In 2018, THQ Nordic acquired a spate of IPs and studios, to the point that it almost became a meme. It seems like they have no intention of letting up any time soon in 2019 either, because they just announced that they have acquired the rights to the Outcast IP. The IP was, most recently, in the control of its original creators, who had put out the game Outcast: Second Contact, a remake of the original game for modern consoles and PC.

It remains to be seen how THQ Nordic utilizes the once pioneering open world IP (or if it even utilizes it—the publisher has previously stated it doesn’t intend to use every single one of the 100+ IPs that it currently owns). While the series has its fans, I don’t know if there are enough of those, or if it is even unique and appealing enough in and of itself now, to be a worthwhile proposition, financially speaking, in today’s market.

But that’s all me speculating. Hopefully THQ Nordic does something worthwhile with it.

One of the most pleasant surprises at E3 this year was the news that Ubisoft’s previously announced toys to life space faring adventure Starlink: Battle for Atlas would feature Fox McCloud from Nintendo’s iconic and eponymous space combat franchise. Of course, given that Nintendo and Ubisoft have already previously collaborated before- such as on last year’s excellent Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle– this shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise.

But it was. How did it even happen? Ubisoft Toronto’s Laurent Malville discussed how the partnership with Nintendo on this ended up coming about. ” It actually all started at E3 last year,” Malville said. “It was a really exciting time for us, we were so thrilled to show off the game and what we’re trying to do with Starlink. We just had one private room to demo the game, and a few representatives from Nintendo came by. It was a real show highlight to show them the game, and they seemed to really like it. Then Nintendo came back again, with a different group of people to play the game. I remember one of them asking me, “Is it OK if I come back with a group of higher executives?” and I just said, “Yes! Yes, absolutely.”

“So they came a third and fourth time to check out the demo, to the point where we were finally showing it off to the President of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé. I’ll never forget when he grabbed the controller and said, “This is a neat concept you have here.” It felt like something was happening, but we weren’t exactly sure what.

“Fast forward, and we were invited to go to Nintendo HQ in Japan to present the game to Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto and the entire original Star Fox team. We travelled to Japan and presented the game, and it was an unbelievable moment – it was incredibly humbling. Not only did we present the game, but we pitched what we thought we could do with a Star Fox integration in Starlink. We told them that Fox could be fully integrated into the game and have his own special abilities and his own skill tree, like any of the other pilots. We also pitched the Arwing as a modular ship, just like all the other Starlink ships. We had 3D printed the Arwing that we gave to Mr. Miyamoto, and when we gave it to him he immediately started playing with it, removing a wing and placing the wing of another ship on it. It was something that had never been done before with such an iconic ship, so we were a bit nervous about the reaction. But he told us that it was a great thing for players to be able to do

“After the presentation and conversation, we returned to Toronto to await word from Nintendo on the partnership. Obviously, they thought it was a good fit, and once we received the greenlight, we started integrating Fox McCloud into Starlink: Battle for Atlas.”

It’s good to see that Nintendo is getting more and more amenable to letting other companies use its IP- not only does that give its IP more exposure (not that they needed it, but still), but also, it improves their relationships with third party developers and publishers, which is something Nintendo really could stand to do. Starlink: Battle for Atlas will release on October 16 2018 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Sony decided to kick things off with a bang, with the first game that they showed off being none other than The Last of Us Part 2, the upcoming, hugely anticipated sequel to Naughty Dog’s seminal The Last of Us, often considered to be one of the greatest games ever made.

The gameplay looks pretty and gorgeous! It’s downright stunning. The gameplay itself seems to be an evolution of the same kind of third person stealth action as the original (although this time you play as Ellie), with a minimalist HUD. Surprisingly enough, there seemed to be no sign of Joel, while enemy AI was hugely improved (unless this was just a really scripted sequence, which it didn’t seem to be).

Crafting seems to be back, and it seems to be far quicker and less clunkier than the original game. I have to admit as well, not having an AI partner that the enemy is impervious to is really doing wonders for the mood.

It’s Wednesday, which, yep, means that the Media Create charts for video game hardware and software sales for Japan are now out. As the headline may have tipped you off, the Nintendo Switch topped charts again, with 36,600 units sold. Interestingly enough, it managed this in spite of the top four software slots being taken up by new PlayStation releases- Dark Souls Remastered, Detroit: Become Human, and PS4 and PS Vita versions of Persona 3+5: Dancing respectively.

In spite of that whammy of new releases, PS4 sales came in at a weak 17,400 units sold- at this point, it seems to be clear that nothing will cause the Japanese market to actually buy the PS4. Final Fantasy could not do it. Dragon Quest could not do it. Persona could not do it. Resident Evil could not do it. Metal Gear could not do it. Monster Hunter could not do it.

Elsewhere in software, Nintendo evergreens like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Kirby: Star Allies, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild all did exceptionally well (and continue to chart), with the latter now one week away from hitting 1 million units sold- when it does that, it will become the first singular Zelda SKU to hit the mark in Japan since Ocarina of Time.

I can’t wait.

Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones, their shared world action adventure game following the nautical adventures of pirates, will now be releasing in April 2019 or later, the company confirmed today in its financial briefing. The title was originally announced at E3 last year (fulfilling fan requests for a brand new Ubisoft game focused only on the sailing parts from Assassin’s Creed III and IV, which were held to be their best parts), and due to launch in Q4 this year.

Ubisoft also originally apparently expected the game to sell 4 million units- which, as far as Ubisoft games go, would actually make it one of their lowest performers. Presumably, they are going to be expanding on it, and their expectations for it will go up correspondingly. It is possible that the negative reception to Microsoft and Rare’s similar pirate themed shared world action adventure game Sea of Thieves has made them rethink things, and go back to the drawing board.

Skull and Bones is set to launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC some time next year.

Telltale’s Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 4 – What Ails You is the fourth episode in the second season of their Batman series, which continues the more psychologically driven story of Bruce Wayne and Batman that Telltale have been presenting to us.

This newest episode sees Batman and Bruce Wayne having to take on an alliance of some of his most fearsome enemies, such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, and Mister Freeze, called The Pact. Simultaneously, he also has to contend with the shadowy operative Amanda Waller, whose motives seem to be vague and may not necessarily be benevolent.

As always, the story is the star here- there’s not much in the way of gameplay. But maybe you want to see how things would have played out if you had made a different choice- or maybe you just want to see how the story plays out. Either way, you need a walkthrough, and we are here to oblige. Goes without saying, but spoilers.

But it’s the amount of content in the game that truly stands out- it can honestly be a bit frightening to contemplate it all. In this guide we help you through everything the game has to offer- collectibles, Gwenpool Pink Brick locations, cheat codes, and some Achievements/Trophies. Let’s get down to business.

COLLECTIBLES

LEGO games are, at their core, 3D platforming action collectathon games, and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is no different in that regard. In fact, it almost goes overboard with the sheer amount of collectibles you can hunt for and get in its various hubs, levels, and worlds. Thankfully, we’re here to help you out with keeping a track of all of them.

Wakanda:

00:05 to 02:50 – Gold Brick #1
02:55 to 03:19 – Gold Brick #2
03:44 to 04:18 – Gold Brick #3 – Stan Lee in Peril
04:35 to 06:05 – Gold Brick #4
06:12 to 07:33 – Gold Brick #5
07:42 to 14:17 – Quest #1 – Shuri Unlocked
14:31 to 17:29 – Quest #2 – Blade Unlocked
17:45 to 18:00 – Gold Brick Monument
18:06 to 21:07 – Gold Brick #6
21:14 to 22:20 – Gold Brick #7
22:30 to 27:13 – Quest #3 – Arnim Zola Unlocked
27:28 to 29:17 – Gold Brick #8
29:26 to 32:24 – Gold Brick #9
32:37 to 38:38 – Quest #4 – America Chavez Unlocked
38:56 to 44:16 – Wakanda Area Boss Fight – Killmonger Unlocked

Lemuria

00:03 to 00:35 – Gold Brick #1
00:42 to 02:45 – Gold Brick #2
03:06 to 04:11 – Gold Brick #3 – Stan Lee in Peril
04:18 to 05:16 – Gold Brick #4
05:20 to 06:23 – Race #1 – Hulkling Unlocked – *This race unlocks after completing the Wiccan/Hulkling Quest in Manhattan Noir*
06:45 to 09:52 – Gold Brick #5 – Minigame
10:24 to 11:40 – Gold Brick #6
11:50 – Gold Brick Monument
12:13 to 14:52 – Gold Brick #7
15:06 to 16:59 – Gold Brick #8
17:06 to 18:43 – Gold Brick #9

Manhattan

00:07 to 00:56 – Gold Brick #1 – Stan Lee in Peril #1
01:08 – Gold Brick Monument
01:33 to 05:33 – Quest #1 – Aunt May Unlocked
05:13 to 06:18 – Gold Brick #2
06:44 to 09:37 – Gold Brick #3
09:45 to 11:22 – Gold Brick #4
11:37 to 13:07 – Race #1 – Vision Unlocked
13:23 to 14:53 – Gold Brick #5 (Liberty Island)
15:02 to 16:27 – Gold Brick #6
16:37 to 18:12 – Gold Brick #7
18:22 to 21:18 – Gold Brick #8
21:29 to 22:50 – Gold Brick #9 – Stan Lee in Peril #2
23:05 to 28:40 – Quest #2 – Squirrel Girl Unlocked
28:51 to 34:18 – Quest #3 – Chipmunk Hunk Unlocked
34:48 to 37:20 – Quest #4 – Howard the Duck Unlocked
37:37 to 42:47 – Quest #5 – Forbush Man Unlocked
43:04 to 45:48 – Quest #6 – Wonder Man Unlocked – *Note: This quest only appears in Manhattan after you complete the A-Bomb Quest in Hala*
46:04 to 48:04 – Race #2 – Winter Soldier Unlocked
48:13 to 50:42 – Race #3 – Songbird Unlocked
50:58 to 1:00:06 – Quest #7 – Ursa Major Unlocked
1:00:20 to 1:04:27 – Antifreezer Challenge Completed – Hydra Interceptor Unlocked
1:04:36 to 1:07:27 – Helicarrier Clean-up Challenge Completed – Starblaster Spaceship Unlocked
1:07:35 to 1:12:24 – Nick Fury Unlocked (Note: You must complete the Helicarrier Clean-up challenge before this quest unlocks)
1:12:35 to 1:16:12 – Manhattan Area Boss Fight – Super-Adaptoid Unlocked

Egypt

00:05 to 00:26 – Egypt Monument
00:31 to 02:49 – Gold Brick #1
02:59 to 08:05 – Quest #1 – Living Mummy Unlocked
08:23 to 09:12 – Gold Brick #2 – Stan Lee in Peril Location
09:18 to 10:52 – Gold Brick #3
11:03 to 14:19 – Quest #2 – Sandman Unlocked
14:30 to 16:23 – Race #1 – Rhino Unlocked
16:35 to 18:10 – Gold Brick #4
18:24 to 20:00 – Gold Brick #5 – Minigame
20:15 to – Quest #3 – Aracnido Jr. Unlocked
24:15 to 29:32 – Gold Brick #6
29:42 to 32:10 – Gold Brick #7
32:32 to 35:10 – Gold Brick #8
35:22 to – Race #2 – Red Guardian Unlocked – *This race only appears after completing the Ursa Major Quest in Manhattan*

Nueva York

00:04 to 02:05 – Gold Brick #1
02:14 to 03:47 – Gold Brick #2
03:55 to 06:03 – Quest #1 – Agent Coulson Unlocked
06:12 to 10:15 – Quest #2 – Quake Unlocked
10:53 to 12:15 – Race #1 – Vormund Unlocked
12:24 to 14:24 – Gold Brick #3
14:29 to 20:15 – Quest #3 – Captain America 2099 Unlocked
20:24 to 22:57 – Gold Brick #4
23:00 to 23:59 – Gold Brick #5
24:07 to 26:27 – Quest #4 – Agent Venom Unlocked
26:48 to 29:58 – Gold Brick #6
30:09 to 30:42 – Gold Brick Monument
30:49 to 32:12 – Gold Brick #7 – Stan Lee in Peril
32:19 to 34:00 – Gold Brick #8
34:13 to 36:16 – Gold Brick #9
36:30 to 40:54 – Quest #4 – Spider-Ham Unlocked
41:10 to 43:36 – Race #2 – Spider-UK Unlocked

The Old West

00:15 – Gold Brick Monument
00:40 to 01:13 – Gold Brick #1
01:18 to 04:05 – Gold Brick #2
04:22 to 06:17 – Gold Brick #3
06:26 to 08:47 – Gold Brick #4
08:51 to 11:33 – Gold Brick #5
11:43 to 13:21 – All 10 Wanted Posters (Wanted: Anonymity Challenge Completed) – Daily Bugle Helicopter Unlocked
13:27 to 14:42 – Gold Brick #6
15:01 to 18:24 – Quest #1 – Arizona Girl Unlocked
18:31 to 21:15 – Quest #2 – Phantom Rider Unlocked
21:33 to 25:55 – Quest #3 – Two-Gun Kid Unlocked
26:03 to 26:43 – Gold Brick #7
26:55 to 27:42 – Gold Brick #8 – Stan Lee in Peril Location
27:58 to 29:21 – Race #1 – Iron Man (Old West) Unlocked
29:27 to 30:20 – Gold Brick #9 (Minigame)
30:29 to 31:18 – Gold Brick #10
31:45 to 34:44 – **This quest for Rawhide Kid is part of Hala, but is required to unlock the Red Wolf quest in the Old West**
34:50 to 37:33 – Quest #4 – Red Wolf Unlocked
37:32 to 40:02 – Old West Area Boss – Bullseye (Old West) Unlocked

Manhattan Noir

00:05 to 00:59 – Gold Brick #1
01:15 to 02:08 – Race #1 – Hawkeye Unlocked – *To unlock this race you must complete Black Widow and Hawkeye’s Quest in Sakaar*
02:14 to 03:05 – Gold Brick #2
03:19 to 04:27 – Gold Brick #3
04:33 to 05:45 – Gold Brick #4
05:55 to 08:12 – Gold Brick #5
08:22 to 08:45 – Gold Brick Monument
08:49 to 10:09 – Race #2 – Scarlet Spider
10:31 to 12:38 – Gold Brick #6
12:49 to 15:59 – Gold Brick #7
16:05 to 18:35 – Gold Brick #8
18:48 to 19:20 – Gold Brick #9 – Stan Lee in Peril
19:29 to 25:57 – Quest #1 – Wiccan Unlocked
26:06 to 28:36 – Quest #2 – J. Jonah Jameson Unlocked
28:47 to 30:59 – Manhattan Noir Boss Fight – Shocker Unlocked

Sakaar

00:10 to 00:58 – Gold Brick #1 – Minigame
01:14 to 03:08 – All 10 Spike Spores – Necrocraft Unlocked (Spore or Less Challenge Completed)
03:17 to 04:42 – Gold Brick #2
04:48 to 05:36 – Gold Brick #3 – Stan Lee in Peril
05:43 to 07:57 – Gold Brick #4
08:04 to 11:03 – Gold Brick #5
11:09 to – Gold Brick Monument
11:46 to 14:11 – Gold Brick #6
14:23 to 16:02 – Gold Brick #7
16:10 to 17:29 – Gold Brick #8
17:40 to 22:37 – Quest #1 – Fin Fang Foom Unlocked
22:50 to 24:28 – Race #1 – Captain Britain Unlocked
24:47 to 29:00 – Quest #2 – The Collector Unlocked
29:11 to 35:55 – Quest #3 – Black Widow Unlocked
36:04 to 43:49 – Quest #4 – Skaar Unlocked
43:58 to 45:58 – Race #2 – Maestro Unlocked
46:06 to – Sakaar Area Boss Fight – Red Hulk Unlocked

Xandar

00:05 to 00:20 – Gold Brick Monument
00:26 to 01:01 – Gold Brick #1
01:07 to 01:56 – Gold Brick #2
02:06 to 03:18 – Gold Brick #3 – Stan Lee in Peril #1
03:35 to 07:59 – Quest #1 – Yondu Unlocked
08:11 to 09:22 – Gold Brick #4
09:33 to 14:32 – Quest #2 – Mantis Unlocked
14:40 to 15:06 – Gold Brick #5
15:13 to 16:39 – Gold Brick #6
16:48 to 18:47 – Gold Brick #7
18:59 to 20:14 – Gold Brick #8
20:20 to 21:46 – Gold Brick #9 – Minigame
21:55 to 26:22 – Quest #2 – Nova Prime Unlocked
26:48 to 30:48 – Quest #3 – Taserface Unlocked
30:58 to 34:05 – Quest #4 – Ayesha Unlocked
34:11 to 35:41 – Gold Brick #10 – Stan Lee in Peril #2
35:53 to 37:31 – Gold Brick #11
37:42 to 39:18 – Race #1 – Spider-Man (Homemade Suit)
40:01 to – Race #2 – Loki (Classic) Unlocked
41:52 to 45:35 – Gold Brick #12
46:02 to 55:54 – Quest #5 – Nebula Unlocked
56:01 to 59:07 – Race #3 – Misty Knight Unlocked
59:21 to 1:02:02 – Xandar Area Boss Fight – Vulture (Classic) Unlocked

GWENPOOL PINK BRICK LOCATIONS

There are ten of these to hunt down in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2– and they are scattered and hidden all over the game. The video below, along with the timestamps, should help you get all of them.

00:11 to 01:47 – Pink Brick #1 – Helium Mode Unlocked ( Level #1 – Panic! At the Picnic)
02:22 to 03:12 – Pink Brick #2 – Minikit Detector Unlocked (Level #2 – Simulation Situation)
03:44 to 03:51 – Pink Brick #3 – Big Head Mode Unlocked (Level #3 – Dude, Where’s My Dragon)
04:25 to 04:36 – Pink Brick #4 – Stan Lee Detector Unlocked (Level #4 – Defying Conventions)
05:02 to 06:54 – Pink Brick #5 – Attract Studs Unlocked (Level #5 – Toe-To-Totem)
07:20 to 08:28 – Pink Brick #6 – Infinite Power Gauge Unlocked (Level #6 – Spook-Tacular Parade Saga)
09:11 to 09:36 – Pink Brick #7 – Demolition Mode Unlocked (Level #7 – Hank-Ger Management)
10:09 to 10:36 – Pink Brick #8 – Fast Interactions (Level #8 – Oscorp Escapade)
11:04 to 12:03 – Pink Brick #9 – Character Token Detector (Level #9 – Dance Off, Bro)
12:28 to 12:53 – Pink Brick #10 – Party Mode Unlocked (Level #10 – Poole Party)

CHEATCODES

Although you can unlock all the characters in the game over time, you can also save yourself the hassle of doing so by using cheat codes- yes, this game has actual cheatcodes! Remember when those used to be a thing?

Anyway, find below the cheat codes you can use, as well as the characters they unlock:

• 8KD3F6 – Winter Soldier
• BCR7QJ – Ant-Man
• JDNQMV – Loki
• JD9GQA – Scarlet Spider
• 7KDY3L – Vulture (Homecoming)
• QG3VH9 – Baby Groot (Ravager)
• M68P3L – Captain Britain
• CDS278 – Crimson Dynamo
• S947TP – Darkstar
• GAVK9R – Giant-Man
• LBYT59 – Grandmaster (Ragnarok)
• XG7SAL – Green Goblin
• G6K2VM – Hawkeye
• NCMJU4 – Hellcow
• 5G7HFS – Hulkling
• 4U9DAT – Vision (Civil War)
• UUTZNC – Militant
• RMADXF – Spider-Man UK
• CW9BRS – Spider-Woman
• HCE926 – Maestro
• BK9B3Y – Misty Knight
• D6LJ4P – Songbird
• HL7L7Y – Ragnarok

ACHIEVEMENTS/TROPHIES

Time to put things right
Collect all the trophies

404: Xandar Not Found
Complete ”No Eson of Mine”

No More Tomorrows
Complete ”Avenger’s World Tour”

None Shall Pass
Complete ”Castle Hassle”

The Klaws Are Out
Complete ”What’s Klaw’s is Mined”

Live and Let Fly
Complete ”Hydra Hijinks”

Circus of Crime, Doesn’t Pay!
Complete ”High-Noon Saloon”

Ash-gard
Complete ”Surtur-n Doom”

Searching the Sanctum
Complete ”Rune to Maneuver”

A Bridge too Noir
Complete ”Noir Night-Mayor”

How Now Shou-Lao
Complete ”K’un-Lun Konundrum”

Carnom-Nom-Nom-Nom
Complete ”Symbiote Surprise”

Once, Twice, Kree Times a Sentry
Complete ”Kree-search and Development”

A Family Feud
Complete ”Inhuman Nature”

Hala from the other side
Complete ”Hala, is it Kree You’re Looking For?”

He’s a friend from work
Complete ”Red King Revelation”

Commotion in the Ocean
Complete ”Torg-nado”

I want my Mummy
Complete ”I Sphinx We Have A Problem”

EGO the LEGO Planet
Complete ”The Road to Knowhere”

By A Horse’s Hair…
Complete ”On Board The Sword”

Kang’s for the Memories
Complete ”Out of Time”

Kang, the Conquered
Complete the story

A Hero’s Job Is Never Easy
Rescue all Peril Characters

Don’t Stop, Believer!
Obtain ‘True Believer’ in every level

Comic Book Collector
Unlock and view all Minikit comics

Another Gold Brick in the Wall
Collect all Gold Bricks

The Inhabitants of Chronopolis
Purchase all characters

Journey through time and space
Complete all quests in Chronopolis

‘Nuff Said
Witness the 100% LEGO Stud Fountain

Time Waits For No Kang
Complete all races in Chronopolis

Hello World!
Collect Gwenpool

‘Tis but a scratch!
Defeat 30 enemies using The Black Knight (Nathan Garrett)

Bicentennial Battles
Have various Captain America characters join forces in a single party

Road Rage 2
Smash 100 vehicles

We are Groot
Have Groot and Groot (Small) in a party

Monster Squad
Have Morbius, Cap-Wolf, Triton and The Living Mummy in a party

Are You Not Entertained?
Destroy 100 enemies as Hulk (Thor: Ragnarok)

Fin Fang Fanboy
Play as Fin Fang Foom in ”Defying Conventions”

Grandmaster Greetings
Play ”Capture the Infinity Stone” in ‘Grandmaster Mode’

Operation: Rebirth
Create a custom superhero

The Council of Kangs
Have multiple Kangs in a party

Back to where it all began
Explore Ancient Egypt as Kang

Dog Meet Dog
Have Cosmo and Lockjaw in a party

Challenge Accepted
Complete 10 challenges in Chronopolis

Celestial Selfie
Take a selfie with Eson the Searcher in ”No Eson of Mine”

Dancing in the Moon Knight
Activate dance mode and make 5 characters dance