The Last Of Us 2 – Kallie Plagge’s Most Anticipated Game Of 2020

2020 is almost here, so we’ve asked GameSpot’s staff to share which games they’re looking forward to most in the new year. New consoles are going to dominate the headlines, but at the end of the day it’s all about the games, and there are a ton of exciting ones to look forward to. When you’re done reading this entry, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2019 hub and our Most Anticipated of 2020 hub.

The Last of Us is one of my favorite games of the decade, and back in 2013, I probably would have told you it had the perfect ending. I wouldn’t have thought it needed a sequel, or that I particularly wanted one. But the more I see of The Last of Us Part II, the more I remember how much I loved those characters–and I desperately want to see more of Ellie and her story.

Part II takes place a few years after the events of the first game, and from what we’ve seen of Ellie so far, she looks different. Hardened. Mad. The bits of gameplay Naughty Dog has shown portray a ruthless fighter; she moves fluidly from one action to the next, though she’s still pretty scrappy. If I didn’t know for certain the combat we saw at E3 2018 was all real-time and player-driven, I would have assumed some of it was scripted, given how natural it all looks.

Writer/director Neil Druckmann said that, along with an overhauled engine, new combat mechanics, and a new stealth system, the team “revamped [their] animation system to fully express Ellie’s desperation, resourcefulness, and unique agility.” I’m interested to see how the combat has evolved mechanically since 2013, but more than that, I’m excited to see exactly how Ellie has changed and how her personality and emotional state are expressed through her movements.

Games have the unique potential to portray traditional narrative beats–story, characters, themes–through actions you take as the player, and this is one of my favorite things about the medium. The Last of Us did an excellent job of it already, and I can’t wait to see if Part II ends up taking it further. I’m also personally so excited to play as Ellie in general; I identify with her much more than I did Joel, and I want to see how that affects my experience in this world, if at all.

Most recently, we learned that The Last of Us Part II has been delayed from February to May 2020. Some people take game delays as a bad sign, but I often see them as positives for both the final version of the game and the people working on it. If a game needs more time, it needs more time. And The Last of Us Part II is a game I’m willing to wait for–even if I also really want to play it right now.

Borderlands 3–A Holiday Trailer, A Discount, And New Footage Of First Expansion

Borderlands 3 is preparing for the festive season with a new trailer, a sale, and some new footage from its upcoming DLC, Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot.

First up, the new holiday trailer encourages you to “give the gift of mayhem” this Christmas. You could certainly do worse–Borderlands 3 earned an 8/10 in our review.

The new DLC, which launches December 19, has been shown off as part of The Borderlands Show, which can be watched below. This includes sections and gameplay that we have not seen yet, giving us a taste of how the heist will go. There’s about 15 minutes of footage from the campaign in here, followed by discussion about the game.

The sale, which includes the newly released Stadia version of the game, takes 35% off the price of the standard, deluxe, and super deluxe versions of the game. The discount runs on different dates for each separate version of the game, but here’s when you’ll be able to get the discount:

  • Stadia: December 17 – January 7
  • Xbox One: December 19 – January 2
  • Epic Games store: December 19 – January 7
  • PlayStation 4: December 20 – January 6

Borderlands 3 has continued to update with new content since launch; if you want to play with any friends who get the game for Christmas, make sure you’ve downloaded the latest updates.

Now Playing: Borderlands 3 – Give The Gift Of Mayhem Trailer

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The Amazon Lord Of The Rings Show Has Sent Out A Casting Call For Orcs

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series is currently seeking members of the New Zealand public to play orcs. Specifically, according to LadBible‘s reporting on what casting agents are seeking, they’re after people who have “wonderful noses” or “character faces,” and people who are either over six feet tall or under five feet.

Two casting agencies are reaching out in the hope of finding orcs for the series, and are reportedly looking for people of any background and ethnicity with a lot of freckles and hair. As the Lord of the Rings movie series was also filmed in New Zealand, it’s theoretically feasible that some of the extras who played orcs in the movies could return.

According to LadBible, they’re also seeking “long lithe dancers,” “stocky mean-looking bikers,” and “redheads of all ages, shapes and sizes,” to portray orcs in the series. The idea, they say, is to find people whose inherently interesting faces will require less make-up.

According to stuff.co.nz, the casting calls for Lord of the Rings–for orcs or otherwise–are now “urgent,” as Amazon looks to get moving on their enormous fantasy series.

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings has already been renewed for a second season before the first has been filmed. Morfydd Clark has been cast as a young Galadriel for the show, while Will Poulter has left the show over a scheduling conflict. The show will be set during the Second Age of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world.

Now Playing: How A World War Inspired The Lord Of The Rings – True Fiction

Destiny 2: All Transponder Locations And Where To Find Saint-14’s Ghost

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Get The Whole Dead Space Trilogy For Less Than $15 On Xbox One

Right now, you can nab the entire Dead Space trilogy for less than $15 USD if you have an Xbox Live Gold membership. And since all three games are Xbox One backwards compatible, you don’t have to pull out your Xbox 360 to play them. Additionally, all three will be playable day one on Xbox Series X as well.

Xbox One Dead Space Discounts

I’ll defend the Dead Space trilogy (including the third entry, warts and all) to my dying breath. Developed by Visceral Games, the Dead Space trilogy pushed the envelope when it came to horror games–providing an over-the-shoulder, more action-focused variation to the survival horror genre that encouraged you to quickly take careful aim and shoot enemies in specific places. All three games are incredibly immersive, utilizing a minimalistic hud and environmental storytelling to bring the player into the life of Isaac Clarke, a simple engineer who’s repeatedly tasked with combating a horrifying, zombie-like threat called the necropmorphs.

Over the years, Dead Space has shared a connection with Resident Evil, first taking inspiration from Capcom’s horror series and then providing some of the blueprints for the format found in 2019’s Resident Evil 2. Though the first game is now over 10 years old, Dead Space is still worth going back to–and if you’re going to play the first game, you might as well see the entire trilogy all the way through.

The Dead Space trilogy isn’t the only collection of games on sale. Thanks to the Xbox Holiday Sale, there are discounts on a wide variety of titles, including GameSpot’s 2019 game of the year (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice) and 2018 game of the year (Red Dead Redemption 2). Other notable games from 2019 are on sale too, such as A Plague Tale: Innocence, Gears 5, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. And unlike the Dead Space trilogy, you don’t need to be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to take advantage of them.

Below, you can find some of our favorite deals, but be sure to check out the Xbox Games Store if you want the entire list of discounted titles.

Best Xbox One Holiday Sale Game Deals

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Bake ‘N Switch, An Overcooked-Style Co-Op Game, Gets A Release Window For Switch

Bake ‘n Switch, which was revealed during the recent Switch Indie World Showcase, is a co-op baking game that looks a lot like Overcooked but with baking buns rather than working kitchens, and with combat thrown in. The game, which is coming to PC as well as Switch, has now announced a release window.

Bake ‘n Switch be available in summer 2020–that’s the American summer, which could be winter, depending on your region. It’s available to wishlist on Steam now. This is the first console game from developer Streamline games; the studio previously developed Nightstream for mobile devices.

The game will feature battles and boss fights alongside all the baking, which should make for an interesting combination. You’ll need to beat the buns up before you can hurl them into the oven for cooking, for example. There will also be a PvP mode, where teams compete to bake the most dough.

The game will be playable at numerous consumer events throughout 2020 in the lead up to its eventual release.

Now Playing: Overcooked On Switch

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Cadence Of Hyrule Gets Free Episodic Update On Nintendo Switch

Cadence of Hyrule, a rhythm-based Zelda spin-off, is still feeling the beat. The game has just received free DLC, Octavo’s Ode, which is said to explore the “true intentions” of the villain Octavo and why he took over Hyrule.

The new story content is available via a free update, so you don’t need to head into the Eshop to download it from a list of content. Just update the game itself and Octavo’s Ode will be playable. Octavo is the villain of the main campaign in Cadence of Hyrule, so this story looks to add more context to his evil ways.

Cadence of Hyrule is a semi-sequel to Crypt of the Necrodancer, an indie action-RPG with a similar beat-based combat mechanic. Cadence of Hyrule was a surprise reveal for Nintendo Switch, and a rare instance of Nintendo lending out one of its most iconic franchises to an outside studio. The experiment worked as the game was well-received by most outlets–including GameSpot.

In GameSpot’s Cadence of Hyrule review, James O’Connor wrote, “Cadence of Hyrule is a fantastic Zelda game in its own right, even though it adopts the gameplay mechanics of another series. Beyond the aesthetics, it nails the satisfying sense of exploration and increasing power, and it revels in the joy of discovery, as all the best Zelda games do. It’s an extremely successful melding of two great game series and an experience that makes you feel eager for Nintendo to do more interesting things with their major licenses.”

Now Playing: Cadence Of Hyrule – Opening Minutes Cinematics And Exploration Gameplay

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New Black Desert Online Class Will Launch January 2020; Pre-Registration Opens Next Week

Pearl Abyss has released additional details for Guardian, the brand-new class coming to Black Desert Online, including when you can expect to play as her. For those looking to try out the class, Guardian pre-registration will start December 24 and the character will officially launch on January 22, 2020.

“The Guardian wields a battleaxe and shield and uses heavy melee attacks to suppress her enemies,” Pearl Abyss writes in a press release. “She charges enemies and grabs them by the neck to smash them with her shield as her axe mercilessly hacks away at her foes. She is the bastion of the battlefield and strikes with perfectly calculated blows to fend off all who dare oppose her. The Guardian uses a variety of skills to control the ebb and flow of the battlefield with wide and powerful strikes of her axe and shield.”

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Pearl Abyss details some of Guardian’s abilities in the press release, such as Boulder Crush (a powerful melee attack that strikes three times) and Mountain Slam (an area-of-effect, earthquake-like attack). The Guardian has some notable combinations as well. Mutilation sweeps all the enemies in front of her off their feet, and also causes her to charge energy. This energy can be released with Black Blood Slaughter, giving Guardian a mid-range option to compliment her primarily close combat-focused abilities.

Guardian is the 19th class in Black Desert Online, an MMORPG recognized for its extensive character customization options, which are more in-depth than most games. A recent update added new Succession skills to the hit-and-run specialist Musa and one-on-one duelist Maehwa, following updates that provided additional abilities for the Warrior, Ranger, Tamer, and Valkyrie. Succession skills are unlocked at level 56, providing characters with enhanced variations of their respective starter skills.

Black Desert Online is available for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. A version for iOS and Android devices, called Black Desert Mobile, exists as well.

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