The Evil Within 2 is out now, and it’s a solid improvement on its predecessor. Aside from getting to play through a story that centers around returning protagonist Sebastian Castellanos attempting to save his daughter, players can also come across a variety of Easter eggs. [Potential spoilers ahead.]
We’ve already called attention to one particular mode that unlocks after finishing The Evil Within 2. A “more cinematic game experience” awaits those who make their way through the campaign, giving players the option to toggle on a letterbox mode. This was a contentious aspect of the first game, which made the unusual choice of forcing a 2.35:1 aspect ratio on players, though this was ultimately made optional. Given the unlock screen in Evil Within 2, this seems to be a tongue-in-cheek callback to the first game.
But that’s not the only secret waiting to be uncovered. You unlock a number of bonuses for completing the game, but other Easter eggs require you to actively explore and uncover things for yourself. As you’ll see in the video above, there are collectibles scattered throughout the game that reference other games published by Bethesda. These include Doom, Wolfenstein, and The Elder Scrolls Online.
Mike Laidlaw, a BioWare veteran who worked on Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and most recently served as the creative director for the Dragon Age franchise, has left the company. Laidlaw had been with BioWare for the past 14 years.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Laidlaw said, “It’s with a mix of emotions that I’m announcing my time with BioWare has ended. After 14 years and a chance to work on Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and all things Dragon Age, it’s time for me to move on.”
Regarding Dragon Age specifically, Laidlaw said he has “every confidence that the world we’ve created together is in good hands and I’m excited for the road ahead.”
Laidlaw did not give any specifics about what’s next for him, apart from saying he “plan[s] to spend [his] time reconnecting with all the amazing games and worlds that my peers have created.” Laidlaw added that he plans to stream himself playing games on Twitch and connect with fans on Twitter.
“To everyone who’s taken the time to share feedback and experiences, your amazing cosplays and artistic creations: thank you. You’ve made my time ‘in Thedas’ amazing. Your passion inspires and I look forward to our next adventure together.”
It is not immediately clear if Laidlaw’s departure from BioWare was by his own choosing. We’re following up with BioWare studio owner EA in an attempt to learn more.
Mass Effect producer Michael Gamble said goodbye to Laidlaw on Twitter. The wording of tweet suggests that Laidlaw’s departure was not as part of a layoff, though this is not confirmed. “Best to you in everything, Mike. We will miss you, but I admire you for taking the leap, and you can count me as one of your supporters,” Gamble said.
Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah also chimed in. In his own tweet, Darrah expressed his gratitude to Laidlaw and said he’s eager to show Laidlaw what the next Dragon Age is. “Mike… Thank you for everything. We will see each other again. I am so excited for you to see what the next Dragon Age will be,” he said.
Laidlaw joined BioWare in February 2003 as a lead story developer and writer for Jade Empire. He worked in the same role for an unannounced game. He also worked on Mass Effect and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. In November 2008, Laidlaw became the lead designer for Dragon Age: Origins. He was promoted to creative director for the Dragon Age franchise in 2009, working on Dragon Age II and then Dragon Age: Inquisition. Laidlaw was promoted to senior creative director for the Dragon Age franchise in June 2017.
After a brief extension, the Star Wars: Battlefront II multiplayer beta wrapped up this week. Now, developer DICE has published a blog post in which it talks about what it learned from the beta and how the final game may be different as a result of the feedback.
DICE did not say exactly how many people played the beta, only noting that it was in the “millions.” More than 9 million people played the beta for 2015’s Battlefront, which at the time was a record for the company. Whatever the case, DICE surely has a lot of feedback to consider from the Battlefront II beta.
The developer will be looking at things like Battlefront II’s controversial Crate system and progression overall. DICE also is eyeing changes for the Strike mode with the idea of making it a best-of-three gametype. The studio also said that the Specialist’s Infiltration ability is probably too overpowered right now, so you can expect a nerf for launch. What’s more, the First Order Flametrooper is underpowered, DICE said.
Outside of those changes, DICE is also looking to implement systems that allow players to stay grouped together during a match. As an incentive, at launch, Battlefront II will reward players for spawning together.
Regarding Crates and progression, which has been criticized for trending towards pay-to-win, DICE first pointed out that the beta contained an incomplete look at how this will work. The studio promised more tuning over time, with one major goal being that the most powerful items can only be earned through gameplay, not by spending money. For lots more on this topic, check out GameSpot’s further coverage here.
“Your feedback makes a difference, and your passion is what keeps us creating,” DICE said. “We’ll have much more to share with you before we see you on the battlefront in November.”
After launching for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September, Bungie’s Destiny 2 comes out for PC on October 24. Today, Bungie announced the game’s exact unlock time and revealed the final PC requirements. Servers will become available at 10 AM PT on October 24, which works out to 1 PM ET / 2 PM BRT / 6 PM BST / and 4 AM the next day in Australia. Check out the map below to find out precisely when Destiny 2 unlocks where you live.
Bungie also today announced the final minimum and recommended specs for Destiny 2, following the preliminary specs from the beta last month. You need 68 GB of free space to install Destiny 2, while Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 are supported operating systems. You can check out the full minimum and recommended specs in the image below, which Bungie shared in its latest weekly blog post today.
The PC version of Destiny 2 will be available at physical retailers and through Blizzard’s Battle.net, but not Steam or other digital stores. That’s notable because Destiny 2 is the first non-Blizzard game to be offered on Blizzard’s PC gaming platform. For more on the PC edition of Destiny 2, check out GameSpot’s roundup of everything you need to know.
Bethesda’s horror sequel The Evil Within 2 from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, is tomorrow on the appropriately scary date of Friday the 13th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Part of what makes the game scary is that you have to strategically manage resources. You cannot always go in guns-blazing. To help you on your way, GameSpot’s Jean-Luc put together a video that calls out six things you should know before starting.
In the video, he covers things like hunting for resources, exploring the world around you and unlocking the “bottle break” perk as soon as you can. This ability allows you to smash a bottle onto an enemy’s head to break free of their clutches. Making use of the environment around you can also help. For example, you can kick over an oil drum, let the oil spill, and then shoot it to set the ground ablaze, killing your foes in the process. Check out the video above to see all six of Jean-Luc’s tips for getting started.
GameSpot’s Evil Within 2 review scored the game an 8/10. Reviewer Alessandro Fillari said, ,”The sequel does an admirable job of ratcheting up the tension and scares when it needs to, while also giving you the freedom to explore and proceed how you want. It’s a tough thing to balance, but The Evil Within 2 does it remarkably well, and in a way that leaves a strong and lasting impression after its touching conclusion.”
Additionally, Bethesda has announced a new charity campaign themed around The Evil Within 2. Titled “The Good Within,” the fundraising campaign is raising money on CrowdRise to support the American Red Cross’s disaster and humanitarian relief efforts globally.
Epic Games is reportedly suing two Fortnite players, alleging they have violated the game’s terms of service and EULA by cheating. TorrentFreak has obtained legal complaints filed in North Carolina federal court against two individuals. The documents claim that they are running afoul by “modifying and changing the game’s code, committing copyright infringement in the process.”
Epic warned players about potential action it might take. In a blog post last week, the studio said, “Let’s be straight for a second, nobody likes playing with cheaters. Not you, not me. Nobody.” It added that addressing cheating in Fortnite is “the highest priority across Epic Games.”
“We’re exploring every measure to ensure these cheaters are removed and stay removed from Fortnite Battle Royale and the Epic ecosystem. We don’t want to give too many clues about what we’re doing, but we are rolling out tools and will continue to do so,” the developer went on to say.
According to Epic, it has already banned “thousands” of players, and it will continue the bans as needed.
Epic’s lawsuits against the two alleged cheaters goes on to say that the defendants “use cheats in a deliberate attempt to destroy the integrity of, and otherwise wreak havoc in, the Fornite game. As Defendant[s] intend, this often ruins the game for the other players, and for the many people who watch ‘streamers.’”
As for why Epic is taking such a hard line against the supposed cheaters, the studio explained that one of the alleged cheaters was banned nine times already but created a new account every time to get back in. This person is also alleged to have written code for the hacks, which may explain why Epic is suing this person.
Epic is suing both parties for up to $150,000 in damages over copyright infringement. Another claim mentioned in the lawsuits is breach of contract and circumvention of technological measures. Go to TorrentFreak to get the full story.
One of the next new features coming to Battle Royale is a progression system, which is due out in the “next several weeks.” This will help in Epic’s “war against casual cheaters,” because the idea is they think twice about cheating if they know all of their progress will be reset if and when they banned.
Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode is available now on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
The Predator is the much-anticipated reboot of the classic ’80s sci-fi action movie, and it’s due for release in August next year. A few on-set images emerged while the movie was in production, but there has been very little news about the film since then.
However, the first promotional art has now been revealed. A poster was spotted on Fox’s display stand at the Brand Licensing Europe Expo in London, and while it doesn’t exactly give much away, it does seem to support the rumors that the movie might have a suburban setting. Check it out below, via Instagram user Dirtees:
The Predator was originally set to arrive in March, but will now hit theaters on August 3. It’s directed by Shane Black, who previously made Iron Man 3 and last year’s comedy thriller The Nice Guys. It stars Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, Logan), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu, Key & Peele), Sterling K. Brown (The People v. OJ Simpson), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), and Jacob Tremblay (Room).
“I think that they came to me knowing pretty much that… they said, basically, if I wanted to make Predator but treat it like it was Iron Man 3 instead of just another little movie. I said, ‘Let’s really do it right this time.’”
The first trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising, the upcoming sci-fi sequel to Guillermo Del Toro’s 2014 sci-fi action hit, arrived last week. It has now been reported that the property might be expanded into a full cinematic universe.
Director Steven S. DeKnight spoke to Nerdist and was asked about the possibility of more movies. “I’m certainly hoping so,” he said. “I think you’ll definitely probably get more comics. The plan was always to use this movie as a launching pad. If enough people show up to this, we’ve already talked about the plot of the third movie, and how the end of the third movie would expand the universe to a Star Wars/Star Trek-style [franchise] where you can go in many, many different directions.
“You can go main canon, you can go spin-offs, you can go one-offs. Yeah, that’s the plan. And I would love to see an animated TV show based on this.”
Call of Duty: WWII’s release date isn’t far away, and developer Sledgehammer Games is ramping up the reveals of new content. The company has now unveiled a new multiplayer map and mode you’ll be able to play come November 3.
The new mode is called Gridiron, and it’s inspired by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Uplink mode. This time, however, you’ll be carrying and throwing an old leather football to suit WWII’s 1940s setting.
Gridiron will be playable on a new map set in wartime London. Although the map’s name was not revealed, a recent leak stemming from Call of Duty: WWII’s PC beta apparently stated the arena will be called London Docks. You can check out the newly revealed content in the images above (via CharlieIntel).
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds continues to grow, toppling milestone after milestone. It’s left Dota 2–and everything else on Steam–in the dust in terms of players, and today it became the first game ever to top 2 million concurrent players on the platform.
Steam’s stats page highlights both the current number of players online in a game at any time, as well as its daily peak. Since it first surpassed Dota 2 back in August, PUBG has gone on to break the all-time Steam record for concurrent players. 2 million looked likely recently, and now that record now stands at 2,016,498, as of this writing–though you can probably assume that won’t last for long. The figure has increased several times just in the course of this story being written. According to SteamDB‘s unofficial figures, PUBG sales stand at about 15.6 million copies.
Despite being an Early Access game, PUBG has enjoyed unprecedented success since its launch earlier this year. A full release is slated for sometime later this year, as is an Xbox One version. We may also see PUBG eventually end up on PS4, although no official announcements have been made on that front as of yet. Microsoft has described the game as a “console launch exclusive,” suggesting it could eventually come to other platforms. Perhaps in light of the game’s popularity on PC, Microsoft is reportedly working to extend PUBG’s Xbox One exclusivity period.
