Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's Steam page has been updated to include a new trailer that actually showcases some early gameplay from the upcoming sequel. 

As expected, Obsidian is using their expanded arsenal of resources to produce a sequel that looks decidedly better than the original installment. This may be the first time that Obsidian has developed a sequel to one of their own games, but the fabled studio's work on other studio's sequels shines through in this early footage. 

There are also rumors that this Steam page update may correspond to an upcoming beta for Pillars of Eternity II, but there has been no official word regarding that possibility at this time. 

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire began as a new campaign on crowd-funding platform Fig. Obsidian initially sought $1.1 million for the development of this sequel and used the following trailer as an incentive for people to donate to the project. 

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In exchange for that money, Obsidian promised to deliver a sequel that begins with the return of the god Eothas. Upon his return, Eothas leaves you for dead and forces you to embark on a journey that can only end when you confront the god and get answers to questions concerning yourself, the mortal world, and why the Eothas has returned. 

Along with expanding the artistic and technical prowess of the original game, developer Obsidian is also promising to include expanded gameplay features such as "truly living cities" and "more freedom to explore the open world." Designer Josh Sawyer states that the overall purpose of their design process is to create a game that emphasizes "refinement, pacing, and overall quality."

However, Sawyer warns fans that this sequel might not be quite as long as the original was now that the team is focusing on greater narrative pacing and overall quality. He says it's "more important for (Obsidian's) content to be high quality than it is for us to have a gargantuan 200+ hour game," and that they are trying to address player criticism of the first Pillars of Eternity that revolved around the game having "too many mob/filler fights."

Not everything is being shelved, though, as Pillars of Eternity II will feature returning characters and the same isometric-driven art style that helped make the original game the cult classic that it is. Sadly, Obsidian is not quite ready to announce an expected release window.

Star Wars Battlefront II is finally here, bringing with it a new story campaign that takes place after Return of the Jedi but before The Force Awakens. Many of the characters you love return for quick cameos, such as Luke Skywalker, who gets a whole level to himself to thrash stormtroopers. 

One character who's made a return in the game is everyone's favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, and he's raising some eyebrows. Just look at a screenshot from his cameo in the game:

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Yes, that is indeed a beard on Han's usually clean-shaven face. We meet the Solo beard during a sequence in Maz Kanata's castle, where Han has come to get some precious intel from an Imperial defector, but none of that ultimately matters because Han's new style choice is amazingly distracting. 

The Solo beard didn't actually originate in Star Wars Battlefront II, but in the Aftermath series of novels by Chuck Wendig. Those books take place around the same time period and see Han and Chewie traveling to Kashyyyk to free the forest planet from Imperial rule. The fact that Lucasfilm is trying to keep the new canon cohesive with little details like the Han beard appearing in both books and the games is all well and nice, but seeing the new look on screen is a bit shocking. 

Still, it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to Han. Remember that time he was murdered by his son and fell a billion stories into nothingness? 

Konami has announced a new update for Super Bomberman R that will affect the game's single-player and multiplayer modes. 

Those interested in Super Bomberman R's story mode - a sweeping epic of love and loss that the New York Times called [no quote available] - will be pleased to know that this update will add a new world called World 7 to the game. We don't know much about this new area, but it will come with several new stages and cosmetic accessories. 

This update will also include a wide range of new characters that are all adopted from other Konami franchises. 

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You'll probably recognize most of the characters on that list, but the more obscure ones include Princess Tomato Bomber (from the 1984 computer game Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom), Option Bomber (a callback to the weapon options in R-Type), and Shiori Fuijisaki (from the dating simulator Tokimeki Memorial). As for the incredibly creepy Anubis Bomber, he is adapted from the Zone of the Endersseries. 

The biggest addition to the game, though, is a new 3-vs-3 multiplayer mode called "Grand Prix." Along with a standard mode that operates under the same rules as most other Bomberman contests - eliminate the competition - Grand Prix will include "Crystal Match" option that requires teams to collect the most crystals across various maps. 

It's currently believed that this mode represents Konami's desire to foster an eSports environment for Super Bomberman R. That would explain the mode's limited team-based format which is certainly en vogue at the moment so far as the biggest competitive titles go. 

This new DLC should be available shortly to everyone that owns Super Bomberman R on the Nintendo Switch. As with all other Super Bomberman R updates, it will be available for free. 

To their credit, Konami has done a very good job of providing free updates to Super Bomberman R throughout the year. They've really helped expand upon a game that was always quite fun, but was limited and hindered by technological issues.

This Star Wars Battlefront II article contains spoilers.

Star Wars Battlefront II introduces a plethora of new characters in a story campaign that bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. But while the game mostly focuses on Iden Versio and her elite unit of Imperial operatives, Inferno Squad, a few fan-favorite characters pop up for a quick cameo. 

Luke Skywalker gets a rare post-RotJappearance about a third into the game. The fact that he's playable in the campaign at all is exciting enough, considering that we've barely experienced any new stories about Luke that explain why he's exiled himself on Ahch-To before The Force Awakens. We know the short of it: Luke chose isolation on one of the islands of the distant planet after his nephew, Ben Solo, turned to the dark side and slaughtered all of the students in Luke's new Jedi Order. He's been hiding out ever since, due to his failure to keep Ben out of Supreme Leader Snoke's clutches and save his students. 

But everything we've seen from The Last Jedi thus far reveals that there's more to Ahch-To than that. While we're informed that Luke went searching for the first Jedi temple in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi's trailers flesh out why this temple is so important to Luke. It may very well contain the oldest chronicle of the Jedi Order and the galaxy as a whole in the form of the Journal of the Whills, a book that's been teased in many of the promos released thus far. It is speculated that the chronicle holds secrets about the Jedi that convince Luke that the Order must end once and for all. 

We'll soon find out for sure what that book is all about when The Last Jedi hits theaters on Dec. 15. Until then, Star Wars Battlefront II has at the very least answered a pivotal question as to how Luke found the temple on Ahch-To in the first place.

There's a level in the story campaign where you play as Luke, who's come to the bug-infested planet of Pillio. Something on the planet has called out to him through the Force, and Luke wants to find out what it is. After a run-in with Imperial stormtroopers and an imperiled member of Inferno Squad, Del Meeko, Luke discovers what's been calling out to him: a hidden vault belonging to the late Emperor Palpatine. 

While Meeko is tasked with destroying the vault before the Rebellion can get their hands on anything in it, Luke takes one mysterious relic with him: a compass. It is implied that this compass is what eventually leads Luke to Ahch-To to discover the deepest secrets of the Jedi. 

This also sets up another interesting precedent: Emperor Palpatine knew about Ahch-To and presumably about its secrets. So why didn't he have the compass destroyed when he had the chance? Leaving the task up to the remaining Imperials after his death seems like a dumb idea. Regardless, at least we know more of the intricacies of Luke's situation at the end of The Force Awakens. We assume The Last Jedi will address more of Luke's post-RotJ journey and give us the full picture. 

For now, enjoy demolishing your enemies as Luke Skywalker in Battlefront 2...as long as your willing to cough up the cash to do so. 

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

It goes without saying that handheld games have come a long way over the past 35 or-so years. From electronic bleepy things that were little more than glorified calculators, portable technology is now almost unrecognizable in 2017.

Back in 1989, the world collectively shrieked with excitement at the thought of playing Tetris on a bus. By the early years of the 20th century, we were finally able to type angry messages on Twitter from the top deck of the number 45 from Wellingborough without a second thought.

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Yes, mobile phones and tablets have changed the way we do just about everything, from navigating around cities to connecting with friends. But while those devices have played host to some great games themselves, we're concentrating here on dedicated handheld games machines - how they've evolved with technology and how they've responded to the growing competition from the likes of Nokia and Apple.

While we can't claim to have included every device in existence - so sorry, Gamate; GP2X, we hardly knew thee - we have tried to pick out the high points and obvious lows. So buckle up - it's going to be a long and often strange ride...

Game & Watch (1980)

Yes, other electronic games were available, but it was Nintendo's Game & Watch that everyone secretly wanted to play on the bus to school. Besides, where other handheld games, with their tiny LCD displays and warbly sound, had to make do with odd little approximations of football or Space Invaders, Nintendo's selection of Game & Watch titles included adaptations of such arcade hits as Mario Bros and Donkey Kong. The LCD displays were still crude and the sound warbly, but hey, this was the closest we could get to jumping over barrels on a handheld in the early 80s.

Pros: long battery life, pocket-sized design.

Cons: Inevitably, some of the games are simplistic in the extreme. (Juggling! Hitting rats moles with hammers! And so forth.)

Best game: Mario Bros recreated all the thrills and spills of working on a production line in a factory; Donkey Kong 3 introduced a genuinely innovative two-controller design.

Nintendo Game Boy (1989)

The handheld that got the whole pocket-console zeitgeist going, obviously. Chunky though it was, the Game Boy's interchangeable cartridges were revolutionary, and its simple components made it cheap enough for parents to buy for their kids at Christmas. It's worth noting how the Game Boy carried over designs from the Game & Watch, too: the cross-shaped controller made its debut on the Donkey Kong Game & Watch in 1982, and the combo of red buttons and off-white plastic were found on those electronic handhelds long before the Game Boy.

Pros: more generous battery life, a pretty extraordinary library of games, especially if you were willing to import from Japan.

Cons: The unlit screen was blurry and difficult to see unless you invested in some after-market devices that left your Game Boy looking like a Cubist sculpture.

Best game: the multi-million-selling Tetris seems like an obvious choice, but Pokemon Redand Blue arguably defined an era of portable RPGs, as well as proving that forcing animals to fight one another could become a pop-cultural phenomenon.

Atari Lynx (1989)

On paper, the Atari Lynx made the Game Boy look like an abacus: here was a big, grown-up handheld with a full-color screen and a fancy processor that could crank out games that sort of approached those of a 16-bit console. The Lynx was also the first - and possibly last - handheld to feature a layout for left or right-handed players. Nice touch. Unfortunately, the Lynx was also, to use a technical term, ruddy massive - about as pocket-sized as a car radiator and only slightly less heavy. With all those graphics sucking on the battery life and a price tag of about $180 (around $100 more than the Game Boy), the Lynx was far too pricy and impractical to really find a mass audience. A more svelte version came out a bit later (see image above), but it was too little, too late. Like so many companies after it, Atari (and developer Epyx) tried to sell a console on superior hardware. Bear this in mind - it's a theme we'll be returning to shortly.

Pros: for the time, the graphics and sound really were superb.

Cons: Wait, how much?

Best game: despite slow sales, the library was pretty good, thanks to Atari's back-catalog. Afterburner clone Blue Lightning showed off its tech credentials, but the port of Robotron 2049 was our favorite.

NEC TurboExpress (1990)

Since the dawn of handheld gaming, various firms tried to find a way of shrinking home console games and make them portable. Here was an early attempt: a miniaturized version of NEC's PC Engine, known in America as the TurboGrafx-16. The original console was a huge hit in Japan, less so in America, and never got a release in the UK. Its games were generally brilliant, but this console, with its $249.99 price tag, made it for posh, hardcore gamers only.

Pros: great library of PC Engine games, great little LCD screen.

Cons: the second mortgage required to actually buy one.

Best game: great coin-op conversions abound, but our choice goes to 2D shooter Galaga 88. Pure retro heaven.

Sega Game Gear (1990)

Like Atari before them, Sega tried to compete with Nintendo with superior firepower - hence the Game Gear, essentially a portable Master System with a built-in color screen. Tidier in design than the Lynx, the Game Gear had Sega's market presence to help it sell reasonably well outside Japan. Once again, though, battery life was a problem: the system could tear through a packet of six AA batteries in about two hours or so.

Pros: great games, compatibility with the Master System thanks to an add-on device; another dongle even let you watch TV.

Cons: Unless you stayed tethered to an AC adaptor, completing Castle of Illusion would require a mountain of Duracells.

Best game: The aforementioned Castle of Illusion. A hugely entertaining platformer with tons of hidden stuff and great Mickey Mouse animation.

Mobile Phones and Things of That Ilk (1994-)

We might as well pause here to address the elephant in room: games on mobile phones. Games like Tetris and Snake blazed a trail in the 1990s, which helped pave the way for things like Angry Birdsand Pokemon Go on modern smart devices. We won't go into too much detail about mobile phones and games, though, otherwise we'll be here all day.

Best game: I don't know. Snake, or whatever.

Tiger Game.com (1997)

"This time next year, Rodney, we'll be millionaires." If you ever wondered what a handheld console designed by the cast of Only Fools and Horses might look like, may we present the Game Dot Com, Tiger Electronics' anonymous-looking and terminally ill-fated device from the late 90s. To be fair, it introduced a touchscreen - beating Nintendo and Sony by several years - and even some rudimentary web capabilities, so it wasn't all bad news. The sales, however, made for dismal reading: some 300,000 units were shifted in total. Del Boy still has a pallet-load of these in a Peckham lock-up, we should think.

Pros: not applicable

Cons: an apologetic library of 20 games (Quiz Wiz!Monopoly!Wheel of Fortune!). Possibly the most boring console ever conceived.

Best game: Ports of Resident Evil 2 and Sonic Jam sound exciting, right? Yeah, wait until you play the games. The Resi game is borderline coma-inducing.

Bandai WonderSwan (1997)

After the interesting yet headache-inducing experiment that was the Virtual Boy, veteran designer Gunpey Yokoi left Nintendo and joined Bandai. The fruit of his labor there, before his untimely death in 1997, was the WonderSwan - an odd yet endearing alternative to the Game Boy, a system that Yokoi had himself helped conceive. Like the Game Boy, the WonderSwan used a monochrome, dot-matrix display to keep down battery life and costs, while its innovative button configuration meant that it could be displayed in portrait or landscape. The build quality wasn't quite up to Nintendo's standards, but later editions added an increasingly decent color screen without upping the power consumption too much. Obscure elsewhere, the diminutive WonderSwan was something of a hit in Japan.

Pros: small, neat design. Perhaps the best console name in video game history.

Cons: unremarkable build quality, import-related expenses.

Best game: for simple fun on the go, the puzzler Gunpey is pretty hard to beat. The dinky port of Namco's Mr. Drilleris also surprisingly brilliant.

Neo Geo Pocket (1998)

SNK lacked Sega and Nintendo's profile, but its status on the arcade scene was legendary. Its foray into the handheld market - with its promise of miniature versions of Metal Slug and King of Fighters - was an enticing prospect in the late 1990s. Although SNK couldn't hope to compete with Nintendo's brute marketing strength, the Neo Geo Pocket was a great little system. Admittedly, the initial, monochrome version was an early misfire, but SNK swiftly replaced it with a color version, which managed to make two AAA batteries last a whopping 40 hours.

Pros: the Neo Geo's clicky little thumbstick felt like an upgrade from the Game Boy's old cross-shaped controller. Nice low price point of about $70.

Cons: a tiny library of games meant that it was soon drowned out by the Game Boy Color, released around the same time.

Best game:Metal Slug 1st Mission. A classic run-and-gunner writ small.

Gizmondo (2000)

Seriously. What were they thinking?

Pros: the story behind this extraordinary tech misfire - it sold about 25,000 units after the company behind it spent millions on champagne receptions in London - is the stuff of legend. Sting even sang at the launch party - a sour omen if ever we've heard one.

Cons: just try playing the thing.

Best game: its biggest seller was an item called Sticky Balls. We'll say no more.

Game Boy Advance (2001)

The late 90s and early 2000s were littered with the corpses of rival portable machines, all left choking on the dust of the Game Boy Advance. Other firms may have groused about Nintendo's hold over the market, but it's hard to argue with the results: the color display was vastly superior to the Game Boy Color's, the processor was faster, yet the GBA was still compatible with all those old handheld cartridges dating back to its predecessor's release in the late 80s. In essence, the GBA's power meant that gamers could enjoy Super Nintendo-level RPGs in a handheld - a minor revelation at the time.

Pros: smaller, more compact than the Game Boy; whizzier tech.

Cons: Still no backlit screen - at least until the SP, which came out in 2003.

Best game: Advance Warsprovided a surprisingly deep and fun strategy experience, while Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow may just be one of the best series entries available on any system.

Nokia N-Gage (2003)

It was a phone! And a handheld console! How could it possibly fail? Well...

Pros: it was a phone and a console...

Cons: ...but you had to open up the back just to change the game cartridges. Groan. The RRP was also a wallet-punishing $299.

Best game: Puzzle Bobble Vs. A decent port of the arcade action-puzzler. The perfect time killer for bubble haters (and lovers of tiny dinosaurs) everywhere.

Nintendo DS (2004)

Once again, Nintendo went forward to the past with its sequel to the Game Boy Advance. Although the touch screen was a nod to (relatively) cutting edge tech, the twin displays and clamshell design harked back to the company's pivotal years two decades earlier: the Game & Watch title Oil Panic was the first title to use such a layout, and that came out in 1982. By the mid-2000s, companies like Sony and Nintendo were well aware that mobile phone manufacturers were breathing down their necks, and it's interesting to see how the companies' design philosophies resulted in two vastly different consoles. With the DS, the twin screens meant that developers could dream up innovative games that wouldn't be possible on a typical smart device - at least in theory. In practice, most companies just shoved a map or some pretty graphics on the second screen.

Pros: innovative layout, stunning library of games.

Cons: the hinges were a bit weak and the design a little ungainly on the first generation models.

Best game: If we were forced to choose just one, it would have to be The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Beautiful visuals, novel use of the device's screens, and one of the best portable adventure games of its era.

Sony PSP (2004)

Sony's answer to its rivals? More power! In fairness, Sony's first dedicated foray into the handheld console market had more going for it than snazzy processing. Although longer than the DS, it still felt comfortable to carry around, and sturdy enough to withstand long, lonely journeys in the depths of a bag. The four to six hour battery life was decent but not great, but that proved to be a small price to pay when weighed against the games, which looked spectacular for the time. Its PlayStation Store and other web-based capabilities were also streets ahead of Nintendo's.

Pros: rock-solid design, superb graphics, wireless multiplayer.

Cons: hideously expensive memory sticks at launch, proprietary UMD cards are fiddly to get in and out.

Best game: having blathered on about fancy graphics, we'll go for one that looks like drawings stuck on a parent's fridge: the wonderful Loco Roco. The colors, the music, the simple yet challenging action - you can't be unhappy playing this game. Unless you're Vladimir Putin or someone like that.

Nintendo 3DS (2011)

Things looked a bit wobbly for the 3DS at launch, with some dodgy marketing leaving some would-be punters (including tabloid journalists, oddly) mistakenly thinking that this all-new system was just a DS with a stereoscopic screen. In any event, the 3D worked quite nicely on the 3DS, but it was hardly its most interesting feature: the use of front and rear cameras allowed for some novel augmented reality games, and the addition of an analog stick and better online support brought it broadly in line with the PSP. As ever, the 3DS' internal tech wouldn't trouble rival console manufacturers or even Apple, but there's no denying that Nintendo have done some pretty impressive things with it over the past six years or so.

Pros: the analog stick feels lovely, while the later 3DS XL sacrificed a bit of portability for bigger screens and a nicer, chunkier feel in the hands.

Cons: we stopped using the 3D mode after a few days, and Nintendo has started producing systems without the stereoscopic display. Funny, it's like 3D was just a passing fad or something.

Best game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a stunning port. Super Mario 3D Land is a joy. Pokemon Sunand Moon are among the best yet.

Sony Vita (2011)

In what we're sure is a complete coincidence, Sony's handheld again came out in the same year as Nintendo's. And, once again, Sony went for eye-watering power, and the features offered by the Vita were pretty stunning: quad core processors, two analog sticks, a fancy OLED screen, and a cool-sounding touch pad doodad on the back. Sadly, all that technical possibility didn't translate into sales this time around: where the PSP sold 80 million units, the Vita is reckoned to have shifted around 10 or 15 million. The Vita's graphics and precise controls meant that Sony could do something hardware manufacturers had toyed with since the late 80s: recreate the quality of a console experience on a system that fits in your pocket. Somehow, the Vita just didn't capture the broader public's imagination. At the time of writing, Sony has expressed no plans to make a third handheld, and through the company Forward Works, the Japanese giant now intends to develop games for smart phones.

Pros: another beautifully crafted system.

Cons: those memory sticks were another financial kick in the nethers.

Best game: Tearaway was a corker and used the Vita's controls well, while Touch My Katamari should win a medal for best handheld game name in history.

Nintendo Switch (2017)

Given that Nintendo had the handheld market all to itself, more or less, by the middle of the 2010s, and that the Wii U didn't exactly set the world on fire in terms of sales, the Switch (codenamed the NX) sounded like a bit of an odd business decision. A console that also wants to be a handheld? With tiny removable bits of plastic that double as miniature Wii remotes? It'll never work. Or will it? So far it's gone down remarkably well: a bigger, more grown-up counterpart to the 3DS family that functions both on a big screen TV and as a small-screen experience. It's not the kind of thing you'd necessarily take on long journeys, but if you want to carry on playing Zelda while everyone else in your flat is watching football, it's a far more elegant solution than the Wii U was, bless it. Oh, and the removable, dinky controllers? A neat idea, as it turns out: you and a bunch of friends huddling around a couple of screens, like a miniature LAN party.

Pros: a faintly batty idea that makes perfect sense in practice. Great games so far.

Cons: Those tiny Joy-Cons are pricey as chuff. Getting the postage stamp-sized game carts in and out of the hatch at the back is akin to a Crystal Maze challenge. If the bus hits a pothole, your $50 copy of Super Mario Odyssey's gone forever.

Best game: It's a tough call between Odyssey (a corking Mario game) and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but we'll plump for the latter. Although it looks beautiful on a big living room telly, it also functions remarkably well as a handheld game. Its scale is vast, yet its challenges are often discrete and bite-sized enough to be played in brief bursts. Phones and tablets may be gnawing away at the handheld's market share, but Breath of the Wildproves that a great game on a dedicated console's a difficult experience to beat.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released information on Middle-Earth: Shadow of War's upcoming DLC schedule. 

First up are the free DLC releases. These will be available to everyone that owns the game regardless of whether they purchased the season pass. They include: 

Endless Siege (November 21st): This release adds something of a horde mode to the base game. Endless Siege forces you to see how long you can defend your fortress against endless waves of Sauron's army. 

Rebellion (November 21st): The Ologs and Uruks descend upon the Bright Lord, and it's your job to stop them in this new mission. 

Enhanced Photo Mode (November 21st): You'll be able to access a wide array of new filters, effects, frames, and textures courtesy of this enhanced photo mode. 

Online Fight Pits (December 5th): This fascinating new online mode pits you against another player's top orc follower in gladiatorial combat. The winner will be rewarded with upgrades and items.

Brutal Difficulty (December 12th): Brutal Difficulty gives you access to a new, even more challenging difficulty mode. It seems that making it through this new mode will require you to forgo the last chances made available to you in lesser difficulties. 

Meanwhile, the DLC season pass for Shadow of War will give you access to four full expansion releases. The first expansion is called Slaughter Tribe Nemesis and focuses on the previously seen Slaughter tribe of orcs. This expansion sees that tribe invade Mordor. As part of that invasion, players will be treated to new missions, new Epic and Legendary orcs to collect, new showdowns, and enhanced Nemesis System Interactions. You'll also be able to hunt legendary Slaughter Tribe orcs for Legendary gear. This expansion is set to release on November 21, 2017.  

Next up is the Outlaw Tribe Nemesisexpansion. This expansion is similar to the previous one as it focuses on a group known as the Outlaw tribe that rise and rebel within Mordor. It too will allow players to hunt down new orcs and acquire new gear, but the outlaw nature of this new tribe means that players will have a hard time actually winning any members over. That's going to make the assault on the Outlaw's fortress that much more challenging. Of course, the rewards for overtaking it promises to be quite good. This expansion will be released on December 12, 2017. 

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After those releases, players will be treated to story expansions starting with the Blade of Galadriel add-on. This expansion allows players to play as Eltariel, an assassin tasked with taking out the leading members of the Nazgûl. This expansion will take advantage of Eltariel's unique abilities - notably her dual-blades - and will include the usual suite of new gear and skills. This expansion will also expand upon the current Nemesis system with the introduction of special orcs. Blade of Galadriel will be released in February of 2018. 

Finally, there is the Desolation of Mordor expansion. This story DLC will allow you to assume control of Baranor, the Captain of Minas Ithil. Baranor has been tasked with leading a small army of man against the orcs. Along the way, Baranor will be able to unite with forces from various other races and will even be able to expand his army with mercenaries. It even promises to offer a rogue-like campaign mode with a permadeath system. This final expansion will launch in May of 2018. 

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Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine right here!

The first season of Telltale's Batman adventure proved to be one of the studio's most exciting adaptations yet. It told an unexpected, but welcome, version of the classic Batmanmythology which saw Bruce Wayne come to terms with the fact that his father wasn't exactly the bastion of decency that he was led to believe he was. Instead, Thomas Wayne's ties to the mob and other dark doings have come back to haunt him.

This latest season of Telltale's Batman adventure continues to warp everything we know about Batman. From the introduction of the very Joker-like John Doe to the arrival of Amanda Waller, this new season of Batman deals with what happens when Bruce Wayne is expected to determine just who he is and how Batman fits into a world that he no longer seems to understand. So far, he's not doing the greatest job of it. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that most of his important decisions are determined by the player. 

Here's everything we know about Telltale's Batman Season 2: The Enemy Within -

Telltale Batman Season 2 Trailer

The official trailer for The Enemy Within's third episode, "Fractured Mask," is finally here. 

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The description for this upcoming episode suggests that Bruce Wayne (also known as Mr. Wayne) will continue to have his loyalties tested by a variety of parties trying to turn him and Batman to their cause. Not only are Amanda Waller and Commissioner Gordon butting heads over the best ways to fight crime, but John Doe, Catwoman, and a debuting Harley Quinn are dragging him deeper into the underworld as part of their own crusade. 

On top of it all, Bruce has to somehow keep his personal life in check. 

It's going to be interesting to see if and when Telltale pulls the trigger on certain conflicts and brings their own version of Batman in-line with the more traditional takes on the character. Thus far, their version of this world's most popular characters has been quite the departure from what is "normal."

Telltale Batman Season 2 Release Date

The Enemy Within's third episode will be released on Nov. 21 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, and mobile devices. 

The Justice League has always been available in Injustice 2 - they're kind of a big deal so far as DC-related properties go - but soon, Injustice 2 players can fully embrace the aesthitics of the upcoming film via a new DLC costume pack. 

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The most recent update for Injustice 2 adds Justice League movie-themed content to the fighting game. Players will be able to snag Batman's Injustice League outfit, Aquaman's Justice League outfit, and Cyborg's Justice League outfit. Injustice 2 players already know that Wonder Woman's DCEU outfit is already in the game. 

The Aquaman and Batman outfits can be snagged via Arena Event rewards which include a special Justice League Chest designed to make acquiring these duds just a tad easier. As for Cyborg, the only way to acquire his custom outfit is to beat him in combat. You should find that Cyborg takes the place of one of your opponent's fighters in the Arena. If you manage to beat Cyborg, you can unlock his new outfit. 

Of course, you can always just straight up buy these outfits in the store, but recent events with other games may may you understandably trigger shy about going that route.

The timing of this move should be obvious to anyone who pays attention to the DCEU movie release schedule. With Justice League set to hit theaters this weekend, it makes sense that one of the best DC games on the market would celebrate this event with a few nods to the major motion picture. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not the Justice League film is going to be quite as captivating as Injustice 2 has proven to be. Early reviews - including our own - are decidely mixed. 

In case the official Justice League costumes aren't your thing, you may want to consider downloading the most recent Injustice 2 character pack. That DLC adds the Ninja Turtles to the game alongside previously revealed heroes Atom and Enchantress. That gives us the chance to settle the age-old question, "Could the Ninja Turtles beat Superman if they ganged up on him?"

Without getting into spoilers related to Injustice 2's surprisingly great story, we're going to go ahead and answer that with a fairly definitive, "no." 

The long anticipated Pokémon live-action picture, Detective Pikachu, continues to move forward, and it has found its lead actor in Justice Smith. And  if you forgot there is a live-action Pokémon movie coming, then get ready. Because we're going to need a bigger Poké Ball to catch 'em all.

The news of Smith's casting comes via Variety, which broke late Thursday that the Get Down star has been tapped to take the lead human role in Legendary's adaptaion of the "catch 'em all" media empire that revolves around Pocket Monsters. Currently, Smith is best known for his role in Baz Luhrmann's Get Down series, which was not picked up for a second season. But Smith made an impression and has since been cast in J.A. Bayona's Jurassic World: Forgotten Kingdom, which is due out next year.

Detective Pikachu is being helmed by Rob Letterman, who is best known for adapting R.L. Stine's '90s kid nostalgia pic, Goosebumps, for Sony. Turning that into an all-ages comedy did wonders for the studio, and a sequel is expected to be on the way.

Legendary bought the international Pokémon movie rights in summer 2016 and has slowly been putting this movie together. It will also be produced through Universal Pictures who will distribute the film in the U.S. and most international markets, albeit Toho Co, Ltd., the movie studio behind all the animated Pokémon movies, will maintain the Japanese rights to the brand.

Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls) wrote the script for Detective Pikachu. 

The wrong games are being remade. 

As fantastic as it is to see classic titles like Shadow of the Colossus receive proper remakes, the video game industry has a tendency to only remake titles that were pretty great - and very popular - to begin with.

While that makes sense from a business standpoint, it's a shame that those nearly great and criminally overlooked titles of the past rarely receive the kind of modern-day upgrade that could help turn near-classics of the past into true masterpieces.

Since we here at Den of Geek sadly lack the resources and licenses necessary to release official remakes of such games, we instead submit for your approval these 20 games that truly deserve to be remade.

Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hands

If you thought naked Raiden cartwheeling his way through an LSD trip was as weird as a Hideo Kojima game can get...well, you’re probably right, but Boktai is still a weird Kojima game.

In Boktai, you play as a vampire hunter who must use the sun to defeat vampiric hordes. That sounds rather unremarkable until you realize that you have to use our sun to defeat vampires. The game utilized the Game Boy Advance’s light sensor to determine if the player was actually out in the sun - or using a powerful lamp - and would reward them with extra power if they were.

Boktai was a pretty good dungeon crawler even without the gimmick, but that light sensor aspect makes this a potentially game for the mobile app age.

Onimusha: Warlords

Onimusha: Warlordswas released during that awkward time when Capcom was still sticking with many Resident Evil conventions (static cameras, tank-like controls, backtrack-based puzzles) but hadn’t yet begun to implement Devil May Cry’s combo-based action gameplay.

As a result, Onimusha suffers slightly from being an action game that plays similarly to an old-school Resident Evil title. While that formula occasionally works in the game’s favor, it does result in some awkward gameplay moments.

The good news is that everything else about Onimusha: Warlords is a hit. Its samurai horror film setting remains unique, the game’s bosses are incredibly well designed, and even the game’s weird plot begins to grow on you.

The point is that all of Onimusha’s mechanical problems could easily be addressed by a remake considering that its intangible elements are still incredible.

ChuChu Rocket!

In the early days of the Dreamcast when some of the system’s first owners were slowly getting tired of playing Soul Calibur all the time, they turned to a little game called ChuChu Rocket! for relief.

That may sound like a serious step-down in quality, but ChuChu Rocket! was actually a rather brilliant example of a digital board game that benefited from a revolutionary online multiplayer mode.

Even though playing online has lost much of its novelty since those simpler times, ChuChu Rocket! remains an incredibly entertaining party game. The mechanics - which involve leading a series of mice into goals - is the definition of brilliant simplicity while the included map maker added a ton of variety to the game’s competitive mode.

The biggest problem with ChuChu Rocket! is that not enough gamers got to experience it. A remake would certainly help address that issue.

Bushido Blade

The first time that you play Bushido Blade and instantly get one-shotted by a more experienced player who suddenly sports the world’s smuggest grin is one of those gaming moments that stays with you forever.

Bushido Blade is a 3D fighting game quite unlike any other 3D fighting game. Its unique weapon and body targeting systems not only let you kill a player in one hit - you know, like with real weapons - but also gave you the option to simply wound them instead or employ dirty tactics like throwing dirt in their eyes.

Actually, that last tactic could actually affect the flow of the game’s narrative as such moves would label you as a dishonorable warrior.

Bushido Blade was not a game for button mashers, but its truly unique mechanics would help ensure that a remake of the title would find a large modern-day audience.

Blast Corps

In many ways, Blast Corps is a puzzle game. It’s just that it so happens to be a puzzle game about using giant machines to destroy every building that impedes the progress of a runaway nuclear payload.

Suffice to say, it ain't Candy Crush.

As great as Blast Corps often was, its greatness was hindered by some incredibly difficult levels that weren’t always designed to be as challenging as they were in practice. Instead, it was the game’s iffy controls and a wonky camera that sometimes served as the title’s most notorious obstacles.

A remake of the game that retains Blast Corps brilliant concept, fantastic level design, and sense of achievement while removing the project’s less desirable design decisions would be a true gift to gaming.

Hunter: The Reckoning

If you’re the type of horror movie fan that was always more interested in the characters that hunt monsters than the monsters themselves, then Hunter: The Reckoning is a game designed for you.

Actually, it was designed for you and three of your friends. Hunter was a four-player co-op action game that thrusts players into worlds filled with various types of classic monsters - and a few surprises - then asked them to wipe all evil from the land.

What separates Hunter from games like Left 4 Dead is the title’s pure arcade action. Aside from the special skills of each character, victory in this game is achieved by firing as much ammunition as possible at every creature that comes your way.

Hunter’s blend of classic co-op action and horror movie style would still feel very welcome today.

Parasite Eve

Parasite Eve is a classic example of a tremendous concept hindered by sloppy execution.

So far as story and environment go, Parasite Eve is a masterpiece. The game sees you play an NYPD officer named Aya Brea who becomes mixed up in a truly strange story involving spontaneous combustion, science, and the supernatural. It’s some wonderfully weird stuff.

Unfortunately, Parasite Eve’s gameplay couldn’t quite live up to its narrative aspects. The game’s mix of real-time and turn-based combat was a fine concept but was far from refined.

Still, a developer wouldn't exactly need to tear the game completely apart in order to make existing ideas work. Parasite Eve is the kind of kind of game that deserves a modern day makeover simply because those who know about it need more people to discuss it with.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is much more than a name that contains way too much punctuation for a game title; it also so happens to be one of the deepest single-player RPGs ever made.

Bloodlines’ gameplay is...ok. It’s certainly serviceable and sometimes better than serviceable. What really makes the game work, though, is its character building system and the title's world.

The game forces you to make complex decisions that go well-beyond “Choice A” or “Choice B.” From playing warring clans against each other to determining how many humans you want to kill for dinner, Bloodlines is all about building your character through organic narrative decisions in ways that modern games still struggle to replicate.

Fans have been working to fix the game’s technical problems for years, but we’d love to see a proper remake.

Gargoyle’s Quest

One of the things that helped make the Game Boy a cultural sensation was its ability to reasonably emulate NES games. Much like the Switch is showing consumers now, people like to be able to take console-like experiences with them on the go.

1990’s Gargoyle’s Quest is an especially interesting example of that design style. Though not based on an NES game, Gargoyle’s Quest arguably contains more depth and content than the average NES action title. It’s blend of RPG mechanics, overhead exploration, and side-scrolling action is still impressive given the limitations of the Game Boy platform.

We eventually got a console Gargoyle’s Quest game - Gargoyle’s Quest II - but a modern remake of the original would be able to do quite a lot with current technology.

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

The fact that Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy didn’t immediately become a universally beloved best-seller really speaks to just how many great games came out in 2004.

Even if Psi-Ops were “just” a run-and-gun action game, it would still be a very well done run-and-gun action game. However, Psi-Ops ups the ante quite a bit by introducing a variety of psychic powers that allow gamers to perform some fairly impressive in-game maneuvers.

Granted, some of Psi-Ops'“Wow Factor” can be attributed to the fact that the game’s telekinesis powers benefit greatly from the older Havok Engine, but the game arguably still feels better than the average shooter released today. We’re not sure who - if anyone - controls the rights to this property, but that studio may be sitting on a potential future franchise. 

Mark of Kri

Mark of Kri is a bit different than the other games on this list in that it arguably still holds up from a gameplay and technological standpoint without a remake. Instead, our desire for a remake of this game stems entirely from the sad fact that not enough gamers got to play this masterpiece upon its 2002 release. 

Mark of Kri’s art style, music, plot, and characters are all fantastic, but the star of the show is certainly the game’s combat system. Long before Arkham Asylum perfected the idea of multi-character brawling in a 3D setting, Mark of Kri helped pioneer a similar system that revolved around assigning a button to each enemy.

Despite certain gameplay familiarities, Mark of Kri has enough unique features to its name to ensure that a remake would leave its mark on the modern-day gaming scene.

MechAssault

At a time when Microsoft needed to prove to the gaming world that online console gaming was more than a gimmick, Day 1 Studio’s MechAssault went out and nearly single-handedly proved their point. Granted, certain MechAssault online features that blew people's minds back in the day wouldn’t be nearly as impressive today (matchmaking, for instance), but the game has so much more to offer than just its online aspects.

MechAssault’s online and single-player modes both benefit greatly from the game’s intuitive action controls. We love a “realistic” mech sim as much as the next person, but there’s something to be said for a mech game that just lets you hop right in and start blowing stuff up with little learning required.

Given that MechAssault’s biggest issue is its laughably outdated graphics, a true remake of the game wouldn’t need to try hard to successfully revive this game for a new generation.

Illusion of Gaia

Much like EarthBound, the internet has helped Illusion of Gaia arguably become more famous now than it was upon its release. Unlike EarthBound, Illusion of Gaia still hasn’t received a proper re-release in quite some time.

Illusion of Gaia is a difficult game to explain. It is a grand adventure through a mythical setting that combines elements of Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda. In fact, we are quite certain that Illusion of Gaia would have become one of the most beloved games of all-time if it had shipped with the Zelda name.

Because it did not, a sadly small group of players got to experience Illusion of Gaia’s incredible blend of RPG and adventure mechanics. This is one of the SNES’s greatest adventures and it would still captivate audiences today if someone could secure the rights needed to remake it using current-gen technology.

Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey - alongside Blue Dragon - was one of the JRPGs that Microsoft hoped would capture the attention of Japanese console gamers who had shown relatively little interest in purchasing an Xbox 360. Unfortunately, Western and Eastern gamers ended up mostly ignoring this Hironobu Sakaguchi (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy) designed game.

What a shame that is. While critics rightfully pointed out that Lost Odyssey’s faithfulness to old-school JRPG design is the source of its worst qualities, the game’s story and characters help make it one of the most intriguing JRPGs of the post-SNES era.

If someone were to remake this game and remove - or tone down - the game’s random battles while slapping on a fresh coat of graphical paint, they would be doing the gaming world a tremendous service by ensuring that Lost Odyssey finds the audience it should have found in 2008.

Gladius

Due to the success of 2000’s Gladiator, game developers went through a brief infatuation with gladiator games during the mid-2000s. While titles like Shadow of Rome, Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, and Colosseum: Road to Freedom are all noteworthy in their own right, it is Gladius that stands as the best gladiator game ever made.

Unlike other gladiator games, which primarily focused on arena combat, Gladius is a tactical role-playing game that utilizes a rock, paper, scissors-style combat system. Imagine if someone made a gladiator mod for X-Com: Enemy Unknown, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the game has to offer.

That comparison aside, there are few games that offer what Gladius did and even fewer that captured the gladiator atmosphere quite like this title. Best of all, a Gladius remake wouldn’t require much more than some improved graphics.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

At the risk of sounding greedy, the recent release of Metroid: Samus Returns has got us wondering when Nintendo is finally going to remake Link’s Awakening.

In many ways, Link’s Awakening is the “missing link” (pun proudly intended) between A Link to the Past and the N64 era of Zelda games. It retains many of the design elements that made A Link to the Past so notable but also incorporates certain world-design qualities that would define later Zelda games. Actually, co-creator Takashi Tezuka noted that his decision to start populating this and future Zelda games with mysterious characters can be attributed to his fascination with Twin Peaks.

Influences aside, Link’s Awakening is a truly special Zelda game in its own right. We’d be eternally grateful if Nintendo upgraded this title and re-released it for 3DS.

Stuntman

Let’s get this out of the way now: if you can’t stand trial and error gameplay, you will never be a fan of Stuntman. You play as a film stuntman who must complete a series of increasingly complex vehicle-based scenes. What makes that so complicated is the fact that you are never quite sure what move to make until you hear the director shout it out at you seconds before you need to react. Suffice it to say, this means you’ll be replaying the same levels over and over again.

That annoyance aside, Stuntmandoes an incredible job of making you feel like you are truly a film stuntman. From the fake trailers that incorporate your actual stunts that air at the end of each level to the excellent design of the stunts themselves, Stuntman is one of those games that provides you with a feeling you never knew you wanted from a game until you experience it.

Another sequel would be great, but a remake of the original would be even better.

The Thing

Much like the movie it's based on, the video game version of The Thing was more or less overlooked upon its release. As such, relatively few gamers - or fans of the film - got to experience the game’s brilliant interpretation of the movie’s most notable elements.

In The Thing, you are typically accompanied by a squad of NPC players who are needed to progress. The problem is that certain actions can make these NPCs believe you are infected, which leads to them to eventually turn on you. Even worse, some of them can actually become infected and try to kill you at random moments.

While The Thing’s action sequences sometimes suffers from some generic third-person combat, the constant tension that accompanies your every move is a feeling that few other single-player action titles have ever delivered.

Crimson Skies

At this point, we’re fairly certain that it’s time to give up wishing for a Crimson Skies sequel. Hey, 15 years without any real hints of such a thing tends to chip away at one’s optimism.

If that is the case, we’d gladly settle for a remake of the 2003 Xbox title that quickly stole the hearts of nearly everyone that played it with its excellent aerial combat, slick alternate history premise, and Indiana Jones vibes. Actually, a remake might be even better than a sequel as it’s highly unlikely a developer could ever make lightning strike twice in terms of what made Crimson Skies so special.

Sure, we’d like for the remake to trim some of the game’s iffy escort missions and repetitive side-quests, but given that so few people ever played Crimson Skies (it sold very poorly), a remake of this game might just perfect what is already a near-perfect gaming experience.

Vagrant Story

We’d say that Vagrant Story was ahead of its time, but that implies that we've received games since 2000 that have fully capitalized on the aspects that made Vagrant Story special. 

Vagrant Story is a Square RPG quite unlike any other. There are very few NPCs, towns, or dialogue. Instead, there is a whole lot of dungeon crawling complimented by a real-time combat system which confounded many console gamers years ago. Those who took the time to learn Vagrant Story’s mechanics found that it's incredible weapon modification system and epic - yet subtly told - story make it one of Square’s greatest RPGs ever.

There’s been some loose talk regarding a remake of this game for quite some time now, but we say that it’s time for Square Enix to recognize that a post-Dark Souls world is the perfect environment for this truly remarkable example of game design.

Ever wanted to fight the Empire from the cockpit of an X-Wing? Or do you dream of mowing over the pesky droids invading Naboo? Star Wars Battlefront 2 wants to put you in the frontlines of every era of the Star Wars saga, from the Prequel Trilogy all the way to The Force Awakens. 

Star Wars Battlefront 2adds a few things that the first game was missing, such as a story mode that bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. It introduces all-new characters as well as explores the birth of the First Order. 

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Whether it’s dominating as your favorite iconic hero in epic multiplayer battles with up to 40 players, piloting a starfighter through thrilling dogfights in space, or stepping into the boots of commander Iden Versio in the campaign’s all new untold Star Wars story, there’s something for everyone in this sequel.

Along with five unique multiplayer modes to suit any play style and 18 locations set across all three cinematic Star Wars eras, the new class based system, Battle Points, and reworked Star Card system offer greater depth and progression than ever before.

Oh, and there are tons of new heroes, such as Yoda, Darth Maul, Rey, and Kylo Ren!

Here's everything else we know about the game:

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Release Date

Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be released on November 17, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Players who pre-order the game will be able to access exclusive content from The Last Jedi, including ships and costumes. 

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Star Wars Battlefront 2 Trailers

Check out the latest story trailer for Star Wars Battlefront 2!

Check out this trailer where John Boyega aka Finn reveals the full game experience that players can expect to immerse themselves in this holiday. 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 will feature space battles, something that was missing from the first game at launch. Check out the impressive trailer for the Starfighter Assault mode below:

EA took the stage at D23 2017 to unveil more details about Star Wars Battlefront 2, including some info on main character Iden Versio and her Inferno Squad. We also learned that Finn will be a playable hero in the game. Check out the trailer:

EA has announced that those who pre-order the game will receive early access to the beta as well as exclusive in-game content related to The Last Jedi that includes exclusive outfits, vehicles, and access to hero and starfighter cards.

The publisher has also announced that future content updates will be free and that the first wave of content updates will add Finn and Captain Phasma to the game as playable heroes. 

Finally, here's the first cinematic trailer for Battlefront 2's multiplayer gameplay:

And here's almost 20 minutes of multiplayer gameplay!

A new developer diary posted on Sony's US blog addresses the scope of Battlefront 2's story and how the game's emphasis on the Empire allows the development team to explore new worlds and aspects of the Star Wars universe which are not always explored. Take a look:

Here is the official reveal trailer for Star Wars Battlefront 2:

Star Wars Battlefront 2 DLC

The first DLC pack for Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be focused on The Last Jedi. Packaged as "The Last Jedi Season" of the game, the updates will mostly be for the multiplayer.

On Dec. 5, players will be asked to choose a side: the First Order or the New Republic. Players will be tasked with completing special faction quests for faction-specific rewards. 

On Dec. 13, players will get new heroes and maps. The new heroes are Captain Phasma and Finn, while the new maps are Crait for Galactic Assault mode and D'Qar for Starfighter Assault. There will be new quests and challenges as well. 

Here's a full rundown of the season:

Last but definitely not least, "The Last Jedi Season" will include a new single-player mission starring Iden Versio. The mission, which is called "Resurrection," will take place during the rise of the First Order. It will also arrive on Dec. 13. 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Campaign

Battlefront 2's campaign will focus on a character named Iden Versio who leads an elite unit of Empire soldiers named the Inferno Squad. The campaign takes place shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi and focuses on how the remaining stormtroopers and Empire leaders dealt with the fallout of the Death Star II's destruction.  

Yes, the next Battlefront game will largely focus on the bad guys of the Star Wars universe. This isn't the first time we've stepped into the shoes of the Empire's best and brightest, but it's fascinating to go from "No real Battlefront campaign" to "A Battlefront campaign that lets you dive into the dark side."

Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren will also be featured in the story as playable characters. DICE has also revealed that this story will be considered a part of the official Star Wars canon. You'll be able to enjoy this canonical story via the game's co-op campaign mode which can be played online and via split-screen. 

Speaking to Press Start, an outlet out of Australia, Motive producer David Robillard revealed that Star Wars Battlefront 2's story campaign will be "around 5-7 hours, maybe 8 hours" long, which could mean a pretty short experience for those fans hoping to get a hearty helping of single-player gameplay.

Robillard said of the potentially short campaign that, "We wanted to stay very driven towards the Star Wars fantasy that the players are going to experience and not have it be drawn out."

Could there be free story DLC in the game's future, though? Robillard said that it will depend on how players react to the story campaign already in place (and undoubtedly sales).

"We’re not ready to announce anything at this time," he explained, "we’ll see based on the reception the single player has, if we offer free DLC or not.”

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Writers

If you've been wondering how Battlefront went from no campaign mode to a shockingly original and highly-anticipated campaign mode, it turns out the answer may have something to do with the people writing the game's story. 

Walt Williams has revealed that he and former IGN editor Mitch Dyer are penning Battlefront 2's campaign narrative. For those who don't know, Walt Williams was the lead writer for Spec Ops: The Line; a game that is regularly cited as arguably the greatest example of intelligent storytelling in gaming. 

Williams was 2K lead narrative designer until he left the company in 2014. Since then, Williams has refrained from disclosing what he is working on. We now know that he has been helping to write what is shaping up to be the most interesting video game exploration of the dark side since 1994's Star Wars: Tie Fighter. 

It remains to be seen whether Battlefront 2 can emulate the brilliance of that game's twisted narrative. Given that Williams once penned one of the darkest examinations of war's effect on humanity, though, our hopes are high he and Dyer will turn in something special. 

A new report suggests that Disney may have been behind EA's decision to temporarily remove microtransactions from Star Wars Battlefront 2. 

The Wall Street Journal is citing sources "familiar with the matter" who claim that Disney CEO Bob Iger was personally alarmed by the negative attention that the game's microtransaction system was garnering. The report places the timine of those concerns at around the time that an official EA reply on Reddit regarding the nature of the game's microtransaction system became the most downvoted post in the website's history. 

Iger reportedly requested that Disney's head of consumer products and interactive media, Jimmy Pitaro, contacted EA and shared their concerns with the publisher. It's unclear whether a direct order was given at that time or if Disney specifically requested that the system be pulled from the game. 

As we've previously reported, EA has recently decided to remove Battlefront 2's microtransaction system, but did state that "The ability to purchase crystals in-game will become available at a later date, only after we’ve made changes to the game." What that means is that players will no longer be able to spend money to purchase the game's "loot boxes."

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However, those loot boxes do remain in the game for the time being. The difference is that players can only acquire them via gameplay. While this does help address concerns regarding a player's ability to gain a significant competitive advantage by spending money, it doesn't really do anything about the larger concern that the loot box system's reward randominzation can greatly affect gameplay in the long-term. A player can still be "lucky" enough to get the right upgrades or characters in their first few loot boxes. 

As for Disney, their interest in this matter dates back to a 2013 deal between EA and themselves which seemingly granted the publisher the exclusive rights to produce Star Wars games. The exact terms of the deal were unknown at the time it was made. 

While 2015's Star Wars Battlefront was a tremendous sales success, the relationship between these two parties has been somewhat rocky thus far. Along with this recent change to Battlefront 2, EA also decided to shutter developer Visceral Studios and suspend work on their secret Star Wars project. 

Rainbow Six: Siege is slowly turning out to be one of Ubisoft's pet projects. In the years since the game's 2015 release, its development team has provided a steady stream of content updates that have helped Siege become one of the most exciting and bountiful online multiplayer games out there.

Now, it seems that Ubisoft is preparing to introduce some weird, but welcome updates to the tactical shooter. 

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During a livestream event, Siege's development team spoke about what fans can expect from the game's third year of content updates. As usual, the game's updates will be broken down into quarterly seasons that will be spread throughout 2018. For instance, 2018's Season 2 updates will add an operation that takes place in Italy as well as two new GIS operators. Season 3 will change an unnamed existing map and add Scottish and American operators. Season 4 will feature a Moroccan location and add two new operators. 

However, it's the first season that's currently catching everyone's attention. That quarter will add a new cooperative mode to the game called "Outbreak." The details of this mode remain vague, but the hints provided by the Ubisoft team indicate that players will be required to work together against an entirely new kind of enemy. Given that the operatives being added to the game during that season all relate to quarantine and outbreaks, the current theory is that Outbreak will see players face off against zombies or some kind of similar foe.

That actually does make quite a bit of sense given that Siege allows players to fortify and destroy structures as needed. The mechanics are certainly in place to for a mode that sees players try to hold a location against an invading horde of undead capable of destroying it. 

As fun as Outbreak sounds, it does come with a bit of a catch. This mode will only be available for four weeks near the beginning of 2018 (the duration of the quarter's content). After that, it will supposedly be gone forever. 

Cyberpunk 2077 will be CD Projekt Red's first game outside The Witcher universe, and its first foray into science fiction. Based on the Cyberpunk series of tabletop games, it is, as its name suggests, inspired by the pioneers of the cyberpunk subgenre - namely William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. We can therefore expect plenty of cyborgs, AI, benighted cities, and scary corporations.

While Cyberpunk 2077's very different in setting from The Witcher, we'll see the same mature themes and unforgiving difficulty level in this new outing.

"The Witcher helped Cyberpunk quite a bit, because the game got so big and so complex that it really taught us,” visual effects artist Jose Teixeira told MCV. “If anything, working on The Witcher 3 was a really good and often brutal learning experience. Cyberpunk is going to benefit greatly from it. I can almost guarantee it."

Here's everything else we know about the game:

Cyberpunk 2077 News

Following a statement by developer CD Projekt Red regarding Cyberpunk's online elements and their "games as a service" approach, the studio has stepped forward to clarify that they do not currently intend to add microtransactions to the game. 

"Worry not," reads a post on the studio's Twitter account. "When thinking CP2077, think nothing less than TW3 [The Witcher 3] — huge single player, open world, story-driven RPG. No hidden catch, you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others."

It's still unclear what the games as service comment applies to, but it could just be a comment related to the possibility that Cyberpunk may feature expanded online modes. That makes sense given that the game is based on modern and futuristic technology as opposed to The Witcher 3's fantasy setting. 

Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date

Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't have a release date at the moment. The game is coming to XBO, PS4, PC.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Trailer

It's been three years since developer CD Projekt Red debuted the trailer for their upcoming adaptation of Cyberpunk 2077, and you'd have a hard time using what we've learned about the game in the meantime as breadcrumbs to trace your way back to that reveal. Considering that CD Projekt Red was still hard at work putting the finishing touches on The Witcher 3 during much of that time, many gamers didn't think much of their radio silence. Now that The Witcher 3 is well and truly done, however, some are starting to worry that the game isn't as far along as they may have hoped. 

Here's the first teaser trailer from 2013:

Cyberpunk 2077 Details

Rumors have emerged which suggest that Cyberpunk 2077 might take place in a "living city" that functions on its own accord regardless of whether or not the player is actively involved in a certain area or not. The actions of this city will apparently be governed by a complex series of AI rules that will allow for developer CD Projekt Red to maintain the illusion of a truly dynamic world.  

Furthermore, Cyberpunk 2077 may very well feature a complex multiplayer mode that involves the use of several technological tools and grants the developers have apparently applied for. When PC Gamer reached out to the developers for comment, they were told that CD Projekt Red have been applying for such tools but are not able to elaborate on their functionality at this time. 

In a post on CD Projekt Red's forums, the developers not only assured fans that the game is still being worked on, but revealed a rather shocking figure concerning the resources they are pouring into it. 

According to the forum post made by the development team, there are "more game developers working on Cyberpunk 2077 than on The Witcher 3 in its most intensive month." While the developer didn't reveal the exact number of developers currently working on the game, previously revealed figures regarding the development of The Witcher 3 suggest that the game was worked on by over 240 staff developers and over 1,500 people in general. 

Interestingly enough, the careers page of CD Projekt Red's website suggests that they are still looking to fill somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 positions devoted exclusively to the development of Cyberpunk 2077.

While it's clear that the developer's work on the upcoming standalone Gwent game isn't hindering their focus as it concerns completing Cyberpunk 2077, there is a bit of bad news that accompanies this information. We still don't know exactly when Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be released, and its absence from E3 2017 suggests that it's not likely to debut until sometime after next year's show.

Either way, it's still very likely that you've got enough uncompleted side missions in The Witcher 3 to keep you occupied until the game debuts.

“Cyberpunk is far bigger than anything else that CD Projekt Red has done before,” visual effects artist Jose Teixeira told MCV. “Far, far bigger. We're really stepping into the unknown in terms of complexity and size and problems we encounter.”

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' burgeoning competitive scene hasn't exactly set the world of eSports ablaze. The game's structure can make it somewhat difficult to ensure that the cameras are always focused on the action. For that matter, there's not always a guarantee that there will be a lot of action throughout the game in the first place. 

Every now and then, though, PUBG provides a true highlight that proves it is capable of becoming a truly entertaining venue for competitive gaming. That's exactly what happened at the recent IEM tournament in Oakland.

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In the clip above, you'll see 31 remaining combatants square off in an increasingly small play area that doesn't offer much cover. In fact, Team Evil Geniuses seems to have round the best cover available. They've put their back to the play area border and their fronts to a large rock. This leaves them needing to watch their sides. 

On their side is a player by the name of Edakulous. Now, Edakulous knows that his path to success goes right through team Evil Geniuses and quite a few other players. He's trying to take pot shots at them, but it's clear he can't match their combined firepower. 

Instead, he chooses to throw a grenade. That might sound especially effective, but grenades in PUBGare more like deterrents. They're incredibly difficult to use with precision, but they're a great way to ensure that nobody is camping upstairs waiting for you to appear. 

However, Edakulous happens to land the one-in-a-million, holy hand grenade throw of the century on Team Evil Geniuses. His grenade lands perfectly in the middle of all three remaining team members and wipes them out in one go. 

You may be wondering why anybody would ever just stand there and eat a grenade, but Edakulous clearly knew that Evil Geniuses' only path to escape was through enemy fire. Besides, they likely never thought that someone would be able to throw such a perfectly placed grenade while they themselves are under fire. 

It's likely going to be a long time before you see anyone replicate this throw. 

This article was originally published in the Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine. Click here to view the full issue!

Illustration by Hannah Kneisley.

We know that the romantic image of the Wild West in pop culture is a lie.

If there were ever cowboys in white hats whose guns only spoke when the law’s justice remained silent, they paled in comparison to the number of average men prospecting for just enough money to get by. For every outlaw who died at the hands of Wyatt Earp, there were many more who died at the hands of a doctor unable to amputate a limb or treat an infection.

Despite our knowledge of the hardships of the era, we still gravitate toward Western fantasies. In 2010, Rockstar Games released Red Dead Redemption, an open-world Wild West epic that is often regarded as one of the greatest games ever made. It is believed to have sold somewhere between 14 million and 16 million units, according to the Cowen & Company research firm. This makes it one of the top 50 best selling games of all time.  

And it’s not just video games that are capitalizing on this revitalized infatuation. In 2016, HBO debuted Westworld, a drama about the adventures of rich tourists in an artificial theme park designed to resemble the romantic image of the Old West. Across all platforms, the series drew an average of 12 million viewers during its first season, a record-breaker for any HBO freshman effort.

These two entries into the long-running history of the Western myth are especially interesting because of the nature of the era in which they made their debut. They’ve achieved great success at a time when the average person is well aware that the Wild West fantasy is a lie. In fact, these works almost glorify the worst parts of that lie by ironically perpetuating racist portrayals of Native Americans. Their success is far from an anomaly, however, and we cannot simply write them off as guilty pleasures. No, the success of Red Dead Redemptionand Westworldis based on an often unspoken factor: our desire for control.

We live in an age of infinite possibilities hindered by a burgeoning belief among young people that they are more powerless than ever. In 2016, the unemployment rate for millennials in America was 12.8 percent compared to the national average of 4.9 percent. A 2016 AP-NORC poll showed that 55 percent of American voters felt helpless about the upcoming election. One in five millennials admit to battling symptoms of depression.

The feeling of being in control cannot be underestimated. An extensive study conducted by Rutgers University Professor Lauren A. Leotti and her colleagues found that those inexperienced with exerting control in their daily lives may cease to believe that they are able to “produce desired results.” This same study suggested that those who lack the perception of control may seek to gain it “in any way possible.”  As ominous as that sounds, the key word in that observation is “perception.” Rather than actual control, Leotti argues, “Perception of control is likely adaptive for survival.”

In terms of perceiving one’s own self-made control, there are few historical venues more significant than the Old West. The American West was founded by those tired of the lack of opportunities in the industrialized east. Any man could claim 160 acres of land by working on it for five years. Later, the gold rush inspired hundreds of thousands of people to forgo traditional labor in hopes of striking it rich with just one great find.

Call them fools, but many of those who went west did so because they realized that in a land comparatively free of aristocratic influence, traditional law, and strict government oversight, they had a better shot at achieving whatever they wished. Let the government worry about manifest destiny; they had control over their own destinies. If the foundation of American romanticism is the so-called “American Dream,” which states that every citizen has an equal opportunity for success through hard work and determination, then it’s not hard to see why so many have fondly looked upon the Wild West as the definitive time period in American history.

In Red Dead Redemption, control is more than an idea. Control is quite literally in your hands. You guide protagonist John Marston on a journey to claim his freedom by hunting down the outlaws he used to run with. In reality, however, players often gravitate to places just beyond the game’s narrative boundaries.

Red Dead Redemption offers an exceptional story for those who wish to pursue it, but many will find themselves drawn to bar brawls, gunfights, and aimless nights spent wandering the open range. In many ways, the game’s astounding success can be traced back to the fact that it was the first successful piece of entertainment of its kind that allowed you to live out your own Wild West adventure rather than serve as a passenger on someone else’s journey.

This same philosophy is very much in play throughout HBO’s Westworld. Many characters in the show claim that the appeal of the park is that it allows you to feed your baser instincts while fulfilling some vague dream of being a cowboy. If that’s the case, then why spend the money to go to Westworld instead of a brothel or a bar? Because Westworld allows you to truly become someone else, whose fate is entirely in your hands.

The great irony is that many of Westworld’s guests are, as Red Dead’s Marston put it, born “rich and dumb enough to enjoy their lives.” They have the resources to be who they say they want to be in both Westworld and their world. Many guests use the park as a simple playground, but others are drawn to the outskirts just like Red Dead’s players. They seek an adventure that feels unique to them.

While it's true that the off-the-beaten-path attractions of Westworldand Red Dead are still the machinations of some unseen creator, neither the gamers who play Red Dead, the fictional guests who venture into Westworld, nor even the audience who simply watches the Westworldseries, seem to mind. Why? Because it’s the perception of control that we seek in escapism. We are willing to buy into the fantasy of the Wild West so long as the source material somehow acknowledges that we as the viewer/player have willingly accepted the reality of that illusion. It is that quality of deliberate and accepted illusion which binds Red Dead to Westworld, and identifies them as the start of a new breed of Western fantasy.  

In a strange way, this recent trend brings the appeal of the Western full circle. Remember that Western films of the 1930s and ‘40s, along with early dime store novels, were often quite absurd. They frequently treated folk tales as fact and starred square-jawed heroes capable of shooting eight evil men with six bullets. Yet audiences fell in love with these movies because they allowed them to escape overwhelmingly real terrors in the world. It wasn’t until the 1960s and ‘70s that a changing social structure inspired more filmmakers to start creating Westerns full of blood, anti-heroes, and moral ambiguity. Anything less was seen as a lie.

Now a new breed of Westerns is finding a way to acknowledge the fantasy without hindering our enjoyment of the genre. Red Dead Redemption draws more inspiration from the comparatively carefree Westerns of John Wayne’s earliest Oaters and the absurd Spaghetti epics of the ‘60s than it does from ultra-dramatic works like Unforgiven, a drama which Clint Eastwood felt said all that he needed to say about the Western. It is a dramatic game, but it celebrates the spirit of the Western more than it denounces it.

When the game does speak out against the era (its 1911 setting affords us the chance to see how antiquated the Old West had become in comparison to the rapidly approaching future), it is usually through the quick-witted remarks of Marston, whose observations on what is and what will be are almost too on-point. When Marston quips that “there won’t be any freedom” while there are guns and money, he does so with the authority of someone able to look back upon this time period with the clarity that only hindsight grants. It is almost as if he was designed to serve as the ultimate avatar for a modern player whose own knowledge of this era instills an attitude that borders on cynical. We can treat Red Dead as a power fantasy not just because of the opportunities it offers but because its attitude so often echoes our own.

Red Dead openly touches upon this subject matter, but Westworldis built on it. Characters in the show often find themselves hopelessly compelled by the park’s attractions even though they all know it is just a grand stage, and that their choices have been predicted to some degree by a grand overseer. They know it’s all a game, but it’s a game they want to play. It is that quality which enables these characters to speak so loudly to the viewers. Our favorite characters are often the ones who would play the game as we would. This includes those who latch on to the park’s “hosts” because they desire to see them break free of their shackles in this world of possibilities. In the end, it turns out that even those who rooted for a rebellion against the system were part of the larger game at play.   

As tempting as it is to recommend that we cast aside our cultural fondness for this time period and the horrors it represents, this new breed of Old West power fantasy does instill hope that we as a people are becoming more able—and willing—to separate reality from fiction. That we may take what we need from the illusions of the West for whatever entertainment value they may hold and not lose our knowledge of the reality of this era. If we have evolved as the Western has, it is in our willingness to accept our popular perception of the West for what it is just as we can accept the perception of control in lieu of actual totality.

Or perhaps we all just harbor a desire to traverse open plains with our rifles and ponies. The frightening, exciting, and perhaps even inevitable future of the genre may very well involve an opportunity to discover that answer for ourselves, too. 

If you were interested in importing Japanese games in the late 80s, or if you're just into far-eastern retro games today, you may have stumbled on Kato-chan & Ken-chan - a platform game released for the PC Engine 30 years ago this month. Released in America as JJ & Jeff for the TurboGrafx-16, it quickly vanished without trace, largely because the system only sold in relatively small numbers.

The game's legend has survived thanks to the web, however, partly because of its incredibly strange line of humour. While the American version was heavily censored, the Japanese Kato & Ken was infamous for its scatalogical humor, with its characters occasionally breaking wind or going for a surreptitious toilet break behind some bushes. Then there were the questions it raised: who the hell were these two guys in suits, anyway? What were all these cut scenes where the same characters reappear in exotic costumes?

Youtuber Gaijillionaire, an American based in Japan, has long provided a unique perspective on classic games. In the past, he's dug into the hidden history of Doki Doki Panic - the game that famously became Super Mario Bros 2 in the west - and the secrets of the classic Kid Icarus. In his latest video, he uncovers the story of Kato & Ken. Sure, you may have read that it was based on some kind of comedy show, but did you know that the two comedians were originally in a band called The Drifters, and they opened for The Beatles when they made their live debut in Japan? We certainly didn't.

It's all fascinating stuff, especially if you've played the game and can't play Japanese. Finally, we know what all those weird costumes are all about. Check it out below. More please, Mr. Gaijillionaire.

Marvel Entertainment and developer FoxNext Games have released the first trailer for their upcoming mobile strategy RPG, Marvel Strike Force. 

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This mobile title will ask players to assemble a team of Marvel superheroes and do battle against a Kree warlord named Ultimus and other, lesser, forces of evil. Ultimus is quite fond of going from dimension to dimension and taking over planets. He's recently arrived on Earth and is hoping that nobody minds if he continues to destroy planets. Naturally, Marvel's mightiest heroes are there to stop him. 

Said roster of mightiest heroes will likely be quite impressive. The full game will reportedly boast 70 playable Marvel heroes that include such names as Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk. The current theory is that some of these heroes will be locked behind some kind of paywall, but it is not currently known how - or if - Marvel Strike Force will charge you for new characters. 

Similarly mysterious is the game's actual gameplay. From what we can tell, Strike Force will play like a slightly watered down take on a title like Baldur's Gate. That means that you can expect to level up your characters, equip new items, and acquire new abilities that will be used during tactics-based combat sequences. It also seems that the game will offer both PvP and PvE options, but there has been no word on how the game's multiplayer will work. What we do know is that you will be able to form guilds with friends and play with them later. It's even been rumored that there are major raids towards the end game. 

There's no release date available for Marvel Strike Forces, but it should be available sometime next year for all major mobile devices. There is also supposed to be more mobile Marvel games in the works from Fox and Marvel, but there is no more information available regarding their development at this time. 

BioWare's 2002 RPG epic Neverwinter Nightsis receiving an enhanced edition from developer Beamdog. 

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Beamdog is a publishing studio founded by BioWare lead programmer Cameron Tofer. Thus far, they've primarily published and developed enhanced editions of classic BioWare titles like Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. 

This time, they've set their eyes on a game that unfortunately sometimes gets overlooked by a large chunk of modern gamers. Neverwinter Nights had the great misfortune of being released between two bigger BioWare hits, Baldur's Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. At the time of its release, though, Neverwinter Nights was considered one of the finest 3D Dungeons and Dragons-type experiences that gaming has ever offered. Its multiplayer mode was also quite revolutionary as it allowed a player to become the DM over a server and manage players' adventures. 

Neverwinter Nights' enhanced edition will retain the game's quality design and biggest features while addressing some of the title's lingering technical issues. Alongside modern-day niceties like 4K support and the incorporation of pixel shader and post-processing effects, this version of the game will reportedly smoothe some of the rough edges that infamously dogged the game's ambitious engine.

Even better, Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will include the game's two expansions, Hordes of the Underdark and Shadows of Undrentide. The reason that's such a big deal is that those expansions happen to be some of the best content that BioWare has ever produced. If you're a pure Dungeons and Dragons fan, you simply must experience them. 

One thing that's uncertain at this time is whether or not this edition of the game will support the years of mods and additions that the game's sizeable community have contributed over the years. There's also no word regarding the game's release date, but it should be released on PC for $20 sometime next year.