8 things to watch out for this week

Overwatch Retribution, Rick and Morty Virtual Rick-ality, Rampage and You Were Never Really Here

1. Overwatch Retribution expands the game's lore with its yearly PvE four-player event – and lots of loot

Overwatch's Retribution mission gives you the chance to revisit some key moments from the game’s history in a 4-player PvE event called Overwatch Archives – similar to last year's Uprising event, which recounted Lena Oxton's first mission. This year it’s all about “the Blackwatch mission that changed everything” and sees Genji, Moira, McCree, and Reaper battling Talon forces in a Venice map. Of course what that really means is the chance to unlock some sweet, sweet loot, with over 60 new items including emotes, outfits, sprays, intro reels and more. Plus, last year’s event is also back, letting you replay Tracer, Reinhardt, Torbjorn and Mercy’s battle through King’s Row and win some of it’s 100 cosmetic extras. So, by this time next week, you’ll have two timed event missions to play and a whole heap of new gear to unlock. Retribution is free to all Overwatch owners, and will appear in the Arcade tab. Leon Hurley

What: Overwatch Retribution
Where: PS4, PC, Xbox One
When: April 10

2. Totaku figurines aren't to be confused with Amiibo, and are no longer limited to PlayStation characters

When they were announced back in January 2018, the PlayStation themed Totaku (pronounced TOE-TAK-OO) figurines raised eyebrows due to their similar packaging and appearance to Nintendo Amiibo. However, unlike Amiibo, the 4 inch / 10 cm high Totaku have no NFC functionality or other connectivity with consoles, and are instead destined purely for display. The originally revealed collection features Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet), the Feisar FX350 Ship (WipEout), Crash Bandicoot, Heihachi Mishima (Tekken), The Hunter (Bloodborne), PaRappa The Rapper, Kratos and Atreus (God of War). It has since been expanded across multiple platforms, to include Sonic The Hedgehog, Jin Kazama (Tekken), Evan (Ni No Kuni 2), and the Gold Hoarder (Sea of Thieves), with even more characters being added in the future. Retailing for $9.99 / £12.99 each, they may not actually interact with your console, but when they look this good does it really matter? I know my personal favourite, Sackboy, will be joining my collection as soon as possible. Iain Wilson

What: Totaku figurines
Where: Online and in stores
When: Now

3. Gamers are flocking to PAX East this weekend, and goddamn those panels are brutally frank

PAX East logo

Everyone’s got an opinion. Especially in games. PAX East is around until April 8, showcasing the best Indie games around, but that’s not all there is to this gargantuan gaming event. Nestled within all the booths and exciting new games being shown off are a series of pretty damn honest panels where gaming industry figures discuss all manner of topics, and a couple even feature 12DOVE’s very own Sam Prell. He’ll be chatting about toxic fandom in the panel Are You A Bad Fan? Fixing Behaviours That Put People Off on Thursday at 4.30pm EST, and on Sunday talking about how to tackle masculinity in games in the panel that’s pretty bluntly titled: How to Make Your Straight White Male Protagonist Not Suck. PAX East doesn’t hold back with its panel topics, and if those aren’t quite your thing you can also go to a session titled BRAAAAAAAINS: Archeology and Philosophy of Zombies in Games, or How to Network When You’re Awkward as H*ck. No, I haven’t made those titles up. That’s how awesome PAX East is. Zoe Delahunty-Light

What: PAX East 2018
Where: Boston, MA
When: April 5 - 8

4. Rampage crashes into cinemas with a 80's video game movie adaptation where respecting the source material isn't the key challenge

Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider… it feels like we can’t move for video game movies right now, and I wish I could say that was a good thing. While the genre is receiving more respect from a production perspective, we still haven’t had a really good video game movie (unless you count films, such as Wreck-It Ralph and Ready Player One, which are more about video games than adapted from a specific title), but that isn’t going to stop The Rock. Nothing stops The Rock... Dwayne Johnson’s new film Rampage hits cinemas this week and it’s adapted from the 80's arcade game of the same name, although there are some notable differences. The movie swaps straight-up monsters for animals mutated against their will and when Primatologist Davis Okoye’s gorilla friend George is transformed into a HUGE white gorilla, he has to protect him - and the rest of the world - from harm. Will it be able to break the video game curse? Doubtful, although early reactions to Rampage are positive. But anything with The Rock in is pretty fun (case and point: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) so why not give it a go? Lauren O’Callaghan

What: Rampage
Where: Cinemas
When: 11 April in the UK and 13 April in the US

5. FINALLY, WrestleMania has come back… to New Orleans – but will wrestlers playing games prove a true gateway drug?

Wrestling is good. That is an unassailable fact up there with water is wet and the Patriots are fans of deflating footballs. WrestleMania, however, is very, very good. Boasting all of the pomp and circumstance we’ve come to expect from WWE’s flagship event, the 34th WrestleMania is sure to be unmissable. But what if you’re late to the party or, god forbid, not a fan of the OTT madness that is wrestling? Fret not, there’s something here for you too. This weekend, wrestler Xavier Woods’ YouTube channel UpUpDownDown is hosting the perfect gateway drug: wrestlers playing video games. All culminating in a WWE Superstar tournament, the smack talk is sure to be feisty, the smackdowns sure to be even feistier. And that’s before they even step into the ring at the Showcase of the Immortals on Sunday. Bradley Russell

What: WrestleMania 34
Where: WWE Network (or New Orleans, if you’re lucky enough)
When: April 8

6. One of this year’s ‘best movie’ frontrunners hits US screens. Prepare for the exquisite bleakness of You Were Never Really Here

Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe, a broken down ex-army vet and FBI agent ravaged by PTSD stretching back to childhood. He currently works freelance, intervening in sex trafficking cases with great efficiency and tremendous violence. He also lives with his ageing mum, and has no structure or ties in his life beyond his job and this one relationship. One day, he gets a commission that will spiral him into an even darker place, as these things inevitably do. But really, it’s not the bullet-points of the plot that matter in You Were Never Really Here. It’s the searing, claustrophobic atmosphere, hot like an infected wound and just as bloody. It’s the fathoms-deep nuance of Phoenix’s performance. The relentlessly detailed portrayal of a man savagely effective at his savage job, and deeply attentive to his familial responsibilities, but barely functional when cast back into the torment of his own human existence. And more than anything, it’s the staggeringly powerful total cinema of Lynne Ramsay’s direction, which innovates around every framing, editing, and audio-design technique available to pack a tight, 90-minute run with enough jaw-breaking profundity to fill out a movie twice as long. It’ll pull you along with blockbuster ease, then leave you battered, bruised, and with a great deal to think about. David Houghton

What: You Were Never Really Here
Where: US cinemas
When: April 6 onwards

7. Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality is a perfect blend of VR and comedy that shows PlayStation VR's potential

It might already be out on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, but Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality is now coming to PSVR and it's the perfect virtual reality experience. Blending the silliness and interactivity of hands-on VR of something like Job Simulator, with the bonkers comedy and characters from the Rick and Morty cartoons, this is a VR experience that'll have you giggling away from start to finish. You play as a Morty clone, and the tasks you'll get set include doing Rick's washing (which is way more fun in VR than it is in real life), creating weird things with Rick's various gadgets, controlling your own Meeseeks - although here they're called YouSeeks, because they're... well... you. It's the perfect way to waste away an afternoon, laughing, messing about and losing yourself in VR. Sam Loveridge

What: Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
When: April 10
Where: PlayStation VR

8. Lost In Space is back! And it feels both faithful to the original and very much its own thing. What is this sci-fi witchcraft?

Unless you’ve been living under a hermit, who lives under another hermit, who lives under a rock, you’ll know that Lost In Space is coming to Netflix on 13 April. Starring Toby Stephens and Molly Parker as John and Maureen Robinson, it focuses on the whole family who have - mysteriously - become stranded on an alien planet, light-years from earth. Why are they there? Why did they crash-land? Why is everyone so tense? All these questions and more are answered throughout this first season of the rebooted show. At its core, this is a family drama that just happens to be set in space - much like the original - but the Robinsons themselves feel more modern, with all the pressures of real family life coming to bear. Only on a hostile planet. Oh, and there’s an alien robot hanging out with them, which is kinda useful, but could just kill the whole group in a matter of seconds. While it isn’t the darkest sci-fi you’ll see in 2018, it’s a great show about modern life with plenty of thrills and some dazzling visual effects thrown in for good measure. It’s far from the idealised show of the ‘60s, but it retains the same values, making it well worthy of a quick binge once it releases on April 13. If the rest of the season carries the potential of the first couple of episodes, which I’ve seen, it could be one of the best shows on Netflix this spring. Andy Hartup

What: Lost In Space season 1
Where: Netflix worldwide
When: April 13

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