After launching Far Cry 5 in 2018, Ubisoft Montreal is bringing players back to that game’s Montana setting. However, this direct sequel is far from a retread. The Hope County you explore in Far Cry New Dawn is drastically different, as a global nuclear apocalypse has destroyed most of human civilization. You step into the shoes of a new character hoping to help the residents of Hope County in a unique twist on the franchise. I recently visited Ubisoft Montreal to learn more about the game, and here are 12 key takeaways I had from my day in the offices.

Far Cry New Dawn Comes Out Soon, And It’s Cheaper Than A Standard Game

Far Cry New Dawn is priced at $40, but creative director JS Decant says that doesn’t necessarily indicate that players should expect a budget experience. “I think Far Cry 5 was a huge, tremendous experience, so this is slightly smaller in scope in general,” he says. “But if you’re looking for an action-driven adventure with things you like in a Far Cry, it’s there. If you’re someone who likes to explore and discover all the details of the previous world or if you’re into having the best weapons and optimizing, the game is going to be large.”

Far Cry New Dawn looks to be a fun spin-off entry in the Far Cry franchise with an interesting take on the post-apocalypse. With the title launching on February 15, we don’t have to wait long to find out if Hope County is truly worth saving.

New Dawn Is A Standalone Title, But You Probably Want To Play Far Cry 5 First

Though Far Cry New Dawn is meant to be a standalone title, players who worked through the campaign of Far Cry 5 will notice definite continuations from that story. Many of the cult’s structures have been repurposed in this post-apocalyptic world, and we even got a glimpse of cult leader Joseph Seed, the primary antagonist of Far Cry 5, at the end of the reveal trailer.

“The world is in the place where [Joseph] wanted it to be,” Decant says. “He wanted the world to be there so he can start something fresh, something new, something far from what we did with our societies. […] It was a tricky thing because on one hand we wanted to continue with these characters that we loved in Far Cry 5, but at the same time, we wanted to make sure this was a post-apocalyptic game that could be accessible for anyone.”

This Nuked World Doesn’t Look Dead

Rather than going for the stereotypical gray and brown aesthetic many people associate with the post-apocalyptic concept, Ubisoft Montreal researched how the planet would react to and recover from an actual nuclear war. According to their research, the first six years would be a nuclear winter featuring low temperatures, a dead landscape, harsh winds, and new biomes forming everywhere. After the first six years, the sun and rain returns, leading to a “super bloom” event that leads to vegetation reclaiming the planet beginning at year 10. Far Cry New Dawn takes place during the super bloom, 17 years after the nuclear war of 2018.

Because the planet is in the midst of this super bloom, Hope County is colorful and warm, with flowers and vegetation growing from the death and destruction of nearly two decades prior. “Everybody has an idea of what a post-apocalypse setting should look like,” art director Isaac Papismado says. “We really wanted to avoid the dark and grim environments. We saw that 17 years is the perfect time where life and vegetation could come back. That’s something we really wanted to take advantage of.”

While the vegetation is thriving thanks to the meteorological shift, the radiation has infected and mutated some of the wildlife. I didn’t see many examples of this, but I’m interested to see what the team does with this idea.

You Can Launch Saws At Your Enemies

Another theme Ubisoft Montreal is pursuing with New Dawn is the idea that nothing is being manufactured anymore, so everything from buildings to weapons has a makeshift feel. This is most evident in the series’ zaniest weapon yet: the Saw Launcher. This device uses circular saws for ammunition, launching them at your targets. It starts out shooting one saw at a time, but you can upgrade it to shoot multiple at once; the highest I saw was three saws, which all ricochet off objects and into enemies in a satisfying manner.

“We wanted to bring something to the table that would be believable, but also crazy,” says Decant. “We started to think about this thing that would throw little discs, and the team went wild, and we got the Saw Launcher.”

Far Cry: New Dawn's boxart gives us a glimpse at twin sisters Mickey and Lou

The Main Conflict Is Between The Survivors And The Highwaymen

You control a character who was a part of a group that was moving up the west coast to rebuild civilization. Unfortunately, the train they’re on is ambushed by a marauding gang called the Highwaymen and the dream of this group rebuilding the civilization is squashed for the time being.

Far Cry New Dawn centers on this conflict between the survivors, who are building a community for the future, and the Highwaymen, who don’t think the world is salvageable. Instead, they move from city to city consuming all the resources and living for today. As you might imagine, your character aligns with the survivors at their home base of Prosperity. The survivors decide that in order to survive and rebuild civilization, they need to run the Highwaymen out of town.

The Highwaymen are led by twin sisters Mickey and Lou. Their families secured the docks shortly after the apocalypse, giving them access to abundant resources. However, the resources didn’t last long, and the two fought to be at the top of the food chain. Mickey and Lou are currently in Hope County, but the Highwaymen are spread across the entire country.

You Don’t Spend The Whole Time In Montana

Since the nuclear event wasn’t localized to Montana, the bombs affected other parts of the world. If you’re in need of resources, you can embark on expeditions, which take place in other areas of the country. During a live gameplay demo, I saw one expedition take place in a Louisiana swamp. An abandoned theme park serves as the setting as I watch the character infiltrate a camp and recover resources. Over the course of the game, players can also travel to another location on the west coast of the U.S., as well as an Arizona location. These additional areas are reused throughout the game, so the Louisiana expedition I saw isn’t the only mission taking place in that region.

“We tried to pick places that felt super different [from Hope County], but also with iconic elements,” Decant says. “We even have one where we refer to another Ubisoft game. [Expeditions] were an opportunity to create areas that felt very different from Hope County.”

The Standard Activities Will Feel Familiar To Far Cry Fans

While you’re in Hope County, many of the standard Far Cry activities are at your disposal. You can embark on treasure hunts, which often involve a twist of some sort; the treasure hunt I saw has you infiltrate a wolverine nest to retrieve a key, but wolverines are the least of your worries once the barn you’re inside goes up in flames. You can also work across the map and clear outposts where the Highwaymen are stationed.

Outposts Bring An Additional Twist This Time

While outposts are nothing new to the Far Cry series, New Dawn adds a new gameplay loop to them. Once you take down an outpost, it becomes a fast-travel location for you. However, you can choose to send those in that outpost to scavenge for additional materials, essentially abandoning it and allowing the Highwaymen to retake it in exchange for resources. Once they reclaim the outpost, you can take it back, but it will be more difficult the second time around.

Enemies Have Designated Difficulty Levels

Enemies now have difficulty levels ranging from one to three to indicate how hard it will be to take them down. If you stir up too much trouble and raise the alarm level, high-level enforcer enemies will join the fight to present extra difficulty.

Using the survivor's Prosperity home base, you can upgrade weapons and train companions

New And Familiar Companions Are There For Your Support

If you need some help, you can play cooperatively or bring a Gun for Hire or animal companion into a fight. These characters unlock as you play through the story, and can learn additional abilities as you use them more. For example, one of the Guns for Hire is a grizzled, elderly woman named Nana, who happens to be the sharpest shot in Hope County. This sniper is an ideal companion for stealth missions, as she can unlock abilities like using a silencer or being able to shoot through cover. The other Gun for Hire I saw was Carmina, who is the daughter of Nick and Kim from Far Cry 5. Since she’s only 17 years old, she doesn’t know of a world without the apocalypse.

While I didn’t get to see the other Guns for Hire, Decant says there will be familiar archetypes and even some known characters among the lineup. “There is an RPG, there is a bow-and-arrow character, and a shotgun,” Decant says. “We took some of the most appreciated archetypes and some of the more appreciated characters and created some new ones.”

You Can Still Recruit Animals And Your Pup Can Ride Shotgun

Two new animal companions are also unlockable. Though Boomer the dog from Far Cry 5 is long gone, Timber fills his role as the new canine companion. Timber not only has some new takedowns, but he can also ride in vehicles and scare away larger animals. I also saw Horatio, a giant boar. This monstrous beast draws the attention of the enemies in the area and can be a tank to take down.

The Weapon Wheel Screen Is Streamlined

A simplified weapon and item wheel screen helps streamline the process of getting to the object you hope to use. Now when you open the weapon wheel, the consumables and crafting menus are listed on the sides of the screen. This means you no longer need to flip between wheels to choose the item you want.

Last night Geoff Keighley and crew put on a heck of a show for the fifth annual Game Awards. The show's grown quite a bit over the years, with reveals from both indie developers as well as studio juggernauts. If you didn't get to tune in last night, here are the biggest stories from the show.

Mortal Kombat 11 Announced...With Release Date!
Raiden, Scorpion, and the rest of the gang return and sooner than you probably expect. Mortal Kombat 11 is due out in April. You can watch the trailer here.

Persona 5's Protagonist Is Coming To Smash Bros Ultimate
Yep. Persona and Smash are crossing streams. Joker will be a DLC character. You can find out all the details here.

Fortnite Gets Creative
Epic previously announced Fortnite's Creative Mode. During The Game Awards, Donald Mustard took to the stage to reveal The Block, a feature that will be dedicated to incorporating players' creations in Battle Royale. Read all about it here.

Bioware Teases Dragon Age 4
It's little more than an indication that the studio has its sights on a new Dragon Age but hey, it's something!

Rage 2 Has A Release Date
Last night, Bethesda revealed when we could play this unexpected sequel: May 14. Nice. Oh, and Rage 2 happens to be our cover story this month, so be sure to head on over to our hub for all the exclusive information we've got on the game throughout the month.

A New Marvel Ultimate Alliance Is On The Way
And it's exclusively for Switch.

Supergiant Revealed Its New Game
It's called Hades and looks very Bastiony. But with a lot of greek mythology.

Obsidian's New Game Mixes Fallout and Mass Effect
Obsidian finally revealed its new game The Outer Worlds last night. It looks rad. We actually got to visit the studio and see the game in action, too. Here's what fellow editor Ben Reeves thought of it.

There's A New Far Cry And It's A Direct Sequel
A sequel to Far Cry 5 is on the way called Far Cry New Dawn. It looks post-apocalyptic and colorful as heck. Here's everything you need to know about it.

The Creator Of Assassin's Creed Showed Off His New Game
It looks wild.

God Of War Was The Big Winner Last Night
True to its name, The Game Awards actually gave awards last night! Red Dead Redemption II walked away with a big number of them but ultimately it was God Of War that took home the big prize, Game Of The Year. Read the full list here.

The Stanley Parable Is Coming To Console
Neat.

The Crash Team Racing Remake Is Real
And it's coming in June.

Giant Squid Has A New Game In The Works
The makers of Abzu have something really special on their hands with The Pathless. Get your first look at it here and then read all about it in our issue!

The Epic Game Store Makes It Play
Epic's attempt to rival Steam with its own storefront is now in full swing. During The Game Awards, Epic revealed the first batch of titles on the store.

The Makers Of No Man's Sky Are Working On A New Title
It's called The Last Campfire. It looks very cute.

If you want to watch the whole stream yourself, you can watch the video archive of it below with Leo and Ben giving their thoughts on each announcement!

Post-apocalyptic settings in video games are always a blast. Whether they’re populated by cyborg demons or feral humans, these dust-beaten worlds are rife with conflict, crawling with creatures that go bump in the night, and bursting with awesome loot to help your grizzled road-warrior character beat back the freaks. With Rage 2 on the horizon (and Fallout 76 shelling us with its own type of horrors), now’s the perfect time to look back on other worlds torn asunder by Armageddon. None of them are places we’d want to visit in real life. 

Fallout series

In Fallout, nuclear holocaust has reduced civilization to ash. What remains is patrolled by mutants (or worse), and those who’ve survived are forced to hole up in crumbling cities where radiation twists them into ghoulish freaks. Fallout posits a horrific world, but what makes it truly disturbing is it asks what our world would be like if we’d never escaped the paranoia and fear of the post-war ‘50s. Fallout’s nuked-out wasteland is like an eerie time capsule, littered with reminders of a society positioned on the brink and all the dark fruit borne by such a desperate situation. Couple that with the resulting abominations, and we’re glad we live in our own timeline.

The Last of Us

From the desperate marauders who’ll kill you for food to the hordes of feral, fungus-ravaged husks eager to rip out your throat, you likely won’t live long in this gritty post-pandemic Earth. In The Last of Us, a cordyceps infestation has blazed its way across the planet, either killing or infecting 60 percent of the human population and leaving the rest of humanity to fend off extinction. Worse still, even if you survive, your humanity won’t. For us that spells true terror.

Doom Eternal

At this year’s E3, we got our first glimpse of Earth after it’s been taken over by demonic forces in Doom Eternal. In the trailer, we can see demons pouring out of scorched fissures that have torn a city apart, rivers of lava coursing sluggishly through the crags, and enormous chthonian worms wrapping around charred skyscrapers. In other words, it looks like another day at the races for Doom Guy. If you’re just an average joe, however, then you’re probably one of the blackened skeletons crunching under his boot.

Left 4 Dead

On a rooftop amid a sea of infected, you and three companions watch as a helicopter flies by without so much as a second glance. Instead of a quick rescue, in Left 4 Dead you’ll have to fight your way through the hordes in order to make it to safety, and the infected aren’t your average zombies – they come at you full sprint. Throw in a mix of other twisted varieties, like the hulking tank, sobbing witch, and long-tongued smoker that uses its immense mouth organ to wrap you up and drag you into harm’s way, and this is one zombie-filled apocalypse we wouldn’t want to be caught dead in.

Rage

After an asteroid named for the Egyptian god of chaos lays waste to civilization and reduces Earth to a barren desert only navigable by dune buggy, life takes a violent turn. From bandit clans who worship technology to towering mutant behemoths and technologically advanced fascists, there are a lot of people shooting at each other in the wasteland. Suffice to say if you lived through it, you’d probably be roasting on a spit somewhere or just turned into a mutant cyborg for the self-proclaimed government. Luckily, if a giant meteor ever does come to Earth, we can always call upon Bruce Willis.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Midway through the Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf gets his hands on the Triforce and finally ascends the throne to rule over Hyrule. Under his evil reign, shrieking redead roam the highways and entire villages are abandoned. In the iconic series, it’s about as close as the Demon King ever gets to fulfilling his dark dream of world domination. Thank the gods for Link and the master sword, am I right?

Metro series

Based off the series penned by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Metro series is so named because in the frigid, post-nuclear environs of Moscow, no one dares go to the surface. Humanity lives in the vast labyrinth of Moscow metro tunnels because the world above is now an icy hellscape of mutants and radiation. But even underground, people aren’t safe. Bandits rob and steal, and men wage war over ideological reasons if something else doesn’t claim them first. Worse still a new breed of mutants threatens humanity’s existence. Talk about a nuclear winter.  

Frostpunk

After the eruption of Mount Krakatoa and a dimming sun in 1886, Earth is blanketed in a new Ice Age reminiscent of something out of The Day After Tomorrow. Millions die after crops wither and global temperatures plummet. For all you know, yours could be the last city on Earth. To survive, you need to be prudent and exacting with your resources, making tough sacrifices and hard decisions. It’s a cold world, after all.   

Telltale’s The Walking Dead series

While zombies are hideous creatures, we often forget the emotional toll such an outbreak would have on the survivors. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Telltale’s The Walking Dead gives a human face to the conflict, fleshing out the struggle, hard choices, and trauma that would follow such unimaginable horror. The series reminds us that while dying at the hands of a walker is certainly a ghastly prospect, the real horror would be watching your friends die, or worse, being the one to put them down. That’s one hardship we could do without.

Mad Max

Classics are classics for a reason. Inspired by the seminal post-apocalyptic film, Max Max presents a world where gasoline is more valuable than gold, your car is your livelihood, and insane, leather-bound bandits rule the wastes via savage convoys. With a planet that’s nothing but arid desert and death just a crossbow bolt away, this is a world only fit for the road warrior. If you plan to survive, now’s the time to start practicing with a sawed-off shotgun.

And, like these worlds our list comes to an end. Let us know your favorite in the comments section below, and for more from us on the apocalypse, be sure to check out our of cover story for Rage 2 this month, or this review of Fallout 76, or this article where we analyze how the Fallout series has evolved over the years.

Within the fiction of Id Software's universe, it’s been nearly three decades since the ending of the original Rage, and the various groups that Nicholas Raine squared off against have shifted radically with the landscape and times, their philosophies and the roles they play becoming more developed. Here are the five factions of bandits, outlaws, monsters, and outcasts you can expect to fight during your furious travels and what drives them.

Goon Squad
Originally the group of British punk-looking bandits known as Wasteland, the Goon Squad has become even more nihilistic and depraved since the conclusion of the first game. “Their aesthetic has evolved from that British punk look to something rooted in any wild junk culture you might find,” says Narrative Director Odd Ahlgren. “They’re all about completely unfiltered violence.” The Goon Squad is one of the few agendaless factions in the Wasteland, causing havoc for the sake of it, and even cheering when their allies are killed in battle. “For them, death is probably the ultimate sensation,” narrative gameplay director Loke Wallmo.

Until recently they haven’t been too troublesome, sticking to harassing passersby. However, someone is giving them destructive weapons that they’re unleashing on anyone in sight. “Who is giving them these weapons and why is a mystery that will unravel throughout the game,” Ahlgren teases.

The Authority
The foes of the first game return, as does their leader Martin Cross. A vicious, fascist regime that seeks to impose Cross’ vision on the world, they will stop at nothing to squash the bandits and force the inhabitants of the world to get in line. As the times have changed, so has the tech and soldiers the Authority uses. “The Authority has replaced the free-thinking mutants with more cybernetic implants to have more control over them,” Ahlgren says, with much of the Authority’s troops being pathetic fodder soldiers that look pitiful and grotesque. Even Cross, who’s been using a faulty method of cloning to keep himself alive throughout the years, is little more than a torso and head screwed into a giant exosuit, but that doesn’t stop this faction from being incredibly deadly thanks to their numbers and advanced tech.

Immortal Shrouded
During the war that raged between Rage and Rage 2, the hyper-militaristic group known as The Shrouded sided with the villainous authority. The alliance was short-lived. “They realized that the Authority was taking advantage of them,” says Ahlgren, “but because they had a warrior’s Bushido type code they couldn’t back down. They decided to symbolically kill themselves by decimating a tenth of their own people.” Since the culling, the soldiers have started wearing masks, vowing to never let anyone take advantage of them again. The Immortal Shrouded have advanced technology to go along with their military training, making them one of the deadliest factions in the land. We often saw them using electric swords and cloaking technology in battles against the Goon Squad and Walker.

River Hogs
This faction sticks to the swampy wetlands of Rage 2, which is fitting because these folks are nasty. Essentially a “very trashy” biker gang, the River Hogs enjoy all sorts of excess: drugs, drinking, sex, and being obscene. Don’t let their indulgences fool you though: The River Hogs are very competent mechanics (building and maintaining all their vehicles and equipment) and quite dangerous. We watched Walker square off against a giant mech in one of the swamp’s trashyards and come away with more than a few scrapes.

The Abadon
One of the big twists of the last game was that the dangerous mutants that roamed the Wasteland were in fact the result of horrific experiments put on by the Authority. When the Authority withdrew from battle, they left their mutant military leaders (called Warheads) behind like discarded munitions. The Warheads gathered the other less intelligent mutants and formed a new society called The Abadon. We won’t spoil the reason behind the name because it’s something you should find out for yourself but, rest assured, it’s amusing. The Abadon form one of the most interesting groups in Rage 2, with a simplistic religion that mandates sacrificing humans to a god to keep death at bay, thanks to their sympathetic plight to find salvation in a dangerous world.

For more on Rage 2 be sure to check out our cover story hub by clicking on the banner below.

I was talking with Game Informer creative director and friend Jeff Akervik one day, and somewhere in the conversation NHL 98 came up – specifically its intro. I never played the game back in the day, and I don't think I could remember hardly any sports game intro off the top of my head – that's how pedestrian most of them are.

Akervik was not only adamant that I see the intro, but that it was one of his favorites in all of video games. After finding the video on YouTube and chuckling at the thorough '90s-ness of the production and a bygone era of the NHL, the metal guitar riffs kicked in, sending the intro to another level that concluded – fittingly – with an explosion.

Suitably impressed, I was curious how the whole thing came about. In these days of pervasive licensed music, the NHL 98 intro is striking for its tenor and commendable for simply going for it.

One of the people behind the intro is Jeff van Dyck veteran video game composer and audio director who has won BAFTA awards for Alien: Isolation and Shogun: Total War Warlord Edition. Van Dyck and Saki Kaskas both wrote the music for the game, and I talked to Van Dyck about the game and his time with the NHL series.

The deadline for Game Informer's "best of the year" voting draws near, and I'm doing everything I can to play as many of 2018's games as I can. I recently watched the credits roll for Darksiders III, which I adored way more than any other GI staffer, and I'm now working my way through Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. While I don't think it will make my personal top 10 list and may not get the votes to make it onto Game Informer's big Top 50 list, this is one science-fiction game you don't want to sleep on. You just have to ask yourself "Do you like XCOM?" If the answer is "yes," drop everything and give it a whirl.

Turn-based combat is the heart and soul of Mutant Year Zero. Most conflicts unfold with the a squad splitting up, and strategically hunkering down behind cover to pick away at enemies that are doing the same thing. It's straight up XCOM, and developer The Bearded Ladies Consulting openly embraces the comparison, and even has "the turn-based combat of XCOM" bolded on its website. What makes Mutant Year Zero unique – other than playing as a talking duck, boar, and fox – is the calm before battle. Unlike most games of this ilk, you are not dropped immediately into a fight. You discover enemies as you explore small sections of the wilderness. As you sneak through the woods, you also find weapons, armors, crafting materials, and above all else, will be able to approach combat from a desired vector. This element of the game is nicely designed and worth investing time into, especially since supplies are hard to come by and end up being incredibly valuable.

Again, I may like Mutant Year Zero more than any GI editor, but I think we all agree it's a game worth looking at. Jeff Marchiafava has played way more of it than me, and gave it a respectable review of 7.5 of 10. He says it falls apart in the end. "From a gameplay perspective, Mutant Year Zero is a bold but brief experiment in the turn-based genre that largely pays off. Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed it, and I’d love to see more from the franchise. If you can stomach a huge letdown of an ending, the cleverly orchestrated combat and unique world are worth checking out."

If that isn't your cup of tea, I'd like to point out that Subnautica's big 1.0 update is finally live on Xbox One. Subnautica is a brilliantly designed underwater survival experience, set on an alien world with an ocean filled with exotic life. I urge you all to check this game out. It's one of those games that you just can't seem to put down once you get the hang of exploring the seas. Elise Favis gave it an 8.75 out of 10, and called it "gorgeous and enthralling." You'll definitely see this one on my top 10 list.

The trailer above is for one of my most anticipated films of 2019. James Gunn's name is all over it, but that's a bit of false advertising. He's producing the film. It's actually directed by David Yarovesky, and written by Brian Gunn, and Mark Gunn. How many damn Gunns are there? As  long as they continue pumping out interesting films, the answer is "who cares?"

In short, Brightburn looks to be a new take on Superman's origin story, with horror and craziness leading the way. The trailer teases the child learning of his powers, and, well, using them to do harm. Brightburn releases on May 24.

In other film news, if you were thinking 2019 would be the year of Thanos or the Avengers, you're only slightly wrong. It will likely be the year of Nick Fury. At a comic convention in Brazil, Captain Marvel's Brie Larson revealed the movie isn't just about her character. "It's actually a Nick Fury origin story as well," she said. "He doesn't have the eye patch. That's a very interesting element, isn't it? [Fury and Marvel] become buddies, and I think seeing that dynamic, it's a more playful side of Fury."

Fury is also front and center in the official synopsis for Spider-Man Far From Home, which is short and to the point: "Peter Parker and his friends go on summer holidays to Europe. However, the friends will hardly be able to rest – Peter will have to agree to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of creatures that cause natural disaster and destruction throughout the continent."

I'm a big fan of Samuel L. Jackson's interpretation of Nick Fury, and can't wait to see him get more time in the spotlight. I was hoping he would have a bigger role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this works too.

And if you want to feel a little heartbreak, Marvel fans, Chris Hemsworth tweeted out the first image of Men In Black International. As you can see, he's joined by Tessa Thompson, who absolutely killed it in Thor Ragnarok. I'm all for more Men in Black, but I don't know if I'll ever shake the thought of "it's Thor and Valkyrie" when seeing them together.

That's it for this week, gang. As we wind down the year, our columns will likely disappear until 2019, but I'll do my best to spit them out when I can. Cheers!

Rage 2 has a lot of great weapons, sure, but part of what makes the combat so satisfying are the nanotrite powers that protagonist Walker can use to stun, bamboozle, and otherwise decimate foes. Alongside movement-based upgrades (like double jump and dashing) these are the powers you’ll acquire during Rage 2 and use in combination with one another to wreak havoc on any group of bandits foolish enough to pick a fight with you. Avalanche teased that numerous upgrades will allow players to make these powers even stronger and demonstrated the fantastic ways in which they could be used to create combos.

Note: All the powers have in-development names and will possibly change in the final product.

Ground Slam
As powerful as its name is self-explanatory, Walker leaps into the air and plummets to the earth, smashing whatever is directly below. A direct attack on an unarmored bandit will turn them into a fine paste while those in the area will briefly be stunned, allowing you to zip to them and use another power or shoot them.

Shatter
Shatter is probably the power that grabbed our attention the most during the demo due to its dual usefulness. Shatter’s blast (similar to Star Wars’ Force Push) will not only blow foes back into walls but it’ll also rip armor off stronger foes, allowing you to target their exposed fleshy parts. Weakened enemies have a habit of being literally torn apart when thrown into a wall.

Vortex Grenade
Think of the Vortex Grenade as the combo glue of your power arsenal. Throwing this ethereal grenade will create a black hole that sucks anything—foes or objects—nearby into wherever you threw it for a brief time. When the black hole collapses, it shoots anything caught in its field upward and leaves them suspended and helpless, allowing you to do some quick skeet shooting or Shattering to send them flying off into the distance.

Barrier
Barrier, as the name implies, throws up a shield that will absorb bullets. Pretty tame, right? Don’t turn that dial just yet. An upgrade for Barrier allows this defensive power to become much more aggressive, making its touch deadly enough to turn any unlucky enemy into what Game Director Magnus Nedfors vividly describes as “meat cubes.” During our demo, we saw what happens when you throw a vortex grenade into the middle of a barrier near some enemies. Let’s just say it was a very squishy spectacle.

For more on Rage 2 be sure to check out our cover-story hub by clicking on the banner below.

Now is your chance to sound off on your favorite games of 2018. Do your part and vote to make sure your favorite games make our Reader Games of the Year section in the February 2019 issue of the magazine.

Between Nintendo releasing a new console with Mario and Zelda games and the introduction of the Battle Royale genre, we really thought 2017 was a tough year– but the competition is just as fierce this year, and maybe even more so. Cast your vote in assorted categories (including Game of the Year) to help us show what you think was the best.

You may notice that some seemingly obvious picks aren't on the list. That could be because of our eligibility requirements. Remasters and remakes are restricted to that category. Also, if a game is episodic, but the final episode didn't releasing in 2018, that keeps it off our list for this year.

You can find the survey below, or click here to submit your choices. Did we miss one of your favorites in the poll? Let us know in the comments and we can add it to the field. And if your having trouble making decisions, you can always use our scientific method of making important game of the year decisions.

The last day of voting is Tuesday, December 18, so get all of your votes in while you can and look out for the results on the website and in the February 2019 issue of the magazine!

Throughout the year, Street Fighter V players have been competing at various tournaments as part of the Capcom Pro Tour for a place in the Capcom Cup, which pits 32 qualified players from around the world in one major bracket for the shot at a $250,000 prize. The event, which began in 2015, has quickly become one of the scene's premiere events, rivaled only by Evo.

This year marked a few changes for the tour, including tweaks into how players earned ranking points throughout the season (which saw mixed responses from players and fans), more exposure in new parts of the world including Brazil, where the lack of cash prizes due to regulations in the country caused a minor controversy (which Capcom declined to comment on), and a change in venue, as the event wasn't able to tie into Sony's PSX event this year.

With Capcom Cup kicking off tomorrow, we caught up with Capcom's esports social media manager, Michael Martin, to look at this year's tour in the rearview.

Looking back at this year’s tour, what has been the biggest surprise you’ve seen?
As with every year, the biggest surprise is in the players who step up and win big tournaments. This year, we get to see [Amjad "Angrybird" Alshalabi] represent the Middle East in Capcom Cup 2018 after winning the EU Regional Finals at EGX.
 
[Chris "CJ Truth" Jayson] played his way into Capcom Cup 2018 by winning the NA Regional Open Tournament, and he’s shown a ton of improvement for a young guy. We’ve seen a lot of young players win at the highest level in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition each year, and that’s always the most pleasant surprise.
 
How does the team feel about the overall number of events in the CPT right now? Is it looking to add more events or consolidate?
This is always a balance, and like with past years we’ve made changes in an effort to make CPT competitive and exciting throughout the season.  
 
What’s the process of certifying an event for the CPT like? What should a tournament organizer looking to be a part of the CPT do?
While we can’t discuss exact details, we do evaluate proposals from tournament organizers to see if they’re a good fit for CPT and its structure. We want to make sure each event in CPT holistically creates a competitive and well-balanced season.

How does the team feel about how this year's changes to the ranking and premier system have worked out overall?
The changes were intended to ensure the CPT season remained highly competitive, especially towards the end of the year. There is no doubt competitors had something big to play for right up until the end of the year, with players qualifying for Capcom Cup 2018 up until the last events of the season.

However, we have received plenty of feedback from players regarding the CPT format and take that feedback seriously when evaluating future events.

One complaint some levied against the changes to the tour is that more heavily-favored sponsored players and those who could travel out to multiple events across regions, and disincentivized local players who attended multiple events in their own region but did not win a premier. Does the team feel this is an issue?
Professional players are going to travel, especially with the stakes so high and the bar for competition raising year after year. There are always going to be new or improved players waiting for their shot. We want all players to feel like they can get to events and compete.

Speaking to regions, this is a large reason we have the Regional Leaderboard that culminates in the Regional Finals events. It offers players a chance who may not have the ability to travel to Premier Events.

There is always room for improvements and with everything else on the CPT, we always look at how we can make adjustments and improve.
 
Beyond the online ranking events (which let players who might otherwise not be able to travel out to events), is Capcom looking into any ways of fostering new competitive talent?
We’re always looking at ways to nurture new competitors in Capcom esports, and it’s exciting to see a new generation of up and coming players join the tournaments. The CPT is our primary focus right now in competitive sports, but I think it would be cool to grow our presence in the competitive scene to draw more players into Street Fighter.
 
The recent Red Bull Battlegrounds for Street Fighter event had a regional and team-based format, which was interesting to see. Would Capcom be interested in opening up the format for the event in the future, or have other kinds of events with a different structure?
Capcom esports partners with various organizations to host unique tournaments and leagues. Gfinity and Red Bull have done well with creating teams-based tournaments. We’ve had high-profile invitationals like ELEAGUE and Red Bull Kumite.

We’re always excited about the types of events each organization hosts in its respective region. However, we believe the CPT’s format is ideal for a professional Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition singles league.

Capcom Cup changed its location and venue this year, going from PSX in Anaheim to the Esports Arena in Las Vegas. How did the team choose the new location for the event?
One big change from last year’s Capcom Cup is the event is not happening in conjunction with Sony’s PlayStation Experience. This gave us an exciting opportunity to evaluate different venues we might not have considered before. Las Vegas was a great option, being a city that hosts many iconic sports competitions. Ultimately, we felt the HyperX Esports Arena at Luxor was a good fit for Capcom Cup 2018.
 
Considering the change in venue, what can spectators and attendees expect will be different this year?
We’re excited to have the Capcom Cup 2018 Last Chance Qualifier returning for a second year. Of course, the spotlight is on the CPT 2018 season finale, featuring 32 of the best Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition players in the world as they duke it out in incredibly skilled and exciting matches for the top champion honors.

In addition, we’ll have some special guest musical performances by Super Cr3w, DJ Qbert, and hip-hop legend Del the Funky Homosapien.

This year there’s again a last-chance qualifier tournament the day before leading up to Capcom Cup. Can you speak a little more to why this spot was added?
The LCQ was implemented into Capcom Cup in 2017 which proved to be a successful and highly competitive lead into the main tournament. So, we absolutely felt we had to bring it back for Capcom Cup 2018. We’re excited to see who survives the gauntlet for that final qualifying Capcom Cup spot, because if you recall, Nemo won the LCQ in 2017 and took third at Capcom Cup 2017. He even said it was ‘easier’ to come play and win the Capcom Cup 2017 LCQ than qualifying through the Global Leaderboard. It was a risky tactic, but one that happened to work out well for him!
 
Is Capcom open to changing the region/location of the Capcom Cup in the future?
We’ll always be looking into all the best options for where to host Capcom Cup year after year, especially as more and more esports-focused venues become available. We haven’t made any decisions for 2019 just yet, so stay tuned.
 
Now that the season is mostly over, what does Capcom see as the piece of feedback it most wants to address? What are you most looking forward to about the CPT going forward?
As with every year, we want to see the best competition possible on the Capcom Pro Tour. We’ve received a great deal of feedback from players this year and we want to thank each and every one of you for sharing your thoughts with us.

We made changes to the 2018 season, notably to the points distribution, in an effort to keep the competition exciting to the very end of the season. However, based on community feedback and how this season played out, we’d like to look at the points system again and see where we can improve.

One of the greatest things about fighting games is how the players and competition evolve over the years. Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition competition is incredibly fierce and we’re excited to see how players new and old will adapt and grow in and out of the game in 2019.

With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s base roster cemented, players can now set their sights on the all-important question: Who’s being made available via DLC? Primary among the many completely justified complaints is the glaring omission of Waluigi and a surprising lack of Toad. Persona’s Joker was recently added to the list opening the floodgates for all sorts of third-party characters, so we must ask, why is Ronald McDonald still not on the roster?

D.Va

In Smash Bros. we all play to win. So does D.Va. The former gamer-turned-mech pilot would make a great addition to the brawler with her high-powered Tokki robo-suit. In fact, with her already-equipped booster ability, matrix shield (block), and self-destruct (which could be a final smash) the South Korean megastar is primed and ready to enter the fray.

Fortnite Dude/Gal

With a handy pickaxe, arsenal of guns, and umbrella, Fortnite characters already have much of what a Smash character needs in a recover move, ranged attack, and close-quarters combo. For an ultimate smash, what about a dance emote that sends players soaring off the map from its sheer brilliance? No? Moving on…

Ronald McDonald (or at least the Hamburglar)

Who says product placement in gaming is a bad thing? When we heard rumors that fast food’s clown prince was going to be playable, visions of him kicking Fox off the screen with his oversized red shoes danced through our heads like hamburgers on a hungry night. Speaking of hamburgers, why not throw in the Hamburglar for good measure as an assist trophy? He could run around stealing hamburgers from people… or something. 

RoboCop

Let’s just say what we’re all thinking: Smash Bros. is way too PG. Kids these days want dark and edgy. With RoboCop’s automatic pistol and monotone one-liners, we think he could be just what this franchise needs to go from snoresville to goresville.

Doom Guy

Speaking of badasses, what about Doom Guy? His no-nonsense attitude and savage glory kills could bring more maturity to Nintendo’s seminal brawler. And that retractable blade? Pikachu wouldn’t stand a chance.

Leon Kennedy

For our unironic choice, why not throw a bit of love to Resident Evil? With the Resident Evil 2 remaster just a few months away, series favorite Leon Kennedy would make a great addition to the roster. With his expansive arsenal of zombie-vaporizing hardware, the Raccoon City police officer could easily stand with some of the more realistic characters in the lineup.

Eevee

The age of Pikachu representing Pokémon has come to an end, and that end is called Eevee. The adorable normal-type is owed a spot on the roster, especially after the release of Pokémon: Let’s Go. With its myriad evolutions, maybe for a final smash, it could harness the power of all forms to fire off a hyper beam. Either way, Eevee could definitely put the yellow rat’s thunder to shame.

Kratos

Gore, loads and loads more gore is clearly a running theme here. That’s how you put butts in seats, after all. And who better than Sony poster-child Kratos to paint the roster of Nintendo peons in torrents of blood? Kratos is the man… er, god, for the job.   

Who do you think is criminally absent from Nintendo’s star-studded brawler? Let us know about it in the comments section below and be sure to check out our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review to see how the game stacks up to its giant predecessors. Also, for some picks that maybe aren't as big of longshots to get in, check out our wishlist from before it was even called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.     

Square Enix has unveiled the first of three planned trailers before Kingdom Hearts III’s launch next month. The video showcased an exhilarating and action-packed, though exceedingly brief, overview of the major characters and their journeys in the series so far. The trailer was more of a stylish refresher than a useful lore guide, and the montage didn’t illuminate the characters’ stories for those not already in the know – which is why we decided to help.

At its core, Kingdom Hearts is a series of games about the champions of light fighting the forces of darkness with magical key-shaped weapons, and how that clash tests even the strongest bonds of friendship. Though its story has an intimidating reputation for being complicated – aided by the fact that several vital games in the series were released on various consoles – newcomers, or those who didn’t play all the games, shouldn’t worry about jumping into Kingdom Heart III. To catch everyone up, we created a guide to help untangle the intricate web of lore surrounding the heroes and their journeys.

Ventus, Terra, and Aqua 

Who They Are
Ventus, Terra, and Aqua debuted in Birth by Sleep, a prequel to the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. The story centers on the three keyblade masters-in-training whose friendship is tested when Xehanort – the main antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts universe – sets a plan in motion to gain power.

Character Traits
Terra is the oldest of the bunch. He is driven, self-sufficient, and has single-mindedly worked towards becoming Keyblade Master his entire life. Aqua, though a compassionate and devoted friend, can best either of her fellow keyblade hopefuls in battle and has unwavering faith in her path. Both characters are quickly approaching their Mark of Mastery exam to see if they are worthy to be Keyblade Masters. Ventus – rash, passionate, and loyal – is younger than the other two, and so is not partaking in this rite of passage, but its outcome changes the course of his future too.

Friendships Tested
During their Mark of Mastery exam, Xehanort – a visiting Keyblade Master who secretly believes in the power of darkness – corrupts the proceedings. This causes Terra to fail, shattering his lifelong dream; his mood only worsens when Aqua passes successfully. Her newfound duty, however, is what causes a rift between Aqua and her closest friends. As a Keyblade Master, Aqua must uphold the light, which now means keeping an eye on Terra, who shows disturbing signs of turning to the darkness, and trying to ensure Ventus stays hidden and safe. Thinking that Terra is in eminent danger, Ventus recklessly follows him, but soon struggles with evidence of Terra’s descent

Where Are They Now
In the final showdown between dark and light, Xehanort reveals he wants to cast the world in darkness, and the trio realize they have to come together to defend against the threat. Though evil doesn’t triumph, it isn’t exactly defeated either; Xehanort forcibly takes controls of Terra’s body, Aqua falls into the realm of darkness attempting to save Terra, and by sacrificing himself to spoil Xehanort’s plan, Ventus falls into a comatose state.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi

Who Are They
Starring in the first Kingdom Hearts game Sora, Kari, and Riku are childhood friends who know in their hearts there is more out there and feel trapped on their tiny island. Convinced they are being kept from something greater and determined to find it, the three friends build a raft to escape. The night before they planned on making their journey, a monstrous storm filled with dark creatures tears them and their homeland apart. Unlike their Birth By Sleep counterparts, they stumble into the struggle between light and dark completely unprepared.

Character Traits
Sora and Riku are both stubborn and aspire to be better than the other, which pits them against each other a lot. This isn’t such a big deal when it’s only playing around with wooden swords to gain the attention of Kairi, but it becomes a world-threatening issue when they gain the power of the keyblade. Sora is a little goofier and more naïve than his cool and serious rival, but they both care deeply about their friends. Kairi is much wiser than her male cohorts and treats both with understanding and kindness.

Friendships Tested
Riku, always having been curious about the other worlds, embraces the darkness as his ticket out of his small-town life. Sora doesn’t yet understand what is happening and tries desperately to reach Riku, but his heart is too full of Light to follow. They get separated and Sora emerges from the dark cloud holding a keyblade. With little time wonder why the magical blade appeared, Sora goes looking for Kairi but when he thinks he has found her, Kairi is blasted toward him by a force of dark energy and disappears after passing through him like a ghost. As it turns out, Kairi, knowing she was the key to opening a door to darkness, gifts her heart to Sora in that moment for safekeeping. Because of this, she remains lifeless when the characters discover her later. Riku blames Sora for Kairi’s unresponsive state and believes that Sora – because he refuses to use darkness – is not doing everything in his power to help her. Sora, on the other hand, has seen the devastation Riku caused when thoughtlessly using the darkness and hates seeing the villain his friend has become.

The difficulties between the two protagonists continue even after Kairi is revived and safely returned to their now restored island. Sora’s enemies plague him with a Riku look-alike that tries to convince Sora he didn’t truly care about Riku. The real Riku, is haunted by his own inner demons realizing the pain he has caused. Kairi, now revealed as a Princess of Heart who is also able to wield a keyblade, recognizes Riku despite a disguise and reunites him with Sora. Together, they temporarily defeat the forces of darkness and all three briefly return to their home island before the two boys are summoned to undergo the Mark of Mastery exam. If there was a situation that could test their new-found unity and bring back out their childish rivalry, this would be it. However, when Riku is the only one to pass, Sora sincerely congratulates his friend without envy, though he is still set on becoming a Keyblade Master.

Where Are They Now
Riku is now tasked with rescuing Aqua from the Dark realm, while Sora will be seeking out other fellow Keyblade wielders for the final showdown. One of the keyblade wielders will be Kairi.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy

Who Are They
Mickey rules over Disney Castle in the Kingdom Hearts universe, with Donald and Goofy as his faithful knights. Mickey became a Keyblade Master under the tutelage of Yen Sid, a powerful wizard renowned for his wisdom. Mickey originally believes that the darkness should be destroyed but grows to realize that light and dark maintain an important balance. He is often gallivanting off to help the guardians of light when they need it most. In Birth By Sleep, he arrives in the nick of time to help Aqua protect a very young Kairi from the forces of darkness. Luckily, Aqua returns the favor and saves Mickey when he is later kidnapped and left stranded in space. Mickey has been a saving grace throughout the series. Once again he saves the day when he charges in at the last minute to help Sora, Riku, and Kairi face down the darkness. Mickey, along with Riku, sacrifices himself to close the door to the darkness. Throughout the series, Donald and Goofy are searching for him in order to help in his quest.

Character Traits
Mickey is brave, powerful, and a crucial ally to anyone who wants to defend the light. Donald and Goofy are lovable, but bumbling, companions that nonetheless want to help. Though Donald and Goofy are mainly concerned with finding their King, when they bump into Sora in the first Kingdom Hearts, the trio quickly team up, building a strong bond.

Friendships Tested
Though these three often get separated, Donald and Goofy never waver in their loyalty to Mickey, and Mickey never doubts their devotion. So, unlike the other heroes in Kingdom Hearts, their journeys don’t throw them into serious conflict with each other, even if Donald delights in grumpily nagging the slow-witted Goofy.

Where Are They Now
Mickey, safely reunited with Donald and Goofy, helped to oversee Riku and Sora’s Mark of Mastery exam alongside his master Yen Sid. The group has concluded that Xehanort will return and they need to collect other keyblade wielders to face him. Mickey is accompanying Riku on his quest to save Aqua, while Donald and Goofy will support Sora in finding other keyblade wielders.

Roxas, Axel/Lea, and Xion

Who Are They
This is the odd trio out because they begin their story aligned with the darkness in 358/2 Days which takes place between Kingdom Hearts and its sequel. The friends are a group of Nobodies, which are created when someone strong loses their heart. They were recruited by Organization XIII with the promise that they would become real humans again. Roxas is the Nobody that Sora created when he sacrificed himself to give Kairi her heart back in the first Kingdom Hearts.

Character Traits
Roxas is good-spirited, but questions his place in the world when he falls in with Organization XIII. He soon becomes friends with his quick-witted, caviler superior Axel and the shy new-girl on the block Xion. The three companions gather together after their Organization missions to relax and they become strongly attached to each other despite being Nobodies who aren’t supposed to have feelings.

Friendships Tested
Unfortunately for the black-clad three musketeers, their days of eating sea-salt ice-cream together comes to an end when Roxas and Xion start asking questions about who they are and what the Organization really wants. As a higher-ranking member of the Organization, Axel is forced to move against his friends. Xion soon finds that she is not a Nobody, but an imperfect copy of Roxas, meant to replace him if he doesn’t help the Organization. Roxas and Xion battle each other when they realize only one of them can survive. Xion is content to lose the fight to allow Roxas to take down the Organization. Axel and Roxas come to blows after the Organization tells Axel to either capture Roxas or be killed himself. Axel can’t bring himself to harm his friend and is upset when Roxas chooses to remerge with Sora. Distraught, Axel attempts to kidnap Kairi to force Sora to recreate Roxas, but ends up sorry for what he has done. Despite their history, Axel saves Sora from danger with an attack so powerful that he obliterates himself. However, that sacrifice allows Axel to regain his true human form – Lea.

Where Are They Now
Xion and Roxas have both willingly disappeared from existence to join with the other keyblade wielders. Axel now in his real human form, saves Sora from Organization XIII and joins in the fight against darkness.

While you can fall further down the rabbit hole with Kingdom Hearts, this should set you in a good place to begin Kingdom Hearts III. If you are interested in learning more about the story, our overview of the series’ plot is a good place to start. We also have trailers, hands-on impressions, and a deep-dive with game director Tetsuya Nomura. Kingdom Hearts III is launching on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 29.

Rage 2 debuted with a bombastic trailer full of neon color splashes. It was a sign Rage 2 would not look like the first Rage, which was defined by brown horizons.

Avalanche aims to create a variety of visual variations across Rage 2’s world, and that process starts with art concepts. We sat down with Rage 2’s art director Jeremy Miller, who detailed the process for creating Rage 2’s world and why he thinks it has an insanity problem.

“A core part of the Rage world is wasteland cyberpunk. It’s not the cyberpunk world where you go into a desert, it is a post, post-apocalyptic world with a wasteland that is sometimes lush that also has a strong cyberpunk layer.

“Visual variation was core for us, and that is supported within the character factions and every part of the world. I would rather that we have a really beautiful, dynamic world rather than super high fidelity cups, for example.”

“Each faction is full of terrible people. But they're also awesome. You can’t help but kind of like them.”

“Rage doesn’t have a resource problem. It has an insanity problem. The world is filled with stuff. There are computers and computer parts, glass, guns, and cars. If you want to get stuff, there is plenty of it laying around and underground… People have spent years taking all this stuff and hacking it together to get it into working order. So we have this weird leveling of all technology so you’ll see people with holograms and right beside, someone has taken old smart tablet and nailed it to a wall. The world has a lot of resources, but no one knows how to use it all and people are crazy.”

“When the Apophis asteroid hit there was this sense that – as far as everyone was concerned – when they came back up, the world was going to be Mars. The planet was going to be completely barren. There is an element of that sort of spacefaring colonialism worked into the costumes. You can see this subtle NASA vibe in their outfits.”

“One of our key pillars is this is about fun, and that is a huge element of crazy, but if the crazy we create is just depressing and not fun, then it’s not for Rage. It always has to have the horrific quality of, ‘oh my God! This is so awful! Why would they do this? But I can’t help but kind of like them.' That’s the sweet spot for us.”

For more on Rage 2, be sure to check out our cover story hub by clicking on the banner below.

Sonic the Hedgehog as a movie was always a collar-tugging proposition, but a recent movie poster teaser has gotten a lot of people scratching their heads. Even former Sonic the Hedgehog developers are having trouble understanding what is going on here. So of course, when something that strange comes about, the internet as a whole goes crazy, and that produces some of the best stuff the internet can put out.

We've gathered some of the best (and, uh, hopefully safest) Sonic the Hedgehog movie...let's call it fan art and reactions. Feast your eyes on what people think Sonic will look like in his film debut and how they feel about it. Keep in mind, he's still a very naked and seemingly muscular humanoid hedgehog, so while we've tried to keep out anything too bad, don't be shocked if your boss has some words for you if you're laughing along at work.

It remains to be seen what Sonic actually looks like in the movie once he steps out of the darkness and into the spotlight. After the brouhaha over what this current design looks like, however, I would not be shocked to see Paramount go back to the drawing board. There may only be so much they can do with principal photography being either complete or near-complete on the movie, but they can probably make it look more palatable to the general audience.

Pandemic is one of those rare board games that has breached out of the hobby market, and has at least a passing familiarity from a more mainstream game-playing public. And there’s good reason for that. The original Pandemic offers a tense and rewarding loop, in which players work together to halt the spread of disease around the world. Just a few weeks ago, that original game found itself on my list of best gateway games to invite new players into the fold.

The formula and gameplay of Pandemic is surprisingly flexible, and that means publisher Z-Man Games has been able to transition the concept over to other themes and settings, overlaying the core gameplay loop onto new ideas that have little or nothing to do with disease outbreaks. The latest and probably most dramatic of these standalone variations is Pandemic: Fall of Rome. Here, players control the leaders of the Western Roman Empire as the barbarian hordes press in from every direction. Through combat, diplomacy, and even corrupt edicts, you and your friends must hold the line. The resulting desperate scramble to save civilization is a ton of fun.

Newcomers shouldn’t be scared of giving Fall of Rome a chance, but go in with the awareness that it’s a step up in complexity from the original game upon which it is based. As a player, you adopt the role of a Consul (senate chairman), Vestalis (priestess), Mercator (merchant), or other notable figure in Roman life, working together with the other players to halt several discrete tribes of foreign invaders by any means, and thereby hold together the strained Roman state. Move between cities, build forts, and deploy Roman legions. And even as you go to war against the attackers, you must simultaneously find grounds for peace with at least some of them, opening up the possibility of converting them to the Empire’s cause. In gameplay, you move your character around a board representing Europe and its cities from hundreds of years ago, all the while gathering cards that represent those cities, which allow you to fortify each urban center.

Invading armies follow migration paths as they creep toward Rome, and you must decide where to try and halt their advance

A fascinating card shuffling and drawing mechanic sees the game push back at your efforts, sending out invasions and exacerbating trouble spots around the Empire as cards that have already shown up repeatedly get drawn again and again. The sensation is always one of feeling like you’re on the brink of disaster in multiple places, and it’s all you can do to keep from losing for just one more turn. In this way, more than anything else, Fall of Rome feels most aligned with its parent game.

While Fall of Rome remains accessible to almost any player group, there’s no doubt that returning fans of Pandemic will find the biggest reward. Not only will many of the rule concepts feel familiar, but you’ll be amused by the ways that the disease concepts of the original have been tweaked to match the new vibe of invading barbarian hordes. No longer do cities outbreak, but they are sacked by tribes like the Huns and Visigoths. Instead of playing as the medic as they sweep clear large number of disease cubes, you have the Magister Militum, whose special abilities help to clear more barbarians from a city under siege. You can’t cure an epidemic, but perhaps you can forge a tense alliance with the Anglo-Saxons.

Those comparative elements are fun, but I don’t want to leave the impression that Fall of Rome is simply a reskin of an existing game. While the DNA of Pandemic flows through any given session, there are several elements that are handled differently, most of which ratchet up the complexity a notch or two, but also result in an intriguing flow of events. The barbarian hordes all move along migration paths that represent the way different populations pushed against the borders of the Empire between the 3rd and 5th centuries. In another clever twist, many player event cards allow you to complete a standard version of an action, or a more potent but corrupt version of the same action. In doing so, you might do a better job of propping up the Empire in the short term, but you also push the broader society one step closer to decline and collapse, emulating the political mismanagement, greed, and power-grabs that historically characterized the last days of the Roman Empire.

The core card drawing/shuffling of Pandemic is largely intact, but many other systems are dramatically reworked for the new theme

The biggest shift away from the original Pandemic is also the aspect of the game that will be the most divisive. Battles are handled through the roll of custom dice, which dictate the outcome of events in any given city as the Roman legions face off against the invaders. That’s a big departure, since the source game had a much more deterministic path to the resolution of disease cube removal. While I appreciate that distinction, in this instance, I found the dice mechanic to be rewarding and matched well to the game’s concept. As commanders of the Roman forces, I like the idea that war is unpredictable, and that even the best laid plans can come to nothing; sometimes Constantinople’s walls are toppled, despite the Senate’s most fervent military support.

I also like the way the game handles city defense and fortification. At any given time, Rome can sustain a limited number of forts across the Empire, acting as bulwarks against foreign aggression. Do you draw the line at Carthage to halt the Vandals, or keep the Anglo Saxons and Franks from pillaging Londinium, where London will one day stand? Forts ensure that large deployments of the Roman Legions will only take a partial hit when the city is struck, but even mighty armies crumble quickly without defenses, as barbarian ambushes wash over them, and entire swaths of allied forces can be lost in a single turn.

Fall of Rome closes its rulebook with a page of historical notes, and it’s the first place that admits the game is not meant to be a historical simulation. Historians will be quick to point out the multitudinous avenues that brought the once-great civilization to ruin, and that foreign invasion was only part of the equation. Even so, for a straightforward cooperative game that plays in a little over an hour (in my experience), it’s an intriguing conceit, especially juxtaposed against the backdrop of real-world events. While the game never steps past its historical inspirations, the timing of its release offers some interesting avenues to conversation. Are you really playing the good guys in this story? What’s the inflection point between civilization and survival for one group, versus the safety and security of another? It’s telling that one of the only paths to victory for the player group is through locking down alliances and integration with at least some of the foreign cultures moving into their territory, reflecting some historical truisms that modern society struggles to confront.

Pandemic: Fall of Rome plays 1 to 5 players, and your early games will take at least an hour to complete

Those interpretations are subjective, but even stripping that layer away, Pandemic: Fall of Rome does an awful lot of things right. Balanced (but very challenging to win) gameplay keeps all the players engaged and thinking, and a simple adjustment allows for variable difficulty settings. Canny mechanical systems reinforce the theme and setting. There’s even a first-rate solo variant included in the rulebook, in which the player takes on the role of the Roman Emperor, with the ability to dip into the Treasury to command victory for Rome; I love when cooperative games offer solitaire options, which provides an ideal way for new owners to try a full game before introducing it to friends. Fall of Rome capitalizes on the successful formula Pandemic first introduced, but offers a departure that feels independent and exciting. Whether you love Pandemic’s gameplay and you just need a new perspective, or you were just never excited about the disease-centric theme of the original, Fall of Rome could be a welcome addition to your shelf.

If cooperative games aren’t your thing, worry not. Click the banner below to explore the full backlog of Top of the Table recommendations, and hopefully you can find a new board game that fits the bill. When in doubt, drop me an email, and I’ll be happy to help you locate the right game for your group, or even just the right last-minute gift for the gamer in your family.

Watch the Game Informer crew find new ways to take down targets in this look back at one of Agent 47's earliest assignments. Game Informer gave Hitman 2: Silent Assassin an 8.5 when it released in 2002, saying it is a "thinking person's shooter." In this episode of Replay we prove this quote wrong, and show that you don't need to think to succeed. You just need to fire bullets in the general direction of enemies. While we fail miserably at stealth, we do end up making good progress into the game, and even show off one of the game's more creative levels.

We spend the entire episode playing Hitman 2, and wanted to see more of it before we had to say goodbye. Let us know what you think of Hitman 2 (both the old version and the new one) in the comments section below. We'll see you again in seven days!

The characters in Rage 2 are insane, but living through an apocalypse will do that to you. Avalanche Studios has spent a great deal of time dreaming up the inhabitants for Rage 2’s chaotic post-apocalyptic world. During our recent cover-story trip to Avalanche we talked with the team about this bizarre cast and got an extensive breakdown of their roles in the world. Here’s a deeper look at some of the odd people you’ll meet during your time with Avalanche and id’s bombastic open-world shooter.

Aunt Prowley

Prowley is a highly capable ranger who raised Walker (Rage 2’s protagonist). She is not Walker’s biological mom, but she raised him alongside her own daughter, Lily. Avalanche says Lily’s father was a mysterious stranger, which left us wondering if his reveal would be important to Rage 2’s story. Regardless, Aunt Prowley, Lily, and Walker were a tight-knit group. Unfortunately, Lily doesn’t have nanotechnology, so she can’t use the high-tech gear that Walker has, and she doesn’t have his powers, which sparked a friendly rivalry within the family.

Dr. Kvasir

Dr. Kvasir is one of Walker’s prime mission givers. He is a crazy scientist who lost the ability to walk. He used to have robotic legs, but he found it tiresome to continually fix them, so he eventually decided to create a pair of legs that could heal. The dim-witted mutant under him is called Legs, and Legs’ spinal cord is fused with Dr. Kvasir's. The doctor can control Legs’ movements and also feels all the pain that Legs experiences. Legs has a mind, but it’s so tiny that it doesn’t really process any information or have an independent thoughts.

Klegg Clayton

An up-and-coming business mogul, Klegg is the son of the mayor of Wellspring from the original Rage. After his father died, Klegg invested the family money and eventually became the richest man in the wasteland. Now, Klegg owns Mutant Bash TV, which is a kind of barbaric, no-holds-barred deathmatch show. However, Klegg isn’t satisfied with his wealth; he also wants political power, so he’s following in his father’s footsteps and running for mayor. This maniac’s fashion sense comes from his obsession with images of celebrities featured in old magazines from before the apocalypse.

Chazz Morass

The host of the wasteland’s most-popular racing show, Chazz is an eccentric character, to say the least. Avalanche was inspired to create Chazz after reading an old article from Mad Magazine about a man who chose to stand out by wearing a checkered German helmet. Chazz has a creole drawl, like someone from the backwaters of Louisiana. Not only is he is always eating, everything he talks about is somehow connected to food. For example, when he talks about car races, he might describe them as sizzling and say things like, “The grease rises to the top of the pan.”

Desdemonya Cold

Desdemonya is the post-apocalyptic equivalent of a TV star, and she hosts Mutant Bash TV, the wasteland’s barbaric form of entertainment. This aging showgirl is obsessed with old-time cabaret and shows from Broadway, and she speaks in a weird mishmash of French and German, because she believes that’s what the aristocrats of the old world used to do. The team was somewhat inspired by Carol Burnett’s performance in the movie version of Annie. While Desdemonya might have once been beautiful, she is now well past her prime. However, she still acts very sensual.

For more on Rage 2 be sure to check out our cover story hub by clicking on the banner below.

It's another year in the books, and today I'm joined today by colleagues Matt Bertz and Brian Shea to talk about what's been going on with this year's sports games as well as look ahead a little to 2019.

Have something to add? Say it in the comments section below!

2018 has been an interesting year for me. I ditched most of my social media platforms, embraced sobriety, became a vegetarian, and in general have tried to focus on finding validation through creation and self-acceptance. As such, the process has made it difficult to see the world as anything other than a series of changing states. However, in spite of that inclination, it's easy to see that some video games have been about change this year. I could spend a fair amount of time talking about what Sony pulling out of E3 means for one of gaming’s oldest reveal-laden extravaganzas, or grapple with how the boxed product of my youth is becoming less of a sure thing as games as services continue the rise.

Instead of industry trends, however, I’ve always endeavored to make The Virtual Life about the games themselves and what they say about what it is to be human. So, for this year’s last column, I’m gonna talk about God of War and Red Dead Redemption II one more time — specifically how they tackle the concept of change to great effect.  Be warned, heavy endgame spoilers for both titles ahead.

Now obviously both games exist as companion pieces to games that have come before. Red Dead Redemption II, in spite of its title, is a prequel while God of War is a long-awaited sequel. The appeal of sequels and prequels are rooted in change. Think about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. So much of the hype for that film was that people were excited to see how that universe had changed, how the heroes had shifted as characters over the years. Story continuations are only good if they acknowledge that people change. They live, they die, and in between they make decisions big and small about who they’re going to be.

God of War opens with Kratos already having made a choice about who he is. After the bloody chaos of the seven God Of War games that preceded this one, our demigod has accepted a life as hermit parading to be mortal in Midgard. He fell in love with a woman named Faye and had a son. He does not seek out violence and is trying to carve out a life of simple living in the frozen countryside away from the bickering of this realm’s gods.

The fact that so much of Kratos’ actual change takes place off-screen and in the years between God Of War 3 and this entry makes his presentation in the opening hours compelling. The quiet, skulking man has traces of the angry demigod we know, such as when he growls “I told you to go away. You would not listen,” after punching the mysterious stranger. It’s a great little scene where Kratos’ rage has layers: he’s angry because he was punched in the face, because he was baited into a fight, and because his default state is being angry all the time. Watching him lose the ounce of control he's mastered over the years in that one scene does far more efficient storytelling than four novels dedicated to Kratos’ gradual change ever could.

The journey itself in God of War is also about change, specifically the change that happens in our lives when someone we love leaves us. Both Kratos and his son Atreus are essentially both adrift in their own ways when Faye passes. Kratos does not know how to be a father and Atreus has lost his primary teacher. While the latest entry in God Of War has everything the series has become famous for such as jaw-dropping boss fights and satisfying combat, the truly special, magical part of the game is watching the father and son actually develop something closer to a real relationship than the estrangement between them at the beginning.

It’s not an immediate transformation or one that packs up tidily, with Kratos and Atreus hardly being overjoyed about one another’s company at the end of the game. However, that’s what makes it so great. Seeing Kratos slowly accept his son along the journey enough to reveal the truth of his haunted past is immensely rewarding, especially when it culminates with this fantastic exchange:

Kratos: Boy! Listen close. I'm from a land called Sparta. I made a deal with a god that cost me my soul. I killed many who were deserving...and many who were not.

Atreus: Is this how it always ends? Sons killing their mothers? Their fathers?

Kratos: No. We will be the gods we choose to be. Not those who have been. Who I was....is not who you'll be. We must be better.

It’s here that we get a true glimpse of who the new Kratos actually is, beneath all the blood and anger: a man who wants his son to escape what he was. It’s a moment where one of gaming’s biggest anti-heroes and emotional shut-ins performs a selfless act by letting his son know that the future can be better for him and that everyone should strive to be better people. With that flourish, God Of War transforms from a nihilistic series into one about hard-won hope.

If the latest God Of War is about people rising from the ruins of their former selves, then Red Dead Redemption II is about how people come to ruin. As a prequel, Red Dead Redemption II doesn’t tell us anything new about the eventual fates of the Marston family: we already know how it all ends. John and Abigail die, and Jack Marston becomes the gunslinger his father never wanted him to be. However, Red Dead Redemption II shows the beginning of the story that eventually leads to that place and in the process shows the tragic, destructive change of entropy as it wears down on the Dutch Van Der Linde gang.

Throughout the game’s lengthy story campaign, we watch as the gang is whittled down to nothing by a combination of elements: Pinkertons, poor decisions, a leader slowly losing his mind, in-group fighting. There is no single enemy in the game, no big bad to pursue. The Van Der Linde gang is done for simply because it can’t compete with the ravages of modern times and paranoia. There’s an apparent bright spot at the end where protagonist Arthur Morgan’s sacrifice buys John and Abigail a chance to start a new life. This leads to an epilogue filled with heart-warming moments, like a musical montage where John builds Beecher’s Hope in order to win Abigail back as well as a scene where he proposes to her. However, all of these scenes are undercut by what we already know: Mere months into the future, John Marston will step outside of a farmhouse and die in a hail of gunfire so his family may live.

This bit of knowledge is particularly painful in a sequence at the end of the epilogue where John makes up his mind to pursue Micah, who does his fair share in unraveling the gang. John has spent the entirety of the epilogue trying to prove to Abigail and himself that he can be a rancher, a man who can make an honest living. In the end, he can’t escape who he is, and goes to grab his guns. He and Abiail’s exchange as he prepares to head out and do the deed is essentially acting out the theme of the whole game: people very rarely change.

Abigail: I’m begging you. No. You’d risk all of this? For what? For Micah?

John: All of this wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Arthur, Sadie, and all the folks as fell. If I let him go, this place ain’t no more real than one of Jack’s dragons.

Abigail lives in a modern world of practicality, where people should make the smart choices so they can survive and take care of the people around him. John can’t escape that old world sense of honor, where violence must be paid with violence and, as he says in the original Red Dead Redemption “nothing gets forgiven.” Ultimately it’s John’s inability to change and let go of the past that leads the Pinkertons right to the Marstons’ doorsteps and brings about doom. It’s an ending that reinforces the satisfying yet bleak conclusion of the first game after Jack guns down the man who killed his father. Can anyone resist the opportunity for vengeance when it arises, even if it means their downfall? Red Dead Redemption has an answer to that question but it’s probably one you don’t like.

I love that in a single year, two massive, high-budget titles with quality writing and production values can take a single theme and run in opposite directions with it. Here's hoping we see many more years of fantastic interactive stories with radically different and compelling takes on similar themes.

For more on Red Dead Redemption II, you can read my defense of the game's pacing here or if you crave all things Kratos, here are some words about whether or not he can be redeemed.

Both Peter Parker and Insomniac Games know the end is near in Silver Lining, the final installment in The City That Never Sleeps DLC campaign. They race to the finish, almost like this story is ticking down like a timer on a bomb. Mary Jane Watson drops big news on Peter, but neither of them find the time to discuss it. All of the big story moments happen on the phone, while Spider-Man races to his next destination.

The flighty pace accompanies the action, which is even more bombastic and challenging than the core game, thanks to new aerial units that can fabricate large stasis fields to limit Spider-Man's web swinging. All of Hammerhead's forces are decked out in Project Olympus gear, and their numbers are great, especially in the optional hideout encounters, which are brutally difficult and a hell of a workout for Spider-Man. Get used to switching between gadgets in these fights. You'll likely need to use most of them.

This final chapter focuses mostly on combat in the story missions, but does slow things down for a brief second to give players a glimpse at Hammerhead's underground lair, another new location that is used effectively for storytelling reasons. One of my favorite moments across the entire game occurs in this location, and is the key moment in Silver Sable and Spider-Man coming to terms with each other's unorthodox styles of crime fighting.

The events that unfolded in The Heist and Turf Wars set the stage for a showdown against Hammerhead, and Silver Lining delivers it in a big way. This battle is surprisingly easy, but delivers some powerful blows and cinematic moments, and is located in a cool location.

Miles Morales, Mary Jane Watson, and Yuri Watanabe's stories move forward, but you're mostly hearing about them through a phone. Yes, this installment includes a post-credits sequence and it is something you'll love seeing, as it gives us a good idea of what is coming next. The camera even pivots in a way that makes it seem like you'll be able to play it now, but alas that isn't the case.

The City That Never Sleeps was a fun ride, but its ambitions were clearly higher than its execution. The story wanted to slow down more to focus on Peter Parker and his relationships, but the spotlight remained fixated on Spider-Man. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there were definitely missed story opportunities. Regardless, it kept me entertained from start to finish, and showed me just how challenging and chaotic that combat system can be. I just wish we could keep getting new DLC stories up until the launch of a potential sequel, which I hope arrives tomorrow, but is probably years away.

As we revealed earlier this month, you don't need to play the original Rage to understand Rage 2's story. However, there are definitely some surprises and nice nods to the original game for returning players. “One of the great things about the Rage universe is that it’s very open, very flexible," says Tim Willits, Id Software's studio director. "So the opportunities for expansions and content and new games and different characters is rich because we’re not boxed into a world that has any rules. We really purposely set out to create a world that’s open enough and flexible enough to have a continued experience.”

The flexible nature of the franchise means a lot of things. First and foremost, tossing the events of the Rage tie-in novel by Matthew Costello, by the wayside. However, it also means that while Rage 2 tells a standalone story, it's populated by characters returning from the original game. Loosum Hagar taught the first game's protagonist Nicholas Raine how to use the series' trademark wing stick. She returns as the leader of one of the factions in Rage 2. As the gunslinging mayor of Wellspring, she's older, wiser, and a bit more vicious than the last time we saw her. Captain Marshall, the leader of the resistance from the first game, also returns as a bar owner taking up arms against the Authority in a war that never seems to end.

The factions, which you can read about here, are all evolved versions of bandits from the original game too. For example, The Goon Squad are an offshoot of the first game's The Wasted and The River Hogs are an evolution of the Gearheads. “The bandits grow really powerful [between the two games]," explains narrative director Odd Ahlgren. "The trade barons of Wellspring become the power players in this world so it’s bandits versus trade moguls.”

The most interesting familiar face might be General Martin Cross, the antagonist of the first game. Avalanche and Id felt that for all his evil majesty, players didn't get that much of a chance to square off against Cross during the original game and are hoping that his return in the second fixes that.

And what of Nicholas Raine? The gruff, silent hero from the first game? Will we spot any sign of him amongst all these familiar faces? “He might still be alive, out there somewhere. He’s certainly a myth in this world," says Ahlgren teasingly.

For more on Rage 2 be sure to check out our cover story hub by clicking on the banner below.