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Aquaman may have been the unlikeliest member of the Justice League to get his own standalone film before Batman, but the King of Atlantis comes in swinging. While the DC cinematic universe has gained a reputation for being dour and over-serious, Aquaman appears bright, colorful, and boisterous. The critical consensus agrees that while it has some notable issues with plotting and tone, the overall package is satisfyingly wacky.

“There are living, breathing dinosaurs in Aquaman, and they’re maybe the 15th or 20th craziest thing in the movie,” wrote critic Michael Rougeau in GameSpot’s Aquaman review. “It’s not that the plot doesn’t make sense, or that it’s hard to follow. Aquaman is creatively bonkers–the insanity in the movie is a choice that was made, over and over, in every aspect of the film’s creation.”

Read below for a sampling of reviews from around the industry, or check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for more. Aquaman releases in theaters on December 21.

GameSpot — no score

“Much of Aquaman–more than your average superhero movie, it seems–was taken straight off the pages of comic books, for better or worse. But Aquaman isn’t simply a bunch of remixed comics elements thrown together. It’s a movie with its own over the top, tongue in cheek, inconsistent, massive, irreverent, CGI-soaked tone, aesthetic, and world. And somehow, it works well enough that you’ll be calling Arthur king by the end.” — Michael Rougeau [Full review]

CNET — no score

“Still, this is unexpectedly giddy, fishy fun. Aquaman arrives in theaters alongside Bumblebee and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, making this a good month for charming and compelling family blockbusters. Come on in, the water’s fine.” — Richard Trenholm [Full review]

ET Online — no score

“Then there’s an octopus playing the drums, and somehow that works. Because, at the end of the day, it is a fun movie, full of neon colors and plenty of bubbles and told on an ambitiously large scale. Wan’s creativity in building this world is unending, and it is a blast seeing each new setup brought to life 20,000 leagues under the sea: Mer-people and fish monsters and Stormtrooperesque humanoids, spinning through seascapes that look like gloriously immersive screensavers. More of this!” — John Boone [Full review]

Los Angeles Times — no score

“When you throw in some emotional surprises, that’s a lot of boat for one movie to float, but float is what Aquaman manages to do. Could that be a sequel hovering on the horizon? I wouldn’t be at all surprised.” — Kenneth Turan [Full review]

AV Club — no score

“The problem is that, for all of their cycloid-scale costumes, nacreous architecture, and giant cargo turtles, the Atlanteans aren’t any fun. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a high-tech pirate with a grudge against Aquaman and a bug-eyed helmet that shoots plasma beams, makes the bigger impression as an underutilized secondary villain. (He’s Aquaman’s best-known nemesis in the comics.) Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, the most successful of the DC films, had its own problems with dull baddies and stiff, contraction-less exposition delivered by actors in armor. Aquaman needs its smirking, beer-loving, roadie-looking, Chippendale-chested hero–not to save the day, but to remind us that this is stuff is about as goofy as it gets.” — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky [Full review]

US Magazine — 2 Stars (Out Of 4)

“The best I can say about Aquaman–and this is a big compliment–is that it’s first live-action D.C. Comics movie in which a superhero actually appears to be having fun. Batman, Superman, the Suicide Squad, even our beloved Wonder Woman tend to behave as if they just lost their 401(k) savings during the apocalypse. Momoa’s Aquaman is loose and laid-back and good times. Excited audiences all over the world are already hooked by this elusive attribute. I’d rather throw it back in the ocean.” — Mara Reinstein [Full review]

Complex — 2.5 Stars (Out Of 4)

“What I liked most about this movie was its sense of adventure, a genre that’s generally underserved as a subset of superhero and just across film in general. The bulk of this film concerns a capital-q Quest, and when you have an actor as charismatic as Jason (and as game as Amber) on a Quest, then fun is a given. Once Aqua put on his best Club Monaco jet-setting fit, the film really let’s go and somehow the same journey takes him through the Sahara, Italy, on a boat fighting Power Rangers demons and finally, a Crash Bandicoot level. It’s ridiculous, but they sell it, and it’s undeniable if you don’t think hard.” — Khal Davenport [Full review]

The PC game storefront Green Man Gaming is running a fun promotion that gets you five PC games for $5. The best part is that you can select any five games you want from a selection of over 30 titles. The bad news is that some of the games have already gone out of stock. That means you’d better hurry and assemble your mix-and-match bundle if you want to choose from the cream of the crop.

Some great games are available to choose from. Rage, which normally sells for $10 on GMG, is among the options. It’s a particularly fine choice, seeing as its fast-paced, colorful, violent sequel is launching early next year. Another smart pick is Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, a Left 4 Dead-style multiplayer game that typically retails for $30.

Adrift strands you in the cold zero-G environment of outer space. Magicka puts you in control of a wizard with a range of mystical powers looking to stop an evil sorcerer bent on destroying the world. Then there’s Next Up Hero, a colorful dungeon crawler made in the style of the arcade classic Gauntlet. You can find the full list of games available below.

You’ll want to hurry, because the games that are already out of stock include Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition, This War of Mine, Crusader Kings 2, and Killing Floor: Complete Pack. If you don’t want to miss your chance to get any other games for almost dirt cheap, hit the Mix and Match page and pick your five soon.

• Adrift
• Ballistic Overkill
• Beat Cop
• Beyond Eyes
• The Black Death
• Dead Age
• Farenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
• Fear 3
• Frozen Synapse Prime
• Inner Space
• Insurgency
• Magicka
• Mount & Blade
• Mount & Blade: Warband
• Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sord
• Next Up Hero
• Peregrin
• Quarantine
• Rage
• Stable Orbit
• Toybox Turbos
• War Tech Fighters
• Warhammer Vermintide: End Times

Venom arrived digitally on December 11 and is coming to 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 18, and most fans want to know just what special features the home release will include. Is there anything special to get excited for? Well, if you enjoyed seeing Cletus Kasady–the serial killer who eventually bonds with the Carnage symbiote–there’s a much longer cut of that scene.

In the theatrical version of the mid-credit sequence, Eddie Brock (with Venom) heads to San Quentin prison to interview a serial killer, which ends up being Cletus Kasady–played by Woody Harrelson. The whole sequence lasts about 30 seconds before Kasady says, “There’s going to be Carnage.” Get it? He eventually becomes Carnage.

However, on the home release of Venom, there is an extended version of this scene, coming in at three minutes. In this version–much like the original–Brock heads to the prison to interview Kasady. However, this time around, Kasady gets a bit of a monologue. He talks about being a serial killer and delivers some weird dialogue, including this line: “Talk about sucking out their eyeballs. Crunchy on the outside. Gooey on the inside.” Sure. Strangely enough, it actually does a bit to flesh out Harrelson’s portrayal of the character, even though it’s a over-the-top and the dialogue is a bit cheesy. It closes with the same tag as the theatrical cut.

After watching it, you’ll completely understand why the scene was cut down. It’s just a bit too long for a mid-credit sequence, and leaves the viewers with too much new information before the credits finish rolling. Regardless, it’s a nice little addition to the overall special features for fans who are planning on buying the movie.

Venom is available now through digital retailers and will be getting a physical release on December 18, check out our pre-order guide for all the info about the home release, including the special features.

Rainbow Six Siege‘s Operation Wind Bastion update recently arrived on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, marking the end of the game’s third year. Ubisoft still has a lot more content in store for the shooter in 2019, however, including another batch of Operators. With the new season just around the corner, the publisher has already begun offering the Year 4 pass for Siege, and it grants holders some good benefits.

The Year 4 pass is available for purchase on all platforms. Much like previous Siege passes, it costs $30 and entitles players to a number of perks. Chief among them, those who purchase the Year 4 pass will receive seven-day early access to all eight of the new Operators being introduced to Siege in Year 4, and you won’t have to grind for in-game currency in order to unlock them, as you would if you don’t own the pass.

On top of that, Year 4 pass holders will get a handful of exclusive items, including eight uniforms and headgear, as well as the Lava 6 Charm. Owners will also receive 600 bonus R6 credits, along with a few other benefits through January 31, 2020, such as 5% Renown boost and a 10% discount in Siege’s in-game shop.

As an added bonus, everyone who picks the pass up before March 4, 2019 will get the Volcano Signature weapon skin. Those who own the Year 3 Pass will also receive an additional 600 RS credits when they pick up Year 4’s. You can read more about the season pass on the official Rainbow Six Siege website.

Ubisoft has yet to announce the new Operators coming to Rainbow Six Siege in Year 4, but the recent Operation Wind Bastion update introduced Nomad and Kaid. The former is an Attacker whose primary weapons come with a device that launches wind-powered proximity mines, while the latter is a Defender who’s equipped with deployable electroclaws. Operation Wind Bastion also introduced a new map named Fortress.

Sony has kicked off a truly massive multi-week-long Holiday Sale on PSN. Week 1 is now live, offering discounts on over 1,200 digital games, bundles, and add-ons for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. Some of the deals will last until January 15, while others are set to end on December 18. And if you’re a PS Plus member, you get an extra discount on many of the games. Here are some of the best deals available right now.

Hitman 2 just launched last month, but it’s already on sale for half price, bringing it down to $30–how about that? It’s a fine game, too, receiving 8/10 in GameSpot’s Hitman 2 review. Another of the year’s biggest games, Monster Hunter World, is discounted to $25, while one of last year’s PS4 exclusives, Gravity Rush 2, is on sale for $12. And if you missed out on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, you can grab it now for just $8.

You can get a number of hits from earlier in the PS4’s life cycle for almost nothing during the sale as well. From Software’s gothic masterpiece Bloodborne is down to $7, while another dark, brooding game, Inside, is on sale for $6. And while we’re on the subject of darkness, you can pick up the “rhythm-violence” game Thumper for $6 as well (it’s great in PSVR).

If a kill-crazy animatronic bear sounds like a fun character to spend time with, pick up Danganronpa 1-2 Reload for $20 and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony for $36. For anyone with fond memories of the mascot platformers of yore, you can pick up Jak and Daxter: The Precursor’s Legacy for $6 or the Spyro + Crash Remastered Game Bundle for $49.50.

You’ll find more of our Holiday Sale picks below, or you can head to the PlayStation Store to see the full, massive list.

• Batman: Return to Arkham — $8
• Battle Chef Brigade: Deluxe — $12
• Bloodborne — $7
• Bravo Team (PSVR required) — $24
• Burnout Paradise Remastered — $6
• Danganronpa 1-2 Reload — $20
• Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony — $36
• Everybody’s Golf — $14
• Grand Theft Auto V — $15
• Gravity Rush Remastered — $9
• Gravity Rush 2 — $12
• Headlander — $8
• Hitman 2 — $30
• Horizon Chase Turbo — $13
• Inside — $6
• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor’s Legacy — $6
• Jurassic World Evolution — $30
• Knack 2 — $10
• The Last Guardian — $11
• Lego The Incredibles — $30
• Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Combo Pack — $15
• Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 — $30
• Minit — $6.70
• Monster Hunter World — $25
• Mortal Kombat XL — $5
• The Mummy Demastered — $13
• The Order 1886 — $3
• Owlboy — $12.50
• Shantae: Half-Genie Hero — $10
• Spyro + Crash Remastered Game Bundle — $49.50
• Thief — $3
• Thumper — $6
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy — $8
• Wipeout Omega Collection — $6

Things haven’t been going great for Bungie and Destiny 2 lately. First, the developer launched The Black Armory, its latest expansion, to much derision when players discovered the new content came in at a pretty high level, forcing them to grind through old content to become strong enough to try the new stuff. Then today, with the launch of its holiday-themed event, The Dawning, and the new items that go with it, Destiny 2 pretty much broke entirely as the game was swamped with connectivity errors.

As of this writing, Bungie has tweeted that it is working on the problem as relates to players receiving error codes WEASEL, CENTIPEDE, GUITAR and CHICKEN (although only Bungie actually knows what those mean). Bungie also wrote that it hopes to have the issue fixed by noon PST.

The errors mostly seem driven by connection drops with the Bungie servers. They’re making it impossible to load into areas of the game. Those who do manage to get on a planet or into the Tower are finding they’re constantly kicked out of the instance by short connection drops, only to be reloaded back at the area’s start. It’s all more or less rendering Destiny 2 unplayable right now.

That’s a bummer, because the Dawning has some interesting new stuff to do. First and foremost is a big holiday-themed activity that’s about baking cookies for Destiny 2’s various characters, using ingredients gathered from the game world. There are new cosmetic items to earn through playing in the Dawning, which runs through the end of December, and the event marks the return of the Mayhem Crucible playlist, something we haven’t seen in the game since Destiny 1.

There’s also the Black Armory expansion, which has added some new activities and loot for players to chase. In response to criticism, Bungie lowered the level requirements for those activities to make them a bit more accessible to players, but you’ll still need to do some grinding to get strong enough to take on the Black Armory’s forges. The good news is that the guns they produce are generally pretty slick.

We’ll keep you posted as new information about fixes for Destiny 2 becomes available.