As a kid, I adored Hot Wheels. The little, toy cars came in every style imaginable, could be sped through impossible tracks at insane speeds and cost next to nothing. In my imagination, I would be the driver of a car that could make mile-long jumps, conquer loops as high as skyscrapers and come out the other end unscathed. For those who shared these dreams, the Trackmania series on PC has long been a symbol of hope. Wild tracks, easy creation tools and a bountiful community made the game an international smash hit. Despite the success, the series hasn’t properly made the jump to consoles. That hasn’t stopped Ubisoft from making an attempt with Trackmania Turbo, now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
As implied, Trackmania Turbo is a racing game with a focus on wild, physically impossible courses. Each new track is filled with hairpin turns, wild jumps and blistering speeds that give you the narrowest of windows to avoid complete destruction. Rather than race directly against other cars, this is a game of time trials. Every one of Turbo’s 200-plus tracks is a smartly designed puzzle, begging for you to find and execute the solution that gets you from A to B in the shortest period of time. Perfectly race, drift and leap your way into the best time, and you’ll earn a medal. More medals means more tracks, which means more hours spent lying to yourself: “just one more track.”
This is all complimented by pumping French house music – and a maddening neon aesthetic. It’s easy to make a car model look good with modern gaming horsepower, but Trackmania Turbo’s bold colors and absurd designs help it stand out. Glowing signs, billboards and general insanity litter the screen, but all somehow fit together. No game in the Trackmania series has ever brimmed with this much style, though the transition to console may leave some older fans wanting.
Past entries in the series were far more unhinged than Turbo. The previous game, Trackmania 2 (still available on PC for a cold $5), boasted mods, custom soundtracks and bizarre occurrences aplenty; this was a game where you could drive Fred Flintstone’s car while blasting dubstep remixes of Star Wars tunes. Turbo trades real insanity for a watered-down impression of it. And it’s not just chaos that got lost in the transition. User created tracks in Turbo are a nightmare to share with other players and limited to the platform of their creation, killing any potential for a real community of players.
If you’re unfamiliar with the world of Trackmania, Turbo is a wonderful introduction to this franchise. Lacking in features but highly polished, this is an instantly digestible game for any speed demon. But if you’ve already spent any time with this series, Turbo is likely to disappoint.
Final Fantasy XV is absolutely, for sure, actually coming out.
Few games have had as rocky a path as Final Fantasy XV. Originally announced in 2006 as a spin-off to Final Fantasy XIII, the game underwent multiple delays and re-structurings before re-emerging as XV in 2013. It’s only fitting that Square-Enix is aiming to make the game’s release a global event. At a Final Fantasy XV: Uncovered press conference in Los Angeles, the team announced a slew of Final Fantasy XV content hitting the airwaves before the game’s global launch on September 30th.
Fans will be able to whet their appetites immediately with the Premium Demo, available now for download on XBox ONE and Playstation 4. Unlike the previous demo, this features a new scenario with finished visuals and combat system. Players can also get a taste of XV‘s world ahead of time in two forms – an episodic prequel anime series following the lead characters, and the feature-length CG film Kingsglave: Final Fantasy XV. Featuring the voices of Game of Thrones alums Lena Headey and Sean Bean (as well as Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul), Kingsglave will tell a parallel story to the main game. Details are scarce, but a release is guaranteed before the full game is out.
That’s not even close to everything. Uncovered also brought news that alt-rockers Florence and The Machine will cover Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” for the game’s opening track and Audi will produce an exclusive R8 modeled after the in-game “Regalia” (sans-flight power, tragically). A $230 collectors edition also sold out within minutes. Considering recent reports that Final Fantasy XV needs to sell 10 million copies to make a profit, it seems Square-Enix is leaving no option unused for marketing power.
Nintendo manages to charm and enrage the entire internet within the same 48-hour window.
The past few days have been confusing times for Nintendo fans.
Thursday brought the bad news: Nintendo Treehouse employee Allison Rapp revealed that she had been let go from the company following a months-long campaign by conservative online hate groups. After Rapp made a public enemy of the “#GamerGate” movement on Twitter (who have engaged in multiple harassment campaigns against women in the games industry), internet detectives dug up an old college thesis that Rapp had written years prior. The paper focused on different approaches to sexuality and age across cultural boundaries, but it contained lines that (when removed from context) appeared to be forgiving towards owners of child pornography. In light of the firing, multiple industry advocates have called out Nintendo for not standing up to the pressure. The company has since denied that the firing was connected to any online harassment.
This controversy was overshadowed in part by the US debut of Nintendo’s first mobile app, Miitomo. Based on the Mii avatars, the game is a simplified social network designed around sharing secrets and custom photos. The app has been downloaded over 3 million times across iPhone and Android in the first 24 hours of release and should bring the wonders of Nintendo to the mobile generation.
UPDATE: The Bijou Arts Cinema has cancelled tonight’s event, said Universal Pictures intern Alaina Waluk, who organized the screening.
Did you know that you’re an “trendsetter?” That your opinion is the gust of wind blowing cultural ships across a sea of movies, TV, and music? In the world of marketing, college students are the most valuable of customers. Which is why they’re so eager to litter the streets with free swag, from branded frisbees and t-shirts to tiny dixie cups full of energy drink samples. Film studios are among the most desperate, wanting to pack theaters with influential millennials that will coat the Twitter and Facebook with good word of a new release. That’s what inspires early screenings, and it’s our duty at the Daily Emerald to inform you of the latest. This week? The Huntsman: Winter’s War.
A Snow White-free sequel to 2012’s Snow White and The Huntsman, Winter’s War trades the fable of a fair maiden with an apple craving, for a story of two noblewomen, one of whom has magical ice powers. (No word on if any talking snowmen or wacky reindeer will also be included.) Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road) return for the spinoff/sequel with Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) joining the cast. It’s also the feature film debut for French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who has worked as a visual effects artist on such films as The Ring and One Hour Photo.
The screening will take place on Tuesday, March 29th at the Bijou Arts Cinema on 13th Avenue and Ferry Street. Seating is first-come, first-serve, and attendees will need to present an ‘E-ticket’ for admission (available here). The show starts at 8:00 p.m.
Once assumed to be a niche genre, superhero films have become mainstream over the past decade. They’ve thrilled, charmed and inspired audiences across borders, both socially and culturally. But for all this good, plenty of bad has come in tow.
Some boast visual style over a well-told story or mistakenly focus on bleak depictions of humanity as “realism” and “grit.”
Others weigh themselves down with constant, prodding reminders of forthcoming sequels, breeding a cycle of hype that can never fulfill promises. Dawn of Justice commits all of these sins, among others.
The core problem with this iconic face-off is rooted in another sin: greed. In a post-Avengers world, one can only imagine the pressure placed on DC Studios to get their heroes together for an equivalent payday.
But while Marvel took a full five films to build a cinematic universe, DC has attempted to do it in two. With Man of Steel lacking more than tangential references to non-Superman characters, that leaves Dawn of Justice to cover tremendous ground with little space to spare. Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, and The Flash all boast decades of history that must be delicately managed. It would take a gentle hand to fit all of this establishment neatly into a single feature.
Zack Snyder does not have gentle hands. The man behind Watchmen, 300, and Sucker Punch lives by a dark aesthetic with an eye for the eccentric and unbelievable.
In Dawn of Justice, these same tendencies are applied to a dry, dialogue-heavy script that will leave most action-oriented fans either scratching their heads, or asleep in their seats. Dawn of Justice is an incomprehensible epic, skipping over character development in favor of hitting the next plot beat. To fit this five-hour story into a two-and-a-half-hour timeline, Snyder has trimmed every frame that isn’t absolutely vital to communicating the story.
But rest assured, plenty of time is carved out to tease other DC properties coming soon to a screen near you.
The heroes on screen are pop culture icons of pulp, and Dawn of Justice works overtime to drown them in cynicism. Ben Affleck’s Batman is a hardened man turned cold by tragedy (that the audience never truly gets to understand) who publicly attends bum fights and murders no less than a dozen people in cold blood. Jesse Eisenberg’s Luthor is a painfully eccentric millennial CEO whose over-the-top monologues feel out of place in such a drab world. Doomsday is every generic grey monster from the past decade mashed up into one. Wonder Woman feels exciting and fresh, but Snyder barely puts her in the film.
As a result, the final fight sequence that justifies the film’s existence can’t even satisfy. Punches are thrown and explosions occur in typical blockbuster style, but two hours of preceding mediocrity strips out all of the fun.
Like in Man of Steel, Snyder’s DC Universe is soaked in 9/11 imagery, cable news paranoia, and general hopelessness. It’s not one worth celebrating or occupying for any period of time. But unlike Man Of Steel, Dawn of Justice is executed with an incompetence that puts it in the league of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and last summer’s Fantastic Four. Few films have left me as frustrated, broken and irritated.
Sony, Oculus drops first launch details on Virtual Reality headsets
With years of excessive hype in the rearview, it’s finally time for Virtual Reality to become reality. At the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco this past week, both Sony and Oculus released firm details on their VR projects hitting consumer stores this year. Sony made the biggest impact by announcing that PSVR (a headset attachment to their PS4 console) would hit store shelves in October and come in at $399. The low price came as a bit of a shock, considering Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are charging $599 and $799 respectively for their kits. However, there is some fine print. The PSVR retail package won’t include the PS Camera, required for the headset’s use. Also excluded are the Move controllers that allow for the natural hand movement seen in many demos. Sony also confirmed a bundle containing the required accessories but has not yet confirmed how much it will cost.
Not willing to let Playstation hog all of the attention, Oculus came out with a list of the titles available on the Oculus Rift headset as the first round of pre-orders ship out this month. Notable titles include ADR1FT (a narrative adventure game taking place in the aftermath of a spaceship collision), racing game Project CARS, Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, and party game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. The games will go live on the Oculus storefront at the end of the month, but don’t expect to hop in right away. Oculus has currently pre-sold all available stock up until July of this year.
Microsoft wants to play nice with Playstation, PC
For too long have the console wars divided social groups in twain. Friends on Playstation aren’t able to play games with their XBox brethren, and those on the PC could only rarely tap into the console player base. Picking a console typically came down to where friends played just as much as it did exclusive games and price. But all of that might change – all thanks to a little game about cars and balls.
Microsoft announced this week it would be ending its long-held restriction on multiplayer with players on PC and would be extending the invitation to “other platforms,” kicking off with Rocket League. The new changes to XBox Live will also be coming to #IDARB, alongside the game’s forthcoming Windows 10 release. Presently the new rules only apply to games under the indie ‘ID@XBox’ banner, but it’s easy to see how this change in policy could extend to major studio releases like Call of Duty, Destiny, or FIFA. Sony was quick to reply to the initiative, saying they’ve never had any restrictions on cross-platform play – but they only said they would be “happy to have the conversation” with any interested publishers or developers. So while Sony may not be onboard immediately, they’re not shutting down the idea altogether.
After a surprise reveal in January and a pre-release marketing campaign loaded with cryptic puzzles, J.J. Abrams’ 10 Cloverfield Lane, an anti-sequel and spiritual successor to the 2008 found-footage monster movie Cloverfield, has hit cinemas.
For this installment of Double Takes, Emerald writers Chris Berg and Emerson Malone, with nothing but a pair of tickets, large cups of Slusho! in hand, ventured deep into 10 Cloverfield Lane to let you know if this mystery box is worth opening.
Watch the 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer here:
In 2012, Paramount purchased a speculative script from Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken titled The Cellar, a micro-budget film about a woman kept in a bomb shelter by her savior, who insists that he’s keeping her alive. Later, Whiplash’s writer-director Damien Chazelle developed it a bit further and The Cellar was ultimately connected into the Cloverfield universe.
Chris’s take:
Back in 2008, a movie under the vague title of Cloverfield burst into cinemas with a fresh take on the rapidly stale monster movie genre. Putting the viewer directly in view of the chaos happening in New York City streets, it was a cinematic experience that divided fans and critics, but changed the conversation about science fiction under its’ own rules. 10 Cloverfield Lane follows up on all of those revolutionary themes, all while being a structural contrary to the original movie. It’s a character-rich drama that values script over spectacle and accomplishes something stunning in the process.
Rather than guiding the audience on a theme-park worthy tour of a crumbling NYC, Lane takes place almost entirely from the confines of an underground bunker. Director Dan Trachtenberg makes a stunning feature debut here, making the tight confines feel claustrophobic without ever becoming tired. He’s generously helped by three actors that all deliver stunning, nuanced performances that are absolutely captivating to watch.
John Goodman stands out amongst the small cast as Howard, the bunker’s owner and operator. His motivations, rationale and intention are almost impossible to pin down and Goodman beautifully sows these seeds of doubt in his portrayal.
The dominant force at play in Lane though, is easily the script. Whiplash scribe Damien Chazelle revised an original script by Matt Stuecken and Matt Stuecken to fit within the Cloverfield mythos, and the end result is a masterfully tense drama that will keep you engaged from the first frame to the last. All three characters are detailed, human and form unexpected relationships. The story is also brilliantly structured, walking through many of the expected beats in this sort of narrative, but knowing when to jump the action forward in order to defy audience expectations. It’s the sort of work you would expect to see out of the indie circuit, but with all the lavish bells and whistles that major studio funding can accommodate. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a true gem, and one that just might shift how we think about blockbuster science fiction.
Much like its predecessor, 10 Cloverfield Lane offered a cryptic online marketing campaign. (Look where 3-11-16.com leads you.) It spurred enough fan speculation that would even stress out the interviewees from Room 237. An example of the hysterical depths of this film’s marketing? There’s a scene in which the fallout shelter’s three occupants finish a puzzle of a scuba-diving cat, but find that some pieces of the puzzle are missing. In reality, these puzzle pieces were found in a box – along with a USB drive and some survival gear – buried near a farm outside New Orleans, the location of which was revealed through GPS coordinates subliminally transmitted within the movie’s trailer.
Emerson’s take:
The 2008 Cloverfield, packaged in a perpetually wobbly camcorder recording, compelled moviegoers to load up on Dramamine; likewise, 10 Cloverfield Lane ought to come with a similar prescription, as even its title cards are enough to induce heart arrhythmia.
Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Emmet (Jake Gallagher, Jr.) and Howard (John Goodman) are cooped up inside Howard’s homemade fallout shelter, located beneath his farm outside Lake Charles, Louisiana. Howard’s speculation on the threat outside veers toward an abstract, xenophobic fear (he regularly cites “the Russians” developing nuclear weapons as a likely cause), while those who watched the first film can guess the scale of the danger.
Michelle wakes up in Howard’s bomb shelter after a brutal car accident; her leg is harnessed to a wall, her arm hooked up to an IV bag. The allusions to Misery are pretty obvious, but to equate Goodman’s performance as Howard to Kathy Bates’ Annie Wilkes would sell his performance criminally short. While Wilkes harbored a literary fixation for her captive, Howard’s complicated psychology adds a beautiful ambiguity to the film, which regularly feels like a Twilight Zone episode.
This movie has a fetishistic attention to detail; the bunker is like a time capsule from the Atomic Age, with amenities like Howard’s anachronistic jukebox, a collection of VHS tapes and a handful of rain-damaged magazines for tweens, increasingly vandalized in pen. And the film holds a disquieting emphasis on the ambient sound: the hum in an air duct, the nasal drone of a generator, the tight clenching of Howard’s fat, veiny fists when he gets irritated.
Even the movie’s midway musical montage, which would have felt clumsy and superfluous in a lesser movie that didn’t have Cloverfield’s grace, is scored expertly by “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tommy James and the Shondells. During this sequence, Emmet and Michelle watch a VHS of a movie called Cannibal Airlines. The musical choice must be deliberate, as one verse goes, “The beating of our hearts is the only sound” and the song’s lax lub-dub, lub-dub beat pattern is underlined by a bloody scream coming from the TV. You can’t get a break.
Follow Chris Berg and Emerson Malone on Twitter @ChrisBerg25 and @allmalone, respectively
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Nintendo Direct Brings News of Kirby, Star Fox, and Amiibos Aplenty
Early Thursday Afternoon, Nintendo took to the web for another Nintendo Direct, their annual spontaneous news dump that brought us news aplenty about Nintendo games both new and old. The whole 43-minute presentation is embedded below if you’d like, but we’ve also popped out the hottest news for your immediate consumption.
Star Fox Zero is finally seeing a release on April 21st after a sudden delay bumping it from release last fall. The game has gotten a mild visual polish since its underwhelming E3 debut. Most interestingly the retail edition of Zero will include a second game, Star Fox Guard (previously shown off as Project Guard), placing players in the role of Slippy Toad as he bounces between security cameras and turrets to fend off incoming attackers.
In addition to updates on known games like Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Bravely Second: End Layer, a few new titles were debuted. The Paper Mario franchise returns in 2016 with Color Clash, a new WiiU entry that seems to play as spiritual sequel to 2013’s Sticker Star. Nintendo’s famous pink puffball Kirby is getting a whole lot bigger in Planet Robobot, which naturally adds mechs to the classic platforming series. Additionally, Rhythm Heaven fans will be getting some long-overdue attention with Rhythm Heaven Megamix – a new 3DS compilation that will combine musical minigames from all three past titles, including the GBA original that previously never hit US shores.
But all of these games pale in comparison to the hottest Nintendo Direct announcement – Pocket Card Jockey. Developed by Pokemon creators Game Freak, the title combines America’s two favorite pastimes – solitaire and horse racing. And people say video games have gotten stale.
Microsoft Head Envisions A Bold Future For The XBox
Last week, Microsoft held a press event in San Francisco to give reporters some hands-on time with upcoming titles like Quantum Break. But a speech delivered by Phil Spencer on the brand’s future ended up turning the most heads. He outlined how Microsoft was seeking to eliminate some of the barriers between gaming on PC and on XBox platforms, hypothesizing a future of the XBox ONE platform that included incremental hardware upgrades. “We see on other platforms whether it be mobile or PC that you get a continuous innovation that you rarely see on console …. consoles lock the hardware and the software platforms together at the beginning of the generation,” he said. “Then you ride the generation out for seven or so years, while other ecosystems are getting better, faster, stronger.”
This could be a tremendous shift for the console industry. Incremental upgrades (akin to the yearly revisions of tablets, smartphones, and computer hardware) would largely remove the idea of a ‘console generation’. Instead of buying an entirely new console after four-six years, consumers could just buy a new model of their existing platform. Additionally, since all of Microsoft’s software would run under a “Universal Windows Platform,” cross-compatibility with tablets, phones, and personal computers could be almost automatic. It’s a big idea, but one that comes with few concrete ideas on how Microsoft could execute it. But for now, let’s dream of a future where we can all play Rocket League from our phones on the bus.
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The bank robber is one of the few icons of American culture that hasn’t shifted much in the modern era. Since the dawn of the Wild West and the mythos of midnight stagecoach holdups, our country has been obsessed with robbers as the ultimate antiheroes. John Hillcoat’s Triple 9 attempts to play with that fetishization and the moral conflicts that result. It’s an ambitious picture, boasting a tremendous ensemble cast and moments of stunning tension. But with a script that can’t quite balance all of the characters at play, Triple 9 fails to break free from the genre mold.
The film follows a team of robbers as they engage in contract work for the Russian mafia. Among them are a pair of dirty cops, who play the game from both sides of the table. When they’re called upon to pull off an impossible job, they conspire to stage a “triple nine” (police code for the death of an officer) as a vital distraction. But like any good heist, personal relationships and elevating stakes complicate the matter.
There’s an impressive roster of talent in Triple 9, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot, and Norman Reedus. It’s a tremendous cast in both size and profile. Yet nearly every one of these A-list actors turns in a woefully forgettable performance. The sole exception is Winslet as Irina Vlaslov, a Russian mob boss who holds the team’s feet to the fire. Even with limited screen time, she leaves a distinct impression by applying subtle nuance to a character that could otherwise be painted in broad strokes.
Part of why these actors are squandered is the bloated script. Triple 9 attempts not just to follow the paths of the five robbers but also a pair of police officers on the right side of the law. All of these story lines are given equal weight, resulting in a film that has to make serious sacrifices in order to fit a two-hour run time. We’re not given enough time to get a proper read on any of the major players to this story or properly believe the relationships they form with one another. This leaves behind an otherwise standard cops & robbers drama, occasionally painted with personal perspectives. In an ambitious undertaking to tell many unique stories, Triple 9 fails to tell even one.
It’s a shame, because moments of Triple 9 come off as startlingly beautiful. A perfectly executed robbery opens the film and produces chills through sharp coordination between the camera, actors, and score. Bullets whiz by in a realistic gang firefight, brewing a palpable tension that rivals the best cop thrillers of the past decade. Dread and anxiety rule over quiet meetings. Bold colors give an unsettling glamour to grim Atlanta streets. When Triple 9 is good, it’s excellent. But those moments are few and far between.
Horror is a genre commonly built on a standard structure. The audience follows a small group of characters as their environment proves to betray them and a grisly fate befalls them one-by-one.
It’s a well-worn format, but one that works because of human psychology. In order to feel fear, we need to relate to a character on screen. The danger needs to somehow feel tangible, a real threat beyond the fiction. Robert Eggers’ The Witch shows how this basic structure can produce a stunning result, even in the most unexpected settings.
Taking place in 17th century New England, The Witch follows a colonial family that has been cast out by their community and is haunted by a nefarious presence deep in the woods. It’s a very simple film that exclusively focuses on a cast of seven characters (four of whom are children under the age of 12). The dialogue is done in period-appropriate English, complete with segments taken directly from journals dating back to the time period. As a result, The Witch has scenes that bear closer resemblance to a BBC historical drama than a contemporary horror film. But a series of strong performances and bold artistic choices keep every moment engaging.
Newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy plays Thomasin, the eldest daughter of a family in collapse. As the tension mounts, she’s forced to defend her innocence against mounting fear. It’s a nuanced role, and Taylor-Joy mostly succeeds in her portrayal. However, she’s outshined by an ensemble cast working far more interesting characters. Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie (both Game of Thrones alumni) are the heads of households in this doomed family, and offer the most psychologically interesting meat of the story. As supernatural disaster occurs, they lose their grip on sanity, faith and familial bonds in search of protection. Even the young Harvey Scrimshaw is given an amazing monologue that he warps into one of the film’s most unsettling moments.
It’s very easy for The Witch to get under your skin. The subject matter just barely turns away from some unbelievably gruesome moments, told with a very cold and naturalistic eye. It’s easy to get lost in its long shots across the cold New England woods, cautious of whatever may hide behind the trees. At night, natural candlelight paints chilling images with flickers of flame on skin. It’s wonderfully effective and makes for a difficult film to shake once it concludes.
Perhaps the strongest element of The Witch is its simplicity. The pace moves briskly from moment to moment, never letting the audience recover. Instead, we’re left to fester in the memory of a scene as it fades away. Once the credits start, you could be convinced only a few short minutes have passed. It’s a tense, authentic period horror film that doesn’t stray an inch from its artistic vision.
After a prolonged beta period fraught with server issues, Capcom’s latest entry in the iconic Street Fighter franchise launched on Tuesday. Critics gave the game generally high scores for its visually stunning action and deep combat mechanics. However, the homecoming has been met with a less-than-stunning reception by fans who worry the game is both too light and too unreliable.
Concerns with Street Fighter V stem from a multitude of issues. To start, the game is lacking some of the fundamental features that players have come to expect from the franchise. There’s almost no story mode or even traditional arcade mode to speak of. Players are essentially just left with online bouts and a practice arena that leaves a lot to be desired. Combined with the roster of only 16 characters (compared to the 44 that were present by the time Street Fighter IV bowed its head), this represents a pretty significant downgrade for fans of the series.
Of course, all of this is largely irrelevant when the core features don’t function properly. Street Fighter V was designed as an online game, utilizing a connection to a central server to dole out “Fight Money” (the currency used to buy new costumes and characters). Additionally, online match connectivity has been unreliable.
Rocky launch periods for online games are nothing new. Capcom has also outlined a timeline for when the missing features will be updated into the game. But it doesn’t change the fact that they’re currently charging full price for what many players consider an incomplete product. While it seems likely that Capcom will turn Street Fighter V into a great game with time, the rocky launch may have already done damage to the brand as a whole.
Fallout 4is expanding into the Far Harbor
Fallout 4 has been out for a few months, and avid wastelanders may have already picked through all of the quests, secrets, and settlements in need of help across Boston. Fortunately, Fallout fans will soon have more to do across the radioactive plains, with Bethesda announcing the first round of downloadable content hitting the game over the next few months.
March will bring Automatron ($9.99), which brings “a horde of robots into the Commonwealth, including the devious Robobrain.” These new enemies can be harvested to build new robotic companions. The following month will bring more customization with the Wasteland Workshop ($4.99). This adds cages for “live creatures,” which can be captured and brought back to your settlements. If you ever felt that Fallout 4 severely lacked a Pokemon-esque collection of animal slaves, it’ll be the best five bucks you’ll ever spend.
The biggest update will come in May with Far Harbor ($24.99). The first major story addition, this will have you teaming up with everyone’s favorite robotic noir detective Nick Valentine. Taking place in a new landmass off the coast of Maine, Far Harbor should be filled with faction quests aplenty.
In addition to all this, Bethesda has also promised additional downloadable content continuing later into 2016. It represents an “expanded DLC plan” that will all be covered by the $30 season pass. But act quick. On March 1st, Bethesda will be raising the price of the Season Pass to $50 to represent the wider array of content.
