Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s rendition of ancient Greece is a massive, sprawling world to explore, chock full of secrets, puzzles and historic battles. Using a combination of traffic, comments and user feedback and search inquiries, we’ve been able to see what’s really had players stumped since Alexios and Kassandra first set sail in early October 2018.
Insurgency: Sandstorm is an excellent multiplayer shooter that successfully avoids the common pitfalls of military simulation, but still manages to deliver an immersive, at times disturbing, sense of realism to its modern, Middle Eastern setting. Its arsenal consists of some of the best-realized firearms in any video game to date thanks to stellar sound design, punchy animations, and obsessive attention to detail. Elsewhere, though, things aren’t quite as glamorous: I found most of its maps to fall into the “just okay” category due in part to poorly defined restricted areas that, on top of being annoying to encounter, are easily exploited. Still, Insurgency: Sandstorm punches well above its weight, offering phenomenal gunplay that shows up much of its big-budget competition.
God of War’s impressive open-world is filled with plenty of tough enemies, collectibles, and exciting mysteries. Through IGN’s analysis of user feedback, search data, and traffic, we’ve deciphered which of God of War’s challenges players need most help completing.
There are some very mild spoilers for end-game challenges in this article. However, we’ve done our best to mask the challenges by keeping things vague.
If you’re just getting started in God of War, we recommend visiting the Things You Should Know Before Playing God of War page for a refresher on the series and a guide on God of War’s setting and progression.
Black Ops 4 isn’t short on content, and its three main modes are substantial. Multiplayer introduces more tactical mechanics without forcing you into them, and it largely strikes a good balance. Zombies has multiple deep, secret-filled maps to explore, though its returning characters don’t hold up and prove distracting. Finally, Blackout pushes Call of Duty in an entirely new direction, making use of aspects from both multiplayer and Zombies for a take on the battle royale genre that stands on its own. Sure, there isn’t a traditional single-player campaign, but with the depth and breadth of what is there, Black Ops 4 doesn’t need it. — Kallie Plagge [Full Review]
With Christmas in the rearview, Aquaman is finally in theaters, and chances are you’ve seen it–which means you inevitably have a lot of questions. We kind of, sort of, mostly loved the movie, despite its problems, but we were also pretty confused about much of its worldbuilding and plot points. For example: What exactly is the timeline of Atlantean history? How long did King Atlan spend in his self-imposed exile after the fall of Atlantis? And how long ago did he record that message for the future king? How much time has passed since Atlanteans lived in what is now the Sahara desert, and how could a clue that’s seemingly millions of years old point Arthur and Mera to a Greco-Roman era statue in Sicily?
Luckily, Warner Bros. gave us the opportunity to sit down with Aquaman’s screenwriters, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, as well as DC’s famed writer and Aquaman executive producer Geoff Johns. Of course, we asked them to clear this all up.
The main Aquaman timeline problem comes from the fact that Arthur and Mera surmise the Deserters Kingdom under the Sahara desert has been there since “before the Sahara was a desert,” which a quick Google search tells us was around 7 million years ago. In addition, Atlanteans who broke off into the various Seven Kingdoms of Atlantis went down wildly divergent evolutionary paths, transforming over time into CGI fish people, CGI crab people, and CGI deep sea monsters, which doesn’t happen overnight. Those facts suggest that the fall of Atlantis may have really occurred millions of years ago.
Yet at the same time, Atlan’s voicemail message–the one that Arthur and Mera viewed in the chamber under the desert–pointed them to a statue in Sicily that’s at most a few thousand years old. How do the writers explain that seemingly kraken-sized plot hole?
“Well, there’s definitely a lot of different ways to skin this cat,” Johns told us. “One is that Atlan actually lives longer than [other Atlanteans]. Atlanteans live longer than humans, and he’s a king, with that trident, so clearly he lived a long, long time in isolation. I think that is probably the easiest explanation.”
In other words, King Atlan–the same king who reigned during Atlantis’s downfall–may have survived in exile at the Hidden Sea at the Earth’s Core for millions of years. His trident’s vaguely defined magical powers, which are never really explicitly defined in the movie, might have had something to do with it.
Click To Unmute
The History Of Aquaman
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
Sorry, but you can’t access this content!
By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
“[Atlan] is hanging onto the trident, and it’s holding him together in some way,” Beall added.
“Yeah, it’s holding him together,” Johns agreed. “I think he was there a long, long time.”
Does that mean Arthur is effectively immortal as long as he wields it? Maybe we’ll find out in future Aquaman movies (fingers crossed). But if the trident isn’t responsible, the writers have another theory that could explain Atlan’s long life: The energy blast that sank Atlantis may have had unknown effects on those who would have been nearest its epicenter.
“I think [Atlan] had some power beyond other Atlanteans, and he was at the ground zero of that explosion, so who knows how that energy affected him?” Johns posited.
One problem with that theory is it means Atlan survived in exile on the other side of that weird portal thingie for millions of years, then at some point swam back up through the Trench Kingdom, scouted around for potential clue locations, found that statue in Sicily, recorded that cryptic voicemail, and then swam back down through the portal and resumed his lonely vigil. Maybe he decided that the quest for his trident was a little too difficult, like video game developers who add more objective markers in a post-release patch. On the other hand, the Karathen–which, by the way, was voiced by Julie Andrews–seems to have had plenty of victims over the years, although it also states that it hasn’t feasted in ages. So who knows?
Click To Unmute
Aquaman – Official Trailer #2
Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.
This video has an invalid file format.
Sorry, but you can’t access this content!
By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
There’s yet another theory that has less to do with Atlan’s age: The Deserters Kingdom in the Sahara may have actually survived into much more recent history. That’s only possible if a hidden body of water once existed under the Sahara, which real life science suggests is actually possible. Johns floated this theory as well:
“Also, just because we believe that the Sahara was dry for millions of years doesn’t mean there wasn’t some water underneath it in this hidden kingdom at some point,” Johns said.
Either way, it’s pretty incredible that the best Aquaman’s writers and executive producer can offer about the movie’s timeline is theories. If anyone should be able to explain this stuff, it’s them. Of course, they could have also taken the route chosen by Venom director Ruben Fleischer and simply fessed up to the plot hole. Instead, Johns and Aquaman’s screenwriters decided on a middle path: They’re not sure exactly how the movie’s timeline works out, but according to them, it’s not impossible.
Considering we’re really just nitpicking here, we’re going to say that’s good enough for us and officially close this investigation. Aquaman is in theaters now.
It may be hard to believe, but 2018 is nearly over. That means it won’t be long before January rolls around, bringing PlayStation Plus members a new set of free PS4, PS3, and PS Vita games to add to their collection. Sony has announced January’s lineup, so let’s dive in and see what you’ll be able to download from PSN between January 1 and February 5.
PS4 owners can pick up Steep, an extreme sports game from Ubisoft that lets you ski, snowboard, and glide in a wing suit to go from a mountain’s snowy peaks to its powdery base. The other PS4 game for January is Portal Knights, which takes the building component of Minecraft and constructs around it an RPG that encourages crafting and exploration.
The PS3 freebies are Zone of the Enders HD Collection, which contains remastered versions of two PS2 mech combat games, and the music/rhythm game Amplitude. PS Vita owners can grab Fallen Legion: Flames of the Rebellion (also playable on PS4) and Super Mutant Alien Assault.
If you’re reading this in 2018, it’s not too late to pick up your free PS Plus games for December. They include the racing game Onrush and the horror game Soma for PS4; Steredenn and SteinsGate for PS3; and Papers, Please and Iconoclasts for PS Vita.
PS Plus members should note that, starting in March 2019, Sony will no longer give away free PS3 and PS Vita games for PS Plus members. If you subscribe to PS Plus primarily for those free titles, you’ll want to turn off your subscription’s auto-renewal option or cancel it then.
PS4
PS3
PS Vita
Netflix has been slowly killing off its slate of Marvel shows, in a move that seemed apparently linked to the impending launch of Disney’s proprietary streaming service, Disney+. Now Disney’s Kevin Mayer, the chairman in charge of direct-to-consumer offers, has left the door open to reviving those shows on its own channel once it launches sometime in 2019.
“They are very high-quality shows,” Mayer told The Hollywood Reporter. “We haven’t yet discussed that, but I would say that’s a possibility.”
It’s far from a commitment, but it certainly gives more hope to further episodes than previously thought. Netflix has been cancelling the shows one by one, usually shortly after releasing their last season. It impacted Iron Fist, then Luke Cage, and most recently, Daredevil. Only Jessica Jones and The Punisher remain standing, but with Punisher’s next season set for January and JJ’s coming at some point soon too, both appear likely for the chopping block.
Disney has already announced a number of series for its own streaming service, including original Marvel series. Those plans include a series revolving around the fan-favorite character Loki. It joins some high-profile Star Wars projects like a series starring Rogue One character Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), and another called The Mandalorian. Those are already some big plans, which may make Disney hesitant to bring on even more shows.
On the other hand, the Netflix series are already critically well-regarded. In particular Daredevil was acclaimed for its first and third seasons, the latter of which left off with a cliffhanger. If Disney does revive it, fans will be able to see how that storyline pays off after all.
If the Internet is to be believed, Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons might have some serious soul-searching to do about that last title in particular. A great dragon debate has waged on among fans over Christmas, who finally determined that the so-called “dragons” in Game of Thrones are actually — and more accurately — wyverns.
Let’s examine the evidence.
This debate over the accurate term for the winged beasts in Game of Thrones (and Skyrim) stems from the distinction that a dragon is technically a creature with four legs and two wings, while a wyvern has two legs and two wings, and uses its wings as additional legs. This post from Redditor 4h0y1m4p1r4t3 has over two thousand responses of people both debating the different names of various types of dragon-like creatures, or alternately having their minds blown that the “dragons” in Game of Thrones and Skyrim aren’t actually dragons.