Among Us has a new update, and while it’s fairly minor, the patch notes highlight some huge additions coming in future patches. The latest Steam update promises some big changes around the corner, including ongoing accounts that will make matchmaking easier.
The latest update includes some fixes, and the option to vote anonymously, but the really big changes are down the track. When accounts come to the game in December, players will be able to better track their progress and, eventually, create friendlists. Developer Innersloth says that the system will be “a bit barebones” at first, but will improve down the track.
More exciting still is the promise of a new map on the horizon. According to the Steam update, it’s “Henry Stickmin themed”, and it’ll be bigger than Polus. The map will be totally free, and will come with different tasks for players to complete. There’s no further information available, but it’s good to know that it’s coming.
Additional translations and localizations are also in the work, as well as colorblind support. This current patch has a “first pass” for colorblind support, but more work is underway.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently streamed Among Us with some friends–which was a pretty wonderful thing to happen.
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Newegg has several great Black Friday deals on, you guessed it, PC-related hardware and software. Our list of the ten best deals that are live right now includes gaming PCs, hard drives, and video games. Some of these deals are actually going to expire today but don’t worry if you miss out on anything. They’ll probably come back closer to Thanksgiving.
#1: MSI Aegis RTX 2080 Gaming PC for $1269.99
Intel Core i7-9700F 8-Core, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
If you’re not gaming in 4K, then the RTX 2080 can push virtually every game out there at 60fps and higher. This PC also comes equipped with a 9th generation Intel Core i7 8-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and a generous 1TB SSD. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying an RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 PC.
______________________________ Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.
Awesome Games Done Quick is returning in January 2021 with the same online-only format seen in this year’s Summer Games Done Quick, as reported by Eurogamer. With participants streaming from the comfort of their own homes, we’ll be seeing games like Hades and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as well as runs requiring special set-ups, like a Beat Saber showcase on the game’s hardest difficulty.
As the first Games Done Quick event since Supergiant’s Hades got its full release, it’s good to see it on the list even if only as a bonus game. The game list has plenty of classic titles including the requisite Metroid and Zelda runs, but also has some oddities that will be well worth a watch. PeekingBoo will be running Celeste entirely on a dance pad, while another run will spend an hour on the infamously bad Zelda CD-I game Wand of Gamelon–with all cutscenes.
AGDQ will also have a section devoted to Super Mario Bros. 35, as the only event that will coincide with the game’s limited release. The schedule includes both a showcase match and a battle showcase for the unique Mario Bros. battle royale.
Awesome Games Done Quick will run from January 3-10, with the event raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The full list includes over 170 runs–you can check out the rest of them for yourself here.
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Ahead of the November 13 release of Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the developer has shared a sneak peek at some of the missions that’ll make up the single-player campaign. Led by studio Raven Software, the campaign continues the story of the original Black Ops game, picking up with Woods, Mason, and Hudson 13 years later.
The Call Of Duty blog post has detailed three separate campaign missions ahead of the game’s release–one a covert urban mission turned rooftop chase, the second a flashback against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and the last an infiltration of the KGB headquarters.
The missions featured have been chosen to illustrate the philosophy behind Cold War’s campaign– Raven Software wants to include everything that die-hard fans of the series will love, while also mixing up the formula and still making Cold War accessible to newcomers to the series.
“We are huge fans of the original Black Ops and our first goal was bringing back the iconic trio of Woods, Mason, and Hudson–but to do so in a way that didn’t require any previous experience with the series,” writes Dan Vondrak, Senior Creative Director at Raven. “We also felt it was important to introduce some new characters so we could explore their personalities and relationships with the classic characters–this way both new and old players get something fresh. By approaching it this way, as the story unravels, we can slowly make connections and references back to Black Ops that fans like us will appreciate but won’t be a flood of new information all at once for new players.”
The post confirms that Cold War will have multiple flashback missions set during the Vietnam War, as players use the past to try and unravel present mysteries. “It was great being able to push the big war feeling in these levels, from flying helicopters to being a soldier on the ground fighting through jungles and rice paddies,” Vondrak said. “One of my favorite levels is one of the later Vietnam missions, as we really pushed to give the player more freedom and control. It’s easily the most unique mission we’ve ever made.”
Previous info about the campaign has said that its length will roughly align with other games in the series, which should come out to about five hours. With multiple endings able to be unlocked, however, fans should be able to get some replayability out of the campaign. If you’re curious about the story, you can also read about what Batman writer David Goyer contributed to it.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers will soon be able to access games from the EA Play catalog, and they’re now able to better prepare themselves for this influx. Games from EA Play can now be preloaded, and it looks like they’ll be available to play from November 10.
The Verge‘s Tom Warren has reported on Twitter that games from the EA Play list can now be preloaded. They won’t be playable for another week, but you can prepare yourself now for when all of these games are available.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers can now preload EA Play games ready for the launch next week. You can download all games, but they won’t be unlocked until November 10th. pic.twitter.com/z7FjHiVnAW
We’ve checked and can verify that Battlefield V and other titles from EA Play can now be pre-installed by Game Pass subscribers who do not own these games.
EA Play contains over 70 games on Xbox–here’s the complete list. Its inclusion makes Game Pass even better value. This only applies to the console version of EA Play, though–the PC still requires a separate subscription.
It was previously announced that EA Play would be available to Game Pass subscribers in November, and that’s now coming to pass. Some other major games recently added to Game Pass include a trio of classic point-and-click adventures and the upcoming console release of Gears Tactics.
The Xbox Series X, which you’ll also be able to play all of these games on, launches November 10.
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The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope gives me a little hope for the future of Supermassive Games’ horror series. Some smart gameplay tweaks ensure that Little Hope still highlights Supermassive’s vital role in the modern adventure space, but it also highlights why the studio’s future games need to be better than this for those smart changes to really shine.
Little Hope, like its immediate predecessor Man of Medan, is a mashup of horror tropes and subgenres. It borrows iconography from The Blair Witch Project. It borrows its Puritan-era paranoia from The Witch (and Arthur Miller’s non-horror play The Crucible). And its conceit, which finds a group of college students and their professor stranded in the woods after their bus crashes, hangs on a premise that will be familiar for fans of Stephen King’s The Mist or John Carpenter’s The Fog. As the game progressed, I became increasingly skeptical that those threads would come together in a satisfying way. In the end, they don’t, but I still had a good time on the ride to that disappointing conclusion.
Little Hope begins with a flashback to the 1970s and a brief introduction to a troubled family of six. Dad is a heavy drinker. The older sister feels isolated and depressed. And, in a hint at the spiritual warfare that will dominate much of Little Hope’s second half, the younger sister has been held back repeatedly after church to speak with the reverend. These glowing embers of drama soon blaze up into a literal raging fire when the younger sister leaves her doll on the stovetop. In the ensuing blaze, every member of the family meets their grisly demise, save Will Poulter’s Anthony, who helplessly watches on.
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Our focus soon shifts to another group–a professor, John, and four students, Andrew, Angela, Taylor, and Daniel–who are attempting to regain their bearings after a bus crash leaves them stranded in the woods. The bus driver responsible for the crash is missing, and the field-tripping group finds themselves surrounded by a mysterious fog that sends anyone who ventures into it back in the direction they came. Each member of this group is a dead ringer for a member of the family from the game’s opening. And, as the group ventures into the abandoned town of Little Hope, they begin to have visions of earlier doppelgangers, former inhabitants of the town caught up in the lethal paranoia of 17th-century witch trials.
Despite the sprawling cast, you only control the present-day versions of the characters. As you do, you make dialogue decisions by pointing the needle of a compass at one of two spoken options or the ever-present option to just be silent. Your choices affect the dynamics of character relationships and also cause changes to their personality traits.
As this story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Little Hope’s time-hopping ambitions impede its ability to do much successful character work in the here and now. I have only vague ideas of who John, Angela, Taylor, Daniel, and Andrew are. In previous games, Supermassive has presented characters as well-acted archetypes, then allowed players to further define their personalities within those boundaries–playing to or against type. Here, the types are so ill-defined that it becomes difficult to even have an opinion on what each character would or wouldn’t do. In a bonus unlockable interview with Will Poulter, the actor described his character as socially awkward. “I guess he was socially awkward,” I thought. But, as I thought back through the game, I realized that impression came from a line where his character, in effect, told another character that he was socially awkward. There isn’t nearly enough in the moment-to-moment character interactions to surface these details. As a result, Little Hope’s central cast don’t feel like three-dimensional characters. Some of them aren’t even successful archetypes.
As you explore, you control your character’s movement and flashlight beam as the camera frames them in old-school Resident Evil-style angles. This is one of my favorite quirks of Supermassive design; it’s one of the few studios in modern mainstream games carrying the torch for fixed camera horror. But the fact that much of Little Hope takes place on a lonely road means that Supermassive doesn’t have as much room to play around with point of view. Most of the time, Little Hope employs what amounts to a slightly zoomed out third-person perspective, which feels like a missed opportunity given Supermassive’s talent for shot composition.
There are some positive changes, though. Little Hope seems far more technically sound than Man of Medan, and the story handles Supermassive’s trademark branching paths more smoothly than ever as a result. While Man of Medan noticeably hitched at times as it attempted to bring everything together and, presumably, cycle between different versions of cutscenes depending on which members of your party were still alive, Little Hope feels like it’s telling one seamless story. Little Hope genuinely nails the feeling that everything that is happening is authored. For example, in one scene that could play out with burgeoning couple Taylor and Daniel alone or with the pair accompanied by older nontraditional student Angela, Daniel says something to the effect of, “We’ll both get out of this, you’ll see.” It works as is when it’s Daniel and Taylor alone. But it becomes a character-building moment when Angela is present and, excluded from Daniel’s “both,” pointedly clears her throat. In this way, Little Hope manages to use the constraints inherent to its flexible narrative to do some good character work, even if that work is squandered in their overall development.
Additionally, the QTEs that define Supermassive’s adrenaline-pumping approach to life-or-death action are at their best here. Instead of just popping up randomly, the timed button presses now appear first as a warning–smartly positioned on-screen to mirror the placement of the button on the controller–before you are required to press them. This doesn’t remove the tension, but it does give you a better chance of succeeding without first spending multiple playthroughs learning the timing.
The Traits system, however, pushes the other direction. As you make decisions, the personality traits, like “Fearful” or “Reckless,” are accentuated. If you make enough decisions leaning in one direction, a padlock symbol will appear next to that trait in your character profile, indicating that that trait is now an unchangeable part of your personality. I can explain it now, but it took me two full playthroughs to understand how this system works because none of this is explained upfront. This system, which is opaque and not tutorialized, has major consequences late in the game. But as you play, no context is given for the lock appearing next to the trait, and it’s immensely frustrating to see a character’s fate tied to a system the game didn’t explain. Tying personality traits to a character’s fate may make narrative sense, but it’s presented in such a murky way that it results in certain late-game character deaths that feel completely out of your hands. While the UI has been improved to its best iteration in Little Hope, the Traits system ensures that shepherding your characters through the game is still a frustrating five-hour-long exercise in trial-and-error.
Still, despite its faults, Little Hope can’t help but remind me of the reasons I love Supermassive’s take on the modern narrative adventure game. The studio is masterful at producing tension through gameplay as simple as a well-timed button press, and Little Hope is a high-water mark for the studio’s technical proficiency. While the story and character work are uncharacteristically lackluster, Little Hope still manages to offer a solid foundation for Supermassive’s future.
Even though going out to search for new Pokemon was a much more difficult in 2020, some modifications to the game and a player base with more time on their hands than usual has meant to Pokemon Go has made a lot of money this year.
Sensor Tower is reporting that Pokemon Go has brought in $1 billion so far in 2020, and has surpassed $4 billion in lifetime revenue. Its total is now around $4.2 billion.
These are estimates based on the site’s analytics, but the game, which launched in July 2016, is unquestionably still very popular. 2020 is now the game’s single biggest year.
The game’s previous best year was 2019, when it earned $902 million. The game still has two more months to keep driving that record up. Pokemon Go is the third-highest grossing mobile game worldwide for the year, behind PUBG Mobile (which has made enormous money) and Honor of Kings.
Lego has been one of the most popular toy brands for decades, and every year, the designers manage to release some truly inventive kits. In 2020, we saw the arrival of clever Nintendo-themed sets, including the Lego NES and a lineup of Super Mario course-building sets. Lego also released a new line of gorgeous wall art for Star Wars and Marvel. And, of course, multiple new sets featuring The Child (aka Baby Yoda) have hit store shelves. Lego is a big hit every holiday season, and we’re guessing you know at least one person who would love to receive a brand-new Lego set as a gift. To help you cross that Lego enthusiast’s name off your list, we’ve rounded up some of the best Lego gifts you can give this holiday.
While this guide solely focuses on Lego, we have plenty more gift ideas in our gift guide hub. From Marvel and Star Wars gifts to Funko Pops and Fortnite, chances are you’ll find some solid ideas regardless of what you’re looking for. And when looking for gifts for gamers, don’t forget to take a peek at our dedicated gift guides for Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
The Lego Nintendo Entertainment System is easily one of the cooler kits around. Released in celebration of Super Mario Bros.’s 35th anniversary, the 2,646-piece set lets you create stunning models of the console, controller, a Super Mario Bros. cartridge, and a CRTV. The TV is the most impressive piece here, as you get to build World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. A tiny crank on the side of the TV moves Mario across the stage. It’s quite the inventive set all around and would be the perfect gift for the old-school Nintendo fan in your life. Check out our Lego NES review for more details.
The Lego Super Mario line lets youngsters create their own courses using Mario-themed bricks, enemies, power-ups, and more. The Adventures with Mario Starter Course is where you want to start here, but there are 10 expansions available to purchase separately to make the possibilities endless. Lego Mario himself has sound effects, and both his eyes and chest are interactive, changing their look depending on what’s happening on the course. Keep in mind that building and playing requires an app that can be downloaded on iOS or Android devices.
Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, Lego has recreated Baby Yoda as a 7.5-inch Lego statue. Despite his obviously blocky look, Lego Baby Yoda still looks quite cute. His head, ears, and mouth can move to make different poses, and he carries the control knob from the Razor Crest in his left hand. The 1,073-piece set also comes with a tiny Baby Yoda figurine and an information card.
Hailing from the 1989 movie starring Michael Keaton, the Batwing is one of the most detailed Lego builds to date. The 2,363-piece set recreates Batman’s awesome flying vehicle to near-perfection. The set comes with three figures: Batman, The Joker, and a Boombox goon. The Batwing can be displayed using the included stand, or you can mount it to your wall.
Also based on its look in Tim Burton’s Batman film, the Batmobile kit is an equally impressive build meant for older Lego fans. It’s a 3,306-piece build that comes in at 23 inches long–so it definitely takes up a good bit of space. The set comes with Batman, The Joker, and Vicki Vale minifigures. Though a great display piece, the Batmobile also has a cockpit that opens and two hidden machine guns that pop up. The Batmobile comes with a rotating display stand, too.
Quite possibly the most “sophisticated” series Lego has made, Lego Art could feasibly hang in a gallery and not seem out of place. There are several Lego Art kits to choose from, including Iron Man and Star Wars, and each one has a dizzying level of detail. The Iron Man set is 3,167 pieces and can be built to create three unique looks. Meanwhile, the Star Wars set is 3,395 pieces and can be built to form one of three Sith Lords: Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, or Darth Maul. Buying three of the same set makes it possible to build one huge portrait of Iron Man or Darth Vader.
Build Mando’s ship from The Mandalorian with this large-scale 1,023-piece kit. The Razor Crest includes a cockpit that opens and closes, spring-loaded shooters, detachable escape pod, ramps, and a cargo hold. It’s great for both display and play and comes with five figures: Mando, Greef Karga, IG-11, Scout Trooper, and an itty-bitty Baby Yoda.
For the Star Wars fan in your life, this Advent calendar is a very fitting Christmas gift. It comes with six Lego minifigures, six Lego figures, and 12 small-scale builds. It’s best to give an Advent calendar early so they can open a new little gift every day in December leading up to Christmas.
This Lego Brickheadz set comes with two chunky figures hailing from The Mandalorian: the inseparable duo of Mando and The Child. Baby Yoda is in his floating bassinet, while Mando means all business. While they aren’t large figures, they are more in-depth than they look at a combined 295 pieces.
For Iron Man fans, this is a really cool kit. You get to build Tony Stark’s Hall of Armor featuring his suits and gadgets. The 524-piece set comes with four Iron Man minifigures: Iron Man MK 1, MK 5, MK 41, MK 50. You also get two Outrider figures and an Igor Suit mech.
Minecraft and Lego really are a perfect match, and this large-scale build is easily the coolest set revolving around the mega-popular Microsoft game. The 834-piece Creeper Mine build comes with minifigures of Steve, blacksmith, and a husk. You also get Creeper, bat, and cow figures to round out the set. The star of the show is the giant Creeper mine though, which looks great as a display piece, too.
This awesome Lego Creator kit can be built into three different models: a regular robot, robot dog, or robot bird. The 205-piece set is recommended for kids ages 7 and up.
The Lego Boost Creative Toolbox is a STEM-focused building kit that is dedicated to teaching kids aged 7-12 the basics of coding. After building Vernon the Robot, you can use the downloadable application (compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows) to program commands for Vernon. You can teach him how to dance, play guitar, and explore. There are a myriad of exercises included that make this kit worthwhile for kids who show an interest in robotics.
Remote-control cars are cool–remote-controlled Lego cars are even cooler. Part of the Technic series, the Stunt Racer remote-controlled vehicle is a 324-piece kit that can be built into two different vehicles, each of which can perform wheelies and fast spins.
For the dinosaur fanatic in your life, this little set can be built into three different notable types of dinosaurs: the T-Rex, Triceratops, or Pterodactyl. It’s a smaller scale set at 174 pieces, which makes it ideal for younger kids.
At 579 pieces, the Lego Technic Chevy Corvette is an in-depth build that will interest the gearhead in your life. In addition to building a slick orange corvette, you can also build a classic Hot Rod with this kit.
Overwatch fans will love this 227-piece build featuring hero Wrecking Ball. It has extractable legs, fold-out Quad Cannons, and mirrors the cool look seen in the popular Blizzard first-person shooter.
The Frozen series is easily one of the most popular modern animation franchises, so there’s a good chance you have a kid on your list who still belts out “Let it Go” (much to your delight, we’re sure). This 701-piece kit lets Frozen fans build Elsa’s ice palace. It comes with Elsa and Anna mini-dolls as well as Olaf, Marshmallow, and four Snowgie minifigures.
Big Disney fans, especially those who fancy themselves as something of a Disney historian, will get a kick out of this gorgeous Stemboat Willie building kit. Designed with a black and white aesthetic, the scene hails from the 1928 cartoon. At 751 pieces, this set has a nice attention to detail and comes with adorable Mickey and Minnie figures.
While Lego kits with designed builds are the most popular nowadays, sometimes it’s nice to just go back to the basics. This literal box of bricks comes with 790 bricks spread across 33 different types. Kids can construct a myriad of unique designs, with the only limit being their imagination.
In this video, Persia talks about some of the best gifts you can get for your favorite Xbox fan to help fill your year with holiday cheer.
This gift guide has a range of gifts including new games like Cyberpunk 2077, necessary gear like the Arctic 1 wireless gaming headset, and even some Funko Pops to celebrate Halo Infinite!
We have even more holiday gift ideas for you on our full Xbox Holiday Gift Guide on GameSpot.com.
