8 things to watch out for this week

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Fortnite gifts you Double XP, The Crew 2 channels the ultimate Road Trip, and GLOW season 2 tackles serious topics in our pick of the week's best games, movies, and TV

Crash Bandicoot, Fortnite, GLOW 2, The Crew 2

1. Make a last ditch grab for that Omega skin with Fortnite’s double XP weekend

Fortnite Omega Skin from Season 4

Not long until Fortnite Season 5 starts, and Epic is sending things off with a bang thanks to a double XP weekend. (And maybe an actual bang if that rocket ever takes off.) The double XP starts June 29 at 4:00 EDT / 08:00 GMT and ends on July 2nd at 3:00 AM EDT / 07:00 GMT. During that time you’ll get an extra 100% XP on anything you do so it’s perfect for gaining some levels, collecting some Battle Stars and making one last grab for any tier rewards you’ve been eyeing up. Remember, you get two Battle Stars for every level you reach, five for any multiple of five, and ten for ten. With the extra XP available you should be able to boost your rewards a lot quicker and maybe have a chance of unlocking the tier 100 Omega skin before the season reset clears it all. You get XP for doing just about anything but pay attention to the challenges to pop even more points. Leon Hurley

What:  Fortnite double XP weekend
When: June 29 at 4:00 EDT/08:00 GMT to July 2nd at 3:00 AM EDT/07:00 GMT
Where: Fortnite on PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One

2. Feeling a little bit stressed by current events? Fight fascism for fun with your handheld

In the current political climate, having a way to fight Nazis on you at all times seems like an incredibly sensible way to manage stress. Thank god for Bethesda and its decision to bring Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus to Nintendo Switch. If you haven't played the balls-out brash shooter yet it's the perfect chance to catch up, and based on our hands-on time developers Panic Button (who worked on Switch's Doom port), know just when to dial down the game's textures to maintain frame rates. In terms of feel, it easily rivals the Xbox One and PS4 version, even if playing in handheld mode appears a touch blurrier than on TV. The Joy-Cons work just fine, but we'd advise checking out a Pro Controller for the best experience. Besides, now is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with William Joseph 'BJ' Blazkowicz before you get to meet his daughters in Wolfenstein: Youngblood next year. Rachel Weber

What: Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
When: June 29
Where: Nintendo Switch

3. GLOW is back for a second season on Netflix… and it isn’t all laughs and dayglow leotards

Have you watched the first season of GLOW? That’s the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, for the uninitiated. A kind of comedy drama that’s as much about ‘80s culture and the interpersonal relationships of a group of women as it is about wrestling, GLOW’s first season is great TV. But this second run is truly excellent, ratcheting up the laughs, sure, but also discussing some weighty issues with a razor sharp script and an increasingly loveable cast of top-quality TV stars. The relationship between Alison Brie’s Ruth and Betty Gilpin’s Debbie has never been more strained, with director Sam struggling with the pressures of both making network TV and being a father. Add in issues like racial prejudice, messy divorces, drug abuse, and sexual harassment and you’ve got a comedy that’s far darker and more acutely observed than the brightly coloured neon and Spandex wrapping suggests. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll feel very uncomfortable on your sofa, but you’ll also want to binge this brilliant show as fast as possible. It’s that good. Sam Loveridge

What: GLOW season 2
Where: Netflix
When: Full season available now

4. How will Crash Bandicoot's particular brand of platformer translate to Switch?

When the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy arrived on PS4 back in 2017, it was brilliant to see our favourite bright orange marsupial back and looking better than ever. It was even more brilliant to see that muscle memory is in fact a thing, and slipping back into our old platform rhythm was possible. It was less brilliant that everything seemed that little bit harder than it used to, to the point that it eventually came out that there was a problem with the platforms that made them harder to land on. Phew, it wasn't all in our heads. Although this has now been tweaked somewhat, it's going to be incredibly interesting to see how Crash translates to a smaller screen when the N.Sane Trilogy hits Switch this week. (It's also coming to Xbox One too, and it looks incredible on Xbox One X, by the way.) Sam Loveridge

What: Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One
When: Out now
Where: Switch and Xbox One, both digitally and physically

5. Destiny 2 PS4 goes free for the weekend. But how will the uninitiated take to its work-in-progress status? 

Compared to where we were a few months ago, Destiny 2 is in pretty good shape. Bungie is responding to its community, stop-gap measures have been implemented to improve the game's original failings, and we have a decent foundation for the game-changing overhaul of September's Forsaken expansion. So, perfect time to open up the gates to the public for a few days, right? The thing is, after nine months in the trenches, I'm not sure how 'outsiders' are going to perceive the current state of Destiny 2. There are plenty of good times in D2, but the game is currently a series of stop-gap solutions to big flaws, that Forsaken will completely fix. Destiny 2 is currently a game best understood through lenses of comparison. Of how much closer or further it is at any point from the holy grail of D1. Of how much better it is than at launch. Of its relative movement toward desirable future goals. Without those months of context, without the ability to see where the tape is joining various things together and understand the temporary flaws within the gaps, Destiny 2 might come off as a little unfocused. Or it might be fine. Either way, this weekend will be a great litmus test. David Houghton

What: Destiny 2 free weekend
When: June 29 - July 2
Where: PS4 

6. Even horror film franchises get origin stories these days, and this one couldn't be better timed

So far The Purge movies have only vaguely sketched out how the terrible tradition - a night where all crimes are legal - came to be, so the The First Purge is a prequel that deep dives into the very first. It stars Marisa Tomei as the academic behind the sociological theory and Lex Scott Davis as one of the citizens left to deal with its implementation. Written by James DeMonaco, the creator of the franchise, and released on July 4, you should prepare for a lot of hot takes on how it mirrors the real world America. Rachel Weber

What: The First Purge
When: July 4
Where: Movie theaters

7. The Crew 2 turns the land of the free into a racer’s paradise

With most publishers keeping their games locked down until the busy holiday season, Summer can be a relatively dry season for big new releases. Never one to blend in with the crowd, however, Ubisoft has released one of its biggest games of the year today, as The Crew 2 hits PC, PS4, and Xbox One just in time for the weekend. The good news is that it’s bucket loads of fun, and much less drudgerous than its ambitious but wonky predecessor of 2014, The Crew. With sea and air vehicles now thrown into the mix, it feels like developer Ivory Tower has really thrown the shackles off for an open world road trip that’s far more freeing and open-ended than before. What’s more, the whole of America (well, most of it) is at your fingertips, and running on a spanky new game engine, it’s looking better than ever. Alex Avard

What: The Crew 2
Where: PC, PS4, and Xbox One
When: June 29

8. The Steam Summer Sale means there's no better time to treat yourself to a new game

It's that time of year where your wallet screams every time you boot up your PC and click on that oh so familiar crank icon. Yes, it's the Steam Summer Sale 2018, which is still running until July 5, meaning you've got plenty of time to grab yourself some tasty gaming treats. Some highlights have included the Witcher 3 GOTY Edition, which includes all that delicious DLC, and a ridiculous bundle on a tonne of Sid Meier's Civilization games, which should keep you busy until the Steam Summer Sale in 2021 at least. You could even try your hand at the Steam Summer Sale game itself, called Saliens. It's basically a tower defence game, but in reality, it's, well, not very good. But of course, Steam gamers - and I - have been trying to exploit the gooey-green alien crap out of it. Where there's a freebie, there's a way. Head over to the newly created Saliens sub-Reddit for some tips, but probably just buy yourself something in the Steam Sale and play that instead. Sam Loveridge

What: The Steam Summer Sale 2018
When: Until July 5
Where: A PC (or Mac) near you

8 Things to Watch Out For This Week picks the best games, movies and shows of the next seven days every Friday at 9am PDT / 5pm BST.

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