Netflix’s weird interactive specials, ranked by how much your choices matter
New to the list: We Lost Our Human lets you pilot a dog and cat through a complicated multiverse
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New to the list: We Lost Our Human lets you pilot a dog and cat through a complicated multiverse
Scary movies are already having a great year
After a lengthy winter season, Fortnite’s Chapter 4 Season 2 is here to dramatically shake up the Battle Royale island with a brand-new Japan-inspired corner of the map, a whole host of dope new gameplay changes, and a new katana weapon that’ll be your best friend for the next couple months. Oh, and maybe the best battle pass in the game’s history, which comes with the much-anticipated Eren Jaeger skin from Attack on Titan.
That’s no small praise considering how high the quality of the passes in Chapter 3 were, not to mention the excellent Season 1 pass that just ended. No, this battle pass lineup is truly next-level, offering up an unprecedented selection of cool freaks, creatures, and interesting people. There are several skins here that would be very popular if they were sold in the item shop, but as battle pass offerings–meaning everybody and their mothers are gonna own these skins–some of these are going to be ubiquitous in battle royale for years to come.
But which skin from the Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 battle pass is truly the best? That’s probably something we’ll all never be able to agree on, because this Suicide Squad-esque lineup of weirdos caters to so many different tastes. But here’s one stance that doesn’t seem to be all that controversial: no matter what kind of weirdo you may be in real life, this battle pass has a skin that matches it.
Now, let’s rank these skins.
There’s nothing wrong with this season’s Drift remix, but he’s just a little bit too neat and clean for a group of skins that is otherwise pretty freakin’ chaotic. That said, his lankiness does give him a little bit of a creepy vibe when he’s got his mask on, so Stray could very well be the sort of skin that grows on you over time. Or maybe, like the original Drift, people will wear him so much that the sight of him is revolting.
This very classy terminator looks incredible, but he has a major flaw: He doesn’t have a working mouth or eyes. So he’s a skin that looks amazing standing still and in general gameplay, but he’s kinda “meh” doing emotes. For some of you that won’t be that big of a deal. But for those of us who like for our skins to entertain us while we wait for matchmaking, Renzo is a little bit frustrating. But only a little bit. He’s still a beautiful skin–but without a working face his comedy potential is a lot lower than I expected.
Imani is the obligatory regular person in the Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 battle pass, and since this pass is so loaded with awesome weirdos she’s kind of the odd one of the group. As part of this package, she kinda gets lost a little bit–but we’ll be able to appreciate her more over time once we wear out our obsessions with Thunder and Empress Mizuki.
While the protagonist of Attack on Titan isn’t quite so inherently hilarious as Goku or Naruto are, Attack on Titan is so earnest that it’s gonna be just as much fun using this skin in Party Royale as it will be in Battle Royale. The more sincere and serious the character, the better the Fortnite collab is. It’s why Darth Vader will probably always be the funniest Fortnite battle pass guy, and it’s why Eren Jaeger is pretty much guaranteed hilarity.
This off-brand combo of Harley Quinn and Catwoman is sure to be a hit with the 500-crowned-victories type of folks who make my solo lobbies so outrageously sweaty. But also this is a great character design, and the bonus style that comes in Easter colors is a nice touch–I always appreciate it when they throw us a holiday style or two in a battle pass.
We’re not totally sure why Mizuki is the tier-100 skin on the Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 battle pass–unlike with the Ageless Champion boss last season, we don’t really know anything about her or what her role is in the story yet. But I do know this: This is gonna be one of the skins I pull out when I keep getting killed as soon as I drop and need to get serious. She just has that vibe.
Considering how many animal person skins Fortnite has, it’s frankly shocking there aren’t more lizard guys around. This is our first one in years–and he was well worth the wait. In any other battle pass Fortnite has ever had, Thunder would be the best skin, hands down, especially with all three of his styles that you can unlock. But it’s a testament to the quality and audacity of this pass that there’s something better, and not a knock on Thunder’s design at all. He’s perfect.
But Mystica is more perfect. She is, perhaps, the greatest freak Fortnite has ever known. This is a skin I can barely even comprehend, no matter how long I spend staring at it. And I’ve spent a lot of time staring at it. People who discover this skin after Chapter 4 Season 2 ends will weep when they realize they can never have her.
There have been a lot of Call of Duty games over the years, from classics like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to bizarre duds like the sci-fi themed Infinite Warfare. And though the campaigns get plenty of attention from fans and critics, we all know that multiplayer is where the series really made its name.
Call of Duty was the shooter franchise that popularized the concept of persistent multiplayer progression, i.e. locking many of its guns, perks, and cosmetics behind a progression system that incentivized players to keep gaming well into the wee hours. Though the dopamine rush of unlocking a new weapon never quite faded, multiplayer FPS games always have their fair share of overpowered guns, especially early on.
However, while Modern Warfare 2’s akimbo Model 1887 shotguns and Black Ops 1’s pre-nerf Famas will go down in the annals of meta-defining weapons, there are quite a few guns from the series that belong on the other side of the ledger. These are the guns that you wouldn’t be caught dead using in a serious deathmatch–unless, of course, you wanted to give your opponent a significant advantage.
The humble Uzi has become a common weapon in many first-person shooters, but it’s rarely worth using compared to other submachine guns, particularly the MP5s and UMPs of the world. The Mini-Uzi from the original Modern Warfare is akin to the famously-inept Klobb from GoldenEye 007–it chews through ammo, it has a downright bizarre recoil pattern, and it barely does any damage. It also has a very bright muzzle flash, which is just unpleasant. Compared to its more viable counterpart, the Skorpion, it’s not even worth considering.
Yes, we’re taking it all the way back to the original Call of Duty on PC, before most fans had even heard of the series. Despite being one of the most iconic and effective weapons of World War II, the plink-happy M1 Garand just isn’t very good in the OG. The familiar Thompson (or “Tommy gun”) is much better at close range, the Springfield sniper has the advantage of a scope, and the BAR has the advantage of automatic fire. Unfortunately, there’s simply no reason to use the Garand. Fortunately, its later incarnation in Call of Duty: World at War is much better.
Sniper rifles are generally an expert’s weapon in the Call of Duty games–when they’re done well, at least–but the Dragunov borders on unusable in Modern Warfare 2019. It suffers from fairly serious damage falloff, which makes it less than useful at long range, but its recoil is so severe that two-shotting enemies is significantly harder than it should be. Though it does kill with a headshot at nearly any range, it’s so much worse than other snipers in the game (or even standard rifles) that it’s not worth considering as a primary weapon.
Unfortunately for the iconic Uzi, straddling the line between pistol and SMG almost always puts machine pistols in a weird place, and Black Ops’ version is perhaps even worse than COD 4’s. While it has plenty of ammo, it lacks in every other category: recoil pattern, accuracy, and especially damage. Close-range combat fans were better-suited to shotguns or other SMGs in this game.
Speaking of shotguns, they tend to be famine-or-feast weapons in Call of Duty games–either they’re so powerful that they need a nerf, or they’re not worth using at all. Sadly, while the idea of a shotgun blowing opponents away in one shot at point-blank range is definitely appealing, the Sawed-Off from Call of Duty: WWII fails to deliver on that promise. What’s more, its surprisingly lengthy reload time will almost certainly lead to your demise. Several fans have called this the worst shotgun in COD history, and we tend to agree.
Explosive weapons like COD 4’s “noob tube” rocket launcher have led to many frustrated opponents over the years, but the China Lake grenade launcher is more likely to leave you cursing than your foes. Based on a very cool real-life weapon, the pump-action grenade launcher only seems to kill the bad guys if you hit them dead on, and it’s not exactly a precision weapon to begin with. There are way better uses of your secondary slot in Black Ops 1, that’s for sure.
One of those weapons that you probably used once back in the day and immediately forgot about, the F2000 assault rifle is the definition of “underwhelming.” Not only does it have one of the worst iron sights in the game, but it also has pitiful damage, a bizarre recoil pattern, and one of the slowest reload speeds in its class. As a whole, the F2000 isn’t quite as bad as some weapons on this list, but there’s no reason to use it when guns like the ACR and the FAMAS exist.
Once upon a time, the MK14 was considered a decent, but not spectacular semi-auto rifle in Advanced Warfare. After a number of patches, however, the weapon was rendered a footnote in the game’s competitive meta thanks to its brutal reload time, low rate of fire, low magazine capacity, and pitiful damage. Though the MK14’s ridiculous headshot multiplier means that an expert marksman could theoretically rack up many kills with it, the truth is that it’s too situational to use in a real fight, and that’s why it’s on this list. However, the MK14 is useful in Hardcore mode, where it kills very quickly at any range.
The newest weapon on this list is also one of the most divisive, with some fans singing its praises on social media. However, you don’t have to look very far to find legions of players complaining about its ridiculous recoil, slow single-fire speed, and underwhelming damage. Though the right loadout selection can make the SO-14 viable in certain situations, the fact that it’s a semi-auto gun that requires two headshots to kill an opponent makes it a non-starter, and one of the worst weapons in Modern Warfare 2.
Call of Duty: WWII isn’t talked about much anymore, and that’s probably why the humble Machine Pistol has remained under the radar to franchise fans. It’s an inaccurate automatic pistol with only 10 shots, which means that it’s unlikely that it’ll be able to kill even a single attacker without the Extended Mags attachment. Oh, and its damage was also nerfed in a patch. Though the Machine Pistol can certainly get kills in a pinch, and it might be useful as a sniper’s sidearm, it’s undoubtedly one of the worst pistols in the series.
How do you rank the killers of the Scream franchise? It’s a tough task. Are they better killers for working alone or for coordinating with a partner? Do they get more points for the viciousness and creativity of each kill? Certainly, you have to consider the kill count. And, of course, there is the motive. When the killer finally removes their mask, who has the best rationale behind their murder spree?
For the uninitiated, the franchise began in 1996 with Scream, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven (who would direct the first four films in the franchise until his death in 2015). Neve Campbell stars as final girl Sidney Prescott, who is terrorized when a killer in a Halloween costume starts stalking and killing her and her friends on the anniversary of her mother’s murder. Courteney Cox stars as Gale Weathers, the tabloid journalist who comes to Woodsboro to make her name on the story, and David Arquette stars as Deputy Dewey Riley. These three become the legacy characters, appearing in the first five installments of the franchise.
Leading up to the sixth film–the first without Campbell or Arquette–we went through the Scream franchise and analyzed each murder, each killer reveal, and the motives for each villain. We have ranked them from the “worst” killer to the “best.” The ranking of these killers has nothing to do with how we would rank each individual Scream film, but rather what we think of each person donning the Ghostface mask.
Charlie has the least to do of any Ghostface killer in any Scream movie. The majority of his screen time is spent lusting after fan-favorite Kirby. He is most useful when he is being used as a trap to lure Kirby out to him when she thinks he has been captured by Ghostface.
Motive: None stated. He is the only Scream killer to not specifically state a motive.
There are nine Ghostface kills in this Scream film – not including the four fake-out Stab kills in the two opening sequences. Jill is unique in that she is the only one who definitively kills her accomplice. Several other Ghostfaces have attempted to kill their partners, but have always required Sidney or Gale (or both) to land the final killshot. She also has the entire killing spree on video, to show the world. Such Millennial thinking.
Motive: Jill has the weakest motive. She is Sidney’s cousin and is annoyed by hearing about Sidney’s life at every turn. So, with Charlie’s help, she has decided that they are going to be the new Sidney and Randy, leaving them surviving heroes of a new Woodsboro murder spree. She has even picked out a new “Billy Loomis” to blame this on: Trevor.
Unfortunately for him, Mickey is just a patsy. Debbie met him on a website for serial killer fans, and he needed some tuition money, so the two teamed up. Debbie could have used any unstable college kid to be her #2. She didn’t care about him, as evidenced by her shooting him. (She didn’t kill him, though–that honor went to Sidney and Gale in a dual shoot-out when Mickey popped up for “one last scare.”)
Motive: Mickey, a film student, planned on stating that the “movies made me do it!” He was going to say that he was inspired to kill because of the influence of violent movies, then get the Christian Coalition to pay his legal fees. Debbie reveals herself to be the second killer and shoots him down, putting an end to his attempt at a political statement.
Scream 2 ups the body count, giving us eight murders at the hands of the two Ghostface killers. Debbie Salt, small-town reporter, reveals herself to be Billy Loomis’ mother and the newest killer, keeping the Loomis brand of psychopathy alive.
Motive: “Good old-fashioned revenge.” She’s just a mom looking for a little payback for the murder of her son.
Scream 5 goes back to the classic, with only five murders (though one of which happens off-screen–we come in to discover a dead cop in the hospital hallway). However, the killers here get some bonus points for killing Dewey, a legacy character, who survived near-fatal injuries in virtually every other Scream film to date. It is interesting to note that this is the first Scream film in which the Ghostface killers are not killed by either Sidney or Gale. The moniker of Final Girl has officially been passed to Tara and her sister Samantha.
Motive: We put Amber and Richie together because they have the same motive: to restart the Stab franchise. The duo feels that the Stab franchise–a franchise they love–has gotten stale, and the best way to reinvigorate it is to create a new massacre to base a new movie on.
Roman deserves an extra point in his column because he is the only killer in the Scream franchise (so far) to act alone. What is even more impressive is that he got nine kills all by himself.
Motive: Roman reveals himself to be Maureen Prescott’s illegitimate, unrecognized son. He took video of Maureen, revealing her affair with Billy’s father, and showed these videos to Billy. Roman is proud to announce to Sidney that he “got [Billy] started” on his whole killing spree. In a sense, then, he is at least partially responsible for the acts in the first Scream movie. His motivations for his own murders are simply to get Sidney’s attention.
Involved in five of Billy’s six murders, Stu is too manic to play much of a role in the set-up of Sidney’s dad, but if you are looking for someone wild enough to go along with damn near anything, then Stu is your guy. He doesn’t do well under pressure, however, as he starts to whine the moment Billy stabs him to set up their “left for dead” story.
Motive: Peer pressure, plain and simple.
Billy Loomis is the end-all, be-all Scream killer. Even though he was partnered up with Stu Macher in his murder spree, Stu is rarely mentioned as the second killer. Between Billy and Stu, the pair can claim five murders, but Billy has an additional kill to his name: the murder of Maureen Prescott, a year prior.
Motive: Sidney’s mom, Maureen, was having an affair with Billy’s dad, destroying their marriage. Billy had the foresight to frame another man for Maureen’s murder, then return a year later, with plans on framing Sidney’s dad for this new rampage which, had he been successful, would have included Sidney on the death list.