Call of Cthulhuis a new detective game that takes place in the grotesque world of H.P. Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror. Strange creatures from beyond our plane of existence, gruesome murders, and an evil cult make up the meat of this yarn, which might very well be the best game based on the Lovecraftian mythos.

Though the dark cosmic entity known as Cthulhu has made quite a few appearances in video games over the years, few titles have attempted to really capture the Lovecraftian horror atmosphere that typically accompanies the tentacled wonder's exploits. In fact, the last game that was able to really successfully convey the horrific elements of this character's world was 2005's Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

This journey into madness comes to us courtesy of developer Cyanide Studio, who you may know from their work on the Blood Bowl series. Though the studio has never developed a pure horror game before, you would never know it based on Call of Cthulhu's trailers, which show private investigator Edward Pierce navigating the terrifying island known as Darkwater in order to investigate a mysterious string of deaths. 

Here's everything we know about the game:

Call of Cthulhu News

A new Call of Cthulhu trailer arrived at Gamescom 2018! Check it out below:

Call of Cthulhu Release Date

Call of Cthulhu will arrive on Oct. 30, 2018. It's coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows.

Call of Cthulhu Trailer

And here's the trailer from E3 2018:

Check out the trailer from E3 2017:

Here's another preview - titled Depths of Madness - gives us a brief glimpse at protagonist Edward Blake's descent into Lovecraftian madness. 

The upcoming Call of Cthulhu game may not share a direct lineage with Dark Corners of the Earth but, if its first trailer is any indication, this project most certainly shares that title's love for a good gothic atmosphere.

Call of Cthulhu Story

Here's the official synopsis:

Plunge into the troubled mind of private investigator Edward Pierce, as his perception of reality becomes more and more skewed the closer he gets to the Great Dreamer’s sphere of influence. Clutch to your withering sanity to discover the conspiracies, the cultists and otherworldly terrors that inhabit the twisted universe imagined by Lovecraft… it is said that madness is the only way that can bring you to the truth.

Sent to Darkwater Island to uncover the truth behind a mysterious death of a family, your original assignment spirals out of control against a backdrop of suspicious locals, mutilated whales, and disappearing bodies. Pierce’s mind will suffer - balancing a razor-thin line between sanity and madness, your senses will be disrupted until you question the reality of everything around you. Trust no one. Creeping shadows hide lurking figures… and all the while, the Great Dreamer prepares for his awakening.

We'll keep you updated as we learn more!

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors.

John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

It's official: anyone who played as Oddjob in the N64's GoldenEye 007 was cheating. 

If you've never played GoldenEyeand are wondering what this has to do with Fortnite, allow us to provide some context. See, Oddjob was an incredibly short character you could pick in GoldenEye's multiplayer mode. While such things normally wouldn't matter, the problem was that Oddjob's height made him almost impossible to reliably target with the game's auto-aim system (at certain distances). As such, players were forced to use the game's notoriously wonky manual aim system just to get a bead on the character. This meant that picking Oddjob was a sure way to ruin a fine game of GoldenEye. 

Don't take our word for it. Karl Hilton, the lead environment artist for GoldenEye, and Mark Edmonds, gameplay programmer for GoldenEye, recently participated in an oral history of Goldeneye 007 for Mel Magazine and confirmed that picking Oddjob was a downright dirty move typical of the cheaters who did it. 

"We all thought it was kind of cheating when we were play-testing with Oddjob, but it was too much fun to take out and there was no impetus from any of us to change it," said Hilton. "It's clearly become part of the culture and folklore of the game - I noticed playing GoldenEye as Oddjob was mentioned in Ready Player One, so ultimately, I think it's fine."

Hilton may offer words of comfort to those who destroyed friendships as well as the sanctity of GoldenEye 007 matches by picking Oddjob, but Edmonds offers a more definitive stance on the well-known relationship between Oddjob and dirty cheaters. 

"It's definitely cheating to play as Oddjob!" said Edmonds. "But that can just add to the fun when you're all sitting there next to each other and berating/poking/hitting the person who chooses him."

Edmonds goes on to say that he actually likes how characters like Oddjob in GoldenEye encouraged people to make their own rules for the game rather than just play it as the developers intended. We say that he might be covering up slightly for the fact that GoldenEye's multiplayer mode was notoriously made in a very short amount of time, and that the Oddjob fiasco likely made it past testing. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Bungie has announced Destiny 2: Forsaken, the big Year Two update for the online loot shooter. The game will feature new story missions and map areas, a new multiplayer mode called Gambit, four new Crucible maps, and a new raid called The Dreaming City. 

Destiny 2: Forsaken Trailer

A new story trailer has arrived for Destiny 2's next expansion and it's a sad one. Check it out below:

Check out the Forsaken combat reveal below:

Here's the reveal trailer:

Destiny 2: Forsaken Release Date

Destiny 2: Forsaken will drop on Sept. 4, 2018.

Destiny 2: Forsaken Story

Forsaken will take players back to The Reef, a destination featured in the first game that hasn't appeared since 2015's The Taken King. The story will see you join forces with Cayde-6 to fight seven Fallen barons, who have escaped from a high-security prison on the Reef. The studio will reveal more about Forsaken's story at E3 2018.

More details on The Dreaming City will be shared this summer. Bungie described the new raid as "like the Vault of Glass and Dreadnaught had a baby." 

Destiny 2: Forsaken Details

Gambit is a mix of PvP and PvE involving two teams in a race against each other to collect motes of light and defeat NPC enemies. In order to win, one team must kill PvE enemies while filling up an energy bank with motes. Teams are separated on the map by a barrier. Once one team has collected enough motes, it will be able to invade the other team's space and eliminate them. The mode will live outside of the Crucible as its own location on the world map. 

Forsaken will also introduce a new weapons system to Destiny 2. Players will now have the ability to equip shotguns in your Kinetic slot, meaning that you could technically dive into the battlefield with three shotguns! A bow and arrow weapon is also coming to the game. New Super abilities, such as the self-explanatory Fire Knives, are expected as well.

Destiny 2: Forsaken DLC Roadmap

Bungie has announced the Annual Pass, a paid content pass that will include four premium content releases that will replace traditional Destiny expansion packs. Those releases include Forsaken in Fall 2018, Black Armory in Winter 2018, Joker's Wild in Spring 2019, and Penumbra in Summer 2019. The drops will include new endgame challenges, weapons, armor, and other items. Each content release will begin a new season in the game. The Annual Pass costs $34.99.

The studio also dropped a new development roadmap that shows the remaining Year 1 Season 3 updates due on July 17 as well as the initial Year 2 add-ons:

We'll keep you updated as we learn more about upcoming Destiny 2 DLC!

Activision has confirmed that the next Call of Duty game will be Black Ops 4. The publisher has promised to reveal more information about the game on May 17 during a live stream event. What we do know is that veteran CoD studio Treyarch is developing the game.

Some reports suggest that Treyarch is even working on a Switch version of Black Ops 4. Whether or not that version of the game will launch alongside the other versions of Black Ops 4 has not been confirmed at this time. There are also reports that Black Ops 4 might be available via Battle.net. 

It makes sense that the next Call of Duty title would be Black Ops 4 considering the previous release schedule of recent Call of Duty games. Recently, Black Ops games have arrived on a three-year release schedule and it has been three years since the last Black Ops title. Furthermore, the Black Ops games have historically sold quite well in comparison to even the "main" games in the Call of Duty franchise.

What is somewhat surprising is the rumored notion that Black Ops 4's setting may be impacted by the negative reception to recent Call of Duty titles. Historically, the Black Ops games have kind of marched to their own beat. As such, it's admittedly odd to consider that the next installment in the franchise may adopt a more crowd-pleasing setting and tone. Of course, we have no doubt that some of the trademark weirdness of Black Ops series will live on regardless of the era this game happens to take place in. 

Here's what else we know about the game:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 News

A new trailer has arrived for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It shows off the game running on PC. Here it is:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Release Date

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will arrive on Oct. 12, 2018. It's coming to PS4, XBO, and PC.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Beta

The beta for Black Ops 4's Blackout Mode - the game's take on the Battle Royale genre - will begin on September 10th. 

On that day, PS4 users will be able to access the franchise's latest mode. There's been no word regarding when Xbox One and PC gamers will be able to access the beta. A brief tease of the mode on Twitter suggested that the beta will feature solo, duo, and quad team options, but no additional gameplay details have been revealed at this time. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Trailer

Treyarch has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is getting a new Heist mode, which pits two teams against each other to recover a bag full of cash and extract it. Players have limited lives and start the match with pistols, although more powerful weapons and supplies are scattered around the map. All that stuff is in limited supply too though, adding a bit of a survival aspect to the proceedings.

You can check out all the details in the video below:

The first multiplayer trailer has arrived and it showcases all the explosive online combat action you should expect in this new installment. Check it out below:

You can watch the very first teaser trailer below:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Battle Royale

The first footage of Blackout, Black Ops 4's battle royale mode, is here:

While that trailer features footage from all of Black Ops 4's multiplayer modes, it's the Blackout footage that is rightfully capturing everyone's attention. We don't get to see much of the new mode, but we see enough to determine that Blackout will seemingly emphasize vehicle-based combat. Eagle-eyed viewers have also spotted a flash of what appears to be a zombie. That seems to indicate that zombies may be an optional or standard PvE element in this upcoming battle royale mode. 

We also now know that the Blackout beta will begin sometime in December. You can read much more about this new mode here.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies

The latest trailer for Black Ops 4 Zombie Mode conveys what would happen if zombies invaded the Titanic. Yes, we're quite serious. 

Black Ops 4's zombie mode is shaping up to be the series' largest and most impressive take on the concept yet. From time travel to custom match options, you can read about all of the mode's features here. 

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

The Pokemon Company and Twitch are teaming up to broadcast a months-long Pokemon marathon. 

This Pokemon: The Series marathon will include 19 seasons of Pokemon animated adventures (totaling 932 episodes) as well as 16 Pokemon movies. We had no idea there were 16 Pokemon movies, but apparently, they are, and you'll be able to see all of them. 

Because there is so much content included as part of this presentation, the airings will be broken into separate marathons. The first marathon will start on August 27, and the broadcasting will continue into 2019. There's no word on how the broadcasts will be divided, but we do know that the fun starts with the first season of the Pokemonanimated series, Indigo League, which you can watch starting at 10:00 AM on August 27. 

The marathon will be available to Twitch viewers in the US, Canada, Europe, LATAM, and Australia via the TwitchPresents channel. Additional channels will broadcast the marathon in French, German, Spanis, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. 

Much like previous Twitch marathons, it's difficult to really tell when certain episodes will air unless you're willing to do some math and calculate the average broadcast time of an episode. Fans usually make a homebrewed schedule for these showings, but this one is going to be particularly challenging to anticipate due to the sheer amount of content included in the multi-month broadcast. As always, you'll be able to interact with fellow viewers throughout the marathon via Twitch chat. 

Of course, by interact with fellow viewers, we mean spam memes until someone notices you. 

Even better, this marathon will feature a fun new feature that allows you to collect badges that appear on-screen during the marathon in order to claim your place on a running leaderboard. This feature does require you to have a registered Twitch account. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

When it came time to re-imagine Sherry for Resident Evil 2's remake, Capcom turned to a pretty notable source for inspiration. 

"Newt from Alienswas something of a reference point," said director Kazunori Kadoi in an interview with Eurogamer. "The first time you meet her and seeing, yeah, she's seen some serious stuff!"

Kaido is referring to the original version of Sherry in Resident Evil 2who was, to be honest, not much of a character. She was just the little girl who needed help. As such, Capcom wanted to ensure that the remake's version of Sherry was a little more well-rounded as a person and contributed more to the overall story. 

"We wanted to add depth to her," said Kadoi. "Because you're looking at her in a more photorealistic environment, and the characters look more human and realistic, that naturally means we have to add more depth to them because they're a lot less cartoonish and two dimensional. Back in the day, the storytelling was revolutionary because horror games didn't have stories. We have to meet fan expectations now with games designed for 2019."

According to Kadoi, the team's goal isn't to change everything about the original, but rather find ways to translate the intentions of the original game into the modern age. In the case of Sherry, that means constructing a character that has a personality of her own and who fits into the slightly more realistic (or grounded) tones of the remake. It also means finding that right balance between the camp of the original and the thematic shift of the remake. That includes reimagining a confrontation with a certain giant alligator.

"We did our best to make it more believable as much as possible," Kadoi says. "So, whether or not a giant alligator of that size could exist and has a place in this story is put aside. If there was one, how much weight should it have to its movements? Should it be able to jump this far across the room? We're accepting it exists, so maybe it should be a bit more weighty and believable in that sense? When you make things a bit more believable, people can accept the leap of logic a bit more."

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Deadly Premonition director Hidetaka Suehiro's next game, The Missing, shows off its strange side in this new gameplay trailer. 

While we wouldn't expect something "normal" from the mind that brought us Deadly Premonition (an odd blend of Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, and B-horror movies), this trailer is an especially bizarre way to show off his next title when you consider just how little we know about it. 

What we know about The Missing after having watched this trailer is that there's no shortage of ways that your character can die in this game. From falling down holes to being assaulted by what appears to be a giant monkey toy with cymbals, we can confidently say that The Missing will not rely on a stock animation to convey the fall of its protagonist. Indeed, it looks to feature Limbo levels of demise variety. 

Whatever else The Missing features remains up for debate. This trailer confirms that at least most of the game will utilize a pseudo-2D perspective used to convey quite a few dangers. We can also see that the game will touch upon some of the dreamlike surrealism and strange speech patterns that we saw in Deadly Premonition.

We don't even know is what the game is actually about. The title suggests that someone - maybe multiple people - are missing, but Swery remains coy regarding who this missing person is or how the game's protagonist fits into the search for them. He's even suggested that the idea of something "missing" can be interpreted to mean something within a person that's no longer present or prominent. 

At this rate, we'd be very surprised if we hear too much more information about The Missing ahead of its release on PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One sometime later this year. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Suprise hit action-adventure title The Surge is getting an equally surprising sequel. Developer Deck 13 and publisher Focus Home Interactive will once again join forces to bring fans The Surge 2. According to an official announcement from Deck 13, fans of the original game can expect many of its best qualities to return in this in-development sequel. 

“The Surge 2 keeps what fans and critics loved about the original while also expanding greatly upon the formula,” reads a statement from the developers. "The Surge 2 takes place in a brand new environment: a sprawling, devastated city with larger and more ambitious level design, made possible by Deck13’s upgraded and improved engine.”

The Surge distinguished itself from its considerable competition through its use of an incredible dystopian world where technology is capable of making you whole (at a cost, of course) and the aforementioned limb-targeting system. Along with Nioh, The Surge proved that there is life in the little sub-genre that Dark Souls helped carve out. It was well-made and sometimes truly innovative. 

The developers also promise to expand upon the original game's limb-targeting system - a brilliant mechanic that forces you to consider the strengths of your opponents as well as what you want to salvage from their bodies - and will likely add more of just about everything featured in the first game. At the very least, that includes more weapons, drones, abilities, and implants. 

The Surge 2 News

Surge 2's latest gameplay trailer showcases the sequel's significantly smoother melee combat as well as a few of the cool new movies you'll be able to pull off in this sequel. 

The Surge 2 Release Date

At present, The Surge 2 is expected to be released for PC and select consoles sometime in 2019. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

The next DLC release for Call of Duty WW2, Shadow of War, will feature the conclusion to the game's Nazi Zombies mode. 

Details are thin at the moment concerning what the final chapter of Nazi Zombies will deal with - which is certainly understandable - but Sledgehammer stated on the PlayStation Blog that they wanted to "push the fiction as far as we could" and that the goal was to "give the player a sense of creativity as they play." It also seems that this new chapter will take players deep within a lost city in order to confront the most dangerous foes that the Nazi Zombies mode has ever offered.

There are even hints that players will be able to get their hands on some incredibly powerful new weaponry that should help even the playing field just a bit. 

If you're not into Nazi Zombies, Shadow of War still has plenty of content to offer. Specifically, multiplayer gamers will be able to access three new maps (Airship, Chancellery, and Excavation) which all focus on some fairly unique scenarios. Airship sees players battle over a grounded Zeppelin, Chancellery requires you to capture and hold a stronghold, and Excavation involves a battle over various financial resources in a mine in Algeria. 

There's also a new War Mode mission called Operation Arcane. Much like the rest of the DLC, this mission focuses on the shadowy side of the Axis war machine as the attacking players must infiltrate a secret base, commandeer a few secret documents, and destroy what seems to be captured alien technology. Naturally, the outlandish nature of this mode means you can expect it to feature some fascinating new weapons and items. 

Shadow War will arrive as a timed PS4 exclusive on August 28. Even if you don't purchase it, you'll be able to play the content with Shadow War owners from August 28 to October 28.  

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

If you haven’t played Monument Valley yet, you really should. It’s a great little puzzle game where you guide a cone-headed princess around a stylish, geometric castle – slowly walking up the surfaces of various architectural illusions, casually avoiding humanoid crows and generally feeling pretty zen. It might not be the most obvious choice for a movie adaptation, but it’s getting one anyway, courtesy of Paramount Pictures. 

Directed by Patrick Osbourne (who won an Oscar for his first short, Feast, back in 2014 and went on to work on Wreck-It Ralph 2 as the animation director), the film will be an animated take on the mobile game, developed under Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road Pictures. 

Originally made by just eight people at London’s UsTwo Games, the first Monument Valley game went on to get over 160 million downloads. Needless to say, the guy who made it can’t quite believe his luck. 

“To get to this point, from a group of people in Shoreditch just wanting to make something they were proud of, it's really humbling,” UsTwo head Dan Gray told the BBC. “I keep not knowing where this crazy rollercoaster is going to end”. 

Going on to talk about the curse of the videogame movie, Gray rightly points out that Monument Valley is simple enough to (hopefully) avoid most of the problems that other adaptations have had.  

“One of the reasons we decided to give this the time of day is that it's a story that leaves a lot to your imagination. The story of Monument Valley is down to a player's interpretation. If the film is something that captures the identity of the visuals and the feeling and the characters they can go wherever they want with that.”

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Release Date: August 14, 2018
Platform: PC
Developer: Blizzard
Publisher: Blizzard
Genre: MMORPG

This review-in-progress is written from the perspective of someone who primarily plays Alliance. Your experience may vary if you're a filthy Horde following the "morally grey" Banshee Queen. We'll update this piece once we've played through the rest of the Horde sections as well as the endgame content.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth went live the evening of August 13 in the U.S. and Den of Geek has spent much of the last 10 days adventuring across the new continents of Kul Tiras and Zandalar. The expansion features plenty of the kind of content fans have come to expect from a new WoW expansion, like new quests and dungeons. But Battle for Azeroth also introduces several features that offer entirely new ways to play the game.

While not every new feature is a rousing success and several activities -- including Warfronts, Mythic+ dungeons, and Uldir, Battle for Azeroth's first raid -- will not release until September, we feel like we've seen enough to state that Battle for Azeroth's first 10 days have been about as good as fans could have hoped. What follows is not exactly a review but more of a hands-on from the first 10 days of the expansion. We'll have more to say and an official review score after the next batch of content releases in early September.

Here's what we think so far:

The Story 

After traveling on a spaceship to Argus in order to save the world from Sargeras and the Burning Legion, Battle for Azeroth offers players a very welcome back-to-basics storyline: the Alliance and the Horde are at each other's throats again. Blizzard has done an outstanding job with Battle for Azeroth's storytelling both in and out of the game. You don't need to read Christie Golden's Before the Storm novel or watch the Warbringers: Jaina video on YouTube to enjoy the story, but Blizzard has included numerous nods to events that have taken place outside of the game as a reward for its most dedicated fans.

As Battle for Azerothbegins, Horde warchief Sylvanas Windrunner has taken the torch to the Alliance city of Darnassus/Teldrassil and blighted her own Undercity to prevent the Alliance from capturing it in the Battle for Lordaeron. The initial impetus for both factions is to seek out a new ally who can help them in this ongoing war.

Players are treated to two unique and completely separate stories based on their faction of choice. Alliance players accompany Jaina Proudmoore to her homeland of Kul Tiras where she must face her past, while Horde players explore a new partnership with the Zandalari trolls. This reviewer has played Alliance since vanilla, so Kul Tiras is where I've spent most of my time, but I have been leveling a Horde character across the three zones of Zandalar and I'm happy to report that Blizzard has done a fine job putting together an initial story for Battle for Azeroth across the board. Both faction storylines pack an emotional punch while dropping hints of what's to come in the months ahead.

Questing and War Mode

Battle for Azeroth features so many different quest lines that it can actually feel a bit overwhelming, at least in the first few weeks of play. I started the expansion with an empty quest log and quickly found myself having to drop certain side quests to pick up new ones because I repeatedly reached the quest log limit. To be clear, it's pretty easy to get to 120 if you just focus on the main storyline, so there's no real obligation to do all of the side quests. But if you are a completionist, you might be a little annoyed by the cluttered mess your map and log can become.

Just to give you an idea of how many side quests there are, I have friends who managed to hit 120 while only playing through two of the three zones each faction begins with. Once max level is reached, players unlock even more content in the form of repeatable daily World Quests and are also given additional access to the opposing faction's three zones. I've gotten things under control in the last day or so and I probably shouldn't complain about there being too many things to do in an MMO, but I did feel like the game was pulling me in one too many directions at times. The minor annoyance aside, if you like questing in World of Warcraft, Battle for Azeroth will give you all the quality content you can handle and then some.

If you need a break from all of that questing or want to take your frustrations with your overflowing quest log out on somebody's face, Battle for Azeroth's War Mode has you covered. Prior to Patch 8.0, World of Warcraft's servers were split into PvE and PvP. Those who wanted to attack other players in the open world played on PvP servers while those who preferred to focus on the story chose PvE. Now, every player on every server can toggle PvP on or off anytime they are in Stormwind or Orgrimmar. Toggling War Mode on comes with some pretty nice incentives, including extra abilities that can help your damage output or survivability, and players also receive an extra 10 percent in experience points or max level resources.

Just about everyone I know leveled to 120 with War Mode turned on so that they could hit the new level cap 10 percent faster. It's funny though, I've run past several Horde players with my Alliance paladin who clearly had no interest in a fight. There seems to be a significant portion of the player base who play with War Mode turned on for the extra rewards while hoping they don't actually get interrupted from their daily open world tasks. I've also noticed more and more players turning War Mode off in the last few days so they can tackle their World Quests in peace. If you enjoy PvP, War Mode has a lot to love, but it will be interesting to see how active the mode is a few months from now.

Dungeons and Island Expeditions

Blizzard has always been the best in the business at creating PvE group content and Battle for Azeroth is no exception so far, at least when considering the traditional 5-man dungeons. The expansion offers 10 dungeons on three different difficulty levels to this point and I've really enjoyed almost all of them. The locales are diverse, with players battling through a pirate city, a goblin town, and an ancient temple among others. The boss fights are another high point, with many interesting mechanics that frequently require more than just "tank and spank."

Some dungeons also feature interesting areas in between the boss fights, most notably the Temple of Sethraliss. There, players must walk through a maze of glowing orbs and then survive a gauntlet with constantly respawning mobs in order to make it to the last boss. It's clear that Blizzard had its time-based Mythic+ mode in mind when it designed certain parts of these dungeons. Mythic+ doesn't release until Sept. 4 but it's already easy to imagine the frustrated screams of players who fail at some of these more elaborate segments, causing precious seconds to tick off the clock. I'd like to see Blizzard maybe reduce the number of trash mobs in a couple of dungeons (Freehold and The Motherlode), but all in all, if you enjoy dungeon-crawling in World of Warcraft, you'll find a lot to like in this latest batch.

Aside from the dungeons, the expansion also features a new form of group content called Island Expeditions that will feel somewhat familiar to anyone who played through Scenarios in Mists of Pandaria. Island Expeditions task three-man groups with collecting Azerite, a precious end-game resource while also battling a variety of PvE mobs, including computer-controlled members of the opposing faction. Each week will offer three different islands for players to explore, switching up the types of mobs players will have to kill and loot. Like dungeons, Expeditions offer three different difficulty levels, as well as a PvP mode where the opposing faction will be actual players instead of NPCs.

My early impression of Island Expeditions is that it's… generally just fine. The novelty of it kind of wore off pretty quickly for me and others in my guild. Players have a weekly incentive to complete a certain number of Expeditions in order to get a big boost of Azerite, and I've already seen people complain that the only reason they are queuing for Expeditions is just for that weekly reward. It's early, but there's already a sense that as time goes on, Expeditions could end up feeling like a chore you have to complete instead of something fun you actually enjoy doing. Those who enjoy PvP might get a little more joy out of the experience as PvP Expeditions offer Conquest Points that are normally only rewarded in high-end Arena or Rated Battlegrounds.

More to Come

September 4 will see the release of a pretty significant batch of content, some of which we've already mentioned. The game's first raid, Uldir, will open and Mythic+ difficulty will become available for dungeons. This date will also see the launch of Battle for Azeroth's first PvP season, featuring two new arenas, Hook Point and Mugambala.

Somewhere around that time frame, Blizzard will also flip the switch on Warfronts, which was one of this expansion's most hyped new features. Warfronts are supposed to recreate the RTS-magic of Warcraft III inside World of Warcraft. Players will adventure through a PvE-scenario in which they invade and conquer a keep or stronghold owned by the opposing faction. Warfronts will also unlock new World Quests in zones outside of Kul Tiras and Zandalar, with vanilla zone Arathi Highlands getting the treatment first.

While we're not yet ready to assign Battle for Azeroth a review score, we can say we've definitely enjoyed our time with this expansion so far, and in many ways, it's the best expansion yet, especially from a storytelling perspective. But the true test of any MMO is how many players are still enjoying it months, not days, after launch. Despite my disappointment so far with Island Expeditions, I'm hoping Warfronts will have more staying power and that the expansion's first raid proves to be as interesting as its dungeons. I'll report back and update this review-in-progress by the end of September. Until then, I'll see you in Azeroth, assuming Sylvanas doesn't burn or blight the rest of it in the meantime.

Jason M. Gallagher is a freelance contributor. 

Roberto Orci (producer of Star Trek, The Mummy, writer of Transformers: Revenge) and animation studio ShaowMachine (Robot Chicken, BoJack Horseman) are joining the Galagaseries. 

At this time, it seems like Orci will play a creative role in the adaptation, but it is not clear whether he will be a writer or the sole writer. He will also serve as producer. In a statement, Orci said that Galaga is "one of the games I played growing up" and that he "looks forward to working with The Nuttery and to capture that magic in an exciting new format." 

ShadowMachine CEO Alexander Bulkley noted that the Galga adaptation is "by far one of the best video game adaptations I’ve ever read or been a part of" and noted that it is an "absolute playground for animation."

The series, called Galaga Chronicles, will include a mix of plot elements and characters taken from the game and original creations. Nuttery Entertainment founder Magnus Jansson had this to say about the project:

“We are incredibly honored to be able to work on such an amazing legacy property and help launch it into the animated space. There is such a deep love for this game from fans around the world, and our team is excited to make sure the next chapter in the Galaga saga is equally impressive and inspiring as its humble 8-bit beginnings.”

Bandai Namco's Hirotaka Watanabe noted that while Nutttery plans on re-imagining Galaga as a character and narrative-driven experience, fans should know that everyone involved has "a great respect for its [Galaga's] history" and that the series will stay true to the original game. 

There is no word regarding the series' release date or which network will air the show at this time. 

If you're suddenly wondering whether the original Galaga even had a plot, the short answer is to that question is "not really." Galaga saw you assume the role of a nameless pilot fighting against insect-like aliens in space. The game was most notable for its somewhat advanced A.I. and deeper take on the Space Invader's formula. 

Subsequent games in the series did introduce more complex elements such as interdimensional travel and complex enemy patterns, but it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that the games ever really had much of a "plot" or "characters" in the sense of those words that one might use to justify the production of an animated series apparently driven by those very factors. 

Still, this show could be a fun excuse to make an animated sci-fi series with a few recognizable elements and a fairly well-known name. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Microsoft is reportedly planning to announce a new retail bundle called Xbox All Access that will allow people to pay a monthly fee for an Xbox Console, Xbox Live, and Xbox Game Pass. 

According to The Verge, this bundle is being internally referred to as Project Largo. It will supposedly allow people to choose between the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X and pay a different monthly fee based on which console they want to receive. The rumor is that the Xbox One X bundle will cost $34.99 a month for 24 months. 

At present, it sounds like Microsoft is looking to offer this bundle via their retail outlets. However, they are working to try to offer Xbox All Access via other outlets that may be more accessible to a greater variety of people. There don't seem to be any plans to offer the All Access package to anyone outside the U.S., but that could always change as the idea evolves. 

While none of this information has been confirmed at this time, it wouldn't exactly be unprecedented. Microsoft has offered a bundle discount on the Xbox 360 when the console was nearing the end of its lifespan in 2012. Of course, that monthly fee bundle was significantly cheaper. 

It's a bit of a strange move to offer such a long-term bundle in what appear to be the last years of the Xbox One, but it does make some sense. By the time that the 24 months are up, the next Xbox will likely either be on shelves or will have a confirmed release date. This might be a great way for people who didn't immediately buy into this console generation and want to enjoy it at the end of the line. 

The Verge is also reporting the supposed development of a new Xbox accessory known as Washburn, but details regarding that accessory are few and far between at this time. At the moment, though, it is rumored to release in October. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Three people, including the gunman, were killed and another eleven were injured in a mass shooting at the GLHF Game Bar at The Landing in Jacksonville, Florida. The bar was hosting a Madden NFL 19 tournament at the time. 

The suspect, 24-year-old Baltimore resident David Katz, killed himself, according to a statement made by Sheriff Mike Williams after the incident.

Witness Ryen Aleman told CNN he heard "at least 20" gunshots during the championship event. A Madden competitor, Stephen "Steveyj" Javaruski, told LA Times that Katz was a player who lost in the tournament and then opened fire on the other competitors. This was later confirmed by Sheriff Williams. 

Nine people were transported by ambulance to the hospital while two others self-transported after fleeing the scene, according to Variety. At least three of the victims are being treated at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. Hospital spokesman Pete Moberg told the news network that all of the patients are in stable condition. 

After the incident, SWAT teams searched the immediate area to make sure there were no additional gunmen. The Coast Guard swept the surrounding water-ways because the Game Bar inside of Chicago Pizza is located near St. John's River. At the time of the incident, police cautioned anyone who was hiding inside the building to remain calm and wait for assistance. 

"SWAT is doing a methodical search inside The Landing," the Sheriff's office said in a statement. "We will get to you. Please don't come running out." 

“We are aware of an incident at a sanctioned Madden Championship Series competition in Jacksonville," tweeted Electronic Arts at the time. "We are working with authorities to gather facts at this stage.”

The event was being held for the first of four qualifier events for the Madden Classic series. The bar's Twitch account, which was live streaming the competition, captured the horrifying incident. Shots can be heard during a kickoff return between two competitors, according to LA Times.

This is a developing story. We will keep you updated as we learn more. 

Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City's Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.

John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

Modern handheld gamers don’t know how good they have it. Aside from a few long-forgotten competitors, the Game Boy was the only way to play games on the go in the ‘90s. It was big, bulky, and (mostly) black and green. Color games didn’t come around until the system had been on the market for almost a decade. The handheld wasn’t even backlit. And downloads? Forget about it. Even getting a basic two-player game going was a mess of cables and cartridges.

But for all of its flaws, a surprisingly good number of titles hit the original Game Boy. These 25 games stand out as the very best you might not have heard of:

25. Faceball 2000

1991 | Xanth Software

The Game Boy isn’t the first platform that comes to mind when thinking of first-person shooters. Or the second. Or even the tenth. It’s actually pretty remarkable that any developer was able to get a halfway decent shooter running on the hardware, especially so early in its lifecycle.

As you might expect, Faceball is pretty primitive. There’s virtually no detail to the game’s 70+ mazes, and there’s only one weapon, which is fired with the A button. Don’t expect this to replace Destiny or Call of Duty as your go-to shooter anytime soon, but it is an interesting oddity to spend a weekend messing around with.

24. Bubble Ghost

1990 | Opera House

Bubble Ghostwas a slightly spooky platformer popular on home computers in the late ‘80s. The Game Boy version of this forgotten gem not only ditched the color graphics, but also made them more “cutesy” like most other games of the era. Still, Bubble Ghost was no worse for wear after the transformation.

The object of the game is simple: you, as the ghost, must guide a bubble through a haunted house, avoiding obstacles like candles, electricity, and fans. The first few levels are super easy, but the challenge escalates quickly.

23. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon

1998 | Konami

Mystical Ninja is a lot like Zelda, but with more Japanese-centric humor and mini-games. The Game Boy title is a little rough around the edges, but there’s fun to be had here switching between the game’s three characters while exploring their huge world. The music is also among the best that the underpowered Game Boy could muster.

The title was released at a time when Konami was attempting to find a North American audience for the long underrated Goemon series, but between the low sales of the Game Boy game and overall confused response to the N64 games, Goemon never really had a chance.

22. Batman: Return of the Joker

1992 | Sunsoft

Sunsoft released a fairly well-regarded game adaptation of Tim Burton’s first Batman movie for consoles and Game Boy in 1989. While the NES version of that title is fondly remembered for its Ninja Gaiden-inspired gameplay, the portable version took a weird turn, focusing on platforming and gunplay. If Batman v Superman taught us anything, it’s that Batman should never, ever have guns.

Thankfully, Sunsoft learned its lesson when porting the sequel to the Game Boy. Return of the Joker rightfully focuses on wall jumps, batarangs, and punching out baddies. Unfortunately, it also limits you to just four continues, making it much more difficult to complete than its predecessor.

21. Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle

1990 | Kemco

At first glance, Crazy Castle looks a lot like the dozens of other platformers that graced the Game Boy during its lengthy lifespan. But there’s one major difference: you can’t jump. That might sound antithetical to platform design, but it actually makes the game more of a puzzler and has helped it age much more gracefully than other games of the era.

Kemco released several follow-ups on the Game Boy and other consoles, but it can actually be kind of difficult to figure out which game is part of the series if you don’t research it first. Some sequels featured Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker instead of Bugs Bunny. One Game Boy game was even just rebranded as a Real Ghostbusters title.

20. Wendy: Every Witch Way

2001 | WayForward Technologies

Show of hands: how many people have wanted a Wendy the Good Little Witch video game? Even better, who’s even thought of Wendy the Good Little Witch in the last decade or so? Yeah, Casper’s witch friend isn’t exactly the hottest property in any medium, but that’s probably a good thing in this case since it let WayForward make a game without any interference from the license holder.

The story focuses on Wendy upsetting gravity, which is really just an excuse to manipulate gravity during the game’s platforming levels. And every so often, those get broken up with a horizontal shooting stage. It’s a short game, but way better than a Wendy game has any right to be.

19. Perfect Dark

2000 | Rare

Perfect Darkon the N64 is one of the most beloved titles of the era. Perfect Dark on the Game Boy… well, you probably didn’t even know there was a Perfect Dark Game Boy game. In some ways, it’s extremely impressive for the portable, featuring huge levels and even fully voiced conversations. You can even use the game to unlock cheats in the N64 version and fire up some basic death match levels if you find someone with another cart.

But on the other hand, those technical achievements come at a cost. There’s no music in levels, and the stealth-based gameplay is pretty basic. But it’s more Perfect Dark, which is never a bad thing. In some ways, it’s actually better than the Xbox 360 game…

18. Hammerin’ Harry: Ghost Building Company

1992 | Tamtex

Hammerin’ Harry is such a wonderfully perfect concept, it’s a shame that the series has mostly been dormant since the ‘90s. You play as a carpenter armed with only a hammer, who fights against an evil property developer and his army of shady builders. The Game Boy version also throws in zombies and ghosts for some reason, plus some side-scrolling shooter levels. It’s basically the best version of a series that was abandoned far too soon.

While there have been eight games released in the Hammerin Harry series, this was actually the last one to make it to North American until 2008, when Hammerin’ Hero was released on the PSP. That game didn’t exactly set the world on fire though, so the series seems to be dead at this point.

17. Shantae

2002 | Wayforward Technologies

Most gamers are familiar with the Shantae series at this point, but not a lot of people remember that it actually got its start on the Game Boy Color. The graphics are less detailed than the more recent Shantae games, channeling the best of the NES era, but the awesome platforming, hair-whipping gameplay is still here in all of its glory.

Released at the tail end of the Game Boy’s ridiculously long lifespan, Shantae didn’t exactly light up sales charts at release despite great reviews, but thankfully WayForward’s dedication to the series has kept it going.

16. Trip World

1992 | Sunsoft

Trip World was only released in Japan and Europe in the early ‘90s, but its reputation has only increased over the years, making it well worth the effort to import (or find other methods of playing it). In this sidescroller, you play as Yakopoo, a rabbit-like creature who can also change forms to fly or swim. Those different forms are necessary to traverse the game’s five large worlds and eventually track down the flower of peace.

While the gameplay is a little on the simple side, the graphics are extremely detailed for the black and green Game Boy. Given that so many other similar games were brought to the U.S. during the same period, it’s somewhat mystifying why Sunsoft or another publisher never saw fit to pick up Trip World for an official American release.

15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue

1993 | Konami

TMNTgames were a dime a dozen in the ‘90s, and a lot of them were quite mediocre. That’s probably why so many gamers ignored Radical Rescue when it was released. That’s too bad because it actually tries some new things that really make it stand out. Yes, it’s a sidescroller like most Ninja Turtles games released during this era, but this one is actually a Metroidvania, with a giant open map you can explore at your leisure.

You start off playing as only Michaelangelo, but eventually, you can track down the other three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to kick shell and defeat Shredder. At least until he comes back in the next game.

14. Avenging Spirit

1992 | C.P. Brain

Like most Nintendo systems, the Game Boy was known for having a lot of cutesy, family friendly games. And then there’s Avenging Spirit. At first glance, the chibi ghost you play as matches the Game Boy’s reputation. Then you realize that he was actually murdered by mobsters who kidnapped his girlfriend. And now you have to possess the bodies of other people, animals, and even robots to get her back.

It’s certainly a unique concept made all the more bizarre by the large, cartoony graphics. Unlike most of the games on this list, this one is readily available in the Nintendo eShop so you can experience the weirdness first hand.

13. Survival Kids

1999 | Konami

Survival games are all the rage now, but they were almost unheard of 20 years ago. Heavily influenced by The Legend of Zelda, Survivor Kidssees your child (either a boy or girl) trying to survive on a deserted island by scavenging for supplies and managing thirst and hunger. Gameplay is extremely open, but the only real goal is to try to get off of the island.

Survival Kids was later rebranded in the West as Lost in Blue, and several sequels were released on the DS and Wii, but the transition to 3D wasn’t particularly kind to the series. Your best bet is to stick with the Game Boy original.

12. Final Fantasy Adventure

1991 | Square

It was clear that Final Fantasy was going to be big after the third NES game was released in Japan. So Square did what any other developer would and quickly went to work on a spin-off. While initially planned as an extremely ambitious title for the Famicom Disk System, development was quickly moved over to the Game Boy. The basic idea was to make an action-RPG in the vein of The Legend of Zelda. The result was one of the most underrated and fondly remembered games on the portable, which then led to a sequel, The Secret of Mana, that’s widely considered to be one of the greatest games of all time.

Final Fantasy Adventure has actually been remade twice, once for the Game Boy Advance, and then again for smartphones and the PS Vita. Both titles look better, but the GBA version kind of weakens the story and the more recent 3D remake ruins the combat.

11. Castlevania Legends

1998 | Konami

Castlevania Legends came at an odd time for the franchise. It was released after the beloved Symphony of the Night, but didn’t embrace that game’s Metroidvania design philosophy. Instead, the game experimented with the linear platforming gameplay of the earliest titles in the series. You play as Sonia Belmont, in what at the time was the first game in the series’ chronology. While she wields a whip as usual, subweapons have been replaced with spells. She’s also more nimble than the typical Belmont, with the ability to change direction mid-jump and crawl while crouching. She can even trigger temporary invincibility.

While series producer Koji Igarashi later expelled the game from Castlevania’s official timeline, calling it an “embarrassment,” that’s not a completely fair assessment. It's more of a tribute to the original NES games and a glimpse at where the series may have gone if Symphony of the Night hadn’t been such a success.

10. Mole Mania

1997 | Nintendo

It’s a story as old as literature itself: You’re a mole. Your family has been kidnapped by an evil farmer. OK, so the story doesn’t matter at all in Mole Mania. It’s just an excuse to set up the game’s dozens of puzzles. As Muddy Mole (seriously), you must guide a ball through each level by pushing, pulling, and of course, digging.

It’s more than a little goofy, but dammit, it sure is fun, which is precisely what you would expect from a game produced by Shigeru Miyamoto. In fact, Mole Mania might be the most obscure game in his lengthy and legendary resume.

9. James Bond 007

1998 | Saffire Corporation

GoldenEye 007 was such a massive hit that of course Nintendo wanted a James Bond title on the Game Boy. Since nothing that technically demanding was going to work on the handheld, the developers built something that worked more to the system’s strengths, with an overhead perspective and lots of stealth. Mr. Bond can even defeat foes with karate and take a break to play card games.

Somehow, a decent version of the iconic Bond theme made its way onto the cartridge, too. In some ways, this is still a better Bond game than more recent games with much higher production values.

8. Crystalis

2000 | Nintendo

Crystalis was a top-down action RPG that, while heavily inspired by the Zelda series, made its own path with better combat and a darker story. It was fondly remembered by pretty much everyone who played it on the NES but was virtually unknown outside of hardcore gaming circles in the ‘90s when the internet was barely a thing. Nintendo decided to give the title a second shot with an enhanced Game Boy remake… and still not many people played it.

Honestly, it’s understandable since a few questionable design choices were made with the Game Boy version, like changing the field of view and the order of quests. This version of Crystalis doesn’t quite live up to the original, but it’s still worth experiencing in its own right.

7. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

1991 | Nintendo

How good was the second Kid Icarus game? Fans wouldn’t shut up about a sequel for nearly two decades after its release. The gameplay is similar to the NES classic. You still play as Pit with his infinite supply of arrows as he traverses enemy-filled levels inspired by Greek mythology. The Game Boy version lets levels scroll in all four directions though, plus adds in the ability to slow Pit’s falls using his wings.

It’s a fun, innovative platformer. It’s just too bad that Nintendo ignored so much of Myths and Monsters' gameplay when it finally did resurrect the series with 2012’s divisive Kid Icarus: Uprising.

6. Dragon Warrior I & II

2000 | Enix

The Dragon Warrior (now Dragon Quest) games have never quite received their due in North America, which is a shame since the earlier titles were far superior to the rival Final Fantasy series in many ways. Having the first two titles in the series on one cartridge was a dream, as you could switch between them any time. And with better graphics, reduced difficulty, and a save anywhere function, these classics are absolutely perfect for portable gaming.

Square Enix has been extremely willing to port the Dragon Quest series to other platforms over the years, but it’s actually a bit difficult to find ways to play the first two titles in the series on modern platforms that don’t involve emulation, making the Game Boy remakes the best choice for most gamers.

5. Gargoyle’s Quest

1990 | Capcom

The Game Boy used to be the place where publishers could experiment with spin-offs for established franchises. Firebrand started off as an enemy in the classic Ghosts ‘n Goblins, but rather than just re-skin Arthur with demonic wings, Capcom crafted a brand new type of game, focusing on what a gargoyle does best: flying and shooting fireballs.

Be forewarned: while Gargoyle’s Quest isn’t as punishingly difficult as Ghosts ‘n Goblins, it’s by no means an easy game. Two sequels followed on the NES and SNES, each of which was also warmly received, but Firebrand has now been relegated to the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

4. Mega Man V

1994 | Capcom

Capcom pumped out a new Mega Man game roughly ever 15 minutes in the early ‘90s. While the first four Mega Man titles on the Game Boy were just re-hashes of the NES games with remixed bosses and no color, Capcom actually made a really solid original title for the fifth and final game in its Game Boy series.

Mega Man V features eight brand new robot masters, the Stardroids, each of which is based on a planet in the solar system. And Mega Man has a new robot cat buddy, Tango, at his side, to fight them. The result is something that feels more like a lost classic of the era than a cheap cash-in of the more popular NES games.

3. Kid Dracula

1993 | Konami

A lot of gamers have long lamented the fact that the NES version of Kid Dracula was never released in the West. Thankfully, Konami rectified its mistake with this remake/sequel for the Game Boy. Though the connection was downplayed in North America, Kid Dracula is actually part of the Castlevania series, it just focuses on a chibi version of the infamous count.

Even though you play as a vampire, don’t expect something along the lines of Symphony of the Night. This is more of a kid-friendly platformer, but you do eventually gain the abilities to turn into a bat and unleash swarms of the critters on your enemies.

2. Donkey Kong ‘94

1994 | Nintendo

The Game Boy version of Donkey Kong starts exactly like the arcade version: Mario climbs through four grueling levels and saves Pauline from the clutches of the giant ape. Then Donkey Kong comes back. For 97 more levels, with tons of new enemies and mechanics. It’s a long, challenging game that somehow never gets old.

Donkey Kong is an absolutely brilliant marriage of a classic with new features that greatly improve on the original. Sadly though, this isn’t something that Nintendo has often revisited in its other sequels, and most gamers seem to have long forgotten about the fantastic Donkey Kongsequel that doesn’t have “Country” in the title.

1. Metal Gear: Ghost Babel

2000 | Konami

Ghost Babel started with what at first seems like a terrible idea: bring Metal Gear Solid, one of the most technically advanced games of the PlayStation era, to the Game Boy. Of course, the solution to this wasn’t to really focus on the technical achievements of MGS, like the graphics and sound design. Instead, the developers of Ghost Babel treated it like an alternate sequel to the first game in the series, so it’s a classic top-down 8-bit stealth game, with a few additions from the PS1 game thrown in.

The result is simply stunning. Ghost Babel feels both like a lost NES game and a modern, adult masterpiece. Even now, it stands out as one of the greatest portable video games of all time, and a top contender for best title in the prolific Metal Gear franchise.

Chris Freiberg is a freelance contributor.

Trevor Heitmann, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and YouTuber, killed himself and two others in a multi-vehicle collision. 

According to reports released so far, 18-yeard old Heitmann was driving his McLaren sports car at over 100 MPH down the wrong side of a San Diego freeway. His car eventually collided with an SUV, which seems to have triggered a multi-car collision that may have involved up to six additional vehicles. The force of the initial impact caused Heitmann's vehicle and the SUV he hit to burst into flames. 

The SUV that Heitmann hit was being driven by a 43-year-old mother who had her 12-year-old daughter in the car with her at the time. They and Heitmann seemed to have died on impact. 

At this time, there has been no word regarding why Heitmann was driving at high speeds down the wrong side of the freeway. However, statements from those close to Heitmann that have been released since the incident suggest that he had been exhibiting signs of depression. An unnamed friend of Heitmann's who spoke to Polygon said that he had begun distancing himself from people. He had also not posted a video on his YouTube channel since March. 

Prior to his death, Heitmann was a key figure in the controversial CS: GOgambling scene. Indeed, an April Fools video he posted in 2016 which made false claims that led to many CS:GO players spending a great deal of money on items that proved to be largely worthless is sometimes referred to as the video which led to a tougher crackdown on the CS:GO gambling scene. 

While some are saying that Heitmann's involvement in that scene - and subsequent fallout that resulted from Valve, YouTube, and more cracking down on the gambling - may have been the source of some of Heitmann's depression, there is no official word on what caused this apparent suicide attempt that led to the tragic deaths of two others.

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

Former Halo composer Marty O'Donnell took to Twitter to share incredible footage of guitarists Nile Rodgers and Steve Vai recording the theme for Halo 2. 

It all started when O'Donnell sent out a tweet regarding an old DVD that contained footage of the Halo 2 recording sessions. He claims to have never shared it with anyone due to the poor quality of the footage. However, he asked fans if anyone knew how he might be able to transfer the DVD footage into an uploadable file format. 

With a little help, O'Donnell was eventually able to upload the video you see above to this YouTube channel. The footage you see comes from an October 15, 2003, recording session in which O'Donnell worked with Rodgers and Vai to record the iconic guitar track in Halo 2's incredible main theme. O'Donnell notes on Twitter that the thing to pay attention to is how much work it took to get the guitar section of the track to work the way that he wanted it to work with the rest of the theme. 

However, most of us are probably too in awe at the spectacle of Vai just jamming out over the orchestral Halo theme to pay attention to any particulars of the composition. The Halo 2 main theme has long been considered one of gaming's greatest tracks. Getting to watch the raw footage of how it (mostly) came together is a true treat that also helps fill one of the many "how was it made?" voids in video game history. 

As incredible as it is to think that O'Donnell was just sitting on this footage all these years, we're now learning that the legendary Halocomposer has access to all kinds of memorabilia from his time with the franchise. He posted a few of those pieces on Twitter, but none of the things he has shared thus far are as intriguing as O'Donnel's hint that he has access to some of the "old voice files from Halo 2 original ending." 

Sadly, O'Donnell has not yet shared those voice files at this time. Here's hoping he changes his mind. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

Read the latest Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine Here!

If you grew up a Sega Genesis kid, you know the particular delight of playing a Streets of Rage game. While the other kids at your school were going on epic SNES RPG adventures, you spent your evenings punching every bad guy that came your way, sometimes picking up bottles and pipes to get the job done. Nothing could stand in the way of gritty action heroes Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding when it was time to save their city from evil criminal organizations. But it's been almost 25 years since their last adventure, 1994's Streets of Rage 3, and Hunter, Stone, and Fielding have been out of the game for too long. 

Until now: French publisher DotEmu has announced that Streets of Rage 4is finally on the way, bringing its particular brand of violent side-scrolling beat 'em up action to modern audiences. The game is in development at studios Lizardcube and Guard Crush Games, both of which have a bit of experience remaking and paying homage to old Sega classics. Lizardcube is responsible for a 2017 remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, while Guard Crush recently releases Streets of Fury, a beat 'em up heavily inspired by Streets of Rage. These seem like the right studios for the job then. 

Along with the announcement, Dot Emu has released the first trailer for the new game. You might notice some familiar faces:

No release date has been set for Streets of Rage 4 and DotEmu hasn't confirmed what platforms the sequel will be available on. A Nintendo Switch version is on my particular wishlist. 

More on Streets of Rage 4 as we get it!

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

Fortnite is getting a competitive mode this fall, according to developer Epic Games. No details are known about the mode as of yet except that recent Summer Skirmish competitive events have been a "testing ground" for competitive play in the game. 

"We are aware of a strong desire from competitive players for more opportunities to compete directly against one another within the same match," said Epic in a blog post. "Development recently began for a robust competition system which will allow for all players to compete with one another and be recognized for their accomplishments. The first version of this feature is expected later this Fall."

During the 8-week Summer Skirmish, Epic has been giving away $8 million in prize money to the best competitors in a series of different events. The standings are calculated by the eliminations and victory royales earned by each player. 

"We have learned a lot from experiments with scoring schemes and formats, attempting to find the best balance between simplicity, entertainment, server performance and competitive integrity," said Epic. "Expect for us to continue operating and supporting competitive events after the conclusion of Summer Skirmish as we lead into next year's official Fortnite World Cup."

Indeed, Fortnite's upcoming competitive mode could give us a preview of what World Cup play will look like when the championship premieres next year. Epic has set up a $100 million prize pool for the first edition of Fortnite World Cup and has invited all of the game's players to participate in qualifiers in the lead up to the final round. The tournament will mostly play out through solo and duos matches, although the studio has also teased squads.

We'll keep you updated as we learn more!

John Saavedra is Games Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9. 

PC gaming fans believe they have found the right recipe of mods for the "definitive Silent Hill 2 experience." 

If you head over to this website, you'll find files and download instructions for Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition. Now, this Enhanced Edition is in no way an official Silent Hill game. Actually, the complex series of steps it takes to get this thing to work - which includes finding a physical copy of Silent Hill 2 for PC - should give you an indication of just how unofficial this method really is.

However, if you do follow all of the steps listed on the website above, you will be able to access what may very well be the definitive version of one of the greatest games ever made. Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition features HD texture packs, numerous bug fixes, FMV enhancements, sound enhancements, widescreen support, and a ton of bug fixes. These improvements come from a series of mods designed to fix some of the most frustrating lingering issues that exist in the PC version of Silent Hill 2 (as well as some other, more recent versions of the game). 

It's hard to imagine that many people will be able to actually play this Enhanced Edition (just finding a physical copy of the game is a task in and of itself), but those who do will be treated to what can only be described as the way that Silent Hill 2 was meant to be played. 

"Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is the culmination of years of hard work by talented programmers and modders to fix and enhance the PC version of Silent Hill 2," reads the Enhanced Edition website. "Thanks to their time, commitment, and talents, we now have a version of this beloved game worthy of calling a true HD experience. From major bug fixes to finer, nuanced adjustments, the attention to detail in improving Silent Hill 2 PC is worthy of praise." 

In case you need a reminder of why Silent Hill 2 is worth this much effort - or if you've never played the game - be sure to check out our look at why Silent Hill 2 may feature gaming's most intelligent story. 

Matthew Byrd is a staff writer for Den of Geek. He spends most of his days trying to pitch deep-dive analytical pieces about Killer Klowns From Outer Space to an increasingly perturbed series of editors. You can read more of his work here or find him on Twitter at @SilverTuna014. 

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