Darksiders Genesis is a great new direction for a series known for its many different directions. While its isometric view may conjure thoughts of loot-centric action-RPGs along the lines of Diablo or Path of Exile, rest assured this is a Darksiders game, through and through. It’s an action-adventure complete with hard-hitting combat, dungeon diving, exploration, and more than a few “Press B to Brutally Murder” executions. What it lacks in Blizzard-level polish it makes up for with a respectable amount of content. Most importantly, though, is how Genesis manages to be just as fun at the start of its solo and co-op campaign as it is at the end thanks to a wide variety of enemies, well-thought-out character progression, and smart level design that encourages and rewards thorough exploration of its expansive environments.
Wheel of Time Amazon Series Casts Thom Merrilin, Padan Fain
Amazon’s Wheel of Time has cast four key characters, including one fans were worried wouldn’t make it into Season 1.
Alexandre Willaume, a Danish actor best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and 2018’s Tomb Raider, will play fan-favorite gleeman Thom Merrilin, a central figure in the Wheel of Time books. Joining him are Johann Myers (The Lost City of Z) as Padan Fain, Hammed Animashaun (Black Mirror) as the ogier Loial and Spanish actor Alvaro Morte (Money Heist) as Logain.
Click through the gallery below to see all of the cast members announced for Wheel of Time, including photos of the four listed above:
These four characters play relatively small but pivotal roles in Season 1 of Wheel of Time, which is based on the Robert Jordan novel The Eye of the World (book 1 in his 14-book Wheel of Time series). All four go on to play much larger roles in the series as a whole, however, with Thom and Padan Fain being particularly significant.
PS4 Lineup Video Accused of Ripping Animations From Artists
A music video commissioned by Sony Japan to promote the PS4 game lineup for winter 2019 has been accused of redrawing the animated work of various popular artists.
Twitter users have spotted what seem to be a number of direct traces of animated works in a Sony Japan music video released on November 29, 2019, to promote the PS4 game lineup for winter 2019.
Animation news website Catsuka even made a video that puts Sony Japan’s video directly up against these other animations for easy comparison.
Latest Sony PS4 Lineup Music Video is a rip of many animations from all around the world ……
59 Photos from Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Galaxy’s Edge
A Strong Home Network Needs the Best Wi-Fi Router
Now that gaming over a wireless network isn’t terrible anymore, here are the best gaming routers to get you online.
These Ultrabooks Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
Sometimes you just want a laptop that will last all-day, and not damage your shoulders carrying it around in a bag. Here’s our picks for the very best Ultrabooks.
Netflix’s The Witcher Season 1 Premiere Twitter Reactions
The Witcher fans were treated to an early screening of the premiere episode of the upcoming Netflix series that debuts on December 20, 2019, and the first impressions are very positive.
Many say that it’s everything they wanted it to be and that Henry Cavill makes a great Geralt. (Watch Cavill explain how The Witcher 3 inspired his take on Geralt in our interview below.)
Here’s our roundup of the first reactions to Netflix’s The Witcher.
@MacDoesIt says Netflix’s The Witcher is “everything I wanted it to be.”
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Disney World Ride Review
Editor’s note: Despite IGN being in the business of reviews for more than a decade, theme park ride reviews are still new for us – but we know that they’re of interest to a portion of our audience, especially when they’re based on franchises we care about. We want to offer an honest assessment of whether we believe a theme park attraction is worth your time, just as we do with games, movies, and TV shows, with the caveat that your own experience will undoubtedly be colored by what you enjoy most about theme park rides, so we encourage you to visit the park and experience it for yourself if you can, and share your thoughts on how we can make these reviews more useful to you in the comments!
The Expanse Season 4 Review: Back And Better Than Ever
To those who have enjoyed its first three seasons, The Expanse has always felt like something special. It stood out among the shows on Syfy, of which there are many, but only a handful throughout history that have really deserved to break through to the collective pop culture consciousness (shows like Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and Channel Zero). The Expanse is one of those shows, and now that it’s streaming on Amazon, it seems poised to gain the recognition it deserves.
With the greater visibility that being on Amazon brings, this show might live or die based on its upcoming fourth season, the first to debut on its new home. Luckily, The Expanse Season 4 continues the series’ upward trajectory toward the highest orbit of sci-fi television.
Season 4 sees the Rocinante’s crew on a mission to a new world. Holden (Steven Strait), Naomi (Dominique Tipper), Amos (Wes Chatham), and Alex (Cas Anvar) are taking commands from UN Secretary-General Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who sends them into the thorny situation developing on one of the unknown planets accessible through the “ring gates” that opened at the end of Season 3. The planet–called Ilus or New Terra, depending who you ask–was settled first by Belter refugees, but a team of researchers from an Earth-based corporation, led by security chief Adolphus Murtry (Burn Gorman), also assert a claim.
Meanwhile, on Mars, the now-disgraced Bobbie contends with civilian life in a dead-end job that eventually leads her down a dark path. Oh, and there are protomolecule structures–seemingly ancient ruins that occasionally come to life by spewing swarms of tiny, flying robots–on that new planet. And that’s all in the first episode.
If it sounds like a lot to you, well, you probably haven’t watched The Expanse’s first three seasons. This is not the type of show you can pop into halfway through after watching some recaps or getting a friend to catch you up. The Expanse takes place in a complex world of shifting alliances and realistic characters. Fantastical, alien forces mix with the mundanity of humanity’s everyday struggles–struggles that are the same in the slums of a space station in a distant asteroid belt, or on a refugee spaceship with nowhere left to turn, as they are anywhere. This is hard science fiction down to every little detail, from the specifics of space flight to the physics of low gravity warfare. The Expanse demands attention, and rewards it.
Season 4 begins to pay off storylines that started in the show’s early episodes, ranging from entire character arcs to small hints dropped in casual lines of dialogue. Readers of the books on which the series is based may already know some of what’s coming, but the show tends to diverge enough that even fans of the novels can’t guess everything that will take place. It seems like Miller’s (Thomas Jane) throughline is finally leading toward some kind of finale, though, which is a long time coming. And at least one crucial character who’s been mentioned before, but not yet introduced, will debut this season–along with a handful of new ones, mainly in the settlement on Ilus/New Terra, whose ultimate importance we won’t know until the season has run its course.
It’s unknown whether the migration to Amazon has added to the show’s budget, but the effects look as respectable as ever, which is not to say they’re outstanding. The visuals are impressive at best and serviceable at their worst–which could be much, much worse–whether you’re looking at spaceships hurtling through giant planet-sized portals or protomolecule technology reshaping alien landscapes. This season touches on themes of expansionism and manifest destiny, which are also reflected in the overall aesthetic and look. The show switches aspect ratios depending on the setting, getting significantly wider when the characters are on firm land, showcasing Ilus’s wide, natural landscapes. Much of Season 4 was shot in a quarry near Toronto, Canada, but it truly looks like another planet.
The western themes are expressed stylistically as well. Holden arrives on Ilus like a sheriff sent to mediate between unruly farmers and the oil company executives who want to take their land; the way certain scenes are shot, it’s not difficult to imagine tumbleweeds skittering by in the background. There’s even a high-noon-style showdown in one episode–although The Expanse never loses its futuristic, science fiction vibe. This isn’t The Mandalorian, which is a good thing–The Expanse remains faithful to its own look and feel, and there’s really only room for one actual space-western in this town–err, crowded TV landscape.
Amazon sent us six of The Expanse Season 4’s ten episodes, all of which will arrive on the streaming service at once on December 13. Until then, when we can watch the final four, we won’t know exactly how Season 4 will shake out–or whether we can fully embrace the show’s trajectory on its new home. But from this vantage, things are looking very, very good for The Expanse.
Apex Legends: New Patch With Level Cap Increase Live On PC Now, But Console Players Have To Wait
Apex Legends was due to receive a big update today, December 3, and it’s now arrived on PC. This means that once you’ve downloaded the update, you’ll experience a level cap increase from 100 to 500, giving you many more levels to climb through. Console owners will have to wait a little bit longer, though, with a delay pushing the update back to an unknown date. Moments before the update was due, the official Apex Legends Twitter account let everyone know that it would now arrive later.
Heads up, Legends. Due to a last minute, unforeseen issue, the patch that was originally set to go live today has been postponed to a later date.
Once we have more information and an ETA on what that new date is, we’ll be sure to update everyone here.
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) December 3, 2019
About an hour later, the account announced that the patch was actually now available, but only for the PC version. The console version is still delayed, and hopefully we’ll know soon when it will be made available.
Huddle up, Legends. The patch we originally communicated to be delayed ended up going live shortly after on PC only. We’re still working on an ETA for console and will continue to update everyone here as information comes.
We apologize for the confusion. pic.twitter.com/8M7kojW1y4— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) December 3, 2019
The patch notes list a lot of changes, but the big one is the level cap increase. It now takes 5% less XP to hit level 100, and if you manage to hit level 500 you’ll hit a total of 199 Apex Packs along the way. From levels 2-20 you get one pack per level, one every two level from 22-300, then one pack every five levels from 305-500. You’ll still get 600 Legend Tokens for every time you level up, and Apex Pack rewards will be handed out retroactively. You’ll also unlock Level Gun Charms every 100 levels.
36 new Gun Charms are being added into Apex Packs, and will also now appear in the Rotating Shop so that you can buy them directly. It will also add friendly fire to the new firing range, which is a fun addition. PC players will be able to experience this right now, but console Apex Legends fans will need to wait just a bit longer.
Apex Legends is currently in its third season. Developer Respawn Entertainment also recently launched Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the first Star Wars action game of this console generation.
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