Yearly Archives: 2020
Carrion Review – My Wayward Son
As you're slinking around air ducts and planning a surprise attack on a helpless scientist, it's difficult not to feel empowered by Carrion's approach to horror. Here you aren't the one slowly peeking around each corner to make sure you're safe--you're the one doing the hunting, leaving a gory trail of devastation as you pick apart an underground laboratory one department at a time. When Carrion gives you the tools to be the best betentacled killing machine you can be, it's a satisfying monster simulator with engaging puzzles and clever combat, but it falters in moments where you don't feel as in control as you should be.
Carrion's star is undoubtedly the gooey red monster you play as. Simply moving around is immensely satisfying. It feels as though you're constantly floating, with extending appendages latching onto surfaces around you to feed into the illusion of chaotic but calculated traversal. By making movement effortless, Carrion lets you appreciate how good it looks in motion, from squeezing your red mass into a narrow air duct to transforming into a school of parasitic worms to swim through grates. There are a handful of instances where your size makes orienting yourself slightly challenging, but they're small teething issues as you learn to navigate around.
When you consume humans, you gain life and grow, while the reverse happens when you take damage. As you progress through each level, you unlock new abilities which are directly tied to your current size. When you're at your largest, you can cause devastating damage by sending a flurry of tentacles forward and viciously pulling anything in their way towards you. At a medium size, you can encase yourself in spikes and roll around a room dealing damage in all directions, while your smallest sizes offer more utility-style abilities like stealth and a handy stun attack. Tying abilities to your size makes combat dynamic, where you're constantly watching the damage you take and adjusting your strategy as you go. It takes a bit to get comfortable with the sudden ability shifts in the heat of the moment, but getting access to movesets that let you dominate or flee a fight when you need them feels great.
Continue Reading at GameSpotNetflix’s The Dragon Prince Renewed for Four More Seasons!
Wonderstorm Is Working on More Than Dragon Prince... Like Video Games!
Wonderstorm, co-founded by Justin Richmond, Aaron Ehasz, and Justin Santistevan, is about so much more than just making The Dragon Prince on Netflix. Before the global pandemic began, IGN was invited on a tour of Wonderstorm's offices in Los Angeles. And to our surprise, we walked into a room full of talented animators, coders, and designers working on new scripted series and even video games! And while we can't reveal any of the details surrounding the titles we saw in production, it was thrilling to witness so many talented people working on a variety of projects in various stages of development. We asked the founders what Wonderstorm would like to be known for as their company continues to grow. "We're trying to be a special place where artists and writers and programmers can be part of visionary teams that are building something they believe in and are proud of," Ehasz told IGN. The founders went on to say that Wonderstorm is striving to be a "double-threat media studio" that's working on shows and video games simultaneously. [caption id="attachment_2384433" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
Netflix’s The Dragon Prince Renewed for Four More Seasons!
Wonderstorm Is Working on More Than Dragon Prince... Like Video Games!
Wonderstorm, co-founded by Justin Richmond, Aaron Ehasz, and Justin Santistevan, is about so much more than just making The Dragon Prince on Netflix. Before the global pandemic began, IGN was invited on a tour of Wonderstorm's offices in Los Angeles. And to our surprise, we walked into a room full of talented animators, coders, and designers working on new scripted series and even video games! And while we can't reveal any of the details surrounding the titles we saw in production, it was thrilling to witness so many talented people working on a variety of projects in various stages of development. We asked the founders what Wonderstorm would like to be known for as their company continues to grow. "We're trying to be a special place where artists and writers and programmers can be part of visionary teams that are building something they believe in and are proud of," Ehasz told IGN. The founders went on to say that Wonderstorm is striving to be a "double-threat media studio" that's working on shows and video games simultaneously. [caption id="attachment_2384433" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
Walking Dead Boss Says World Beyond Spinoff Has ‘Deep Connections’ to Rick Grimes Movie
Extra Walking Dead Episodes Will 'Bridge' Season 10 and Season 11
The reason the six extra 2021 episodes are being labeled as part of Season 10 (creating the longest Walking Dead season ever) is because, from a creative point of view, "there's a prequel quality to the stories," Gimple told us. "They're super cool and they're very focused episodes," he explained. "It's sort of this gathering storm of circumstances that made it feel 'before' Season 11." Instead of drawing from Season 11 material, The Walking Dead team decided to do something wholly different with the six new episodes. "We've been doing some work and there's been some rearrangement of that work," he continued, "but it seemed like sort of a cool way to rocket into some of these stories, to maintain the way we wanted to tell some of these other stories, and to deal with the aftermath of Season 10. It's more connected to Season 10. And Season 11 is just like throwing the throttle open on new stories. These six, in some ways, we've called them 'bridge' episodes. They bridge the two seasons. It's leaving all the threads of Season 10 and moving into Season 11." Of course, Gimple wanted to make sure that these six didn't step on the toes of the actual Season 10 finale, since "A Certain Doom" was crafted to mark the end of a larger story. "The finale is the finale," he said. "These are a prequel to 11."How The Walking Dead: World Beyond Connects to the Rick Grimes Movies
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/25/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-trailer"] We know that The Walking Dead: World Beyond centers on the larger, militarized group known as the CRM that took Rick away in a helicopter back in The Walking Dead's ninth season: the group that uses the Three Rings logo (and which also made an appearance in a Season 5 episode of Fear the Walking Dead). But how connected is World Beyond to the first Rick Grimes movie? Is it meant to air before the movies, acting as a direct lead-in? Gimple says it's not meant to and that, because of coronavirus uncertainty, World Beyond and the Rick movie "can exist on their own schedules." "There's a lot of flexibility there because the stories aren't intimately involved," he shared. "There are aspects and histories that they share but really they're pretty independent of one another." Gimple also stated that World Beyond is "a peek into the mythology that some of the movie revolves around. There are aspects of World Beyond that exist in the same universe as the movie. It's just closer to what Rick's story is. You know, Rick Grimes doesn't walk out from around the corner in [World Beyond] and show up, but you learn a lot more about the world that Rick is potentially dealing with. It has deep connections to the movie." Given that World Beyond is only two seasons, and isn't meant to branch out further than that, and that it's more closely connected to The Walking Dead than Fear the Walking Dead now, was there a temptation for crossovers or more direct connections between the two shows? Gimple said it was actually the opposite. "We want these to be very different from one another," he explained. "We have audiences that have been watching for more than ten years, and after ten years we want to give them something new. Something that feels different. There wasn't that temptation to tie it into The Walking Dead. The two seasons of World Beyond, it's just telling a different story with a different format. In some ways, it's very concentrated. The Walking Dead is always portrayed as the zombie show that doesn't end. Though we've seen with the comics, it does." While the plan is still for there to be three Rick Grimes movies, a trilogy, with the coronavirus affecting production everywhere Gimple admitted that "anything could change. It's hard for me to talk with certainty about gravity right now."Does The Commonwealth Tie Into the Three Rings?
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/24/amcs-the-walking-dead-the-world-beyond-official-panel-comic-con-2020"] The next huge storyline that Walking Dead fans are looking forward to, especially fans of the comic, is The Commonwealth, which will also presumably usher in the return of Lauren Cohan's Maggie. Gimple, however, wanted to make sure that viewers didn't think The Commonwealth, which is a massive community in its own right, was part of World Beyond's Three Rings/CRM group. "I'm gonna say that's separate," he said. "Because people are going to find that out really quick." As for the postponed finale itself, "A Certain Doom," Gimple praised showrunner Angela Kang's work on it, adding that he can't wait for everyone to finally see it. "It's incredibly satisfying," he said. "It's badass and emotional. There's a marrying of scope-y, crazy things that happen but it's also super emotional. Angela put together something that is totally exciting and badass that you can feel in a Michael Bay kind of way but you can also feel it in on a very emotional level."Could the Final Walking Dead Comic Fuel More TV Stories?
A year ago, Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic ended its run with issue #193, titled "The Farmhouse," and within that final story Gimple found a ton of things he'd love to mine for the TV series, "whether it's filling in the stuff in between [because of the time jump] or playing out some of the stuff we saw." For Gimple, the final issue had "so much possibility for story that I, as fan of the comic, want to see come to life." "Hershel [Maggie's son] has become an incredibly fascinating character. To see his life and to see how the other characters in their future versions... you know, in one way it was an ending to the comics but in another it was a beginning he was handing to us. A great story, well-told, but with the opportunity to tell some more. That's what Robert gave us." Over the years, Robert Kirkman inadvertently spoiled Gimple on upcoming events in the comics during meetings, though with the final comic, Kirkman held back a little. "Kirkman told me so much about [the issue] but he didn't tell me it was the ending. And I so appreciate that. And I've been reading since the beginning so it's been a heavy thing. Like, he spoiled Glenn's death and a lot of other things while in the writers' room and even in that final comic the thing he wrote about me was 'Sorry for all the spoilers.' So for him to not spoil that was an incredible gift. Even though he very artfully told a lot of the stuff that was happening in it so he could loop me in, he did not spoil it."Fear the Walking Dead's Possible Time Bending
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-and-worst-walking-dead-time-jumps&captions=true"] For a very brief moment, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead's timelines synced up - just long enough for Morgan to cross over. Then The Walking Dead jumped ahead six years, putting Fear the Walking Dead back in the past again. In fact, now it's the only one out of four properties (if you also count World Beyond and the Rick movie) to take place long ago. Because of this, Gimple said the Fear team's been toying around with the possibility of tinkering with time. "It just allows us, in the next couple years, if we are so lucky to have more seasons, to play with time a little more," he said. "To potentially have jumps ourselves. We're in this very new storytelling format on that show that's very focused on the characters -- on single characters per episode or a couple characters per episode -- and as we jump around between them we've been talking about playing around with time more and more, because we have this big piece of real estate between Fear the Walking Dead and the other shows. It's this cool element. There's also potentially some past stuff, things that would be in the past for the other shows. And there are a couple instances where you might be able to see characters in the future - the future being The Walking Dead timeline. It all just gives us more possibilities and different ways to tell stories." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.Walking Dead Boss Says World Beyond Spinoff Has ‘Deep Connections’ to Rick Grimes Movie
Extra Walking Dead Episodes Will 'Bridge' Season 10 and Season 11
The reason the six extra 2021 episodes are being labeled as part of Season 10 (creating the longest Walking Dead season ever) is because, from a creative point of view, "there's a prequel quality to the stories," Gimple told us. "They're super cool and they're very focused episodes," he explained. "It's sort of this gathering storm of circumstances that made it feel 'before' Season 11." Instead of drawing from Season 11 material, The Walking Dead team decided to do something wholly different with the six new episodes. "We've been doing some work and there's been some rearrangement of that work," he continued, "but it seemed like sort of a cool way to rocket into some of these stories, to maintain the way we wanted to tell some of these other stories, and to deal with the aftermath of Season 10. It's more connected to Season 10. And Season 11 is just like throwing the throttle open on new stories. These six, in some ways, we've called them 'bridge' episodes. They bridge the two seasons. It's leaving all the threads of Season 10 and moving into Season 11." Of course, Gimple wanted to make sure that these six didn't step on the toes of the actual Season 10 finale, since "A Certain Doom" was crafted to mark the end of a larger story. "The finale is the finale," he said. "These are a prequel to 11."How The Walking Dead: World Beyond Connects to the Rick Grimes Movies
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/25/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-trailer"] We know that The Walking Dead: World Beyond centers on the larger, militarized group known as the CRM that took Rick away in a helicopter back in The Walking Dead's ninth season: the group that uses the Three Rings logo (and which also made an appearance in a Season 5 episode of Fear the Walking Dead). But how connected is World Beyond to the first Rick Grimes movie? Is it meant to air before the movies, acting as a direct lead-in? Gimple says it's not meant to and that, because of coronavirus uncertainty, World Beyond and the Rick movie "can exist on their own schedules." "There's a lot of flexibility there because the stories aren't intimately involved," he shared. "There are aspects and histories that they share but really they're pretty independent of one another." Gimple also stated that World Beyond is "a peek into the mythology that some of the movie revolves around. There are aspects of World Beyond that exist in the same universe as the movie. It's just closer to what Rick's story is. You know, Rick Grimes doesn't walk out from around the corner in [World Beyond] and show up, but you learn a lot more about the world that Rick is potentially dealing with. It has deep connections to the movie." Given that World Beyond is only two seasons, and isn't meant to branch out further than that, and that it's more closely connected to The Walking Dead than Fear the Walking Dead now, was there a temptation for crossovers or more direct connections between the two shows? Gimple said it was actually the opposite. "We want these to be very different from one another," he explained. "We have audiences that have been watching for more than ten years, and after ten years we want to give them something new. Something that feels different. There wasn't that temptation to tie it into The Walking Dead. The two seasons of World Beyond, it's just telling a different story with a different format. In some ways, it's very concentrated. The Walking Dead is always portrayed as the zombie show that doesn't end. Though we've seen with the comics, it does." While the plan is still for there to be three Rick Grimes movies, a trilogy, with the coronavirus affecting production everywhere Gimple admitted that "anything could change. It's hard for me to talk with certainty about gravity right now."Does The Commonwealth Tie Into the Three Rings?
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/24/amcs-the-walking-dead-the-world-beyond-official-panel-comic-con-2020"] The next huge storyline that Walking Dead fans are looking forward to, especially fans of the comic, is The Commonwealth, which will also presumably usher in the return of Lauren Cohan's Maggie. Gimple, however, wanted to make sure that viewers didn't think The Commonwealth, which is a massive community in its own right, was part of World Beyond's Three Rings/CRM group. "I'm gonna say that's separate," he said. "Because people are going to find that out really quick." As for the postponed finale itself, "A Certain Doom," Gimple praised showrunner Angela Kang's work on it, adding that he can't wait for everyone to finally see it. "It's incredibly satisfying," he said. "It's badass and emotional. There's a marrying of scope-y, crazy things that happen but it's also super emotional. Angela put together something that is totally exciting and badass that you can feel in a Michael Bay kind of way but you can also feel it in on a very emotional level."Could the Final Walking Dead Comic Fuel More TV Stories?
A year ago, Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comic ended its run with issue #193, titled "The Farmhouse," and within that final story Gimple found a ton of things he'd love to mine for the TV series, "whether it's filling in the stuff in between [because of the time jump] or playing out some of the stuff we saw." For Gimple, the final issue had "so much possibility for story that I, as fan of the comic, want to see come to life." "Hershel [Maggie's son] has become an incredibly fascinating character. To see his life and to see how the other characters in their future versions... you know, in one way it was an ending to the comics but in another it was a beginning he was handing to us. A great story, well-told, but with the opportunity to tell some more. That's what Robert gave us." Over the years, Robert Kirkman inadvertently spoiled Gimple on upcoming events in the comics during meetings, though with the final comic, Kirkman held back a little. "Kirkman told me so much about [the issue] but he didn't tell me it was the ending. And I so appreciate that. And I've been reading since the beginning so it's been a heavy thing. Like, he spoiled Glenn's death and a lot of other things while in the writers' room and even in that final comic the thing he wrote about me was 'Sorry for all the spoilers.' So for him to not spoil that was an incredible gift. Even though he very artfully told a lot of the stuff that was happening in it so he could loop me in, he did not spoil it."Fear the Walking Dead's Possible Time Bending
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-and-worst-walking-dead-time-jumps&captions=true"] For a very brief moment, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead's timelines synced up - just long enough for Morgan to cross over. Then The Walking Dead jumped ahead six years, putting Fear the Walking Dead back in the past again. In fact, now it's the only one out of four properties (if you also count World Beyond and the Rick movie) to take place long ago. Because of this, Gimple said the Fear team's been toying around with the possibility of tinkering with time. "It just allows us, in the next couple years, if we are so lucky to have more seasons, to play with time a little more," he said. "To potentially have jumps ourselves. We're in this very new storytelling format on that show that's very focused on the characters -- on single characters per episode or a couple characters per episode -- and as we jump around between them we've been talking about playing around with time more and more, because we have this big piece of real estate between Fear the Walking Dead and the other shows. It's this cool element. There's also potentially some past stuff, things that would be in the past for the other shows. And there are a couple instances where you might be able to see characters in the future - the future being The Walking Dead timeline. It all just gives us more possibilities and different ways to tell stories." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.Mega Man Live-Action Film Is Still Happening and ‘Big News’ Is Coming Soon
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