of the chairs in Ormond’s chalet.
Fixed an issue that could cause a crash when using Victor to pounce on a survivor as they exit the trial.
Fixed an issue that could cause Victor to stay stuck inside the hills unique to the Red Forest maps.
Fixed an issue that caused the infected VFX behind the survivor icon to not be fully completed when the Survivor is affected by Broken status effect.
Fixed an issue that could cause Survivors to remain standing until they move when downed from a Deep Wound status.
Fixed an issue that caused Killers and Survivors to be seen floating in certain spots on hills in Asylum maps.
Fixed an issue that caused the Survivor’s health bar to no longer flash when the timer is paused.
Fixed an issue that could cause the Trail of Punishment of the Damned sound effect to keep playing even if no trails were left behind.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivor to not stay on the ground after dying status animation has occurred
Fixed an issue that could cause players to spawn inside a collision (therefore not being able to move) when loading into the Dead Dawg Saloon map
Fixed an issue that could prevent repairing a generator from the light post side in Grim Pantry
Fixed an issue that could prevent Survivor health bars from being visually accurate (bar would appear empty before Survivor dies).
Fixed an issue that caused the item’s icon on the ground to overlap with the progress bar when equipped with some specific items (only if the In-Game HUD scale is 85% or lower).
Fixed an issue that would rarely cause the in-game UI to appear when entering spectator mode while the last survivor reaches the tally screen
Fixed an issue that caused the Trapper’s bear trap to clip into doors
Fixed an issue that caused a collision between statue and a hill on Sanctum of Wrath map
Fixed an issue that caused the Nurse to blink out of bound in the killer shack
Fixed perks appearing as Tier 1 in the Match result screen of a Custom Game
Fixed an issue in Spectate mode where the player could see the remaining generators left instead of the Exit Gate objective when the hatch is closed
Fixed an issue where a player could lose pips when leaving during loading
Fixed an issue that could cause the server to crash If multiple Survivors spam the heal interaction while crouching
Fixed an issue that could prevent the Killer from picking up Survivors along the edge of the Exit Gate
Fixed an issue that could cause disconnected players not to count towards progress on the Devout emblem
Fixed an issue that could cause lockers to become horizontal
Fixed an issue that could cause two survivors to swap positions if they quickly took turns attempting to unhook the same survivor
Fixed an issue that prevented Hex: Blood Favor from showing survivors the “cursed’ status when activated
Fixed an issue that could cause the Legion’s Feral Frenzy power to end incorrectly after hitting a second survivor
Fixed an issue that could cause survivors hands to become misaligned when using the exit gate switch
Fixed an issue that could cause survivors to gain interaction progress when successfully hitting a skill check from the perk Oppression
Fixed an issue that could cause the Blight and the Demogorgon to stop moving while dashing if the menu is opened
Fixed an issue that could cause hooked Survivors to float off the hook if the Killer downs an injured survivor attempting to unhook them.
Fixed an issue that could cause Victor to remain suspended in the air if a Survivor disconnected while Victor was attached
Fixed an issue that could cause the Blight’s rush to hit an invisible collision where a Hatch could later spawn
Fixed an issue that could cause camera snapping when quickly starting and stopping generator repairs
Fixed an issue that could cause the perk Tinkerer to activate when the last generator is completed
Fixed an issue that could cause survivors to become stuck in lockers in network conditions with high packet loss
Fixed an issue that could cause the Killer to completely block the access to a specific hook on Disturbed Ward, Lery’s Memorial Institute and Gideon maps.
Switch only:
Fixed an issue where selecting an Archive cinematic would briefly play a few frames of the last previously viewed cinematic.
Fixed a crash that may occur when holding both buttons to switch between Survivors in Spectator Mode.
Fixed an issue where the HUD could display the same buff icon twice
Stadia only:
Fixed an issue with the UI prompts showing for a wrong platform when using a keyboard and a controller.
PS4 and PS5 only:
Fixed an issue where if a player using a PS5 invites a player using a PS4 the invitee can’t accept the invitation.
Xbox Series X|S only:
Fixed an issue where the application would crash when accepting an invitation sent to a signed-in but inactive account.
Xbox One only:
Fixed an issue where Recently Played With XB1 players can enter a Public Lobby without requesting to join the Party
Fixed an issue where the player could be soft-locked after disconnecting the Xbox Live profile while being in a Play as Survivor lobby.
Known Issues
Stadia only:
Description of The Nightmare’s power states he can accumulate 5 Dream Tokens instead of 8.
The DLC exclusive cosmetic for Chapter 19: All-Kill will not be awarded upon purchase. The cosmetic will be automatically applied to eligible players once this issue is fixed in an upcoming patch.
(TENTATIVE) Missing string for Chapter name for DLC banner in in-game Store Featured page.
Windows Store only:
The game crashes when revoking consent on the Microsoft Store version of the game
Changes from PTB to Live
The Trickster:
When activating Main Event, The Trickster will automatically throw Blades
It is now possible to cancel Main Event by pressing the Ability button
While in Main Event, the ammo count no longer decreases. If The Trickster had 50 Blades when it was activated, he will have 50 Blades when it ends.
Improved visual feedback for Showstopper’s cooldown after Main Event has ended
Added additional states to The Trickster’s power icon when in Main Event and when in cooldown after Main Event.
Improved the Laceration Meter UI readability around the Survivor portraits
Updated the Trick Blades add-on: Blades will now ricochet twice. Ricochet hits will grant bonus Bloodpoints. Ricochet hits no longer deal double laceration.
Perks:
Smash Hit: Duration increased to 4 seconds
Self Preservation: Now also hides pools of blood & grunts of pain
Starstruck: Exposed effect now refreshes any time the Survivor enters your Terror Radius, and the effect persists for 26/28/30 seconds after leaving it. Cooldown reduced to 60 seconds
No Way Out: Now has a base time of 10 seconds, +4/6/8 seconds for each token
The Blight:
Updated rush hitbox to be higher and narrower in order to reduce collisions with objects on the edge of the player’s screen or out of view
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Monster Hunter Rise has no shortage of armor sets to craft and collect. But if you’re looking to specialize your character build, then you’re likely going to settle on an armor set that may not visually please you. To circumvent this issue, the game has Layered Armor sets, which are just cosmetic armor sets you can plaster over what you have equipped. Below we detail everything you need to know about Layered Armor, how to equip them, and which ones you can get now.
What Is Layered Armor?
As mentioned above, Layered Armor sets are cosmetic armor sets you can equip onto your currently equipped set. As such, they have no stats and provide no meaningful benefits outside their aesthetic purposes. There are Layered Armor sets available for your hunter, Palico, and Palamute.
Which Layered Armor Sets Are Available Now?
At the moment, there are only a few Layered Armor sets and pieces you can get, all of which are available to you only if you preordered the game, have access to Monster Hunter Rise Amiibo, or purchase as DLC. Below you can find all the available sets and how you can get them.
Long Coat Costume Armor Set via paid DLC priced at $2
How Do I Equip Layered Armor?
First, you’ll need a Layered Armor set. If you purchased or redeemed some via DLC, be sure to chat to Senri the Mailman to nab them in-game via the Add-on Content option. And if you’re looking to get the ones you can unlock by scanning Amiibo, be sure to talk to Kagero the Merchant to get those added into your inventory.
Once you have all your desired Layered Armor sets, go to either the Item Box or the Buddy Board at Kamura Village. You’ll see a new option called “Layered Armor Settings” available in each, where you can select and equip your available sets. You can even save Layered Armor loadouts to make things easier when it comes time to switch them out.
For more Monster Hunter Rise guides, be sure to look through the list below. Otherwise, read our Monster Hunter Rise review for our full thoughts about the game.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most highly anticipated new Star Wars shows being made for Disney+, but its origins pre-date the launch of the streaming service. When Disney relaunched the Star Wars franchise in 2015, the initial plan was alternating movies in the ongoing Skywalker saga with standalone spin-off films. A Kenobi movie was one of these potential spin-offs, and while the film was never officially announced, it was widely reported that Ewan McGregor was set to return as the Jedi Master, with Billy Elliot’s Stephen Daldrey on board to direct.
However, the commercial disappointment of 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story led Lucasfilm to rethink its plans for more spin-off movies. The studio’s eyes instead turned to the small screen. The arrival of Disney+ in 2019 meant that high-profile titles were needed to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon, and franchises don’t come much bigger than Star Wars. The service launched with The Mandalorian, which was an immediate hit with fans. Mando came with none of the baggage that had affected some of the recent movies, and simply delivered crowd-pleasing intergalactic action in the way that only Star Wars can.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi series was announced before Disney+ even launched. McGregor revealed that he would be returning to the role at the D23 convention in August 2019, and the actor subsequently confirmed that its roots lay in the cancelled Obi-Wan movie. However, there have been some changes since then–production was delayed when the original writer Hossein Amini left, and there were reports that the entire show was being rewritten. And obviously the COVID-19 pandemic caused further delays. But cameras are finally about to roll on the series, so here’s everything we know to date about Obi-Wan Kenobi.
What’s the release date?
Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t have a premiere date yet. However, Lucasfilm has confirmed that production on the show will start in April 2021.
Who’s returning to Star Wars?
There are a few familiar names returning to the Star Wars universe for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as the titular Jedi Master, having previously played the character in the three prequel movies (plus brief lines in The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker). Hayden Christensen is back as Anakin Skywalker–he was last seen being turned into Darth Vadar at the end of 2005’s Return of the Sith. The show also sees the return of Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse as Owen and Beru Lars, who were entrusted by Obi-Wan to look after young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. Edgerton and Piesse played these roles in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Who are the new cast members?
Lucasfilm has announced a number of new cast members. No details have been revealed about their roles, but the list so far is:
Moses Ingram
Kumail Nanjiani
Indira Varma
Rupert Friend
O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Sung Kang
Simone Kessell
Benny Safdie
Who’s the director?
While The Mandalorian has multiple directors, every episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi will be directed by Deborah Chow. Chow previously helmed two episodes in The Mandalorian Season 1–“The Sin” and “The Reckoning.” Her other credits include episodes of American Gods, Better Call Saul, Jessica Jones, and The Man in the High Castle.
Who’s the writer?
The show is written by Joby Harold, whose previous credits include Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie heist movie Army of the Dead, John Wick: Chapter 3, and Guy Richie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Harold is the second writer attached to the series, having replaced Hossein Amini in early 2020.
What’s the story?
Unsurprisingly, specific details about Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story are under wraps, but we do know a few details. Lucasfilm has released an official synopsis, which reads, “the story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
As Star Wars fans know, Kenobi lived on Tatooine during this time, keeping a watchful eye over young Luke Skywalker. The casting of Edgerton and Piesse as Lars and Beru suggests that at least part of the show will be set there. And the fact that Christensen is returning makes it likely that Anakin is set to play a big part in the story too.
Are there any images of footage?
Obi-Wan Kenobi has yet to start production, so no official footage or images have been released yet. However, in January, aerial images of the show’s massive UK set were revealed. The set includes buildings that definitely look like the kind you might find on Tatooine. According to The Sun, local residents of the nearby town of Little Marlow are “up in arms” about the noise and disruption being caused by the construction of the set.
Given PC gaming’s lengthy and sprawling history, it would be a challenge to come up with a list of the best PC games of all time. However, if you’re just jumping into PC gaming or are looking for some new games to play, we’ve come up with a list of the best PC games to play in 2021. These games span a wide range of genres and include newer hits Valorant and Valheim as well as tried-and-true classics that remain relevant today, like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Minecraft. PC gaming is quite different from consoles, as your mileage with each game on this list will vary based on your rig. That said, many of the games on this list don’t require the latest and greatest graphic cards–they merely help these great games look even better.
With such a massive library of games available for PC players to choose from, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this roundup is missing many worthy games. We’ve limited our picks to 25 games, but this list isn’t static. As more great PC games are released, we’ll continue to highlight fresh experiences that we think show off what makes PC gaming so great, whether you play on Steam or another platform. And because you can often find better deals on PC games at stores like Fanatical and GOG, we’ve included links to those stores where available as well.
Also, note that some of these games are available with Xbox Game Pass for PC. You can get your first month of Ultimate (which includes Game Pass for both console and PC, among other perks) for $1.
We’ve called Apex Legends the champion of battle royales in the past, and two years into its lifespan, that’s something we stand by. Respawn Entertainment took its strong FPS foundation (namely Titanfall) and created a competitive shooter that refines all the core tenets necessary for a good battle royale. Its roster of characters adds a strategic layer and diversity of playstyle, gunplay is sharp and engaging, and quality-of-life features like the ping system and inventory management keep you focused on executing in combat.
Over the many seasons of content for Apex Legends, we’ve had multiple maps and game modes cycle into the experience. It has surprisingly deep lore that gets you invested in the world of Apex Legends, too. And because it’s free-to-play, you have nothing to lose by giving it a shot. —Michael Higham
First released in the ’90s, Sid Meier’s Civilization series is still going strong in 2021, thanks to continued support for its most recent release, Civilization VI. As in previous games, Civilization VI casts you in the role of a historical leader, such as Egypt’s Cleopatra or India’s Gandhi, and tasks you with building your civilization from the ground up, including growing your military, developing new research facilities, and engaging in diplomacy with other world leaders. Of course, Civilization VI expanded and improved on previous games in the series, with additions such as the inclusion of districts that let cities expand across multiple tiles, but it’s also continued to receive new content in the form of two major expansions: Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm, both of which added new leaders, civilizations, and features to the game. Civilization VI earned a 9/10 from GameSpot when it initially released back in 2016, and nearly five years later, it’s still one of the best strategy games to pick up and start playing on PC. — Jenae Sitzes
Control‘s blend of action, mystique, and the surreal is one that should not be missed, and while it’s available on PS5 and Xbox Series X, you’ll find no version better than that of the PC. The pairing of DLSS and ray-tracing makes Control a visual powerhouse, reflecting its impressive effects on the surface of the Oldest House’s pristine waxed floors and shrouding its mysterious hallways in the uncertainty of shadow. And that’s all accented by supernatural fights that can pop off at a moment’s notice in any one of these enigmatic rooms as the world shifts and morphs around you. What makes Control truly special is exploring the unknown and uncovering secrets the world isn’t supposed to know. The Ultimate Edition gets you both pieces of DLC, AWE and The Foundation, but the standard edition is also available via Xbox Game Pass for PC. — Mat Paget
The iconic competitive FPS is still going strong today with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Though CSGO has undergone significant changes over its lifespan, it’s still very much the core Counter-Strike experience that revolutionized the multiplayer FPS genre in the 2000s. The standard mode of play is a five-on-five demolition-style match on carefully crafted maps that emphasize specific positioning, sightlines, and team strategies. But beyond that, there’s a hostage rescue mode, gungame free-for-all, and tons of custom content from years of work by its player base.
One of the most exciting things about CSGO is the high-intensity competitive matches where the slightest mistakes could spell doom for your team, or clutch plays could drastically shift the momentum of a match. Counter-Strike has historically been played with a level of precision in both the FPS combat and in its tactics, which makes a bit of a steep learning curve for newcomers. However, this classic game can be wildly rewarding, which you can see from its massive competitive scene. Recently, Valorant has adopted the Counter-Strike formula to great effect, but the high-stakes tactical combat of CSGO is still in a league of its own. —Michael Higham
Despite releasing more than three years ago, Destiny 2 remains one of the most popular live service multiplayer games around. While the sequel started off on a strong note, it has only gotten better thanks to consistent updates and expansions that delivered a steady stream of enthralling first-person shooter content. And it’s not even close to being too late to jump into Destiny 2, as multiple expansions are still incoming over the next two years. Destiny 2’s plethora of content would be nothing without strong mechanics and overarching systems that keep you grinding away for new gear. Bungie crafted one of the best-feeling first-person shooters we’ve played in recent years, so it offers a constant source of fun regardless of whether you’re making your way through story missions, going on challenging raids with friends, or battling in the Crucible. It’s a wonderful game that digs its teeth into you the more you play, and it’s easily one of the best cooperative PC games available today. — Steven Petite
When it comes to writing, Disco Elysium is perhaps unrivaled. Developed and published by ZA/UM in 2019, Disco Elysium places you in the role of a detective suffering from amnesia and a serious bout of alcoholism. His quest to unravel a baffling murder and the details of his life that he’s forgotten takes you on an absolutely stunning adventure that thrives on its choice-based gameplay and exquisite dialogue. Disco Elysium balances humor and serious life dilemmas with astounding grace, and the freedom it gives you to shape the narrative and your interactions with its many colorful characters you meet allows you to make this detective story your own. Its gorgeous world is teeming with life, and viewing it from the eyes of a nameless cop with memory issues makes it all the more immersive. It earned a rare 10/10 from GameSpot, and we can safely say there’s nothing else exactly like it in modern PC gaming. — Steven Petite
Building on the already-brilliant formula of its predecessor, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is an all-time great RPG, giving you a huge range of freedom in how to build your party, deal with a combat scenario, and approach a given situation. It’s a game best played on PC, thanks to its crisper visuals, the precision of using a mouse, and faster loading times, which encourage you to experiment with its wide range of possibilities. While truly a great game overall, much of the fun in Divinity stems from seeing what you can get away with, be it stealing items or avoiding a lengthy combat encounter by setting up an elaborate trap. Experience with earlier entries in the series aren’t required to enjoy Original Sin 2, and as the best entry to date, this is an ideal place to start–just be prepared to lose dozens of hours to it. — Chris Pereira
Dota 2 is not only one of the more daunting PC games to learn and master, but it’s also one of the most rewarding and satisfying to play once you know what you’re doing. Two teams of five assault each other as they try to destroy the opposing team’s Ancient. It sounds simple, but the strategic depth is vast, and there’s a lot to learn if you want to keep up. It requires learning the map, getting familiar with the vast array of characters, and mastering their mechanics to be successful. Of course, if this wasn’t an exciting process, it wouldn’t be as popular as it is–and if you haven’t seen a match play out at The International, then you’re missing out.
The Final Fantasy series is known for having a strong focus on storytelling with colorful characters who get into over-the-top battles, and the MMO Final Fantasy XIV manages to stay true to what the series is all about. Though you might assume the familiar Final Fantasy tenets of storytelling and strong character moments would be absent in an online game, FFXIV is one of the more story-driven MMOs out today. Final Fantasy XIV is the franchise’s second crack at an MMO, and it features a sprawling story about rebellion, equality, and friendship that manages to hit the same highs of the franchise’s best single-player games. Though MMOs have a reputation for being inaccessible and time-consuming, Final Fantasy XIV offers an excellent gateway for lapsed and new MMO players to jump into–and it’s also a fantastic Final Fantasy game in its own right. —Alessandro Fillari.
It may be surprising that a game from 2013 is still so pervasive eight years later, but when that game is Grand Theft Auto 5, it makes a lot more sense. A story of deceit and betrayal, GTA 5 follows the exploits of three men as they make their way through the criminal world of Los Santos and join together for heists that rival those in the Michael Mann classic Heat. It’s bolstered by an immensely popular multiplayer mode, GTA Online, where you can band up with friends and orchestrate your own rise through the criminal ranks. The PC version has a slew of settings that let you tweak the finest details, and GTA 5’s incredible modding community has concocted creations that absolutely can’t be missed. — Mat Paget
As far as roguelikes go, Hades is among the best. It nails the loop of jumping into the underworld and fighting your way out of Hell, providing players with an arsenal of unique weaponry and powers fit for a god (and borrowed from many of the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus). However, it’s the slower moments in which you visit the friends and family of protagonist Zagreus between runs that grab hold and keep you fighting for the truth. In most roguelikes, you care solely about making it further than your last run, but Hades does more: It blends action and story, striking a delicate balance of clawing your way toward the overworld and growing your relationships. — Mat Paget
League of Legends is one of the most popular competitive games for a reason. From its strategic combat and mechanical depth to its colorful characters, it’s hard not to get sucked into game after game of this MOBA. While there’s a lot to learn, it’s not as mechanically dense or difficult to master as Dota 2, providing a more welcoming experience to those wanting to get into the MOBA world.
If soaring through the air and flying around the world is a dream of yours, there’s no better game than Microsoft Flight Simulator. You can fly out of almost any airport in the world, including smaller airports in quieter towns, and go literally anywhere on Earth–though landing may be difficult in places like the Grand Canyon and Mount Everest. Microsoft used satellite imagery to recreate the world in-game, and it’s improving both the game and map all the time. If there was ever a reason to invest in a flight stick or yoke system, it’s Microsoft Flight Simulator. The game is available via Xbox Game Pass for PC. — Mat Paget
Minecraft is a global phenomenon for a reason. Its crafting, base building, and survival-lite mechanics are unmatched, providing both an engaging and accessible experience to people of all ages and walks of life. Crafting huge castles, cozy homes, or monuments to your favorite video game character is a joyful time, while venturing toward the Nether is a tense experience that you’re not sure you’ll return from. Whether you’re building up a huge tower or exploring the depths of the perilous mines, Minecraft remains an exciting time that can be enjoyed with friends or by yourself. Just make those Creepers don’t get too close to your house. — Mat Paget
Overwatch quickly became a household name in the realm of competitive shooters. With the expert design philosophies of Blizzard and a familiar foundation from the likes of Team Fortress 2, Overwatch provides a deep and intense team-based multiplayer experience. Across various game modes, Overwatch emphasizes teamwork and composition with its wide roster of 30+ charismatic heroes who can all be effective in their own ways. The nuances of their abilities leads to tactical considerations that deepen the experience beyond simply being an FPS.
Overwatch’s presentation will draw you in with colorful, detailed maps and heroes you’ll grow to love just from playing them. Like any ongoing multiplayer game, balance is always shifting, but Overwatch always seems to strike it extremely well while fostering a sharp focus on the team. It has a rich history of seasonal content and special events that keep it fresh, and even after five years, it’s going strong. — Michael Higham
Portal 2 remains one of the funniest and most inventive puzzlers in games. It successfully built on the mind-bending multidimensional ideas of the first game and somehow elevated its storytelling and characterization to become incredibly fun and memorable. Those things alone would make Portal 2 worthy of your attention, but there’s additional content that comes with playing the game on PC. Not only is there online and local co-op that extend the game beyond its single-player offering, but there’s a huge amount of user-created content that includes whole story campaigns. Portal 2 is great fun no matter where you play it, but with modding and puzzles built by other players, you get a superior experience on PC–and a ton more Portal to play for free. — Phil Hornshaw
Rainbow Six Siege is an adept mix of first-person shooting, strategic planning, and tactical teamwork. Two teams of five vie for control of a building, where the goal is to capture an objective, defuse a bomb, or secure a hostage. The brilliance of Siege comes in learning these buildings in and out and knowing how to work with your teammates to get in and out most effectively. Map knowledge can trump twitch shooting in the most dire of situations, rewarding its players for smart thinking and careful play. Siege is available on consoles, but the definitive way to play it is on PC with a keyboard and mouse. — Mat Paget
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a phenomenal and engrossing video game that is easily one of Rockstar’s finest releases to date. A prequel to the original game, the story delivers some eye-opening revelations about the wider Red Dead universe. The gameplay and world-building are incredible, with lots of freedom available for players to do whatever they want as they set out onto the frontier as Arthur Morgan. The game is also gorgeous, especially on PC for those with a capable enough rig. The sweeping mountain visits and bubbling rivers shine on PC, making Red Dead Redemption 2 one of the best games we can recommend on PC. — Eddie Makuch
A departure–though not a complete departure–from its previous games, From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice takes the simple act of blocking an attack and turns it into a thrilling gameplay mechanic. Battles against bosses are not simply marathons to whittle down their health, but an exercise in perfection as you time your own attacks, parry your enemy’s, and then deliver a final killing blow. On PC, you can mod the game to speed up the pace or play as goofy characters who definitely don’t belong in its somber, violent universe. Without a dedicated easy mode in the settings, which is itself a subject of debate, the PC version’s modding potential also lets you lower the difficulty. — Gabe Gurwin
It starts with an old broken-down farm and a handful of seeds. You clear out the weeds and rocks until you get tired, and then you do it again. You get into the rhythm of daily life–visiting friends, watering crops, occasional light spelunking. Before you know it, it’s been 75 hours and you’re mostly managing your complex irrigation system and planning for next season’s harvest. Stardew Valley is a friendly, relaxing experience that also somehow manages to be endlessly addicting. Fans know the feeling of assuring themselves they’ll play just one more day before bed. And while it’s appeared on just about every platform, PC often gets the first chance to test all of the little quality-of-life tweaks and new features that come with patches–most recently the massive 1.5 update appeared on PC almost two months before consoles. Plus, there’s a huge library of mods that let you tweak various gameplay elements, give the game a new aesthetic, and even add extensive new content and characters (see: Stardew Valley Expanded). Keeping up with Stardew Valley on PC is the best way to make sure your farming life never gets stale. — Steve Watts
It’s true that since its release in 2012, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been ported to just about every platform that can play games, including Amazon Alexa speakers and smart refrigerators. But the king of all Skyrim versions is the one on PC, and it’s not even close. That’s because the PC version gives you access to years of mods created by the Skyrim community. From adding serious RPG story content to providing ridiculous possibilities like replacing all dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine, the PC version of Skyrim adds nearly endless options to an already expansive, enormous game. You absolutely should play Skyrim on PC if you haven’t, and you absolutely should mod it to see how the game has become so much more than it was when it was released. Skyrim is also available with Xbox Game Pass for PC. — Phil Hornshaw
One of the best RPGs of all time, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt brings the incredible story of Geralt of Rivia to a close. The Witcher 3 puts Geralt on a quest to find Ciri, a witcher in training who’s like a daughter to him. He reconnects with old flames, friends, and adversaries as he searches far and wide for her. Of course, there’s an abundance of side quests and characters to meet along the way, which will undoubtedly keep you busy for hours. Many of these quests require you to slay monsters, a witcher’s main trade, and you’ll have to prepare accordingly to defeat them by sword, witcher magic, and potions. All this–and we didn’t even get into the two excellent expansions–makes The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt an essential PC game. — Mat Paget
Valheim took Steam by storm, selling more than 5 million copies and earning an Overwhelmingly Positive rating from 160,000 reviews in its first months of early access. That may seem unbelievable, but when you step into the world of Valheim and explore its mysterious forests, mountains, and hills, it becomes intimately clear how special it is. Valheim is full of secrets, which you’ll discover as you slay monsters, collect resources, and build yourself a Viking village. Slowly peeling back the fog of this world is tremendously satisfying as finding new lands, enemies, and resources that help bolster your crafting menu and arsenal, the latter of which you’ll need to master and utilize to fend off the deadly beasts that call Valheim home. But you won’t have to go it alone, as you can invite up to nine friends to join you on your server for Viking adventures and good times. — Mat Paget
The initial response to Valorant was that it’s basically a mashup where Overwatch meets Counter-Strike–and yeah, that’s pretty accurate. That’s also a good thing, because Valorant draws on many of the strengths of those games to make something unique. It focuses on the round-based demolition-style game mode with two teams of five (attackers and defenders) on balanced maps with specific lanes and sightlines and an extremely fast time-to-kill. However, each agent (or character) has their own unique abilities that add another strategic layer to combat. Team composition plays a major role, and each agent affects what the team is capable of in each high-stakes situation. It’s intense and demanding, but so rewarding.
Valorant is still early in its lifespan. But we’ve seen content updates and changes in its first year and it’s been quite successful, so you can expect the game to get more support moving forward. If a competitive FPS with layered tactics, precise gunplay, and intense moments is your thing, Valorant is worth a try. — Michael Higham
Finding the right balance in a strategy game is extremely difficult, as the best ones are challenging enough to necessitate smart play without being too punishing. XCOM 2 very nearly falls into the “too punishing” camp, but its mix of turn-based tactics combat and overarching management gameplay rarely feel unfair. Set after the first game, when aliens have nearly completely conquered Earth, XCOM 2 certainly casts you as an underdog, but it gives you the tools you need to take the fight to the invaders with careful planning. Ambushing a squad and delivering a mix of long-range sniping shots and explosive damage is immensely satisfying, and even more so if you’ve struggled on the same map for an hour or more. The game is certainly playable on consoles, but it’s at home on PC, as are developer Firaxis’ other games. Moving your units around and getting a view of the whole battlefield is perfect with a keyboard and mouse. — Gabe Gurwin
NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock has some big exclusives coming this April. Aside from movies, TV shows, and original programming, the Olympics and Wrestlemania are headed your way.
Peacock and WWE have joined forces, and now, the service will be live streaming Wrestlemania 37. This will be a two-night event, taking place on Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11. This is WWE’s Super Bowl, and it will feature the company’s top talent facing each other in a variety of matches, many of which will be for championship titles. As always, GameSpot’s Wrestle Buddies, Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner, will be covering the event live. So make sure to come back both nights for live coverage and a review of the show. Additionally, check out a recent episode of GameSpot’s wrestling podcast below.
While the Tokyo Olympics were postponed last year by the coronavirus pandemic, they will happen this year, and Peacock will be covering it live. While the Olympics themselves don’t start until July 23, you can watch the Olympic trials for wrestling on April 2. Find out which country will make it into the worldwide event.
The new Mortal Kombat movie is coming to HBO Max on April 16. But if you’re looking to relive a blast from the past, 1995’s Mortal Kombat arrives on April 1. Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) directs the film about a group of martial artists who get sent to a mysterious island where they compete in a fighting tournament. All your favorite MK characters are there, including Reptile–who is dripping in mediocre CG from that time period. After watching it on Peacock, you have a couple weeks to prepare yourself for the 2021 version.
Sign up for Peacock
Peacock has multiple subscription tiers, including a free option
Below, you’ll find everything coming to Peacock in April, much of which is exclusive to the service. You can also check out what’s coming to Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu, and Shudder next month.
New to Peacock in April
April 1
Beethoven, 1992*
Beethoven’s 2nd, 1993*
Being John Malkovich, 1999*
Bridesmaids, 2011*
Bring It On, 2000*
Bring It On Again, 2004*
Bring It On: All Or Nothing, 2006*
Casper, 1995*
Catch Me If You Can, 2002
Charlie St. Cloud, 2010*
Despicable Me, 2010*
Due Date, 2010*
Fences, 2016*
Happy Feet, 2006*
Happy Feet Two, 2011*
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, 2003*
Intolerable Cruelty, 2003*
Jerry Maguire, 1995*
Lone Survivor, 2013
Monster High: Ghouls Rule, 2012*
Monster High: Great Scarrier Reef, 2016*
Monster High: Haunted, 2015*
Monster High, Scaris City of Frights, 2013*
Monster High: Welcome To Monster High, 2016*
Monster High: Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love, 2012*
Mortal Kombat, 1995*
Not Easily Broken, 2009
Police Academy, 1984*
Push, 2009*
R.I.P.D., 2013
Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball, 2009
Street Fighter, 1994*
The Break-Up, 2006*
The Constant Gardener, 2005*
The Wiz, 1978*
Undercover Brother, 2002*
Van Hesling, 2004*
Wet Hot American Summer, 2001
Blippi, season 1
Morphle, season 1
Little Baby Bum, Season 1
Classic TV channel launch
April 2
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Season 1 (NBC)
Manifest, season 3 (NBC)
Real Housewives of New York, Season 12
WWE The Day Of: FastLane 2021
U.S. Olympic Trials: Wrestling begins streaming
April 3
Premier League continues with match week 30
April 4
WWE Untold: Foley vs. Edge WM22
April 5
Def Comedy Jam, season 6
April 6
Conan The Barbarian, 2011*
April 10
WWE WrestleMania 37
April 11
WWE WrestleMania 37
April 12
Real Housewives channel launch
April 15
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Season 10
April 16
Couples Retreat, 2009*
Fist Fight, 2017*
The Dilemma, 2011*
Dateline Collection: the Killer Speaks
April 17
Dateline 24/7 channel marathon
April 18
Dateline 24/7 channel marathon
April 22
Archibald’s Next Big Thing Is Here, season 2 (Peacock Original)*
Rutherford Falls, Season 1 (Peacock Original)*
*=Exclusive to Peacock
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
Donald Faison Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
This new Professor Drake Utonium is described as “the quirky, debonair and narcissistic scientific genius who is immensely proud of the three extraordinary girls he created in his lab. Staring down a midlife crisis, he is determined to repair his relationships with his now-adult daughters.”
The pilot for the show, which was ordered last month, is being written by Diablo Cody and Heather Regnier. Regnier worked on the Veronica Mars revival and iZombie, while Cody is perhaps best known for writing Juno, where she won the Academy Award for best original screenplay in 2008.
Faison starred as Dr. Christopher Turk in all nine seasons of Scrubs that ran from 2001 to 2010. Faison is also known for his roles in Remember the Titans, Kick-Ass 2, Clueless, Waiting to Exhale, and much more.
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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.
Warning: Spoilers follow for the first three episodes of Invincible and aspects of the comics.
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The first three episodes of Invincible, based on the early 2000s Image comic, are now streaming on Amazon Prime. The adult animated show was greenlit in 2018 (with a separate live-action film en route) and it arrives in a media culture dominated by superhero adaptations. Its bright palette clashes wildly with its unapologetic gore — according to comic creator Robert Kirkman, the point is to depict “the consequences of [violence] in a very real way” — but the series often struggles with this depiction, a flaw which can be illuminated through comparisons to its source material and the comic landscape of the time in which it originated.
The show’s first episode ends with a major twist borrowed from the comics’ second volume: The Superman-like alien hero Omni Man/Nolan Grayson (J.K. Simmons), father to teen protagonist Invincible/Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), breaks bad and murders the show’s parody Justice League, the Guardians of the Globe. It’s a grizzly, drawn-out sequence where each member of the team meets a vicious end, and it’s also a definitive statement about the show’s tone moving forward. The next two episodes unfold in the massacre’s gloomy aftermath, though Mark doesn’t yet know about his father’s involvement. But where the show stumbles is in its use of several satirical ideas and concepts from the comic, which it reconstructs into a mostly dour depiction of the superhero. Invincible arrives just two years after Avengers: Endgame, which saw half the world reduced to dust, just weeks after WandaVision, a show steeped in grief and anguish, and mere days after Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a Wagnerian saga about parents and children. Whether by accident or by design, the show fits perfectly into the current superhero landscape and its weighty overtones.
This wasn’t the case for the original comic series, which began in 2003.
To talk about the Invincible comic is to talk about the dreaded industry period that was the 1990s. The medium saw a major boom at the start of the decade, with X-Men #1 selling a record 8 million copies, Superman #75 (The Death of Superman) selling 6 million, and X-Force #1 not far behind, with 5 million. But success brought with it a growing speculation bubble, and a glut of re-numberings, gritty relaunches, headline-grabbing events and alternate covers aimed at collectors. It sounds incredibly similar to the 2010s, which featured line-wide comic reboots every few years, only in the ’90s the risks often outweighed the rewards; major publisher Marvel, for instance, didn’t yet have Disney money behind it, and filed for bankruptcy in 1996.
The aesthetic of the time tended towards the “eXtreme,” led by muscle-bound, creator-owned titles at Image, like Bloodstrike and Youngblood, with Marvel and DC following suit. The “big two” publishers focused not only on bloodshed, but on adolescent angst aimed at the teenage crowd. Among the most popular characters at Marvel and DC were hulking eyesores like X-Force and the moody, leather-jacketed teenager Superboy. Even if you weren’t an avid reader at the time, you know exactly what a ’90s comic looked like.
Invincible began in January of 2003, and it felt not only like a response to the ’90s, but a response to the industry’s own response, as the major publishers attempted to shed their juvenile and convoluted baggage — like DC’s Green Lantern becoming evil and destroying his home city in 1994, or overstuffed X-Men events from the same period whose very names evoked eXcess, like Onslaught or The Phalanx Covenant. The turn of the decade marked a departure from these kinds of stories; in 2000, DC introduced prestigious Justice League stories like Tower of Babel to imbue their characters with a lost gravitas, while Marvel kicked off the Ultimate Comics universe, rewriting its long-running lore with an eye towards realism (relatively speaking).
If the ’90s were messy and violent, Marvel and DC’s early 2000s revamps varied from grounded to grandiose. For both companies, each decade was serious in its own unique way. However, neither company was particularly tongue-in-cheek about its own lore and iconography — meta characters like Deadpool were rare exceptions — which is where Invincible came in, a comic that treated both excess and mythology as mundane, and mined humor from treating superpowered burdens and expectations like puberty or a history class test. Even once the series had been underway for nearly two years, it continued to feel like a sharp contrast to the major comic events which followed — like Avengers: Disassembled, i.e. the basis for WandaVision’s story about world-altering grief, and DC’s grim, sexual-assault-centric Identity Crisis, both in late 2004.
In Invincible’s first few issues, major superhero goings on were mere background noise to Mark’s humdrum high school life, and the series was unafraid to knock the more serious comic tropes of the time. For instance, a page in which characters comment on the repeated use of still panels for dramatic effect plays out in the form of — you guessed it — a still panel repeated numerous times.
More than just taking jabs at industry conventions however, the series’ humor lay in the contrast between the fantastical and the mundane.
In the comic, characters comments on the repeated use of still panels for dramatic effect play out in the form of — you guessed it — a still panel repeated numerous times.
Adapting the Comic for Amazon
The comic’s superpowered plot often sprinted forward at breakneck speed, but the characters’ personal lives felt much more languid. Mark’s mother Debbie, for instance, was resigned to spending quiet time around the house as she anticipated Nolan’s return from adventure. When he zipped through the living room and arrived at the dinner table faster than a speeding bullet (like in the comic’s early pages), the couple immediately settled into a domestic rhythm and a “How was your day?” conversation, as if Nolan had just returned from a regular nine-to-five. His antics may have involved fighting aliens, dragons and interdimensional beings, but the emotional aftermath was always Nolan and Debbie’s fraught, smiling acceptance of their respective roles in society — a suburban dynamic which would eventually shatter once Nolan’s true nature was revealed. Until that happened, things felt simple and familiar.
The show, meanwhile, opens by presenting this world of superheroes as grandiose. It begins in the point of view of a White House security guard talking about his relationship with his stepson, but this more “mundane” emotional context isn’t connected to the super-powered events which immediately follow (conversely, Debbie and Mark’s home lives in the comics were entangled with superheroism right from the get go). Instead, the security guard is caught in the middle of an assault on the Presidential household, which is eventually thwarted by the Guardians of the Globe: Darkwing (a Batman riff), War Woman (Wonder Woman), Green Ghost (Green Lantern), Red Rush (The Flash), Aquarus (Aquaman), Martian Man (Martian Manhunter) and so on. In the show, the human and the superhuman elements are presented as opposing forces. The violent and fantastical are sudden interruptions to normalcy, rather than an intrinsic part of it, and Debbie doesn’t have quite the same withheld objections to Nolan’s absence. In the show, she’s married to a capital-S “Superhero” and all the gravitas that comes with that identity (J.K. Simmons ends up oddly monotone in the process). In the comic, she’s married to a regular suburban dad who just so happens to be a superhero. The difference is palpable; the show’s Nolan often comes off as brash, like he’s annoyed with human beings, leaving little room to explore his deception and duality.
Even the comic’s more absurd and satirical elements are presented with self-seriousness in the Amazon series. For instance, the comic makes a big to-do about shadowy government suit Cecil Stedman — a Nick Fury type —gleefully and intentionally wasting millions in taxpayer money by teleporting from place to place. It was a wry look at the actual mechanics of SHIELD-like organizations in superhero comics, and the actual power they wielded. The show adopts Cecil’s use of teleportation, but treats it as a mere background detail and doesn’t seem to comment on it. It may in a future episode, and it may only seem like a minor logistical difference in the interim, but it’s also emblematic of the show’s general framing of its many concepts and ideas. In its first three hours, Invincible’s version of Cecil (Walton Goggins) comes off as two-dimensional, rather than darkly amusing like his comic book counterpart, because several of his actions are robbed of their sardonic context without being replaced by any other interesting tone or motivation.
Similarly, the show’s second episode features an inter-dimensional invasion by the alien species the Flaxans, and in the comics, the reveal of their major “weakness” is presented with a wink to the audience. The Flaxans, it turns out, age significantly faster in our universe than in their own — their lifespans come to an end as only a few minutes pass on Earth. It’s an amusing take on inter-dimensional conflicts, which are common in modern cape comics but which rarely take advantage of the idiosyncrasies posed by breaking the laws of physics. When the Flaxans return a second time in the comic, having now prepared for this temporal difference, they’re defeated just as easily once a solution presents itself, with almost comedic timing. For superheroes like Invincible and the Teen Team, it’s just another day at the office, and the world is used to these kinds of Earth-shaking events.
The show, however, drenches the entire Flaxan invasion in bloodshed, with bystanders’ heads being lobbed off mid-battle. Bodies devolve into pools of blood as the heroes search high and low for solutions. Rather than being just another everyday incident for the heroes to quickly dispense with, the attack feels like a major and unique event in this world, on par with invasions in the Avengers films. The major difference is that the show hopes to center the carnage wrought upon civilians — only the heroes rarely seem to react to this human toll. The show is married to gore as an action aesthetic, but it rarely roots that gore in any character’s point-of-view. It feels more like window-dressing far in the background, even though the frame often stops to focus on it. Invincible never mines this disconnect for its comedic potential either (like DC’s animated Harley Quinn series) or for any dramatic commentary on these godlike beings and their place in human society (à la Alan Moore’s Miracleman).
Which begs the question: what is Invincible even about? The plot is easy to describe — a teenager discovers his superpowers, but is unaware his superhero father is secretly a murderous villain — but in a broader sense, the question of its relationship to the existing superhero landscape, and to superhero history, should be of primary importance.
Back to Basics
The ’90s and early 2000s were a far cry from the early days of Marvel Comics, which introduced the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers in the early 1960s and gave them feet of clay. Their everyday problems appealed to readers more than the goofy Silver Age antics of DC’s pantheon — who often behaved more like detached, mischievous gods than real people at the time — the kind of everyday problems the Invincible comic would eventually return to, after most mainstream comics had moved on from them after various evolutions in the following decades.
In the late’60s and early ’70s, DC began the transition towards more serious storytelling, with the likes of writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams ushering in the Bronze Age through their more grounded and often socially minded takes on Batman, Green Arrow and Green Lantern. Not long after, Marvel also shifted towards real-world commentary with stories like Demon in a Bottle, in which Tony Stark wrestled with alcoholism, and Luke Cage: Hero for Hire, a Blaxploitation riff and the first title headlined by an African American superhero, which came a few years after the Civil Rights movement. This serious tone soon evolved into all-out deconstruction, with authors like Alan Moore and Frank Miller pushing these bright and colorful heroes to their grim, violent, hypermasculine limits for the sake of political commentary in the 1980s (with books like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns). However, after this penchant for political allegory faded, the aesthetic still remained, giving rise to the various bulky rosters of the 1990s, and all the bullets and bloodshed.
The comic used moments of gore and blood spatter as a shock to the otherwise bright and sunny status quo.
The Invincible comic deflated these more grand, edgy, overstuffed and somber elements of the comic zeitgeist in an effort to once again bring down the wall between the fantastical and the relatable. The comic’s setting may have involved large teams and inter-dimensional battles, but in terms of its character-centric story, it was back to basics — a return to the simple, everyday struggles that re-cemented the superhero in the public consciousness in the 1960s.
When the comic series did eventually dip its toes into the ultra-violence of the ’90s, it did so sparingly, and with an understanding that in order for this violence to feel “realistic,” it had to be rooted in a recognizable emotional reality. And so, the comic used moments of gore and blood spatter as a shock to the otherwise bright and sunny status quo, reserving the carnage for characters we cared about, rather than chopping up nameless civilians and establishing such blood as the norm in a manner that’s hard to take seriously after a while. A mere three episodes in, the show’s violence already feels numbing, because it’s violence without real meaning — which ironically makes the show feel like it never grew out of the juvenile ’90s comic ephemera.
In the present, the superhero landscape is dominated by Marvel films and shows, and while they don’t have nearly the same penchant for blood and guts, they tend to root their action in realism (for instance, the grounded, hand-to-hand combat of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which takes after the Captain America films). One might say the gore in Invincible adds more stakes, compared to the MCU’s sanded-down edges, but that gore is rarely used to comment on the actual consequences of super-heroism. It’s merely a flourish — and the modern zeitgeist does, in fact, feature several other major properties whose use of over-the-top violence has a definitive point, like the aforementioned animated, zany Harley Quinn show on HBO Max, and Amazon’s own bleakly comedic The Boys.
Where the Invincible show feels most at one with the existing zeitgeist is the reverence it seems to have for its own lore. Crossovers and ever-expanding shared universes aren’t just the lingua franca of superhero films, but of mainstream genre cinema in general (everything from Star Wars to the Fast and the Furious to the MonsterVerse). Between blockbusters, network TV and streaming shows, the superhero landscape is bursting at the seams the way it was in the ’90s (and really, to a larger degree). But rather than subvert, deflate or satirize this landscape the way the comic did, the show apes it unironically, and ends up just like the existing glut of superhero properties. It’s no different from some of the recent X-Men films, like Apocalypse or Dark Phoenix, where the whole world was at stake, but nothing felt fresh, and the characters rarely had any fun.
In terms of updating the comic, the show at least does some due diligence by subverting a few unsavory elements in ways that feel like a response to changing social tides. The comic’s backward depiction of Africa in later issues, for instance, was particularly distasteful, in a story where it was a mere prop to three white main characters: Mark, Amber and Eve. One of those characters, Amber, is Black now, which at the very least stops the show from being largely white for no rhyme or reason. Similarly, Mark and his best friend William would often use “gay” as a pejorative, which may have been realistic when the comic was being written, but likely wouldn’t fly today — so the William of the show is openly gay. It’s a nice corrective on the surface, but the new William also doesn’t feel like a fully formed character yet whereas in the comics he did from the get-go.
Beyond these cosmetic changes, the show doesn’t have that much to say about the evolving depiction of superhero stories and their evolution alongside broader society since 2003. Eve’s superhero costume in the comics featured a female gender symbol surrounded by atomic imagery — several revolving electrons — which matched her superhero name, Atom Eve. The show changes this slightly, and instead of featuring atomic imagery, it simply crosses out the gender symbol on her chest. This would make for intriguing commentary on the changing gender roles within cape stories, were it not for the fact that the show also keeps her skimpy, tight-fitting, all-pink costume intact. It still feels outdated, so the crossing out of the gender symbol is practically meaningless in context, at least so far.
On one hand, the show’s first season isn’t even halfway through, so there’s still plenty of room for improvement. But on the other, a full three episodes have elapsed, each nearly an hour long. Despite an entire feature film’s worth of story thus far, Invincible has yet to find its footing. It shouldn’t necessarily be beholden to the comic’s themes and general tone, so discarding them isn’t inherently a problem. However, in doing so, it also discards certain fundamental tenets of each character — like Debbie’s quiet resignation, or Nolan’s generally easy-going presence (which makes his impending betrayal cut all the more deeply) — and it doesn’t substitute any of these personality traits with new or workable alternatives. Similarly, the show also fails to introduce any pointed or intriguing outlook on the modern superhero genre as a substitute for the comic’s biting satire. Ironically, the only superhero property it deflates by playing things straight is its own source material.
