Steam Kicks Off Exploration Sale

Steam has kicked off its Exploration Sale, discounting a number of popular franchises, several adventure games, and a whole lot more.

In addition the Fallout and Tom Clancy series, the Cid Meier's Civilization and Company of Heroes franchises have all received considerable markdowns as high, as 75 percent off. It's worth noting, however, that Fallout 4 is not among the Bethesda-developed post-apocalyptic RPGs featured in the sale.

Other key discounts include Ori and the Blind Forest, ARK: Survival Evolved, and Darkest Dungeon, all of which are currently 40 percent off. Additionally, a handful of adventure titles including Life is Strange and The Walking Dead are 50 and 75 percent off, respectively.

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Huge Changes for Batman in The Dark Knight III

DC released the first chapter of The Dark Knight III today, and it's clear a lot has changed for Batman and his city since the events of The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

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Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1!

The biggest change in the world of The Dark Knight is that Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman. This issue opens three years after the events of The Dark Knight Strikes Again (which itself took place three years after The Dark Knight Returns) as a mysterious figure steals Batman's costume and resumes his war on crime. When Batman is subdued by Commissioner Yindel and dozens of policemen at the end of the issue, it turns out that the person under the mask is none other than Carrie Kelly. Carrie's journey from teen sidekick to full-fledged heir to Bruce Wayne is now complete.

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Mads Mikkelsen on Joining Star Wars With Rogue One

I spoke to Mads Mikkelsen this week in conjunction with the release of Hannibal: Season 3 on Blu-ray and DVD. I'll have a lot more from that conversation this coming Monday, but when we were wrapping up our chat, I briefly asked Mikkelsen about next year's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and what it's like joining something as huge as the Star Wars universe.

We also touched upon Doctor Strange, which he was just officially confirmed to have a role in, but both projects, of course, are shrouded in secrecy, leading to some amusing comments from Mikkelsen about the consequences for saying too much.

IGN: I know better than to try and get anything out of you plotwise about Rogue One, but the minimal imagery we've seen from Rogue One looks a bit different from what we traditionally think of for Star Wars. Does it seem like they're going in a bit of a different direction, as far as tone?

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Free Lara Croft Go DLC Available Tomorrow

Fans of the mobile puzzler Lara Croft GO can enjoy a free update tomorrow, November 26.

Called The Shard of Life, this free DLC places Lara inside the Cave of Fire as she searches for the eponymous artifact. The update includes 26 new puzzles, new enemies, costumes, and collectibles.

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To celebrate the update, the game is currently available at the lower price of $3 on the App and Google Play stores, and Square Enix plans to launch a Twitch Plays Lara Croft GO campaign for all to enjoy.

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Unlocked: Our Favorite Xbox 360 Memories

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On this week's Xbox show, the Xbox 360's 10th anniversary has us reflecting back on our favorite memories of Microsoft's second console, including the first time we played it, the legendary holiday 2007 season, the faceplates, and much more. Plus: Take-Two confirms more BioShock will be on the way, so we give our picks for who we think should develop it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked

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Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two Artwork Revealed

Ahead of its release next month, Marvel has unveiled the custom artwork featured in its Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection.

The compilation includes Blu-ray and digital copies of Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man.

See Matt Ferguson's artwork for each film's custom disc sleeve in the gallery below.

This 13-disc compilation, which is featured in our movie lover's gift guide, will be available exclusively through Amazon on December 8 and is currently available for pre-order.

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Leo on Becoming an Old School Revenge Machine

I had the privilege last week of seeing an unfinished print of The Revenant, Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu's follow-up to Birdman. Inspired by true events and Michael Punke's novel of the same name, the film chronicles the almost unimaginable ordeal of fur trapper Hugh Glass (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who was mauled by a bear and left for dead by his men in the frozen wilderness of 1823 America ... only to survive and then seek his revenge. Hugh Glass was basically a real-life Chuck Norris joke -- only no one thought it was very funny when he showed up half-dead and looking to kick some serious ass.

While I am not allowed to review the film yet, I can tell you it's one hell of a filmmaking feat by Iñárritu. Shot by Emmanuel Lubezki using only natural light and employing many complicated tracking shots, The Revenant's shoot is already the stuff of legend. It filmed in the remote wilds of Calgary and Argentina (yes, they really went all the way there for snow) to double for the American frontier. You can practically get hypothermia just watching the movie it looks so damn cold and miserable out there. But as grueling as the shoot was, what ends up on the screen works -- beautifully, brutally -- in fully immersing you in another time and place. You are there, fighting to survive against both man and nature.

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King of Fighters 14 Is a PS4 Exclusive

SNK Playmore has announced King of Fighters XIV is a PlayStation 4 exclusive.

The studio revealed King of Fighters XIV the console exclusivity in a statement in which it also announced the game will be playable for the first time at PlayStation Experience 2015.

King of Fighters XIV is the latest in a long-running series where players choose from a robust cast of characters to form a team of three fighters. Many of the characters have been featured in past SNK fighting games, including Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and Ikari Warriors.

King of Fighters XIV was announced at TGS 2015 and the most recent trailer revealed series’ mainstay Andy Bogard, brother of Fatal Fury protagonist Terry Bogard, as a playable character. In addition to Andy Bogard, other confirmed characters include Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Chang Koehan, and Leona Heidern.

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Hearthstone Championship 2016 to Feature $1 Million Prize Pool

Hearthstone's World Championship tour in 2016 is positioning itself to be better than before.

Blizzard announced today the world championship event will feature a $1 million prize pool, up from its previous prize pool of $250,000. This tournament will host the top 16 players from around the world, selected from Ranked Play sessions and onsite and online qualifying tournaments.

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Three season championships and one Last Call championship will be held in several different regions of the world, a total of 9 championships from which the final 16 will be chosen. These season championships in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will sport a $100,000 prize pool for contestants.

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