Author: Game Infliction

Soapbox: I Never Completed Breath Of The Wild, And I Never Will

Sorry, Zelda, you’ll just have to keep waiting.

Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In this piece, Kate makes a groundbreaking admission about one of the Switch’s most popular titles…

I put at least 150 hours into Breath of the Wild. I found every shrine. I completed every outfit. I obtained every health and stamina upgrade. I didn’t collect all 900 Korok seeds, because that way madness lies, but I did every single quest. Every quest, that is, save one: I never actually defeated Ganon.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The story behind Dead Cells’ fantastic Fatal Falls animated trailer

Hi everyone, we’re very happy to announce that our latest DLC, Fatal Falls, has just dropped on PlayStation, with two new levels and a boss adding novel, ignominious ways to die mid-run!

However, today I wanted to take a look at the way we pull together our animated trailers, as it seems that many of you are just as excited about the cartoon trailers as you are about the new game content.


The story behind Dead Cells’ fantastic Fatal Falls animated trailer

So, how does one go about getting a cartoon made? Unless you happen to be fantastic at 2D animation (which most of our artists actually happen to be) and have a bunch of free time (which none of our artists do), you need to find a production company that fits with the style of cartoon that you want to make. For us, we naturally thought of the French company, Bobbyprod. The people that run the studio often work with some of the best animators in France and have worked on a bunch of cartoons we love.

Once you know what kind of style you want and you’ve decided who’s going to be able to pull it off, you need to know what your trailer is supposed to do. A game trailer should:

  • Showcase the DLC, meaning showing new levels, bosses, enemies and weapons, it’s a game trailer after all.
  • Be catchy and interesting to watch. We usually go for something funny, because that also lines up with the style of our main character.
  • Build out the universe of your game, developing the characters and giving personality and life to a world that usually only exists as an unfairly difficult game.

If you’ve figured all that out it’s time to draft your storyboard. This is probably the most fun part of the process, as it’s where you get to think up a bunch of crazy ideas and see if you can string them together into something that will do all of the above for you, while still being fun to watch. We like to let the production company propose some ideas first (it’s what they’re good at, so get out of the way and let the masters work).

Once we have a first draft of a storyboard, we’ll then go through and make sure that we think all of the proposed ideas line up with the objectives from above, if they don’t, we’ll work with the production company (phone calls, email, Slack threads etc.) to refine the storyboard until we’ve got something that we think is worth animating.

Now we really get to bring things to life! Bobby take the storyboard and work on their animatics, the kind of “concept art” for a cartoon that will define the visual and animation style for the trailer.

We then add in the colouring to make sure that it respects the art direction that we’ve defined either for the series, or for the game universe as a whole.

Finally we really look at the pacing of the whole animatic and ensure that the rhythm of the game trailer is perfect, cutting out anything that we don’t think is up to scratch. This incomplete version will be shared with the composer so that they can start to get a feel for the vibe of the trailer and the type of music that might fit.

From here it’s usually smooth sailing with backwards and forwards between the musician and the animation team to ensure that everything lines up and that the overall timing of the trailer won’t change again.

Final touches are adding end slates (those boring bits with the names of everyone who worked on the game) and exporting the trailer into 9,700,000 different versions for all of the stores and various places it has to be shared (kill me).

All of this process usually takes about three months… Three months for a minute of cartoon, think about that next time you watch episode 984 of your favourite animated series.

Thanks for tuning in, I hope that you enjoyed the trailer and that you enjoy the Dead Cells Fatal Falls DLC as much as we did working on it. Out today on PlayStation.

Biomutant: Where to Preorder Ahead of Its Release Later This Year

After what seemed like an eternity, Biomutant finally has a concrete May 25, 2021 release date. It’s an open-world action RPG set in a colorful post-apocalyptic world. You play as a well-rounded warrior creature, whose mutations enable powers like telekinesis and levitation. As you play, you can re-code your genes in ways that affect how you look and what powers you can wield. You can also craft items like chainsaws and bionic wings, and ride on vehicles like mechs and jet-skis.

The game was announced so long ago, the PS5 and Xbox Series X weren’t even being talked about outside rumors, so while it seems almost a foregone conclusion at this point, we don’t know with certainty whether or not there are next-gen versions or if the existing versions will have an upgrade path.

If you’re on board with this particular brand of apocalyptic zaniness, you can preorder a copy for yourself now. And if you’re interested in either of the special editions, you may want to do so sooner than later, because with the Biomutant release date now official, they just might sell out. Here’s what comes in each edition, how much it costs, and where you can preorder it now.

Preorder Biomutant Atomic Edition

biomutant-atomic-edition

PS4/PS5

Xbox

PC

The most expensive and, dare I say, classiest version of the game is the Atomic Edition. It’s not cheap by any stretch, but it comes with some awesome extras. You get the game itself, plus the following:

  • High-Detail Diorama
  • Steelbook Case
  • A1 Artwork on Fabric
  • Oversized Mousepad
  • T-Shirt
  • Official Soundtrack

Preorder Biomutant Collector’s Edition

biomutant-collectors-editionPS4/PS5

Xbox

The collector’s edition is certainly more affordable than the Atomic Edition, and it comes with a smaller-yet-still-awesome figurine. In addition to the game, here’s what’s included:

  • Figurine
  • A1 Artwork on Fabric
  • Official Soundtrack

Preorder Biomutant Standard Edition

biomutantPS4/PS5

Xbox

PC

The standard edition of Biomutant doesn’t come with any extras, but it includes the game, which is the most important component anyway.

Other Preorder Guides

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Deathloop: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

Deathloop is set to release for PS5 and PC on May 21 (see it on Amazon). It will be available in a standard edition, as well as a deluxe edition that comes with a few digital extras. You’ll find full details about what comes in each edition, as well as preorder bonus information below. Let’s get to it.

Preorder Deathloop (Standard Edition)

deathloop-colePS5

PC

The standard edition of Deathloop comes with the game itself, plus the preorder bonus (see below).

Deathloop Deluxe Edition

deathloop-deluxe-editionPS5

PC

The deluxe edition of Deathloop comes with the game itself, plus the following digital items:

  • .44 Karat Fourpounder Weapon
  • “Eat the Rich” Tribunal Weapon
  • “Sharp Shooter” Julianna Skin
  • “Party Crasher” Colt Skin
  • Soundtrack Selections
  • 2 Trinkets (Equippable Buffs)

Deathloop Preorder Bonus

deathloop-preorder-bonusPreorder Deathloop, and you’ll receive the following:

  • “Storm Rider” Colt Skin
  • 1 Trinket (Equippable Buff)
  • Royal Protector Machete (PS5 Exclusive)

Additionally, if you preorder Deathloop from Best Buy, you’ll get a $10 reward coupon to use on a future purchase. The only catch is that you have to be a My Best Buy member to take advantage of the deal, but signing up is free.

What is Deathloop?

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Deathloop is a first-person shooter from Arkane Lyon, the developer behind the Dishonored series. It’s about a pair of rival assassins who are stuck in a Groundhog Day-type loop where they keep living through the same day over and over again. You play as Colt, and your goal is to break the time loop by taking down eight targets in a single day. To do so, you can take advantage of a wide array of weaponry, as well as supernatural powers.

As you go about your business, you’re being hunted by Julianna Blake, another assassin. Julianna is controlled by the game’s AI, but if you want to, you can enable multiplayer to let Julianna be controlled by another player. Or you can invade another player’s game by taking control of Julianna and hunting down Colt.

Despite Microsoft now owning Bethesda, the parent company of Arkane Lyon, Deathloop remains a PS5 console exclusive. As such, it takes full advantage of the DualSense controller, offering haptic feedback and using the adaptive triggers.

Other Preorder Guides

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Hitman Developer’s James Bond Won’t Be Based on Any Previous Actor

IO Interactive has revealed that the protagonist in the developer’s upcoming James Bond game won’t be based on any previous actor who has filled the role – and a director at the company has hinted at a trilogy.

The news arrives as part of an interview conducted by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, which also talks about how the studio plans to double its staff over the next few years, as it works on this ambitious project.

“We have been allowed to make our own digital Bond, which will not lean on a Bond actor,” IO interactive’s director Hakan Abrak told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. This means that we won’t see the likeness of Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan coming to the game – the character will be entirely unique and unrelated to previous Bond performances. “We also come up with a completely original story, and you could easily imagine that a trilogy could come out of it,” Abrak added.

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This suggests that Project 007 may not just be a singular game. It could be a series, much like Hitman, with new locations and missions in every iteration. Abrak also revealed that IO Interactive is scaling up and planning to hire a lot more staff to deliver on its ambitions. “Today we are 200 employees and I expect that we will be over 400 employees over the next few years,” Abrak said.

Abrak also recounted the meeting in which IO Interactive convinced the licence owners, EON Productions, that the game was a good idea. According to the interview, IO had a meeting with Barbara Broccoli of the Broccoli family, who control the rights to the James Bond franchise. Broccoli was “expressionless” at first but quickly came around to the idea. Abrak says that the studio’s “background with the Hitman universe” and its vision for Bond “went right into the heart” of Brocolli, who greenlit the project. Abrak also noted the usefulness of “good Scandinavian charm” rather than the “big American arm movements” that Abrak thought EON was probably used to.

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Previous reporting of the interview suggests that Broccoli mentioned she didn’t think previous Bond games were “worthy enough” and that they depicted violence “for the sake of violence,” but these quotes have seemingly been cut from the interview, as of time of writing.

For more details on Project 007, check out our coverage of the announcement here. You can also watch our video which talks about why a Bond game from the makers of Hitman has major potential.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Random: Someone’s Made A Fully-Functioning Game Playable On The Game Boy Camera

‘Attack of the Fluff Monster’.

The Game Boy Camera is a surprisingly cool piece of kit – did you know that you can use it as a webcam or that it can be used to photograph the moon? – but we didn’t ever think we’d see a fully-functioning, fan-made game playable on the Camera’s software itself.

Amazingly, though, that’s exactly what we have here thanks to freelance artist and game developer, Karolina Twardosz. Making fantastic use of the GB Camera’s Hot-Spot feature, Twardosz has managed to transform a library of images into a short point-and-click adventure, and you can see the whole thing play out in the video up above.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com