It’s a cliché, I know, but sometimes it’s true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. But while that happens to be the case with the sci-fi third-person Gears Of War 4 (Xbox One, Ultimate Edition Xbox One, PC, Ultimate Edition PC), it’s actually the changes that make this otherwise familiar game feel refreshed and revitalized.
Since it began, the sci-fi, cover-based, third-person shooters in the Gears Of War series have been as much about their multiplayer and co-op modes as they are their story-driven campaigns. More so for some people. And the same is certainly true for the newest, Gears Of War 4 (Xbox One, Ultimate Edition Xbox One, PC, Ultimate Edition PC). But while we wait for the game to come out so I can test its online modes, here’s an assessment of the game’s story-driven campaign.
With Dishonored 2 on track to be released November 11th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, the good people at Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks held an event at The Edison in Los Angeles, California, where they gave members of the media a chance to play a somewhat elaborate mission from the game.
Suffice it to say, spoilers follow.
Though it’s only been out a month or so, the cyberpunk shooting adventure game Deus Ex Mankind Divided (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC) is already getting a story-driven expansion. But while Deus Ex Mankind Divided System Rift (also Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC) isn’t a radical departure from the main game, it is a short but challenging one-off mission that has all of the elements, and all of the engagement, of the main game.
Between the introduction of Ms. Marvel, the gender swapping of Thor, and Captain Marvel getting her own movie, it’s a good time to be a woman in Marvel Comics. But it’s also a good time to be a fan of those ladies and pinball thanks to Zen Studios, whose newest tables for Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Vita), Pinball FX 2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), and Zen Pinball (iOS, Android, Amazon) are the Marvel’s Women Of Power Two Pack, which feature the ladies of A-Force, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Gwen, as well as a host of bad gals.
Funko have announced that they’ll release POP! toys of characters from the Call Of Duty games this November.
Along with the satisfaction of knowing you have good taste, people who buy the excellent new racing game Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One or PC — my review of which is here — who’ve also played either Halo: The Master Chief Collection or Halo 5: Guardians will get a free M12S Warthog CST from AMG Transport Dynamics they can use in the racing game. Even cooler, the Warthog actually handles better in Forza Horizon 3 than it ever has in a Halo game, and even has its own race events. Sort of.
In real estate, the three most important things are location, location, location. But in the open world street racing game Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One, PC), location is just one of many important things that make it the best racing game of the year, and one of the best overall games of the year as well.
There are some things you just shouldn’t rush. Fixing a car. Baking a cake. And, as is made painfully clear by the third-person, open world, action/adventure game ReCore (Xbox One, PC), making a video game. Because while ReCore could’ve been a gripping sci-fi shooting adventure, its considerable kinks, easily avoided problems, and seemingly unfinished bits make it feel like something that needed more time to, well, bake.