Destiny has always been the “we’ve got Star Wars at home” looter shooter, and with Destiny 2: Renegades, Bungie has decided to lean into that directly with a crossover expansion. Weirdly enough, so far that decision seems to have kinda worked out alright! Renegades doesn’t solve many of Destiny 2’s longstanding issues, including the fact that it’s been awkwardly spinning its wheels for over a year now (reminiscent of the MCU post-Endgame), but embracing the cheesiness and over-the-top drama of Star Wars is at the very least a surprisingly nice change of pace in what has become quite a predictable universe. The story is silly, to be sure, but introduces a few new mechanics and weapon types that are a welcome change, and there’s an impressive level of enemy density throughout practically all of the activities that keeps the action interesting. I’ve still got a lot more questing and looting to do before my final review, but so far this expansion has been a pretty compelling breath of fresh air in a game I’ve otherwise been far less excited about than usual.

If you’ve read any of my previous expansion reviews (of which there are a lot), then you’ll already know I am one those weirdo Destiny fans who has stuck with this game through thick and thin – so it should mean something when I tell you that saying I am also a Star Wars fan would be such a massive understatement that I’m actually too embarrassed to elaborate further publicly. But even with my undying love of space wizards, I was initially mortified to learn Destiny 2 was planning a crossover with it. For me, it was the ultimate sign that Destiny was out of ideas, had gone “full Fortnite” in a way that seemed cheap and tacky, and was making one last desperation play during the slow death it’s been suffering for a number of years now. And, yeah, that all pretty much turned out to be true. But when I found myself watching two lightsaber-wielding foes square off in an epic cutscene while listening to the John Williams-esque music this expansion makes heavy use of, I’ll admit it won me over… at least a little.

Renegades does go out of its way to include every little Star Wars reference to a degree that can feel a bit forced – a crutch that’s continuously leaned upon in lieu of any original ideas. For example, you find yourself trapped in a garbage compactor during the very first mission, rescue someone from off-brand carbon freezing, and make a jump to lightspeed while a brooding, masked villain angrily watches you escape his grasp. It’s extremely on the nose stuff, and I was just as likely to experience a full-body cringe as I was to smile about it. But the complete “screw it” energy at play here as it full-throatedly embraces all the corniness and drama for which Star Wars is known does have a certain kind of refreshing charm that’s at least a distinct direction for Destiny 2. I’ve been complaining about this game feeling stale for at least five years now, so I’ve got to give Bungie a bit of credit for trying something new here.

There are also a fair number of new mechanics that I wasn’t expecting, like a shielding system for certain enemies that forces you to deal a whole bunch of damage in a short span of time before you can actually hurt them, AT-ST-inspired walkers that have some unique attacks I wasn’t expecting, and even some new weapon types, like battery-powered guns that can be fired until they overheat and need to cool down. None of this is massively game-changing stuff, but they’re decent little tweaks to the sandbox that are welcome additions. Of course, there’s also a ton of stuff that hasn’t changed at all, and even while you’re facing off against a new kind of enemy in theory, you’ll still be fighting the same Cabal armored warriors and bony Thrall monstrosities you’ve been shooting for over a decade, which has made this feel like a cheap reskin at times.

I’m still fairly early into my space opera journey (I haven’t even crafted my lightsaber yet!), so I have a whole lot more to play before I can definitively say where Renegades lands. But so far this expansion seems much better than I expected… though that’s partially because I expected very little. I’ll have much more to say once I’ve completed the campaign and begin to dive into the endgame activities. For Light and Life!

Here's a rare chance to pick up one of the highest quality OLED TVd at a bargain price. Best Buy currenttly has the 65" Panasonic Z95A 4K OLED Smart TV with Amazon Fire TV for just $1,499.99 with free delivery. This was Panasonic's highest end OLED TV for 2024. It uses the same panel as the LG Gallery Series G4 OLED TV. The TV is sold by Beach Camera through Best Buy's marketplace. Beach Camera is an authorized Panasonic reseller and a legit vendor.

Panasonic Z95A 4K OLED Fire TV for $1,499.99

The holiday season is a time where we typically expect to see a serious surge in video game and console sales, for fairly obvious reasons. Normally, that means lots of PlayStations, Switches, and Xboxes are going home in people's shopping carts. But recently, there's another gaming system that's giving the other console offerings a run for their sales. Have you heard of...the NEX Playground?

If you're not a parent, chances are, you haven't. The NEX Playground has actually been out for a while, having launched in 2023. Described as a successor to (of all things) the Kinect, this cube-shaped box uses AI-powered motion tracking to allow users to play motion-controlled games, generally geared toward kids. It comes bundled with five games (Fruit Ninja, Starri, Party Fowl, Whac-a-Mole, and Go Keeper), and you can get more by subscribing to "Play Pass", which costs $89 per year or $49 for three months.

The NEX Playground was already a pretty hot gift for kids last holiday. It's simple to use - literally plug in and play - and doesn't require families to have any existing knowledge of video games or consoles or the tech associated with them. And it seems after a year of new game releases based on popular IPs, it may be even bigger this year. Through the Play Pass, you can now get access to games such as Bluey Bust-a-Move, How to Train Your Dragon Riders of the Skies, Peppa Pig Jump & Giggle, multiple Sesame Street games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rooftop Mayhem, and more. Though mostly focused on children's games, there are also games like Zumba Fitness Party, Mingle (a match and merge puzzle game), and a few others that might also appeal to adults. All motion controlled.

That possibly explains why it's already selling so well, even before Black Friday week. According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella on Bluesky, the NEX Playground was the second best-selling hardware in the US for the week ending November 22, trailing only the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, and beating the PS5 Slim in third place. As Piscatella put it, "Anyways, a box that looks like the OUYA and Kinect had a kid has 82% 5 star reviews at Target, and a 4.7 overall rating with 2.5k reviews on Amazon."

Speaking to IGN over direct message, Piscatella elaborated just how well the NEX was doing.

"NEX US unit sales are up 3,384% compared to last year for the YTD period ending Nov 22nd, 2025," he said. "It's the leading product for the year in the Plug-N-Play hardware segment (which also includes products like the My Arcade Gamestation Pro Atari, Game & Watch, and back in the day included things like the NES Classic and Sega Genesis Mini...) but ranks 5th overall on a platform basis in YTD [year-to-date] units (behind Switch 2, PS5, XBS and Switch). Sales of NEX have picked up steam over the past say 5 weeks or so, thanks to (what looks like) increased distribution at retailers like Target, some additional marketing programs and people tell me TikTok."

Piscatella went on to tell me that this is the first time he's seen a plug-and-play device like this get close to this sort of ranking. He suggested the NES Classic might have been a noteworthy seller, but doesn't have weekly data going back that far. But he also clarified that he doesn't think this means the NEX will overtake any of the console giants in annual sales - he expects it to remain at the same rank (5th) through the end of the year. So unfortunately we won't have any weird plug-and-play upsets in Circana's annual report. But you'll still probably see a lot of these around when you're doing your holiday shopping in the coming weeks.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Dell (Alienware) is offering an RTX 5080 equipped gaming PC that's priced lower than the best deals I saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For this week only, the Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC starts at just $1,750. It's well equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU and a fair amount of RAM and storage, but since this is a customizable configuration, you can upgrade specs for an extra cost. Alienware normally commands a higher price than other brands, so this is a great opportunity to stay within budget and still get performance without compromising on quality.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC From $1,750

A compact power bank that is perfect for your Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, or Apple iPhone 17 has dropped in price for a limited time. Amazon is currently offering the Iniu 10,000mAh 45W Power Bank for just $11.21 after you clip the 49% off coupon on the product page. This deal usually hits its redemption limit within a day. This would make a great stocking stuffer gift idea for anyone who just picked up a Switch 2 console or owns a phone with USB-C charging input.

Iniu 10,000mAh 45W Power Bank for $11.21

For gamers of a certain age, Warhammer Quest is a name to conjure with. The original 1995 release was the premier dungeon-crawler of its day, a rare cooperative title in an age of head-to-head conflict games. Once it was out of print it became, and remains, highly collectable. But in 2016, publisher Games Workshop resurrected the brand with the well-received Silver Tower. Darkwater is the latest iteration, with a few new tweaks and a lot of new toys on board to try and uphold its considerable legacy.

What’s in the Box

Games Workshop is rightly known as the premier producer of plastic miniatures and, even by its own exalted standards, the range of figures included in this set are a little bit special. Six of them are heroes, the remainder are their enemies, servants of the noxious, squelchy plague god of the Warhammer universe, Nurgle. The Nurgle range has always been a terrible beauty, crammed with unpleasant details of open sores and drooling maws and there’s plenty of that on display here. But what makes these stand out is a sense of character, something that’s often missing in modern, dynamically posed figures.

These pop out of your tabletop with an air of individuality, particularly the heroes who display a fine mix of old-school adventurer alongside the current sensibilities of GW’s Age of Sigmar setting. Facial expressions and poses seem to tell you something about each of them, from the dour scowl of mercenary Bren Tylis to the gloating grin of the central villain, Gelgus Pust. And it’s worth noting for less experienced modellers that the box’s claim of push-fit is largely true. Most of the figures are fairly easy to assemble, although a couple will benefit from a drop of polystyrene cement. Painting them is another matter, however, as the level of detail may be a bit daunting for novices.

Outside of the miniatures, GW boxed games often skimp on the remainder of the components. That’s not the case here: this is a lavish production at every level, and you can see where the considerable asking price has been spent. Once you’ve lifted the figure sprues out of the box, the cards and punch-out tokens have their own carefully packed sub-box, with the cards for each of the game’s campaign acts presented in their own sealed envelopes. Although the cards could use more, and more varied, artwork, they’re sturdy, shiny and clear to read.

"This is a lavish production at every level."

Most surprising of all is the book of maps that are used in the skirmish scenarios that make up most of the game. While this is hardly a new idea, most examples are clunky and spiral-bound. This one is hard-bound, yet it still lies flat, making it an absolute pleasure to use. And the maps within are full of the kind of detailed art that we should also have seen on the cards, effectively evoking the plague-corrupted environments of the game’s setting, the Jade Abbey. More detail on the setting and narrative are provided in the game’s rulebook, offering up a great foretaste of the adventures to come.

Rules and How It Plays

Warhammer Quest: Darkwater is a cooperative board game, but you’ll play with four heroes in every game, so it’s best with two or four players: solo is possible, but you’ll end up juggling a lot as the campaign progresses. It has two game modes, a one-off skirmish fight or a longer campaign game. The focus is definitely on the latter mode, as single fights can be unbalanced depending on the scenario you end up playing, and you don’t get the fun of slowly building up your characters and revealing your own narrative of attempting to free the Jade Abbey from Nurgle’s putrefaction.

A campaign consists of three acts, each of which sees you dealing out 14 random encounter cards from that act’s deck, with a boss card beneath. You then get a choice of two possible encounter cards for each adventure, and this is an important decision. Many of the encounters aren’t skirmish fights but little narrative snippets or mini-games. Most of these are of the push your luck or risk versus reward variety, but there are a couple of the more imaginative designs that made Silver Tower’s scenarios such a pleasure.

When it comes to battle scenarios, it’s important to read the cards carefully and consider how the fight might play out. They offer a variety of maps, of enemies to fight, sidequests, victory conditions and special rules. These cause them to vary wildly in difficulty, and some can be almost impossible if you haven’t found certain rewards for your party. This is a big deal because the price for failure is high: you lose some rewards and get to try again, with a second fail ending the campaign.

Duking it out on the map is based on a set of rules from another game in the series, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game (see it at Amazon). Each hero has three action cards: move, attack, and aid. Using one requires you to expend energy, which is most commonly obtained by exhausting one of said cards, either for the action you’re taking or one of the others. Essentially this boils down to heroes taking three actions each turn, which can be any combination of the available options, although some of the rewards you can get later in the campaign complicate the picture a little.

Combat involves you rolling dice, almost always a pair, hoping to achieve a target number depending on what you’re fighting. Many enemies have a defense value that cancels out an equal number of hits, meaning you’ll have to hit on both dice to hurt them. Between the probabilities involved and the flexibility of the action system, this provides a satisfying balance of decision-making and randomness. This is not a deep game by any means, but you’ll often be torn as to how to best distribute your actions, while the turn limit on completing each battle can lead to some thrilling, high-stakes rolls towards the close.

Between each hero’s turn, the monsters get to activate. How they behave depends on a dice roll, and most enemies switch between a sedate black die and a more threatening red die with each passing battle round. Mostly they’ll move toward a target at variable speed and try to attack, although all the monsters also have a special effect: horrible little pox-wretches spawn new companions, while the tough daemonic cankerborn blast all nearby heroes with an area effect attack. This roll can have a major impact on the difficulty of a scenario, as monsters sometimes do nothing and sometimes unleash a terrifying onslaught, a quirk that the rules put down to their chaotic nature.

One flaw in this system and the map design is that most of the boards have one or more choke points caused by impassable hexes, and most of the scenarios require players to get somewhere and do something in order to win. The result is that both players and monsters get funneled toward the tight corners and scenarios can bog down in repeated roll-offs until you either clear the enemies or the time runs out. Some character abilities and items can bypass this – the dwarf ranger Drolf Ironhead can move through the odd impassable hex – but while this gives some scenarios the feel of a spatial puzzle, in others having one or two characters get a shortcut doesn’t make much difference to achieving the goal. This issue also causes a sense of repetition, despite the fairly varied scenario design.

Victory, and the completion of sidequest goals, results in reward cards being doled out to the adventurers. Like the scenarios themselves these vary in power, with better items being available later in the campaign, but the more impressive items are often one-shot, while more minor power-ups can be re-used. They all add more tactical options to battles, which is absolutely a good thing. Weighing up whether or not to throw your magical one-off widget into the mix in an attempt to save a scenario that’s going south is always a knife-edge decision and adds extra frisson to the dice-rolls that usually result.

Even on-board battle scenarios only last about 30 minutes so, when you mix in the much shorter mini-game encounters, playing through an act doesn’t take all that long. “Saving” the game state between sessions is a minor pain but perfectly possible. All the adventure cards have their own text preamble to set the scene and, as you progress through the campaign, there are secrets to uncover and some new playable characters to unlock. The unfolding narrative isn’t going to win any literary awards but it’s effective at giving your playthrough a solid storybook backbone. Nurgle is a particularly fun opponent to tackle, his servitors by turns fatherly and feculent, so freeing the once-pristine Jade Abbey from their clutches feels like a worthy goal.

Where to Buy

• Get it at Warhammer

Corsair strips the Sabre V2 Pro ultralight wireless mouse back to the very basics; you get no Bluetooth connection, a relatively small battery, no DPI button and small skates on the bottom – all those weight savings means it's a mere 36g, lighter than almost any other gaming mouse. But lighter doesn't necessarily mean better, so are the compromises worth it? If performance is what you're looking for, it very much can be.

Corsair Sabre V2 Pro – Design and Shape

The Corsair Sabre V2 is a simple, sensible, symmetrical shape and will fit most hands. It's smaller than most gaming mice, and my hands are slightly larger than average, but I could hold it in a full palm grip and easily click all the buttons, without any of my fingers spilling off of its surface. That's probably due to the shape of its hump, which reaches quite far forward on the mouse before tapering off, and it therefore fills my palm well.

The matte coating is grippy and comfortable, although it does attract sweat more than most mice, and it's also harder to clean because it grabs tiny bits of dust and cleaning cloth fibre and doesn't let go. You might notice tiny dots of white in some of these pictures: those aren't scratches, they're just small bits of dust that are nearly impossible to remove without essentially scratching them off with your nail. It doesn't affect the mouse's performance, but it's annoying.

The big selling point is the mouse's weight and at 36g it is absurdly, wonderfully light. There is an unmistakable joy to the Sabre V2 Pro and when you hold it for the first time, you can't help but smile at how weightless it is. You'll find many "lightweight" mice at 50g or above: for example the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini, which I reviewed recently and loved, is 59g, nearly double the Sabre V2 Pro, and switching between the two I immediately felt the difference. Lighter doesn't mean better, of course. Some people prefer heavier mice – I prefer lighter, and therefore loved using the Sabre V2 Pro, which feels like a true extension of my hand.

The mouse feet are relatively small and are made from Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, aka UPE, rather than the standard Teflon (PTFE). UPE tends to glide slower but lasts longer, and while the feet were perhaps a smidge less slide-y than other feet, swishing this mouse across my cloth pad was still effortless. It comes with grip tape and larger replacement skates, if you feel you need it.

Lighter mice sometimes feel flimsy but the Sabre V2 Pro feels, generally, sturdy. When I squeeze the sides it doesn't give or creak, and there's no rattling when I shake it. There is, however, a spot on the top of the mouse where you make an indent if you press down hard. It's a bit alarming, and not something I've experienced with other mice, but it always returned to its original position and I can't imagine a scenario where you'd put that much pressure on a mouse when you were actually using it.

The side buttons – specifically the further back of the two – feels like the cheapest part of the mouse. It clicks fine, but when pressed it travels quite far into the shell, to the point where it feels like your thumb is going inside the mouse. But it wasn't a huge issue: it always returned to the right place, my clicks always registered, and the other side button was more solid. The main left and right mouse clicks are responsive and sound crisp. When I was testing them outside of a game, their pre-travel (the distance you can push the button without a click registering) was noticeable, and they felt a bit soft. But in games, they never let me down, and I could spam them with zero issues.

The scroll wheel is just fine. I personally prefer a slightly stiffer wheel than this, with more noticeable bumps for each increment, but again, it performed well, scrolling whenever I needed. The scroll wheel click, however, feels terrible. It needs a lot of force to click and when it does, it barely moves. You don't get a DPI button, but you can right click and press the back side button to switch DPI, with a coloured LED on the scroll wheel changing colour. It's a neat way of changing sensitivity without adding a button, therefore keeping the weight down.

The mouse connects to your PC via a USB dongle with a stiff cable. The dongle has a built-in clip to connect to your mousepad – a nice touch – and allows for up to 8K polling rate (more on that later). Given how light, and therefore how inherently portable, this mouse is, I would've loved a smaller USB dongle for travelling, or Bluetooth connectivity. But like with all the other caveats I've listed above – and there are quite a few – the drawbacks are worth it to keep the weight down, which is the entire point of this mouse.

Corsair Sabre V2 Pro – Performance, Gaming and Battery Life

I can't complain about the Sabre V2 Pro's gaming performance. I tested it on a variety of games, mostly Arc Raiders and Fortnite, which both require quick flicks, but also Anno 1800, which is more gentle, with lots of slow movement. Flick shots felt responsive, slow tracking felt accurate. It never stuttered and it followed my every movement exactly how I wanted. It does take some getting used to a mouse this light, and some of my flicks felt off during my first session with it, but I quickly got used to it and after a week, my other mice felt heavy in comparison.

It runs at a 1000Hz polling rate (the number of times the mouse reports its position to your PC) by default, which is fine for most players. You can run it at higher polling rates all the way up to 8000Hz, which you won't find on most other mice at this price. Higher polling rates should, in theory, improve accuracy and reduce inconsistency. In reality, most people struggle to tell the difference above 2000Hz, and to me, 2000Hz and 1000Hz feel very, very similar. Going up to 8000Hz is overkill and I wouldn't recommend it with this mouse because it tanks the battery, dropping a 70-hour maximum battery life to about 16 hours.

Even at 1000Hz, battery life is subpar. I got closer to 50 hours than 70, which lags behind other gaming mice (although I should say, several factors go into battery life so your mileage may vary). It's yet another drawback but, for me, it's yet another compromise worth having to save weight. Anything approaching 60 to 70 hours of battery life means you're charging maybe once a week, and that's fine.

Corsair Sabre V2 Pro – Software

Hooray for online mouse software! The Sabre V2 Pro doesn't make you install a new programme on your PC. Instead, you control the mouse on the Corsair's stripped-back Web Hub, and you can install it as a browser app to reach it offline if, say, you're travelling and don't know what the WiFi situation will be.

It does, admittedly, slow you down if you're mid-game and want to tweak a setting. Usually you can leave mouse software running without taxing your PC but you don't, usually, want to play with your browser running in the background, especially if you open lots of tabs or have a lower-end system. So you have to minimize the game, open your browser, navigate to the Web Hub, click on your device, and then adjust. (Also, if Corsair's servers were down, you might have difficulty adjusting your mouse settings.)

On the whole I think those drawbacks are worth it to avoid bloating your PC with even more peripheral programs – although the best of both worlds would be giving people the option to install a program, should they prefer. The Web Hub itself is intuitive, with only a few simple tabs to scroll through, although I wish that the polling rate wasn't hidden in a separate settings menu, rather than being front-and-centre in the menus alongside macros, key binds, and DPI. And the drawback of the Hub's simplicity is that it lacks features you'll get from other mice software: you can't customize lift-off distances, for example, or adjust the axis of your sensor. I would've liked a few more settings to tweak.

If there was a critic predisposed to enjoy Five Nights at Freddy's 2, you're reading him. I defended Emma Tammi's critically panned first adaptation. I've written about the overblown "curse" of video game adaptations here on IGN. Let that appropriately color my disdain for Tammi's malfunctioning sequel bright red like an alarm. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 brings back the Henson company's impressive animatronics for another creepy kid's meal, but this time, they're bound to an atrocious story that underestimates how video games and movies are two hugely different mediums.

Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon claims sole screenwriting duties this time (no ​​Tammi or Seth Cuddeback, who shared the job on the first film), and the dropoff is catastrophic. Cawthon shoves Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) and lil' sister Abby (Piper Rubio) into a reassembly of his 2014 point-and-click survival horror sequel, reopening Freddy Fazbear's original location. Here, where William Afton (Matthew Lillard) began his killing spree, Abby attempts to reunite with her lost friends—animalian animatronics possessed by the souls of murdered children. What she finds is far more sinister, and unleashes a new evil from Freddy’s derelict restaurant shadows: The Marionette. Afton's daughter, Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail), tried to subdue and hide the possessed puppet—but now, inhabited by the soul of Afton's bravest victim, Charlotte (Audrey Lynn-Marie), it's vengeful and on the prowl.

Before things get heated, let me confirm the animatronics are innocent. Jim Henson's Creature Shop doubles its presence with the inclusion of "Toy" versions of Freddy's gang. These sleeker, more metallic versions stand just as impressive as the fuzzier, more Chuck E. Cheese iterations we've already beheld, and remain a masterwork of practical effects dominance. Foxy's "Mangle" form, a failed pull-apart activity experiment, gives a freakish junkyard appearance, while The Marionette dangles and flails with a noodle-like uncanniness that juxtaposes Freddy's robotic motions. Tammi understands how to bring these not-so-gentle giants to life and does so with larger-than-life appeal—but that's where my praise stops.

Oh! Animatronics and The Newton Brothers’ partytime score that’s inspired by 8-bit soundtracks and cheesy kiddie restaurant tunes. There, that’s two whole things I applaud! Now, the not so fun stuff.

Fazbear fanatics will know precisely what to expect from Five Nights at Freddy's 2, because Cawthon cares more about parading the hits than reworking his "security guy in a room" playability. Tammi's saddled with a screenplay that's cramming nutritionless Easter eggs down our throat like we’re held hostage in a Cadbury production facility. Is it humorous when Hutcherson mocks a discarded Freddy faceplate, dismissing its use as a disguise—only for it to later work? Sure. But the first film is far savvier about transforming the sedentary Five Nights at Freddy's play style into a feature-length adventure. That movie hardly panders; evolution reimagines Five Nights at Freddy's for theaters. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a step backward in that regard, trying to one-for-one gameplay elements without realizing how silly the functionality appears on-screen.

Tammi and Cawthon strive to provide a more ferocious horror bite but rely on only one method: jump scares. Cawthon introduces The Marionette as a sock-puppetty villain that possesses humans and turns them into bright-eyed demons, but the film makes frustrating use of the otherwise eerie imagery. I've already written a CineFix script about the art of the jump scare, specifically how it's an additive, not the main course. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 disagrees, and renders itself frightless in the process. Tammi leans into the most conventionally uninteresting tropes of PG-13 horror films in terms of terror (anything interesting happens off-screen), which includes beating jump scares like a dead horse until they're utterly redundant and predictable. Add in a terrible Instagram face-filter for whenever Charlotte inhabits someone's body—lookin' like something that'd only haunt your DMs—and woof does the film's attempt to be spookier land with a thud.

It all feels so … self-conscious and reactionary. Cawthon tries to beat complaints to the punch, which is a recipe for disaster. Don't get me wrong, Five Nights at Freddy's was viciously savaged by critics—but to backpeddle almost feels like cowardice. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 makes all the glaring video game adaptation mistakes we've seen before, which stings even worse because its predecessor does not. The game franchise is a convoluted mess of continuity, which is already seeping into Blumhouse's films. Such narrative ridiculousness is more forgivable in video games, where interactivity trumps storytelling, but movies are a different beast. Without Tammi or Cuddeback, Cawthon defaults to a video game mindset that doesn't work the same in Hollywood.

Worst of all, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 suffers from a horrendous third-act problem. In that, it really doesn't have one? Cawthon treats the sequel as feature-length promotional material for whatever comes next. The Marionette deserves so much better than this film, which does a whole lot of setting up without wanting to see anything through. "Don't worry, that'll all get addressed in the sequel," Blumhouse promises as they count fat stacks of ticket sales. Cawthon pelts us with lore and rubs salt in the wounds, dumping reveal after reveal before a blink-and-you'll-miss-it conclusion that displays no fundamental understanding of filmic structure. The movie wants you, so desperately, to gasp at its cliffhanger ending, but all it does is make us want to cut the cord from this on-the-fritz series.

The actors fight tooth and nail to wrestle any modicum of intrigue from their roles, but there are Hallmark specials that read as more genuine. Lail's tortured daughter tries to bury us in Vanessa's trauma—but then pulls a gun on her spin class buddy mid-breakdown, and we're not supposed to laugh? Hutcherson wanders aimlessly through the sequel, filling the void wherever he's needed. Then there's Rubio, the victim of adult bullying by her science teacher because there's an important robotics competition the same day as a town-wide Freddy Fazbear festival. I … can't make this stuff up, and it's all so hackily cobbled together. Skeet Ulrich, Mckenna Grace, Wayne Knight, and Theodus Crane all deserve better in supporting roles that range from rage bait to nameless sidekicks.

Frankly, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a bare minimum sequel. Everything it's doing lacks enthusiasm. As a horror movie, it lazily pushes characters straight toward danger, stupidly keeps them there, and ruins excitement by tipping every scare. As a video game adaptation, it trots out familiar mechanics and callbacks—red and green buttons! Balloon Boy!—but treats these thrown bones as the main attraction. It's an incomplete sequel, an underwritten coming-of-adolescence story, and as a PG-13 gateway horror film, it'd be laughed out of the cafeteria by the likes of Insidious or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Game over, pull the plug, reboot the system.

Fortnite fans believe developer Epic Games has indeed relaxed its rules around the depiction of male nudity, as the game's first fully detailed areola have now been spotted.

A shirtless style for the game's new Chapter 7 battle pass skin Carter Wu shows a relatively detailed nipple present and correct on the character's chest — the first in almost a decade of Fortnite history.

The development comes just weeks after fans spotted two telltale dots on the chest of Fortnite's underpants-wearing Homer Simpson skin, and wondered whether the game's long-term decision not to show nips had been reconsidered.

At the time, Homer's design featuring nipples was debated as potentially being an exception to Fortnite's no-nips rule — perhaps due to some licensing requirement, or because his cel-shaded model was low in detail.

But the arrival now of a standard Fortnite skin — prominently available in Chapter 7's first battle pass, no less — suggests otherwise, and points to more nipples likely now appearing within Fortnite in future.

In the past, everyone from Travis Scott to God of War's Kratos, Avatar: The Last Airbender's Aang, WWE's John Cena, Dragonball Z's Goku, and Marvel superheroes such as Drax and The Hulk have all appeared in Fortnite topless, with smooth nipple-less chests. Even third-party creator-made modes have been nipple-free, with a high-profile promotional crossover with body hair shaver brand Philips featuring a smooth-chested model.

Could Epic Games now re-add nipples to previous skins, restoring characters like Kratos to their fully chested glory? We will have to wait and see. IGN has often contacted Epic Games about Fortnite's previous no-nipple policy for more detail, though is yet to receive an official statement on the subject.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Creative Assembly’s Total War 25th anniversary showcase featured a number of major announcements in the strategy series, including a brand new game, a significant update to an existing game, and the tease of a new game announcement at The Game Awards.

Total War: Medieval 3 announced

First up, Creative Assembly announced Total War: Medieval 3, the long-awaited return to the franchise’s historical roots, with a live-action reveal trailer. Here’s the official blurb:

Now in early pre-production, this next chapter is both a tribute to its legendary predecessors and a bold revolution for the series. Built as the ultimate medieval strategy sandbox, it will empower players to shape realms, rewrite history, and immerse themselves in the Middle Ages like never before. Combining meticulous historical authenticity with unprecedented player agency, this is more than a sequel, it’s the rebirth of historical Total War.

Total War: Warhammer 3 - Lords of the End Times announced

Next came Total War: Warhammer 3 - Lords of the End Times, which coincides with the subseries’ 10th year. The Lords of The End Times Pack adds four new Legendary Lords into the Immortal Empires campaign experience in summer 2026. The first to be revealed is the great necromancer, Nagash, who returns to reclaim his lost power and drown the world in undeath. These new lords also herald the arrival of the free End Times Update. Here’s the official blurb:

Taking inspiration from the lore, players will face a campaign experience transformed, with apocalyptic scenarios and cataclysmic events that push the boundaries of strategy and survival. And to crown this update, a new Legendary Lord will rise, ready to leave their mark on the cataclysm to come.

Creative Assembly ended the announcement by saying there’s more to come from Total War: Warhammer, insisting “the series is far from over.”

The Warcore game engine to bring Total War to consoles

Next up was the announcement of the Warcore game engine, the latest version of Creative Assembly's own tech which allows for future Total War games to launch on console. Here’s what Creative Assembly had to say:

Building on 25 years of strategy innovation, Warcore is the next evolution of Total War’s proprietary engine. As the most advanced technological foundation in the franchise’s history, it empowers developers with a suite of tools that allows for gameplay to be more immersive, dynamic and responsive than ever before. Designed to evolve over time, it will continue to unlock new capabilities, ensuring the franchise stays at the cutting edge of strategy gaming for years to come. In a franchise first, it also enables future games to be released on PlayStation and Xbox, welcoming a new generation of commanders to the scale, immersion, and tactical mastery that defines Total War.

'Surprise' Total War game set for The Game Awards

The showcase ended with a tease for The Game Awards on December 11, when a “surprise” third game will be revealed. “This title will be Total War’s next major release and represents one of the most ambitious projects in the franchise’s history, marking the beginning of an exciting new era,” Creative Assembly said. “We hope to see you there.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Our IGN First "cover story" game for December is High on Life 2, the upcoming comedy first-person shooter sequel to the 2022 original breakout hit from Squanch Games. We got our coverage warmed up with the funny in-universe ad for Humanzapro, and then we posted ten minutes of exclusive new gameplay from early in the campaign set in Pinkline Harbor, one of three in-game hubs you'll explore. And today, we've got a boss fight reveal, showing off a battle against Kreg Button, a pirate-themed bounty hunter.

High on Life 2 aims to double down on what worked in the original, with new and returning talking guns voiced by the likes of JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm), among others. It also adds plenty of new gameplay, such as skateboarding. Check out the new boss fight gameplay below.

Check out the original announcement trailer if you missed it, and stay tuned all December long for more exclusive High on Life 2 content, including more gameplay, new weapon reveals, interviews with the developers, a fresh hands-on preview of the latest build, and more!

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

The Samsung 9100 Pro is a big, powerful, flagship SSD from one of the biggest names in the game. It brings high-end performance, pushing the limits of its PCIexpress 5.0 interface– on paper, this should be one of the best SSDs ever made, accelerating file transfers and game load times like never before.

But Samsung wasn’t first to market with a top-tier PCIe 5.0 SSD, and there is stiff competition for the kind of cutting-edge performance that Samsung has historically been known for. Still, it is very fast on paper, with a strong endurance rating, five-year warranty, and the option of an attractive, low-profile heatsink for a few dollars extra.

Design and Software

This is a standard M.2 2280 drive, so the dimensions and form-factor will be very familiar for anyone with an NVMe SSD. Samsung sent me the heatsink version of the 9100 Pro and it’s clearly built to a high-standard, with a sturdy, compact design and well machined heatsink fins that give it a quality look and feel. It’s available without the heatsink too, though, should your motherboard have big heatsinks for add-in drives, or you want to use a third-party alternative.

It’s available in sizes from 1TB through 4TB at the time of writing (I’m testing the 2TB version), with plans to release an 8TB model down the line.

Forget CrystalDiskInfo, if you have a Samsung SSD you get to use the excellent Samsung Magician Software which combines detailed drive monitoring with easy data migration, secure erase, drive encryption, and performance benchmarks, among other useful settings and tests.

It’s not something everyone will feel the need to play around with, but if you want to keep a close eye on your new flagship SSD, Samsung’s Magician tracks drive health, system information, and has useful built-in tools like secure erase and drive encryption.

Specs

The specifications for the Samsung 9100 Pro are about as good as you can get with a modern, high-end PCIe 5 SSD. Although that’s never the full picture for any component, Samsung sets off on the right foot with this drive.

The 9100 Pro uses Samsung’s 236-layer TLC NAND Flash, which is the company’s most effective memory to date. This NAND is also used in the older 990 Evo Plus and 990 Pro models, but with a newer controller and interface, this drive is much faster.

The sustained read and write speeds of 14,700 MBps and 13,400 MBps, respectively, are competitive with other top PCIe 5 drives like Sandisk’s WD Black SN8100 and Crucial’s T710. While you’re unlikely to encounter these speeds outside of benchmarks and large file transfers, if you want to move a lot of data around between drives (ideally between two PCIe 5 drives) then the 9100 Pro should do it exceptionally quickly.

The random read and write performance is arguably more impressive, though, and highlights how far we’ve come in “smaller” capacity drives like this, showing how capable Samsung’s top flash designs are.

The endurance rating of 1200 TBW for this 2TB model (up to 4800 TBW for the 8TB model) is plenty for the average user, though there are more durable professional drives out there if you expect to hammer yours on a daily basis for professional workloads.

The Samsung 9100 Pro joins the high-end PCIe 5 market at a time of increasing competition. There are standouts like the Crucial T705 with its huge heatsink and impressive numbers leading the pack, but its high price of $260 reflects that. The WD SN8100 offers similar specs at a similar price, giving the 9100 Pro at $260 some real head to head action with little separating them. Ditch the heatsinks and their prices match up even closer.

Then there’s the slightly slower, but still fast Corsair MP700 Pro and Elite, which are still blazingly fast in real-world workloads, but significantly cheaper.

Considering the limited utility for the cutting-edge performance of a top PCIe 5 SSD in 2025, too, it’s also worth considering high-end PCIe 4 drives. Those include Samsung’s own 990 Pro, which is available at the same capacity for just $150.

Performance

To test the 9100 Pro I fitted it to my test system with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero, 32GB of RAM at 5,200MHz and a Radeon RX 7900 XTX. I installed the drive in the top-most PCIe 5 NVMe slot and tested on a brand new installation of Windows 11 running the latest 24H2 version, with the latest drivers and BIOS updates applied.

In CrystalDiskMark, the 9100 Pro actually surpassed its rated sustained read and write performance showing how utterly fast this drive can be when shifting raw data around.

That was backed up by my 10GB file transfer test. Moving it from a PCIe 4 WD SN850X 2TB model to the 9100 Pro (Write) took just 3.9 seconds, and moving it back again (Read) was even faster, at 3.4 seconds. If you frequently move large files or folders between drives and want one that will do it exceptionally quickly, the 9100 Pro is among the fastest there is.

In real-world gaming benchmarks I saw equally impressive results. When running the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail benchmark, we clocked a total loading time of just 6.2 seconds. All scenes loaded in under two seconds, and the first and fifth were well under a second a piece. That’s not much faster than a high-end PCIe 4 SSD, but it’s still plenty fast.

The only place where I found any kind of anomalous performance was in 3D Mark Storage. There I recorded a respectable, if unimpressive, 3,269 points, with an average access time around 55 micro-seconds.

Although I’m not the only one to have recorded a sub-4000 score with this particular drive on this particular benchmark, many contemporaries have managed 5-6,000+ scores. Iran it multiple times and it came back the same every time. I initially thought it might be the SLC running out, but I had similar performance throughout all the individual test runs during the benchmark.

I’ve reached out to Samsung for comment and will update this review if and when I hear back.

One area where this drive did really impress me, though, was temperature. Although the drive itself gets blisteringly hot to the point that touching it became a legitimate burn hazard, the controller inside was chilly the entire time. Even after sustained load during the 3D Mark test run, it didn’t even break 40 degrees.

That said, this drive is clearly putting out a lot of heat so I’d recommend the heatsink or some kind of strong active cooling.

Creative Assembly has announced Total War: Medieval 3, the next mainline game in its long-running strategy series.

Unveiled at Creative Assembly’s 25th anniversary showcase, Total War: Medieval 3 is a return to the franchise’s historical roots, but, according to the developer, it is also a “bold revolution.” No release window was mentioned, but it sounds like a way off as Creative Assembly said the project was in early pre-production.

“Built as the ultimate medieval strategy sandbox, it will empower players to shape realms, rewrite history, and immerse themselves in the Middle Ages like never before,” Creative Assembly said. “Combining meticulous historical authenticity with unprecedented player agency, this is more than a sequel, it’s the rebirth of historical Total War.”

Creative Assembly announced the game with a live-action teaser and a selection of concept art, below.

The announcement of Total War: Medieval 3 comes alongside the reveal of the Warcore game engine, which Creative Assembly said is the “next evolution” of Total War’s proprietary engine.

“As the most advanced technological foundation in the franchise’s history, it empowers developers with a suite of tools that allows for gameplay to be more immersive, dynamic and responsive than ever before,” Creative Assembly said.

“Designed to evolve over time, it will continue to unlock new capabilities, ensuring the franchise stays at the cutting edge of strategy gaming for years to come.”

The Warcore engine means future Total War games can be released on PlayStation and Xbox for the first time, Creative Assembly added.

Creative Assembly also teased a new game announcement at The Game Awards on December 11. This will be Total War’s “next major release” and “represents one of the most ambitious projects in the franchise’s history, marking the beginning of an exciting new era.”

It's a busy time for the Sega-owned studio, which is also working on continued updates to Total War: Warhammer 3, as well as Alien: Isolation 2. Check out everything announced at the Total War 25th Anniversary showcase right here.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Update: In the time since we published this article, Amazon has unveiled another two bundles. The retailer is offering a pair of bundles, both at a 9% discount.

It looks as though the live-action Tomb Raider Amazon series, which will star Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner, will revamp the beloved video game franchise, so get ready for an all-new Lara Croft.

Story Kitchen, a production company dedicated to video game adaptations in film, recently revealed some new details about their partnership with Amazon MGM studios, who is distributing the series, and Crystal Dynamics, the company that created the iconic game series. According to their website, the new Tomb Raider series will “reinvent the franchise on a massive scale” and will interconnect “live-action television series and video games into a unified storytelling universe.”

For Amazon, Fleabag star and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be taking the helm here, “spearheading the next chapter of Tomb Raider, launching an ambitious reimagining of the Lara Croft universe.”

Jonathan Van Tulleken, who is known for his work on the highly regarded FX series Shogun, will direct and serve as executive producer on the series alongside Chad Hodge, who will also serve as co-showrunner with Waller-Bridge.

The series was first reported to be in development in January 2023 and was officially greenlit at Prime Video over a year later in May 2024. In November 2024, Turner was first connected to the project, and she was confirmed to star nearly over a year later, just a few months ago.

“I’m so excited to announce the formidable Sophie Turner as our Lara alongside this phenomenal creative team,” Waller-Bridge said at the time. “It’s not very often you get to make a show of this scale with a character you grew up loving. Everyone on board is wildly passionate about Lara and are all as outrageous, brave, and hilarious as she is. Get your artifacts out… Croft is coming…”

In early September, it was reported that the show would begin filming in January 2026, so we don’t have any release information just yet — but for fans of the franchise, it’s worth noting that the final season of the animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will be released on December 11.

Photo by Marc Piasecki/WireImage.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Fallout: New Vegas turned 15 this year, and to celebrate, Bethesda announced a Fallout: New Vegas 15th Anniversary Bundle back in October. For those who simply can't wait to get their hands on a bundle of their own, preorders are now finally live at Amazon (as well as at the Bethesda Gear Store) for $154.99.

Unfortunately, there's still a little ways to wait before fans will be able to boot it up in their PCs, as it's currently set to be released on June 30, 2026. So it'll have to be a slightly delayed anniversary celebration, but a fun one nonetheless.

Preorder the Fallout: New Vegas: 15th Anniversary Bundle

This looks like the ultimate bundle for New Vegas fans to enjoy, too. First and foremost, it comes with a PC digital code for Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, which includes the Dead Money DLC, Honest Hearts DLC, Old World Blues DLC, Lonesome Road DLC, Courier’s Stash Weapon Pack, and Gun Runner’s Arsenal Weapon Pack. What's even better, though, is that it comes packaged in a retro Collector’s Big Box (which can be seen in the photo above) which was exclusively made to celebrate the game's anniversary.

Alongside the PC code and collector's box, it also comes with an 8-inch PVC statue of Victor the Securitron, a set of Doc Mitchell’s evaluation cards, a Vault Boy enamel pin, a Mojave Express patch, and an NCR Recon patch. What better collection to have to celebrate 15 years of this excellent game? Plus, with the Fallout TV show heading to New Vegas for its second season, there's no better time to play it.

Looking for even more Fallout-themed items to pick up, whether for fun or shopping for a fan for the holidays ahead? Check out our guide to the best Fallout gear and collectibles to see some more of our favorite picks, alongside this bundle, that we think are well worth a look right now.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Metroid Prime, up until this week’s Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, at least, is mostly free of spoken dialogue — especially when it comes to its mute protagonist, Samus Aran. But an unused monologue was recorded for the original Metroid Prime, and eventually uncovered by fans, with its performer remaining unknown. Until now.

IGN recently sat down with legendary Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid (among many, many others) voice actress, Jennifer Hale, who provided the voice for Samus — entirely grunts and effort sounds — in the original Metroid Prime trilogy. While we were talking with her (and before it was confirmed she had been replaced for 2025’s Metroid Prime 4) we thought we’d get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding who voiced that once-lost voice-over that was left on the cutting room floor.

That monologue goes as follows, for those who are unfamiliar:

“Ten years ago, below the surface of planet Zebes, the mercenaries known as Space Pirates were defeated by interstellar bounty hunter Samus Aran. Descending to the very core of the Pirate stronghold, Samus exterminated the energy-based parasites called Metroids, and defeated Mother Brain, the leader of the Pirate horde. But the' Space Pirates were far from finished. Several Pirate research vessels were orbiting Zebes while Samus fought on the surface below. After the fall of Mother Brain, the ships escaped, with the hopes of finding enough resources to rebuild their forces, and take their revenge. After discovering a possible Pirate colony on planet Tallon IV, Samus has again prepared for war, hoping to end the Pirate threat forever.”

With Hale being the most famous voice of Samus, you’d perhaps assume she also recorded these introductory lines to the world of Prime. Well, you’d be wrong.

“That's Vanessa. Vanessa Marshall," Hale reveals. It's perhaps not a surprise, as Marshall is already credited with also lending her talents to the voice of Samus in Metroid Prime, notably contributing her death scream to the sound library. Marshall also starred alongside Hale in Marvel’s Midnight Suns, as well as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as Olga, and may be familiar to fans of animated TV as the voice of Hera Syndulla in Star Wars' Rebels and Bad Batch series.

As to why Retro Studios and Nintendo went with Marshall over Hale for this prospective monologue, only to then ditch it anyway, Hale says she's unsure. “I adore Vanessa,” Hale adds. “I love that we actually shared this role. It's so crazy, and I'm not sure why. I never remember saying no to this. I would never have said no to doing this. They may have preferred her work. I have no idea.”

While not getting to record these fully formed sentences, Hale did get the lion's share of the grunt work on Metroid Prime. It sounds an intriguing process, which she went on to explain in more detail:

"I like to have identified a character's way of speaking before I do grunting for them, because how you grunt is different to how I grunt, to how anyone else grunts," Hale explained. "It's very specific. If you are a civilian and you're grunting, you're like... [makes surprised grunt noise] because it's all surprising and it's all new. If you've done it a million times, you're like [makes short grunt noise], because you've gone under fire 1,800 times and you're used to it."

While that once-lost intro narration was never used in the original Metroid Prime, parts of the monologue would later see the light of day, thanks to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Jay Ward, who voiced Star Fox’s Wolf O’Donnell in the Nintendo fighting game series, rerecorded certain lines of it that were laid under the Opening/Menu - Metroid Prime track on the soundtrack.

Who knows where this monologue will turn up next, or why it was never actually used in the final game. At least for now, thanks to Samus herself, part of this mystery has been solved. Would you have liked the intro narration to have been kept? Although I do love the lonely, wordless nature of Metroid Prime, I do like the “Ripley at the end of Alien” feel this gives to the game. Let us know what you think in the comments.

For more on Metroid Prime, make sure to check out our review of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and for more from Jennifer Hale, read all about why she’d love to return to the Mass Effect series as Commander Shepard or “anyone” BioWare want.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

It looks like comedian and action star Tig Notaro has officially decided what project she wants to do next with Batman v. Superman director Zack Snyder — and it’s an action movie where “everyone’s a hot lesbian.”

Notaro recently opened up about how the idea came to pass, and it all started when she digitally replaced comedian Chris D’Elia in Snyder’s 2021 zombie film Army of the Dead. In the movie, she played Marianne Peters, a butch helicopter pilot with a penchant for cigars. Needless to say, the world took notice.

"I go viral for being sexy in this film," Notaro recalled on an episode of the On With Kara Swisher podcast. "And it was so unexpected. My phone's exploding. I'm not walking around going 'Oh my God,' you know, 'Check me out.' I was so confused. So I called Zack, and I said, 'I'm hearing it from straight men, gay men, gay women and straight women that they think I'm hot in this movie.'"

So she took that notion and channeled it into a new idea where “everyone’s a hot lesbian” in a high-octane action movie — and Snyder was into the pitch. "He was like, 'Oh my God, yes, let's make that movie.' And so who knows? It's a Hollywood project. We're in the process of putting the script together,” the comedian continued. “Picture this poster: We have the name of the film, and then it says 'Hot Lesbian Action.' That's how I sold him on the Zoom.

"As of now, the movie is called ‘Deviants,’ and takes place back in some old-timey days, like some closeted deviants,” Notaro added of the film’s working title, and it’ll be interesting to see if it keeps the name should it actually get made (fingers crossed).

Notaro is currently starring in Zootopia 2 and will reprise her role as USS Discovery engineer Jett Reno in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which will premiere on Paramount+ in January. Notaro first played the role on the series Star Trek: Discovery, which ran from 2017 to 2024.

As for Snyder, he is currently filming a drama thriller called The Last Photograph, starring Stuart Martin and Fra Free. He started developing the project in the mid 2000s, and there’s no release date just yet, but it will be interesting to see whenever it drops (both Snyder’s drama thriller and his hot lesbian action movie with Notaro).

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of The Batman 2 alongside director Matt Reeves, has defended actor Paul Dano following high-profile criticism from Quentin Tarantino.

Earlier this week, Quentin Tarantino said There Will Be Blood could have been his favorite film of the 21st century if “weak sauce” actor Paul Dano wasn’t in it.

The Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs writer and director appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast to reveal his 20 favorite films of the 21st century. Tarantino said There Will Be Blood might have been his top pick if it weren’t for Paul Dano, who he described as the film’s “giant flaw.” Dano played identical twins Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 period drama.

Here’s the quote in full, as confirmed by Deadline:

“Daniel Day-Lewis. The old-style craftsmanship quality to the film. It had an old Hollywood craftsmanship without trying to be like that. It was the only film he’s ever done, and I brought it up to him, that doesn’t have a set piece. The fire is the closest to a set piece. This was about dealing with the narrative, dealing with the story, and he did it f***ing amazingly. There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being number one or number two if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano. Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest f***ing actor in SAG [laughs].”

Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote 1991 novel American Psycho, suggested Dano faced an impossible task keeping up with Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning performance. "Daniel Day-Lewis also makes it impossible to make it a two-hander because there are aspects of that performance that are so gargantuan," he said.

Tarantino countered: "So you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?" Later, he clarified his position, insisting: "I'm not saying he's giving a terrible performance. I'm saying he's giving a non-entity performance." But Tarantino’s feelings on Dano are clear: "I don't care for him," he said. "I don't care for him, I don't care for Owen Wilson, and I don't care for Matthew Lillard."

Depending on who you ask, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is either one of the best action movies ever, one of the best movies in any genre, period, or just the best movie of all time, full stop. But regardless of how you rank it, there’s no debate that this film lends itself to games — robots, lasers, explosions, chase sequences, boss fights, and a whole lot of guns — so naturally, it’s gotten its share of adaptations. Some have tried to translate the Terminator franchise’s most explosive moments into an interactive experience, some have woven original lore into the series' tangled rat’s nest of a timeline, and some aren’t actually related to James Cameron’s creation whatsoever, but figured it couldn’t hurt to throw a killer robot or two into the mix.

Alas, there’s never been a definitive T2 video game, but this year, Terminator 2D: No Fate is attempting to change that. Much like an advanced cybernetic organism sent back in time to alter the future, a group of game developers is using cutting-edge technology from the year 2025 to make the Judgment Day game we’ve wanted ever since the movie was released back in 1991. So, come with me if you want to learn… about the best, worst, and weirdest Terminator video games ever made… in this timeline, anyway. But please, remain clothed. This isn’t that kind of time travel.

Terminator 2 Console Games

One of the best things about Terminator 2 is the sheer variety of its action scenes. It’s got multiple chase sequences with cars, bikes, trucks, and a chopper. In between chases, it’s got shootouts that make use of a whole arsenal of distinctive weapons, and it pits a nearly unkillable protagonist against an even less killable villain. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, there’s a nice glimpse of future warfare full of flying laser robots and cyber tanks and chrome-plated skeleton men. Now imagine you’re tasked with combining all those things into an interactive experience that’s as fun to play as it was to watch on the big screen, while also making sure it fits on a floppy disk. Add to it that you’re on a tight deadline to get it shipped while the movie is still fresh in people’s minds. Oh, and one last thing: you haven’t actually seen the movie yourself.

Well, that was the case for several of the Terminator 2 video games that gradually trickled out in the two years following its theatrical release. Before hitting theaters, T2 was a closely guarded secret, so while the developers were allowed to read a draft of the script and see relevant reference materials, they had to fill in a lot of blanks, figuring out how the finished product would look. So while they weren’t quite flying blind, they were definitely gunning it down the freeway full speed with their headlights off, and it shows in those earlier games.

The T2 game that suffered the worst from these circumstances was Ocean Software’s officially licensed cash-grab, released exclusively in PAL territory in time for the film’s European theatrical release. This one is such a bizarre mess that IGN’s sister-site Eurogamer produced a whole video about it, titled “The Terminator 2 Game That’s Very Weird,” and while that’s an apt appraisal of that game in particular, there are quite a few others that fit the same description and were developed under equally challenging conditions.

If you love PvE co-op games but murderous robots are giving you low level PTSD, Cast Outs is here to stir up the genre with a modern take on fantasy. Designed from the ground up for co-op, it takes the usual Dungeons & Dragons tropes of goblins, elves and magic spells, and turns them into a 2-4 player playground to battle in. It's got pedigree too, because while it's the first game from UK studio Twisted Works, that studio is home to veterans who have worked on games like Horizon Forbidden Resident Evil 7, Killzone, and the Total War series.

"Left 4 Dead was one of our early inspirations as one of those games where you had to just realize that you're not going to do this alone," explains James Brace, Twisted Works CEO and the Cast Outs Creative Director.

"There is no single player mode. As a studio, when we approached this game we wanted a very sharp, narrow focus on this genre of co-op combat. As a team, you get to experience a whole bunch of missions and modes, different ways to play. We have runs, not unlike the Left 4 Dead kind of experience, but we also have sandbox areas, we have Horde modes. It balances everything we loved about scripted elements - those cinematic wow moments that we love in games like Left 4 Dead - with these playgrounds that allow a lot more freedom of exploration, and a lot more emergent gameplay."

As one of a team of three refugees from a doomed realm in another dimension, the aim for you and two battle buddies is to fight through a fantastical version of modern day London with a mix of team combos, magical powers and parkour style agility. Talking to the teams there's clearly a lot of thought that's gone into the story - with references to the Dungeons & Dragons movie, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Percy Jackson referenced as team favorites, but the focus is also one letting players create their own weird and wonderful Tiktok share worthy moments.

"We're going to have a lot of visual storytelling, what I call passive storytelling. It's there in the world. You can see it. You can absorb at your pace. It can come through the characters. We can have a lot of lore come through the characters like we've seen in a lot of roster based games, but in terms of your adventure, your run, that's your story. The first kind of thing we wanted to try and do is make sure there's enough dynamics in the experience to create unique stories," says Brace.

In terms of gameplay, Cast Outs is built with short sessions in mind, but adds a progression system to keep you coming back for more. As well as learning your particular preferred combination of magic and run-based, Roguelike lite upgrade systems, there will be cosmetics to show off your Cast Outs skills and tenure, and a charm system.

"While playing, you're collecting ingredients. Those ingredients can be crafted into charms - it's where some of the magic still exists in London from the people who came over - and you can wear these charms and take them into battle," says Brace.

"You're going to have charm slots so you're going to have dilemmas about how many charms you're going to take in. I'll be going, 'Oh what are you carrying in? I'm taking this.' And it's ultimately driving the progression system to get all the charms and to have the most flexibility on play styles. You'll be able to support your team with charms. A lot of our charms aren't individual. They're helping the team more like perks and buffs for the group. I think people are going to like them because it enables you to um, take the classes and turn your tank into a bit more like a support tank or a bit more DPS."

Planned for release on PC, PS5 and Xbox with crossplay, there's no release date yet, but the Twisted Works team is big on playtesting and building its community to help shape the game. Check out the studio's Discord to find out more.

"We're still shocked that through our play testing that players are telling us about and showing us new ways to play with our own magic that we never thought of, which is absolutely fantastic."

Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.

Robert Downey Jr. has discussed his Marvel co-star Gwyneth Paltrow's difficulty keeping track of the MCU's many characters — including a moment when she forgot Peter Parker's real-life identity. (It's Tom Holland.)

Speaking at The Hollywood Reporter's 2025 Women in Entertainment gala, where Downey Jr. presented Paltrow with an award, the Iron Man and Avengers: Doomsday actor said his on-screen partner was "impossibly intelligent, but forever confused by the basic tenets of the Marvel Universe and its inhabitants."

Specifically, Downey Jr. recalled one incident where Paltrow pointed out a particular actor and asked him who it was. "'Who's that?'" Downey Jr. recalled Paltrow questioning, "'He said his name is Peter.' 'No, his character's name is Peter. That's Tom Holland, you did four movies with him.'"

PlayStation will publish a new four-player co-operative shooter directed by former Left 4 Dead designer Mike Booth, which will be the first internally-developed game released by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Games studio.

In a statement today, Sony said it would help produce the mysterious project and launch it for both PlayStation 5 and PC. The game is referred to as still being "unannounced," and no further details were revealed — other than the fact it will be an all-new IP.

"Partnering with Sony Interactive Entertainment allows us to bring our new IP to life, with an expansive vision for this new universe," said Anna Sweet, CEO of Bad Robot Games. "With the support of PlayStation, we hope to deliver a bold, innovative experience that is truly special for players.

"I could not be more excited that Mike Booth is at the creative helm," Sweet continued, "crafting a cooperative adventure that will lead to unforgettable moments with friends."

Bad Robot Games was first announced back in 2018, and was initially backed by investment from Chinese giant Tencent. Details of this project, and Booth's involvement, were first confirmed in 2021 — though little has been heard of the game since.

Confirmation that the game will be a new IP rules out any possibility of it being part of an existing PlayStation franchise — or tied to any of the projects Bad Robot itself is most famous for, such as the TV series Lost, or J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot.

"We're greatly impressed with the talent Bad Robot Games has assembled at their studio, and are thrilled to partner with them to help produce and publish their upcoming game," said PlayStation's Christian Svensson, VP and Head of 2P/3P Content Ventures & Strategic Initiatives.

"Their unique creative voice and passion for innovating across all forms of interactive entertainment perfectly aligns with SIE's mission to craft experiences that resonate deeply with players. We can't wait for gamers to step into the world they've been building."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

In my earlier review of the solidly built DXRacer Martian Gaming Chair, I noted that, despite featuring a few frills – such as an electric adjustable backrest and smart airbag lumbar – it mostly eschewed gimmicks. The DXRacer Martian Pro Gaming Chair, on the other hand, takes all that was good about the standard model but doubles down on the gimmicks by adding seat heating and ventilation, as well as a back massage. Although you'll only pay a few hundred dollars more for these luxuries, you're also strangely limited to a single design option, which may hurt the Martian Pro's appeal as the overall better choice among gaming chairs.

DXRacer Martian Pro – Options and Assembly

While the standard Martian features two upholstery materials and up to six different designs, the Martian Pro is only available in one upholstery material and Red Triangle. While I'm a fan of the overall design language of Red Triangle, which fits well within my red LED-heavy office workspace and PC gaming center, it would have been nice to have a few more options. On the plus side, both the Regular / L, which supports bodies shorter than 5'11" and under 275 lbs, and the Plus / XL, which supports bodies taller than 5'11" and over 275 lbs, are exactly the same price. I fit within the Regular / L range, so that's the version I'm reviewing.

All Martian Pros come with the same standard options. The electrically-powered features include a backrest adjustment between 90° - 135°, smart airbag lumbar support, three levels of seat heating, three levels of seat ventilation, and an eight-point back massage. Other, non-powered features include the usual, like seat height adjustment, a tilt lever and associated tension knob to lock or unlock a 15° seat back rocking mode, and armrests that go up and down 2.87 inches, forward and backward 1.42 inches, rotate 50°, and move left and right up to 0.94 inches.

The Martian Pro arrived in a single large box weighing 78.7 lbs, with the assembled chair itself clocking in at just over 69 lbs of that. You especially feel the weight with the backrest, since that includes the massage components. Some of the metal frame poked through two spots in the box during shipping, but thankfully, the contents were OK.

Opening the box, you're greeted with a combination Parts List, Assembly Drawing, and Quick Installation poster. There's also a QR code that links to the After-Sales Service page. A comprehensive product usage guide and care instructions round out the included paperwork.

The four major assembly steps weren't too difficult with a helper and should be doable alone if you're handy. All you need is the included combination Philips screwdriver and Allen key. All bolts and screws are already on the chair in the correct places and just need to be removed and reattached at the right time.

You basically attach the wheels to the wheel base, the backrest to the seat, connect the battery and cables, and then attach the backrest and seat to the wheel base. I did run into a few minor assembly issues along the way, however. For one, a plastic wall on one of the cable connectors somehow got bent in transit, although it was easy enough to straighten the piece so I could make the necessary wired connection. For another, the left arm was a bit too close to the side compared to the right arm, even though both were set at the factory. Fortunately, loosening the bolts on the left arm was easy, and I was able to slide it into the same approximate position as the other arm. All other fitments were spot-on, and I had no other issues.

The included AC adapter is used to charge the 5000mAh battery that's attached under the rear of the seat. As with the regular Martian, the AC adapter uses a barrel connector rather than something more universal like USB-C, so be sure not to misplace it, particularly since there's no onboard storage area for it. When charging, the AC adapter shows a red light, which turns green once charging is complete.

The Martian Pro uses the same type of removable magnetic headrest as the regular Martian. Just like with that chair's headrest, I had to use tweezers to remove the leftover strings when taking off the obnoxiously large removable tag.

DXRacer Martian Pro – Performance and Comfort

Although not quite as ergonomic or plush, I do get solid Secretlab Titan Evo vibes from the Martian Pro. It's a firm chair, but it does a good job of conforming to my body and encouraging me to sit up properly. The EPU leather (aka, faux leather) material looks premium, is cool to the touch, and easy to clean with a damp microfiber cloth. The magnetic headrest uses a fabric material.

The unpowered rocking mode and seat height adjustment levers feel kind of cheap. I'd love something more substantial that I don't feel like I'm going to break in future Martian revisions. By contrast, the powered adjustments feel good and work well.

On the right side of the chair is a four-position direction pad. Pushing the front and rear (left and right) buttons increases or decreases, respectively, both of the upper and lower lumbar supports. Pushing the top button (up) increases the depth of the upper lumbar support. Pushing the bottom button (down) increases the depth of the lower lumbar support. The ability to independently adjust each lumbar airbag is a nice touch, although it does require some trial and error for best results.

On the left of the chair is a powered backrest adjustment lever. Although you can't see it when sitting, the yellow LED lights behind the logos above the lever and direction pad light up when you tilt the backrest backwards. It's a pretty smooth motion, but it does take about 20 seconds to move all the way in either direction.

Pressing and holding the M button on the direction pad for two seconds turns the 10-minute massage function on or off. When on, pressing the M key again switches the massage modes between different levels of pulse, continuous, wave, normal, auto, or mixed functionality. I would have liked a more intuitive way to switch between the six massage modes, but I'm glad that there's versatility with the settings.

Thanks to a pair of four circular massage zones along the height of the backrest, the massage effect is pretty good. While I don't find it nearly as effective as the dramatic lumbar stretch that the LiberNovo Omni provides, it's still my second-favorite office or gaming chair massage feature to date. Thanks to the orientation of the massage zones, I feel it from my lower back to just below my shoulder blades.

Although not quite as deep or impactful, the massage points pressing against my back remind me of a knuckle massage. It's noticeable enough without getting anywhere near discomfort. The closest analog is probably that of a gentle shiatsu massage.

With all that tech in the backrest, you might think it would be uncomfortable, but DXRacer did a fantastic job with the cushioning. I only ever noticed the massage points when I activated the massage functionality. The backrest itself doesn't track your back as the LiberNovo Omni does, but that's OK, as it still takes a thoughtful ergonomic approach with how the chair wraps around you.

There are two dedicated buttons, one for ventilation (cooling) and one for heat, on the right of the seat cushion. Both ventilation and heating have three levels to choose from, which, unlike the massage modes, are clearly indicated with one to three blue or red lights, respectively. The entire middle area of the seat cushion has both ventilation and heating elements, so coverage is excellent. While you hear the fan with ventilation turned on, the heating element is noiseless. Along with the massage, the ventilation and heating elements are stand-out features that are seamlessly integrated into the chair's design.

The armrests are nicely adjustable with a slight give to the firm cushioning. More importantly, they mostly stay in place once set. And while the wheels aren't single-blade casters, they still roll quite smoothly.

Runtime from the 5000mAh battery varies a lot depending on which features you’re using. It takes about three hours to fully charge from empty, and you can use the chair while it's plugged in. If you use the electric functions sparingly, you can squeeze up to two weeks between charges. Continuous heavy usage, however, might get you only one day, particularly if you use the heating element a lot.

I have occasionally come back to a dead chair after, say, a week of non-use, so I don't think standby time is very good. When the battery has no charge, all electric functions stop working, including the recline and lumbar adjustments. With no way to manually recline the chair, it's important to make sure you keep the AC adapter nearby if you find yourself making regular adjustments.