Magic: The Gathering‘s Universes Beyond collections take Magic cards to all kinds of exciting new worlds. We’ve loved the adventures that Magic has cooked up for us via this format, which have included traveling through time and space in the Tardis with Magic‘s Doctor Who collection and meeting dinos with its brilliant Jurassic Park collection. Of course, we eagerly anticipate entering Magic: The Gathering‘s version of the Marvel multiverse sometime soon. But, more immediately, we’re taking a Leap of Faith into a brand-new destination. Yes, the Animus is ready to transport us into a universe we know and love. Magic: The Gathering‘s latest Universes Beyond collection is bringing us Assassin’s Creed decks. Below, we reveal four brand new Assassin’s Creed Magic cards for you to get excited about.

Nerdist Exclusively Reveals 4 New Cards From Magic: The Gathering‘s Assassin’s Creed Collection

We’re excited to exclusively share four new Magic cards that you’ll be able to find in the Assassin’s Creed Universes Beyond collection. These four cards are The Capitoline Triad, Hookblade, Restart Sequence, and Bleeding Effect. You can check out their Main Set forms below.

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Assassin’s Creed true hearts will recognize these four features of the game, now in Magic card form. It’s always fun to see one version of a game translated into another. For example, Assassin’s Creed‘s “scientific” Bleeding Effect phenomenon becomes an enchantment. We also enjoy seeing quotes and other Assassin’s Creed Easter eggs pop up on these Magic cards.

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Of course, these cool cards also come in Foil-Etched versions, which the sly assassin will be able to snatch up from the pile.

Finally, you can check out The Capitoline Triad in its unique Borderless form. We wouldn’t want these scientists-turned-gods, seen through a Magic: The Gathering lens as “God Artificers” staring down… or up from a table… at us.

More About Magic: The Gathering‘s Assassin’s Creed Decks

Of course, there are many more than just four cards coming to Magic: The Gathering‘s Assassin’s Creed collection.

A release shares:

The Animus has a new destination: Magic: The Gathering. Take a Leap of Faith into a new format of the game you love and find the weapons, characters, and real-world locations waiting on the battlefield. The only way to uncover the secrets of the past is to follow in the footsteps of the assassins who came before, and if you’ve learned anything, it’s that you must be swift, precise, and never show your hand.

Here are some of the product highlights you can look forward to as you build your new order.

COLLECTOR BOOSTERS: Get decked out like a master Assassin with Collector Boosters full of Rares, shining foils, and exclusive special treatments. Every pack contains 2 Foil-Etched cards!

BEYOND BOOSTERS: These 7-card boosters provide a curated opening experience for fans, including a Borderless card and shining foil in every pack. The past is yours to explore!

BUNDLE: Leap into history with a box full of Assassin’s Creed-themed cards and accessories, including 9 Beyond Boosters, a special alt-art promo card, 40 Lands, and more.

STARTER KIT: Your Assassin training starts here. Gear up for your first games of Magic with two Assassin’s Creed-themed decks and learn the ropes with the included guide.

When Will Magic: The Gathering‘s Assassin’s Creed Decks and Cards Release?

So, when will you be able to don your hood, grab your dagger, and enter the world of Assassin’s Creed via the vision of Magic: The Gathering? The Magic: The Gathering Assassin’s Creed collection will be released on July 5.

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Assassin’s Creed is back, and it’s looking cooler than ever. In the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we journey to Japan to explore the intertwined stories of two Samurai warriors. You can watch the epic trailer in full below.

The official description for Assassin’s Creed Shadows shares:

In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you will live the intertwined stories of Naoe, an adept shinobi Assassin from Iga Province, and Yasuke, the powerful African samurai of historical legend. Against the backdrop of the turbulent late Sengoku period, this remarkable duo will discover their common destiny as they usher in a new era for Japan.

From chaos to purpose, from darkness to light. A new Creed rises over Japan.

A shinobi assassin and a samurai? We could not be more in. A release from Ubisoft notes what we can expect from Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ gameplay, sharing “As Naoe and Yasuke, players can master two complementary playstyles, with each character featuring their own progression paths, skills, weapon options, and stats. Whether they embrace Naoe’s stealth skills or Yasuke’s combat prowess, players will have plenty of ways to approach objectives. With Naoe, they will experience refined infiltration mechanics using light, noise, shadows, and changing surroundings to avoid detection from enemies. With Yasuke, they will be able to take on larger groups of enemies with brutal precision.”

You can even see this all come to life in the Assassin’s Creed gameplay trailer below.

Ubisoft also released an extended gameplay walkthrough, which you can watch below.

The standard edition of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will cost $69.99 on new-gen platforms, PCs, and Macs. Those who pre-order the game “will receive an additional quest.” Additionally, Gold, Ultimate, and Collector’s Editions of Assassin’s Creed Shadows are also available. Here’s what they include:

• The Gold Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass (including a bonus quest with additional unlockable content as well as two upcoming expansions) and 3 days early access to the game. 
•  The Ultimate Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass, the Ultimate Pack and 3 days early access to the game. The Ultimate Pack will contain the Sekiryu Character Pack (Naoe and Yasuke outfit and weapon, trinket and mount), the Sekiryu Hideout Pack, 5 Skill points and a Red and black photo mode filter. 
• The Collector’s Edition will include the base game, the Season Pass, the Ultimate Pack, physical content and 3 days early access to the game. The physical content will be a Steelbook, the World map, Naoe & Yasuke Figurine, life-size Naoe’s Katana Tsuba, a Wall Creed Scroll, an 84 pages collector’s artbook and 2 sumi-e lithographs. 

When Will Assassin’s Creed Shadows Release?

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will release on November 15, 2024.

Originally published on May 15, 2024.

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Netflix announced that it is working with Ubisoft to develop content based on the video game franchise Assassin’s Creed. And first up? A live-action TV series the network is calling “epic” and “genre-bending.” Ubisoft Film & Television’s Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik will serve as executive producers on the series.

This is pretty incredible news for fans of Assassin’s Creed. The game last made its way to screens in the form of the 2016 Michael Fassbender movie. That one didn’t fare so well, so let’s hope this live-action series goes a little more in depth. Fans of the franchise deserve a prestige series based on their favorite fictional world. Hopefully this one will skew a little closer to The Witcher in terms of quality and epic-ness.

Netflix

The deal between Netflix and Ubisoft will also see the teams “tap into the iconic video game’s trove of dynamic stories with global mass appeal for adaptations of live action, animated, and anime series.”

Assassin’s Creed depicts a millennia-old struggle between the Assassins and the Templars. The Assassins fight for free will, while the Templars want order and control. The video game incorporates elements of science-fiction and historical fiction. It’s a rich world worthy of discovery through different formats, which makes this deal between Ubisoft and Netflix extra exciting.

“Since it first launched in 2007, the Assassin’s Creed series has sold more than 155 million games worldwide,” Netflix said of the deal in a statement. “The franchise is now established as one of the best-selling series in video game history. Recognized for having some of the richest, most engrossing storytelling in the industry, Assassin’s Creed transcends video games, branching out into numerous other entertainment media.”

Ubisoft

No word about a potential showrunner or casting, but we’ll keep you posted as that information becomes available.

Featured Image: Ubisoft

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It’s been a big week for Assassin’s Creed fans. Ubisoft announced on Wednesday that the next title in their hugely popular action-adventure series would be Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Thursday morning, the publisher dropped a big cinematic trailer, screenshots, and our first details about the game’s epic story. Rumors of a Viking-centric Assassin’s Creed have been swirling since last year, when players discovered an Easter egg in The Division 2—a Norse warrior on a poster for a fictional opera called Valhalla. It looks to be a story with roots in history, Norse mythology, and the larger Assassin’s Creed universe. Here’s what we know so far.

Ubisoft

When and where does Valhalla take place?

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla centers on Viking culture. The story takes place during the Dark Ages. “When we say ‘Vikings,’ it’s kind of used as a generic word,” Thierry Noël, historian and content advisor on Valhalla, said in a blog post. “It conjures up the image of brutes and plunderers that destroyed monasteries all over Western Europe, but in reality, it’s a bit more complicated than that. The term ‘Vikings’ actually refers to an elite class of the Norse society. They were a certain group of people in Norse culture that were traders, explorers, excellent seafarers, settlers, and, yes, sometimes invaders and plunderers.”

Hundreds of towns in modern-day England once began as Viking settlements, and those places seem to be at the heart of Valhalla. Players will leave their home and discover a new part of Europe in the Middle Ages. They’ll battle with a variety of unique enemy types along the way. You’ll also get to sail Viking longships, which carry cargo and raiders for quick “hit-and-run” assaults on enemy territory. “If you’re gonna make a Viking game, the combat needs to be visceral,” says creative director Ashraf Ismail in a new developer commentary. “It needs to be quite brutal.”

“It’s a fascinating time,” Noël says. “It may be dark, but it’s also a period of transition and transformation. The Roman world has disappeared, and the medieval era has not yet totally arrived. It’s a really interesting period of rebuilding the Western world, rebuilding values, rebuilding states and nations, and mixing cultures that were isolated before. It’s not only a period of conflict; it’s a period of intensive cultural exchange between people, and Vikings played an essential role in that.”

Ubisoft

Who’s the protagonist in Valhalla?

In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, you’ll play as a Viking named Eivor. You’ll get to choose whether Eivor is a man or a woman. They’re the same character with the same backstory and general arc either way, but gender is just one more way to grant the player a sense of agency. No doubt Ubisoft learned a lot about the challenges of having two playable protagonists with full performance capture in the course of making 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. But they’re not two separate characters. Eivor is simply male or female, depending on your preference.

“This is a Viking raider who is from Norway, and who will be leaving Norway for the rolling green hills of England,” Ismail explains. “It’s about this idea of settling the people and building this thriving settlement, [which is] very important to the motivation of this character.” Taking Eivor into battle, players will be able to dual-wield almost any combination of two weapons, he adds. “Dual-wielding is a big part of the game. If you wanna dual-wield two shields, we let you do that.”

Ubisoft

In the game’s new cinematic trailer, we glimpse a mysterious hooded figure on the battlefield, and a raven visits Eivor. They see this as a clear sign of Odin’s favor: “Odin is with us.” It’ll be interesting to find out just how much carries over from the fantastic mythology to the historically grounded world of Valhalla.

“In the myths, Odin has two ravens,” says narrative director Darby McDevitt, “which are thought and memory—they come from the [Old Norse] words for ‘thought’ and ‘memory.’ And they were just his two companions that would help him gather knowledge and wisdom about the world.”

Ubisoft

Where and when can I play Valhalla?

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is set to launch during the holiday 2020 season on PC, Xbox Series X and Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and PS4, and Google Stadia. Ubisoft’s taking pre-orders for a $200 collector’s edition of the game, which comes with a 30-centimeter statue of Eivor (female), a stylized Viking statuette (male), three concept-art lithographics, a soundtrack CD, and more. Anyone pre-ordering the game will get access to a bonus mission called “The Way of the Berserker.”

Featured Image: Ubisoft

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The trailer for the latest installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise has arrived and it offers plenty for fans to be excited about! Dan jumps into the viking action to break down all the details in today’s episode of Nerdist News!

What’s your favorite Assassin’s Creed game? Let us know in the comments!

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Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be the next entry in its beloved action-adventure series. The publisher unveiled the game’s new Scandinavian setting during a livestream with Aussie artist Kode Abdo, a.k.a. BossLogic, on Wednesday.

The broadcast began at 8:00am ET, with Baslajik leisurely painting in Adobe Photoshop, instrumental music playing in the background. By about 3pm, he’d rendered a diptych illustrating two different scenes. On the left, Viking ships sail for new shores; on the right, warriors clash in a field while a hilltop fortress burns. And in the middle, a bearded, armor-clad Norseman cradles a broad axe.

“Super excited to reveal what I have been working on for the past few months with Ubisoft,” the artist tweeted early on Wednesday morning. Upwards of 72,000 viewers were watching when the game’s official title finally dropped at 4pm.

Ashraf Ismail—creative director on “an unannounced title,” according to his Twitter bio—was also quick to draw attention to the reveal. “What’s going on here?” he wondered aloud, along with a link to the stream on Twitch. A longtime employee of Ubisoft Montréal, Ismail served as game director on 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins as well as 2013’s Black Flag.

On April 30, the publisher premiered the trailer for Valhalla. Check it out:

In April of last year, Kotaku pointed out a clever tease inside Ubisoft’s The Division 2. Posters hung around the game’s Potomac Event Center promise “a graceful, powerful work of opera” called Valhalla. The outlet also reported hearing, from two separate sources, that the sequel “does indeed star Vikings.”

The last installment in the franchise, 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, took place in ancient Greece and let players choose between a male and female protagonist. It also dialed in elements typical of role-playing games like The Division and Fallout 4, further emphasizing player choice.

Featured Image: Ubisoft/BossLogic

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Today on Talkin’ Toons… Nolan frickin’ North! Yas, that Nolan North. The Nolan North from Uncharted and many, many other great things.

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While 2018 was a year that felt a lot like Dark Souls: unrelenting, challenging, and leaving you wanting to throw your controller across the room just to feel something. But in spite of the real-world insanity swirling all around us, there were plenty of incredible games that came out in 2018 with engrossing narratives, addictive gameplay mechanics, and incredible characters that made us remember why we love to play in the first place. Here are our favorite games of 2018 as chosen by our editorial staff.

10. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Image: Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s protagonist and the game’s open-minded, uncomplicated romance options set it apart from the rest of the longstanding franchise. Kassandra, voiced exquisitely by Melissanthi Mahut, strikes the right balance between tenacious and gentle, Spartan and compassionate. Her character development is perhaps one of the greatest overall narratives the franchise has focused on thus far. The sunlit islands of Ancient Greece provide an unforgettably striking background for her to defend and avenge her family. – Kelly Knox, contributor

9. Return of the Obra Dinn

Image: Lucas Pope

Rendered in a hyper-stylized black-and-white aesthetic, Return of the Obra Dinn casts you in the role of an insurance adjustor for the British East India Company in 1802 trying to uncover the mystery of the Obra Dinn, a merchant vessel that arrived in port with damaged sails and no visible crew. An slickly constructed game, Obra Dinn will have you meticulously poring over your own notes in a feverish attempt to crack the case, which gets increasingly complex with each new clue you ferret out. Equal parts murder mystery and puzzle game, Return of the Obra Dinn will put your grey matter to the test as you try and make sense of its greyscale mysteries. – Dan Casey, senior editor

8. Monster Hunter: World

Image: Capcom

The breakout action RPG hit of the year, Monster Hunter: World offers an expansive and visually stunning open world, teeming with life. The game’s combat, ecosystems, and monsters all provide a refreshing amount of depth as the world’s ecosystem and design strike a perfect balance. As the fifth main installment in the franchise, Monster Hunter: World gives long-time fans of the series what they were craving  in the modern console generation. With a robust online community, players will keep coming back to this game for years to come. – Noelle Warner, contributor

7. Dead Cells

Image: Motion Twin

While the term “Metroidvania” gets bandied about with such frequency nowadays that it sometimes ceases to have any real meaning, Dead Cells embodies the spirit behind the fan-favorite genre in ways few other titles have managed. Created by Motion Twin, Dead Cells is a highly addictive, thoughtfully crafted rogue-like action platformer that puts you inside a constantly changing castle where you must hack, slash, and battle your way through hordes of enemies that want nothing more than to turn you into a cobblestone Jackson Pollock painting. And that will happen. A lot. Because dying is an important part of the Dead Cells experience. You’ll take those valuable lessons you learned from your last horrific demise and try to apply them again and again and again to avoid getting turned into a fine red mist. And that will make your eventual victory all the sweeter. - Dan Casey, senior editor

6. Marvel’s Spider-Man

Image: Insomniac Game

Spider-Man is having a huge year, but perhaps his greatest cultural impact of 2018 will end up being Insomniac’s amazing and spectacular Spider-Man game for PS4. It’s everything the character is, was, and should be always. Swinging through a version of Manhattan that mixes real streets and landmarks with famous locals from the Marvel Universe, players spent hours in the life of hapless, nigh-penniless genius, Peter Parker, as he flips, dodges, punches, and webs baddies left and right. With upgradable abilities and a closet full of suits, no superhero game has ever felt this much like you’re truly in control. And how about that Stan Lee cameo… *sobs* – Kyle Anderson, associate editor

5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Image: Nintendo

There is a reason Super Smash Bros. has been a living room staple since 1999: replay value. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate understands this and strikes a perfect balance of the old and the new with the classic items, stages, characters, and game modes we’ve come to love, but expands on all of these aspects, too. With 74 fighters, 108 stages, a 20+ hour adventure mode, and battles with up to 8 players, Ultimate is the big, grand sequel we had been waiting years for. – Noelle Warner, contributor

4. Into The Breach

Image: Subset Games

Failure is inevitable in Into the Breach, which should come as no surprise to anyone who played Subset Games’ critically acclaimed spaceship management simulator FTL. This time you take control of a squadron of mech pilots who travel into the past to prevent gigantic kaiju monsters from destroying the world as we know it. With randomly-generated encounters, each turn-based battle will put your mind to the test as you try and devise clever strategies to defeat the monsters erupting from the earth while maximizing your resources. Beneath its seemingly simple surface lies a shocking amount of depth, which you’ll have plenty of time to think about as you inevitably perish at the hands of massive insectoid monsters and head back in time to try, try again. – Dan Casey, senior editor

3. Celeste

Image: Matt Makes Games

You would be hard-pressed to find a more perfectly and meticulously designed game in 2018 than Celeste. An exquisitely designed platformer with some of the most satisfyingly precise controls I’ve ever seen, Celeste is ostensibly the story of a young woman trying to reach the top of a mountain. It’s a game about making mistakes and learning from them, something you will do repeatedly as you navigate its challenging levels and myriad obstacles. On a more profound level, Celeste is about dealing with anxiety, depression and mental illness as we see a young woman coming to terms with herself and all of the attendant feelings that come with those conditions.It’s a message that is rarely found in video games and one that proves they are more than mere escapism. “If Celeste has helped you come to terms with mental illness, you deserve credit for that,” said Celeste creator Matt Thorson in his acceptance speech at The Game Awards. “That change came from inside of you.â€Â Celeste may not be the answer to all of our problems, but perhaps it can help us acknowledge their roots and find some calm in the storm. - Dan Casey, senior editor

2. Red Dead Redemption 2

Image: Rockstar Games

One of the most staggering achievements in video gaming, Red Dead Redemption 2 tells the story of ruthless men and hardened women living outside the bounds of society as the sun begins to set on the world they once knew. It is a game full of seemingly limitless potential, fanatical attention to detail, and some genuinely frustrating mechanics when it comes to picking up objects. But most of all, it is an engrossing odyssey into the heart of the American West, allowing players to deconstruct its mythology through moral dilemmas, engrossing storytelling, and a pervasive sense of wonder. - Dan Casey, senior editor

1. God Of War

Image: Santa Monica Studios

God of War is a giant achievement for Santa Monica Studios. The now multi-award-winning game successfully reshapes a hack-and-slash franchise dripping in the blood of Greek gods into an emotional father-and-son journey steeped in Norse mythology that rivals the masterful storytelling of The Last of Us. Incredibly gorgeous, impeccably acted, and technically impressive on a level few games can reach, I savored every axe returning like Mjölnir, every half-growled, half-spoken quip, every draugr kicked off a cliff. God of War towers above most games of this generation like a statue of Thor. – Kyle Hill, science editor

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E3 is an exciting time of year for us gamers, and now that it’s over, we’re back to the endless wait for our favorite new releases. There’s a lot coming out in the next few months, so we compiled a handy guide to when we’ll get to play all the new titles we heard about at this year’s conferences. Take a look!

2018

July 13: Octopath Traveler (Nintendo Switch)

August 10: Madden NFL 19 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)August 28: Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PlayStation 4)

September 7: Spider-Man (PlayStation 4), NBA Live 19 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

September 14: Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

September 25: Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

September 28: FIFA 19 (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

October 2: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PlayStation 4), Forza Horizon 4 (Windows PC, Xbox One), Mega Man 11 (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

October 5: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One), Super Mario Party (Nintendo Switch)

October 12: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

October 16: Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

October 19: Battlefield 5 (PlayStation4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

November 13: Hitman 2 (PlayStation4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

November 14: Fallout 76 (PlayStation4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

November 16: Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee! (Nintendo Switch)

December 4: Just Cause 4 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

December 7: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch)

2019

January 25: Resident Evil 2 remake (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

January 29: Kingdom Hearts 3 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

February 22: Anthem (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One), Days Gone (PlayStation 4), Metro: Exodus (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

February (unspecified): Crackdown 3 (Windows PC, Xbox One), Trials Rising (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

March 15: Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

Release Dates TBD

Some time in 2018

• Tetris Effect (PlayStation 4)
• Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)

Some time in 2019

• Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Nintendo Switch)
• Daemon X Machina (Nintendo Switch)
• Gears of War 5 (Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Gears Tactics (Windows PC)
• Devil May Cry 5 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Dying Light 2 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (platforms TBA)
• Jump Force (PlayStation4, Xbox One)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Skull & Bones (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
• Rage 2 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Dead or Alive 6 (PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One)
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Windows PC, Xbox One)

Unknown

• Beyond Good and Evil 2
• Control
• Doom Eternal
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Death Stranding
• Ghost of Tsushima
• The Elder Scrolls 6
• Halo Infinite
• The Last of Us Part II
• Starfield

Which E3 debut are you most looking forward to playing? Let us know!

Images: Ubisoft, Bethesda, CD Projekt Red

More Gaming News!

• Check out our list of the best games of E3 2018!
• How does Spider-Man for PS4 stack up to the hype?
• You can romance whoever you want in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

The post A Complete List of Release Dates for All the Games at E3 2018 appeared first on Nerdist.

The biggest event in video gaming has come and gone, leaving a trail of dust, sore thumbs, and exhausted gamers in its wake. From long-awaited looks at games like Kingdom Hearts III and Death Stranding to unexpected reveals of titles like Halo Infinite and The Elder Scrolls VI, E3 2018 was jam-packed with more than 60,000 people testing out the latest and greatest video games that will be coming out in the months and years ahead. Once again, it was Nerdist‘s enviable task to find the best of the best.

The awards are split into two distinct categories, Editor’s Choice and Best in Show. Our Editor’s Choice seal of approval marks the most innovative, energizing, and genuinely fun titles we saw at E3. However, for that one game that rose above the competition to stand on its own, we have the equivalent of a high-five wrapped in bacon: our Best in Show award. In a year with many very impressive entries, these are the games worthy of additional accolade as selected by our editorial team.

Fallout 76

Image: Bethesda

The Ink Spots don’t want to set the world on fire, but you and dozens of other people can in the always-online multiplayer West Virginian wasteland of Fallout 76. While some naysayers are lamenting the fact that Fallout 76 isn’t a traditional single-player RPG, the opportunity to explore the mountains of West Virginia alongside other human-controlled survivors is a unique way to expand upon the core systems that make Fallout such a compelling experience in the first place. The prospect of having a blank slate on which to carve your epic, post-apocalyptic story of building up colonies, battling mammoth monsters, exploring the ruins of an old world, and even launching nuclear strikes on your enemies is so full of seemingly limitless potential that we half expect it to be a Jet-induced fever dream. But it isn’t, and it will be a reality come November 14.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Image: Square Enix

With 2013’s reboot of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft got a sorely needed update for a modern era of gaming. The iconic character was reimagined as a whip-smart novice explorer setting out on her very first adventure. What she found on the island of Yamatai was death, despair, and a frantic battle for survival. It was a crucible that hardened her into a hero, and you felt the weight of every life you took as you desperately tried to rescue your friends and save yourself. Flash forward to 2018 and we’re on the cusp on the third installment of the modern Tomb Raider series and this is a very different Lara than the one we first met. She is self-assured, dangerous, and driven—perhaps to the point of no return. She’ll need to be if she wants to prevent a Mayan apocalypse from destroying the world. What happens in Shadow of the Tomb Raider may surprise you, but it should come as no surprise that the gameplay remains as crisp, addictive, and deeply satisfying as ever.

Assassins Creed: Odyssey

Image: Ubisoft

If Assassin’s Creed: Origins breathed new life into Ubisoft’s long-running historical action-adventure series, then Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is like the adrenaline needle that wakes Uma Thurman’s Mia Wallace from her stupor in Pulp Fiction. While the Ancient Greek setting is cause enough for celebration in and of itself for many fans, the inclusion of multiple playable protagonists, branching dialogue options, revamped combat mechanics, and romance options are a revelation. Odyssey pushes the series further into RPG territory and making a resounding statement that Ubisoft isn’t sleepwalking their way through this franchise. After spending an hour exploring its massive world, though, I can’t say the same for myself as I’m predicting many, many late nights spent skulking through ancient temples, taking down unscrupulous power brokers in the name of justice, and turning the tide of the Peloponnesian War one mission at a time.

Kingdom Hearts III

Image: Square Enix

This isn’t some sort of cruel prank. It’s not an elaborate joke. This is most definitely not entrapment. It’s Kingdom Hearts III and it is a very real video game that is finally coming out on January 25, 2019 after more than 10 years in development. And based on what we played at E3, good things come to those who wait. With increased party size, bold new worlds to explore, revamped AI, and overhauled combat mechanics, Kingdom Hearts III is poised to be the best entry in the franchise to date. While its storyline may seem arcane and impenetrable to the outside world, Kingdom Hearts III is a long-awaited love letter to fans of the series, promising the genuinely bonkers Disney–meets-Final Fantasy crossover action you know and love, as well as the labyrinthine storytelling that makes it such an incredibly unique game.

Cyberpunk 2077

Image: CD Projekt Red

Long before I ever played Dungeons & Dragons, I was introduced to the wonderful world of tabletop role-playing games through a weird, wild game called Cyberpunk 2020. Created by Mike Pondsmith, it was a loud, stylish, and brutal world set in a dark vision of the future where megacorporations rule the world and violent gangs rule the streets. Now it is finally making the leap to video games in the form of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. First announced in 2012 (before The Witcher 3, even), Cyberpunk 2077 came to play at this year’s E3 with an hour-long guided demo that showcased the open-world, first-person RPG in all of its gritty, grimy glory. Set in the fictional dystopian metropolis of Night City, California, Cyberpunk 2077 is a world of infinite possibility, all driven by the player. From how you customize your weapons to the cybernetic implants you put in your body to the myriad ways you choose to accomplish a mission, the choice is yours. And in this world, choices have dire consequences. Stunningly rendered, lovingly crafted, and beautifully executed, Cyberpunk 2077 is already shaping up to be the game of the year whenever it comes out. Here’s hoping that we won’t have to wait until 2077 to actually play it.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Image: 505 Games

For anyone yearning for a return to the 2D-animated gothic platforming glory of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, then look no further than Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Not only is Bloodstained a spiritual successor to Symphony of the Night, but it was made by the same person, Koji Igarashi. The Kickstarted game is full of all manner of monstrous beasts, sprawling stages, and a massive arsenal of weaponry with which to send your demonic foes back to the nether realm whence they came. Bloodstained feels like classic Castlevania in the best way possible while still retaining a flavor all its own. Much like Fortnite surpassed PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as the reigning king of battle royale games, Bloodstained is poised to become the our go-to game for sidescrolling, monster-slaying action. There’s nary a Belmont in sight, but it doesn’t bother us one bit. We have a new Ritual to perform and we can’t wait to see it in its final form.

Ghost of Tsushima

Image: Sucker Punch Productions

As someone who studied Japanese history in college, Ghost of Tsushima—based on the real-life Mongol invasion of Japan and, more specifically, Tsushima Island—this game could not be any more up my alley. Sucker Punch Productions leaves the superpowered world of Infamous behind to travel back to 13th century Japan in a gorgeously rendered open-world adventure game that puts you in the well-worn armor and sandals of Jin Sakai, a samurai coming to grips with the fact that life as he knows it has come to an end. Forced to grapple with not only foreign invaders slaughtering and enslaving his people, but also with redefining his own identity as a samurai, Jin must fight for the people and himself in order to save the day. It is a beautiful land pockmarked by acts of violence, filled with lush vistas, verdant forests, and all manner of breathtaking sights. Yet at the same time, it is a world of “mud, blood, and steel,” according to studio co-founder Chris Zimmerman, that will place you in deadly situations, which coincidentally is where the game’s fluid combat mechanics really shine. Whether you’re taking part in a massive battle against an army of Mongol soldiers or squaring off in a classic duel between samurai, Ghost of Tsushima is an elegant, dazzling experience and looks like a promising new series that we can’t wait to explore.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Image: Nintendo

Perhaps the most “no duh” entry on this list, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a gigantic, electrifying game that feels less like the latest entry in a series and more like an epic event in which fighting game aficionados, Nintendo nuts, and people that just want to inhale their friends into Kirby’s gaping maw before walking them to their doom can take part. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate doesn’t reinvent the wheel; rather, it’s like a hearty helping of comfort food. It’s giving you exactly what you want, and LOTS of it. Case in point, Ultimate includes every character who has ever appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game including a few new faces like the long-memed Ridley, Metroid‘s iconic space dragon. The controls will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has played before, but like every Smash Bros. game, there is a whole world of complexity waiting to be unearthed beneath its bright, bubbly surface.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Image: Capcom

Returning to Raccoon City has never felt or looked so good. The classic PS1 title gets a complete graphical and mechanical overhaul in this exceptionally creepy remake. They didn’t just slap a new coat of paint on Resident Evil 2 and call it a day; rather, it has been completely rebuilt to be optimized for modern consoles, and that includes a sorely needed improvement to the game’s infamously janky camera. While you can’t use it to cheese around corners, you have a greater freedom of movement with your perspective that manages to make the game feel modernized while still preserving the thrills and chills lurking around every corner. Seeing a zombie’s jaw detach from its face, with glistening sinews rendered in stunning HD was a sight I never hoped to behold, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t pretty to look at. For longtime Resident Evil fans, this is a lovingly crafted treat. For those who have never experienced the original Resident Evil 2, well hold on to your butts because one of the best survival horror experiences of all time just got even better.

Spider Man

Image: Insomniac Games

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… and in Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, you can do exactly that. Much like Arkham City let you feel like Gotham City’s Dark Knight, exploring an open world and taking on a vast array of iconic foes, Spider-Man is a transformative experience and one of the most addictive games I have played in a long time. Swinging around New York City, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was letting Uncle Ben down a little bit. Not because I was using my powers for evil, but because I was actively ignoring crimes in favor of exploring the gigantic world Insomniac has built. With traversal mechanics second to none, an addictive and surprisingly deep combat system, and enough easter eggs and deep-cuts to keep any Marvel fan more than satisfied, Spider-Man is looking like the definitive superhero video game experience. With great power comes great responsibility, and it’s going to take a lot of great responsibility on my part this September not to ignore all my real-world duties in favor.

Best in Show

The Last of Us Part II

Image: Naughty Dog

One would be hard-pressed to name a video game with more emotional resonance than the soulful, harrowing post-apocalyptic survival story of The Last of Us. Following it up seems like a Sisyphean task, but the talented team at Naughty Dog is more than up to the task if their E3 presentation during Sony’s press conference is any indication.

Catching up with Ellie some five years after the events of the previous game, The Last of Us Part II is one of the few gaming experiences at E3 that made my jaw physically drop, both from joy and from utter horror. A perfect example is when Ellie is reluctantly slow-dancing with a friend, Dina (Westworld‘s Shannon Woodward), and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin when Dina suddenly pulls her closer for a kiss. The camera pans around to the back of Ellie’s head, dissolving to reveal Ellie slashing a man’s throat in the forest.

These moments of beauty juxtaposed with jolts of brutality are The Last of Us Part II in a nutshell. They speak to the core experience of the game: trying to eke out a meaningful existence in a world full of monsters lurking around every corner. But it wasn’t just meant to be an emotional, moving cinematic showcase; hidden in plain sight within the trailer were a score of new gameplay innovations which will build upon the original game’s rock solid foundation. While there’s no confirmed release date at this time, The Last of Us Part II reassured us that no matter how long it takes, it will be well worth the wait.

What did you think of The Last of Us Part II? Is it enough to get you to sign up for the sequel? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured Image: Naughty Dog

Stay tuned to Nerdist all week long for the latest and greatest in E3 coverage.

Even more gaming news!

• The Elder Scrolls VI is officially in the works!
• Fallout 76 is four times larger than Fallout 4
• The first canonical Devil May Cry game in 10 years is coming in 2019

What if Majora’s Mask made our moon fall to Earth?

[brightcove video_id=”5794448371001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=“rJs2ZD8x”]

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

The post The Best Games of E3 2018 appeared first on Nerdist.

At E3, Ubisoft unveiled its latest Assassin’s Creed installment, Odyssey, which will include a notable new feature for the franchise: not only will you be able to choose whether to play as a man or a woman, you’ll also be able to romance other characters. What’s more, you’ll have free rein to romance whomever you wish, regardless of their gender. 

Odyssey takes place in 431 BCE, and you can play as one of two versions of a spear-wielding mercenary: Alexios or Kassandra. Who you choose as a protagonist will have no change on the conversations and plot, and the romance options will be the same for both characters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSw6JeHge1Y

Giving players their choice of love interests and their character’s sexual orientation was a decision that narrative design director Mel MacCoubrey said to IGN was integral to creating a more unique, personal experience for each player:

“With our focus on relatedness between the player and the game, we wanted a story that would impact people…we thought it would be better to place those romances in the world, to have their own stories to be able to develop those stories further, instead of forcing an opinion on you as a player.”

In the E3 gameplay walkthrough, game director Scott Philips emphasizes that “choice is key” to Odyssey. The ability to personalize the protagonist’s journey is an important step forward for a franchise built on the concept of being able to fully inhabit another person and immerse yourself in their history. The romance option, combined with a new multiple choice dialogue system and the possibility for alternate endings, makes Odyssey wholeheartedly an RPG that aims to deliver what MacCoubrey told IGN are “grey,” nuanced interactions. In terms of romance, this could potentially mean anything from being able to flirt with, have serious relationships with, or get your advances rebuffed by an individual of any gender. In other words, Odyssey will be able to mirror real life, in all of its joy, embarrassment, and heartbreak, better than ever before.

It’s Odyssey’s equal approach to these romantic interactions that is most notable, as other franchises have been criticized in the past for offering fewer love interests depending on the gender and orientation of the character, and most games don’t even bother to offer anything outside of a set heterosexual relationship.

On one hand, there is a practical reason for why Alexios and Kassandra can woo the same characters. BioWare’s Dragon Age, the franchise often brought up in discussions of LGBT+ romances, has experienced both praise and scorn for this very mechanic. In response to the backlash over characters being designed as bisexual, David Gaider, the lead writer of Dragon Age 2, told Game Rant that “the truth is that making a romance available for both genders is far less costly than creating an entirely new one. Does it create some issues of implementation? Sure—but anything you try on this front is going to have its issues.”

This may very well be the case for Odyssey, and if anything this stands as a rebuke for those who have a problem with the fact that the option to pursue a same-sex romance even exists. By engineering the game that way, the creators likely freed up time and money better put to use on refining the main story and mechanics, which can only translate to a more enjoyable gaming experience. But production value aside, there’s also the simple fact that LGBT+ people deserve to feel like they have the same wealth of options and branching storylines as any straight player would.

In 2015, a Nielsen study found that 65% of LGBT+ gamers feel underrepresented in video games. That’s a disappointingly high statistic when we consider the demographics of gamers. In 2006, Jason Rockwood at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted a survey of 10,000 gamers and found that only 28% of participants labeled themselves as “completely heterosexual”; the large majority categorized themselves as falling somewhere on the Alfred Kinsey scale.

For many, sexuality is not a simple black-and-white issue, so it’s only fitting that games striving to be more realistic would reflect that. This even lines up with the time period Odyssey is set in, where Ancient Greeks didn’t perceive sexual orientation in the same way we do today, and many classic texts are either rife with subtext (like Homer’s Iliad) or plainly stated attraction (Sappho’s poems).

There are undoubtedly going to be folks who find this endeavor to be some sort of pandering or a waste of time. But if Ubisoft is shifting towards deeper, more believable character development and world immersion, romance and attraction—in all its nuances and permutations—is a natural part of being human. Plain and simple, Ubisoft is giving the audience the tools to pursue romance, and it is, as it should be both in and beyond games, entirely up to the individual what they choose to do with that. As McCoubrey says, “You do you, man.”  

How do you feel about Assassin’s Creed becoming more of an RPG? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Ubisoft

MORE E3 2018 CONTENT!

• Does the new Spider-Man game live up to the hype?
• Four games you might have missed at E3!
• The Resident Evil 2 remake trailer is out!

The post The Importance in ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY Letting You Romance Regardless of Gender appeared first on Nerdist.

Every year, E3 brings gamers around the world breathtaking presentations, new stories, and innovations that we can’t wait to get our hands on, and meme-worthy moments that don’t happen anywhere else. (“My body is ready” will live on the Internet forever.) The incredible amount of streamed coverage, paired with real-time reactions on Twitter, make us all feel like we’re sitting in the front row of each presentation together… and we have opinions.

Here are just some of the funniest, smartest, and most intriguing reactions on Twitter from this year’s E3. Give these folks a follow if you’re a fan of live-tweeting and gamer gut reactions.

Bethesda

Bethesda‘s Todd Howard was a rock star at the company’s presentation, which wasn’t afraid to make fun of itself. With meme-worthy videos, a peek at Fallout 76, and a new Elder Scrolls game announcement, Twitter lit up the night of Bethesda’s presentation.

Mr. Todd Howard my wallet doesn't feel so good… #BE3 pic.twitter.com/cJHsmKbW52

— Anthony (@SilverAtrain) June 11, 2018

I sneezed right as Todd said “a blessing” and I thought he said “bless you” and my blood turned to ice

— Sam King (@SamanthaCKing) June 11, 2018

Ubisoft

Assassins Creed Odyssey, which offers a choice of Spartan protagonists, might be the game that stole the show this year. Kassandra and her possible romance options caught the eye of more than one live-tweeter.

Ask the correct question coward #E32018 pic.twitter.com/M4aORGlL4I

— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 11, 2018

Sony

Sony‘s presentation got a lot of attention this week, thanks to a look at Kingdom Hearts III, the frenetic energy of Spider-Man, the gorgeous graphics of Ghost of Tsushima, the jaw-dropping gameplay of The Last of Us Part II, and… whatever it is Death Stranding is. No one’s quite sure still.

You simply can't mess with greatness. #E32018 pic.twitter.com/v4Hd9P8zrH

— Gib of war the 95th (@Gib_reel) June 12, 2018

These animations are unreal. #TheLastofUsPartII pic.twitter.com/XOFwImrzd5

— shinobi602 (@shinobi602) June 12, 2018

Me for the past two years:
"Okay, I don't understand what's happening in #DEATHSTRANDING but I'm sure as soon as I finally see gameplay I'll understand"
Me after seeing gameplay: pic.twitter.com/xvAckokzYg

— Professor Thorgi (@ProfessorThorgi) June 12, 2018

Wow, humbled by the high expectations for #DEATHSTRANDING at the #E3… Now we're hoping we didn't elevate the hype too much 😅

— Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 7, 2018

Basically everyone today. (Sorry i couldn't resist) @khinsider @KINGDOMHEARTS #E32018 #KingdomHearts3 pic.twitter.com/AJScp1x890

— Venom @ AX soon (@VenomDeathNinja) June 11, 2018

WHERE IS THE LAMB SAUCE, SORA!? pic.twitter.com/qAqMFFQ286

— Rainn (@ExoRainn) June 11, 2018

Nintendo

Nintendo‘s presentation was just on video rather than a glittering stage this year, but that didn’t make their announcements any less exciting for JRPG and Super Smash Bros. fans. Animal Crossing fans, however, had their hopes smashed for seeing their favorite villagers on the Nintendo Switch any time soon. (Although many tried to cast a spell to make it happen.)

There’s also some understandable concern for Mega Man and Mario after Metroid’s Ridley got his claws on them…

Animal Crossing fans watching Smash fans get all the news. #E32018 pic.twitter.com/OSKhg47wrQ

— Reb (@serinide) June 12, 2018

When it hasn't even been 5 seconds since you got back in Smash and Kirby already ate your brother pic.twitter.com/gW71n7nsYM

— Tylor (@theSirToasty) June 12, 2018

New #SmashBros now has Daisy… and Ridley…

Daisy and Ridley…

DAISY RIDLEY!!!!#SmashBrosUltimate #NintendoE3 #E32018 #E3 #BlackNerdE3 pic.twitter.com/TnCJ2g4iW4

— Andre ▶️ #Vidcon (@BlackNerd) June 12, 2018

Y’all not gonna comment how Ridley killed Mega Man and Mario #NintendoE3 #SmashBrosUltimate pic.twitter.com/UjKjgkwrbA

— XITO (@XITOXITOXITO) June 12, 2018

E3 2018

Overall, this year’s E3 has had positive reactions, especially to the number of women featured as protagonists in the most anticipated games coming in 2018 and beyond.

WHO RUN THE WORLD? GIRLS! 🙌🏼 #E32018 pic.twitter.com/drHuJq5ucF

— kae (@idkmybffkae) June 12, 2018

this has been like every e3 game shown so far pic.twitter.com/cTVRYtTeQJ

— sploggles 🎣🍃 (@sploggles) June 11, 2018

What are some of your gut reactions from the show? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured Image: Nintendo (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

More from E3!

• Why is Waluigi being snubbed again by the Super Smash Bros. series?
• You can play as Mew in the new Pokémon game!
• Super Mario Party looks like it’ll maximize the properties of the Switch

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The post Twitter’s Best Reactions to E3 2018 (So Far) appeared first on Nerdist.

The Assassin’s Creed games have been a staple in many of our libraries for a while, which is why we’re looking forward to checking out Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It will be the eleventh main installment of the Assassin’s Creed series, and will take place in Ancient Greece. With a rich new setting in the earliest time period of an AC game yet, we’re ready to get back to stealthing, stabbing people, and climbing really tall buildings. Ubisoft revealed details about Odyssey at E3 Expo on Monday and showcased the world premiere of the trailer.

You’ll join the adventure as a Spartan, either Alexios or Kassandra. The exact time is 431 BC during the Peloponnesian War. It’s a delicate time in history and as you play, you’ll be surrounded by key events from our past and have the oppportunity to become a legendary hero. The combat system has been given a makeover and naval combat is back, which means you can set sail on the Mediterranean Sea. If you’re interested in participating in massive battles with hundreds of soldiers, that’s on the table.

And on the narrative side, Odyssey brings something new to the world with interactive dialogue trees that will impact the story. Get a more in depth look with the below gameplay trailer.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey will be out in October 5 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. What about the gameplay and trailer has you most excited? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Images: Ubisoft
Additional reporting by Noelle Warner

More news from E3 2018!

• New Shadow of the Tomb Raider jungle gameplay.
• Bethesda unveils a sequel for Doom.
• Kingdom Hearts 3 welcomes a Frozen inspired world.

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The post ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY Trailer Launches the Quest to Become a Spartan Hero appeared first on Nerdist.

“You have died of Dysentery” has become the unofficial slogan of one of the most famous educational games of all time: Oregon Trail. From its release in 1971, it was a cornerstone of computer-aided learning and one of the few things you could excusably enjoy playing during class. Well, it’s not 1971 anymore and our Commodore 64s are nowhere to be seen, giving way to modern PC’s and consoles to take up the mantle of digital Professor.

Enter Assassin’s Creed Origins Discovery Tour.

Recently released, the discovery tours in Assassin’s Creed give players a chance to walk the streets of Alexandria, explore pyramids, learn about the geography and wildlife of ancient Egypt, and discover more about the daily life of the times while also learning a bit about the development of Assassin’s Creed itself. The Discovery feature offers 75 tours guided by historians and Egyptologists which range from 5 to 25 minutes, but you can always break away from the tour group and explore on your own.

Like the best history teachers, Assassin’s Creed Origin Discovery Tour encourages exploration while learning, but unlike real life (where the best you probably get is dodge-ball in your high school gym), the game offers you the ability to ride horses and camels, swim in the Nile, and even parkour your way around long-lost cities. Learning gets even cooler when you can do it as your favorite characters. Players will have access to 25 avatars, including characters from Assassin’s Creed Origins, Bayek, William Miles, and Aya, or real historical figures, like Cleopatra, Ptolemy, and Caesar.

The game itself actually stemmed from teachers reaching out to Ubisoft about how they’d use Assassin’s Creed as a teaching tool for history. “We kept receiving testimonies from teachers that were saying … ‘I’d like to use it in the classroom, but it’s not easy,'” said Jean Guesdon, the creative director behind Origins told the CBC. “So they would record some videos at home, editing them to make sure the content was safe for school.” In response, Ubisoft created Discovery Tour.  “They can use this tour, even bring their console into the classroom if they want to, without any danger.”

You don’t have to be a student or teacher to appreciate Discovery Tour. For those of you who enjoy a more passive, relaxed history lesson, the tours function a lot like a gorgeous history documentary, with each stop offering a short chunk of narration about a chosen topic. Keeping things interesting is the fact that you can move at your own pace between spots, giving these tours a more immersive feel. You can take your time walking down a street and observing the world around you as NPCs go about their lives, recreating history. The inclusion of player agency in these learning moments makes them more dynamic and engaging, and less like a stuffy history lesson. Add to that the fact that you gain trophies and achievements for taking the time to learn is the icing on the educational cake. Who doesn’t love delicious cheevos?

Watching films like Indiana Jones when I was a kid was inspiring enough to get me hooked into learning more about the past, but the Discovery Tour has the potential to take its players even further into this ancient world. While great films can be engaging, the interactivity of a game lets you plug directly into the world and become a vital part of the digital history which unfolds around you. The Discovery Tour mode in Assassin’s Creed is super exciting and brings back all those feeling of wanting to become a globetrotting, whip-wielding adventurer archaeologist (Ok, maybe drop the whip. The TSA frowns on those).

Assassin’s Creed: Origins Discovery Tour promises to be a thrilling step forward for educational games and I hope to see more of these interactive designs ending up in classrooms, because the more fun learning is, the more we’ll want to engage it. You can check out the Discovery Tour as a free update for Assassin’s Creed Origins or, if you don’t own the game, you can buy it on Uplay PC and Steam as a standalone version for $19.99. Learn more at one the Ubisoft website.

Which games would you love to see Discovery tours offered in? What are your favorite educational games? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to check out Game Engine (on Twitch and Alpha Tuesdays at 4 PM Pacific) to learn more about the coolest things in the world of games with Erika and Trisha.

Hailing from New York, Jessica Fisher is a writer, artist, and all around geek. In addition to Geek & Sundry, she writes for Gameosity.com and produces the Gameosity Reviews Youtube Channel. Find her talking about all things geeky on Twitter as @miniktty.

Image Credits: Ubisoft

The post How ‘Assassin’s Creed’ is Helping Students Learn About History appeared first on Nerdist.

From Tomb Raider to Mortal Kombat, there have been tons of attempts to make good video game movies. But why do they all fail and will future ones learn from them? Dan hits the reset button on this week’s Dan Cave!

Do you think future video game movies can succeed? Let us know in the comments below!

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The post Why Video Game Movies Suck appeared first on Nerdist.

If you’re a fan of video games and dark, gritty anime-style cartoons, you’ve probably already got the release date of Netflix’s animated Castlevania series—July 7, to be specific—marked on your calendar. But now it’s time to get hyped for another, as the producers of the series have announced their next project will be an animated Assassin’s Creed series.

The announcement was made July 5 by producer Adi Shankhar, who also created the Katee Sackhoff-led fan film ofPower Rangers that swept the internet in 2015. “I played the first edition of Assassin’s Creed the year I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “At that moment I knew absolutely no one in the industry and could never have imagined that one day Ubisoft would ask me to take the world of Assassin’s Creed and create an original story set in it as an anime series.”

The odds are good that, like Castlevania, this series will also find its home on Netflix; according to IGN the streaming service was in talks with Ubisoft to produce a series in November 2016, and head of content Aymar Azaizia confirmed that Ubisoft was working on an Assassin’s Creed TV show in a Reddit AMA three months ago. It seems pretty likely that this is all the same series.Although I found the recent Assassin’s Creed movie to be fun in its goofiness, it only managed a 18% on Rotten Tomatoes overall and many moviegoers walked away disappointed in the film’s barebones plot. It’ll be interesting to see if Shankhar’s series better navigates the rich history of the Templars and the Assassins, and whether or not animation will prove a more compelling medium for the slick action sequences and parkour-style stunts the franchise is known for. Lord knows it seems to be working pretty well for the Castlevania series so far, if only because it’s super reminiscent of already existing vampire animes like Hellsing.

What do you think—will you be giving this series a shot? Take a leap of faith into the comments and let us know what you think.

Image: Ubisoft

The post An ASSASSIN’S CREED Animated Series May Be Coming to Netflix appeared first on Nerdist.

There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and the full-body hangover that comes from spending countless hours on the E3 show floor. The biggest event in video gaming got even bigger this year as it opened to the public for the first time, allowing 15,000 lucky fans to purchase passes to the previously exclusive, industry-only event. The 68,400 attendees were able to test out more than 2,000 products showcased by 293 exhibitors, and it was our enviable task to find the best of the best, wading through the muck and the mire to find the cream of the crop. After many hours of deliberation, spending extensive hands-on time with games on the show floor, and agonizing over which was worthiest of accolade, we have winnowed down the list to the 10 best games we saw at E3 2017.

The awards are split into two distinct categories, Editor’s Choice and Best in Show. Our Editor’s Choice seal of approval marks the most innovative, energizing, and genuinely fun titles we saw at E3. However, for that one game that rose above the competition to stand on its own, we have the equivalent of a high five wrapped in bacon: our Best in Show award. In a year with many very impressive entries, these are the games worthy of additional accolade as selected by our editorial team.

Editor’s Choice

Detroit: Become Human

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAmKdZdfV1cWhat happens when machines develop emotions? This was a question posed by author and futurist Ray Kurzweil, and serves as the basis for French game developer Quantic Dream’s neo-noir thriller Detroit: Become Human. The game takes place in a world where androids are as commonplace as iPhones and are used to perform all manner of menial tasks, existing as a class of secondary synthetic citizens. Now they are achieving a manner of sentience and questioning the system that subjugates them, and you are in the driver’s seat of this burgeoning mechanical mutiny. With breathtaking graphics, a 2,000-page-long script, and compelling gameplay, Detroit: Become Human is an expansive, engrossing experience that looks like it won’t just offer hours upon hours of entertainment, but cause its players to ponder some of the deeper moral and philosophical questions about identity, personhood, and free will that are fulminating below the surface. Every decision you make matters, and will have dire consequences that come along with it. Characters can die, the story can mutate in unexpected ways, and the only way to find out what else might have happened is to play it again.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

For the tenth major installment of its mega-popular Assassin’s Creed series, Ubisoft couldn’t afford to rest on its laurels. Rather than take us back to a familiar location or continue the narrative of an Assassin we’ve already met, Ubisoft Montreal is taking us back to where it all began: ancient Egypt. Assassin’s Creed Origins takes the series, quite literally, back to its roots as it explores how the centuries-long struggle between the freedom-loving Assassins and the fascistic Templars first began. Set in a stunningly rendered, open-world version of Ptolemaic Egypt, Origins puts you in the shoes—or sandals, in this case—of Bayek, a Medjay, who works to keep order in the realm and fight for the common people. With a robust loot system, refined combat that feels fluid and fast-paced, and a vibrant ancient world to explore, Origins is the freshest the series has felt in ages. While the hallmarks of a great Assassin’s Creed game are all in place, what makes Origins feel special is its potential to surprise you. Whether that comes in the form of shooting a flaming arrow at a barrel of oil to take out enemies aboard a heavily guarded ship or finding yourself in a life-or-death struggle against nature’s deadliest creation, the hippopotamus, while you’re swimming underwater is entirely dependent on how you play the game—and therein lies its magic.

Sea of Thieves

My timbers were well and truly shivered this E3 thanks to multiplayer pirate games like Skull & Bones and Sea of Thieves. Yet where Skull & Bones opted for the gritty realism that made it work so well in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Sea of Thieves takes a far jauntier approach to being a scourge of the seven seas. It’s a game that lets you do nearly anything you can think of—provided you can think of piratical antics for you and your crew to undertake. You and your teammates can hoist the mainsails, batten down the hatches, prepare a plank to be walked, plunder that booty to your heart’s content, fight undead warriors, drink your body weight in grog, eat a banana like a goddamn monster, and so much more. It’s still a bit clunky in its current condition, but the premise of the game is so strong, so deeply silly and unreasonably fun that it cannot be denied. While Rare definitely has its work cut out for it between now and when it finally sets sail onto Xbox consoles, it is one of the most endlessly fun, uproariously funny gaming experiences in ages, and that is something to be celebrated.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

When Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor hit consoles in 2014, it reminded us why we fell in love with the rich, gritty fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien in the first place, and washed the taste of those abysmal Hobbit movies out of our mouths. For the first time, it didn’t feel like we were just retreading ground already laid by Tolkien’s novels or Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films; rather, it felt as though we were blazing our own trail through a new segment of Middle-earth’s expansive lore on our own terms. When I played the first game at E3, I meant to play for 20 minutes and wound up playing for 90. I’m proud to say the same thing happened with its sequel. With Shadow of War, the forthcoming sequel from Warner Bros. Interactive and Monolith Productions, the ante has been upped in every conceivable way to make a stellar sequel to a tremendous game. Whereas the first game offered the experience of being a solitary badass, a lone wolf stalking the plains of Middle-earth, Shadow of War recasts you as a burgeoning general, recruiting and commanding forces to wage war against the forces of Sauron and the Nazgul. With enhanced combat, the addition of an upgradeable gear system, and an overhauled Nemesis system (which allows you to dominate and recruit orcs and uruk hai as your minions), Shadow of War is shaping up to be “The Battle of Helms Deep” of this franchise, which is to say bigger, better, and more epic in every conceivable way.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

It has been a long, dark decade-and-a-half since we’ve had a good Spider-Man game. In 2004, Treyarch released a Spider-Man 2 tie-in game that proved to be the most authentic and joyful video game version of being Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to date. Now, Insomniac is finally ready to claim the crown of “best Spider-Man game ever” for its PS4-exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man, which releases in 2018. The game looks and feels like the Spider-Man version of Batman: Arkham City you’ve always wanted. Set in a massive version of Manhattan, Spider-Man will let you swing around New York City, laying the smackdown on members of Spidey’s incredible rogues gallery with all manner of gadgets and fisticuffs, and strike a delicate balance between being Peter Parker and being Spider-Man. And the best part? Since it takes place when Peter is an adult—fresh out of college—so you won’t have to relive the trauma of seeing poor, sweet Uncle Ben die for the umpteenth time.

Far Cry 5

After four games of globetrotting, open-world survivalist action, Far Cry 5 is bringing its unique blend of FPS action and survival back to the United States with a new game set in a version of rural Montana that has been taken over by a violent doomsday cult called Eden’s Gate. Does its imagery evoke uncomfortable parallels to real-world political analogues? Yes. Does the main antagonist look weirdly like Jared Leto? Yes. Can you have an adorable dog named Boomer help you take down these gun-toting loons, then pet him for being a Very Good Boy? Oh, hell yes. With a vast open world to explore, teeming with dangers both human and bestial, Far Cry 5 gives you endless tools with which to complete your myriad missions, and does looks damn good doing it. Far Cry 5 is not a radical departure from the formula that has made the series a fan favorite, but it is an incredibly polished, vibrant, absorbing experience that I felt myself jonesing to play more of long after my hands-on demo ended.

God of War

“Why is Kratos such a daddy?” asked Tumblr, presumably. “Because he actually is a daddy,” replied Cory Barlog, creative director of Santa Monica Studio, also presumably. Influenced deeply by Barlog’s relationship with his own young son, as well as the countless parents on the Santa Monica Studio development team, God of War is plumbing new emotional depths with its latest iteration while still delivering the blood-soaked, spine-ripping, epic action we’ve come to expect from the series. The game so nice we awarded it twice, God of War is pushing the envelope in every conceivable way—narratively, graphically, mechanically—and the results are as breathtaking as the world serpent, Jörmungandr, rising from the depths of the ocean before Kratos and his son, Atreus. The next chapter in Kratos’ saga recasts him as not just a warrior, but a father too, and explores the difficulty in finding a balance between those two roles. While Kratos struggles to suppress the rage within and teach his son a better way of living, he must also teach his son the skills necessary to surviving in the harsh Norse wilds in which they now find themselves. As we’ll come to learn, being essentially immortal doesn’t mean you have to stop growing up.

Monster Hunter World

If using a grappling hook to swing around a lush, primordial jungle, and doing righteous battle with all manner of dinosaurs, dragons, and other gargantuan megafauna doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time, then I guess I never really knew you to begin with. One of Japan’s most popular franchises, Monster Hunter, is poised to break big in the United States with the release of Monster Hunter World. What Capcom has created with its next-gen version of Monster Hunter is less of an open-world and more of a living, breathing ecosystem teeming with life. Granted, most of that life wants to rend your flesh from your bones and tear you limb from limb, but no one said it was going to be easy. Whether you explore this dangerous land solo or with up to three of your friends online, Monster Hunter World looks like a land in which we most definitely want to be lost.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

While we never condone using physical violence to solve one’s problems here at Nerdist, there’s just something about punching a Nazi that feels like a time-honored tradition, both pop culturally and historically. And punching is just the tip of the iceberg of what you’ll be able to do to the Nazis in Bethesda and MachineGames’ Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. You’ll be able to unleash flame-spewing mechanical dogs, turn them into a fine red mist with an electricity cannon, and blow them to smithereens with grenade launchers, too. Set in an alternate universe 1961 where the Nazis won World War II, The New Colossus puts you back in the shoes of B.J. Blazkowicz as you try to launch an insurrection against the Nazi regime occupying the United States. It’s alt-history pulp action at its finest and looks to build upon the sterling FPS pedigree MachineGames established with 2014’s excellent Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Best in Show

Super Mario Odyssey

You can sum up our excitement for Super Mario Odyssey in five words: Mario possesses a freakin’ dinosaur. But here are few more words anyway. From our first glimpse of Super Mario Odyssey, we felt a strange compulsion to play it, but we had so very many questions. What the hell kind of name is New Donk City? Why does Mario’s hat have eyes now? Wait, Mario can possess people? Is this game about Mario stealing free will? While those deeply philosophical debates are still raging hot and heavy in the Nerdist office, our excitement remains unabated, especially after getting hands-on time with the game on the E3 show floor. This time around, we’re leaving the well-worn territory of the Mushroom Kingdom behind to explore places unknown, and the results are so gloriously weird, so uproariously fun, and so full of secrets to uncover that we barely scratched the surface in the two levels we played. Like many games on our list, Super Mario Odyssey is a game that rewards exploration and experimentation, and offers a wide world to explore through the classic Mario mechanics you’ve come to know and love. While I still find Cappy, your sentient hat, to be deeply disconcerting, using him to take control of various creatures and objects in your environment or simply to thwack everything in sight is unreasonably fun. Video games are one of the ultimate expressions of play, and Super Mario Odyssey looks like it is going to be sheer joy distilled into a weird, wonderful little package.

Honorable Mentions:

• Destiny 2: Activision and Bungie have upped the ante for their shared-world co-op FPS, and it’s looking better than ever. We can’t wait to play more this September.
• Dragonball FighterZ: Our excitement level for this Dragon Ball Z fighting game is over 8,000. Sorry, anime fans, but we’re staying true to the source material on this one.
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm: While you won’t be able to travel through time, this prequel to Life is Strange that puts you in the shoes of Arcadia Bae is one of our most anticipated summer releases.
• A Way Out: A co-op prison break game? Lock us up, then sign us up!
• Anthem: Is it the Mass Effect sequel we deserve? Only time will tell, but we are thirsty for more details about BioWare’s gorgeous-looking new sci-fi action RPG.

What were your favorite games from E3 2017? What would be on your list? Let us know in the comments below.

Image: Nintendo

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Teh takes some of the signature elements of Assassin’s Creed–the breathtaking acrobatics and parkour, combined with close combat–and sets them to the perfect song to create a scene that looks like it’s straight out of the film.

Even though the illustrations are simple black ink lines, Teh infuses her drawings with so much energy and drama that you’ll find yourself watching the short video over and over again.

The Singapore-based designer is “currently exploring methods to animate [her] illustrations,” she writes on her bio page, and her experimentations are unique and striking. Teh started with a paper parkour concept over seven years ago in a motion reel video, and she’s clearly honed her skills since then with the smooth, high-quality animation shown in the Assassin’s Creed paper parkour.

If you’re now a fan of her work, take a look at her other Disney XD paper-motion videos on Vimeo.

What other game titles would you like to see animated? Tell us in the comments.

All Images: Serene Teh

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Where was the photo above taken? Some misty patch of evergreen forest? Could it be a publicity still from an upcoming sci-fi movie? If you recognized that it’s actually from Fallout 4, you might also presume it to be an official screenshot straight from Betheseda. You would then be surprised to learn it was actually shot, in-game, by a player with a highly artistic eye.

Many games are offering whole worlds for players to wander through, and as the realism of computer graphics improves in leaps and bounds, so too does the beauty of these new landscapes. Lighting and weather conditions are constantly in flux. Props and scenery can be rearranged. Practically any camera angle is possible. With all this to consider, it’s really no wonder that a kind of virtual photography–called “screen archery”–has developed amongst gamers.

Andrew Cull is a writer and director who’s also worked in (real world) still photography. He’s applied much of that same visual sensibility to screen archery and uses a new set of tools to find striking, beautiful moments in recent games. Below are some of the pieces from his gallery–taken from games like Assassin’s Creed Unity and Watchdogs–and he was generous enough to provide us with commentary on the craft behind each piece. Some of these shots took a tremendous amount of time and toil to set up.

Any other screen archers we should look for? Drop your recs in the talkback

Image Credits: Andy Cull

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Big Giant Circles

A chiptune artist who was putting out classic gaming-inspired tracks before working in games himself, Jimmy Hinson, aka Big Giant Circles, has worked on everything from Mass Effect 2 to indie games like There Came an Echo and Threes!, stretching his limbs from 8-bit arrangements to fast-paced electronic scores meant to accompany you to the furthest ends of the galaxy. It’s easy to recommend any of his albums, but one of our favorites remain his Mass Effect-inspired compilation Legacy, a set of unused tracks from Mass Effect 2 that flow neatly alongside the game’s already standout soundtrack, but also give their own sense of loneliness, wonder, and terror inspired by the game but speaking to something more. A good album to put on in the background while running your tabletop space marine RPG.

Winifred Phillips

Image via the Assassin’s Creed Wiki

Winifred Phillips has rocked your world with the thunderous Greek anger of the God of War soundtracks and shaped your imagination with the music of the LittleBigPlanet series. But if you want an incredible sampling of her talent, take a listen to her work on the Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation soundtrack. Like all the Assassin’s Creed games, her work draws influences from the spirit of the times to create a unique sound worthy of the game’s heroic Assassin. Thanks to Phillips, Liberation’s Aveline gets a wonderfully flowing score that encapsulates the double life she walks as a child of both the corrupt high society of slaveowners and the slaves fighting for freedom in 18th century America.

Jessica Curry

BAFTA-nominated composer Jessica Curry’s work on Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture encompassed the creation of the game’s incredible score, as well as running the studio, The Chinese Room. The results, in case you weren’t aware, definitely wowed us. Tracking the story of an Apocalypse-in-progress in a small British village, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is only bolstered by a haunting score paced meticulously to match its scenes of loss and loneliness. A must for long hours curled up with mysterious books while the rain patters at your windows.

(A brief note, Curry recently posted that she is stepping back from her duties at The Chinese Room, and while she may be helping with other projects, she intends to work on music projects with poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Be sure to follow her work both in and out of games for more wonderful music of the same origins!)

Finishing Move Inc.

When Finishing Move Inc. nails it, they nail it. Storming out of the gates with their work on Massive Chalice and some Halo projects earlier this summer, Brian Lee White and Brian Trifon define the possibilities of the modern video game score by creating bombastic, battle-ready sounds that accompany all kinds of dynamic scenarios from the placid, to the patient, to the anxious, to the intense. If you haven’t played Massive Chalice yet, you can take a listen to what they’ve put up on Soundcloud, and know with certainty that the sounds you hear here speak excellently towards the experience you’ll have in the game.

Michiru Yamane

Michiru Yamane’s name has definitely popped up in your classic games playlist before as the composer for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Yamane hasn’t just defined the Castlevania sound, she’s guided it over multiple iterations, to the point that she’s joined up with the Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained to recreate that classic, sides-scrolling exploration sensation filled with ghostly cries into the night and pounding organs. It’s a Gothic-with-a-capital-G sound that’s perfect for the vampire in us all, and with contributions to projects like Skullgirls, she’s shown a sharp ability to capture the imagination of gamers outside the world of Castlevania as well.

Featured Image via Big Giant Circles

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For the past few years now, Signal Studios has been churning out Toy Soldiers games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console, where players could engage in strategic battles in the comfort of their backyard—or any other given playplace. What looks like child’s play is anything but, as the pure engagement of battle, along with the many weapons and soldiers you can utilize, made each new skirmish enjoyable. Not to mention providing a change of pace from the usual war-themed fare.

Now Signal is back with its third go-around, War Chest, with Ubisoft publishing it for many platforms—including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The tactics are about the same: you still engage in combat with rival armies while consistently keeping everything balanced and opening up new options. However, there are a few familiar faces that will give the game some character, and finally answer the question, “Who would win in a fight? He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? Or Cobra Commander?”

While there are four general armies to choose from based on popular toys—military-based Kaiser, science fiction-oriented Phantom, fantasy-driven Dark Lord and, of course, girl toy-based StarBright—the real stars of the game are the ones that can be added with the Legendary Heroes pack. He-Man, alongside Duke from G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander from Cobra, and Ezio Auditore di Firenze from Assassin’s Creed II, all lead armies into battle while enabling players to take control of them as well, adding a little extra energy for a tactical advantage.

Throughout the game, players put their armies to work using tanks, turrets, soldiers, and other assigned roles as they engage in combat with invading armies that come in pre-set patterns. As players progress, they can unlock new tools to use on the battlefield, including dive bombers and other vehicles—which can actually be put into use in real time. There’s no “wait for your next turn” option here, as you can change the tide of a fight in a matter of seconds with the right resources.

Image: Ubisoft

Following each fight, players can make changes to their army—strengthening them or increasing their skills in certain areas—so that they’re more effective the next time round. This takes money, but with each successful wave of enemies you defeat, you’ll clean up on coins in no time.

As progress is made towards enemies, a “super bar” fills up. Once completed, the main hero of the army can step forth and do some major damage for a limited amount of time, whether it’s He-Man, Ezio, or some other given leader. This tactic comes in handy during multiplayer bouts, especially if one team ends up getting clobbered by another’s military defenses.

Between addictive online battles and a main campaign with various challenges to overcome, Toy Soldiers: War Chest packs all the fun of a full-fledged war into a child’s toy box. But at least this one is open for all ages to enjoy, whether for nostalgia purposes or just wanting to send a league of military toys packing. Plus, this one’s got Orkos available for battle, and you can’t go wrong with Orko.

The game is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC for $14.99. Upgrades can be purchases for $4.99 apiece, or a Hall of Fame Edition (with all four packs) is available for $29.99.

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