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UPDATE: With Fallout 4's next-gen update just days away, the game's achievement unlocking issues on Xbox should now be solved
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:06:17 -0000
If you've watched all of Amazon's Fallout TV show by now, odds are you're either on the verge of - or already have - hopped back into one of the games in the series. You're certainly not alone in the regard, but if you've picked Fallout 4 on Xbox specifically, you might have run into the small problem of achievements just not unlocking.
Yup, while it arguably feels like the vast majority of the architecture, gear, and items featured in the show - alongside all those other references, easter eggs, and cameos - are specifically designed to get you to head back to Boston, Boston's not ready to reward you for coming back.
As a number of folks who've decided to emerge from Vault 111 again have been reporting (thanks, TrueAchievements), Fallout 4's achievements on Xbox aren't doing what they should be. It seems like this has been an issue since the final days of March, since which point, the poor Sole Survivors on Microsoft's console haven't been able to be thanked for doing things like saving Preston Garvey, or playing Atomic Command on their Pip-Boy.
I don't like the Fallout games, but the show might have made me a convert
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Before I get started, I'm going to have to ask you to put your guns down, because here's the thing: I don't really like the Fallout games. My first experience of actually playing them was with Fallout 4, which I do admit isn't the best way to start things off for a franchise that has run as long as it has, but it is what it is. I managed to make it a few hours into Fallout 4, but to be honest I just didn't vibe with it. The game did a pretty bad job at making me care about my baby, and I just felt a bit listless heading out into the wastelands. Not to mention the fact that I really didn't care for the stiff, boring shooting that becomes all the more painful when you encounter a flying enemy, V.A.T.S. or not.
Past that point, I've seen a good bit of playthroughs of both 3 and New Vegas, yet I more found people goofing around in them fun rather than actually enjoying what the games were doing themselves. When it comes to the OG, CRPG titles, well, I'm not really big on the genre except for rare instances (like Disco Elysium and my beloved Kim Kitsuragi). My partner, however, loves Fallout 4 - or, I should say they love to build bases and hang out with certain characters, they couldn't give a radroach's ass about that baby either. But their previous hyperfixations with the game have led to several info-dumping sessions that mean I'm broadly familiar with Fallout's post-apocalypse world.
And so, I felt well-enough prepared to watch Amazon's live-action adaptation of the RPG series, even if I was expecting to come away from it a bit ambivalent. After all, what interest could I have in it when it just hasn't worked out for me so far, right down to some of the games' aesthetic choices? Surprisingly enough, though, I… actually really enjoyed the show. Shock horror, right? This series the appeal of which has long been lost on me suddenly drawing me in?
Elden Ring's now been beaten using morse code, and yes, watching it happen will probably make you feel useless at games
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:27:26 -0000
I'm gonna cut to the chase here. A streamer's just beaten Elden Ring - including my buddy and yours Malenia - using button-operated morse code. As with asll these kinds of challenge runs, it's an incredibly impressive feat, and will no doubt leave you utterly devastated about how terrible you are at video games in comparison.
Sure, we've still got a little bit of time to go before the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC drops and you get to really remind yourself just how useless you can be at Fromsoftware's array of 'here's a big scary person/thing, now slap or shoot stuff at them until they fall over' masterpieces. But, hey, you might as well start getting that out of the way now.
Meet streamer Silithur, who's going to help you do just that. They've just finished off a run through Elden Ring which saw them use morse code toi control their character, via a very fun big red button. Yes, that's been their only input for every action you could possibly want to fire off as you're traversing the Lands Between, or nearly having your head taken off by a boss.
How Rockstar banning Cake Day helped launch a designer's career in edible games
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:45:52 -0000
Years before she worked on top-drawer point-and-clickers Return To Monkey Island and Thimbleweed Park, Australian game developer Jenn Sandercock was a junior designer on Team Bondi's historical open world game L.A. Noire. Eventually published by Grand Theft Auto developers Rockstar in 2011, L.A. Noire took seven years to make and is an especially notorious example of crunch culture and mismanagement. Sandercock joined in the middle of one such crunch period, and wanted to make life a little easier for her exhausted colleagues. "Everyone looked so miserable after literally years of hard work & crunch," she wrote on Twitter in 2018. "So late one night after work I baked 2 cakes for the office. I sent out a mass email & we all took 30 minutes to eat cake and talk." Sandercock began hosting weekly "Cake Days", baking a fresh batch in her own time to share around the office.
Rockstar were unimpressed, however. They thought Cake Day was evidence of poor productivity and, according to Sandercock, badgered Team Bondi leadership into forcing her to only share cake during official lunch hours. "Apparently the higher ups thought our entire office slacked off ALL the time because we had cake once a week," Sandercock wrote. She herself was told "that I was jeopardising my career". Sandercock hasn't let the demise of Cake Day cramp her creative interest in food, however. In fact, she's found a way to combine baking with game design. Sandercock is now the author of Edible Games, a book of recipes and instructions for concocting games out of food, and food out of games.
After six months of renovations, Cities: Skylines 2 performance is considerably less terrible
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:54:32 -0000
Six months is a long time. In that half-year you could fully grow a patch of delicious strawberries, plant the seeds, then grow another. Or you could squirm through three and a half successive Liz Truss premierships. Or, as Cities: Skylines 2 developers Colossal Order have done, you could take the technical mess of your long-awaited citybuilding game and reconstruct it into something that performs... okay, not well, but better.
Witch actor is going to lead the upcoming Jurassic World sequel? Seems like a wicked, but possibly popular choice has been made
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:56:08 -0000
The Jurassic World soft reboot is still underway, and it's sounding like it might be opting for a cast member that could prove popular.
Back in February, Star Wars: Rogue One director Gareth Edwards was tapped to direct the as-of-yet untitled Jurassic World soft reboot, but it hadn't quite found its cast just yet. Now, though, it sounds like casting is ramping up, with Scarlet Johansson having been reported to be in talks to join the Universal project last month. As reported by Deadline, up next in early talks to join the project is Jonathon Bailey, the English actor best known for his role as Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton in the immensely popular Netflix period drama Bridgerton.
The actor is still yet to be fully locked-in, so you'll have to wait for an official announcement. After all, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch was reportedly initially eyed up as a potential director, though it ultimately went to Edwards due to creative differences between Universal and Leitch, so it's entirely possible talks with Bailey will fall through too. Outside of that, the upcoming sequel is also bringing back the original film's writer, David Koepp, who wrote both the 1993 Jurassic Park, and its 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Get the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD for $139 at Amazon
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:57:22 -0000
The Crucial T500 is one of the best-performing PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market right now, going toe-to-toe with both the WD Black SN850X and the Samsung 990 Pro SSDs when hardware ed James tested it last year.
You have to spend a bit to get the top performance, especially now with memory manufacturers slowing production and SSD makers offering fewer discounts as a result. Fortunately, the 2TB T500 does have a decent discount going at the moment, worth $51:
The T500 takes the title of best high-end PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for gaming in the RPS best SSDs for gaming guide, and boasts ridiculous sequential speeds of up to 7400MB/s and 7000MB/s for read and writes respectively. It's worth reading through the list to see how it compares to other, but here's a quote from James that explains how the T500 has edged above the competition:
Dragon's Dogma 2 is Gen-Z Morrowind and I love it
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 16:05:40 -0000
Dragon's Dogma 2 is an early but solid contender for GOTY – we said that might be the case during preview, and we’re certain of it now. It’s a game of uncompromised vision, and where the original looked at the likes of Fable and Oblivion and asked “what does Capcom’s version of that look like?”, the sequel responds: “why don’t we make Capcom’s version of Dragon’s Dogma instead?”.
The original game is full of compromises. Content cut short for time or RAM. An entire planned beast race that never made it in. Only two inhabited settlements, one of them a tiny tutorial village. And squeezed onto creaking hardware that could barely run it. Well, the more things change, etc. To anyone with an interest in the original game and its development, it’s clear that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a labour of love, and a hugely successful do-over for an idea that didn’t quite materialise on the first attempt.
Which is why, as explained in the video above, I’m not convinced by the circulating idea that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is some kind of cynical money-grab. Yes, the microtransactions are stupid, pointless, and opportunistic. But if they’re a dealbreaker, that’s a whole lot of baby getting thrown out with the bath water.
Palworld CEO says “many” clones of Pokémon-with-guns game are coming, with “Genshin Impact-level” successors
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:01:20 -0000
Palworld, the viral survival game that stirred up controversy (and found plenty of success) on the back of being a Pokémon-a-like - with added guns and factory labour, mind - is now due to become the inspiration for its own generation of clones, according to the head of its developers.
World of Warcraft’s next expansion The War Within will run a beta before launch, and you can sign up now
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:31:32 -0000
World of Warcraft is setting a whole new story arc in motion with its next expansion, The War Within. If you can’t quite wait until this summer to see what the first chapter of the new Worldsoul Saga trilogy has to offer, you might not have to wait so long. Blizzard are running a beta for War Within that will give testers the chance to delve into the subterranean addition early - and sign-ups are now open.
D&D makers also want a Baldur’s Gate 4, but say they won't rush to a sequel (it shouldn't take 25 years, mind)
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 18:02:05 -0000
With Larian having now officially handed the reins of the Baldur’s Gate series back to Dungeons & Dragons owners Wizards of the Coast (and their Monopoly-making parents at Hasbro) - with the developers saying they have no plans to make any DLC or a sequel - the ball for a Baldur’s Gate 4 now sits in Wizards’ court. The good news is that, yes, they also want to make a follow-up to one of the most acclaimed and successful video games of the last few years. Just don’t expect that to necessarily be anytime soon.
The Fallout TV show might have answered a decades-old question in the video games
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 18:40:28 -0000
With the arrival of Amazon’s Fallout TV series last week came the dropping of another bombshell: the possible truth behind a mystery that’s gone unanswered in the video games for over 25 years. Before you read on, please bear in mind that spoilers for the Fallout TV show’s season one finale follow!
Watch today's Nintendo Indie World Direct right here
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 08:55:10 -0000
Nintendo is hosting its first Indie World Direct of the year today, April 17, and you can watch it right here with us.
As Nintendo continues to put off announcing its obviously impending Switch 2 reveal, it has at the very least decided to grace us with a Nintendo Indie World showcase today. Announced yesterday, the digital presentation promises "roughly 20 minutes of announcements and updates on indie games headed to Nintendo Switch in 2024." Unsurprisingly there was zero indication as to what we might actually see during the Direct, but you won't be surprised that pretty much everyone is asking the same question - will Holly Knight: Silksong be there?
No one knows for sure if it will be or not, Team Cherry has been much too quiet to get any kind of real indication on that front, but it was recently rated by the Australian ratings board, obviously fueling speculation of an imminent release date reveal. If you're eager to find out for yourself, you can watch today's Indie World showcase on Nintendo's YouTube channel when it goes live at 3pm BST/ 4pm CEST/ 7am PT/ 10am ET, or you can watch it on the livestream itself above right here.
You can sign up to play Hades 2 early right now
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 09:12:11 -0000
Fallout New Vegas director shares some notes from its development, finally revealing, uh, what the team once had for lunch
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 09:29:40 -0000
I don't know about you, but there was only one way I could celebrate arrival of Amazon's Fallout TV show just before the series dropped. I replayed Fallout New Vegas. If you did the same, the good news is that the game's director Josh Sawyer, has just shared a fresh peek at some of his development notes for the game.
Yup, get ready to pause a Twitter video more times that anyone ever should in order to try and see who made Mr House's moustache look quite so beautiful in his big screen render. Sadly that detail doesn't look to be in there, but there are a few other interesting nuggets.
In a thread that Sawyer would later reveal to be the result of him looking for his copy of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, he shared quick flicks through three notebooks he used during New Vegas' development. The dates attatched to the contents suggest that these notes start around 2009, when the team was working on building the base game's world and quests, and run all the way up until 2010, when they'd moved on to working on things like fine-tuning the mechanics of weapons and planning for some DLC.
To play Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, you must defeat some of Elden Ring’s toughest bosses
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 09:37:13 -0000
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree will release in June 2024, but even if you buy it day one, you might not be able to access the Elden Ring DLC expansion’s new overworld areas and dungeons right away. This is an add-on aimed squarely at those in the later stages of the game, as FromSoftware’s own Elden Lord Hidetaka Miyazaki has revealed in a new Famitsu interview – to gain access, you must first defeat two of the main game’s nastier bosses. Yes, I know that all Elden Ring bosses are nasty, but these two are among the worst, in my experience.
GTA 6 publishers Take-Two cancel games and lay off hundreds to "rationalize" their pipeline
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:10:59 -0000
GTA 6 publishers Take-Two Interactive have announced that they're "rationalizing" their "pipeline" and positioning/restructuring/streamlining for growth by, you guessed it, laying off a load of people and cancelling a bunch of games. As detailed in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Take-Two are doing away with five per cent of the approximately 11,000 people who work for them, and have cancelled several in-development projects worth tens of millions of dollars.
Chainsaw Man creator's Look Back get its first trailer, and its already my favourite film of the year
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:11:51 -0000
The first trailer for Look Back, an anime film based on a one-shot from Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, is finally here, and it looks ridiculously good.
Back in February, it was announced that one of Fujimoto's best (and saddest) one-shots, Look Back, would be getting a movie adaptation, the first of the Chainsaw Man creator's works to be adapted for the big screen - technically the Chainsaw Man movie covering the manga's next arc was announced first, but it still doesn't' have a release date yet, whereas Look Back is due out June 28 in Japan. And late last night, at least in my timezone, the first trailer for Look Back was released, showing a film that looks so beautiful I can already anticipate it being my favourite of the year (it does help I've already read the manga, so going in I'm confident the story will hit).
For those that know Chainsaw Man but maybe don't know Look Back, the one-shot follows, as described by English publisher Viz Media, "the overly confident Fujino" and "the shut-in Kyomoto" who "couldn't be more different, but a love of drawing manga brings these two small-town girls together." Like how many filmmakers often end up making a film about film, this is essentially Fujimoto's version of that, but with manga - it's very much about not even a love of drawing, but a love of working hard to get better at a thing you feel so much passion for, and doing it with people you care about.
FACEMINER is the dystopian surveillance work-from-home side hustle you’ve always wanted
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:16:47 -0000
FACEMINER is a clicker/puzzle game where you work from your CRT monitor to analyse packets of facial surveillance data for a mysterious company. It describes itself as a ‘hardcore thriller clicker set in 1999’. As a connoisseur of unusual word combinations - as well as a believer in the satirical power of clicker games since playing Universal Paperclips - I immediately set about downloading the free Steam demo.
The Witcher 3's powerful new modding tools now in testing on Steam
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:21:44 -0000
If you can't wait to start rummaging in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's guts with its powerful new modding tools, you can now shoot for early access by signing up for a playtest on Steam. The new REDkit suite is based on the actual tools that CD Projekt RED themselves sued to create one of the best RPGs, and will let folks make a much wider range of mods. We'll be able to make new quests, new characters, even whole new worlds.
After saying layoffs would be the "hardest thing to do", GTA publisher Take-Two announces plans to lay off around 500 staff, cancel some projects
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:28:19 -0000
Take-Two Interactoive, the company behind GTA developer Rockstar Games - which also recently acquired Borderlands developer Gearbox Software for $460 million - has announced plans to lay off just over 500 of its employees and cancel some in-development projects. This, as we've sadly come to expect, is part of a plan to cut costs at the company.
The plans were revealed via an SEC filing (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz) which outlined that Take-Two's board of directors had approved them and provided an explanation behind the rationale the company's using to justify making such a move. The latter contains a lot of the kind of language you might expect.
In that filing, Take-Two wrote that this cost slashing is designed "to identify efficiencies across its business and enhance the company’s margin profile, while still investing for growth". "As part of these efforts," it added, "the company is rationalizing its pipeline and eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs."
Former monster and relatable teen Steve Buscemi reportedly cast in Wednesday season 2
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:11:29 -0000
Steve Buscemi, an actor known for having played cartoon monsters and teen detectives, has apparently been cast in Wednesday season 2.
As reported by Variety, Buscemi is the latest actor to join season 2 of the very popular Netflix series Wednesday. This comes from sources that spoke with Variety, who weren't able to confirm exactly who he will be playing, though it's believed his role will be that of the new principal of Nevermore Academy. Whether Buscemi will be some kind of supernatural creature/ monster himself remains to be seen, though I'm sure his stint as Randall Boggs in Monster, Inc. will help him out there. Plus, thanks to that one constantly referenced 30 Rock bit he appeared in as a detective that supposedly looks young enough to pass as a teen, he's surely able to get down with the kids.
Details on Wednesday season 2 are mostly under wraps at the moment, though obviously the titular lead Jenna Ortega is returning, though this time also as an executive producer. Earlier this year she did say that she's "received some scripts now for the second season, and we’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror," which will definitely be a welcome change for those that felt the first season was a bit too casual. She went on to say that "there's some really good one-liners and I think everything is bigger. It’s a lot more action-packed. I think each episode will probably feel a little bit more like a movie, which is nice."
PlayStation Plus is about to suffer a big Final Fantasy exodus, but that pales in comparison to the real tragedy
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:43:09 -0000
Hello there, a whole bunch of games are set to leave Playstation Plus next month. There are 25 of them, to be exact, and some pretty big names are on that list. A smorgasbord of Final Fantasy titles, for example. Though, that's not what you should be most concerned about. Monster Jam Steel Titans 2 is leaving too, and to be honest, I don't think the service will ever recover from that.
First, the rest of them (thanks, PushSquare). If you're itching to play Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 8, Final Fantasy 9, Final Fantasy 10/10-2, Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, and Final Fantasy 15: Royal Edition, all of which I can confirm are Final Fantasy games, you'll have to do so prior to May 21.
Look, I know Final Fantasy titles have some amazing stories and characters in them, and you're now looking Monster Jam Steel Titans 2's Metacritic and saying to yourself 'this looks really mid, even for a racing game'. But does FF have Grave Digger in it? Does it let you pop a wheelie or do a flip in a big, silly toy that's designed to look like a big bull's head, or an alien spaceship, or a zombie?
Listen to Jack Black's dulcet tones as he seemingly confirms who he's playing in the Minecraft movie
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:00:14 -0000
Jack Black seems to have confirmed that he is in fact playing Steve in the upcoming Minecraft movie.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Black had joined the long in development Minecraft movie, supposedly as the most recognisable face from the game, Steve. His casting has since been confirmed, though his exact role hasn't been divulged. Now, thanks to a video from Black himself (via DiscussingFilm), it seems the Super Mario Bros. Movie actor has confirmed that he will be playing Steve. You can check out the video below, where Black has recorded himself singing the YouTube remix classic Double Rainbow Song while filming what looks to be just a single rainbow, though that might be down to the quality of the footage.
He then pans over to his trailer, where you can quite clearly see a piece of paper with the name STEVE on it, above the Minecraft logo, and when he enters it you can see some art of the characters from Minecraft stuck to the windows of the trailer. A little coy smile from Black at the end certainly seems to suggest that yes, he is Steve, though it's still not clear how blocky he will be in the final film.
Don't worry, the next Baldur's Gate shouldn't be over 20 years away, even if it won't come from Larian
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:44:01 -0000
So, we've all had time to come to terms with the fact that Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian isn’t doing any DLC for the game, or a Baldur’s Gate 4, or anything to do with D&D in the near future, even if those things might once have been on the cards. The good news is that Wizards of the Coast, which controls the IP, already looks to be in talks with folks who aren't Larian about what the next game in the series might look like.
Before you go and start getting ally hyped up, it sounds like it'll be a while until we actually see any new BG things actually materialise. Though, it's nice to know that you hopefully won't have aged over twenty years by the time they do arrive, assuming they, you know, actually do that.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Eugene Evans, the senior vice president of digital strategy and licensing for Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro - which owns the IP - offered a bit of insight into where Baldur's Gate's future currently stands.
As Star Wars Outlaws locks missions behind $100 paywall, No Rest for the Wicked isn't afraid to buck the trend
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:36:43 -0000
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No Rest for the Wicked, the unlikely next game from Ori series creator Moon Studios, is one day away from release. As we approach the big day, the developer has been revealing a few final details about the game, alongside dropping the launch trailer.
No Rest of the Wicked is not the type of grim action game with exacting combat you might expect to come from the makers of the whimsy and emotionally-charged Ori, but it also represents the studio’s first foray into the realm of Steam Early Access.
Top-down ARPGs are no strangers to Steam Early Access, of course, but Moon Studios is adopting a very player-friendly approach that could only really make the experience as smooth as possible, on day one and beyond; at a time when everyone is becoming increasingly weary of all the different caveats and hurdles modern games can’t seem to stop creating for their players.
Want to watch Family Guy forever? Seth MacFarlane sure seems happy to let you do so
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:09:45 -0000
Family Guy is 25 years old now, and while it hasn't run for as long as The Simpsons, series creator Seth MacFarlane sees no signs of it ever stopping.
It might not be the household name that The Simpsons is, mostly because of its edgier approach to humour, but Family Guy is obviously now an important part of adult animated series (even if it's one that mostly misses). Still, people like it enough all the same even now, and for MacFarlane, that's a good enough reason to keep it going. Speaking to the LA Times alongside the rest of the cast in a feature commemorating the show's 25th anniversary, MacFarlane said, "At this point, I don’t see a good reason to stop. People still love it. It makes people happy and it funds some good causes.
"It's a lot of extraneous cash that you can donate to Rainforest Trust and you can still go out to dinner that night. There was a time when I thought, it's time to wrap it up. At this point, we've reached escape velocity. I don’t know that there’s any reason to stop at this point unless people get sick of it. Unless the numbers show that people just are, 'Eh, we don’t care about 'Family Guy' anymore.' But that hasn’t happened yet."
Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut can turn your PC into a PS5, well, sort of
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:58:15 -0000
You just never know what's coming next in the world of gaming, do you? Well, aside from layoffs. We already knew the director's cut of Ghost of Tsushima was coming to PC on May 16, but it turns out it'll be doing more than just letting you stab some fellas with a big samurai sword. It's gonna be the first game to use a new PlayStation overlay, which basically makes a lot of stuff you'll be used to seeing on your PS5 over to PC.
Because, after all, why wouldn't you want to be able to see which PlayStation trophies you're earning while you're deliberately playing the game, which has been available on PlayStation consoles for a good while now, via a totally different platform.
As outlined in a new PlayStation blog post the PC version of the game, which comes with both Legends mode and the Iki Island expansion, is "the first PlayStation title on PC that uses a new PlayStation overlay."
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's ending was never going to please everyone, and that's fine
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Ever since Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out, and it became clear that the project was less of a beat-for-beat remake and more of a reimagining/ pseudo-sequel, there's been one question on everyone's mind, about a particularly important moment from the original: will they dress up Red XIII in a Shinra uniform still? Sorry, what's that - the big thing everyone was wondering about was whether Aerith would die or not? Yeah, sure, I guess I was wondering that too.
Alright, fine, jokes aside, this was obviously the thing I was most curious about too (outside of just seeing how the rest of the game would be realised with modern day capabilities). Of course I wanted to know! Aerith's death is the Darth Vader of video game spoilers, everyone knows about it just through cultural osmosis, even if they haven't even seen a lick of gameplay.
The original scene is easily still one of the most impactful in gaming, primarily because it's so shocking. Aerith is positioned as this all-important figure, someone who could lead humanity towards paradise, and as the last of her people, the Cetra, there's no one left to carry on their culture. It's an upsetting moment, and has stuck with so many players for almost 30 years, so of course with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth making it clear that the game would end at the scene where she dies originally, she kind of became a Schrödinger's cat situation - both alive and dead until proven otherwise.
SteamWorld Heist 2 revealed, bringing a ragtag crew of seafaring robots to PC this August
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:11:55 -0000
I briefly posted about this in The Maw, but was unsure at that point if SteamWorld Heist 2 was coming to PC day and date with the launch on Switch. That date is August 8th, by the way, and the answer is: yes it is! Though it was revealed at Nintendo's Indie World Showcase earlier this afternoon, strategy action-adventure-with-robots sequel SteamWorld Heist 2 isn't a timed platform exclusive, so that's fun!
SteamWorld Heist 2 is, if you hadn't guessed, a sequel to SteamWorld Heist, which came to PC in 2016. The first was a side-on tactics game where you, leading a team of robots, shot teams of other (bad) robots in turn-based skill-heavy tactical battles. While that all took place in space, the sequel has achieved splashdown, and you'll be chuntering about the seas with a new lead character (Captain Leeway) and a new bunch of crewmates. It's a robot pirate game, in other words.
Lorelei And The Laser Eyes is a new notebook-is-mandatory puzzle stunner from the Sayonara Wild Hearts devs
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:24:54 -0000
The surreal pop synth of Sayonara Wild Hearts may have been the game that put Swedish developer Simogo on the map for PC players, but for me their earlier iOS puzzler Device 6 stands in my memory as being one of the most distinctive video games I've played. An interactive mystery novel at its heart, Device 6 took full advantage of its mobile-based hardware, asking players to turn and rotate their device to read certain lines of text, and scroll through its chapters searching for audio visual clues to solve its puzzles. I've often lamented that it never made its way to other platforms, even though part of its magic is inherently tied to physicality of its tactile origins.
Happily, after playing a few hours of Simogo's latest game, Lorelei And The Laser Eyes it's clear this equally classy detective story shares much of the same DNA as Device 6. It has the same love of riddles and mysterious, cryptic puzzles, only now they're writ large in a fully explorable 3D setting - a monochrome and maze-like hotel belonging to a reclusive artist. But Simogo's love of text hasn't been diminished in the process. Early on you find an instruction manual for Lorelei And The Laser Eyes within the game itself, which straight away tells you to have a pen and paper nearby to help solve its numerous conundrums. Heck, publishers Annapurna Interactive even sent me a full-blown notebook in the post just to hammer it home. They're not kidding, either. Even the opening section of the game had me scribbling down names, sums and symbols, much like Tunic, Return Of The Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds did before it. Which is just as well, really, as I'll definitely be needing some reminders when I come to play the full version on May 16th.
What's better: a 'put back' action, or standing atop another player's head in an FPS?
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:57:24 -0000
Last time, you decided that gliding powers are better than Dragon's Dogma 2's Unmaking Arrow. Honestly I'm surprised it was that close (66% vs 33%—don't sweat the rounding), and I'm proud of your ability to weigh a whole concept against a single-game implementation. We are so good at this. Onwards! This week, I ask you to choose between placing things in two very different ways. What's better: a 'put back' action, or standing atop another player's head in an FPS?
Sonic 3 is for "all the real diehard fans" says Idris Elba, and I desperately hope he means there'll be Chao
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:05:31 -0000
It's sounding like Sonic 3 is set to be a hit with massive fans of the series, if you ask Knuckles himself Idris Elba anyway.
When you head back and look at the Sonic film, it feels pretty clear that the film was meant to be pretty broadly appealing, likely due to execs meddling - how else do you think we ended up at ugly Sonic? Moreso, though, it mostly felt like a film that could have had any superfast animal in it hanging out with James Marsden, with a few small but fun references scattered throughout. Sonic 2 had a bit more fun with it, but based on a brief recent interview between the voice of knuckles Idris Elba and Collider, it sounds like fans have a bit more to look forward to this time.
When asked about details on the film, Elba responded, " I can tease nothing. No, seriously. I don't even know what's gonna happen in it. No, I'm joking. I can tell you that it's super exciting. I can tell you that it really does get deeper into the universe of Sonic. I think 3's probably the one for all the real diehard Sonic fans. They're gonna get all of those Easter eggs in it. Jim [Carrey] is incredible, man. What a performance. It’s so great to work against, even though I'm never there with him, but I get to hear his voice. Bomb."
This Fallout 4 mod slaps Walton Goggins' beautiful pre-war face from Amazon's Fallout all over The Commonwealth
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:11:03 -0000
Odds are if you're a Fallout fan, you've already, for better or worse, blazed through Amazon's Fallout TV show. It's probably left you feeling like hopping back into your Fallout game of choice, and if that's Fallout 4, a new mod is definitely worth grabbing, mainly because it involves Walton Goggins.
Yup, we here at VG247 - even Tom - love the Goggins, and we loved seeing him in Fallout, both in raw (regular Goggins) and chargrilled (ghoul) form. He's so beautiful and funny you almost forget to take in all of the fun little references and easter eggs from the games that're constantly surrounding him.
Anyway, the mod that I'm about to say some things about is called 'Cooper Howard Billboard ( TV show)', it's by modder MrBloodjack, and no, I won't give you a bottle of Nuka Cola if you can guess what it does.
Fallout TV show spoilercast: what does it mean for Fallout 5?
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:13:57 -0000
Warning: the video above contains loads of spoilers for Fallout on Amazon Prime Video, in case that wasn’t already clear.
The Fallout TV show is finally with us, and it’s been a roaring success by any metric. The reviews are glowing (including our very own), a second season is all but confirmed, and people are flocking back to the games having been reminded just how much they love the world of this bleak, beautiful, borderline deranged post-apocalyptic universe.
Still, it wasn’t perfect: though the consensus is strongly favourable, not everyone is completely enamoured with the show. More than a few viewers are concerned about the effect it has had on the continuity of the games, and some are even convinced that it has effectively deleted the beloved Fallout: New Vegas from the canon entirely. Which is patently untrue, but Reddit’s gonna Reddit.
World of Warcraft: The War Within preview - delving into an exciting new saga
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:00:04 -0000
I've been obsessed with World of Warcraft for years now - playing it on and off for over 10 years or so. The game is a monument to multiplayer madness, be it the ferocious PvP community, the most absurd dedication to personal performance found in mythic raiding and dungeons, and down-bad hoarders flexing obscure cosmetics to other likeminded freakazoids. It's probably one of the best games of all time - certainly one of the most important. But almost 20 years since it first hit computers, does its latest expansion - The War Within - still entice?
I was able to play the expansion for a little while earlier this week as part of an early preview event, and came away feeling optimistic about the upcoming update. I was able to play through an early version of the first new zone: The Isle of Dorn. I was also able to experience the primordial steps of the main questline, look around the new capital city, and try out the freshly baked PvE instanced content - Delves! Obviously, stuff like dungeon or raid content, the more competitive aspects of the expansion, as well as some challenging content weren't available for testing.
Let's start with the juicy new content found in Delves. These are basically like mini dungeons where you - solo or with others - can venture down into short PvE experiences for loot, gold, and other goodies. You're accompanied by an NPC whose role your can change to fit your needs, in what turned out to be a 10-minute relaxing romp. This obviously can get harder - with additional difficulties adding strength to enemies and upping the loot quality in turn. You've also got temporary buffs and upgrades found within - a holdover from Shadowlands' Torghast system, but thankfully without the built-in desire to tear your own eyes out.
As World of Warcraft thrives in its experimental phase - Season of Discovery is performing well above expectations
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:02:15 -0000
As of writing, phase three of World of Warcraft Season of Discovery is well underway. Thousands of people are rushing into a remixed Sunken Temple raid, wiping to basic boss mechanics, not winning loot rolls, and getting rinsed for all their gold on enchants. It's all going rather well. In fact, the success of Season of Discover has eclipsed even Blizzards' expectations.
Speaking to VG247 during a press preview of the upcoming World of Warcraft War Within expansion, executive producer Holly Longdale pulled back the curtain on the reception to Classic Wow's outball season, as well as the thought process behind the current varied approach to WoW content.
"We thought it would be popular, and it was more popular than we thought," Longdale stated, when asked how the Season of Discovery was doing. "I can't give you exact numbers but it's probably double what we expected. We're doing so much experimental stuff- this idea of not testing [...], it adds a lot of risk. But it's Season of Discovery so it's kinda part of the ethos! It's been great, and a huge learning experience for how we do things in the future and how the later phases go."
World of Warcraft is fixing a major problem with the help of... Crabs?
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:06:23 -0000
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One interesting feature coming to World of Warcraft's next expansion - The War Within - is an arachnophobia filter. Whereas other games have taken on this problem and swapped out models for vague geometric shapes or other less creepy alternatives, the World of Warcraft team have gone through and swapped out all the game's spider models with... crabs.
Which makes sense! This upcoming expansion focused heavily on Nerubians, a race of spider-like creatures which tick all the boxes when it comes to spooking those with a distaste for eight-legged crawlers. Blizzard, having brought in all manner of experts and team members who suffer from the phobia, decided this was the right time to take action. The lengths they've gone to are not only widespread, but also oddly respectful of legacy content.
So starting with The War Within content, all Nerubians are swapped out with a variety of crab models re-used from prior World of Warcraft content. However, if you hop back through portals to Northrend and fly into Naxxaramas, all the spiders there are changed. Maexxna - the final boss in its spider quarter, has a massive model with similar colouration to the original boss. If you go to the Outlands from The Burning Crusade, a massive red spider in the Terokkar Forest called Terokkarantula is originally a vibrant red monstrous enemy. With the arachnophobia filter, it's a giant red crab. Perfect.
Militia to the gates, please - the Dwarf Fortress Steam edition's Adventure Mode beta is live
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 18:11:55 -0000
“It’s time to venture outside your fortress!” reads Kitfox’s invitation to play the beta for Adventure Mode in Dwarf Fortress on Steam. Sounds like a trap to me. Sounds like the kind of thing a werebadger would say, to lure you out of hiding. Are there werebadgers in Dwarf Fortress? If there aren’t, I have to ask what developers Bay 12 have been doing all these years. Doubtless, the hills and valleys of the hitherto base-construction-only Steam edition are teeming with were-creatures of every flavour. Werefinches! Wereotters! Werebudgerigars! Werepoets!
Todd Howard steps in to double down that yes, Fallout: New Vegas is canon to Amazon's Fallout
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 18:43:49 -0000
This news article contains a major spoiler for Season One of Prime Video's newest hit, Fallout: The Series.
Because of this, it may be wise to move along and read something else if you haven't finished the season just yet… like your's truly, who is only on episode four and now knows how the season ends. Oh well. Such is life, we reckon.
Anyway, if you wish to stay on this page, well, don't say we didn't warn you.
Bethesda's Todd Howard clarifies the fate of Shady Sands in the Fallout TV show timeline
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 19:18:46 -0000
Bethesda's very own Mr Handy (director and executive producer) Todd Howard has addressed the controversy surrounding the Fallout TV show's treatment of Fallout backstory, reaffirming the canonicity of Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas and promising that Bethesda and Amazon are being "careful" to maintain consistency between the games and the TV series. Are you new to this latest lore scandal? Watch out for Fallout Season 1 spoilers ahead, then.
Quentin Tarantino walks back final film plans that would've included a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood character
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:07:06 -0000
It's been 13 months since Quentin Tarantino set The Movie Critic in stone as his tenth and final film, and now he's walking back those plans.
The Hollywood Reporter has the details on the renowned filmmaker moving away from the long-anticipated project, but it's unclear why exactly he's had such a radical change of heart this late into the process.
Before The Movie Critic, there was a Star Trek idea Tarantino had been kicking around for a while, in hopes of turning it into a film, but that didn't come to fruition either. He's spent more than a few years now saying he wants to "go out on the top of his game," a reasoning that's been confusing to say the least, given his love for the medium and the fact most legendary directors never really walk away from making films. Hell, Ridley Scott (86 years old now) is still putting out a major feature per year on average. "I want to stop at a certain point. Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film f***s up three good ones," Tarantino told Playboy in 2012.
Somehow, Hades 2's new character art has left fans even hornier than the first game, and you can't really blame them
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:39:30 -0000
Warning: Spoilers for Hades 2 may lie ahead.
Did you play the first Hades, and then spend several years worth of your time salivating over the beauty of the Greek gods it kept thrusting onto your screen as you tried to concentrate on escaping the underworld? Well, it looks like Hades 2 has you covered and then some, if a fresh gameplay showcase is anything to go by.
If you're out of the loop, we've had a bit of a surge in Hades 2 activity since Supergiant suddenly announced a technical test for the game earlier this week, ahead of its launch in early access soon. The latest of these is a fun gameplay stream of that test build that the developer's done, showing off some new additions and, er, women with muscles.
Manor Lords dev staves off early access disappointment by explaining his game isn't here to murder Total War
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 09:56:56 -0000
Slavic Magic, the sole creator behind anticipated (sub genres forthcoming) strategy game Manor Lords, has written a transparent and refreshingly to-the-point blog post on Steam addressing both expectations and future updates. Specifically, Slavic Magic aka Greg Manor Lords has taken time to outline exactly what his game - currently the most wishlisted on Steam, ahead of Hades 2 - isn’t.
No Rest For The Wicked will be playable on Steam Deck, although recommended PC specs may be a worry
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 10:05:48 -0000
Nowadays, I'm more than happy to sacrifice high frames and a big screen for the comforts of the Steam Deck. I like lounging on the couch, the light forearm workout, and heating my room in only a few minutes. So it's good news that Moon Studios' upcoming ARPG No Rest For The Wicked will be playable on launch for Deck, the ROG Ally and other handhelds. Minimum PC specs also don't look too taxing, but those after the shiniest-looking game on recommended hardware may be in for a shock.
The American Oldboy remake turned out horrible, so they're making a TV series next
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 10:05:54 -0000
Almost everyone loves Spike Lee, but almost everyone also agrees that his Oldboy remake wasn't good. Somehow, we now find ourselves looking at the prospect of an Oldboy TV series.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate Television announced on April 17 that they're partnering with Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the man behind the original 2003 masterpiece, to develop a new "English-language adaptation of the story."
It's important to remind yourself that Oldboy already was a loose-ish adaptation of the 1990s Japanese manga of the same name written by Garon Tsuchiya and lovingly illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. Park Chan-wook gave it a voice of his own so strong that it quickly became the must-watch South Korean action-thriller movie for most people, only amplifying that status over the years. If the tentative TV series looks at the manga for inspiration instead, there might be a slim chance of America actually cooking this time around, but we're definitely not holding our breath.
Homeworld 3 DLC plans revealed alongside collector’s edition with model spaceships
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 10:40:07 -0000
Blackbird Interactive, the team behind upcoming strategy game Homeworld 3, have released details on both the planned roadmap and the game’s chunky-looking collector’s edition, ahead of the game’s release next month, 13th May.
The roadmap details three pieces of paid DLC for the year ahead, plus an additional planned paid piece in 2025. This is alongside several free content updates. Together, they’re all targeted at fleshing out the game’s ‘War Games’ three player co-op mode. Specifically, the roadmap details new playable factions, starting fleets, challenges, emblems, and maps.
Doom-inspired Dragon's Dogma 2 mod lets you engineer inter-enemy fights by controlling exactly how angry they can get
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 10:53:19 -0000
You there. Do you like Dragon's Dogma 2 and watching two things that aren't you fight each other? Well, if you've ever wanted to see what happens when an ogre decides it's just about had enough of a pack of goblins or a griffin and don't want to rely on random chance to make that dream come true, a new mod looks like it can help.
Yup, while coming across a couple of enemy gangs going at it isn't too uncommon in the base version of DD2, when you rock up, their attention usually shifts to caving in the head of your Arisen or ripping them to shreds, making it a bit hard to just sit back and watch the chaos unfold. So, the option to make enemies a bit more agressive towards each other, especially when attacks go awry, sounds pretty useful for the average mischief causer.
Enter modder alphaZomega's 'Monster Infighting'. It's inspired by the feature of the same name in the classic Doom games, in which tricking monsters into battling each other by cleverly making attacks meant for you set off a bit of an inter-baddie scuffle is a bit of an art.
1000xResist is a time travel story inspired by Star Trek, the pandemic and immigrant trauma
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:00:00 -0000
1000xResist, from Vancouver-based sunset visitor 斜陽過客, is one of those high-concept sci-fi yarns that easily unravels into a million, bewildering threads of ambition and inspiration. Let me try to pack the premise, at least, into a clean paragraph: you are the Watcher, a clone of the immortal ALLMOTHER, who herself is the sole survivor of a disease spread by the arrival of enormous aliens, the Occupants. The ALLMOTHER's many clones reside in an underground bunker, the Orchard, while their deified parent fights the Occupants elsewhere. Your job within the Orchard’s theocratic hierarchy is to relive and interpret the ALLMOTHER's memories of life before the fall, a thousand years ago.
Shadow-hopping platformer Schim emerges into the light in July
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:08:56 -0000
If you'll be hiding from the sweltering sun in July (I say, daring the fates to try to spite me by delivering a cracking summer), good news: you won't be the only shadow-dweller. The fascinating Schim finally has a release date, July 18th. It stars a little shadowy soul trying to reconnect with its human by hopping from shadow to shadow through city streets, farms, factories, and parks bustling with life and moving parts. See how it works in the new trailer below!
Morels 2 sure has a lot of unicorns, for a mushroom collection game
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:14:30 -0000
Friends, I have officially discovered another game I can play with my life partner, who regards most games with enormous suspicion and fatigue. That game is Morels: The Hunt 2, released this week, and as you might guess, it is about finding and identifying various species of mushroom in lush, photorealistic wilderness locations. There are also unicorns, crystal skulls and robot parts. Slightly confused by the unicorns, crystal skulls and robot parts, if I'm honest. It feels a bit like developers Abrams Studios are unconvinced as to the popular appeal of mushroom hunting, and have garlanded the concept with random mythology so as to widen the Venn diagram overlap between "fungi fans" and "people who want to live in cyberpunk Narnia".
Brian Cox comes out with guns blazing and tears into Joaquin Phoenix's "truly terrible" Napoleon performance
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:15:25 -0000
Despite some high praise from certain groups of critics and moviegoers, Ridley Scott's Napoleon epic garnered a bit of a divisive reception last year, with Joaquin Phoenix's performance being a part of that. Now, British acting legend Brian Cox (of recent Succession fame) has also criticised the movie and its main actor.
Cox has a long history of not giving a s**t when it comes to interviews and side gigs (such as that incredible Tekken 8 trailer he narrated). His recent rant at HistFest (via The Standard) is on an entirely different level, however.
The veteran actor had negative things to say about method acting, Donald Trump, and theatre critics, but also had some bullets to spare for Phoenix's Napoleon performance as well as the (lack of) guidance he was given by Ridley Scott. "Terrible. It’s terrible," he declared, "A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It really is appalling. I don’t know what he was thinking. I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott helps him. I would have played it a lot better than Joaquin Phoenix, I tell you that." It's the last sentence that sells the whole thing, I'd say. Just sublime stuff.
Apple is staying in the space business, as For All Mankind gets a season 5 renewal plus a spinoff
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:32:23 -0000
For All Mankind is one of those long-running prestige TV series that everyone seems to greatly enjoy, but struggle to make an impact on the mainstream conversation. However, it appears that Apple is more than happy to keep it going and even give it a companion spinoff show.
The tech and media giant is all in on sci-fi and space-related shows, it seems. From Foundation to For All Mankind, and also including more recent stuff like Constellation, Apple has been spending the big bucks on those genres, quickly making the Apple TV+ service the go-to streaming destination for those in love with outer space and high-concept science fiction.
For All Mankind's season 5 renewal confirmation comes straight from Apple (via Variety), which is already calling it "a universe" instead of a single alt-history series. "There is so much to explore and, we along with our partners at Sony, can’t wait to dive into this next chapter of the engrossing ‘For All Mankind’ universe," said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for the Apple TV+ platform.
Chill out, Helldivers 2 players calling for fixes over new stuff, Arrowhead's "figuring it out" and plans to do a better job of delivering both
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 12:51:05 -0000
Hey you. Have you been moaning about a need for more bug fixes to arrive for Helldivers 2 recently? Well, if you've been one of the vocal folks calling for Arrowhead to stop putting out new content until it's tended to all of the lingering issues, that isn't going to happen. Though, the studio's CEO has pledged that it's aiming to get better at juggling the two.
If you're out of the loop, while the Democratic Detonation Warbond has recently arrived in-game, along with some fresh ship module upgrades, there have still been plenty of bugs and issues doing the rounds as folks have been trying to enjoy their new stuff. From fire damage being a bit too, er, damaging, to one of the latest armour sets having originally shipped with the wrong passive, Arrowhead's been managing to whack some of the issues, but, for better or worse, that hasn't stopped some players getting frustrated.
Casually popping up in a Reddit thread (thanks, GamesRadar) about the reaction to the reaction to Arrowhead's recent work on the game, CEO Johan Pilestedt unsurprisingly ruled out the suggestion some vocal critics among the playerbase have been making - that the studio should temporarily shift focus solely to fixing the list of issues currently on its plate, before it puts out more new warbonds and updates.
New Nancy Drew game Mystery Of The Seven Keys is out in May, thus making my life very slightly harder
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 13:11:38 -0000
The problem with deciding to play every single Nancy Drew mystery puzzle game for a column is that, because they have been coming out since the 90s, Her Interactive have built up enough steam that I may never catch up to the front of the plucky citizen detective train. They have today announced a release date of May 7th for Nancy Drew: Mystery Of The Seven Keys, along with the official trailer.
This time Our Nance is heading to Prague, for a sort of old-world-meets-new story about hacking, medieval myths, and a stolen necklace. Nancy is hired to find said heirloom, and interview a bunch of suspects, one of whom is creepy puppet guy up there (there are no screens of Nancy because she never actually steps out from behind the camera in these games; she may as well be a cryptid). I realise this may not be of interest to regular readers of this site, but while I may not have seven keys, I do have one to the back end of this website, so nobody can stop me.
Sea of Thieves sails across impressive player milestone ahead of PS debut
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 13:54:24 -0000
Booty called, and boy did we answer. Earlier this week, the Sea of Thieves team revealed that 40 million of us had embraced our inner pirate and set sail since the game's debut across Xbox and PC. We seas-ed the day, if you will.
Sharing this "amazing milestone", Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe 'Three Sheets' Neate acknowledged the game's "brilliant, positive and welcoming community, who continue to surprise and impress us with your creativity and antics out on the waves".
A lot of credit and thanks for this milestone also had to go to Sea of Thieves' development team, Neate added, "who've worked so hard to deliver over a hundred free updates since launch and have plenty more excitement and innovation on the horizon".
Transformers One's first trailer presents an animated buddy action-comedy on Cybertron
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:18:09 -0000
Following 2023's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the second movie in the rebooted live-action Transformers continuity, Paramount Pictures has Transformers One almost ready and next in line, and its first trailer has finally arrived.
While Transformers has never left the animated medium behind, One will be the first animated movie in the series to hit theaters in nearly 40 years, so expectations are understandably high. It seems designed to please the most diehard fans who grew with the original series in the 1980s, but at the same time, it's got a modern style and youthful energy.
As far as we know, Transformers One won't be connected (at least not directly) to the ongoing live-action efforts from Hasbro and Paramount, which include a just-announced Transformers & G.I. Joe crossover feature that was teased at the very end of the last installment of the former movie series. Before we get deeper into the details, check out the first trailer, which confirms the September 13, 2024, release date, below:
Cities Skylines 2 publisher refunds DLC and admits: "We let you down"
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:35:29 -0000
Cities Skylines 2 publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order have issued a stark apology for the state of the game and the release of its recent DLC, admitting to fans: "We let you down".
"We see and understand the disappointment," the companies behind the city sim sequel write in their joint statement - a message which repeatedly apologises for the missteps which led to Cities Skylines 2 being released in such a state, and announces that anyone who purchased the Beach Properties DLC would be refunded. Work on any future paid DLC has now been postponed indefinitely.
"We asked for your patience and support, and you've shown those," the statement reads. "In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry."
I spoke to an Nvidia AI NPC, and he mainly wanted to get me bladdered
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:36:28 -0000
If the purpose of a tech demo is to induce a flash of thinking "Hey that’s neat," then I’d be lying if I said Nvidia’s Covert Protocol – a playable showcase for their AI NPC tool, Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) – hadn’t worked on me. If, on the other hand, it’s to develop that thought into "Hey, I want this in games right now," it’s going to take more than a slightly stilted natter with an aspiring bartender.
What's new in Hades 2?
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:46:02 -0000
Earlier this week Hades 2 developer Supergiant announced its technical test, which players can sign up for now ahead of the game hitting early access.
The developer is "close" to that initial launch, with the technical test providing players a first look at how the game will play. It's not available to all, however, so Supergiant yesterday hosted a livestream to show off what players can expect from the technical test.
So what's new? I won't give too many specific details, but note there will be some light spoilers.
Here's the sneakiest of sneak peeks at Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming evil endings
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:55:31 -0000
Hot off the heels of its BAFTA wins, developer Larian has given a little tease for Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming "improved" evil endings.
Sharing a community update on Steam, the developer spoke more about its plans for Patch 7 and the game's future. Along with fixing a number of bugs and other more typical fare, this particular patch will also begin introducing official modding tools to Baldur's Gate 3. This, Larian said, will allow players to "overhaul Baldur's Gate 3 into the weird nightmare realm of your dreams".
And, with the mention of nightmare, I will segue into those evil endings. Before I do, though, please be aware of potential Baldur's Gate 3 spoilers.
Diablo 4 PTR's best feature has me more excited about Season 4 than I’ve ever been – and it’s not even the better loot
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
I’ve waxed poetic about my love for the action combat in Diablo 4 plenty of times before. Of the many, many Diablo-like action RPGs I’ve played, the one that always felt the best moment-to-moment has been Diablo 3. This remained true until Diablo 4 launched.
Dunking on Diablo 4 has been somewhat in vogue lately, but the game’s biggest sin wasn’t its underwhelming endgame, the overload of loot in the late-game, the lack of any meaningful social features, or even how it did Lilith dirty in its campaign. No, my biggest problem with Diablo 4 was all the time it made me spend not enjoying its action.
Let me explain.
Want to keep that Godzilla train rolling? This season's latest kaiju anime is the one for you
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
It's been a good year for Godzilla fans: last year saw the arrival of Godzilla Minus One, the first Japanese live-action title since 2016's Shin Godzilla, and the American produced Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire just released at the end of March. Whether you want something a bit more grounded or you just want to watch giant monsters bashing the hell out of each other, there's something for everyone. But of course, you might want to keep that kaiju train rolling, and you're looking for something new to bite into. Lucky for you, this anime season has a giant monster anime for you that seems well worth setting some time aside for: Kaiju No. 8.
The first episode of Kaiju No. 8, based on the manga of the same name, only dropped just last week, available on Crunchyroll on demand, and even on Twitter (I mean, X) live when the episode airs for international audiences. Like all good kaiju media, Kaiju No. 8 focuses on the people first and foremost, but it specifically looks at the people that have to clean-up the dead remains of kaiju once they've been taken down.
It follows Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old who wants to join a team called The Defence Force, a group of specially trained soldiers that take down kaiju, all because of a promise he made to a childhood friend. Only problem is, life didn't turn out quite the way he had hoped, and he's stuck dealing with sh*t-filled kaiju intestines instead (even if it is an important job that helps society). This being a manga/ anime, though, there is of course a twist on the usual kaiju episode: for some reason, a small, winged, worm-like kaiju burrows itself into Kafka's body, and he is transformed into a humanoid kaiju. Oops!
The Electronic Wireless Show podcast S3 Episode 15: everyone loves Fallout and the Fallout TV show
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:06:35 -0000
Here at the Electronic Wireless Show podcast we're nothing if not ready to jump on a bandwagon, and the hottest wagon in town right now is the Fallout TV show. We've watched varying amounts of Amazon's new adaptation of Bethesda's favourite post-apocalyptic RPG baby, so there are some mild (but not total) spoilers within, as we talk about the show, the show biffing the leaving-the-vault-moment, the best things about the games, the Righteous Gemstones, and how good Walton Goggins is just, like, in general.
How you sign in to this site is changing slightly
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:12:51 -0000
As you may know, the network this site belongs to is for sale.
To help us with our impending separation from the ReedPop business we are detaching some systems and services from the ReedPop brand.
One of those systems is our reader accounts system which powers profiles, comments, subscriptions, and newsletters on this very website.
In teasing Baldur's Gate 3's next big update, Larian also casually teases that the next project it's working on will be its "best work ever"
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:14:20 -0000
Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian isn’t doing any DLC for the game, or a Baldur’s Gate 4, or anything to do with D&D in the near future. We know that. It's, uh, far too busy teasing the mysterious new things it is actually working on, and casually announcing that more stuff's going to be added to BG3 soon.
Don't get your hopes up too much though, it'll be a while until we actually see those new things, especially the "very big RPG that will rule them all" that Swen Vincke's previously hyped up, which seems separate to what he's teasing this time. You know, much in the same way you'll have to wait to see what Wizards of the Coast will do with the Baldur's Gate IP going forwards.
In its latest community update, number 26, Larian does a bit of BAFTA reflecting, lets us all know what the main headlines of the upcoming patch 7 for BG3 will be, and teases its future. Jesus, three birds, one stone - you can see why the studio netted pretty much every GOTY award known to man. After confirming that it won't be doing the stuff I mentioned it won't be right at the start of this article, the update offers a fun little statement from Larian founder Swen Vincke about what the studio's currently working on.
How you sign in to this site is changing slightly
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:15:18 -0000
As you may know, the network this site belongs to is for sale.
To help us with our impending separation from the ReedPop business we are detaching some systems and services from the ReedPop brand.
One of those systems is our reader accounts system which powers profiles, comments, subscriptions, and newsletters on this very website.
How you sign in to this site is changing slightly
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:15:37 -0000
As you may know, the network this site belongs to is for sale.
To help us with our impending separation from the ReedPop business we are detaching some systems and services from the ReedPop brand.
One of those systems is our reader accounts system which powers profiles, comments, subscriptions, and newsletters on this very website.
Blizzard says "it's time to make a bold statement" with World of Warcraft
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:33:46 -0000
This year, World of Warcraft will get its 10th expansion, the War Within, which as an occurrence is nothing particularly remarkable - there have, after all, been nine of them before. This time though, things seem slightly different. There's an air of change around Blizzard, at least as far as World of Warcraft operations go. It's personified by executive producer and vice president for World of Warcraft, Holly Longdale, who joined the WoW team in 2020 (from EverQuest) and stepped into the EP role about two years ago. She talks - in a presentation at a WoW War Within event in London - about the team trying, for about a year-and-a-half, to be more transparent and share development more openly with the community, then elicit feedback more readily from them. And though team-leaders tend to say things like this, there does seem to be some evidence to back it up. Look on the World of Warcraft website: there's a string of in-development posts about War Within that reveal considerable information about it - there don't seem to be cards held close to chests. There are also posts detailing recent experimental ideas like battle royale mode Plunderstorm, which came out of nowhere, and the equally unexpected new Remix idea, which supercharges an entire previous expansion's content - in this case Mists of Pandaria's - for a speedy recap levelling experience. It sounds like a great idea.
Things have needed to change. World of Warcraft has never faced more competition - not only from other MMOs like Final Fantasy 14, but also from games that might as well be labelled MMOs, such as Fortnite. Whether or not World of Warcraft still rules the roost, I don't know, because Blizzard won't talk numbers, which in itself is probably telling. More importantly, Blizzard has had to weather some ferocious storms. There was the lawsuit that alleged sexual discrimination at the company, which although it was settled last year for multiple-millions, has caused considerable harm. There was also, at the same time, the whole will-they won't-they saga of the Microsoft Activision Blizzard buyout, which has now finally gone through and will bring changes of its own, such as Microsoft-enforced layoffs announced earlier this year.
It's against that backdrop Blizzard tries to answer the not inconsiderable question of how to make a 20-year-old game still feel relevant today. It's a remarkable innings, and it staggers me to think of how many millions of people and lives World of Warcraft has touched during it, but how do you bring those people back? Partially, some of the answer seems to be to go big. The War Within, unlike any previous WoW expansion, will belong to a trilogy - the Worldsoul Saga - which will build and build in scope until we're facing those legendary titans we always hear so much about from the game's foundational lore. Expansions two and three - Midnight, and The Last Titan, respectively - are already in development, and should combine to deliver the most ambitious connected storyline the game has ever seen.
Elden Ring player completes game in Morse code
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:36:16 -0000
Over two years since its release, Elden Ring players are still completing the game in a variety of weird and wonderful ways.
Earlier this week, Spanish streamer Silithur completed his run of the game using a single button and Morse code. Back in February, he garnered attention when he beat first major boss Margit using this method; now he's done the whole game.
Silithur shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, of his final, exhausted moments against the Elden Beast, which received plenty of praise in response.
Video game TV and movie adaptations that need to happen next
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:42:15 -0000
This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, after the success of Amazon's Fallout TV series, we discuss the TV and movie adapatations of video games we'd love to see next.
Not every video game series fits an adaptation, and even the ones which do might need some work. You need to adapt the game's story well - such as in HBO's The Last of Us - or find space to tell your own narrative without contradicting the game's own.
So which games do we think might fit the bill? Well, we have a few ideas - and how to go about them. Joining me this week to discuss are Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale and Victoria Kennedy. And if you're reading this, Jeff Bezos, please do give us credit whenever you're commissioning TV series with our ideas - thank you.
No Rest for the Wicked: the spectacular evolution of Moon Studios' graphics tech
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:58:58 -0000
No Rest for the Wicked is out now on early access, giving us our first glimpse at Moon Studios' latest project. The developer's prior offering - Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and The Will of the Wisps - turned the Metroidvania style of game on its head, offering a powerful, fresh experience that is difficult to forget. And now, four years later, Moon looks set to do the same for action RPGs with No Rest for the Wicked. Simply put, No Rest for the Wicked couples a stunning visual design with elements inspired by From Software's Souls titles, Blizzard's Diablo and even Animal Crossing - and yet the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
At its core, Wicked remains a game rooted in the Unity Engine but with a vast range of customisations transforming it into its own thing, hence the nickname - Moonity. This, however, is used only for the game's presentation layer - the graphics you see on-screen. Moon has also built a new simulation engine - built on top of Exit Games' Quantum Engine - to handle game logic, including a fully deterministic 3D physics system for networking, which No Rest for the Wicked will feature at a later date.
What makes this setup work well is the division between rendering and simulation - basically, input responsiveness is separate from frame-rate so, if you're playing on a lower end platform, like a Steam Deck, at 30fps, the game will still feel as responsive as a game running at a higher frame-rate. The visuals, however, are striking. First and foremost, Wicked supports HDR on day one - this is important as we have largely considered Ori and the Will of the Wisps to stand out as one of the best examples of HDR in any game released to date. The HDR implementation is superb and just as intense and engaging as Ori. It makes a gigantic difference if you use an HDR display.
Jujutsu Kaisen is officially the world's most popular anime, and I can't think of a series that deserves it more
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
This might come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, but Jujutsu Kaisen is the most popular anime in the world. I'm not being hyperbolic, I'm not just being biassed and pulling out of my ass: the actual Guinness World Records said so. The organisation shared last week that a data-science firm found that the series has a "global demand rating 71.2 times greater than that of the average TV show." This demand is based on things like "how much attention, engagement, desire, and viewership is expressed by consumers for content."
Yes, that means it's more popular than heavy hitters like Attack on Titan, and long-running series like One Piece. In fact, up until about July last year, One Piece was the more popular show - of course, that's just before season 2 kicked off with the immensely popular Hidden Inventory arc. Since then, we saw an entire season of impeccable animation, more than one cosplay from Megan Thee Stallion, and an entire meme culture born from intense weekly chapters on Twitter and TikTok. It's been a good time for Jujutsu Kaisen, a series that is close to joining the likes of My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Attack on Titan on the 100 million+ manga volumes sold club. And quite honestly? I can't think of a series more deserving of its popularity.
I do understand that Jujutsu Kaisen isn't for everything. It has several upsetting character deaths, it feels like any actual wins the characters have don't last long, and some don't even like Yuji Itadori as a protagonist, finding him to be a bit plain. But for those that it clicks with, like myself, it really hits. In particular, I think Yuji is one of the best shonen protagonists around, and maybe one of my favourites ever.
Fallout 4 currently Europe's best-selling game, almost a decade after release
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:16:00 -0000
Bethesda really must be feeling very happy right now. Fallout 4 has pip (boyed) its way to the top to became Europe's best-selling game, per sales data from chart numbers company GSD.
As reported by Eurogamer's sister site GamesIndustry.biz, sales of the almost decade-old game rose over 7500 percent week-on-week across Europe. Most of these sales were on PC, which accounted for 69 percent (nice).
The remaining 31 percent was made up across PlayStation and Xbox, although it is worth noting that the game is also on these consoles' subscription services.
Larian have two new games in the works, "fueled by the very same fire" as Baldur's Gate 3
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:24:56 -0000
Larian aren’t just not making Baldur’s Gate 4 – they’re treating Baldur’s Gate 3’s success as an opportunity to develop their own intellectual properties, with two new games in the works. These games will build on the “sensibilities” of Baldur’s Gate 3 in being “immersive experiences shaped by your choices”, but by the sounds of things, they won’t be adaptations of anybody else's narrative or setting. Divinity: Original Sin 3? It’s the obvious call, but come now, free your mind. How about a kart racing game, Larian, or a banging old school mascot platformer? When are you going to make a platform game, Larian?
Braid's Anniversary Edition squeezes in one more delay, three years after it was first meant to arrive
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:29:22 -0000
The Anniversary Edition of Braid was originally announced almost four years ago, and originally meant to be out sometime in 2021. As such, the latest delay to Jonathan Blow’s time-rewinding puzzle-platformer - which sees its date pushed back two weeks into the middle of next month - feels like a relative drop in the hourglass.
Arma and DayZ makers’ free-to-play looter-shooter Vigor is coming to PC, half a decade after consoles
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:01:43 -0000
Despite military sim series Arma and its zombie survival spin-off DayZ having their de facto home on PC, developers Bohemia Interactive opted to snub us keyboard-and-mousers for their post-DayZ game Vigor. The free-to-play survival shooter hit early access on Xbox way back in June 2018 - almost six years ago - and subsequently made its way to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. And yet, for more than half a decade, no whisper of a PC release was heard - until now, that is.
Netflix confirms The Witcher Season 5 will be its last
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:02:33 -0000
The end is approaching for Netflix's uneven The Witcher adaptation; the streaming service has officially renewed the show for a fifth season, which will be its last.
Netflix shared the news on Tudum, its "official companion site", adding that Season 4 and Season 5 will be shot back-to-back, with production of Season 4 already underway in the UK.
The Witcher's final two seasons are set to adapt author Andrzej Sapkowski's three remaining books - Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake - with showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich promising "an epic and satisfying conclusion to the series.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut brings PlayStation trophies and friends to PC for the first time
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:25:15 -0000
Former PS4 hit Ghost of Tsushima is the next big PlayStation exclusive to make the leap to PC, and it’s bringing some extra PS-shaped features with it. The game’s Director’s Cut - representing the fact this re-release will include its Iki Island expansion and co-op mode - will be the first game that lets you earn PlayStation trophies from your PC, if you so wish.
Balatro ‘95 perfects procrastination by modding the roguelike deckbuilder into classic Windows Solitaire
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 17:47:44 -0000
If you somehow haven’t fallen down the Balatro hole just yet, that slope is about to get a whole lot slippier. The mesmerising roguelike spin on poker is easy enough to lose an entire afternoon to by itself, but now it’s been combined with the granddaddy of all computer-related procrastination: classic Windows Solitaire.
Boys will once again be boys in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, revealed today for 2024 release
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:00:00 -0000
Warhorse have revealed Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, sequel to the 2018 open world action-RPG which you will likely remember for a couple of reasons: 1) its ostensibly faithful but inevitably skewed representations of race, gender and class in medieval Bohemia, which were amplified by its creative director Daniel Vávra's qualified endorsement of Gamergate, and 2) being a moderately entertaining, buggy and mucky chivalric fable in which you have to worry about keeping your sword sharp and eating food before it rots.
Going by the announcement video, the new game is the same game but with more cash to burn. It's the work of 250 people, with Jan Valta returning as composer. According to Vávra, "what we are making now is what it was supposed to be in the beginning, but we were not able to do it because we didn't have enough resources and experience."
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 announced
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:15:00 -0000
Warhorse Studios has announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, a sequel to its medieval dungeons-and-no-dragons action RPG.
Six years on from the original game, this follow-up will arrive sometime later in 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
The action once again takes place in an open-world version of early 15th century Bohemia, where you continue to play as peasant-turned-knight Henry of Skillitz.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 continues the realism-obsessed RPG series - and is set to release later this year
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:21:16 -0000
After a successful first outing, Czech game developer Warhorse Studios is back with a sequel to Kingdom Come: Deliverance - and fans will be able to play it later this year.
Simply titled Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the new title promises to be another realism-focused action RPG - set against the backdrop of a chaotic civil war raging across 15th Century Bohemia - the historic region of the world that encompasses much of the modern-day Czech Republic.
Players are once again cast as Henry of Skalitz - the returning protagonist from the first title. Henry’s story continues - and the developers promise hours more cutscenes than in the previous game, a more epic story, and a significantly larger open world for Henry to explore. In an introduction given to media, the game's developers boasted the word was double the size. See the debut trailer for yourself below.
Baldur's Gate 3 studio confirms two new projects: "Will be our best work ever"
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:46:43 -0000
With the world of Dungeons & Dragons now officially behind it, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has confirmed it currently has two new projects in development, both based on its own IPs, which studio founder Swen Vincke has described as "our best work ever."
Vincke revealed Larian was exploring two new games in a conversation with Eurogamer earlier this year, describing them as "big and ambitious" projects "we want to make". That wording suggested things were still up in the air, but it now sounds like plans have solidified following today's announcement Larian is "currently working on two new projects".
Larian shared the news at the end of a Steam blog post detailing Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming patch, which reiterated the studio's previous announcement it "won't be introducing any major new narrative content to the story of Baldur's Gate 3 or its origin characters and companions, nor will we be making expansions or Baldur's Gate 4."
Darkest Dungeon 2's carriage of horrors trundles onto PlayStation this summer
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:18:35 -0000
Darkest Dungeon 2, the sequel to developer Red Hook Studios' acclaimed Lovecraftian roguelike RPG, is launching for PlayStation 5 and PS4 on 15th July.
Darkest Dungeon 2 launched for PC last May, after some time in early access, taking players on a grim Lovecraftian road trip - one of bone-juddering carriage rides through nightmarish locales - that Eurogamer contributor Edwin Evans-Thirlwell called a "copious and often brilliant, if not quite unmissable reworking of a powerfully grim fantasy" in his Recommended review.
The original's tactical turn-based combat is back too, of course, described by Edwin as "clearer and snappier and more oriented toward collaboration between party-members" this time around, and PlayStation owners looking to bolster Darkest Dungeon 2's core roster of 12 playable heroes can pick up its Binding Blade DLC alongside the main game come launch day.
Stardew Valley creator casually flings 40 new mine layouts into latest patch
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 22:29:07 -0000
You'd think after launching Stardew Valley's massive 1.6 update, creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone would want to catch his breath; but nope - Barone has just casually tossed out a new patch that, among other things, adds 40 new mine layouts for players to explore.
Barone confirmed a new update was on the way last week, teasing "a new fishing thing, and some new mining related stuff". Turns out Barone might have been underselling things a bit. Update 1.6.4 kicks off its patch notes with 20 new 'alternate' mine layouts - which can start appearing after players reach the bottom of mines - plus 20 new volcano mine layouts, which can appear after unlocking the shortcut between the caldera and the volcano entrance.
And there's more! Barone's mysterious "fishing thing" has revealed itself to be fish frenzies, and they're joined by four new fairy types, as well as a "special cutscene" that triggers after players help their new neighbours grow their family to the max. Additionally, it's now possible to place an extra eight non-fish items into fish tanks, mystery boxes and golden mystery boxes can be traded at Raccoon's shop, vinegar can be poured onto trees to stop them from ever growing moss, and the shaving enhancement now causes tree-specific drops.
Amazon's Fallout show officially renewed for second season
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:07:10 -0000
In a surprise to no one, Amazon's Fallout TV series has been officially renewed for a second season.
The news was shared earlier today, with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy - who executive produce the show via Kilter Films - saying they "can't wait to blow up the world all over again".
"Holy shit," added showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. "Thank you to [Nolan], Kilter, Bethesda and Amazon for having the courage to make a show that gravely tackles all of society's most serious problems these days - cannibalism, incest, jello cake."
Wahey, Amazon's Fallout TV show season two is now officially confirmed, just in case there was any doubt
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 08:42:37 -0000
You there! Stop playing through through Fallout 4 again! Amazon's Fallout TV show is now officially confirmed to be getting a second season, as pretty much all of us had hoped following the stellar reaction to its debut series.
Yup, after increasing everyone's appreciation for Walton Goggins and Ella Purnell's ability to say 'okey dokey' in about fifteen different tones, as well as providing loads of fun little references and easter eggs to dissect, the show's set to continue. To be fair - spoilers - you probably guessed that it would likely be doing so when you saw how it ended.
A tweet from the show's official account first revealed this good news, slap bang in the middle on the night UK time. "Wouldn't want to keep you on the edge of your seat, now, would we?", the slightly sarky post read, "See you back in the Wasteland for SEASON 2."
No Rest for the Wicked has players divided, as it launches to Mixed Steam reviews and plenty of complaints
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:05:11 -0000
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The launch of No Rest for the Wicked hasn’t gone as smoothly as many had hoped. While there were no server issues to contend with, or severe optimisation and game stability problems, the reception has so far been mixed.
The problems mainly revolve around the state of the Steam Early Access build, but once you get past that, so many of Moon Studios’ design decisions have left players surprised and often annoyed.
No Rest For The Wicked devs working on fixes for performance issues and progression loss bugs
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:28:10 -0000
No Rest For The Wicked, the top-down soulslike that released yesterday in Steam early access, is already seeing its fair share of performance and QOL issues, including instability, lack of keybinding options, and players losing their progress. In response, developer Moon Studios have put out a blog saying that, yes, they’re aware of the problems and, yes, they’re actively looking to address the most common hiccups.
What we've been playing - old twin-sticks, caves, and ink
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:32:47 -0000
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week: twin-stick shooters, caving, and ink.
If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.
On a whim I did the Daily Challenge in Spelunky the other day. It has been years since this was a regular feature of my life. I had lots of Spelunky nerves, a reminder I hadn't played in a while: the toothy plants made me shiver, and a door in Jungle with spike traps on either side was enough to make me doubt my abilities.
Eiyuden Chronicle will receive a sequel despite death of its creator
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:47:01 -0000
Eiyuden Chronicle developer Rabbit & Bear Studios will continue working on a sequel following the death of its creator Yoshitaka Murayama.
Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is set for release next week across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Switch, but in a reddit AMA the developer stated it was "moving forward with a sequel".
"That is the aim we are working towards," it said in response to whether a sequel was on the way. "We hope many players support this game."
Cities: Skylines 2 devs apologise for "rushed" DLC, offer refunds, promise conciliatory fan summit
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:02:27 -0000
While Cities: Skylines 2 has made progress on the performance front, not everything about the troubled citybuilder is on the up. In fact, player reception to the recently released Beach Properties DLC has proven so un-sunny that both developers Colossal Order and publishers Paradox Interactive have issued a joint statement apologising for the state it launched in.
The letter, addressed to Cities fans and signed by Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen and Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, also promises refunds for anyone who bought Beach Properties. Or, in the case of those who got it through snapping up Skylines 2’s Ultimate Edition, compensation in the form of three Creator Packs and three radio stations. The contentious DLC is also going free to anyone who’s yet to put money down.
Visions of Mana won't have co-operative multiplayer, despite series history
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:06:24 -0000
Visions of Mana, the next entry in Square Enix's Mana series, sadly won't have co-operative multiplayer.
1993's Secret of Mana was celebrated for allowing players to join forces against its hordes of squidgy, colourful enemies and many games in the series since have played similarly.
Visions of Mana, though, will be single player only due to the impact multiplayer would have on design and pacing.
Bethesda remembers Starfield exists, promises more "soon"
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:11:07 -0000
Bethesda has been making headlines left, right and centre for its video games recently. That's right, we simply can't stop talking about...Fallout! Yes, that series hasn't had a new release in many, many years, but thanks to Amazon's hit TV adaptation, has seen a renewed interest from fans.
Starfield, however, has not had the same reception despite being a more recent release and one which Bethesda proclaimed would be its next big thing. But, don't worry. Among all the noise of us falling over Fallout, the studio has finally remembered its space-based RPG actually exists.
Speaking to IGN, Todd Howard confirmed that Bethesda is actually "doing a lot of Starfield work" as well as keeping busy on things such as Elder Scrolls 6 (which the exec said is the "focus as far as new development right now").
Worried about Fallout 4's next-gen update messing with your mods? Nexus Mods is taking steps to help you out
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:11:29 -0000
It's now less than a week until Fallout 4's long-awaited next-gen update drops on April 25, bringing with it a bunch of tweaks for different platforms and some fresh goodies you can grab for free. If you're on PC the only issue with that is that updates - especially big ones - tend to play havoc with mods when they first drop, but modding platform Nexus Mods is taking some steps to try and make that transition a bit less of a headache.
It's good news, because you probably aren't alone if you've felt unable to stop yourself kicking off a frssh modded playthrough of Fallout 4 after watching Amazon's Fallout TV show, which is now confirmed to be getting a second season. So, while this won't cover Fallout: London, which is a bit different, here's what things'll likely look like modding-wise when the update drops.
In a new post, Nexus Mods community manager Pickysaurus has shared a bit of a rundown of the issues this Fallout 4 update will likely cause when it comes to modding, and a couple of handy steps that that the site's taking to help you muddle through the initial aftermath of its arrival.
Fallout 76 has a hellish new area and Bethesda want you to nuke it
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:25:30 -0000
Timed perfectly off the back of the Fallout TV show's success, Fallout 76 players can start testing out Skyline Valley, a new woodland area in the game's upcoming major update. There's a new public event to try, as well as combat readjustments that'll be drip fed over the course of the test period. Anyone who owns the game on Steam can give these things a go, which is a bonus, too. I think I own it? I genuinely can't remember. Anyway, yes, maybe I'll hop in and see how things have changed since, errr, launch.
Manor Lords is not a Total War competitor, developer insists
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:48:02 -0000
While Manor Lords may at first glance seem similar to the Total War series, its developer has said the upcoming strategy game should not be seen as a competitor.
Writing on Steam, Manor Lords developer Greg laid out a list of things the game is not. Top of this list are the very plain to see words: Manor Lords is not a Total War competitor.
Rather, developer Slavic Magic said its upcoming game is a "city builder with battles".
Sony mulling Paramount buyout - reports
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:50:32 -0000
PlayStation maker Sony is considering a purchase of movie studio giant Paramount, according to reports.
Both The New York Times and Bloomberg report that Sony is interested in an offer for Paramount, which itself owns MTV, CBS and Nickelodeon, and operates streaming service Paramount+.
Sony, of course, already has its own vast film and television empire, and has bought other movie studios before - most notably Colombia Pictures, home to Spider-Man and Ghostbusters. It's interesting to look at Paramount's franchises in that light, and imagine how PlayStation could elevate one of those in a similar way to how it has championed Spider-Man.
Game of the Week: Life Eater and why games need their own Moviedrome
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:00:00 -0000
Hello! Our Game of the Week is Life Eater, and let's just look again at that opening sentence from Bertie's review: "Few game ideas will turn your head quicker than one about abducting people and murdering them." That feels fair! There are lots of games about murdering people, sure, but the rest of it?
Bertie wasn't entirely convinced by Life Eater, I gather, but I think he remains pleased that it exists. And that brings me nicely to the topic of this week's column: I am incredibly glad that Life Eater's developer, Strange Scaffold, exists. And I'm going to try and explain why I feel that so strongly.
Strange Scaffold is the development label of Xalavier Nelson Jr., who is one of the most interesting creators in games. The label's made lots of games and it seems to make them quickly. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I was reviewing El Paso, Elsewhere, and before that it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was playing Skatebird or Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator.
Donkey Kong delay hits Nintendo theme park
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:02:18 -0000
The upcoming Donkey Kong Country-themed expansion to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan has been struck by a delay.
The huge new area, themed around Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, will now be fully bolted-on to the existing Mushroom Kingdom park in "late 2024", Universal Studios said today.
That's a delay of around six months, as the Donkey Kong area was previously set to open sometime this spring. Readjust your holiday plans appropriately!
What's it like adding a world to Star Wars? The Outlaws developers explain
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:22:10 -0000
Star Wars: Outlaws isn't just an open world retread of existing Star Wars locations, like Tatooine. It contains a whole new moon of developer Massive Entertainment's creation - Toshara, which is home to the Pyke criminal gang and visually defined by huge deposits of crystalline orange material and cities hacked out of mountains. What's it like adding a whole bloody world to Star Wars? Here are some quick thoughts from Massive Entertainment's creative director Julian Gerighty.
Helldivers 2 players have managed to kill two billion Terminids so quickly that people are, er, actually trying to do maths
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:28:37 -0000
Good news, people who aren't fans of creepy-crawlies. Helldivers 2's latest Major Order tasked players with casually wiping out two billion Terminids, and in less than 24 hours, intergalctic pest control has prevailed. It's done so in such concerningly rapid fashion, in fact, that some people have actually felt the need to do maths.
Equipped with armour sets that definitely should have the intended passives now and crews that can pack boxes faster than anyone ever has before, the forces of Super Earth have seemigly taken bug killing to new levels. Almost bizzarely high levels.
As Arrowhead's now confirmed via a tweet, which is a slightly more subdued follow-up to several posts and reddit threads which can't quite seem to agree on whether this took around 12 hours or something closer to 14, the bugs are now ticked off as being dead. So, that's two billion bugs "dead in less than a day", since the Major Order only arrived yesterday afternoon, in what Arrowhead's calling an "inspiring display of pre-emptive self-defence".
No Rest for the Wicked had a rocky launch, but fixes are coming
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:43:13 -0000
No Rest For the Wicked launched in early access yesterday, but has unfortunately hit a few bumps on its debut.
The Diablo-like game from Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios currently holds a mixed review average on Steam, with the top comment stating that while there are definitely the bones of a good release here, its developer "still needs to cook".
"I want to like this, but the performance is just not in a good enough place for me to recommend it right now," one player wrote, while another adds: "Wait till further development/release if you have any self control."
Alice0 is leaving RPS, come and celebrate her work and make lamentation
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:00:00 -0000
We've suffered some body blows recently, but perhaps none will ever be as winding as the news I now deliver to you: Alice0 is leaving RPS. She recently celebrated 10 years here, so that should tell you something about how much of an influence she's had over the tone of the site over it's lifespan. Truly, the site won't be the same without her - so let's take the opportunity to celebrate here work here.
Netflix will no longer share subscriber numbers, following password crackdown
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:01:11 -0000
Netflix will no longer publicly share its subscriber numbers, the streaming giant has announced, as it reaps the rewards of its recent password-sharing crackdown.
In a business update, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the move was due to the ongoing evolution of its business model to incorporate revenue from advertising and from subscribers who now have to pay extra to add-on access for friends and family outside their primary household.
This meant that deriving Netflix's success purely from subscriber figures was now "historical" maths, Peters said.
Dragon's Dogma 2 patch makes Dragonsplague easier to spot, Pawns less likely to fall off cliffs
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:41:46 -0000
Capcom will release a new update for Dragon's Dogma 2 which will make some changes to Dragonsplague and adjust some Pawn behaviours, making them less prone to falling off the side of cliffs in the process.
First off, let's talk about Dragonsplague, the affliction that can consume Pawns, resulting in some pretty devastating consequences. Capcom said its next patch will reduce the infection frequency of Dragonsplague, and also make it easier to spot.
"For example, when infected, glowing eyes will be more noticeable," the developer explained.
Prison Architect 2 release date delayed again, less than a month from launch
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:44:55 -0000
Prison Architect 2 has been delayed once again. The upcoming jail sim sequel will now arrive this autumn, following the discovery of "unexpected issues occurring too often".
Originally due to arrive in March this year, and then later pushed back to May, Prison Architect 2 will now arrive on 3rd September.
The game's publisher Paradox Interactive said in a statement today it had noted issues related to memory usage were impacting the stability of the game. Despite having a version of Prison Architect 2 ready to go on all platforms, it has opted to delay the game now to ensure it arrives in the best possible state.
This delightful fantasy immersive sim somehow snuck its merry way into Steam’s FPS fest
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:46:14 -0000
Neverlooted Dungeon is an rpg game in which you can shoot a crossbow from a first person perspective. This, I imagine, was the pitch it used when trying to blag its way past the thermodynamically powered golem wearing a Daikatana t-shirt that guards the gates of Steam’s currently-running FPS fest. Whatever the excuse, this silver tongued rascal succeeded, and is now nestled comfortably between umpteen boomer shooter revivals, trying to squeeze Ultima factoids into the conversation.
Stardew Valley gets yet another update, adding new mine layouts and ominous-sounding "fish frenzies"
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:59:51 -0000
It's starting to feel like ConcernedApe (aka Eric Barone) may in fact be a modern day Sisiphus, destined to work on Stardew Valley forever. Following on from the mega update of 1.6 a month ago, and 1.6.3 soon after that, the hardy perennial farming game has a new 1.6.4 mini update. The key addition this time is more new layouts that will appear after you reach the bottom of the mines, and more layouts for the volcano mines too. If you've not played Stardew Valley you might wonder why there are deep mines and volcanos, and to you I say "Pah! You should play Stardew Valley."
1.6.4 also has a lot of bug fixes (including fixing disappearing pets, new pets being a key feature of 1.6) and some balance changes, as well as a host of fixes for modders and modded players. ConcernedApe said early on that 1.6 would be an update for modders, so it's nice to see that being supported. You can read the full patch notes here.
Sony is reportedly looking at making another acquisition, and this time it involves Halo
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 13:04:59 -0000
Sony, yes, the company behind PlayStation, is reportedly considering making a bid to buy Paramount, the massive media that currently has the likes of Nickelodeon and MTV, as well as Paramount Pictures and Paramount+ - though you might well have been able to guess those latter two - under its umbrella.
This is according to reports from The New York Times and Bloomberg, which claim that Sony and an investment firm called Apollo Global Management, are considering making a joint offer to acquire Paramount, though no such proposal has actually been submitted as of yet. Both add that Paramount is currently still in exclusive talks with another company Skydance Media, about a potential merger.
The addition of Sony to the process would seemigly make Paramount less concerned about the cash behind any bid, with this being cited as a concern it had with a previous $26 billion bid from Apollo on its own, thanks to the gaming giant's "deep pockets".
Grow your very own grandpa in this wonderfully unpleasant little indie horror game
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 13:27:24 -0000
I don't remember much about my grandfathers anymore, only that they were once there and they loved me, and now they are gone. So if I were a small child with quarreling parents and I stumbled across a hidden abandoned lab housing a horrifying shapeshifting psychic lifeform, perhaps I would also try to want this maybe-a-demon to be my grandpa. That's the premise of Growing My Grandpa!, a delightful little indie horror game about feeding, teaching, and caring for "a grandpa-like entity". It came out in 2022 and I kept forgetting to post about it, but it's still great so I'm telling you now, okay.
Helldivers 2 must balance bug fixing and new content to stay relevant, developer says
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:06:40 -0000
Arrowhead has a steady line it needs to walk with Helldivers 2. The developer needs to ensure it both fixes any bugs (not Terminids, the glitchy kind) while also adding new featurs and content to the game in order to "stay relevant".
That's coming from Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who replied to a post on reddit (thanks IGN) saying the "competitiveness of this industry" meant the team had to ensure it did both to ensure the longevity of its game.
"Arrowhead is independently owned by people working at the studio and not swayed by shareholders in the traditional sense," the Helldivers 2 head said. "Of course we are in a great partnership with Sony where we agree on targets to hit etc. But there isn't a forcing function or requirement per se.
What are ‘solvable’ games, and is being solvable a bad thing?
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:30:00 -0000
While trying to keep vaguely up on both games discourse and terminology over long periods of time, I frequently find myself noticing terms enter common usage, get used a bunch, then fall out of favour again. I think this is partly because games discourse is cyclical, and partly because writing and talking about the same things a lot means that when a neater phrase for something complicated pops up, it gets assimilated quickly. Mostly, though, I think it’s because of my brain doing the thing where, say, you notice a yellow car on a walk and then see dozens of them. I was going to write a car make there but I don’t know any. Uh, (looks at monitor), Asus? Do Asus do cars? The 1994 Asus Gremlin. What a ride!
The original Fallout games show their age - but newer fans should still give them a shot
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
In the wake of the excellent Fallout TV adaptation, everybody is talking about the resurgence now being enjoyed by the Fallout video games. Fallout 4, 3, 76, and New Vegas have all vaulted into the top sellers on Xbox. On Steam, Fallout 4 has squeaked its way into the top concurrently-played games on the platform - putting it up there with multiplayer mainstays like Team Fortress 2, Destiny, and Rainbow Six Siege - and alongside hot new games like Helldivers 2. It’s an impressive summit.
But do you know which Fallout game has enjoyed the highest month-on-month percentage increase, at least according to Steam Charts? That’s the very first game in the series, 1997’s Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game. Sure, there are significantly less people playing that game than most of the others, but whereas Fallout 4’s player base has jumped by a little over 50% since the show launched, the first game’s player base has jumped by 160%.
This stat speaks to a truth about Fallout as a series; many people only encountered it with 2008’s Fallout 3, and few decided to go back to play the games that started it all. Folk can hardly be blamed for this - they are different sorts of games, deeply old-school and traditional, and by no means guaranteed to click for people who fell in love with the series in its shootery, VATS-powered Bethesda Game Studios iteration. With that said, I’m thrilled to see the original games getting a bit more attention, even if it’s only a couple of thousand people returning to Fallout and Fallout 2 at any given time.
"It feels right" - Fallout's original creator's now properly reviewed Amazon's TV show, and he still likes it
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:02:52 -0000
One of the original creators of Fallout, Tim Cain, has revealed his full thoughts on the recently released Fallout TV show, after having previously given the first two episodes a thumbs up. A producer, lead programmer and designer on the original game, Cain came away from Amazon's own take on the Fallout universe with positive thoughts on the series, expressing interest in season 2.
We're not going to go over every point - for the full thoughts you can check out Cain's video here, but it's worth noting some of the bits he was especially keen on. These include the lore drops, and the show's lack of overbearing narration or boring info dumps.
"One thing I loved about this show so much - there [were] a lot of lore drops," Cain said, "I missed stuff. I've watched videos where people try to fidn all the easter eggs, I've seen peopel throw up Reddit threads where they notice something and I'm like 'I watched that and did not see that'. What I especially love about it is there's no exposition. There was never a narrator explaining this stuff to you. Never a character who had some big wall of text that would have been in the game, or some big long [voice over]."
Capcom plan to make Dragon's Dogma 2's dragonsplague less frequent, and more obvious
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:10:14 -0000
Capcom are working on another Dragon's Dogma 2 patch, and this one takes as its target the dreaded dragonsplague, which causes the game's AI-controlled pawns to go nuts and murder everybody, including story-critical NPCs, if you allow it to go untreated for long enough. It'll reduce the infection frequency of dragonsplague, which is spread when pawns mingle with other pawns online, and make the symptoms more obvious. Pawns already get glowing eyes when they're dragonsplagued - I guess they'll be all the glowier in future.
How to build Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus in Fallout 4
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:39:58 -0000
In my humble opinion - or not so humble if you know me well enough - the Fallout series on Amazon Prime has struck an admirable balance between satire, absurdity, and ultra violence that epitomises its wasteland. Lucy, The Ghoul, and Maximus are the three archetypes of the characters you'll find in Fallout: the vault dweller, wasteland wanderer, and Brotherhood of Steel follower. So, if you'd rather be those characters rather than just meet them in your adventures, I am here. I've put together a character build for Lucy, the Ghoul, and Maximus so you can recreate the chaos of Amazon's Fallout in Fallout 4.
Please forgive my very poor excuses for these character's lookalikes in the character creator, as it leaves a lot to be desired. However, if you're like me and play Fallout 4 in first-person then you won't see the face that much - so you won't be haunted by these... mimics.
This is specifically for unmodded Fallout 4, we should note, but if you head over to Nexus Mods and have Fallout 4 on the PC I know you'll be able to find Fallout TV show-inspired mods that'll do wonders for these builds... Anyway, let's jingle jangle jingle on together.
This amazing, surprising browser game shows the Internet can still be magical
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:52:55 -0000
What I like about browser games is that clicking on a word in this mundane piece of software could take you anywhere, to anything. For example, if you click on this link to the domain corru.observer, you'll find yourself in a dark room before a strange glowing device. Apparently it's your job to do... something with it? So begins one of the most surprising and delightful games I've played all year, a sprawling, shape-shifting sci-fi story which is still unfolding through updates. I didn't even know all this was possible with HTML and CSS.
Piecing It Together gave me a timely little island of calm
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
It's been a while since I snuck my diary into a column, huh?
Long-term readers might have discerned that I haven't been well for a very long time. I have various ailments, of which we all suffer, and it turns out that a mere five years of clinging on by your fingernails sometimes leads to some actual treatment for... all of them. Wild.
So while there've been a lot of interesting looking games in the shortlist lately, these last few weeks have been entirely too interesting for me personally. Piecing It Together is nothing more or less than 3D jigsaw puzzles. I've never even liked jigsaws, but it turns out that was exactly the kind of game I needed.
If I never write about video games ever again, let this be my final plea
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:02:04 -0000
When I tick the box telling your unwanted launcher to remember my password, make it remember my chuffing password.
No Rest for the Wicked’s PC performance suggests the wicked might be better off waiting
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:07:51 -0000
Lured like an unsatisfied sailor by the siren song of alleged performance woes, I’ve been giving No Rest for the Wicked a cursory benchmarkin’, and yes! The isometric ARPG does suffer from all the early access wonkiness you’ve likely heard about already today.
Gorgeous action-adventure Kena: Bridge of Spirits has been rated for Xbox
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:09:31 -0000
Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the gorgeous action-adventure from developer Ember Lab, looks to be making the leap to Xbox Series X/S, according to a newly spotted rating on the ESRB website.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits initially launched in 2021 amid various timed exclusivity agreements: Sony snapped it up for PS5 and PS4, while the Epic Games Store snagged exclusivity on PC. Kena released on Steam the following year, but an Xbox version is yet to be seen.
While no official announcement has been made by Ember Lab pointing to Kena's imminent arrival on Microsoft's platform, a newly discovered Xbox Series X/S classification by the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (thanks VGC) suggests Xbox owners wanting to sink into Kena's striking action shouldn't have too long to wait.
Prison Architect 2 has been pushed from its already delayed release date next month all the way back to autumn
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:37:25 -0000
It seems that Prison Architect 2 is going method in its approach to launching the 3D sequel to the jailhouse management game, as - like its inmates - it just can’t seem to secure a solid release. Originally due to arrive in March, before being pushed into May, developers Double Eleven have now shunted it all the way back to September.
Mario Kart 8 has 703,560 customisation possibilities, but which racer is statistically best?
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:45:44 -0000
Everyone has their favourite Mario Kart character to play as, but is there really a best option? A choice which will actually give you an edge to beat your rivals - to go just a little bit faster, or recover that little bit quicker?
Well, yes - some characters are mathmatically better than others. This is even true when you factor in the many different kart pieces - bodies, wheels and gliders - which you can mix and match to tweak your overall racer stat. So how do you pick?
According to a fasincating and beautifully put together piece of research by data scientist Antoine Mayerowitz, there are 703,560 different build options to choose from when you cater to all the different characters and kart pieces. But many of these are carbon copies of each other - so you can quickly whittle that down to just 25,704 distinct statistical options.
You can now play World of Warcraft in VR - the perfect excuse for your awful DPS
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0000
Picture this. You're mythic raiding in World of Warcraft, and it's all on the line. Your DPS is good and your ability rotation is damn near perfect. This is the run. Your hard work is about to be rewarded with the post-boss logs showing you're a top tier player - one of the best, perhaps? Just then, your tank trips over the stack of pizza boxes near his desk and plummets to the ground, his $500 VR helmet slamming into the floorboards and concaving his face as his brain shoots out the back of his head. Unable to press Shield Wall, he dies and the raid wipes. You are left distraught as the healers are lectured on their poor performance.
This is just one of the many possibilities now at our fingertips with the release of a VR mod for World of Warcraft. Created by a gaggle of creators and posted for free on Github, the mod allows you to put yourself in the body of your undergeared Blood Elf mage and take off in a glorious adventure around Azeroth. See the wonder of the Stormwind tram yourself for the first time, farm Siege of Orgrimmar every week for 7 months for the mount and feel tears get trapped inside your tech goggles. Truly, this is an experience WoW has desperately needed.
Jokes aside, it does look like a decent bit of fun if you've got the hardware available, and as Eurogamer's Ian Higton showcased in their own video (which you can watch above) it seems to actually work reasonably well. Don't get the wrong idea - bringing this to progression raiding or M+ is deeply sinful behavior, but for a casual romp around your favourite zones? Why not! It's your sub, after all.
Well, whaddya know, there’ll officially be a season two of Amazon’s very popular Fallout TV show
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:05:06 -0000
In the most unsurprising news you might read today: Amazon are going to make a second season to their very popular Fallout TV show. That means one more season until we get Liam Neeson, right?
Ark's animated series now streaming in the UK and 10 other territories
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:40:33 -0000
If you've been eager to watch the animated Ark: Survival Evolved TV series, but your attempts have so far been thwarted by your failure to live in the US or Canada, there's some good news: it's now officially available in 11 other countries, including the UK, via Paramount+.
Ark: The Animated Series follows the adventures of 21st century palaeontologist Helena Walker after she finds herself resurrected on a mysterious island populated by prehistoric beasts. "She must learn to survive with new allies from throughout time," explains the official blurb, "while trying to uncover the true nature of their strange new world."
Ark's animated series has somehow managed to secure itself an impressive cast (presumably that 'somehow' is 'several extremely large buckets of money'), with the likes of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Russell Crowe, Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Wright, Elliot Page, Madeleine Madden, Karl Urban, and David Tennant all lending their vocal talents to proceedings. Vin Diesel is also on board - he's a big Ark fan, apparently - ahead of his appearance in the delayed Ark 2.
Suikoden spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicles will get a sequel to ‘carry on the legacy’ of late creator
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:42:51 -0000
Eiyuden Chronicles, the RPG series that’s effectively a sequel-slash-spiritual successor to nineties and early noughties JRPG classic Suikoden, will continue with a sequel despite the death of its creator earlier this year.
Final Fantasy 14’s long-awaited graphics update in 7.0 will look better than the Dawntrail benchmark, Yoshi-P promises
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:06:30 -0000
Ahead of Final Fantasy 14’s next massive expansion, Dawntrail, arriving this summer, Square Enix recently put out a graphical benchmarking tool. Dawntrail’s benchmark is especially noteworthy as it’s the first time we’ve really been able to put the MMO’s much-anticipated graphical update arriving with 7.0 into practice and see what sort of demands it might make on our hardware by overhauling the 10-year-old game’s visuals.
The Wolf Among Us 2 resurfaces after last year's delay with four new images
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:05:42 -0000
Telltale Games' long-in-the-works The Wolf Among Us 2 has resurfaced with new screenshots following last year's delay, with the studio saying it's "been heads down" on the project.
The Wolf Among Us 2 - again set in the world of Bill Willingham's Fables comics - was originally announced back in 2017, but development halted when Telltale Games shut its doors the following year. That appeared to be the end for the sequel, until 2019 brought the news Telltale was being resurrected under new management - a surprise development that would eventually see The Wolf Among Us 2 re-announced.
Our first proper look at the sequel arrived in the form of a trailer in 2022, but as its 2023 release date drew near, Telltale announced it was delaying the game in order to avoid burnout and crunch. Unfortunately, it looked like the project might have run aground a second time last October when reports suggested development had been heavily impacted by Telltale layoffs.
Next week's Epic Games Store freebies include Cold War shooter Industria
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 20:47:34 -0000
As the calendar continues its ceaseless onward march, Epic has announced its next batch of weekly Epic Games Store freebies, which this time look very much like Cold War shooter Industria and post-apocalyptic RPG bundle Lisa: Definitive Edition.
Both games are free to add to your Epic Games Store library starting Thursday, 25th April, and if you need a nudge toward the 'download' button, here's what you can expect from each:
Industria, coming from developer Bleakmill, describes itself as an atmospheric first-person shooter set in Cold War-era East Berlin. "Unravel the secrets of a mysterious parallel dimension while searching for a missing colleague," goes the official blurb. "Explore a haunting reality where the truth awaits. Discover the dark past that lies beyond."
“We put everything into this expansion” - Final Fantasy 16’s DLC director speaks on the game’s final content drop
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 06:37:12 -0000
With the release of Rising Tide, the world of Final Fantasy 16 is now complete. A game about elemental gods that in the past have been known as Espers, Summons, Eidolons and more, one element was mysteriously missing from FF16’s narrative. Now, with Rising Tide, the Eikon of Water joins Clive’s fight.
“You can really feel that they’ve all powered up,” enthuses Takeo Kujiraoka, the director of Final Fantasy 16’s DLC. Power creep is common in games, of course - satisfying progression practically demands that characters become ever more powerful, until you’re swatting away previously deadly enemies. But Kujiraoka isn’t talking about Clive and Jill, FF16’s handsome leads - he’s talking about the development team.
Kujiraoka has stepped into the director’s chair for the post-launch period of Final Fantasy 16, taking over those duties from Hiroshi Takai. Placed in charge of finding new adventures for Clive and new challenges for players, one asset was the most invaluable of all: the team was pumped up and ready to deliver.
What are we all playing this weekend?
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0000
Friday was my final day at RPS, after ten years, so how come I'm posting this on Saturday morning? Reader dear, I'll let you in on a little trade secret: I do not wake everyone up at 7am to ask them what they're playing. I actually make them tell me on Friday. I have felt tremendously guilty about deceiving you across the 353 previous WAWAPTW posts. The weight of that is honestly why I've left. It feels good to finally come clean. Whew! Alright, now tell me, what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
How to play Fallout 4 as your fave from the TV show
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 08:30:00 -0000
TV shows are alarmingly short these days. Long gone is the era of 26 episode seasons. Nowadays, you're lucky to get ten episodes per year of your favourite show. With Fallout, the absolute television event of the year, we've had to make do with just eight installments. Sure, that means there's very little fat or filler in there, but damnit, we just want to spend more time in the wasteland with those particular characters. Because, let's be frank, the TV show is great. Even the director of the original game thinks so.
Well, enter Zoe from our sister publication Eurogamer with this handy video guide for building Lucy MacLean, Maximus, and The Ghoul as your Fallout 4 protagonist, and just in time for the long-awaited current gen update coming next week. Sure, you'll have to fill in some of the gaps with your imagination, but that's what role playing is all about. This guide is for the vanilla game and doesn't utilise any mods, so console players are welcome to get stuck in.
So check out the video above. Anything to take the sting out of the long wait for season 2, right?
Excited for Grounded and Sea of Thieves on PlayStation, but not for the reasons you might think
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0000
There's something quietly quite exciting happening, and I wonder where it's going to lead. Earlier this week, Grounded - the Honey I Shrunk the Kids backyard survival game - arrived on PlayStation, and at the end of the month (30th April) pirating game Sea of Thieves arrives on PlayStation too. It's a momentous occasion, even though it might not sound it, because we've never had games conceived as Xbox exclusives arrive on PlayStation before. It's an unprecedented new approach by Microsoft and, should it work, it could open a whole Mary Poppins bag of possibility.
I don't want to talk about the colder business case for it, because that's not what excites me. What excites me is what it means for players and, I suppose, for the games themselves. How wonderful it feels to be excited about these games again, which are now a number of years old. We first played Sea of Thieves in early 2018, and Grounded in mid-2020, and they were terrifically exciting then, but now they're not. They've been with us so long they've become familiar. No one's pulling you aside and asking you, raw enthusiasm in their eyes, if you've played them yet.
Well, not yet.
Michael Douglas requesting Hank Pym to be killed off in Ant-Man 3 highlights the MCU's recent lack of stakes
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0000
Deadpool & Wolverine looks fun enough, and at least The Fantastic Four appears to have a very specific pitch in mind to wow us come 2025, but can Marvel Studios fix its current lack of soap opera dynamics and high-stakes drama?
We'd be lying if we claimed Phase 4 and 5 entries such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever didn't pack an emotional punch, but it's all feeling a bit weightless and disjointed since Tony Stark's sacrifice and Thanos' defeat, isn't it?
LittleBigPlanet3's servers will remain "offline indefinitely"
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:08:46 -0000
Sony has confirmed LittleBigPlanet 3's servers will remain "offline indefinitely".
The servers were taken down in January, although it was hoped at the time that it would be a "temporary" situation.
Now, however, "ongoing technical issues" mean the servers will not be coming back online and all online services – including access to other players' creations – "are no longer available".
Sea of Thieves on PlayStation 5: the next big Xbox multi-platform game tested
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
Sea of Thieves stared off life as an Xbox exclusive, growing over time into a genuine hit with a large, committed community. Now, in an effort to increase its audience still futher, it's become a key part of Microsoft's multi-platform push. Yes, Rare's pirate co-op title is headed to PlayStation 5, kicking off with an open beta last weekend. So just how good is the port and to what extent does the experience vary between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series hardware? This has been an interesting project for Digital Foundry, not just because of the new version - but also because we missed out on covering the game in its transition to current-gen hardware, so we also took a look at the game to see how it has evolved up against Xbox One X.
The most interesting place to start is with a look at the brand-new PS5 version. To reiterate, we looked at beta code, and there may be changes when the game launches on April 30th, but it does seem quite polished at the moment. First impressions suggest a game that is very similar to its Series X counterpart - but when we look a bit closer, there are some differences. Shadows look quite a bit different on PS5, with a sharper outline and more visible detail. This holds true both up-close and at a distance, with far away shadows resolving more softly on the Series machine. This is definitely an odd change, and falls in line with a similar tweak found in the PS5 version of Hi-Fi Rush.
If we boot up the PC version at max settings, the PS5 version more closely resembles the highest shadow quality option, though neither console is a perfect fit. The PS5 and PC exhibit similar looking shadow detail, with slightly stronger filtering on PC, but if we step down to the legendary setting, both consoles clearly offer better and cleaner shadow rendering. I can't quite tell if this just comes down to a difference in shadow filtering or if the PS5's shadow resolution has been upgraded relative to Series X, but it is very curious for sure. I tended to prefer the PS5's shadow rendering for what it's worth, though it's not a difference I'd fixate on outside of head-to-heads.
No Rest for the Wicked makes a killer first impression, but I’m worried about all the crafting and survival guff
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Explaining what kind of game No Rest for the Wicked is, is going to prove challenging. After spending a few hours with the - clearly very divisive - Steam Early Access launch build, I don’t think I’m closer to quite nailing the answer down, yet. I can tell you, however, that I just can’t stop playing it.
No Rest for the Wicked is the new game from Moon Studios; the studio behind the Ori games. Not only is this the team’s first Early Access launch, it’s also not a platformer that tugs at your heartstrings every few minutes. It’s a punishing action RPG with demanding combat, set in a brutal world that adds a new perspective to the team’s superb artistic talent.
Fans think Silent Hill 2 Remake's James has had a facelift
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 15:08:22 -0000
Bloober Team has seemingly amended the face of James Sunderland in its highly-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake.
The switch came to light via an updated icon on SteamDB, leading some fans to speculate that the studio revised James' face in response to community feedback.
Whilst it's not been confirmed by Bloober itself – or been replicated on any other of the game's storefront assets or screenshots – James' haggard, grief-soaked face has been smoothed out to make for a less tense, more youthful, look.
No Rest for the Wicked's first hotfix is here, and a second patch is "on the way"
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 16:55:08 -0000
No Rest for the Wicked's first early access hotfix has been rolled out, and a second patch is "already in progress".
As Victoria summarised for us yesterday, the Diablo-like game from Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios released to mixed reviews on Steam, but already the team is on the case in a bid to address "balance, durability, stamina, loot, stability, and immediate Quality of Life".
In a lengthy update on the game's social media accounts, the team said: "Thank you again to all of you for making our Early Access launch so amazing. Today's hotfix is the first of many upcoming patches and updates to improve No Rest for the Wicked on the road to our 1.0 release.
Sonic x Shadow Generations has been rated in South Korea
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:42:14 -0000
Sonic x Shadow Generations has been rated in South Korea.
The South Korean Game Content Rating Committee didn't have much else to say about the game when it published the rating yesterday, but did at least confirm the "action" game was suitable for "all" users.
Perhaps more interestingly, though, the publication of yet another rating for the recently-announced remaster will go some way to confirm to fans that the release window remains on schedule, and the game would appear to still be on track to release in autumn (Q3) this year.
Take-Two wins NBA 2K tattoo lawsuit
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:46:02 -0000
Take-Two has successfully defended itself against a lawsuit in which a tattoo artist claimed the publisher had used their copyright without permission when recreating the likeness of Lebron James' tattoo in NBA 2K.
Yesterday, Friday 19th April, a jury in Ohio returned the verdict that Take-Two had not infringed on tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden's copyright after Take-Two's lawyers convinced the jury that – as it had secured permission to use James' likeness – that included the basketball star's tattoos, too.
As reported by Reuters (thanks, VGC), Take-Two's attorney Dale Cendali claimed the case was a victory for "anyone who has ever gotten a tattoo and might have otherwise worried about their freedom to share their bodies with their tattoos".
Ubisoft leaker includes image of Cillian Murphy in a tease about Far Cry 7
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 20:20:23 -0000
21 April 2024 UPDATE: j0nathan has clarified that the image of Cillian Murphy used in his cryptic tease does not mean Murphy will star in the game.
"Attention: I NEVER said Cillian Murphy was going to be in the game. The image means something else," the leaker said.
Original story follows.
Free Stars: Children Of Infinity, name-swapped sequel to Star Control 2, has tripled its crowdfunding goal
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 20:54:59 -0000
The sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters has more than tripled its Kickstarter funding goal in four days. Free Stars: Children Of Infinity, which is a sequel to the series formerly known as Star Control, has so far raised $332k (£268k), although it's still shooting for several stretch goals - including one as high as $4.4 million.
No Rest For The Wicked's first hotfix addresses durability and repair cost complaints
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 21:11:56 -0000
No rest for No Rest For The Wicked's developers, it seems. The punishing action-RPG launched in Steam Early Access last week with performance issues, among other issues, and Moon Studios have now deployed their first hotfix.
Palestinian Relief Bundle includes indie classics (and hundreds more) for just $8
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 21:33:18 -0000
The Palestinian Relief Bundle on Itch.io contains 373 items for a minimum cost of $8. 213 of the items are are games, including greats such as Wandersong, A Short Hike and Coffee Talk. All proceeds go towards the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), a non-profit working to provide food, water and medical treatment in Gaza.
Tinkerlands: A Shipwrecked Adventure is a free demo of 2D crafting and spider fights
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 22:08:59 -0000
I spend a portion of my every week surviving and crafting. And in the game, where the game is called Minecraft. I still have appetite left for Tinkerlands: A Shipwrecked Adventure, a demo that offers topdown, 2D construction and fights with giant frog bosses, among others.
How Street Fighter 6's fighting fools helped me finally master fighting games
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0000
Oh to be a fly on the wall when they pitched the Street Fighter 6 intro movie. See, there are rules for fighting game cinematics. You need a montage of assorted beefcakes, flexing and strutting for the camera, then coming to blows against the crescendo of a heavy rock track. These conventions are sacrosanct and cannot be broken. Everything from Tekken, to Guilty Gear, to King of Fighters, to Street Fighter 5 follows the same recipe. Only this time Street Fighter 6 decided, no, let's not do that, and instead how about we do a 1970s proto-rap-style piece of rhythmic poetry a la Gil Scott-Heron? With a neon graffiti aesthetic? And in lieu of a social message, let's get really existential about the meaning of strength! Reader, I do not know how this got past upper management. I cannot imagine how they sold it to shareholders. I don't understand why one of the biggest franchises decided to fiddle with the formula. But it's a breath of fresh air and poses that crucial question: What is strength?
This might seem trivial, but in the context of fighting games, it almost makes sense. These games are notoriously difficult. Many use motion inputs, which for newcomers can take days to pull off reliably. Then you have to link them into tightly-timed, multi-hit combos. And then you have to whip out your combos in the middle of a match, all while blocking everything your opponent is hitting you with, desperately looking for an opening, and anticipating whatever sinister mind-game nonsense they'll throw out next. And for what? So you can go online and, maybe, if you're lucky, not get utterly eviscerated by some rando in their bedroom halfway across the planet. Why bother? The SF6 cinematic reaches the only obvious conclusion. 'We're all a bunch of fools'.
I'm a bigger fool than most. For years, I'd get so hyped on fighting game trailers that I'd buy them all at launch. I paid full price for Tekken 7 and Injustice 2 and Samurai Shodown, and each time I'd enter ranked and just get humbled or humiliated or teabagged by Batman. When Street Fighter 5 came out, I wanted to get good so badly I even got a professional arcade stick, angrily rattling it while yet another Ken shoryu'd me in the face. So when I bought Street Fighter 6, I knew it was a mistake. Except, this time, miraculously, it clicked. I don't 100 percent know why this was the one, but it has something to do with Street Fighter 6's wonderful cast of fighting fools.
LittleBigPlanet 3's servers are staying offline "indefinitely" meaning more than a decade's worth of user-made levels are gone for good
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 09:21:36 -0000
It's a sad time for LittleBigPlanet fans, as the third game's servers are now "offline indefinitely" meaning a large portion of the series could be lost forever.
Back in January, the servers for LittleBigPlanet 3 went down due to some technical difficulties, though they were meant to come back at some point. Unfortunately, the official LittleBigPlanet Twitter account shared today that the servers are being kept offline "indefinitely," meaning more than a decade's worth of user-made levels are now probably lost forever. "Due to ongoing technical issues which resulted in the LittleBigPlanet 3 servers for PS4 being taken offline temporarily in January 2024, the decision has been made to keep the servers offline indefinitely," reads the statement announcing the servers are being kept offline.
"All online services including access to other players' creations for LittleBigPlanet 3 are no longer available. User generated content (UGC) stored locally on your PS4 will remain available. Any new UGC you create can be played on your PS4 but not shared. Offline features such as the campaign will remain playable. Thank you for your support."
What's next for Helldivers 2? Making it "the best live service game you've ever played"
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 09:57:14 -0000
As with any live service game, plenty of Helldivers 2 players have differing opinions, but no matter what Arrowhead wants to do just one thing: make the best live service game ever.
No one really expected Helldivers 2 to blow up as much as it has, including developer Arrowhead. That much was evidenced by the myriad of server issues the game suffered from at launch, as well as some other bugs along the way (and I don't mean the ones you're tasked with killing). So, with a whole load of players, comes a whole load of people saying the game should do this or that. A recent post on the Helldivers subreddit from a user by the name of TheGentlemanCEO went into their own problems with the rest of players, talking about how some players wish Arrowhead would focus on bug fixes before adding more Warbonds, saying that Sony would mind if Arrowhead didn't do so (thanks, PCGamer). However, frequent poster and Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt offered some context and clarity to what the situation at the studio is actually like.
"I appreciate your sentiment and post," wrote Pilestedt. "Let me add some context. Arrowhead is independently owned by people working at the studio and not swayed by shareholders in the traditional sense. Of course we are in a great partnership with Sony where we agree on targets to hit etc. But there isn't a forcing function or requirement per se.
The Sunday Papers
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 10:00:00 -0000
Sundays are for unsubscribing to the deluge of ‘Happy 4/20! Here’s 10% off’ emails I’ve gotten from every place I’ve ever bought CBD from in the past five years. Before I do so much clicking my fingers get sore and I immediately order some soothing CBD - perhaps at a tempting 10% off? - let's read this week’s best writing about games (and game related things!)
Dragon's Dogma 2's next update will tone down Dragonsplague, so you can stop complaining about it now
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 11:00:33 -0000
Dragonsplague annoying you in Dragon's Dogma 2? The game's next patch will make it slightly less frequent, and a bit easier to spot.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is very much a game that is doing exactly what it wants to do, even if it is a bit player hostile sometimes. One such bit of design that has caused a number of players some friction is dragonsplague, an illness that pawns can contract that in one part makes them stronger and more effective in combat, but on the other if left to fester those same pawns might go on to kill entire villages. It's actually quite a cool bit of design, with the disease spreading amongst pawns from save file to save file thanks to the game's online capabilities, though some have taken to creating mods that make it easier to determine how infected a pawn is.
Thankfully, as laid out in patch notes for an upcoming update, it seems like the disease won't be quite as infectious as it currently is. As shared on the game's Twitter, the next update will "reduce the infection frequency of dragonsplague" and adjust "infection signs to be more visible." An example of this is that "when infected, glowing eyes will be more noticeable." There's also an option being added that lets you zoom in on the faces of your own player character, as well as pawns, so hopefully that will let you more easily see if they have dragonsplague.
Hades 2 isn't even out yet, and Supergiant is already having to ask people to stop datamining it
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 11:30:20 -0000
Supergiant Games recently held a technical test for Hades 2, leading to some datamining the game for future content.
Earlier this week, Supergiant finally gave people the chance to go hands on with Hades 2 after announcing it back in 2022, thanks to a technical test on Steam. The game isn't quite ready for early access just yet, though the point of the technical test is for Supergiant to prepare itself for the actual release. With the technical test not being even the early access release, that of course means most of the content that is ready has been locked off - but, some have datamined the test to find characters and other details that aren't ready to be shared just yet. In fact, as shared to the game's subreddit, one user who had shared some art of some of the new characters was contacted by Supergiant Games asking them to remove their tweets showing it off.
"Hey, we wanted to ask if you'd be willing to delete this tweet containing data-mined content from Hades 2," reads a Twitter message from Supergiant Games. "It was our mistake to include content in the build that wasn't meant to be revealed yet, and we know no harm was intended by posting it or anything like that. This is just an example of something we hoped players would discover in the Early Access version." It's obviously an understandable request, as no developer would want details about their hard work getting out before the game even enters early access.
Do these Fallout 4 VR mods make the game worth revisiting after the TV show?
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0000
The first time I played Fallout 4 VR was in a tiny little booth after Bethesda's 2016 E3 conference. I called my short time with the game 'underwhelming' back then because the whole experience was little more than a stationary shooting gallery with bottles for targets. Even then though, it was still a thrill to feel like I was actually standing next to a real-life Red Rocket gas station.
Fallout 4 VR finally released in December 2017 to fairly positive reviews, even though there was a lot of criticism about the VR implementation and its lacklustre graphics. Despite these faults however, most helmet-heads on PC were thrilled to have the opportunity to play through the entirety of Fallout 4 in virtual reality. Sure there were some corners cut here and there but still, props to Bethesda for even attempting this port in the first place, I wish more developers and publishers would do the same.
In the roughly 6.5 years since Fallout 4 VR's release, enterprising modders have been attempting to improve the vanilla experience one tiny mod at a time. But there are some, like content creator, GingasVR, who have put together huge mod lists that aim to alter the original version of Fallout 4 VR and bring it up to the standards of something like Half Life: Alyx.
Fans might like Fallout 3 now, but back when it was announced there were so many death threats Bethesda had to hire a security guard
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:32:42 -0000
People generally love Bethesda's Fallout games these days, but the announcement of Fallout 3 apparently led to some quite serious death threats.
Despite not receiving a mainline entry since 2015 with Fallout 4 (I'd argue 2018's Fallout 76 is more of a spinoff given its online focus), the series is doing quite well for itself at the moment. Tons of people are playing all of the games, and sales for Fallout 4 are up a ridiculous 7500% in Europe at the moment. That's obviously because of Amazon's recent live-action adaptation of the beloved video game series, which has thrust the games back into the spotlight. The show itself is doing well too, as season 2 has already been confirmed. However, things weren't always peaches and cream when it comes to Bethesda's approach to the Fallout world.
In a recent video from Fallout 3 and 4 creature designer Jonah Lobe, the artist who is in part responsible for what the Deathclaw looks like these days, shared quite plainly that following the announcement of Fallout 3, the studio received a lot of death threats. "When it was announced that Bethesda was going to take on the Fallout franchise there was a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm, and a lot of death threats," Lobe explained.
This Palestinian Relief itch.io bundle is selling 373 games and digital goods for just $8
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:55:48 -0000
The Palestinian Relief Bundle available on itch.io is offering 373 games, soundtracks, comics, and other digital goods worth over $1600 (almost £1300) for a starting donation of just $8 (around £6.50).
Initially, the bundle organiser had hoped to raise $100,000 for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, but that goal has since been stretched to $250,000.
"Palestinians are being persecuted from their homes in an ongoing genocide. Due to the armed actions of Israel, they lack access to essentials such as food, water, electricity and medical care," the bundle description explains.
UPDATE: Good news, Helldivers 2 players, galactic war progress tracking is now up and running again, following a "minor outage"
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:01:24 -0000
You might want to wait a touch before you carry out any major orders in Helldivers 2, as it seems there's a problem related to tracking them.
If you're currently out in the trenches fighting for sweet, sweet democracy in Helldivers 2, but you're noticing that no progress is being made on the game's current major orders, it appears there's a reason for that. Earlier today, the official Helldivers 2 Twitter account put out a notice saying there's a "minor outage" that's stopping your "liberation efforts" from being tracked properly, and it's not entirely clear why right now. "Helldivers! Our galactic war systems are suffering a minor outage after the destruction of a long-range array on Vernen Wells," reads the tweet, in character as always.
"During this time, your liberation efforts may not be tracked and progress may not display properly. Our teams are looking into the issue as we speak!" To put it into real world terms, there's some kind of bug (pun not intended), and developer Arrowhead is trying to fix it, but you'll have to wait a bit before it's ready. It's not actually clear as to whether it's just a visual issue, and that progress is being tracked but just not displayed, but maybe if you don't want to have your time wasted, it's safe to hold out until the issue is resolved.
The Fallout TV show’s good, but Bethesda shouldn't be afraid to let the series out of its Vault-Tec liveried box
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:08:23 -0000
Somebody’s lost their dad. Again.
He’s wandered off into the wasteland, beyond the safety of the vault. He’s left one place trapped in its own little time bubble, and walked into another which - in the case of a lot of the Fallout things we’ve gotten over the past decade or so - feels like it’s also stuck largely in the same state.
Even now, a full 219 years after the bombs dropped and the world burned, it’s still largely the same scorched mess, sparsely scarred with small pockets of struggling civilisation, that it was back in 2161, when a dweller emerged from Vault 13. It’s still just as haunted by the spectre of doom as the capital was in 2277. That same sense of desperation that existed around Boston back in 2287, before that superhuman DIY nut was unfrozen, lives on.
There's over 700,000 possible builds in Mario Kart 8, and science has determined the best one
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:39:01 -0000
You might have your favourite combination in Mario Kart 8, but science has determined the selection that is statistically the best.
There are a whole lot of combinations in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. As it turns out, there are specifically 703,560 possible ways to mix and match characters, karts, wheels and the like, a number so large it would probably take you too large a portion of your life to get through them all. The meta for Mario Kart 8 has changed over the years, and it had a bit of a shakeup thanks to an update that came alongside the DLC tracks that were added to the game. Now, as spotted by Eurogamer, data scientist Antoine Mayerowitz has figured out which is the best possible combination you could pick to help you nab that number one spot.
Right off the bat, Mayerowitz narrowed down the combinations to just 25,704 options, as a lot of them are just copies of one another. Of course, there are different builds you might want depending on whether you favour speed, or acceleration. To figure out which is best, Mayerowitz used a method devised by economist Vilfredo Pareto. This method outlines that Bowser and Wario are fastest, but Baby Peach has the best acceleration, with Cat Peach being pretty much in the middle of both. Though, there are also the karts themselves, alongside the wheels and glider option, that you also have to consider.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes review - a Suikoden successor that plays things safe
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is exactly what its lofty crowdfunding campaign promised it would be: a Suikoden successor in all but its name, built by a team of veterans who first made that classic in 1995. And so Hundred Heroes is another impossibly massive, turn-based, party-centric RPG. It tells another wartorn story about resisting an empire, cut through with goofball moments where an eyepatched Aussie kangaroo might yell made-up words.
And - because doing anything else would be blasphemy - there's another 100-plus party members to find, cosy up to, and experiment with in your six-character party. Reclusive hunters, kings, talking sharks (shi'arcs here), a literal travel bag with glowing Jawa eyes, your cute auntie who does nothing but bake cherry pies - they're all here, and the cast's staggering size is still what sets the Eiyu-Suiko-den group of games apart.
Trying to catch 'em all recalls the pleasures of a collectathon as you rapidly scan the screen for signs of unusually detailed NPCs to recruit. (No interview process required - everyone's allowed in, accused criminals included.) They can pretty much be found anywhere. You'll get dozens by just following the main quest. Dozens more are in towns on standby mode until you walk into their presence. Some will only appear in the open world when you've progressed to a certain point or met prerequisites.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes review: a relaxed JRPG adventure with a few old school quirks, but even more pals
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the spiritual successor to a classic JRPG called Suikoden, and it came to be thanks to a very successful Kickstarter campaign. As someone with little knowledge of Suikoden, I went into Hundred Heroes thinking it was going to be a dense, old-fashioned, and slightly impenetrable time. And yes, some of it is annoying and obtuse and will almost certainly suit veterans who enjoy those quirks, but it has a surprisingly easy going nature. Hundred Heroes accomodates new players like me with combat that's simple to grasp and a story that's emotional and sprawling and absolutely worth your time.
7 Days to Die finally leaving early access, but console players will have to buy the 1.0 version again
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:02:24 -0000
7 Days to Die – an open-world zombie game that first released back in December 2013 – is finally leaving early access.
Developer The Fun Pimps says that the next update will not only usher in new gore, challenges, and improved controller support, but also move the 11-year-old game out of early access for the very first time.
It's not all good news, though, particularly if you already own the £30 zombie game on console.
A Diablo show isn't in the works, but the head of the series certainly likes the idea of one
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:02:39 -0000
No, there isn't a Diablo show coming, though general manager of the franchise at Blizzard Rod Fergusson has expressed interest in the idea.
It's becoming increasingly clear that live-action adaptations of video games are the big thing in film and TV. There had to be something after superhero flicks, after all, and how convenient is it that there's a wealth of IP just ready to be probably made worse when turned into a live-action project? Ok, sure, I do like the Sonic films, and the Fallout show was good enough that I might actually try playing the games again, but it's not like I wouldn't prefer there to be more original films and TV shows. Still, that won't stop them from happening, and while there isn't one planned right now, Rod Fergusson does at least think a Diablo show could work.
When asked about the idea of a Diablo show in a recent interview with Windows Central, Fergusson said, "Yeah I definitely think it could work. That's one of the things I really liked about Diablo as an IP, is that it's got very relatable themes because it's The High Heavens versus The Burning Hells, and that idea of Good versus Evil. I think that's something that could translate very well to something like that. You know, I wish I had something I could talk to you about today. But in terms of just the general idea, do I think it could work? I definitely do."
EA Sports FC 24's Team of the Season now live
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:33:47 -0000
EA Sports FC 24's Team of the Season (TOTS) is now live.
Designed to celebrate the "best and brightest players in the world", EA Sports FC 24 marks "an incredible season of global football" which, for the very first time, will "recognise the most deserving players in women's football", too.
Whilst a long-standing staple in FIFA, this is the first time TOTS has come to EA Sports FC 24.
Stellar Blade will be "uncensored" in all regions
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 16:07:56 -0000
Stellar Blade will be "uncensored" in all regions, including Japan.
That's according to the game's official social media account on X, which announced the news earlier today.
"Stellar Blade offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version," the tweet said in both English and Japanese, appending the message with a pixellated image with red X emblazoned across it, and the words "uncensored all countries".
Helldivers 2 dev "looking into" progress tracking and display issues
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 16:46:12 -0000
Helldivers 2 is "suffering a minor outage" that is affecting progress tracking.
Developer Arrowhead confirmed the issue on social media earlier today, announcing that the team was "looking into the issue".
Fallout 76 just beat its own concurrent player record, years after its Steam debut
Sun, 21 Apr 2024 17:14:17 -0000
Fallout fever continues to grip the world, with Fallout 4, New Vegas, and Fallout 76 all seeing a resurgence in popularity, and the latter breaking its own concurrent user record on Steam years after it first released.
As noted in SteamDB, the 2018 action RPG – which debuted on Steam in 2020 – has hit 66,045 simultaneous players on Steam, the most concurrent users the game has ever had.
Before this weekend – and, arguably, before the arrival of Amazon's hit Fallout TV show – the RPG had boasted a concurrent record of around 40,000 players, and that doesn't even account for the thousands of players who have likely jumped on on Xbox, as the Fallout series is available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers for no extra cost.
The first 4 episodes of the Knuckles TV series feel like a fever dream – for better, and for worse
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0000
We all know Sonic the Hedgehog loves chilli dogs, right? That’s not some weird deep cut from the 90s multimedia Sonic takeover that I’ve just internalised, is it? It feels like canon to me: the blue blur loves to eat, and specifically, he loves chilli dogs. You can collect them in some of the more obscure games as collectibles, and the social media posts are full of them. It’s well established, both in universe and outside of it.
But did you know that Knuckles loves Doritos? Cool Ranch, specifically. Because he does. He even wants to visit said ‘cool ranch’ someday. You can tell this from the series, because there’s a lengthy, very well-lit and well-considered shot of the red echidna munching on a pack of them and extolling their virtues.
Later on, for some reason, there’s a vaseline-coated soft focus shot of him in a diner car park, having a heart-to-heart with best friend-cum-student, with a big ol’ packet of branded potato chips right there in the foreground with him.
Embracer announces plan to split into three companies, including "Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends"
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 08:07:00 -0000
After numerous studio closures and thousands of job losses, embattled publisher Embracer will now split into three distinct entities, including one focused on its big bet to successfully develop games set in the same world as The Lord of the Rings.
Embracer announced details of the plan this morning, and charted how parts of the company would now be named: Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends, Coffee Stain and Friends, and Asmodee Group. Each of the three will be separately listed on the Stockholm stock exchange.
Middle-earth Enterprises and Friends will encompass many of Embracer's biggest studios and brands, including developers such as Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider), Eidos Montreal (Guardians of the Galaxy), 4A Games (Metro), Plaion and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Dead Island 2), Warhorse (Kingdom Come Deliverance 2), plus Tripwire, Flying Wild Hog, Vertigo Games and Freemode.
The Maw - 22nd-27th April 2024
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 08:56:28 -0000
Ugh, I do not have the energy to feed the Maw this week. Sometimes the creature manifests as a proper monstrosity, with B-movie prosthetics and sound effects, and sometimes, it's more of an... unfathomable annoyance, like a nose that won't stop running, or a single player game that requires an internet connection. In either case, the Maw must be sated, and fortunately, there are quite a few appetising video-or-computer games out in the next seven days, with at least one behemoth landing on Friday.
After laying off over 1000 people, Embracer Group makes itself some friends by splitting into three companies
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:07:39 -0000
Embracer Group is no more, as the company has made the decision to split into three separate entities, with various developers divided up amongst them.
For the last year or so, it's not been a great time to be a part of Embracer Group. There have been almost 1400 staff laid off across various studios, and several closures too. Saber founder Matthew Karch doesn't think Embracer is evil, just a company "that everyone likes to pick on," despite the fact it spent ridiculous amounts of money on studios it couldn't ultimately afford leading to needless layoffs. But now, Embracer Group doesn't exist anymore, at least not as one company. The group announced earlier today that it is splitting into three companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.
The "& Friends" part of Middle-earth Enterprises includes a number of familiar names, like Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers dev Crystal Dynamics, Dead Island 2 dev Dambuster Studios, Deus Ex dev Eidos-Montreal, and several more. Obviously IP like The Lord of the Rings, as well as Tomb Raider and others, now fall under Middle-earth Enterprises too, as well as media company Plaion, comics publisher Dark Horse, and Freemode.
No Rest for the Wicked is already making some of its most most annoying mechanics better
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:28:13 -0000
No Rest for the Wicked developer Moon Studios is seemingly living up to the game’s name. Shortly after the Early Access launch of the action RPG, the team got to work on tackling some of the more common complaints.
While the majority of the big issues remain unresolved, Moon already released not one, but two hotfixes just over the weekend.
Sony's latest patent imagines a future where your PlayStation... plays your games for you?
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:57:05 -0000
A recently published patent from Sony has revealed that the company is considering introducing a method to let your games play themselves.
Have you ever thought to yourself, "wow, I sure do wish that my game would just play itself so I can get this annoying grinding out the way and, I dunno, do my taxes or something else adults do in the meantime"? Well, first of all, maybe consider playing a different game, but if you're determined to stick with it, I have some (potentially) good news for you. As spotted by Exputer, Sony published one of its patents earlier this month, which apparently features a "method and system for auto-playing portions of a video game."
According to the patent's description, "the auto-play mode uses data from the user play model to automatically play the AGC for the user using a gameplay style that simulates a gameplay style of the user." It goes on to explain that "when gameplay of the AGC in auto-play mode is complete, a resume notification is presented to the display screen of the user device used by the user during the gameplay. The resume notification provides the user with an option to discontinue use of the auto-play mode and resume gameplay in active play mode."
Blue Prince is already the very best shapeshifting videogame house
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:03:31 -0000
I'm currently trying to find a new flat in London. This is not much fun, though it's a great opportunity to meet and bond with other would-be tenants over a shared, grinding resentment of landlords who will literally stuff a bed in a toilet and call it a "studio apartment". It's also left me powerfully invested in the premise of Blue Prince, a first-person puzzler which looks like a graphic novel and starts with your character inheriting a huge, weird, isolated mansion, Mt. Holly, from an eccentric great-uncle.
Lucky you! There's a catch, though: according to your great-uncle's will, you only get to keep the place if you can find its 46th room. The catch hanging off that catch is that going by its flatplan, the mansion only has 45 rooms. And the catch hanging off that catch is that the mansion changes shape between visits. Every time you open one of its many doors, you must choose from three cards to decide which room is on the other side. To find the elusive 46th room, you must "draft" rooms in certain combinations to unfold the mystery of the place and wiggle your way to its heart.
A former Homeworld dev has made a free browser game that plays like an ultraviolent Office Space sequel
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:03:35 -0000
Rising Up is a free, sub-fifteen minute browser game that’s a bit like Streets of Rage, where you play a balding office worker and beat a giant scanner to death within the first 30 seconds. This, I believe, should be enough to tempt you into dunking it enthusiastically into your next break coffee, but if you need more convincing, let’s do it.
Created by E.H Jørgensen, whose credits include Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Rising Up is a relatively simple 3 button side scroller that has you make your way up an office building, destroying everything in your path. First, irate co-workers wield swivel chairs. Then, security join the fray. Then some sort of G-men get involved. You can punch, block, jump, and air-kick. The brawling is simple but satisfying enough, and the way office equipment violently degrades when hit is better, but this isn’t why I’m recommending the game.
Fallout TV show popularity prompts NexusMods to issue traffic warning
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:04:44 -0000
UPDATE 23/4/24: Top modding site Nexus Mods has issued an update on its efforts to stay online amidst a deluge of Fallout fans fresh from watching Amazon's hit TV series.
"We are aware that over the last seven to nine days our website performance has been heavily degraded, with file download speeds being particularly slow," a blog post reads. "We know this has been incredibly frustrating for you and it's frustrating for us as well. We have spent two weekends battling to keep the site running as best we can and will continue to work at all hours to try and ensure as smooth an experience as possible."
Traffic graphs shared by Nexus Mods show a huge rise in downloads for mods related to Fallout 4 and to lesser (and more recent) extent, Fallout: New Vegas.
Hopping back into Fallout 4 and want to spice up your new character? One of its top perk overhaul mods just got a fresh revamp
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:17:26 -0000
Following Amazon's Fallout TV show, folks have been hopping en masse back into their favorite games in the series. If that's been Fallout 4 for you, and you want a way to spice your playthrough up, you're in luck, as one of the game's most pupular perk overhaul mods has just gotten a fresh revamp.
Yup, because it's all well and good building your own version of Lucy, Maximus, or The Ghoul to play as, a big part of the Fallout experience comes from creating your own unique little vault dweller to take on the wasteland as. Plus, you might want a way to inject something fresh into your playthrough build-wise, especially if you're planning on waiting until your other mods have been updated before hopping into Fallout 4's next-gen update.
Enter 'Hot Diggity - Skills Perks - Redux' by modder FishFiend. Building on the work they did on the original Hot Diggity a few years ago, this 2.0 version has the same goal - make Fallout 4 a bit more diverse character-building wise, in order to make it more fun to play for the 50th, or thousandth, time.
Fallout creator Tim Cain is a big fan of the TV show
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:34:55 -0000
Fallout creator Tim Cain has plenty of praise for Amazon's recent TV adaptation.
In a YouTube video posted over the weekend, Cain said how much he liked the show, stating it was surreal to see something he had "worked on really hard" realised in real life.
"They had huge sets with amazing production values on them... Amazing props. The acting was phenomenal. It was just surreal to watch Fallout recreated in real life like that," Cain enthused. However, he said the main reason he liked the show so much was because of the way "everything feels like Fallout".
Don't worry, Stellar Blade will stay "uncensored" no matter where you live
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 10:55:27 -0000
If you were worried that Stellar Blade and its… well, particular proclivities, would be censored in some way, you don't need to be.
Stellar Blade is a bit of a hot button topic at the moment, mostly because its protagonist looks like she's wearing the tightest piece of clothing ever invented, showing off certain rotund areas that are quite obviously designed to make the player horny as hell. You might wonder then if the game would be somewhat censored, reducing those industry staple jiggle physics to appease particular regions' ratings boards and the like. But, in a recent tweet from the official Stellar Blade Twitter account, it turns out the game will be the same no matter where you play.
"Stella Blade offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version," reads a tweet from the account, the same sentence also written in Japanese. This was paired with an, ironically, censored image of the game showing a heavily pixelated scene with a large red cross on top of it and text that reads "uncensored all countries." A real win for the prospective Stellar Blade fans out there, I guess.
Valheim's Ashlands biome is deadly - but with its new weapons, so are you
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:00:00 -0000
Spoiler warning: This article contains many details about the Ashlands update - now available to test publicly - that some players may wish to keep a surprise. You have been warned!
For those who have journeyed through Valheim's biomes, the prospect of facing a gruelling challenge in the upcoming Ashlands update will not be a major shock. Its predecessor, the Mistlands, brought with it formidable foes, steep cliffs and visibility challenges - and with only the Ashlands and Deep North left to conquer in Valheim's storyline, it's almost a given that both these biomes will be tough to beat. Yet somewhat alarmingly, the dangers of the Ashlands begin before you've even set foot on dry land. As I sail towards the Ashlands in a preview session with Iron Gate lead artist Robin Eyre and senior developer Jonathan Smårs, the sea boils around us, red lightning flashes overhead, and a forest of pointed rocks hamper our progress towards the mainland. Birds mob our ship, and while carefully navigating a narrow passage, a terrifying bone serpent emerges from the deep. "It's going to be a really difficult, challenging place to go," Smårs admits. "It's going to be endgame."
Our journey is made possible thanks to a heavy-duty boat: a massive ship called the Drakkar, which in typical Valheim fashion, can only be crafted with ingredients acquired from defeating the Mistlands' final boss. The Drakkar is immune to damage from the boiling water, which regular wooden ships cannot withstand for long before being destroyed. This is a lethal lesson I imagine some curious souls will learn first-hand, should they attempt to reach the Ashlands before they are ready. Unusually for a Valheim biome, the Ashlands does not border any other environments, and can only be accessed by sea. This difficult journey makes reaching the Ashlands a "chapter in itself," as Smårs explains it, but it also gives this biome a uniquely dangerous feel. There's no easy way of getting in - and once you arrive, there's no easy way of getting out.
Valheim's volcanic Ashlands update gets first proper trailer and breakdown
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:01:00 -0000
Valheim, the popular norse-inspired survival game, is set to get even deadlier and at least several percent more volcanic with its upcoming Ashlands biome. The new biome is due to enter public testing as we speak.
Final Fantasy 14's Naoki Yoshida promises fix to "lifeless eyes" in graphical update
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:09:36 -0000
Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has promised the forthcoming graphical update will fix a number of issues spotted in the recent Dawntrail benchmark tool.
The tool was released last week and allows players to create a character and test out how the game will run on their PC once the graphical update arrives alongside next expansion Dawntrail this summer.
However, not everyone was happy with the changes as various issues were pointed out on social media. In a new blog post, Yoshida explained the character creator is over 10 years old and a number of issues will be resolved once the graphical update arrives.
12m players have got in a lather with PowerWash Simulator
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:26:20 -0000
PowerWash Simulator has passed an impressive player milestone, really proving that a little dirt won't hurt. In fact, it has given us a quite a lot of dirt, and we are more than ok with that.
Earlier today, developer Futurlab announced that 12 million players had donned their overalls, grabbed their hoses, and washed away more grime than I ever thought possible since the game's early access release in 2021.
This, Futurlab said, was all thanks to a number of DLC expansions, which include the likes of Warhammer 40K, Final Fantasy 7 and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Embracer will split into three companies, including Middle-earth & Friends
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:49:11 -0000
Famed mass-layoff-manufacturing corporation Embracer Group are dividing into three companies, which will be listed separately on Sweden’s stock exchange. Those companies are: Asmodee Group, which comprises Embracer’s tabletop games biz; Coffee Stain & Friends, an evolution of the existing Coffee Stain publisher, who will pursue "a dual focus on indie and A/AA premium and free-to-play games for PC/console and mobile"; and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, “a creative powerhouse in AAA game development and publishing for PC and console, as well as the stewards of The Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider intellectual properties, among many others”.
After writing roughly 100,000 posts about Embracer’s butchering of vast swathes of the games industry, this is surely my chance to raise a cheer and celebrate the conglomerate’s unglomming with a cool glass of turnip juice, but it is Monday, the man next door is shouting again, and I am tired - so tired that only ill-suited Simpsons references come to mind.
Fallout 76 is currently experiencing a huge surge in players, but is it any good now?
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:11:02 -0000
Like a lot of people right now, I've been bitten by the radiocative bug that is the Fallout TV show. Because of this, I've been diving into Bethesda's back catalogue of games in order to get my Fallout fix now that I've binged my way through the series.
On yesterday's VR Corner for instance, I installed a hefty mod list for Fallout 4 VR in order to try and create the most immersive experience possible. Unfortunately however, I'm basically computer illiterate and things didn't exactly go according to plan...
For today's live stream (above), I decided to revisit Fallout 76, a game that I bounced off of quite hard back when it first released. The answer to the question that I've posed in the headline to this video post really does depend on personal opinion but, as you'll see in the video, I've actually been really enjoying my return to Appalachia. I played for approximately 90 minutes and it was great to see lots of NPCs in the current iteration of the game as they were completely absent when I first played it in 2018.
Anticipated indie hit Manor Lords is everyone’s most wanted Steam game, so it’s a good job it’s coming to Game Pass
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 13:48:32 -0000
Why is everyone so interested in Manor Lords? The game, an ambitious city builder/RTS hybrid, attempts to simulate how medieval towns were constructed by embracing organic layouts and doing away with the grid systems common in the genre. And, today, it hit 3 million wishlists on Steam – that's no mean feat. It's currently above even Hades 2. That's impressive.
Its trailers have been attractive, interesting, and intriguing – but there's something else to the game's rampant success. It's 2022 demo managed to persuade half a million people to wishlist the title alone, and since then that base of interest has swelled even more.
I think it has something to do with the high degree of historical authenticity, and the pleasing rags-to-riches premise that the whole thing is built around. Right now, in today's world, social mobility feels a bit stuck – and we all feel a bit hemmed into whatever monetary situation we're in. Manor Lords gives us a fantasy in which we can own land – imagine that! – and lift ourselves out of serfdom.
Tales of Kenzera review: a compassionate Afro-futurist exploration of grief
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
Of all the Metroidvania elements in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, my favourite are the trees. Simply enough, meditating inside a tree provides a health boost. It's here the camera pans out to reveal these great, almost magical, natural structures which provide safety, sanctuary and a moment of reflection. Protagonist Zau is a hot-headed and petulant young man desperate to revive his father, but sat quietly in the trunk of a tree, he's just a boy.
The trees are a key example of how Tales of Kenzera transposes the genre to its African setting, but also where its heart lies: with the relationship between a father and son. The game's creator, voice actor Abubakar Salim (best known for his portrayal of Bayek in Assassin's Creed: Origins), has been particularly open about the personal inspiration behind the game: his own experience of grief following the death of his father. There's even a moving short film released ahead of the game. Yet even without knowing this, Tales of Kenzera itself exudes passion and love.
It's a story-within-a-story set in the fictional Afro-futurist land of Kenzera, and it tells the tale of desperate shaman Zau who bargains with Kalunga, god of death, following the passing of his father. Zau must deliver three spirits to win back his father and, along the way of his adventure, he learns to cope with his feelings of grief. Kalunga becomes his father-figure guide who speaks in proverbs and commands Zau with stern yet comforting lessons; Zau in return listens, rebels, argues, and accepts.
WipEout developers launch new studio with futuristic sports game planned
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
Developers from the original PS1 classic WipEout have formed a new studio, with a futuristic sports game on the way.
Starlight Games is a new studio based in Liverpool, UK, founded by former Psygnosis developer Gary Nichols.
He's joined by co-creator of WipEout Nick Burcombe, and Skate co-creator and former Horizon: Call of the Mountain director Andy Santos.
Tales Of Kenzera: Zau review: a beautifully designed yet imprecise platforming adventure
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
Until I played Tales Of Kenzera: Zau I figured people had run out of ways to make original platformers, but an Afrofuturist story-in-a-story framing for a mythological platformer about healthy ways to deal with grief sure did teach me to not underestimate human creativity. I really liked a lot about Tales Of Kenzera, and got annoyed by a bunch of stuff too - and the division seems to be that a lot of the former falls on the story and design side, and the latter on the mechanical side, which I guess isn't ideal for a platformer. But still, I think it's worth persevering.
Deadpool & Wolverine's first full trailer finally shows a very sad, but faithfully dressed Hugh Jackman
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:10:30 -0000
The first full Deadpool & Wolverine trailer is here, and yes, even though you've probably already seen it, the trailer finally shows what Hugh Jackman looks like in that iconic suit.
Back in February, when the teaser trailer dropped for Deadpool & Wolverine, it only offered us Jackman's shadow, suggesting that Marvel wasn't quite ready to give everyone a look at that classic yellow suit in action just yet. Of course, most of us had already seen it thanks to set photos being shared around, but still, today the first full trailer for the upcoming MCU movie does reintroduce Wolverine and what he's been up to. Which, seemingly, is a whole lot of drinking. Yeah, Logan is doing a bit worse for wear, with his universe apparently having gone to the dogs slightly, though it's unclear whether he's from the original Fox produced universe, or just another one where he looks the same.
Unsurprisingly, the titular characters don't appear to get along so well, though Deadpool seemingly needs Wolverine's help to save his own universe for reasons that I'm sure will become clearer in the film itself. Interestingly, it seems like the villain this time around will be Cassandra Nova, aka Professor Xavier's evil twin sister. Again, whatever she's up to in this particular MCU outing wasn't really covered, but we did see some of her powers on display at the very least.
EA Sports F1 24 preview - Yes, it might even give you a reason to actually drive the Williams
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
No matter whether you're a big car nerd who loves playing around with setups, or are just hopping in for a quick race against your mates, how the cars feel to drive in an F1 game is pretty key. After all, what you're hoping for in both cases is to get a taste of the same sensation the likes of Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton enjoys as they sweep through turns and blast down straights.
We recently had a chance to see what EA Sports F1 24, the latest game in Codematers' long-running series, has to offer in this regard, via a hands-off preview. And, at least in theory, the changes sound like they should satisfy both hardcore petrolheads, and those who're mainly in it for the high-speed drama.
During the preview, Codemasters' senior creative director Lee Mather and Casey Ringley - the latter of whom serves as both a senior game designer and vehicle handling lead on the game - talked through F1 24's "EA Sports Dynamic handling model" - a raft of tweaks designed to be a "culmination of several significant updates to the series".
DF Weekly: 'Bespoke Collection' merch hits the DF Store
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Last week, I took to Eurogamer to announce a Warehouse Sale for Digital Foundry merchandise, and this week we have development: new 'Bespoke' merch has hit the DF Store, featuring a fan-made design that really tickled us given our collective predilection for uttering this phrase.
As well as the long-rumoured Bespoke tee, which comes in a double-sided blue/purple gradient design on a black shirt, you can also pick up a nifty metal pin (pictured above). Finally, the Bespoke Collection also includes a sticker pack, with a DF Approved seal of quality, a DF Retro PVM design and two #stutterstruggle frame-time graphs - including one blank design to chart your very own traversal or shader compilation stutters.
We've been working on these designs for the past three months or so - and significantly longer in the case of the PVM design - so it's great to finally see them go on (virtual) store shelves. I think they've turned out wonderfully, having had the chance to test out some of the early samples, and I'm particularly happy that the excellent Bespoke design by community member Dacvak now has the chance to be appreciated by a wider audience.
Manor Lords surpasses 3m Steam wishlists ahead of release this week
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:17:46 -0000
Manor Lords has surpassed 3m wishlists on Steam ahead of its release later this week.
The medieval city-building strategy game has been top of the most wishlisted games on Steam for some time, but has continued to build in popularity to pass yet another a major milestone.
After the demo released in 2022, the game received 500k wishlists, which jumped to 2m wishlists after its 26th April release date was announced. Seven days ahead of its launch, it hit 2.5m wishlists - and now it's added another 500k on top of that.
An English Haunting is still an Edwardian point-and-click Ghostbusters, and also out in May
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:22:43 -0000
At the end of last year I played the demo for An English Haunting and got very excited. I like horror that has a generally spooky, creeping dread vibe rather than being wall-to-wall cheap jumpscares and gore, and that sort of stuff is thin on the ground. But it'll be less so from May the 15th, cos that's when this ghosty point and click puzzle adventure is out! Hooray! The demo is still on Steam if you want a taste before then. In the meantime, the release date announcement comes with a new trailer to enjoy.
Pokémon Go developer taking feedback after avatar update backlash
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:34:43 -0000
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is taking feedback following the mixed reaction to its recent player avatar refresh.
The game's new-look avatar system went live last week, and replaced all in-game character designs with a more adjustable default option, which now has sliders for weight and specific body parts, as well as more options for skin tones and hair styles.
But the change has received a lukewarm response, with criticism of how the new avatar's faces look, and the sudden change in art style. Over the weekend, the main Pokémon Go reddit was flooded with complaints, while one player who claimed to have been part of an internal beta test where concerns were raised ahead of time said these had not been properly taken on board.
Classic Konami code discovered in Castlevania game 25 years after release
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 15:51:50 -0000
A new version of the classic Konami code has been discovered in Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness 25 years after its release.
A sort of director's cut of the infamously foggy Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness features multiple characters to play as but these must be unlocked by completing the game.
At least, until now. It turns out the iconic Konami code can be used to unlock all characters, costumes and modes - just in a new form.
The Best Fallout games: Every Fallout game ranked
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
Fallout. It's a series of games about what happens when someone pushes that big red button to drop the nukes, damning an alternate timeline version of humanity to spend an eternity doing fun little quests among the rubble. Within that, there's scope for some of the best RPG fun you can get, no matter what kind of fun it is that you're looking for in an RPG.
We've all thought about what'd happen if the bombs were to actually fall, and since 1997, first Interplay and Black Isle, now Bethesda - with some help from Obsidian and now Amazon, have offered us a chance to see just how we might fare if forced to roam the radioactive streets of post-apocalyptic America. The answer in reality is that we'd all probably die very quickly, but hey, that's what video games are for - to give us a chance to dream.
But, which of the Fallouts is the best? It's a loaded question for sure, an one you'll end up answering differently depending on what you want out of a Fallout game. However, because the terrifying beast that pulls the strings of our world has yanked it in a direction where things need to be ranked on websites, here's our attempt to do just that for the Fallout series, both main-line entries and all the spin-offs that're actually worth caring about.
Tales of the Shire wants to fulfil the fantasy of living out your cosy Hobbit dreams
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
Following a brief tease in September, the first trailer for Tales of the Shire - the cosy Hobbit game from Wētā Workshop and Private Division - is here.
The trailer gives a quick look at some of the things we can expect on the game's release, including the ability to customise our Hobbit holes to just the way we like them. There will also be the chance to partake in a spot of fishing, go off to gather mushrooms and then cook everything up into a meal worthy of Bilbo Baggins.
You can check out the trailer for Tales of the Shire below.
First Tales of the Shire trailer reveals a life sim set in Tolkien's most Hobbity pastures
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
Perhaps you are fatigued by orcs and swords. Maybe you yearn for a simple life of bucolic betterment to recover from your addiction to spicy wedding bands but still fear to stray too far from your beloved fantasy franchise. Oh look, it's Tales of the Shire, a game set in Middle-earth which features not a single ounce of stabbing nor - as far as I can tell - any gigantic spiders at all. It's a life sim about building a home in Hobbiton and keeping up with the Proudfeet. Maybe you will also get to lie around getting totally blazed on halfling reefer. Although I did not spot that in this hearthful new trailer.
"We're trying something out that's very experimental" - Casey Edwards opens up about 2XKO's soundtrack
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:30:23 -0000
2XKO is firmly in its pre-release hype stage. People out there are fiending for the game, but unlike the past few years where information was drip-fed to keen fans every year or so, updates are coming firm and fast. The game is even coming to Evo Japan this weekend! Music to your ears, I'm sure.
Speaking of, I sat down and spoke to a certain member of the 2XKO sound team last month that you may be familiar with. Creator of tracks including Bury the Light and Devil Trigger from Devil May Cry V - Casey Edwards announced his role for Riot Games' upcoming fighting game back in February. But how did he come to join the team, and what exactly is he doing as part of the team?
But first, some background. Edwards first got his start in video game adjacent music creation through fan films - including Resident Evil vs Silent Hill which released on the golden age of YouTube 11 years ago. "There's always the 'man, I could do so much better now' right? But when I look back at that time, I just think about how grateful I am that people gave me my first shot. I believe Resident Evil vs Silent Hill was my first film score for the YouTube space, maybe my second film score in total. So I think about a lot of that as a big learning experience, and as a matter of fact meeting that director led me to people like Sam and Niko from Corridor Digital, and my good friend Clint Jones who directed the Zombie Island stuff. The Rocket ump people as well - Freddie Wong! - so it was this small seed that led to bigger opportunities".
An heir to LucasArts? After 8 years in development, Harold Halibut is too good to be a 90s throwback
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:33:47 -0000
Check out the video above for an in-depth appraisal of this very unique adventure, in which we ask the question: is it still possible for games to surprise us?
The high-tech world of game development has long had a fruitful creative partnership with the low-tech world of clay people being poked around all day in order to simulate movement. In the world of film, too, stop motion animation always seems to endure, despite the fact that it must be one of the hardest and most arduous ways of get moving images onto screens. There’s something gorgeously, lovably tactile about it which can’t quite be mimicked, and so it is seen as worth the extraordinary effort.
Harold Halibut is a deft blend of that hand-built aesthetic with modern video game animation that absolutely hits a sweet spot between the two, capturing the imperfect, organic essence of human-made art and imbuing it with life via motion capture and skilled cinematography. The result is something quite unlike anything I’ve played before, and a great marriage of art style and storytelling. The setting is a rattly old spaceship, submerged for centuries under an alien ocean, host to a remnant of human civilisation that is making the best of a bad situation. Of course it’s gnarled, and a bit wobbly, and tinged with a sense that none of the bulkheads quite fit together as well as they should.
Billie Eilish coming to Fortnite, adding weight to a much-discussed "leak"
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:50:06 -0000
Popstar Billie Eilish will be the next music icon joining Fortnite.
The Barbie and Bad Guy singer confirmed her entry into the Fortnite metaverse today on social media, with a first look at her in-game character design. Eilish will headline the next season of Fortnite Festival, the game's Rock Band-inspired rhythm mode, and become available to buy as a character skin.
Eilish's announcement is notable for another reason, however, as it also adds a dollop of authenticity to a purported image posted online last week, which appeared to show Fortnite's full plans for the rest of 2024. The roadmap image correctly included the then-unannounced Eilish, and while this could still have been a lucky guess, today's reveal certainly gives weight to other parts of the image also being correct.
Uncover the Smoking Gun has you solve a murder mystery by interrogating ChatGPT-speaking suspects
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:55:44 -0000
Well, that didn’t take long. After tech demos from the likes of Nvidia inviting us to chat with NPCs whose entire conversations are generated by AI, it looks like the first game built wholly on that controversial idea is due to arrive this year. Uncover the Smoking Gun puts its ChatGPT-powered dialogue front and centre, as the player’s detective interviews robot suspects to solve a murder case.
WipEout and Skate co-creators tease a sci-fi sports game and roguelike strategy sim from their new studio
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 17:20:28 -0000
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor joining EA Play
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 17:40:01 -0000
UPDATE 7.20pm: EA has confirmed Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is joining the EA Play line-up on Xbox and PC later this week, following word of a PlayStation release earlier today.
As revealed in a post on Xbox Wire, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor officially arrives "for all EA Play members" on Thursday, 25th April - that's despite some users reporting success downloading and playing the PlayStation version already today.
PC Game Pass and Ultimate Game Pass members gain access to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor this Thursday too, courtesy of EA Play's inclusion in Microsoft's subscription service.
The Fallout TV show’s popularity has blown up Nexus Mods as everyone rushes to play Fallout 4 again
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 17:45:25 -0000
The Fallout TV show effect continues. This time, it’s popular mod site Nexus Mods on the receiving end of the double-edged Shishkebab, as its servers struggle under the weight of people rushing to play through the series again - and mod its latter entries into games worth playing, presumably.
StarCraft 2’s former lead multiplayer designer teases a new RTS he feels is a “paradigm shift” for the genre
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 18:10:56 -0000
The former multiplayer lead for RTS giant StarCraft 2 is working on a new real-time strategy game that he promises will mark a “paradigm shift” for the storied PC genre.
Microsoft's Xbox indie showcase back next week with Don't Nod's latest, more
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 19:21:24 -0000
Microsoft's indie-focused ID@Xbox digital showcase is back next Monday, 29th April, with news on Life is Strange developer Don't Nod's Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and more.
This year's ID@Xbox Digital Showcase kicks off at 6pm BST in the UK (that's 10am PT), promising "lots of indie goodness" including "epic trailers, fresh gameplay, and new reveals".
Alongside the aforementioned Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Microsoft has confirmed appearances from the persistently vampire-free Vampire Survivors (recently revealed to be getting a Contra-themed expansion soon, of all things), as well as the promising Dungeons of Hinterberg, and 33 Immortals - which comes from Spiritfarer developer Thunder Lotus Games.
Meta opening Quest mixed reality OS up to third-party hardware makers
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:09:52 -0000
Meta is opening its Quest mixed reality operating system up to third-party hardware makers to create "more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for".
"The growth of the mixed reality market and the rising popularity of use cases like gaming, entertainment, fitness, productivity, and social presence have created new opportunities for specialised hardware," Meta writes. "As we've seen with the PC and smartphone industries, consumers are best served by a broad hardware ecosystem producing both general-purpose computing devices and more specialised products, all running on a common platform."
To that end, Meta says third-party hardware manufacturers will be able to make use of the Meta Quest operating system - now renamed Meta Horizon OS - and the company has announced a number of initial partnerships to create devices with "specific use cases". ASUS Republic of Gamers, for instance, is creating an "all-new performance gaming headset", while Lenovo is developing "mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment".
Samus skipped Fortnite because Nintendo "got really hung up" about its characters on other platforms
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 22:28:16 -0000
Way back in 2021, documents shared as part of Epic's court battle with Apple confirmed what Nintendo fans had long suspected: that Samus was planned to appear in Fortnite's bounty hunter season but, for reasons unknown at the time, never made the cut. But those reasons have now been revealed, with former Fortnite boss Donald Mustard explaining Nintendo "got really hung up" about its characters appearing on other platforms when approached.
Fortnite's bounty hunter season ran from December 2020 to March 2021, and included appearances from two major console mascots: Xbox's Master Chief and PlayStation's Kratos. Inevitably, there was plenty of speculation Metroid protagonist Samus Aran would be next to represent Nintendo, but the character never arrived.
When court documents shared later that year confirmed Samus had at one point been planned for Fortnite's bounty hunter season, speculation only increased. Fans have long wondered if Nintendo's sticking point was that it didn't want its characters stepping outside the bounds of its own consoles - and it turns out, as per a new interview with Epic's former chief creative officer Donald Mustard, those theories were exactly right.
Acclaimed neo-noir motel-in-hell shooter El Paso, Elsewhere getting a movie
Mon, 22 Apr 2024 23:33:15 -0000
El Paso, Elsewhere - the ultra-stylish "neo noir" motel-in-hell shooter from developer Strange Scaffold - is getting the movie treatment following its acclaimed release last year.
El Paso, Elsewhere takes players into the bowels of a reality shifting Texan motel - and across the boundaries of hell itself - as they hunt down their vampiric ex-girlfriend before she can end the world. Unfortunately, a whole supernatural army of werewolves, fallen angels, and other damned creatures lies in the way, leading to some seriously intense shootouts in what Strange Scaffold calls a "vivid slow motion love letter to action classics."
It's mesmerising, almost overwhelmingly stylish stuff, so news there's an El Paso, Elsewhere movie in the works isn't all that surprisingly. As per Deadline, Academy Award nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Get Out, Uncut Gems, The Book of Clarence) is in talks to produce and star in the feature, hoping to take the lead role of James Savage. "While recovering from a toxic relationship," explains Deadline's synopsis, "[James] confronts both his inner demons and enigmatic ex-girlfriend, Janet, before she executes a world-ending ritual."
Illaoi finally gets gameplay showcase ahead of 2XKO Evo Japan demo
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 01:11:13 -0000
Illaoi has finally gotten a dedicated gameplay trailer and explainer, ahead of a new 2XKO demo available to play at Evo Japan. The character, first revealed during the game's free-to-play announcement is the fifth to be fully playable by members of the public.
The video in question, released on 2XKO socials and viewable below, comes alongside commentary by Caroline Montana Riot Shyvana who designed the champion alongside a dedicated development pod, and explains that this bruiser is a hard-hitting brawler who makes good use out of her infamous tentancles to extend combos and apply additional pressure.
Back when we first got a peak at Illaoi through a dedicated design blog on the Riot Games website, we knew the team wanted to go heavy on the character fantasy of big hits and tentacle assists. In this final version of the character, it looks like the team ended up on a summonable tentacle system, in which you can actively bring them out and trigger their attacks to nearby enemies. It's worth noting that Shyvana also emphasises that Illaoi isn't a "puppet character" like you'd see in other series like Blazblue, but rather a bruiser who's at their best when applying pressure with tentancles set up.
Cereballers is a free 2D football parody with a spark of real genius
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:16:11 -0000
I often regret that I didn't get into football as a kid (note for people across the pond: football is what we call soccer in these here accursed, eternally post-imperial isles). The trouble was, all my friends liked football and I have an abiding hatred of popular things, a hatred that has obviously served me well during my later career as an online news journalist. I played hockey instead, which is the superior sport in that you get a big nasty stick, but also relatively niche because you need more equipment.
Still, I've enjoyed rediscovering football in videogames, and especially videogames that don't treat football with much respect. You may have played or at least heard of Behold The Kickmen - now, here's free downloadable Itch.io offering Cereballers to stick the boot in.
Amid Fallout TV show fever, Nexus Mods says it's been dishing out as much data as downloading Skyrim "twice per second" would involve
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:21:51 -0000
While Fallout 4's next-gen update hasn't even dropped yet, Amazon's Fallout TV show has already been driving droves of players back to the series. Naturally, a lot these returning wastelanders have been grabbing mods to spice up their experiences - about two Skyrim's per second worth, actually.
Yup, as they fill the void of not having a second season to immediately binge - though one is very much on the way - people have been busy downloading plenty of overhauls, weapons, and even Walton Goggins billboards.
As outlined in a new post by community manager Demorphic, modding site Nexus Mods has basically been struggling to keep up with that demand for the past little bit.
Fortnite now lets you block the game's most toxic emotes
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:55:45 -0000
Fortnite has added a new setting so you never again have to see or hear some of its most "confrontational" (read: toxic) emotes.
These include such classics as Laugh It Up, where you guffaw with the sound of a braying donkey, and Take the L, where you dance from side to side holding - as Smash Mouth once said - your finger and thumb in the shape of an L on your forehead.
Also included are Whipcrack, which does exactly what you'd expect, and Make It Plaintain, which lets you fire out banana-like fruit from your fingertips. Both of these emotes have previously been associated within the game's community with racist abuse.
Five of the Best: Motorbikes
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:57:36 -0000
Five of the Best is a weekly series for supporters of Eurogamer. It's a series that highlights some of the features in games that are often overlooked. It's also about having your say, so don't be shy, use the comments below and join in!
Oh and if you want to read more, you can - you can find our entire Five of the Best archive elsewhere on the site.
For many years, there was a running joke - meme, I suppose - on Eurogamer whereby people would ask if a game had motorbikes in it. For the life of me, I can't remember why that was (please to enlighten me in the comments if you know). Nevertheless, it would mean a barrage of "does it have motorbikes in it?" underneath reviews and then, when hallelujah a game did have motorbikes in, a barrage of "motorbikes!" comments instead. Or rather, "|\/|0t0rb1kes!", as the preferred styling became. I like to think this is because motorbikes are always, secretly - or not so secretly - the most satisfying vehicles in games. They are the most fun, the most daring, and those that are the most removed from our day to day lives. The question is, in which games are motorbikes the best?
Hades 2 is kicking things off with a special weapon: familiarity
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:00:00 -0000
Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark. And there were cocoons everywhere. Sadly, I had a swing at a few, and this turned out to be a mistake. Mothy, woven foes emerged and I was overwhelmed. I woke up, cursing, in a glade surrounded by standing stones. Ahead lay a sort of tented bedroom, and the whole thing promised to start over.
Repetition is at the heart of Hades, and it's at the heart of Hades 2. It's bound up in quite a tangled, complex way, I suspect. It was weird to hear that Supergiant was cranking on a sequel, given the studio's fondness for daisy-chaining delicate, unique games that all seemed to be in conversation with one another. But then, it was weird to hear that the first Hades was headed to Early Access back in the day, given the studio's fondness for shipping things that seemed, if not perfect, then deeply considered, thoroughly complete.
Well, Hades 2 is a lot like Hades so far, and it turns out that that's exactly what I wanted, even if I didn't know it. Movement is still a decisive sock-clad glide over polished parquet. The world is still delivered in Euro comic book panels, with those delicate black lines and flashes of light to suggest smoothest stone. Combat still sees awkward players like myself clutching dash and attack in a kind of crow-footed death grip. The gods are still TikTok influencers deigning, now and then, to dip into their comments. Here's Aphrodite with an attack boon - it would not be an enormous surprise if she then launched into everything she ate at Coachella.
Whatever the Fallout TV show does with New Vegas lore, Josh Sawyer doesn’t care: “It was never mine”
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:00:00 -0000
What’s it like to watch a smash hit TV show set in the backyard of a game you’ve made? It’s a question which Fallout: New Vegas project director Josh Sawyer is uniquely qualified to answer.
“The show really does capture the aesthetic of Fallout 4 and 76, while also feeling like it is set on the West Coast,” he says. “If you’re a fan, then you can see where the plot elements have been pulled from in previous entries. And if you’re new to it, thankfully, those plot elements are fairly straightforward. So I think it’s a good show for fans and a good show if you’re new to it, even though there’s a lot of stuff going on. I’m certainly interested to see where they’re going in the second season.”
Hollywood's next video game adaptation? A Max Payne inspired shooter where your ex is a vampire hellbent on destroying the world
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:04:38 -0000
Video game movies aren't just for the big names it seems, as the indie Max Payne-like El Paso, Elsewhere is next up on the adaptation train.
We really are in the era of video game movies. Superhero movies are still around, sure, but post Avenger's: Endgame it's becoming clearer and clearer that there's plenty of strong stories to tap into in the world of video games. We've got your heavy hitters like the upcoming, odd Knuckles series and third Sonic film, as well as the star-studded Minecraft movie. Now even indie titles are getting a taste of the limelight, as earlier this month it was announced that the horror fishing game Dredge would be getting a live-action adaptation. Announced yesterday, though, is the latest indie title to be heading to the film yesterday: El Paso, Elsewhere.
You might not have heard of El Paso, Elsewhere before, but you'll definitely find something familiar in it. Announced way back in 2021, the third-person shooter is heavily inspired by Max Payne, complete with slow-mo bullet time. What makes it stand out is the fact that you have to kill your ex-girlfriend, who also just so happens to be the lord of the vampires. It's an incredibly strong concept, and as reported by Variety, its live-action adaptation already sounds like it's off to a strong start. Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You and Get Out star LaKeith Stanfield is apparently in talks to join the project, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s Di Bonaventura Pictures producing the film (the production company behind the Transformers and G.I. Joe films.
Atlus' Persona follow-up Metaphor: ReFantazio gets release date
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:50:09 -0000
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Metaphor: ReFantazio, the next game from Persona developer Atlus, finally has a release date: 11th October 2024.
We already knew Metaphor was destined for release this year, but in a new streamed showcase the game's exact date was confirmed along with an in-depth look at gameplay for the first time.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is set to be a "culmination of our RPGs," said director Katsura Hashino, following the studio's work on the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. Its release marks the 35th anniversary of Atlus' first game. Hashino explained more about Metaphor's fantasy setting and election twist on familiar Persona gameplay.
Metaphor: ReFantazio gets mega-trailer and October release date - good news, brawler-only parties are viable
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:50:55 -0000
As one of the Treehouse's resident Atlus sickos, I was incredibly happy to wake up to 25-minutes of Metaphor: ReFantazio's director Katsura Hashino talking us through some new footage. We get a look at a new rural town and the activities you can get up to, like bounty hunting. Travel on your magic mech is compared to "camping", which I wasn't expecting. And there's lots of combat on show, with transitions from real-time to turn-based battles outlined in a bit more detail. Oh and it's coming out in October, which gives me plenty of time to clear my JRPG backlog before this inevitably takes over my entire existence for the foreseeable.
Pre-registrations for Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail developer's next game open
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:51:30 -0000
If you were a fan of both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail and want more from their developers, you can now pre-register for miHoYo's next game Zenless Zone Zero.
Pre-registration for Zenless Zone Zero is available now across all platforms. That's mobile, PC and PlayStation 5.
In addition, the studio is hosting a pre-registration event via Zenless Zone Zero's site.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a classy, cinematic puzzle box that preys on my fear of maths
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 11:00:00 -0000
The pre-release marketing for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes has suggested a particularly abstract experience. Strange trailers tease "unconventional concepts", "patterns, patterns, patterns", and "puzzles, puzzles, puzzles", hinting at an otherworldly concept and "maze of deceptions" all in eerie black and white. This was all intentional game director Simon Flesser told me last year. "We want to make viewers wonder, and think."
After some hands-on time, though, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is actually a more straightforward game than Simogo would have you believe, at least initially. The developer's previous mobile games Year Walk and Device 6 featureed grim visuals and self-contained mysteries where the very games themselves were puzzles to unravel. In retrospect, Scandi dream-pop rhythm game Sayonara Wild Hearts stands out in the studio's oeuvre as a colourful sugar rush, but it's no less thought-provoking in its combination of video game and utterly brilliant playable music album.
So how does Lorelei compare? Its premise is actually rather simple to explain. Playing as a young woman known only as Signorina, you must explore a maze-like hotel filled with bite-sized puzzles. She's been lured here by an artist called Renzo Nero to view his "magnum opus", though it soon becomes apparent Nero may not be referring to a singular piece of art but perhaps the hotel itself. It's almost like Luigi's Mansion, though I presume Nero won't turn out to be King Boo in disguise.
As Fallout: London's former release date passes by, its lead laments the effects of Bethesda's apparent next-gen update silence
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 11:00:05 -0000
Today, April 23, was orginally supposed to be the release date of Fallout: London, with the massive mod being pencilled in for St Georges's Day following a delay late last year. However, Fallout 4's long-awaited next-gen update ended up putting pay to that idea, given its potential to break several elements of the mod just two days after its planned release.
If you're out of the loop, Fallout: London's a full conversion mod for Fallout 4 that's set to let us explore a post-apocalytic version of the English capital, complete with fresh factions and quests. We've been getting regular updates from the team behind it over the past couple of years, but its release date is now up in the air due to Fallout 4's next-gen update being set to drop on April 25.
After outlining how the update would affect the mod's release plans in a video just over a week ago, Fallout: London's project lead, Dean 'Prilladog' Carter, has now provided a bit more insight into the effects the changes the update's neccessitated have affected things via an interview with the BBC. He also went a little bit more in-depth regarding Bethesda's apparent lack of communication with the mod's team regarding the update - something he touched on in that initial video.
Tom Holland says "everyone wants" Spider-Man 4 to happen, but he's still staying cautious
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 11:19:01 -0000
While any details are yet to be set in stone, Tom Holland has made it clear that with Spider-Man 4, "everyone wants it to happen."
Companies love money, and because of that reason, Spider-Man 4 is almost definitely going to happen. It's not currently on the MCU docket at the moment, but a report from last month did say that Disney is eyeing up the director of multiple Fast & Furious films Justin Lin to take it over from Jon Watts, who's handled the previous three Holland-starring Spidey films. Zendaya is also apparently set to return, but again, Marvel and Disney are keeping quiet on what's actually going on with it. Now, in a recent interview with Deadline, Holland has at least reaffirmed that people are working on it, though it sounds like they're taking their time with it.
"The simple answer is that I’ll always want to do Spider-Man films," Holland said when asked if he'd return as the webslinger. "I owe my life and career to Spider-Man. So the simple answer is yes. I'll always want to do more." But the more "complicated answer" when it comes to making another one is that he wants to avoid repeating the same themes in a sequel.
ESA lawyer frets about some sort of terrifying ‘online arcade’ if preservation is made easier
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 11:56:16 -0000
Last week, a government hearing took place between representatives of the Video Game History Foundation, the Rhizome project, and the Software Preservation Network among others, with legal representation for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the AACS among those in opposition. The hearing was a follow-up to the SPN petitioning the US copyright office, last year, for a DMCA exemption that would allow researchers to access games in libraries and archives. As reported by Game Developer, ESA legal representative Steve Englund said in the hearing that, currently, there’s “[no] combination of limitations [ESA members] would support to provide remote access."
Lethal Company gets worse as you get better
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:00:00 -0000
So far, my main problem with Lethal Company – this month’s RPS Game Club game – is that I’m getting better at it. I’m more efficient at clearing up scrap, less prone to fear-spasming inside out when a monster attacks, and have become wise to most of the haunted houses’ deadliest tricks. All of these, it turns out, make Lethal Company a worse game.
M. Night Shyamalan's daughter makes her directorial debut with a horror flick that's surely going to follow in her father's plot-twist-loving footsteps
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:02:32 -0000
It looks like M. Night Shyamalan's daughter Ishana is staying in the family business, as her feature film directorial debut looks to be a surreal horror that almost definitely has a twist.
Right now, M. Night is currently working on his own new film, Trap, a movie that sees an entire pop concert set up just to catch one serial killer. It's a wild concept, and one that features his eldest daughter Saleka as the pop star performing during the film, with her music set to appear in it too. But M. Night's younger daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, also has a film in the works: The Watchers, the first trailer of which just dropped yesterday. It's not the first time that Ishana has sat in the director's chair, as she has actually directed several episodes of the horror series Servant (yes, her dad was the showrunner), and she's directed most of her sister's music videos.
But The Watchers marks her feature film debut as a director, and it seems like an odd one. Based on the book of the same name by A.M. Shine, the film stars Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds, My Neighbour Totoro) as "Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night."
The original Fallout is the perfect antidote to Fallout fever
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:05:06 -0000
Speaking to RPS regular Jeremy Peel in a new feature about RPG design, Amazon's Fallout TV show and his time working on Pentiment and Pillars of Eternity, Obsidian's Josh Sawyer has reflected a bit on what Fallout: New Vegas owes to Black Isle and Interplay's very first Fallout from 1997. "A lot of the philosophy that I approached New Vegas with was the philosophy of Fallout 1, or how I interpreted it," Sawyer observed. "Fallout 1 was foundational for me in understanding how role-playing games should be made."
Chill out, Helldivers 2 hardcores trying to get casual players to stick to the battle plan, Arrowhead's doing what it can to help out
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 12:22:41 -0000
Some Helldivers 2 Major Orders are harder than others. Kill something like two billion bugs? Easy. Co-ordinate the defense of 10 planets in one go? Not so easy. Unfotunately, the latter's the latest mission folks have been given, and getting everyone to stick to a plan has proven a step too far for the community, even if it does sound like Arrowhead's doing what it can to help the hardcores who're determined to play armchair General.
Yup, even though they're fresh off a maths-inducing bout of Terminid destruction and now have armour sets that definitely should boast the intended passives, the myriad whims of the average video game player are now standing in the way of Super Earth victory. And there's nothing you can really do about it.
While the game's community has, as of writing, managed to defend of four of the ten planets involved in this latest chapter of the Galactic War, there's been a bunch of arguing going on when it's come to devising with the ideal strategy to keep these worlds safe and, more importantly, getting enough players to buy into it.
Age of Wonders-esque Songs of Conquest finally leaves early access soon
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 13:00:00 -0000
After almost two years of cooking in early access, the team behind turn-based strategy adventure game Songs of Conquest has announced its full-fat release date.
Mark your calendars, as Songs of Conquest is set to release into 1.0 next month, on 20th May.
Sharing the news, developer Lavapotion along with Coffee Stain Publishing said the game's full release will bring with it a number of general new features and improvements. Perhaps most exciting, however, is the news that Songs of Conquest will have a new single player campaign, focused on the mercantile nation of Barya.
Arise now, ye Cerim: No Rest for the Wicked’s performance updates are underway
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 13:09:52 -0000
No Rest for the Wicked launched into early access as a bit of a fixer-upper, even by the standards of its 'buy now, play finished game later' model. The good news is that the grim action-RPG’s wonky performance is already being straightened out, with two of its three hotfixes thus far delivering a noticeable improvements, even on older graphics cards.
The kissable frogs and sparky combat of Hades 2 looks set to bewitch fans
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 13:41:43 -0000
Were we to pluck up a passing stoat, or wandering pigeon, and inspect their entrails for omens as regards the quality of mythical roguelike Hades 2, we would find ourselves covered in blood and perhaps a little wiser. But I have been given strict editorial directions not to kill any more small creatures for gambling purposes. So let us instead use the semi-public "technical test" as a portentous looking glass from which to discern whether this hell-hopping sequel seems promising. Fine by me, the approach is no less stabby.
EGX and MCM team up for London 2024 dates
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
This year's EGX - the UK's biggest gaming event run by Eurogamer's current owner Reedpop - will take place as a joint shindig with MCM Comic Con, with both expos co-habiting at ExCeL London from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th October.
On the EGX side, you should expect the usual mix of upcoming and classic games to play, and developers to hear from. On the MCM side, it'll be a similar vibe, but centered around wider pop culture - with past shows welcoming all manner of Marvel, Game of Thrones and Dungeons & Dragons stars as guests.
TikTok will return as EGX headline partner this year, and will provide oppurtunities for fans to meet some of the best and brightest creators on the platform.
Grounded comes to PS5 and Switch - but performance is a problem
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
Rounding out the initial quartet of Xbox Studio titles announced for PlayStation 5, miniature survival game Grounded has arrived on Sony's machine - and Nintendo Switch too. Given that we last looked at Grounded in early access on Xbox One and PC way back in 2020, these two new releases give us a perfect opportunity to reappraise all platforms today. And so, here we've got PS5, Switch, Series X, Series S and PC in focus, as we see how all compare in terms of fidelity and performance. Most importantly, does the PS5 edition recreate the Series X experience, or are there graphics changes as we saw in Hi-Fi Rush on its PS5 debut? And for Switch, how does its handheld play actually hold up with 30 frames per second as the target?
For the uninitiated, Grounded is a survival game in the mould of Valheim or Ark: Survival Evolved that lets you loose on a garden after being shrunk down to the size of a figurine. You wake up to a jungle of looming grass blades, evade spiders, navigate all manner of discarded gadgets and junk, scavenge for food, and above all - through the power of science - seek a way to return to your normal size. The central conceit calls to mind Andy's garden from Pixar's Toy Story, or even Disney's comedy adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
It's a great survival-themed backdrop - deploying heavy bokeh depth of field to truly sell the scale of its world. We're not getting an all-guns-a-blazing showcase for Unreal Engine here by any means. But still, it's a fun idea with solid execution, featuring a day-night cycle plus some beautiful volumetric lighting effects. Impressively, these latest ports to PS5 and Switch also include cross-play by linking to a Microsoft account, so up to four friends across multiple platforms can combine forces to build structures and survive the creatures of the garden.
This new AI licence aims to protect voice actors and promote ethical AI usage
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:30:40 -0000
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A new hybrid AI licence for voice actors has been launched by a leading audio tool company, with the aim of providing an ethical approach for AI usage.
The somewhat ironically-named Speechless is a Swedish-based voice actor database and asset tool for developers. Its new AI licence will allow actors to provide their voice and earn a commission when used by developers.
Speechless hopes this approach will provide an ethical way for developers to experiment with AI and establish best practice.
Hellish indie horror IRIS can get in the toaster and I’m sure the feeling is mutual
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:55:56 -0000
Sometimes, I hear critics describe something as ‘actively hostile’ to the act of playing it, but with something close to admiration in their voices. I've always felt that I, too, would like to one day find an artwork that I could describe in the same way. Partly because it sounds like an interesting experience, but mainly so I could steal that line and feel like one of those elite, urbanely perceptive, multiple trouser-owning critics.
Well, today is not that day, because indie horror IRIS isn't, in fact, actively hostile towards the act of playing it. It's more a case of passive disdain. Is it a ‘good’ game? Probably not. Ah, but is it enjoyable? Buddy, not even slightly. But it is intriguing. I am intrigued, reader.
If you loved Your Name, you should probably get excited about the first film from one of its animators
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:14:44 -0000
A unit director and key animator from Makoto Shinkai's hit film Your Name is making his own directorial debut soon, and it's looking beautiful so far.
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya isn't a household name, but he has worked on some projects you've likely heard of, namely the 2016 film Your Name. Now, as reported by Variety, he's looking to make his own claim in the world of directing with the upcoming anime film A New Dawn. At this point in time, there's no trailer just yet, but a few stills from the production have been released and they certainly look like they'll be offering a unique visual treat. The film is apparently quite a personal one for Shinomiya, as it is inspired by how the Japanese landscape changed following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
The film specifically follows Keitaro, a young man who has lived in an inactive fireworks factory for the past four years that is about to go into administrative action. There, Variety writes that he chases "the illusion of a father who vanished years before. The location used to be nestled in a lush forest, but the surrounding area has recently been redeveloped by the city, which covered the land with solar panels. Only a scant bit of greenery around the factory remains amongst the sea of panels."
Sweet Transit is a loveable city builder for model train nerds, out of early access now
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:29:45 -0000
Afternoon, conveyor belt fans! Good news, I think I may have discovered the first genuinely cosy automation game. Attempts have been made at cosy automation and automated cosiness in the past – Satisfactory is on the sunnier side, providing you enable the right settings, and Shapez 2 has lots of rounded edges. But IDK, there’s something about the ravages of mass industry that doesn’t quite gel with zoomorphic raccoon baristas and other such wholesome trappings. Have you ever encountered a cuddly smokestack? How about a cuddly just-in-time network?
Combine cosiness with automation, and a lot of the time, you end up with some kind of macabre joke, like Palworld. Or at least so I thought before I discovered Sweet Transit, out now, which seemingly resolves everything by means of a hearty injection of trains.
5 years on from Mortal Kombat 11's series high-point, the games industry seems intent on making it the last MK I'll ever love
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:30:43 -0000
Mortal Kombat 11 is five years old today. Although the 11 at the end of the title might suggest otherwise, this was actually an unusual game in many ways. As much as it represented the final chapter in a long-running story, I like to also think of Mortal Kombat 11 as the last game of its kind from developer NetherRealm.
No, it wasn’t its last fighting game, or even the last Mortal Kombat. But, as I look back at how the studio (and the industry at large)has changed its output in the half-decade since, I can’t help but lament what we’re stuck with today.
Fallout TV showrunners discuss season two location, and why the series doesn't need to follow a canon ending
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:33:47 -0000
Amazon's Fallout adaptation was officially renewed for a second season last week, and now its showrunners have given us the briefest of teasers for what is in store next.
Please note, there will be major spoilers for the first season of Fallout below. If you are yet to finish the show, and want to keep as much under wraps as possible, please head elsewhere now.
Speaking with GQ, Fallout showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet addressed the final moments of season one.
Latest Horizon Forbidden West PC patch finally fixes its weirdest issue
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:42:28 -0000
Nestled within a seemingly ho-hum patch for Horizon Forbidden West’s PC edition is a change I’ve been crossing fingers and ritualistically sacrificing metal dinosaurs for since release. At last I can behold those glorious words: "Resolved performance regression when enabling Nvidia Reflex On+Boost." Finally!
Innkeep satisfies my craving for a fantasy game that's just a grim drudgery simulator
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:46:01 -0000
I'm the kind of awful person who looks at the background actors in TV shows and wonders what life is like for e.g. the old woman who sells birdfeed in Trafalgar Square in Mary Poppins when said upper-middle class domestic isn't singing about her. What fate the Warcraft grunt when he is too old to work work? It's probably pretty bad, right? Now let me slop Innkeep down in front of you like a big bowl of rat stew. Developer Daniel Burke furnished me with a little playable slice, and boy, Innkeep is a grim old time. I mean that as a compliment.
In it you run a big pub with room for a lot of grizzled adventurers, in a dog-eat-dog dark fantasy RPG sort of a world - think a roadside pub in one of the early seasons of Game Of Thrones, before everyone hated it. You do a lot of plate-spinning drudgery like cooking, cleaning, and serving, but also eavesdropping, rumourmongering, and knowing when to slip in a ribald joke as a distraction while you size up a mercenary's sword.
Sucker for Love: Date to Die For review - '90s anime-inspired romantic horror keeps things short and sweet
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
Sucker for Love: Date to Die For is the midpoint of a planned trilogy that grew out of solo dev Akabaka's submission to Dread X Collection 2 back in 2020. The theme of the second lockdown game jam overseen by indie horror publisher DreadXP was "Lovecrafting", which Akabaka ran with to create a dating sim where you romance anime-esque waifus who are also eldritch goddesses inspired by deities described in the Cthulhu Mythos. The aim was to create a horror dating sim where the romanceable monsters were sexy and terrifying in equal measure, pulling no punches when it came to demonstrating the dreadful and often disgusting things a human would have to do to catch the romantic attentions of an incomprehensible cosmic being.
This irresistible concept quickly led to a three-game deal between Akabaka and DreadXP, beginning with Sucker for Love: First Date, an expansion on the original one-shot released in 2022. The second game, Date to Die For, is technically a prequel to First Date rather than a sequel; I say "technically" because timeline chronology doesn't have a huge amount of importance in reality-warping cosmic horror stories, and the fact that it definitely takes place before its predecessor is only revealed off-handedly near the end.
Familiarity with the first game is far from mandatory to enjoy this one, although playing them in release order will furnish you with some useful context about characters and mechanics from the original that are riffed on in Date to Die For. However, the prequel focuses on an almost entirely new cast, with cameos from returning characters kept fairly low-key — a wise choice, given that Date to Die For has the potential for wider appeal than its predecessor, which was lauded in the niche circles of horror dating sim fans but never really broke out beyond that.
They'd never get away with THIS nowadays! The Best Games Ever Podcast episode 96
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:01:24 -0000
There's now a premium, extended version of this podcast that you can get as a VG247 paid subscriber - check out our Support Us page for more info. Doing so helps ensure that we can keep making the show! But don't worry if that's not for you, the main show will always be free.
You can’t say anything these days! Is what silly people say, a lot. You can actually say whatever you like. You can say, for example, and with confidence, that there are certain things you could get away with in gaming thirty years ago that simply wouldn’t fly now. Like… racing games with only one track. Platformers with a length of 20mins if you’re good at them. Games with terrible representation of anyone who isn’t a straight white male.
Attitudes and expectations change with time – sometimes it’s progress, sometimes it’s regression. But whatever the reason, it does lead to a lot of otherwise good games being cast into the shame cupboard of history. Games which would be a tough sell or borderline offensive now, but play great.
Trying to get over an X? This custom X-Men '97 Xbox Series X that you can probably watch the X-cellent series on might not be for you
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:06:43 -0000
Been taking some rides on the nostalgia train recently with X-Men '97? Xbox wants you to keep that locomotive chugging, as it's giving away a Series X themed around the show.
While the MCU is yet to fully reintroduce the X-Men into its live action universe (or I guess multiverse these days), Disney has still brought a continuation of the original '90s X-Men series to its streaming service, X-Men '97. The revival more or less picks things up where the original series left off, continuing on the story that initially wrapped up back in 1997, with a mixture of a returning cast, as well as some new voices. But, if you're someone that has a big problem with an ex (sorry), then the custom Xbox Series X that Microsoft is giving away might not be for you.
"Xbox and X-Men '97 have come together to bring you a very special Xbox Series X wrapped in a limited-edition comic inspired by the all-new series and created by Marvel writer Rich Douek and artist Paco Diaz," describes Xbox Wire about the console. "This thrilling 2-page story with full page cover is exclusive to the Xbox Series X, and features Cyclops leading the X-Men in a battle against Sentinels and Master Mold, with an Xbox Series X console making a special appearance in the Danger Room. Marking the first time an Xbox Series X has been wrapped by a comic book, this collaboration promises to immerse fans in a nostalgic journey through the world of the X-Men '97."
EGX and MCM Comic Con are sharing a London venue this year
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:09:55 -0000
Stand by for a missive from RPS corporate parent ReedPop. Transmission begins! Ah, it's about gaming events. So, Reedpop's EGX expo and MCM Comic Con are joining forces. They'll both take place side-by-side in the ExCel London this year, on 25th-27th October.
EGX, of course, will feature a bunch of classic and upcoming games, while Comic Con is laser-targeted at our respected allies in the world of on-paper image-based storytelling with speech bubbles. EGX's headline partner is TikTok this year, which makes this a perfect nexus of entertainment artforms. All we need is a puppetshow now and possibly a semaphore stand, and the ritual will be complete.
Fortnite will let you hide "confrontational" emotes, including the game's most popular
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:42:29 -0000
Royale-battler Fortnite will soon allow players to hide a handful of emotes the developers concede are "sometimes used in confrontational ways". This includes the emote reported as the most-used in Fortnite's seven-year history. That's either a worrying indictment of the game's players, or a (more?) worrying indictment of universal human psychology. What is the offending animation? Well, turns out people don't like being laughed at.
GTA 5 actor says he "shot some stuff" for a planned "James Bond Trevor" DLC
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:24:13 -0000
Steven Ogg, who played Trevor Philips in Grand Theft Auto 5, has revealed he "shot some stuff" for a DLC that would have continued the character's adventures, now working as an undercover agent for the FBI, but it "just disappeared and [Rockstar] never followed up on it."
As those with long memories might recall, Rockstar announced it was working on "some very exciting" story DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5 all the way back in 2013. However, those plans were quietly shelved after it shifted its focus to the hugely popular GTA Online.
Rockstar never officially revealed what it had been planning for its Grand Theft Auto 5 story DLC, but a few tantalising details have now emerged during a Q&A livestream hosted by Streamily. According to Michael de Santa actor Ned Luke - appearing alongside Shawn Fonteno, who played Franklin Clinton, and Steven Ogg - Rockstar was "originally... gonna do the continuing stories of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor".
Ex-Lionhead developers announce new game, shelve new game, and confirm layoffs all at the same time
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:46:18 -0000
Flaming Fowl, the developer behind card battler Fable Fortune and the acclaimed Gloomhaven video game adaptation, has unveiled its new project - but, in an unusual move, has also announced it's shelving development and confirmed layoffs at the studio all at the same time.
Flaming Fowl, which was founded in 2016 by former members of original Fable developer Lionhead Studios, embarked on its rollercoaster of announcements in a post on Steam, beginning with a reveal for its new project, known as Ironmarked - a "1-3 player co-op RPG with turn-based combat" - and the launch of an accompanying demo.
In an unexpected and rather sobering twist, however, Flaming Fowl immediately followed Ironmarked's unveiling with some unhappier news, revealing, "Unfortunately, due to the current lack of funding in the games industry, we are putting production on hold and have had to downsize the studio, letting go of some amazing people."
Against The Storm's 1.3 update is out now and it's one for the zoomers
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:49:21 -0000
Against The Storm's latest update adds a a River Kelpie, a "legendary water demon" that can mesmerise villagers in your rain-slick settlements. I've been mesmerised myself by another part of the update, however: the ability to zoom out 66% further than before.
Strategy RPG Songs Of Conquest will hit 1.0 with a final campaign next month
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 21:09:02 -0000
Songs Of Conquest is a strategy-RPG with some of the most handsome pixel art around. Steam tells me I've played its Early Access release for 0.7 hours, which was long enough to know that I wanted to play more and would wait for version 1.0. I won't have to wait much longer. It's now got a May 20th release date.
You can now pre-register for Genshin developer's Zenless Zone Zero
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 21:57:46 -0000
Zenless Zone Zero is the next action-RPG from Genshin Impact developers HoYoverse. Where Genshin is all Zelda-style pastoral greens, Zenless is an urban fantasy. It's expected to release sometime in the first half of 2024, and you can now pre-register on all platforms.
Lords of the Fallen final update introduces modifiers for rogue-lite challenge
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0000
Lords of the Fallen has reached the final stage of its free content roadmap, as developer Hexworks acknowledges the technical difficulties that hampered the game's launch last year.
Master of Fate, as the modifier is known, will allow players to randomise seven different aspects. Choosing to randomise enemy spawns and loot drops alongside permadeath, for instance, effectively turns the Soulslike into a rogue-lite.
Since the launch of Lords of the Fallen in October, Hexworks has been frequently updating the game with quality of life tweaks, performance improvements, and new content.
Fallout season 2 will feature, er, that iconic location, but you don't need to worry about your headcanon
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 08:57:05 -0000
Amazon's Fallout show set up a fan favourite location from the games, though it's sounding like you don't need to worry too much about your own headcanon.
Big spoilers ahead for the end of the Fallout series.
With the knowledge that the Fallout show would be set in what once was California, fans were of course wondering if one particular area from the games would show up or not - that being New Vegas, obviously, given that they're neighbouring states. And as shown right at the end of the series, Lucy's dad Hank has stormed his way over to New Vegas in a piece of power armour, presumably setting up that we'll be seeing a lot of the locale in season 2 (which was confirmed last week). If you were one of those people making that presumption, you'd be right! As co-showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet recently spoke with GQ, where they briefly spoke about New Vegas as a season 2 setting.
Where in the world is Josemonkey?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0000
I both hate and love geolocation games. Take GeoGuessr. I hate to play it myself because I'm clueless at it. But I love to watch it being played by others. It suddenly opens up. It becomes something thrilling.
GeoGuessr is a geolocation game that runs on a browser or on your phone. Load it up and it shows you a snapshot from a Google Street View camera or somesuch, taken from somewhere around the world. It could be from anywhere. You have to use what's visible on the screen to work out where you think you are on Planet Earth, and then you drop a pin into a map with your guess, and the game tells you how close you actually were. It's simplicity itself in theory, but playing it, and playing it well, is the absolute opposite of simple.
To explain the problems I face with GeoGuessr, I did what I absolutely hate to do and played a round this morning. The image loads: a street terminating in what looks like a park. Urban - a capital somewhere given the scale and density of the buildings, the width of the streets. Cream buildings, a little dirty and scuffed. Anonymous modern cars. Definitely Europe. Could be Fitzrovia, but could be Paris, or Budapest, a city that I know often stands in for Paris on film. And if it could be Budapest couldn't it be Bucharest? Prague? Not Bratislava - the scale is all wrong. What a wonky list! How addled and misdirected by the whims of memory. I take a punt on the blurred license plates and guess London. And guys? It was Paris, 339 km away from where I dropped my pin.
The Don't Starve devs' new cutesy co-cop dungeon crawler is out in early access today
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:09:33 -0000
"If only you could talk to these creatures" is never more funny or true than in games like Rotwood, where you play cat people and orcs sent to biff snail worms and flies with scythes. From Klei Entertainment, the gang behind Don't Starve, Invisible Inc. and Oxygen Not Included, to name but a three of their fine games, Rotwood is out later today in early access, ready to provide co-op highjinks in a roguelike dungeon crawl that is really a forest. A forest crawl. You'll get muddy knees.
Steam says those hours you time criminals put in during advanced access now count toward the refund allowance
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:18:30 -0000
Players that put more than two hours into pre-purchased or advanced access games will now be exempt from Steam's refund policy, says Steam, the maker of said policy and thus the final word on how it is implemented. As spotted by the Verge, this change is intended to combat a loophole where filthy time criminals could fill their stolen boots with ill-gotten fun pre-release, then get their money back.
Steam just changed its refund policy, but it shouldn’t affect you too much – unless you were gaming the system
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:34:52 -0000
Steam’s refund policy remains the best in the industry, and today, Valve made a small change to how it considers a certain tier of games. In recent years, more and more major releases have started allowing customers to play early.
Usually, this window is two to four days, and players get it by buying (or upgrading to) a deluxe, ultimate or other kinds of more expensive editions. Previously, however, Steam’s refund policy did not consider this - until now.
However popular you think the Fallout games are right now, you’re wrong – the numbers are astonishing
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:34:54 -0000
Hello there. You might be aware that, following the arrival of Amazon's Fallout TV show lots of people have been, well, playing Fallout games. It's a trend that's been pushing modding sites into new territory when it comes to serving folks ways to spice up their favorite Fallout, and now Bethesda's casually revealed some of the actual player numbers involved.
It's important to note that - while hype for the second season of Amazon's Fallout is already building - Fallout 4's next-gen update hasn't even dropped quite yet. So, there's probably a chance the numbers I'm about to chuck at your face have a chance to climb at least a little bit further soon.
In a couple of tweets form the offical Fallout account, Bethesda revealed that "almost five million" players were recorded in total across all of the titles in the Fallout series during a single day recently. To put that in context, that's almost a million more people than the entire estimated population of Croatia as of 2022 - which was just over 3.8 million - playing the likes of Fallout 4, New Vegas, and probably like five people playing Fallout: Tactics.
No Rest for the Wicked dev defends early access, says Dark Souls would've benefitted
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:52:40 -0000
Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has defended the studio's decision to launch its latest game No Rest for the Wicked in early access.
The dark fantasy game launched last week, but was criticised by players for its poor performance, which Moon Studios pledged to improve.
In a lengthy statement on social media platform X, Mahler discussed the benefits of an early access launch and said he's "confident" more games will be released in this way in future.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered removes Lara Croft posters previously highlighted as an Easter egg
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:53:41 -0000
A recent patch for Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered appears to have removed a set of Lara Croft pin-up style posters in the game's Remastered graphical mode, despite them previously having been flagged by the official Tomb Raider website as a detail to go find.
Fans spotted the posters' removal over the past week (thanks, Kotaku) when playing the game, and have expressed surprise at the change quietly occuring now, several months after launch, with no mention in any patch notes.
The posters are still shown on TombRaider.com as one of 10 original details to go find, alongside Easter eggs pertaining to developer Crystal Dynamics and another of its games, Legacy of Kain. Eurogamer has contacted Crystal Dynamics and remaster developer Aspyr for more.
Two N64 racing games join Nintendo Switch Online today
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:15:12 -0000
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Nintendo's Switch Online service has today received two additions to its N64 catalogue.
Extreme-G and Iggy's Reckin' Balls are both racing games originally released for Nintendo's 64-bit console, now available for Expansion Pack subscribers.
Extreme-G is a high speed futuristic racer released in 1997. With its original trance soundtrack and various weapons, it was the N64's answer to PlayStation's WipEout series. This Switch version has local and online multiplayer.
Percy Jackson writer sets sail from Disney+ to Netflix as he joins One Piece as co-showrunner
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:17:42 -0000
Netflix's One Piece is shaking things up a touch, as one of its showrunners switches roles to make way for a writer from Disney Plus' Percy Jackson show.
It's a good time to be Joe Tracz. Having served as a writer for a couple of episodes on the generally well received Percy Jackson show, as reported by Variety, he's now making his way over to Netflix to head up One Piece as co-showrunner alongside Matt Owens. He'll be taking the place of Steven Maeda, who developed the first season alongside Owens, and will now be shifting into an executive producer role. "Joe has brought a wealth of enthusiasm and experience into our second season that will help take One Piece to new heights," Owens said in a statement. "We're incredibly lucky to have him as a co-captain of this ship. The best crew on the seas grows larger!"
Tracz himself was, unsurprisingly, enthusiastic about joining the show, saying, "I've been lucky to work on big adaptations of several beloved series, and they don’t come bigger or more beloved than One Piece. I'm a huge fan of Oda-san's incredible imagination and I was blown away by what the live-action team created in season one. So it's a dream and a joy to come aboard the Going Merry as it enters the Grand Line for an even more giant season two."
Fallout 76 has now welcomed 1m players in a single day, six years after broken launch
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:29:25 -0000
Fallout 76 has just hit an impressive player milestone, almost six years after the game first released.
According to Bethesda, over one million players were gallivanting around the MMO in a single day. Not bad for a game which, on its initial release in 2018, we called "a bizarre, boring, broken mess" in Eurogamer's Fallout 76 review.
Resharing Bethesda's original post, Fallout 76 creative director Jonathan Rush said how "amazing" it was to see this influx of players. "A very exciting moment with many (many) more to come," he wrote on X.
Quentin Tarantino has changed course on his final film, but it sounds like it would have been a meta, cameo-filled oddity
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:15:15 -0000
Quentin Tarantino recently announced he's no longer making The Movie Critic as his final film, but some details about it have now come to light.
Last week, Tarantino put The Movie Critic on the chopping block after previously stating it would be his 10th and final film. Details about the film are slim, though it had been reported that Brad Pitt would return as Cliff Booth from the 2018 Tarantino-directed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it was unclear in what capacity. Now, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, has offered some more details on what the film might have been like, painting a clearer picture as to how Pitt's character would have been involved.
According to sources familiar with the project that spoke with THR, The Movie Critic would have been somewhat of a meta, crossover kind of film that would have placed Tarantino's films within the 70s, as if they had been made then, allowing the director to bring back some of the big names he's worked with over the years to reprise their characters in "movie within a movie" moments. This potentially would have had the actors playing fictional versions of themselves as the actors who played those characters.
Following the kick off of EA Sports FC 24 TOTS, its latest update stops managers from cheekily dodging firings
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:16:59 -0000
Hello there, EA Sports FC 24 lovers. I know it's been a little while and you've just started getting some nice Team of the Season Ultimate Team upgrades to collect, but a fresh title update's also just rocked up for the game. Sadly, it's without any freaky red and blue non-humans to demo changes, and it stops you from, er, avoiding unemployment.
Yes, you heard me. Stop trying to pack Kai Havertz for a minute, this a serious one for folks who love playing manager mode, and can't resist keeping the threat of being let go switched on, even though all of their signings always turn out to be terrible and their tactics haven't evolved since 2004.
As detailed in the notes for EA FC 24's title update 13, one of the fixes it enacts stops Career Mode managers casually frauding their way back into jobs. Basically, what was previously happening was that sometimes, when your club decided to chuck you out of the window for spending $100 million on a goalie and then playing him as a number 10 and terminated your contract, "the next job offer [you got] could have incorrectly been for the same club".
Harold Halibut's hand-made clay aesthetic is too good to be just a throwback
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:24:49 -0000
Few games this year have looked as good in action as Harold Halibut, the stop-motion-style adventure game that looks like you're watching something physical, made by human hands.
And you are watching something made by human hands, of course, though not quite how you'd expect. The models shown in-game are based on real clay props, the sets real weathered models. It all fits the rusty, rattly spaceship on which Harold Halibut is set - and fits a very British retro aesthetic.
But reducing the game to a throwback does it a disservice - at least, that's what friend of Eurogamer Jim Trinca from VG247 thinks. In his video here, he celebrates the game's art style. It's not a perfect model - but that's the point.
Steam amends refund policy, nixing advanced access loophole in the process
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:46:42 -0000
Valve has updated its refund policy on Steam, making a small but significant change in the process.
This updated policy means players will no longer be able to exploit a loophole that allowed them to play an 'advanced access' game for more than two hours and still request a refund further down the line.
Sharing news on its amended policy, Valve explained that "playtime acquired during the advanced access period will now count towards the Steam refund period", which itself states a player can ask for their money back as long as they have purchased the game within the last 14 days and played less than two hours in total.
PUBG is doing a Fortnite and bringing back its original island map
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:55:28 -0000
The original PUBG battle royale map Erangel is returning for a limited-time blast of nostalgia.
Seven years on from the game's March 2017 debut, the return of Erangel - complete with classic weapon balancing and visuals - follows the temporary return of Fortnite's original island map at the end of last year.
PUBG came first, of course, and while battle royales had existed before, it was the game to really make the genre explode. Now, it feels like PUBG is nodding back to the game that followed it - Epic Games' own take, which remains hugely popular.
Sonic 3 producer says it "takes a lot from Sonic Adventure 2" so I have to ask: what's going to happen to that 12 year old?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:58:20 -0000
It probably won't surprise you that, despite the numbers, Sonic 3 is borrowing a lot from Sonic Adventure 2, but I really am wondering what will happen to Maria.
Can't believe I have to write this, but spoilers ahead for Sonic Adventure 2 and potentially Sonic 3 I guess?
Sonic fans around the world jumped for joy when the very short first teaser was released for Sonic 3, as it featured an orchestral rendition of Live and Learn, the main theme from Sonic Adventure 2. Fans have been desperate for some Adventure-era recognition, and obviously with Shadow's introduction it was always going to borrow from it somewhat. As shared in a new interview with GamesRadar, Sonic 3 producer and Knuckles showrunner Toby Ascher spoke a bit about the upcoming film, and how it's drawing upon Sonic Adventure 2.
Lords of the Fallen's final major update says screw it, lets you balance the game yourself
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:16:57 -0000
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Lords of the Fallen developer HexWorks has delivered one final major update, rounding out the game’s months-long roadmap of new content and patches. Available today, the 1.5 Master of Fate update is the culmination of over 30 patches released since the game’s launch last October.
Master of Fate’s biggest feature is the Advanced Game Modifier System, a randomiser that gives players the power to balance and tweak several core aspects of the game.
Helldivers 2's latest order might be a bit of a struggle, but at least players have discovered a new Olympic sport - Factory Strider parkour
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:35:24 -0000
While Helldivers 2's latest Major Order is proving a bit of a tough one, especially compared to some of the other stuff that the forces of Super Earth have been tasked with recently, folks are still finding ways to keep their sprits up. In a couple of cases the soultion to boosting morale looks to have been a simple one - try some Factory Strider parkour.
Yup, forget about trying to convince all of your casual pals that they need to pitch in and help out with defense of a bunch of planets, the clever - if as risky as you'd expect - tactic of landing on the big Automaton not quite-AT-ATs looks to getting more and more popular. To be fair, it looks a bit more fun than pummeling these tough foes with artillery from ground level.
A couple of different players have shared clips of them essentially goofing off atop Factory Striders to the game's subreddit recently, but the one I think really shows the potential of Factory Strider parkour as something that could be included as an event if the Terminids can ever be held off long enough to organise some kind of Helldiver Olympics comes from user CrzyDonkey.
Lords Of The Fallen's latest update adds cruel modifiers that turn it into a roguelike
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:37:57 -0000
Lords Of The Fallen, an action RPG that was a mixture of fun and infuriating when it first launched, has received its final free update. It introduces the "Advanced Game Modifier System", which sounds like something creepy bachelors would pay an extraordinary monthly fee for. No, it doesn't provide terrible advice on how to talk to women. Instead, it allows you to customise LOTF with modifiers to turn it into a roguelike.
Minecraft rolls out armadillo mob and rewilds biomes with eight new wolf variants
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:48:48 -0000
Armadillos, the grumpy pistachio nuts of the animal kingdom, have been added to Minecraft in a recent mob update. You can brush them to harvest "scutes", the boney armour plating of the animal's back, which you can then use to craft armour for pet wolves. Speaking of wolves, this update also sees an explosion in canine diversity, with eight varieties of the wolf now appearing across different biomes. Awoooooo!
Zenless Zone Zero finally gets a release date, as it soars past 30 million pre-registered players
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 12:49:09 -0000
Zenless Zone Zero has opened up pre-registeration, and has already soared past 30 million sign ups as of writing. In fact, it has passed 32 million and is steadily rolling its way higher with no sign of stopping. As the next big game from the creators of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, it looks like there's a huge swell of interest in getting interested on day one.
Already, players have been accessing Zenless Zone Zero through a variety of alphas and testing periods. There's also been sign-ups for PS5 testing, which has only recently seen invites go out to keen console gamers. However, whereas those players have had to deal with hard content caps and the slow implementation of new mechanics and quality of life features, the full release will be the expected polished package.
Speaking of, alongside this announcement, Zenless Zone Zero was listed on the Apple store and other digital storefronts with a July 3rd release date. So those who sign up today won't have to wait too long at all to actually jump in and play. It's a great date to release too, as the rest of the year is looking somewhat dry and a honkin' new gacha game could probably do well in that period.
Stellar Blade review: Having its cake, and eating it
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:59:59 -0000
Hey pal, grab a chair. Sit down a while. I've spoken to your parents, and they're worried about you, mate. They've been telling me that you're thinking about buying Stellar Blade on the PS5 - don't get up! It's okay, this is a no judgement zone, bud. Don't look embarrassed, it's just me and you having a conversation here. Now, let me tell you something...
Ignore those bozos. Stellar Blade is a downright shocker of a release. An uppercut to the "best games coming in April" videos who could not see past feeble aesthetics to the pack-a-punch action extravaganza behind Stellar Blade, like a fool hiker missing the forest for the trees. Stellar Blade asks a question that sat steadfast in even Plato's mind: "Can too much cake ruin a party?"
For those blissfully unaware of what I'm waffling about, Stellar Blade is a third-person action game made by South Korean developer Shift Up. With roots firmly buried in the mobile market, the studio is taking a Fenway Park level swing at a true triple-A experience. We're talking PS5 console release, shiny graphics, and money splashed all over the place.
Manor Lords is 2024's must-play strategy game, even in early access – and a massive win for Game Pass
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
One year of in-game time into Manor Lords, and I ran into a big problem. A gang of thugs and raiders threatened to invade my shoddy-but-growing demesne, and since I had invested approximately no resources into military defense at that point, things weren’t looking good. I had no money, either, and suddenly had to start raising taxes, throwing all those who work into a bit of a tizzy.
Technically, I could’ve done this earlier, but I had no idea my grungy little burgh was advanced enough to build a manor yet. We’ll get to that later. Anyway, the point is, the peasants were p**sed. My approval rating among the lowly was dropping fast, so – with the future of my treasury and the prospect of attracting newcomers at stake – I did what any good medieval lord would do. I built a church. Then I went real fancy, and upgraded it with clay roof tiles.
Everyone liked that. Not so much that they didn’t hate me a little when the first of the month rolled around, but I guess the ringing bells and holy, holy, holy distracted them enough to where they didn't care. Tax revenue and new villagers with their taxable income flowed in, just as I planned. I still had my lordly posterior handed to me when the bumpkin raiders did finally show up, but that’s mostly ‘cause the game’s combat tutorials – and basically all the tutorials – are kind of vague and tough to parse right now.
Stellar Blade brings old-school console sensibilities to PS5 - with a modern flourish
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
First shown nearly three years ago under the name Project Eve, the Korean developed Stellar Blade has finally arrived and for me delivers an experience that feels like a proper, complete, polished console game. You see, in this age of incomplete games, buggy launches, and countless promises buried in patch notes, Stellar Blade launches in an impressively complete state. This is an impeccable, gorgeous, and fun action game that perfectly balances modern sensibilities with design elements that would feel right at home on the PlayStation 2 - and that's a good thing.
Going into this one, it's fair to say that many of us were sceptical when Stellar Blade was first revealed. While the game was getting a lot of attention for its main character, there were a lot of questions surrounding the game - its developer, Shift Up, for example, had never made a large-scale console experience, focusing instead on mobile games. Furthermore, the various pre-release media showed unstable performance, leading us to wonder how the final game might perform.
The good news is that the final product is a cohesive experience that harkens back to a time when Sony Computer Entertainment would publish games across a wide range of genres - the PlayStation and PS2 era were packed with first-party published games developed by partner studios that played in so many different genres and themes. That's exactly where Stellar Blade sits. In a sense, it feels like a game from 2002 built using modern technology and design elements. It's not another sequel or remaster - it's a highly enjoyable game.
Manor Lords early access review: a sturdy and immersive builder that feels incomplete yet alive with promise
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000
When, in town building simulation Manor Lords, you erect your first manor, it feels natural to place it in the center of your humble 14th century European settlement. It presents as a locus of power, where your character avatar resides. Also, it’s right there in the title. I built mine down a side road, between oxen posts and granaries, for no real reason but free space. The more I play, the more it feels a fitting place. Not sidelined, exactly, just not especially loud. I need the taxes it brings to pay mercenaries to see off bandits, but lords - their whims and ambitions - don’t set the tone here. Parchment and seals aren’t as important as tilled earth; as winter snow, spring thaws and autumn harvests. So, despite the title, this sedate, curious, and intricate sim isn’t really about lords, nor manors. Not half as much, anyway, as it is about manure.
Embracer boss admits "long list" of things he'd have done differently, as embattled company splits into three
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:00:20 -0000
The boss of embattled video games publisher Embracer has reflected on a turbulent year for his company which has seen it shed thousands of jobs, shutter numerous development studios, and now - as of this week - ultimately split into three smaller parts.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Embracer CEO said there was a "long list" of things he'd do differently, but that was "easy to look back in hindsight".
"I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism," Wingefors said. "I could take a lot of that blame myself. But ultimately I need to believe in the mission we set out and that is still valid, and we are now enabling that by doing this [new three-part company] structure."
A Japanese TV station asked international anime fans their top 20 openings, and the selection mostly proves they don't watch much anime
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:25:57 -0000
Japanese TV station TV Asahi recently asked international anime fans what their top 20 anime openings are, and the results have me convinced no one actually watches anime.
Back in March, it was announced on TV Asahi's Sosenkyo Twitter account that they'd be hosting a special program going into the top 20 anime openings ranked by international anime fans. The program apparently polled 1740 people, from all across the world, in order to find out which are the best of the best according to non-Japanese viewers of anime. Don't worry, you won't have to sit through the three hour long special to find out, as conveniently the Twitter account listed them out for us.
Here's the full list, which certainly indicates that most people are just thinking of the anime they most recently watched rather than what the best are:
Watching Civil War made me want more games with black and white stances on morality
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:30:00 -0000
I went to see Civil War this weekend. I liked a bunch of it, didn't like a bunch of it. One thing I thought was very obvious is that it sanitises its titular conflict of any political context. On the one hand, I understand this as part of the theming, said almost directly into the camera by Kirsten Dunst's photojournalist character: as journalists they're there to observe, so other people ask questions. On the other hand, the civil war being between the government and the Western Forces, an alliance between California and Texas feels extremely "Republicans buy sneakers too", if you ask me.
It made me think about the Fallout TV show. One of the things I like about it is that it doesn't pretend The Brotherhood Of Steel aren't absolute mad lads (pejorative). Like, they're clearly not good news, and there isn't any attempt to make them seem like they are - just that they might seem that way from the point of view of a traumatised child being rescued from a fridge like a tiny Indiana Jones. Many of the video games I like pride themselves on offering choice to the player, but in reality they smooth over any bumps in the road to make the choices appear equal - rather than telling the player they are choosing between bad and good.
Manor Lords early access review - beautiful foundations but missing important pieces
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:35:13 -0000
There's a confidence to Manor Lords that belies its one-person development, and what's there can be spellbinding, but it's a pastoral idyll that still needs significant development.
Yesterday, in between bouts of Manor Lords, I popped down the road to do some food shopping, and bought bread, milk, vegetables, and some other things, then walked home. It took me about 30 minutes all in all, and the whole time I never questioned whether there'd actually be food in the shop when I got there. I didn't think about whether they'd had a good enough harvest to keep their stores full during the winter. I just popped in and popped out, squeezing a fundamental part of my daily subsistence into a lunch break. How much we now take for granted.
Manor Lords has made me think about this because it's a game that pulls just getting by sharply into focus. It's a settlement-building game about the daily toil of living off the land and slowly, gradually, bending it to your will. It's a game about establishing something from nothing, and living in small villages alongside, and very much in view of, the other families who reside there. It's a game about crop rotation and people coming together for harvest time, to feed each other, or to help clothe each other - and eventually, to arm and protect each other. Manor Lords is a window into what life was like in the mediaeval era.
Shōgun is a great war epic that never actually shows us any war
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) stands next to Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, who is sitting on the ground on a cliffside " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-8t4a2-Jo9KNVbmE_u4epKcOgb4=/0x170:3000x1858/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73301617/SHOGUN_110_11698r.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Photo: Katie Yu/FX</figcaption> </figure> <p>The Hulu show is living the dream — Toranaga’s, to be specific</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24138469/shogun-finale-review-war-toranaga-explained-episode">Continue reading…</a> </p>Sand Land review: a boring Mad Max lite that should have been very exciting
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:00:00 -0000
Sand Land is like a sanitised manga-ish Mad Max Fury Road, where there are fewer explosions and nobody huffs paint and screams "Witness me!". So, arguably, a less cool Mad Max. In this incarnation it's an open world action game with light RPG elements; in previous incarnations it is a manga and anime by the creator of Dragon Ball. My takeaway from playing Sand Land the game is that it is a tremendous advert for the manga and anime, in the sense that everything good about Sand Land the game is from those, and I would rather be reading or watching them instead.
‘TikTok ban’ gets signed into law — here’s what happens next
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:20:31 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Illustration featuring purple and blue graphic lines and a TikTok logo" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VW32jPPXtGahCGYqPjQR6cFiEBw=/0x156:3000x1844/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73301682/adavis_210326_ecl1087_stock_tiktok.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Illustration: Ariel Davis for Polygon</figcaption> </figure> <p>The US government is giving TikTok owner ByteDance 9 months to sell the app</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24139127/tiktok-ban-law-biden-timeline">Continue reading…</a> </p>Stellar Blade review - no thinking, just slashing
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:37:47 -0000
I don't know if there's a universal winning formula for a great action game out there, but Stellar Blade sure has tried its hardest to reverse-engineer one. Like Bayonetta? Here, take an English lady zipping about in heels, annihilating monsters to a delectable soundtrack. Dark Souls fan? Rest at this camp to refill your potions, and better brush up on those parrying and dodging skills! You like God of War? How about a dozen different finishers that would make Kratos blush. Melee combat not for you? Have a gun.
Turns out, cherry-picking from the last 15 years of video game action and pumping it into a single campaign of relentless hacking and slashing is fun. Really fun. The type of fun that turns "just one more hour" into "when did it turn 2am?". Part of the appeal with Stellar Blade is just the sheer breadth of options: parrying, dodging, counter-attacking, dashing, ambushing, throwables, multiple ammo types for your gun, nine special abilities, and a dozen combos combining light, heavy, and air attacks. Add over 60 enemy types - the monstrous Naytiba - to slay, most with their own unique attack patterns, and Stellar Blade is far deeper than its flashy visuals imply.
To ease you in, only a few of these attacks are initially available to our protagonist, Eve, mirroring her rookie status as one of the cybernetically enhanced members of the 7th Airborne Squad, a super soldier group that operates from Earth's orbit. Eve is fresh off a failed mission to eliminate the Earth's supersized Alpha Naytibas, the monsters responsible for the planet's apocalyptic demise, and as you journey through city ruins and dusty wastelands in search of these Alphas, you steadily unlock her powerful new skills. Exactly how you want to devastate each poor Naytiba you cross is up to you from here. Investing in the Ambush perk could turn Eve into an assassin, for instance, or maybe you'd like to get better at timing your parry? Perhaps guns are more your speed, so sure, unlock those targeting missiles and watch enemies blow up like a fireworks show.
Fallout is ‘probably the best-performing Commander set ever,’ says Hasbro CEO
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:42:27 -0000
<figure> <img alt="The card art from the Fallout-themed Ravages of War, which shows a destroyed Pip Boy in the Wasteland. It’s a Planet of the Apes-inspired scene with a robot and the Pip-boy on the beach." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C0Em9yYtT5LXibs6UFt3RlXbCgk=/0x0:3000x1688/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73301753/Ravages_of_War_copy_cropped.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Image: Wizards of the Coast</figcaption> </figure> <p>Licensing never changes</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24139124/mtg-fallout-best-selling-commander-set-ever">Continue reading…</a> </p>Roll20 is about to make your Discord tabletop nights a whole lot easier
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:57:55 -0000
Roll20, the popular virtual tabletop tool, is coming together with Discord to streamline your D&D nights with your friends.
Hate having to have both Discord and your browser open when you're playing a tabletop game with Roll20? Possible a weird thing to find a problem with, but I imagine there's a few of you that wish you could just do everything within Discord, and if you fit within that demographic, I actually have some good news for you! As reported by Polygon, Roll20 integration is coming to Discord so you can do everything that the tabletop tool offers, all within the chat service. It doesn't sound complicated to find either, as it apparently works like any other activity - just join a call, click on that rocket ship to bring activities up, and Roll20 will be available to select.
"We are thrilled to introduce Roll20 to a new audience through our collaboration with Discord," said Roll20 co-founder Riley Dutton. "We know how many existing Roll20 users love Discord, and we’re excited to offer them an easier way to play!" As long as you use the same email across Discord and Roll20, you'll be able to seamlessly login to the latter, but if not then you'll just have to login to the latter, a task that shouldn't be too hard to land a natural 20 on. One thing to note is that everyone on the Discord call will also need a Roll20 account, and be on the same voice call, so keep that in mind if you'll be new to the service.
Are video game addiction lawsuits having a moment?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
<figure> <img alt="A close-up of a child’s hands holding a red Microsoft Xbox controller" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T63qN49MJMfwSKYyjDVJ1kyT1vs=/0x0:5392x3033/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73301841/2022628700.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Photo: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images</figcaption> </figure> <p>There are more than a dozen lawsuits filed against gaming companies in the U.S. right now</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24138572/video-game-addiction-lawsuits-2023-2024">Continue reading…</a> </p>Another Crab's Treasure review: a playful Soulslike for everyone, especially if you like crabs
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000
Lots of Soulslikes have about as much joy, and the same colour palette, as a burning cowpat. They are grim and dark and often have gimmicks that are a bit middling: mechanical arms that spew gunk, or turning to stone. Or they stand out with incredibly deep combat, with dense menus and rainbow loot. So, Another Crab's Treasure comes as a refreshing surprise, what with it's crustacean theme, platforming, and shell gimmick that actually complements fights in clever ways. Not only that, but it's colourful and funny, with plenty of challenge for veterans and plenty of difficulty tweaks for those who just want a good time. Trade cowpat for coral, I'd say.
Should You Bother With... Hall effect keyboards?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:10:40 -0000
Welcome back to Should You Bother With, the RPS hardware column that combs away the fluff surrounding PC gaming gear to reveal a smooth, hairless core of pure consumer advice. This time: Hall effect keyboards, a relatively fresh flavour of desktop peripheral that’s been gaining traction with manufacturers for the switch design’s supposed durability and reliability benefits. These represent perhaps the first major challenge to mechanical keyboard hegemony, but you may be wondering: who’s Hall? What’s their effect? And does it actually make for a better gaming keyboard? Time to found out.
Can you play Fallout: London on Xbox and PlayStation consoles?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:29:55 -0000
If you've been hopping back into the Fallout games recently - or trying them for the first time - you might have heard of a project called Fallout: London which is set to drop soon, following four-ish years of development and a few delays. If you're wondering whether you can play Fallout: London on your Xbox or PlayStation console, then you're very much in the right place.
First of all, if you're unfamiliar with Fallout: London, it's a full conversion mod for Fallout 4 that's set to let us explore a post-apocalytic version of the English capital, complete with fresh factions and quests. We've been getting regular updates from the team behind it over the past couple of years, and its release was most recently pencilled in for April 23, though that's now had to be pushed back to just sometime soon - due to Fallout 4's next-gen update.
So, will you be able to play Fallout: London on console? Well, sadly, the answer is no - at least not in full. As the mod's team has written in the FAQ section of its website: "We do not plan to bring Fallout: London to any platform other than PC at this time. Specific standalone items may be released separately. The community has the permission to convert said standalone items to other platforms."
Nintendo death threats suspect charged by Japanese police
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:31:40 -0000
The man arrested for sending death threats to Nintendo - which resulted in the cancellation of Nintendo Live Tokyo earlier this year - has reportedly been charged by Japanese police.
As reported by Japanese newspaper Kyoto Shimbun (thanks VGC), the 27-year-old man, a resident of Hitachi city in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture, has been charged with the forcible obstruction of business after sending 39 threats using the inquiry form on Nintendo's website.
Kyoto Shimbun (via Google Translate) says the unnamed man wrote the threats between 22nd August and 29th November last year, sending messages including, "I'm going to make you regret releasing such a crappy game to the world" and "I'm going to kill everyone involved."
Dark Souls would’ve been a better game in early access, says dev behind Dark Souls-like early access game No Rest For The Wicked
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:43:50 -0000
Dark Souls, one of the most widely acclaimed video games of the last two decades - perhaps all time - and progenitor of one of modern video gaming’s most influential and oft-copied-rarely-bettered genres, the Soulslike, would’ve been a better game had it launched into early access. That’s the suggestion from the head of Ori and the Blind Forest developers Moon Studios in the wake of launching their own early access Soulslike, No Rest For The Wicked.
Dawnrunner is a mecha-kaiju comic about the ‘Bandai-ification’ of the military-industrial complex
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 17:00:00 -0000
<figure> <img alt="A sleek, turquoise colored robot with red and orange shoulder blades sliding through a forest in Dawnrunner #1." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aGq1OwO4pM0nhGxopk77zvLczAI=/0x57:830x524/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73302074/dawnrunner_02.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Image: Ram V, Evan Cagle/Dark Horse Comics</figcaption> </figure> <p>The 5-issue limited series is one of the year’s best new comics</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24138337/dawnrunner-interview-ram-v-evan-cagle-dark-horse-comics">Continue reading…</a> </p>GTA5 nearly had story DLC that made Trevor a 007-style spy - until it was cancelled and turned into a GTA Online heist
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 17:18:33 -0000
As a somewhat deflating example of the money-churning might of GTA Online becoming the sole focus of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 5 efforts over the last decade, the actor who played Trevor in the ridiculously well-selling crime epic has teased some details of planned story DLC that would have turned the controversial protagonist into a James Bond-style spy. The pack supposedly got as far as shooting with the actors, only to end up cancelled and folded into a GTA Online heist.
Former Fable devs reveal a new co-op RPG, then announce its development is on hold amid layoffs
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 17:46:36 -0000
The developers behind Fable card game spin-off Fable Fortune and the digital adaptation of dungeon-crawling board game Gloomhaven have revealed a new upcoming co-op RPG… only to announce at the same time that the upcoming game’s development has been put on pause amid layoffs at the studio and difficulty finding funding.
X-Men ’97’s big villain reveal gives mutants their second-greatest enemy
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:00:37 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Trask, now part Sentinel, looking creepy with his head cocked" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_7-uAzIGZdHXjfxizDtbnWXjJCA=/211x0:2527x1303/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73302282/Screenshot_2024_04_24_at_10.26.44.0.png" /> <figcaption>Image: Marvel Studios Animation</figcaption> </figure> <p>Sentinels aren’t just big dumb robots anymore</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/24139132/x-men-97-bastion-ozt-operation-zero-tolerance">Continue reading…</a> </p>Don't Starve studio's co-op roguelike Rotwood sprouts on Steam Early Access: Jump into a world of monstrous encounters for less than a value meal
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:11:37 -0000
Klei Entertainment’s upcoming roguelike online co-op game Rotwood has entered Early Access on Steam.
In Rotwood, you will take on many challenges against corrupted monsters living in the woods. Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone, unless you want to, because three friends can come along for the ride.
The goal is to get better and stronger to take on challenges once thought impossible. This is possible thanks to varied fighting mechanics, upgradable gear, weapons, and skills.
PUBG, the game that Fortnite copied, copies Fortnite by bringing back the battle royale shooter’s original map
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:11:41 -0000
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds - aka the game that inspired and then was overtaken by Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode - is seemingly borrowing a leaf from its cartoony cousin’s playbook by resurrecting its original map.
How to complete the Yo-kai Watch event in FFXIV
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:18:02 -0000
<figure> <img alt="A FFXIV Viera sits on a floating red cat couch in a snowy area" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VLAanlWHctd0QuJn7cvxsYYZBJk=/543x0:3103x1440/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73302327/ffxiv_dx11_2024_04_24_12_36_44.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Image: Square Enix via Polygon</figcaption> </figure> <p>How to farm FATEs to get Yo-kai Watch rewards</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/ffxiv-guides-ff14-final-fantasy-14-online/24139170/yo-kai-watch-fate-locations-minions-weapons-mount-rewards-coins">Continue reading…</a> </p>Daisy Duck and Oswald the Rabbit joining Disney Dreamlight Valley soon
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:48:28 -0000
Disney Dreamlight Valley is stuffing the glitter cannons and oiling its gates as it readies to welcome two new guests, with Daisy Duck and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit both now confirmed to be joining the exuberant village life sim next Wednesday, 1st May.
Daisy arrives as part of the free Thrills and Frills update for all base game owners, and will be indulging her entrepreneurial spirit as the manager of the valley's new boutique store. This'll serve as a place for players to display their custom-designed Touch of Magic items, and a means for visiting friends to acquire those designs for themselves. Additionally, Daisy will set weekly design challenges, unlocking boutique awards including new Touch of Magic items.
Thrills and Frills is also set to feature a variety of quality of life updates, including enhancements to the camera tool. Players will, for instance, be able to take photos while perched on any of the Disney rides they've placed around their village. And speaking of rides, Thrills and Frills' new battle-pass-style Star Path promises more Disney park content, seemingly including - based on a glimpse in today's developer video - an Aladdin-themed flying carpet ride.
Honkai: Star Rail codes for April 2024
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:32:08 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Serval from Honkai: Star Rail strums her electric guitar, summoning purple electricity" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/23jfWBd-sIepyyJMe1RO9pXF-xI=/1x0:1786x1004/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72219411/StarRail_2023_04_18_13_12_06.0.png" /> <figcaption>Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon</figcaption> </figure> <p>All active Honkai: Star Rail codes and how to redeem them</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/honkai-star-rail-guides/23699079/code-redeem-redemption-gift-stellar-jade">Continue reading…</a> </p>The 25 best games on Game Pass
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:34:26 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Cover art from the Making Of documentary for Fallout: New Vegas gets repurposed as clip art in Fallout: The Roleplaying Game." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ds5BWuY1SZmmHED-n4u9R3oq7hg=/0x77:1434x884/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69124929/new_vegas_makign_of.42.jpg" /> <figcaption>Image: Bethesda Softworks</figcaption> </figure> <p>Here’s what you should be playing on Xbox and PC</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/best-games/22372750/best-game-pass-games-xbox">Continue reading…</a> </p>Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble 16-player online mayhem revealed in new Battle Modes trailer from SEGA
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:46:09 -0000
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SEGA has revealed new details on multiplayer and battle modes for Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, both of which feature local and online play and a host of features.
In Battle Mode, up to two players locally or up to 16 players online can play together as they battle their way across five different modes. You can also have up to 15 bots (16 players in total) join you.
You can race against other players and reach the goal before they do but be careful because if you fall off the stage, you’ll have to start again at the last checkpoint.
When does Manor Lords release?
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 22:28:01 -0000
<figure> <img alt="Manor Lords key art of a pitched battle" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z5c4GNITlN5mkDeVQ-MfqyR30WI=/56x0:2445x1344/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73303044/batt.0.jpg" /> <figcaption>Image: Slavic Magic/Hooded Horse</figcaption> </figure> <p>See when the medieval city builder is hitting your time zone</p> <p> <a href="https://www.polygon.com/manor-lords-guides/24139558/manor-lords-release-time-steam-gog-game-pass">Continue reading…</a> </p>
