Author: Trafficblast

Sam Fisher is coming to Rainbow Six Siege. The star of the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell series will join as a playable operator in a fellow Tom Clancy series as part of its forthcoming Operation Shadow Legacy update.

Details on how he’ll function in Siege–each operator has their own distinct gadgets that make them unique–have yet to be revealed. The teaser trailer below may feature some hints as to what to expect; we see night vision kick in at one point, although Fisher himself is not wearing his signature goggles. However, an accompanying piece of key art does show those trademark green dots on his forehead, with light pouring in through three holes in the floor. That’s likely to tie in to whatever he brings to the table in the game. Toward the end of the teaser trailer, we see that his operator name may be “Zero” in Siege.

A full reveal for Shadow Legacy is planned for this Sunday, August 16, during Siege’s North American Mini Major Finals. Those will be streamed on the Rainbow Six Twitch account. If Ubisoft sticks with its usual rollout, Fisher will be one of two new operators introduced in this update.

While certainly exciting, the addition of Fisher may come as somewhat bittersweet for Splinter Cell fans. The series has been dormant for years now, with the last core game being 2013’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Fisher has popped up since then, most notably in mobile game Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad and as part of an update in yet another Tom Clancy game, Ghost Recon Breakpoint (following his appearance in Ghost Recon Wildlands). Ubisoft has suggested that the Splinter Cell series is not dead, but it has not announced any firm plans for a new entry.

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Christopher Eccleston was the ninth actor the play the Doctor in the long-running sci-fi show Doctor Who, and one of the most important. Eccleston took on the role in 2005 after the series had been absent from screens for 16 years, and his portrayal of the iconic Time Lord helped the show become hugely popular once more. Eccleston left the series after just one season, but now it’s been announced that he will return As the Doctor for a new series of audio adventures.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Eccleston will reprise his role in an audio series titled Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures. In a statement, Eccleston said, “After 15 years, it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor’s world, bringing back to life a character I love playing.”

The series will be produced by Big Finish, who have released numerous Doctor Who audio books over the years. Big Finish chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery provided a few more details about how Eccleston became involved with Doctor Who once more. “I first talked to Christopher about returning to the role of the Doctor at the Gallifrey One convention in February this year,” he said. “Christopher said he was enjoying meeting the fans and was pleased that his Doctor was remembered so fondly. He indicated he would be open to discussing a project with Big Finish.

“And then the pandemic happened and time moved both quickly and very slowly. Over recent months, ideas have been exchanged, and discussions had. I am so pleased that Christopher has decided to return to the role with us, and I’m excited to welcome him to the Big Finish family as we discover the new adventures of the Ninth Doctor.”

The first volume of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be released in May next year. It will be available as a 4-CD boxset, as well as downloads. There will be three new audio adventures in the first volume, plus a variety of behind-the-scenes material.

Doctor Who Season 12 premiered in January this year. It was the second season to star Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, since she took over from Peter Capaldi in 2017. The very first season of Doctor Who premiered back in 1963 and ran for 25 years before going on an extended hiatus in 1989. There was a failed attempt to bring it back with an American-produced TV movie in 1994, and the series was properly rebooted in 2005 with Eccleston.

It’s official: New York Comic Con will not be happening this year. Instead, like San Diego Comic-Con in July, it will be replaced by an entirely virtual event hosted on YouTube. This news will come as a surprise to no one, considering October-based events like Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights have already been called off.

The virtual event will partner both NYCC and its sister convention, MCM Comic Con London, for “New York Comic Con’s Metaverse,” which boasts virtual events like panels with studios and publishers, fan events, and networking opportunities. The virtual Metaverse event will take place on the dates NYCC would have been held, October 8-11. But it will not be the brand’s first run at a virtual event.

On the weekend of August 13-16, NYCC’s parent company ReedPop will be hosting a Metaverse digital event to combine some of the attractions that would have been held at events like Emerald City Comic Con, MCM Comic Con Manchester, and FloridaSuper Con.

In a statement, the company ReedPop promised they will be rolling out new announcements and schedules for the virtual events as the dates draw nearer. Updates, as well was guest announcements, virtual events, and viewing protocol can be found at findthemetaverse.com.

With any luck, the virtual event will have more success in generating fan excitement and engagement that the virtual SDCC did this year–which, unfortunately, failed to garner any real attention.

New York Comic Con’s virtual event will be held October 8-11.

It’s 2B. That’s it, that’s the story. Seriously though, the latest update for Final Fantasy XIV is an exciting one, which includes the second chapter in the Nier Automata crossover raid series. And with FFXIV’s patch 5.3, we dig deeper into the interconnected storyline that merges the lore of Nier and FFXIV itself. For those who are deep in FFXIV and are looking forward to doing the Nier raid themselves; this article does contain some light spoilers for the questline.

Following the events of The Copied Factory, which was the first entry in the 24-player Nier-themed alliance raid included in update 5.1, many questions surfaced. Why was 9S attacking us and why did we have to fight? Who really is 2P and is she just a reflection of 2B with an inverse color scheme? With the new pre-raid quest we have a slightly clearer picture.

The Dwarves–FFXIV’s people centered around the Nier crossover story–had set up a carnival for themselves. Meanwhile, two Dwarven engineers revive 2P following the Copied Factory fight that had us allied with her. While having a grand old time, the Dwarves are attacked by a number of YoRHa flight units. Several androids reveal themselves in black outfits and it seems as though 2P was ready to fight them.

Such was not the case; the unnamed androids switch to white outfits, showing their true colors and revealing that 2P is with the attacking party. Just before 2P strikes one of the Dwarves, 2B shows up to protect them and engages in a quick duel. Afterward, 2P and her fellow white-clad androids take to their flight units and escape, thus ushering you into the raid itself, The Puppet’s Bunker.

I haven’t done The Puppet’s Bunker raid yet as the update just went live this morning, but I’m eager to run it later. FFXIV’s 24-player alliance raids can be long or difficult on release day since players are still learning the specific mechanics, but I’ll be sure to update this article if more neat story beats are revealed during the raid.

Cool, catchy headline, but honestly I just wanted to mention about how great it is to see our beloved android make an appearance, become part of the FFXIV universe, and be a companion you fight alongside. For more on Square Enix’s MMORPG, be sure to read my latest interview with FFXIV director and producer Naoki Yoshida. You can also check out my recent interview with Nier creator Yoko Taro where we talk about his latest game, SinoAlice, and his seemingly stubborn demands. And if you’re looking to get into the game, read up on how the FFXIV free trial has expanded to included much more content.

Now Playing: Final Fantasy XIV – “Reflections in Crystal” Patch 5.3 Trailer

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In the year 2000, actor David Arquette joined WCW after filming the wrestling movie Ready To Rumble. During his stint with the company, he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which displeased some wrestling fans. Now, there’s a documentary following the actor as he returns to professional wrestling, trying to redeem himself in the eyes of fans.

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is a documentary from directors David Darg and Price James. You can check out a new trailer for the upcoming film below, which sees Arquette taking quite the beating in the ring.

The 48-year-old actor is training hard in the video with DDP, who has given former wrestlers like Scott Hall and Jake Roberts a new lease on life with his training regimen. Arquette doesn’t want to seem like a joke to the fans of professional wrestling, and is doing what he can to get redemption. He hasn’t been seen on a televised weekly wrestling show since 2010, when he teamed with Alex Riley on Raw to take on Randy Orton. In 2018, Arquette made his return to wrestling on the Wendy Williams Show and has been in the independent scene ever since, even appearing on an episode of Being The Elite.

While most movie theaters are currently closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, You Cannot Kill David Arquette will be appearing in drive-in theaters on August 21. If you don’t have a drive-in near you, don’t worry because the movie will be available on digital platforms on August 28.

As for Arquette acting again, it was announced he’ll be reprising his role of Dewey Riley in Scream 5, which does not have a set release date yet. Arquette will be joining plenty of the original cast, including Courtney Cox, whom the actor was married to until 2013.

If you want to dive deeper into the weird world of wrestling, check out GameSpot’s weekly podcast Wrestle Buddies. Each week, Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner talk about the fun side of wrestling, from silly gimmicks to their favorite PPVs. And in case you’re wondering, the Wrestle Buddies are very pr-David Arquette in wrestling and mention it quite a bit. Also, they occasionally interview wrestlers. New episodes arrive every Thursday, and you can check it out on Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

As we prepared to take on Risk of Rain 2‘s final boss, we took a moment to take stock of our Survivors. My co-op partner had three syringes filled with glowing green slime jutting out of his hip, a sword at his side and a crown on his head. A leech was suctioned onto my head, a teddy bear stuck to my shoulder and John Lennon glasses stretched around the front of my domed helmet. Each of these baubles represented a perk we had acquired over the course of our headlong rush to the final boss. This is the kind of game Risk of Rain 2 is. At the end of a run, you can see every advantage that you have collected, all hanging off of your once-simple character model like fuzzy dice on a car mirror.

And, as it launches into 1.0, Hopoo Games’ third-person shooter roguelike has a year-and-a-half of early access in its rearview. I didn’t play the game during pre-release, so I can’t testify to how much content this version adds to what was already there. But I can say that Risk of Rain 2 is a breakneck experience that builds and builds and builds. This is not a game of peaks and valleys. Risk of Rain 2 is all climb until you reach the summit. That’s its greatest strength–and its only real notable weakness.

Each run begins with your Survivor emerging from an escape pod onto a hostile alien world. This landscape is largely empty. Lo-fi music plays. It’s generally pretty chill and evocative for the first few seconds. But then you’re assaulted by a horde of low-level creatures. At the top right corner of the screen, a meter slowly moves right, upping the difficulty from Easy to Medium to Hard (and up and up and up until the difficulty bar just reads “HAHAHAHAHA”) as a run progresses. Each level ends when you find and activate a teleporter, summoning a boss monster, which you must defeat to use the portal. In between entrance and exodus, Risk of Rain 2’s world is full of interesting decisions and secrets. You may want to sacrifice half your health at the Altar of Blood for rewards down the line. Or you might summon double the boss monsters for a shot at double rewards. Get lost long enough in your search for the teleporter and you may find an underground passage where you can find a hidden code etched on a tablet, which can be used to access a secret realm. As you explore, the world is gradually filling up with enemies; the music is, smartly, slowly building to an all-out guitar-wailing crescendo.

That difficulty slider never stops ticking up, so it’s in your best interest to find and defeat each boss as soon as possible. The catch is that if you run headlong into a boss fight, you’re likely to get stomped. Each boss is a bullet sponge on its own, and the standard enemies don’t stop attacking just because you’re in a boss fight. To turn the tables in your favor, you need to kill enemies to collect money, then take that money to the various crates that litter each level for an unlockable boon.

This is where Risk of Rain 2 is at its fascinating best. As in most roguelikes, each run is the process of creating a build and leaning into different strengths and weaknesses as you progress. So, if you want to transform the glass cannon Huntress into a non-glass cannon, you can buy and equip healing perks that help to shore up the class’ defensive deficiencies. Or, you could go all-in on offense, collecting damage modifiers until you’re taking boss monsters out in a matter of seconds.

Unlike other roguelikes, Risk of Rain 2 doesn’t require many sacrificial choices. In similar games, I frequently find myself doing cost-benefit analysis upon finding a new weapon. Should I swap out the slow, but powerful Broadsword, in favor of the Blood Sword, which will leave my enemies bleeding out? But, in Risk of Rain 2, your core weapons never change.You will, at times, need to decide what special attack you want equipped. But, the majority of the upgrades you pick up along the way are additive. The nuances of your build are determined by the perks you pick up along the way. And, gloriously, everything stacks. So, a perk that causes enemies to suffer bleed damage can stack on top of a perk that causes fire damage, reducing your enemies into a bloody, burning mess of flying damage numbers. Or you could buy two bleed perks and watch the numbers bounce off at twice the rate.

This makes the shooting here substantially more engaging than it would be otherwise. Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike first and foremost, but its third-person shooting wouldn’t feel out of place in a loot-shooter. Boss opponents here require an armory’s ammo to take down. Normal enemies similarly can absorb a full clip before expiring, and their animations don’t really betray the damage they’re taking. Or, at least, if they do, they’re covered up by the flashy numbers that fly off enemy bodies like fireworks. I was generally unimpressed by the act of pulling the trigger.

What makes Risk of Rain 2 interesting is the way that your choices affect what the shooting does. In addition to the process of stacking perk on top of perk until your build sways like a late-game Jenga tower, there are other choices to make during a run and before it even starts. Initially, you only have access to the Commando, a bubble-helmeted space warrior, with a stable (if unremarkable) pistol, a burst fire ability and a powerful plasma shot. This Commando is a solid all-rounder. On the other hand, MUL-T, a bulky robot you unlock after playing five runs, has a massive health bar and painfully slow default movement speed. I say “default movement speed” because he can pull his metal limbs into his boxy body and boost into enemies like a dumpster speeding down a mountain. There’s a substantial roster of Survivors, and so far I’ve only unlocked a little over half. I’ve learned the basics of their skillsets, but the prospect of learning to master their skills and synergies is exciting.

That variety is echoed in the roster of enemies. The act of shooting can be a little dull, as you take on bullet-sponge after bullet-sponge. But, the diversity of enemy size, movement and abilities helps keep combat fresh. You’re frequently switching between different abilities as you’re confronted by different monsters. I often used the Commando’s burst fire to take out the fiery eggs that fly over your head like a flock of angry, spherical sea gulls. And, when I got swamped by enemies as MUL-T, I could launch a bomb into the crowd, then use my boost to barrel through them like a bowling ball. The variety of enemies is smartly complemented by the variety of each Survivor’s base skills.

The game’s greatest asset is also its greatest weakness. As you progress through the difficulty ranks, enemies begin to spawn with ridiculous regularity. At certain points, they can mob and destroy you easily, biting huge chunks out of your health bar at a time. So, staying alive requires constant vigilance. Runs can often last for an hour or longer. While other roguelikes include a brief respite between missions during which you can buy upgrades and tinker with your build, the only break you’ll get in Risk of Rain 2 is the brief load that separates one hostile alien world from another. Other than that, you can sleep when you’re dead. It all contributes to a game that feels like it never stops crescendoing. And that’s exciting! But it also meant that I often felt spent after a single run. There is no real rest to be found here.

Risk of Rain 2 is lo-fi beats to relax to with the bass boosted until the subwoofers catch fire. And explode. And bleed? What begins as a chill loot-shooty time quickly escalates to a frantic fight for your life where everything is burning and there’s a big red target on your back. The lack of any strategic layer between the action did leave me feeling burned out. But the additive nature of the game’s builds give Risk of Rain 2 the feeling of a pebble skittering along a rocky cliff. When the avalanche begins, enemies would be well advised to get out of your way.