Stranger Things’ Shawn Levy has reportedly stepped down from directing Sony’s Uncharted film, as the video-game action-comedy, Free Guy has now been green lit at 20th Century Fox, reported by THR.
In 2010, GameSpot’s Game of the Year was none other than Red Dead Redemption. Eight years later, that game remains one of our all-time favorites, and leaving John Marston behind to step into Arthur Morgan’s story wasn’t easy. Red Dead Redemption 2 ended up being everything we could have wanted in a prequel, but it’s also a moving, often heartbreaking, and oddly hopeful story that stands independently of its predecessor–and that’s only part of the reason why Red Dead 2 is GameSpot’s 2018 Game of the Year.
It’s fair to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 faced incredibly high expectations. For fans, there was the matter of how to follow the original Red Dead Redemption. More generally, there was the simple fact that GTA V, Rockstar’s previous game, is among the most successful entertainment properties of all time, as well as the promise that Red Dead 2’s open world would be vast and incredibly detailed (including the horse anatomy). Going into Red Dead 2, you’d be forgiven for expecting it to be a big cowboy playground where you can go anywhere and do anything an outlaw might care to do. And in some ways, it is–but it’s remarkable for the ways in which it isn’t.
When you first start Red Dead 2, the scope and detail of its world are almost overwhelming. In a series of tutorial missions woven into the exposition, you’re presented with a variety of cowboy-ish activities you can undertake: fishing, horse-rearing, robbing, hunting, and more robbing, plus personal grooming and the need to eat. It’s easy to dismiss the story missions entirely to follow the pastime of your choice, which inevitably leads you to another random activity or a chance encounter on the side of the road and then, before you know it, to a town far from where you are “supposed” to be. Your choices seem endless, the world impossibly large, and the freedom of wandering through it on your horse is too enticing to ignore.
Even more impressive is how the world shifts to react to you. Getting into a deadly fight in a bar, for example, doesn’t just put your own honor level at risk; townspeople will remember you for it, and you will not be very popular. An expensive horse gets oohs and ahhs from passersby, while running into someone with your horse will (understandably) make them very, very upset. The world is both fantastic and mundane, populated by criminals and honest citizens alike, and getting a cheery greeting from a random person in the street draws you into the world just as much, if not more, than discovering a serial killer’s hideout or robbing a train does.
There’s a point where this sense of wonder and freedom will clash with what the story is doing, and that point may be different for everyone. It might be the mission structure, which often devolves into firefights even if you try your hardest to avoid them; it might be the pacing, which is slow and deliberate and sometimes exhausting; it might simply be the nature of getting from place to place, which, due to limited fast travel options, means you’ll be spending a lot of time with your horse. No matter how you’re trying to play, whether it’s as an honorable Arthur or a terrible one, you’ll often find yourself doing things you didn’t particularly want or intend to do.
This is where Red Dead 2 tests your patience, and it can feel like you’re fighting against the game just to play it. But far more than being a detailed, living open-world game, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a focused narrative experience, and you, the player, are not at the center of it. This story belongs to Arthur Morgan, to the Van der Linde gang, and to the death of the Wild West; everything you do feeds that story. The choices you make are not as important as the process of making them, and that’s precisely why the story is as impactful as it is.
Click To Unmute
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Best Games of 2018
Destiny 2: Forsaken – Secret Cutscene Reveals A New Mystery (SPOILERS!)
Destiny 2 Ascendant Challenge Location (Dec. 18-25) Video Guide
Fortnite Update Out Now, Driftboard Delayed – GS News Update
Devil May Cry 5 – Official V Trailer
Destiny 2: Forsaken – Black Armory Izanami Forge Trailer
Destiny 2: Forsaken – Izanami Forge Full Gameplay
Share
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
Arthur Morgan is a man caught between two versions of himself: the man he is and the man he would like to be. He’s caught between his loyalty to Dutch and the doubt that creeps in as more and more things go wrong. The act of playing Red Dead 2, as you’re caught between what you want to do and what you are able to do, brings you closer to Arthur. Your frustration when a mission goes south is Arthur’s frustration; any guilt you feel toward the end of the game, when you’re meddling in matters that don’t concern you, is Arthur’s guilt.
There’s an overwhelming sense of inevitability in everything you do, which is exacerbated if you played the original game and know what becomes of the Van der Linde gang. Many of the people you’re building relationships with, you assume, will die before the events of Red Dead Redemption, and the ones who don’t can make you sad for other reasons. But despite that, Red Dead 2’s story is ultimately a hopeful one, and fleeting moments of levity and optimism offer a respite even when you can sense a cruel fate is only a few story beats away.
It’s hard to shake the kind of connection you develop with Red Dead Redemption 2’s world and characters. It’s a game that can try your patience, for sure, but it simply wouldn’t be the same if it didn’t. It’s an unforgettable experience that challenges your expectations as often as it meets or exceeds them, and there’s no question that it’s our Game of the Year.
On this week’s episode of IGN’s weekly PlayStation show Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush along with Max Scoville, Brian Altano, and Lucy O’Brien dive into the year that was for PlayStation.
And, as the cast notes, 2018 has, pretty apparently, been a fantastic year for games on the PlayStation 4. Sony’s PS4 exclusive lineup this year has included God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Shadow of the Colossus, Detroit: Become Human, Tetris Effect, and more.
PS4’s Exclusive Games
The crew discusses PS4’s stellar lineup, including four games nominated for Game of the Year 2018 by IGN. Following the release of Shadow of the Colossus in February, God of War dominated the early half of the year for PlayStation on IGN, earning a 10/10 in our God of War review, while the game’s director Cory Barlog joined us for a spoiler-filled chat about God of War.
After six years, Marvel Comics have finally ended the time travel story of the original five X-Men. The finale to their adventure came in today’s Extermination #5 by writer Ed Brisson and artist Pepe Larraz, but before we get to the spoilery details of how it all went down, here’s a quick rundown of how it all began and the biggest twists along the way.
While some television shows don’t have the greatest ratings, including NBC’s The Good Place, many are still being renewed thanks to strong viewership on streaming devices.
As reported by New York Post, the tried-and-true way of measuring ratings as a live show through Nielsen numbers are becoming less relevant with the advent of streaming platforms.
The Good Place, as previously mentioned, was given a fourth season despite averaging less than 3 million viewers per week during its regular time slot on Thursdays at 9:30pm.
Our first look at the new Neil Marshall helmed Hellboy reboot has come a day early in all of it’s splashy, monstrous glory. The first Hellboy movie since Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy: The Golden Army in 2008, fans are equal parts excited and apprehensive for this new take on their favorite demonic hero–especially since the tone of this initial trailer doesn’t seem all that new to begin with, with a few notable exceptions.
The roster of characters populating the new world is almost entirely new, with some conspicuous fan favorite absences like the amphibious Abe Sapien who has not been announced or, as far as we know, cast for the movie at all. The rest of the more monstrous members of the BPRD as well, like the ethereal Johann or the Roger the homunculus are missing in action as well, replaced by other characters from the Hellboy comics pantheon like Alice Monaghan and Ben Daimio.
In fact, if you’re strictly a fan of the Del Toro movies, there’s a good chance the only characters you’ll recognize from this trailer are Hellboy himself and Dr. Trevor Bruttenholm–but that’s far from a bad thing. After all, who doesn’t love expanding their comic book horizons?
And to help you do just that, we’ve compiled a list of every character we were able to spot in this first trailer–and one we know to expect, but didn’t see.
Bethesda has rolled out another update for Fallout 76. This week’s patch is fairly minor; it requires no download on PS4 or Xbox One (although PC players will still need to download the update), and it addresses a small handful of issues across all platforms, as well as a couple specifically related to the PC version.
Most notably, Bethesda has resolved a PC-specific bug that could crash the game when you select the “Exit to Desktop” option. Additionally, the developer says it has “fixed a setting that was left in a debug state.” According to the studio, “This could allow out of date clients to connect, breaking gameplay.”
In terms of general fixes, Bethesda has added Korean language support to all versions of the game. It has also fixed an exploit that allowed items to be duplicated, as well as a bug that could prevent enemies from taking damage from explosives and other heavy weapons. You can find the full patch notes for the hotfix below.
Bethesda has been releasing a steady stream of updates for Fallout 76 since the game’s launch this past November. Last week, the developer made some major CAMP improvements. It also gave players the ability to respec their SPECIAL once they reach level 51.
Korean language support has been added to Fallout 76.
This was added to console versions of the game on December 18.
PC players who have their language set to Korean will see an increased download size of a few hundred megabytes today.
Bug Fixes
Stability and Performance
PC: Addressed an issue that could cause the game client to crash after selecting Exit to Desktop.
PC: Fixed a setting that was left in a debug state. This could allow out of date clients to connect, breaking gameplay.
General
Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow items to be duplicated.
Combat
Weapons: Addressed an issue that could prevent high-damage and explosive weapons from dealing damage to enemies, or cause enemies to heal immediately after taking damage.
Regardless of what you think of his new movie poster, Sonic the Hedgehog has managed to stay relevant since Sega first introduced the spiny speedster in 1991. If you play games on PC, you can get a whole bunch of Sonic titles on Steam right now for a fraction of their normal value. All you have to do is grab the Humble Sonic Bundle for $1-$15 between now and December 31.
Finally, if you pay $15, and you’ll receive all of the previously mentioned games, as well as Sonic Forces and last year’s highly acclaimed game Sonic Mania. That’s a great price for a collection of games that’s currently valued at $185.
Buying even the first tier of this bundle gets you 10% off a Humble Monthly subscription. A portion of the proceeds from this Humble Bundle go to Save the Children or the charity of your choice.
