Check Out Destiny 2 Into The Light’s Three New PvP Maps
Destiny 2‘s player-vs.-player mode is getting a pretty significant refresh with the release of Into the Light, the game’s free upcoming content drop, in the form of three new multiplayer maps.
The new maps take place in some of the more recently added areas of the Destiny 2 universe. There’s one set on the icy landscape of Europa, one in the neon environs of the Neptune city Neomuna, and one in a terraformed Pyramid ship of the Black Fleet.
Bungie gave a look at the new maps during its final livestream providing new details about Into the Light, which is set to release on April 9. While the maps will be available in all game modes in the Crucible, Destiny 2’s PvP arena, Bungie said these maps have all been designed specifically with 3-on-3 game modes in mind. Those modes include the higher-level Competitive mode of the Crucible and the Trials of Osiris, Destiny 2’s toughest PvP challenge.
Eventide Labs, the first of the new maps, is set on Europa, at a refueling station for the giant “Ketch” spaceship of Eramis, the primary antagonist of the Beyond Light expansion. It features both the ancient human architecture and Eliksni buildings seen all over Europa, which are built into the rounded hollows of an ice cave.
The second map is Cirrus Plaza in the city of Neomuna. This is a futuristic shopping center–a big mall, essentially. It includes locations like an arcade and a large, vertical atrium with multiple floors.
Finally, there’s Dissonance, a map set in one of the Pyramid ships that was blasted by the Traveler at the outset of the Lightfall expansion. The ship is a combination of the cold, black architecture of the Darkness and the terraforming, life-giving power of the Traveler. We’ve previously only seen a location like this in the Root of Nightmares raid.
You can see a walkthrough of all the maps on Bungie’s livestream video below.
In addition to the new PvP details, Bungie also released information on returning, reprised versions of its lengthy, excellent Exotic missions, The Whisper and Zero Hour. Those will give out craftable versions of their fan-favorite Exotic weapons, Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected.
Into the Light is also getting a new raid-boss-rush mode called Pantheon, which sounds like it’ll offer raid rewards to players, including some they might have missed in the past, like adept weapons, Exotics, and even emblems.
Alongside the launch of Into the Light, Bungie is set to give out more info on its next big Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, in a livestream scheduled for 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET on April 9.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Review – Fire Away
I spent many a weekend afternoon playing the first two Battlefront games back in 2004 and 2005, my friends and I sinking hundreds of hours into our repeated efforts to conquer the galaxy, recreate battles from the Star Wars movies, and theorize why the video game version of General Grievous was so much stronger than his movie counterpart. Heck, my hope that we’d one day see a Clone Wars animated series that focused on exploring the clones’ individuality was born from Battlefront 2’s wonderfully narrated 501st Journal. Now that I think about it, much of my love for Star Wars can be traced back to the first two Battlefront games. But that doesn’t change that their dated mechanics and the unbalanced nature of their unrewarding tug-of-war matches don’t hold up two decades later. And Aspyr Media does not address these issues in Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, a collected pack of the two games, leaving them feeling like relics of a bygone era that aren’t worth playing in this shape today.
Pandemic Studios’ Battlefront and Battlefront 2 (not to be confused with EA DICE’s 2015 Battlefront and 2017 Battlefront 2) are both shooters that focus on Star Wars’ Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War periods, seeing you step into the boots of ordinary soldiers who participate in the conflicts. Mechanically, both games play very similarly to one another, though Battlefront 2 adds to the first with space battles, playable heroes (who are notable characters from the Star Wars movies like Yoda and Darth Vader), and a more story-driven campaign that ties into Revenge of the Sith.
Each army features four standard soldier archetypes. You’ve got your assault rifle-wielding standard trooper, long-range sniper user, heavy-hitting rocket launcher demolitionist, and a support soldier who excels at short-range combat and fixing up vehicles. Beyond those four, each army has additional special units–the Republic Clone Army has the jetpack-equipped Jet Trooper, for example, while the CIS has the roly-poly Droideka. Because the main units all handle the same for the most part, you don’t have to learn entirely new mechanics for each class, while the more specialized troopers add a bit of distinct flair to each army. I like it–it makes it easy to pick up both games while also ensuring the gameplay doesn’t grow stale quickly.
The collection includes six maps that were added as post-launch content to both games (one for Battlefront and five for Battlefront 2) as well as two playable heroes in Battlefront 2 who were previously Xbox-only DLC (Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress). Beyond that, there are some changes to the gameplay, such as to Hero Assault, a Battlefront 2 game mode that sees all the playable Star Wars heroes face off against the villains. In the original Battlefront 2, this mode could only be played on the game’s Tatooine map, but the Battlefront Collection makes the mode available on all ground-based maps. In addition, the collection adds cross-gen multiplayer support (but no cross-play, unfortunately) and increases the number of players per match to 32v32.
It’s those improvements that irk me, as they’re evidence that Aspyr Media did make efforts to change and improve aspects of the original games. And that’s good! Great, even. But this decision throws what wasn’t adjusted into stark contrast and highlights how outdated Battlefront and Battlefront 2’s gameplay is. It locks the Battlefront Collection into this weird space where it’s neither a good remaster nor a completely accurate preservation of the original games.
But even without that observation, it’s clear that what was once great gameplay for a console shooter has lost its luster after 20 years. Battlefront 2 fares a tad better than the original game, given how it was able to make improvements to the first Battlefront’s mechanics back in 2005–soldiers can sprint, the details of characters are sharper so it’s easier to discern targets from further away, and maps are larger so firefights are more spread out. Plus, Battlefront 2 just has a more compelling campaign. Even if the story is no longer part of the Star Wars canon, witnessing the rise of the 501st Legion during the Clone Wars and subsequent transformation into Vader’s Fist during the Galactic Civil War is still a compelling viewpoint for the Clone Troopers’ view of the Star Wars movies, strengthened by the chilling narration of actor Temuera Morrison (Attack of the Clones’ Jango Fett, The Book of Boba Fett’s Boba Fett). His monologue of the troopers’ silence as they march into the Jedi Temple to execute Order 66 is still one of my favorite moments from any Star Wars story, and 20 years later, it hasn’t lost its impact.
Even if the story is still interesting to experience, however, the act of playing through it isn’t all that fun. Movements are sluggish and aiming isn’t precise, promoting the use of soldiers armed with automatic weapons over the others. The other classes are serviceable, but the gameplay clearly pushes you away from them, making every firefight feel increasingly the same. There’s no incentive to branch out and master the other classes–victory is achieved by whittling down the other team first, so killing as many people as fast as you can is ideal, and that’s just easier with an assault rifle or minigun than a sniper rifle or pistol.
Battles in the offline campaign and online multiplayer also suffer from imbalance–once one side takes the lead, they almost always win. It’s clear there’s meant to be some sort of tug-of-war element to each match, as each side fights over command posts, but it rarely plays out that way. Your side can only spawn from command posts your side has captured, so once one side has more command posts than the other, it’s easier for that side to pressure the losing side as the number of places where the losing side can spawn shrinks. This creates a slog where it becomes quite clear about halfway through a match which side is going to take the win, and you’re just left playing out the rest of the time to witness a conclusion that you saw coming. Heroes alleviate this a bit in Battlefront 2. If a player does well enough before being killed, they can spawn as their army’s hero for that map, and certain heroes can change the tide in an instant (especially the villains on the CIS and Empire, who are all around stronger than the good guys for the Republic and Rebellion). This would be a great counterbalance to the uneven nature of Battlefront 2 if heroes could be summoned more regularly but, as is, they’re just too tricky to unlock if you’re on the losing end of a battle. It’s hard to do well when the enemy is closing in around you. This issue is even worse in the original Battlefront, which doesn’t have playable heroes.
The moment-to-moment gameplay of each match isn’t all that fun either. Firearms aren’t very precise, relying on a generous auto-aim feature that feels like it’s rewarding me for pointing my gun roughly in the right direction instead of actually landing a precise shot. When I was a kid, I was always just happy that my friends and I won, but now as I see the “victory” message splash across the screen, all I can wonder is how it happened. I can’t point to what in my performance led to my team winning as opposed to losing, leaving little opportunity to think back and improve. There’s an uncomfortable amount of luck associated with victory–more than I want in a shooter.
The space battles in Battlefront 2 don’t feel much better. It’s telling that the campaign still lets you skip them outright if you want, like an admission that they aren’t very fun (which is true). Though the concept of manning a starship and flying out to meet the enemy, whittling away at their capital ships or flying into their hangar to sabotage their systems from the inside is initially thrilling, it very quickly loses its appeal once you realize all matches play out pretty much the same. There’s next to no variety to Battlefront 2’s different space maps, so your strategy for one tends to work on all of them–you don’t have to adapt, leaving the gameplay feeling stagnant. Plus, the starships in Battlefront 2 don’t handle very well, making it frustratingly tricky to maneuver through dogfights.
The biggest detriment against the Battlefront Classic Collection is that we’ve had more Star Wars games since their release that all improved upon what Battlefront and Battlefront 2 did. EA DICE’s two Battlefront games have sharper shooting mechanics that better reward precision and huge battlefields that prevent one side from quickly surrounding and destroying the other. 2020’s Squadron’s aerial dogfights are huge improvements over Battlefront 2’s space battles, with more responsive controls and greater variety to the maps. Sure, Battlefront Collection brings these elements together, but not in a way that’s strong enough to make this a more compelling experience than what’s already out there.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is ultimately just disappointing. It’s unclear whether it wants to be a remaster or a collection that preserves two major games from Star Wars’ history, but in both instances, it fails. This is neither an accurate representation of what Battlefront and Battlefront 2 were, nor does it make enough adjustments to bring two decades-old games into the modern era. The result is a collection that’s not really fun to play, and well worth skipping.
Sam Raimi Clears Up Those Spider-Man 4 Rumors
Almost as soon as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returned on-screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, speculation swirled that one or both of their incarnations of Peter Parker could get true sequels to their Spider-Man movies. The rumor that has been most persistent is about Maguire reuniting with director Sam Raimi for Spider-Man 4. Earlier this month, Spider-Man 3 actor Thomas Hayden Church even expressed his belief that Spider-Man 4 would happen. However, Raimi was less confident about that when asked about the rumors at WonderCon last weekend.
“I did read [those rumors], but I’m not actually working on it yet,” Raimi told CBR. ” I mean, Marvel and Columbia are so successful with current Spider-Man [movies], and the track there, and I don’t know that they’re going to go back to me, and say, ‘Well, folks, we can also tell that story!’”
Raimi initially developed his version of Spider-Man 4 with John Malkovich in mind to play the Vulture and Anne Hathaway as Black Cat. But when he couldn’t make the story work to his satisfaction, Raimi walked away from the franchise and The Amazing Spider-Man followed with Garfield taking over the title role from Maguire. While speaking with CBR, Raimi noted that he and Maguire haven’t spoken about making another Spider-Man sequel together. But he didn’t downplay the possibility that Maguire has been open to it.
“I haven’t talked to Tobey about [a fourth movie with me], but maybe Marvel has or Columbia Pictures,” related Raimi. “I just worked with Marvel on a movie called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’ So, I’m on great terms with them. I’m sure I would hear about it if it was in the works.”
Additionally, Raimi shared his admiration for the most recent Spider-Man movies, especially Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“I love all the new Spider-Man movies,” said Raimi. “I loved Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was really, super powerful seeing Tobey [Maguire] again in it.”
Destiny 2 Into The Light To Add Raid Boss-Rush Mode, Skippable New-Player Onboarding
Destiny 2‘s upcoming Into the Light free content drop is getting another new activity for players to take on with their teams: a boss-rush mode called Pantheon.
Bungie revealed a few details about the new mode, along with information about returning Exotic missions, during its final livestream detailing what to expect from Into the Light, which releases on April 9. In Pantheon you’ll “face grueling raid bosses in a weekly challenge escalating difficulty and rewards,” according to Bungie. That sounds like it’ll include a rotating list of bosses, and you’ll be able to take them on either with a team you form or one you get from Destiny 2’s looking for group feature, Fireteam Finder. That last bit suggests that, like raids, you won’t be able to publicly matchmake into Pantheon, likely because it’ll be too tough with random teammates.
What isn’t clear, at least right now, is where those bosses will be sourced from–whether they’ll be bosses from currently available raids or include those we’ve seen in raids that are no longer in the game, like Leviathan, Scourge of the Past, or Crown of Sorrow. GameSpot has reached out to Bungie for clarification and will update this story when we have more information.
As for rewards, the livestream suggested you’ll be able to pull some high-quality and even extremely rare items from Pantheon, including rewards you might have missed in the past. Bungie mentioned Exotics, adept weapons, and “emblems you might not have gotten your hands on,” which makes it sound like you’ll have access to raid-specific rewards. That could also include rewards from old raids, giving players a chance to get some weapons and emblems that haven’t been available since before the release of the Beyond Light expansion in 2020.
Bungie said it’ll release more information about Pantheon in an upcoming This Week at Destiny blog post, which is likely to answer these lingering questions, but we don’t know exactly when those answers will come. We do know that the Pantheon activity will be available on April 30, three weeks after the launch of Into the Light–so you’ll have some time to gear up for it.
Into the Light is also bringing a few other changes to how Destiny 2 works, which Bungie announced alongside the Pantheon mode details. A big one for players joining the game for Into the Light ahead of Destiny 2’s next big expansion, The Final Shape, is a change to the new-player onboarding process, known as New Light.
Currently, new players can work through the New Light storyline in order to learn the ropes of Destiny 2 and unlock character subclasses and a few Exotic weapons and armor. Into the Light will give you the option to skip New Light when you join the game, and instead go directly to the “front lines.”
When you choose to skip New Light, you’ll be able to unlock a character subclass and go directly to Into the Light’s new social space, the Hall of Heroes, where you can pick up the Gift of the Thunder Gods, a chest full of high-level armor and the Exotic machine gun Thunderlord, which will instantly bring your character up to the soft level cap. At that point, you’ll be in fighting shape for most of the new Into the Light content.
With Pantheon releasing a few weeks later, it seems likely the level for that content will be closer to the hard level cap, so new players will still need to grind Pinnacle rewards in order to boost their strength to take on the new high-level activity.
Finally, Bungie announced that Into the Light is getting its own Triumph seal, which players can earn ahead of the release of The Final Shape. Earning all of the seal’s Triumphs will get you a new title: Brave.
Bungie might be done with Into the Light livestreams, but there’s one more stream coming soon, which will cover gameplay in The Final Shape. That stream is slated for 9:30 AM PT / 12:30 PM ET on April 7 on Bungie’s Twitch channel and on YouTube.
Joker 2 Trailer Date Announced, Poster Out Now
The first poster for the highly anticipated Joker sequel, Joker: Folie a Deux, has arrived, and the debut trailer is coming very soon. The poster depicts Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn dancing with a spotlight shining on them as Joker dips Harley while smoking a cigarette. The tag line for the film appears to be, “The world is a stage.”
As for the trailer, it’s scheduled to arrive on April 9.
In other news, Variety recently reported that the Joker sequel will feature at least 15 “reinterpretations” of popular songs, one of which is “That’s Entertainment” from the 1953 Judy Garland musical The Band Wagon. The movie could feature original music, too.
Plot details for the Joker sequel remain a mystery, but the drama is expected to feature scenes within and outside of Arkham Asylum. In addition to Phoenix and Gaga, the sequel brings back Zazie Beetz from the first movie and adds Oscar-nominated actors Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener, among others.
Todd Phillips returns to direct and write, alongside co-writer Scott Silver.
2019’s Joker was a box office smash, earning more than $1 billion against a reported budget of $55 million. GameSpot’s Joker review scored it a 10/10.
Some Of The Best Destiny 2 Exotic Missions Are Returning In Into The Light
During the final Destiny 2: Into the Light livestream, Bungie confirmed the return of two classic Exotic weapon missions. Whisper and Zero Hour will be added back into the game, giving players a chance to earn not only two excellent Exotic weapons but craftable versions of them as well.
The sniper rifle Whisper of the Worm was originally available through the Whisper quest, but after Io was vaulted, it was added to the inventory of the Monument of Lost Lights kiosk in the Tower. Outbreak Perfected is also purchasable from this location, as this Exotic pulse rifle was first earned in the Zero Hour mission. Whisper will be unlocked next week, and Zero Hour will be available in May.
Each of these missions became legendary over time, as they required certain unlock conditions, had devious traps, and some of the best showdowns in Destiny 2. For Whisper, players had to complete a time-limited Taken Blight public event on Io, which only appeared on the weekend. Entering the portal would transport Guardians into a hidden section on Io, where the whispers of a dead worm god would tempt players to venture further into the dangerous depths. Zero Hour took place during Season of the Drifter and saw Guardians return to the old Tower to rid it of the House of Devils, who were looking for SIVA technology in the Cryptarch vaults.
Bungie says that while the overall layout of these levels remains the same, they have been tweaked and rebalanced to still be challenging. Several enemy encounters have been updated, at least one secret chest in Whisper has been moved, and a different boss fight has been teased for that level. And yes, TR3-VR is still a nightmare fuel robot monster you’ll encounter in Zero Hour. The normal versions of these missions will have a 40-minute timer, while anyone looking for a challenge can expect a 20-minute timer in Legend mode.
Gallery
Perks for Outbreak Perfected include Outlaw, Rapid Hit, Rewind Rounds, and Headseeker, while other weapon traits aim to make it even deadlier when it spreads the SIVA virus to enemies. If you’ve already earned the catalyst for Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected, you can craft them at launch for these weapons. Otherwise, you’ll need to earn them by completing the Legend versions of their respective missions.
Once Into the Light launches on April 9, players can also expect to see some other big additions to Destiny 2. Bungie is bringing back 12 fan-favorite weapons as part of the Brave Arsenal, players can unlock the Super Black shader in the Hall of Heroes, and there’ll be a new horde mode to try out in the form of Onslaught. Ahead of The Final Shape in June, Bungie will also broadcast a preview next week of some of the gameplay from the expansion.
My Hero Academia Season 7 Gets May 2024 Release Date
Deku and his friends will be smashing their way back to Crunchyroll for season 7 of the critically acclaimed anime My Hero Academia. The new season will premiere on May 4 on May 4 at 2:30 AM PT, 5:30 AM ET. If you’re wondering why Crunchyroll is airing it so early in the morning, the new episodes will be airing simultaneously in the United States and Japan.
To help remind viewers of everything that happened, Crunchyroll will be simulcasting My Hero Academia: Memories. This four-episode event will recap the entire show from Season 1, Season 6 Memories will premiere later this week on April 6 at 2:30 AM PT / 5:30 AM ET and end just in time for season 7.
My Hero Academia Season 7 and Memories release dates for their dubbed counterparts. However, according to a press release, the date for the “dub premieres will be announced at a later time.”
For those unaware, My Hero Academia is based on Kohei Horikoshi’s manga of the same name. In this world, the vast majority of people are born with superpowers known as Quirks, and the story follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who was born quirkless. But thanks to a chain of events, he’s able to inherit the number one hero’s power and live his dream of becoming a superhero.
If you want something to watch on Crunchyroll, check out our story detailing everything coming to the streaming service this month.
LA Noire And Bully Free For GTA+ Members This Year Along With Millions In GTA Online Cash
Rockstar Games is attempting to drive sign-ups to its GTA+ subscription service by adding more games to the catalog and introducing further subscriber benefits, including free copies of Bully and LA Noire. Rockstar Games has announced both LA Noire and Bully are joining the GTA+ catalog of games “later this year.”
Members can currently download games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition, GTA: Chinatown Wars, and GTA: Liberty City Stories with their membership.
Now Playing: Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA VI) Trailer Breakdown
The GTA+ games catalog is a “rotating” library, so it remains to be seen if any of the existing games will rotate out when LA Noire and Bully arrive later this year. GTA+ members get 20% off the purchase price of titles in the library if they decide to buy them outright.
In addition to free games, GTA+ includes access to The Vinewood Club inside GTA Online where they can choose from a rotating selection of premium cars at discounted rates. GTA+ subscribers also get 100 personal vehicle slots at The Vinewood Club Garage.
Additionally, now through August, every GTA+ subscriber will get an additional deposit of $1 million worth of GTA$ each month, alongside the standard monthly deposit of GTA$ 500,000.
Later this year, The Vinewood Club will add a Vehicle Workshop and an app available for in-game phones to help players use the club’s services more easily.
Finally, Rockstar teased that GTA+ members will be able to grab a “new bonus car” as part of their subscription when GTA Online’s next “big” update arrives this summer.
GTA+ memberships cost $6/month, and there is no multi-month or yearly package available.
Looking ahead, GTA 6 is in the works. It’s reportedly targeting a Fall 2025 release, but could slip to 2026. There is no word as of yet in regards to how GTA+ may or may not factor in to the new game.
Helldivers 2’s Murder-Bot Armies Just Got A Devastating Upgrade
The Automatons in Helldivers 2 have just gotten a massive upgrade, as players have reported new units entering the battlefield. Just how bad could it be? Imagine a Star Wars AT-AT if it were swole, heavily armored, and had enough firepower to demolish a moon. As if that wasn’t bad enough, these Factory Strider units also have their own facilities for producing Automaton Devastators on demand, and they reportedly have no easy-to-spot weaknesses.
While those mobile fortresses make for an intimidating foe, the new gunships are easily a more annoying menace. These are well-armed weapons platforms that carry a Devastator with them, dropping these heavy units to harass you while unloading missiles and lasers in your general direction. Automaton factories can also produce several of these gunships, and they have a habit of swarming players whenever they’re encountered. While they can be taken down with a Quasar Cannon, the long cooldown on that weapon will require several members of your Helldivers team to be fielding this new technology if you want to stand a chance at surviving their onslaught.
Developer Arrowhead hinting at an Automaton resurgence this week with cloaked capital ships in the skies. Players began to report seeing these flagships lurking in low orbit around planets controlled by the mechanical menace, and with this week’s patch, it looks like those reinforcements have landed. Following a huge win on Malevelon Creek–described by some as the Vietnam of Helldivers 2–Arrowhead didn’t even give its players a chance to catch their breath before it unleashed new technological terrors.
Fortunately, the new patch has introduced a few welcome changes. Several weapons have been buffed, armor can now soak up more damage, and rescuing civilians should be much less aggravating. Combined with all of the new weapons introduced in the Cutting Edge Warbond battle pass, and there’s still a good chance for democracy to prevail.
Bill Skarsgård Goes Completely Feral In Boy Kills World Red Band Trailer
Fans got their first taste of German director Moritz Mohr’s ultraviolent Boy Kills World back in January. Now, Lionsgate has dropped an even bloodier red band trailer ahead of its release later this month. The film premiered at TIFF last September to killer reviews with Skarsgård as Boy, a deaf-mute man whose inner voice is narrated by a video game character he grew up with (H. Jon Benjamin).
Boy avows revenge after his family is murdered by the mad matriarch Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), whose act of violence and cruelty was the cause of his disabilities. Boy trains with a mysterious shaman (The Raid’s Yayan Ruhian) to become the ultimate weapon as he prepares to take down Van Der Koy’s dynasty. Check out the absolutely wild bloodbath below.
The film is Mohr’s feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Tyler Burton Smith and Arend Remmers, with the story by Remmers and Mohr. Mohr got the attention of Sam Raimi and Roy Lee after presenting a short pre-vis reel. Raimi and Lee later joined up as executive producers through their respective companies.
Along with Skarsgård and Janssen, the film stars Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Isaiah Mustafa (It Chapter 2), and Andrew Koji (Bullet Train).
Boy Kills World opens nationwide on April 26.
