Ubisoft’s open-world shooter, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, comes top of the UK physical games chart for the week ending April 22, making it two weeks in a row and four weeks in total at No.1 for the FPS.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart below, courtesy of sales monitor Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
For a brief moment, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 felt like the worst thing a movie featuring a sentient baby tree and an anthropomorphic raccoon could be: it felt familiar. This happens somewhere within the first 30 minutes, after Drax the Destroyer’s sixth or seventh quip showcasing how clueless about social norms he is and Peter Quill’s constant referencing of cool things from the 1980s. It’s as if the film was straining too hard to remind you how much fun the first one was. Hey, remember how much you loved dancing Baby Groot? Well here he is again, but this time you get four full minutes of him grooving! Please enjoy.
This was a worry. The first Guardians of the Galaxy was a surprise, breaking the Marvel movie template and setting a tone that other comic book properties would slavishly follow (oh, hi there Suicide Squad). The Guardians hail from the weirdest, most bizarre corner of the Marvel universe. What a pity if the second film in the series ended up being just a retread of the first, more Iron Man 2 than Captain America:The Winter Soldier.
But then, just as a certain new character’s Mork & Mindy-like egg-shaped ship takes off to the sound of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” Guardians of the Galaxy Volume2 starts bringing it all together. It leaves the references to the first film behind, pushing its characters, setting, and plot to compelling places. It becomes thrilling, emotional, funny, and most of all, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 finally becomes what the first film was: fun and more than a little heartfelt. As Rocket Racoon says near the film’s climax: “Welcome to the freakin’ Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s about time.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is at its best when it’s doing something new. It’s no coincidence that the film’s shift from good to great happens when Volume 2’s most interesting new character appears. Kurt Russell is a standout as Peter Quill’s (aka Star-Lord aka Chris Pratt) long-lost father, Ego the Living Planet (who fans of the comics will know better as an actual gigantic planet, as opposed to the guy who played Snake Plissken and Jack Burton). Russell is indeed more diminutive than a celestial body, but he brings outsized energy and charisma to the role, and his interplay with Quill is funny, touching, and heartfelt. The other new face is also a fun one: Mantis (played by Pom Klementieff) is an empath in the employ of Ego, and she provides a lot of the film’s laughs. She’s a sweet addition, and with her wide eyes, innocent nature, and high-pitched voice, is literally an anime character brought to life. It wouldn’t have been surprising to see her to turn to camera, smile, hoist two fingers in the air and squeal “Kawaiii!!!”.
It’s also refreshing to see that while the returning cast brings the biggest emotional punches, those hits don’t all come from the main Guardians crew. In fact, former villians Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) have the most dramatic arcs, with the former leaning in hard on the underlying father/son dynamic he had with Quill in the first film, and the latter finally revealing the source of all her angst and anger toward her sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Yondu, it could be argued, is the beating heart of Volume 2. There’s a scene near the beginning of the film, a wordless one where Yondu stands amidst a bevy of android pleasure models, his empty stare telling us everything about the emptiness and aching inside. It’s a wonderful, quiet moment that conveys in seconds more about Yondu than we learned during the entirety of the first film.
Those moments of stillness stand out the most. From the subtle but meaningful look Drax (Dave Bautista) gives Mantis near the end of the film to the gentle dance Star-Lord and Gamora share, director James Gunn isn’t afraid to dial down the explosions and noise to let his characters breathe. Each of the main Guardians crew gets their chance to evolve and grow in between fighting interdimensional beasties and escaping from hostile alien armadas, and they become fully-fleshed out, believable characters. Whatever the color of their alien skin, all of these strange creatures feel very human.
And it’s why the film’s many action sequences work as well as they do. The flash and bang in Volume 2 is impressive and impactful in the way many of Marvel’s best set pieces are, but everything has more weight because of the characters. Sure, seeing Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) singlehandedly taking on an army of Reavers is cool, but you’re excited not because a small mammal is doing kung fu, but because Rocket, perpetually underestimated and looked down upon, is finally getting his comeuppance. You cheer as Star-Lord finds the strength to take on the film’s big bad at the end of the film not because he’s Chris Pratt and he looks good shirtless, but because his anger is righteous as he seeks to avenge a wrong from long ago. You squeal in delight as Baby Groot…well, you just squeal because he’s undeniably, almost unbearably, cute.
There’s a scene near the end of the film, after all the action is over and the Guardians are taking stock of what happened, where Baby Groot climbs gingerly onto Star-Lord’s lap. Groot looks up, and Star-Lord offers him one of his earbuds, and they sit there, quietly, listening to music. It’s a wonderful moment at the end of a long journey where all of the Guardians have experienced new things, vanquished immense foes, and grown as a strange, unorthodox family. And we’re right there with Groot and Star Lord, looking out at the stars, excited about what’s coming next. Now, about those five post-credit scenes…
Fans of the Predator movies will have to wait a little longer for the next entry in the franchise. It has been announced that The Predator has been pushed back six months and will now arrive in August 2018.
The sci-fi action sequel was originally scheduled to hit theaters on February 9. However, Fox has delayed the movie’s release to August 3, making it part of next summer’s blockbuster season. The only other movie currently scheduled that day is the Will Ferrell comedy Holmes and Watson.
The Predator is directed by Shane Black, who previously made Iron Man 3 and last year’s cop comedy 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). Black has released a couple of cast images over the past few months–check them out here and here.
“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 release dates for a number of high-profile upcoming films have been announced.
Starting with superhero films, Fox announced today that Deadpool 2 will arrive on June 1, 2018, with Dark Phoenix–the sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse–coming on November 2, 2018. The New Mutants film from director Josh Boone will come out before those, arriving on April 13, 2018.
Additionally, the four sequels to James Cameron’s Avatar now have official release dates. As revealed on Facebook (via EW), the first will premiere on December 18, 2020, with the next ones arriving on December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024, and December 19, 2025. All four movies are being filmed at the same time, with production now finally underway.
2009’s Avatar stands as the highest-grossing movie in history, bringing in $2.78 billion at the global box office.
According to Avatar star Sam Worthington, Avatar 2 will emphasize the “family” aspect that Cameron has previously spoken about. “This is going to be Jake [Sully, Worthington’s character] eight years later, and he’s got a family now’” he said. “The world is bigger than the first one, but essentially, it’s a movie about family.”
“So we’re not making Avatar 2,” he said. “We’re making Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5. It’s an epic undertaking. It’s not unlike building the Three Gorges dam. (Laughs) So I know where I’m going to be for the next eight years of my life.”
More leaked marketing materials show a Friday, November 3 release date (the latest entries in the series have been released on Fridays instead of Tuesdays), as well as a story description of sorts.
Call of Duty WW2 will have a co-op mode with a new story you can play with your friends.
“Land in Normandy on D-Day and battle across Europe through iconic locations in history’s most monumental war,” reads a line from the game description, according to CharlieIntel. “Experience classic Call of Duty combat, the bonds of camaraderie, and the unforgiving nature of war against a global power throwing the world into tyranny.”
The game will tell the story of an “unbreakable brotherhood of common men,” the leak says. It will feature “bold, lifelike visuals,” apparently.
The multiplayer for Call of Duty: WW2 will reportedly feature maps set on “many of World War II’s most iconic locations.” What’s more, “Players will also enjoy exciting new ways to interact and socialize with their friends and the Call of Duty community,” the leak apparently said.
We also learn that Call of Duty: WW2 will apparently have co-op that delivers an “original story” when playing that way. “Play with your friends in this next-level standalone game experience full of unexpected, adrenaline-pumping moments,” the leak reportedly said.
What’s more, there will reportedly be a “private beta” for Call of Duty: WW2, available to people who preorder. No other details are available.
In other news, there is a rumor that Transformers actor Josh Duhamel is in Call of Duty: WW2. You can read more about that at CharlieIntel. Additionally, what appear to be the first images from the game recently popped up online–see them here.
What would you like to see from Call of Duty: WW2? Let us know in the comments below!
The first images from Call of Duty: WWII appear to have leaked, courtesy of an Activision website.
This year’s entry in the Call of Duty series was officially announced today, but it won’t be until next week that we learn any real details about it. Despite that, the Call of Duty website was briefly home to a few low-res images that look to be from the game.
As noticed by Reddit user braderz_12, the images above were located on the login page for Call of Duty profiles (and have seemingly now been replaced). There doesn’t appear to be anything particularly revealing in them, given that we already know the game is set during World War II, but it is nonetheless our first look at it.
We’ve also gotten a look at the game’s box art, which features the same soldier from the lone image shared as part of today’s announcement. We don’t know for sure at this point that it’s the final artwork that will be used, but you can check it out below, courtesy of Amazon.
A full reveal livestream is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET/6 PM BST.
It’s always smart to save money, right? Well, we took a moment to scour the internet for great deals on peripherals and PC hardware. Sales are constantly changing and stock can sell out quick, so hop on these items before they’re gone.
If you come across some good deals yourself, share it in the comments below. Don’t be greedy!
With the release of the Nvidia’s GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, the dethroned GTX 1080 dropped in price to around $500 from $650. Prices vary when it comes to graphics cards depending on the manufacturer and model, but swooping up a GTX 1080 for $450 is a tough deal to pass up if you’re in the market for a high-end card.
This particular model from Gigabyte features a triple-fan cooler, out-of-the-box overclocking, and 8GB of GDDR5X VRAM. Its core clock is at 1607MHz in game mode and goes up to 1632 in OC mode, while it has a boost clock of 1733MHz in game mode and 1771MHz in OC mode.
Be sure to use promo code “EMCREBJ28” to get the $50 off. You’ll also get a complimentary copy of Ubisoft’s For Honor or Ghost Recon: Wildlands with your purchase.
Logitech’s G602 is regarded as one of the more reliable and accurate wireless mice, and it can be snagged for half its regular price. The mouse has 11 programmable buttons and on-the-fly sensitivity switching that goes up to 2500 DPI. It also has an extensive battery life, especially for normal everyday use; it can last 250 hours outside of gaming and has a power-saving mode that can keep the mouse going for up to 1440 hours.
The Sennheiser HD 598 headphones are regarded as some of the best at the consumer level. You can have the same audio quality with the Sennheiser HD 558 and for much cheaper. The HD 558 uses the same audio drivers as the HD 598–the main difference is the build quality. Keep in mind that the HD 558 is open-back, so sound will leak out from the headphones, but the benefits are better soundstage and positional audio.
The HD 558 has a 6.5mm jack natively, but it comes with a 3.5mm converter. This makes the input end fairly bulky, but it’s a minor complaint.
You don’t necessarily need a 4K display to enjoy the latest games, and if you’re in need of a solid 1080p display that won’t break the bank, this Acer monitor is a great choice. It features an IPS panel which will give you much better colors over TN panels. It’s also low-profile with a sleek chassis and thin bezel. Take note, this monitor does not have a DisplayPort.
It may not be the fastest hard drive, but the Seagate BarraCuda 4TB drive packs a ton of storage for a great price. You’ll probably keep photos, videos, documents, and other non-essential files in this drive while letting your faster drive(s) do the heavy lifting for programs.
As you may know, RAM prices have spiked recently. But if you’re in need of 16GB right now, a pair of G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB sticks are on sale. Relative to the current prices of memory, these are some of the more cost-effective sticks that are known to be reliable.
After being delayed to 2017, the Kickstarter-funded Friday the 13th game finally has a release date. It was announced today that Friday the 13th: The Game will debut on May 26 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC as a digital game priced at $40.
At launch, only multiplayer will be available. The 1v7 asymmetric multiplayer game sees seven camp counselors trying to survive against one person playing as the masked killer Jason Voorhees. There are three maps, including Camp Crystal Lake, Higgins Haven, and Packanack Lodge.
Friday the 13th: The Game’s single-player mode will be added as a free update this summer.
A new trailer for the game was released today, showing off some of Jason’s brutal executions and locations that players can explore. You can watch it through the embed above.
Another free game is now available through Twitch to anyone with an Amazon Prime membership, and it’s a good one.
The latest freebie is Kentucky Route Zero, the acclaimed atmospheric adventure game. It’s also an episodic game, and one that’s yet to be completed–four of its episodes are now available, but the release schedule has been sporadic. Whenever the game’s final update, Act V, arrives, you’ll be able to play that with this free version, too.
To secure your copy, you’ll need to visit this page while logged into a Twitch Prime account and claim it. You can then download and play the game using the Twitch desktop app, which can be downloaded here (that link will direct you to the .exe file) if you don’t already have it.
Not content with the extremely successful core entries in the Fast and the Furious series, Universal is reportedly considering a spinoff film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham.
That’s according to Deadline, which reports the concept is still in the “early stages.” It would be written by Chris Morgan, who’s served as a writer for the bulk of the series. The basic concept would be for the two actors’ characters to form an “unlikely alliance” in a film, which would bridge the gap until the next Fast movie is released, whenever that might be.
Statham and, in particular, Johnson have become mainstays in the series since their introductions in Fast & Furious 6 and Fast Five, respectively. Johnson and series star/producer Vin Diesel reportedly clashed during the production of the most recent film, The Fate of the Furious. But with that movie breaking global box office records, the two are rumored to have settled their issues and are prepared to work together again on a future entry in the series.
