Science-Fiction Weekly – Pacific Rim, Godzilla Vs. Kong, The Assembly, Dreadnought

A VR experience that launched last summer is now headset free and currently available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. I'm talking about nDreams' The Assembly, a first-person search for answers seen through the eyes of two different characters on diverging paths through a secret science lab. The organization they are investigating is called the Assembly, and their experiments may have gone too far. The gameplay is slow, leaning heavily on drawer opening and computer searching for files and information, but the narrative rolls along nicely, and develops  in interesting ways as more of the lab is exposed. The game also throws simplistic grid-based puzzles at the player, which don't gel well with the setting and are disruptive to the narrative flow, but are relatively enjoyable challenges.

Don't expect The Assembly to blow your socks off, but I'm a big fan of stories that dive into experiments gone awry, and I had a good time seeing this mystery unfold. The weird thing: this version doesn't fully abandon its VR roots, meaning you can still warp through the environment as a means of movement if you want. If you have PlayStation VR, you can experience the PlayStation 4 version both ways.

From the onslaught of emails you delivered for Yager's upcoming multiplayer title Dreadnought, I lined up another exclusive first look at a ship. Today we are looking at a Hero Ship named The Tonder. Here's Yager's breakdown the vessels lore, vitals, and functionality:

The Tonder

Manufacturer: Jupiter Arms
Class: Light Tactical Cruiser
Tier: IV
Length: 251m
Mass: 111,000t
Crew: 215
Shield Type: Damage Reduction

Info:
The Tonder was the flagship of PCF Captain Keiko Lee and a capital ship in the renowned raid on the Transhuman Battleship Hangars on the Martian Trojans, a turning point in the Great Solar War. It is speculated that the battleships equipped with prototype wormhole warp drive modules were not destroyed during the raid as per Captain Lee's orders, but instead were looted and sold to the highest bidder on the black market.
 
Gameplay:
Different to most other Tactical Cruisers, the Tonder is geared towards aggressive frontline combat. It is able to support itself with surge drones and dish out a surprising amount of damage to nearby enemy ships. Using the blast pulse combined with the Overclock Module can make the space around the Tonder a very unfriendly zone for any hostile that dares getting close to the Tonder.

Weapons & Modules
Primary Weapon: Heavy Beam Turrets
The JA-N120-Blight can deal significant damage to enemies at long ranges, but cannot be used for repairs. The Blight was a result of Jupiter Arms’ failed attempt to develop their own nano-repair technology. Instead, they engineered the first beam weapon on the market.

Secondary Weapon: Tesla Turrets
All that we know about this unreleased weapon comes from scraps of megacorp marketing literature: "The Vajra-TT400 turret deals high damage against targets at extremely close ranges."

Primary Module: Surge Drones
A module that deploys a drone which replenishes the energy of the launching ship and its nearby allies.Adapted from Oberon’s REV-2 Repair Beam, the REV-9C Surge Drones are designed to follow the vessel that launches them, while also regenerating its energy.

Secondary Module: Wasp Missiles
(classified)

Perimeter Module: Blast Pulse
The module fires an explosive pulse that deals massive damage to ships within its radius. This design variant is completely overclocked and sacrifices safety for power—part of the pulse will get absorbed by and affect the vessel that deploys it. Given the amount of damage the Blast Pulse can do to surrounding ships, many captains believe that using this module is a risk worth taking.

Internal Module: Overclock Module
This module drastically reduces module cooldowns. A modification of the Overclock Pulse Generator, it affects only the ship it is equipped on. The unorthodox use of ultra-ferrafluid pushes the Overclock Module beyond the performance of the  previous model. The significant reduction of module cooldown time not only allows captains to use modules more frequently, but also creates many strategic possibilities for the versatile Tactical Cruiser class of ships.

Now we just need Yager to deliver a release date. Dreadnought can't come soon enough, although Overwatch's seasonal events continue to steal away my nights (and a new one is upon us today).

Neither G.I. Joe live-action film was particularly good, but they did deliver on over-the-top action. Will we see a third entry? Paramount wants to make one, but the date keeps getting pushed back. The ideas are also changing. One of the wildest ones comes from director D.J. Caruso, telling Collider that the next film was almost a crossover between the G.I. Joe and Transformers. “They’re not ready to do [G.I. Joe meets Transformers] yet," he said. "That’s exactly what they should do, but they’re not ready to do that because the script I was developing, the two worlds sort of collided at the end, and when they read it, they were like, ‘We’re not ready to do this yet.’ They will eventually collide – those two worlds – and it’s probably when [Michael] Bay decides he’s done with Transformers.”

This crossover battle has already happened in comic books numerous times, and is one of the most exciting developments I've heard for both both film franchises. Perhaps the most exciting part of it is hearing someone say "Bay" and "done" in the same statement, but I do like the idea of the Decepticons teaming up with C.O.B.R.A.

One crossover that received the green light and an official name is Godzilla vs. Kong, and it's coming sooner than you would think, currently slated for a May 29, 2020 release. This showdown comes on the heels of two standalone films: Kong: Skull Island, hitting cinemas on March 10, 2017, and Godzilla: King of Monsters on March 22, 2019. Don't stop, Warner Bros. Monster movies are always welcome, you just need decent scripts to make them fun.

John Boyega hasn't held back from talking about his involvement in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim: Uprising, and shared a photo on Instagram that shows the potential return of the Jaeger Gipsy Danger. I didn't expect to see any Jaeger return, but ask yourselves this: Why would this powerful weapon be decommissioned after winning a war? The return makes sense, even if the pilots are different. Pacific Rim: Uprising opens in theaters on February 23, 2018.

That's it for this week, folks. As always, all feedback is welcome, so please share your insight in the comments section below.