Star Wars: The Acolyte Creator On Why It’s A Good Thing One Writer Knew Nothing About The Series
One of the writers for the upcoming Star Wars TV show The Acolyte had never seen the sci-fi series prior to joining the writers room. Series creator Leslye Headland told The Hollywood Reporter that she intentionally hired this person–who only knew the series might have a dog in it–because they could help question some of the decisions that Headland, a lifelong fan, wanted to make.
“I just thought it would be good to have the perspective of a person that had literally never seen Star Wars until she was in the room. And she said to me, ‘Why do you want me in this room? I’ve never seen Star Wars. I have no idea. I think there’s a dog in it, but I don’t know anything.’ And I was like, ‘First of all, you’re an incredible writer, but that’s why I want you here. I want you to be questioning narrative.'”
Headland added: “I don’t want myself, who’s a lifelong fan, to just be relying on particular references in order to create emotional beats. I want those emotional beats to be earned and checked by someone that isn’t super familiar with it.”
Headland said this person, whom she did not name, watched the original trilogy over Christmas break and then the prequels, and was texting Headland about the major reveals like Luke and Vader being related and Luke and Leia being brother and sister.
“All those things that we’ve known forever were blowing her mind. She was like, ‘Luke and Leia are brother and sister!? What the f**k!?’ She was writing all these things to me, and I just thought it was so funny. So she educated herself in order to be in the room, but it was really fun to have somebody like her to help collaborate.”
It’s been widely reported that Rogue One and Andor writer-director Tony Gilroy was not a lifelong fan of Star Wars before joining those projects. In fact, he said he was “not a fan” of the series prior to making Andor, and that he used GameSpot sister site Wookiepedia to learn a lot.
The Acolyte premieres June 4 on Disney+. The show is set during the High Republic and is described as a mystery-thriller that sort of flips the usual Star Wars formula on its head.
“If Star Wars is about the underdog versus the institution, [in The Acolyte] the Jedi are the institution,” Headland said. “Whatever you think The Acolyte is, it’s not that. It’s a drop in the bucket, baby. Just hang in there and check it out.”
Helldivers 2 Patch Adddresses The Game’s Exploding Mech Problem
A new Helldivers 2 patch has gone live, and amongst numerous tweaks, a fix to stop mechs from exploding is quite welcome. Mechs were only recently added to Helldivers 2, and while these mobile weapons platforms come in very handy when you find yourself outgunned by Automatons or out-oozed by Terminids, they did tend to blow up when firing a missile while turning.
Players can also expect to see “reduced” instances of enemies spawning right on top of them–very inconvenient when you’re attempting to demolish a Terminid nest from a safe distance–and several tweaks to the dynamic and hazardous weather effects in the game. Meteor showers will now do slightly less damage and the explosion radius has been reduced, volcanic activity is slightly less dangerous, and lighting on Fenrir 3 has been adjusted to be less bright to improve visibility during meteor showers.
While these issues have been addressed, developer Arrowhead is aware of several other bugs in the game. The studio is working to address player loadouts resetting whenever the game is reset, various issues involving friend invites and cross-play, and Exosuits being delivered in a damaged or broken state. You can read the full patch notes below.
In other Helldivers 2 news, players are convinced a third faction has secretly arrived, flying bugs are a new threat to managed democracy, new Helldivers 2 merch has the Super Earth stamp of approval, and the Cutting Edge battle pass has some great toys to unlock.
Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.103
Overview
- Fixes to the EXO-45 Patriot exosuit, game stats, UI, and general stability.
- Balance improvements for planetary hazards and patrol spawns.
Balancing
- Balanced and adjusted spawn rates for the various planet hazards including tremors, meteor showers, volcanic activity, fire tornados, and ion storms. Hazards should now spawn less frequently during missions.
- Meteor Shower has received the following changes in addition to reduced spawn rate:
- Reduced explosion radius
- Reduced meteor damage slightly
- Reduced meteor velocity slightly
- Meteor color has been changed slightly to try and make it easier to spot.
- Volcanic Activity has received the following changes in addition to reduced spawn rate:
- Reduced explosion radius
- Reduced rock velocity slightly
- Lighting on Fenrir III has been adjusted to be a bit less bright to improve visibility during meteor showers
Fixes
- Reduced incidents of patrols spawning on players
- Exosuit no longer destroys itself when firing a missile while turning
- Exosuit retains its melee functionality, even when damaged
Crash fixes for the following scenarios
- When ALT+Tabbing in fullscreen mode
- After changing voice over language
- PS5 boot issue
- Using a stim inside of an Exosuit while wielding a grenade
- When joining an ongoing mission
- When idling on the title screen
- Shots from arc-based weapons, such as ‘Blitzer’ shotgun and ‘AC-8 Arc Thrower’ stratagem now count towards “Shots fired” and “Shots hit” stats
- Fixed network desync issue with downed Automaton dropships
- Fixed Elgato Stream Deck Foot Pedal support
Known issues
These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.
Various issues involving friend invites and cross-play
- Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the Friend Requests tab
- Players cannot unfriend other players befriended via friend code
- Players cannot unblock players that were not in their Friends list beforehand
- Players cannot befriend players with Steam names shorter than 3 characters
- Hellpod steering close to large or important objects is currently not functioning as intended, resulting in steering being disabled in a large area around the object
- Online features are not functioning when console language is set to Ukrainian
- Players may be unable to select loadout when joining a multiplayer via an activity card
- Planet liberation reaches 100% at the end of every Defend mission
- Drowning in deep water with a Vitality Booster equipped puts Helldiver in a broken state
- Exosuits will sometimes be delivered in a damaged or broken state
- Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location
- Pink artifacts may appear in the sky when setting off large explosions
- Text chat box display is obstructed by the cinematic letterboxing during extraction
- Sometimes the player’s loadout customizations will reset after restarting the game
Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver’s Trailer Goes AllIn On Being Zack Snyder’s Star Wars
The second part of Zack Snyder’s space opera epic Rebel Moon is almost here, and Netflix premiered the first trailer that hints at war in the stars, light swords and all.
Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver will pick up exactly where Part One: A Child of Fire left off. It follows the aftermath of the battle between Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) and his Imperium troops, and we have the newly established resistance led by Kora (Sofia Boutella), Nemesis (Doona Bae), Titus (Djimon Hounsou), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Tarak (Staz Nair) and Milius (E Duffy). Ray Fisher’s Darrian sacrificed himself in the battle in the most dramatic way. Check out the trailer below.
Among the heavy metal ballistics going off, we finally see what robotic Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) is capable of, as he takes out a group of soldiers with his arms and a gun right after he says he has no choice but to fight. It’s been no secret that Snyder evolved Rebel Moon from a rejected Star Wars script and here the director gets to really go all in on those kinds of visuals.
The official description: “Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver continues the epic saga of Kora [Sofia Boutella] and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld. On the eve of their battle the warriors must face the truths of their own pasts, each revealing why they fight. As the full force of the Realm bears down on the burgeoning rebellion, unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge, and legends are made.”
Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver arrives on Netflix on April 19.
Game Of Thrones Actor Hears GoldenEye 007 Game Music In His Sleep
Some video games stick with us even after we put down the controller. For Game of Thrones and 3 Body Problem actor John Bradley, the GoldenEye 007 soundtrack has stayed with him for decades. In fact, he told IGN: “I hear that music in my sleep.”
Bradley, who’s best known as Samwell Tarly in Westeros, talked about why GoldenEye is his favorite game. “That really was the game of my youth,” the actor said. “My N64 was my first console, and that was the first game I got with it.”
Along with the music, Bradley pointed out another unique aspect of the Rare-developed FPS that he won’t forget. “That feeling of dying and then the blood trickles down the screen, it’s a feeling that you never quite get over,” he said.
Last year, GoldenEye 007 was a finalist for the World Video Game Hall of Fame, though it wasn’t ultimately selected to be inducted. The James Bond FPS also released on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass and Xbox Game Pass in 2023. That led to GameSpot revisiting GoldenEye 25 years later. It’s one of the most celebrated games of all time.
As for Bradley, he’s reteaming with HBO’s Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff for the Netflix series 3 Body Problem. For more, check out GameSpot’s 3 Body Problem review. The show debuts March 21.
Alan Wake Dev Gives Update On Its Many Upcoming Games, Takes A Hit On Rebooted Project
Alan Wake developer Remedy has published its latest earnings report, and the document contains updates on how the Finnish studio’s many upcoming games are coming along. Some games, like the upcoming Max Payne remakes, are making positive progress, but a free-to-play game that Remedy is making with Tencent reverted back to the “concept” stage at a big cost to the studio.
The document also provides an update on Alan Wake 2, a game that has still not recouped its development costs but one that Remedy believes could have a long sales tail, similar to Control.
Here is a rundown of each project and the latest status update:
- Max Payne 1 and 2 remakes — These are fully funded by Rockstar Games, which also owns the IP. The games are in the “production readiness stage,” Remedy said. “The team made considerable progress throughout the year,” the studio said. The company said the remakes will be “major” and have “great potential.” They have a “similar budget” to Alan Wake 2, which Remedy said was its “largest and most ambitious” game ever. Alan Wake 2, like the Max Payne remakes, was funded by Epic Games and not Remedy itself.
- Codename Kestrel — Formerly known as Codename Vanguard prior to its reboot in November 2023, the free-to-play game now known as Kestrel showed “promising progress” in the first half of 2023, but Remedy and Tencent decided that “the potential was not there.” As a result, Kestrel was sent back to the concept stage, as was originally announced in November 2023. “The requirements for a successful new free-to-play game have clearly increased during the past years,” Remedy said. Due to these issues, Remedy is writing off the development costs when Kestrel was known as Vanguard to the tune of €7.2 million (or about $7.8 million USD). This was the “total capitalized development costs for codename Vanguard.”
- Control 2 — The sequel to Control remains in the “proof-of-concept stage,” Remedy said. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Remedy worked “particularly” on the world-building and combat elements.
- Codename Condor — A multiplayer spin-off of Control, Codename Condor is in the “production readiness stage,” and the team worked on combat and game mechanics. Remedy said Condor and Control 2 have “proven fun and engaging gameplay” elements.
- Alan Wake 2 — Released in October 2023, Alan Wake 2 reached 1 million units sold by the end of 2023, making it Remedy’s fastest-selling game ever. The game has recouped a “significant” part of the development costs paid for by Epic Games, but not all. Remedy said the game could be able to have “excellent longtail sales” similar to the sales trajectory of Control. Remedy said Alan Wake 2 is expected to be a “meaningful revenue and profitability driver” in 2024.
Condor, Control 2, and Max Payne 1 and 2 are expected to reach the “next stages of development” during the first half of 2024, Remedy said. “With the refined multi-project model in place, increased focus on Remedy core strengths, and the dedication of almost 400 Remedians [the term used to describe Remedy’s employees], we are thrilled with a great lineup of upcoming game launches,” Remedy said.
“We continue the year 2024 with great enthusiasm, more focus, and plenty of determination, and we expect this to be an exciting year of growth for Remedy,” the company said.
In other Remedy news, the company recently acquired the rights to the Control series back from 505 Games. The company said this is a “significant positive step” for the company. “While 505 Games was the right partner in 2017, the franchise and our ambitions have grown since. We see that the way to grow the Control franchise is with a different business model and a partner,” the company said. It remains to be seen what company Remedy might partner with for Control 2 or the multiplayer spin-off.
Review Roundup For Alone In The Dark
After a lengthy absence, Alone in the Dark is back and ready to scare a new generation of gamers. But is it any good? Reviews have gone live for the remake of the original game, and so far, the reception has been lukewarm. Critics have praised the eye for detail and authenticity in this remake of the beloved horror game, but have also criticized Alone in the Dark for its janky controls, pointless stealth, and poor puzzle design.
“This isn’t Alone in the Dark’s first revival attempt, and it’s probably not its last, but it isn’t the one that will put the series’ name in the same breath as the all-time greats it originally helped inspire,” Mark Delaney wrote in GameSpot’s Alone in the Dark review.
On GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic, Alone in the Dark currently has a Metascore of 64 from 63 reviews, which translates to “mixed or average” at best. While it looks likely that Alone in the Dark won’t be this year’s most memorable horror game, fright fans can look forward to several other spooky titles this year. Pacific Drive, a roguelite trek across the Pacific Northwest, is already out, while the rest of the year is headlined by Still Wakes the Deep, a remake of Silent Hill 2, and the PT-influenced Luto.
- Game: Alone in the Dark
- Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Developer: Pieces Interactive
- Release Date: March 20
- Price: $60
GameSpot — 4/10
“With its reality-bending story, parade of puzzles, and unwieldy combat, Alone in the Dark is, in some ways, more faithful to some turn-of-the-century horror games than their own revitalized modern remakes. I enjoyed the game’s story, setting, and abundant lore, and I felt smart when I’d overcome some of its puzzles. But others proved so obtuse as to be frustrating, and nothing about the combat even climbs to a level I’d call serviceable–it’s consistently poor.” — Mark Delaney [Full review]
COG Connected — 84/100
“Alone in the Dark is an impressive reimagining that successfully revitalizes the franchise. Instead of leaning into the action elements that have become more prevalent in the genre, Pieces Interactive respects its DNA by opting to focus on the puzzle aspect of the adventure. As a result, the game carves its own niche which will lure fans of the genre.” — Jaz Sagoo [Full review]
IGN — 6/10
“While this remake is undoubtedly a step up from the three-decades-old original, Alone in the Dark fails to escape the shadows of the other contemporary survival horror titans that it helped spawn.” — Tristan Ogilvie [Full review]
NME — 2/5
“Derceto Manor wears its years well, but Alone In The Dark comes across as a dated patchwork of ideas. There’s a stealth feature you’ll never use, while boss fights–which are only introduced at the very end–feel like tacked-on gimmicks. Dated visuals make characters unsettling to look too closely at, while conversations with the mansion’s residents can sound a little stiff and lifeless. Ultimately, it’s the immersion-breaking bugs, janky combat, and alarming lack of scares that fumble Alone In The Dark’s potential.” — Andy Brown [Full review]
Eurogamer — 2/5
“If a puzzle-heavy action horror game has repetitive puzzles, poor combat, and little-to-no horror… well, what’s left? Sadly, not even a Hollywood cast is enough to gloss over Alone in the Dark’s considerable flaws.” — Vikki Blake [Full review]