Author: Game Infliction

Children Of The Sun review: an intense and stylish puzzle of ultraviolence

In many ways Children Of The Sun is a highly relatable game. I do not have telekinetic powers that allow me to control the path of a bullet from a sniper rifle, and I was not part of a murderous cult that killed my father-figure. But if I did and I were, you can bet that I’d go on a rip-roaring rampage of revenge! Stepping into the be-grimed trainers and unwashed jacket of the protagonist – a misused girl whose vibe is that of a member of Gorillaz – you shoot a single bullet from your gun and control it in first-person as you zip it through the heads, hearts and hands of cultists placed around a level. It’s a satisfying Sniper Elite meets Superhot puzzle of ultraviolence, and it’s neat.

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Battlefield 2042 Season 7 Will be Its Last as Connected Battlefield Universe Enters Full Production

With the Connected Battlefield Universe’s development now in full swing, EA announced today that Battlefield 2042 Season 7 will officially be its last.

Writing in a blog, Battlefield general manager Byron Beede explained that it’s time for the franchise to “turn from the present to the future.” To that end, he says, EA will continue to support Battlefield 2042 with “in-game challenges, events, modes, and of course, ongoing maintenance,” but will be moving away from a seasonal structure when Season 7 wraps up in June.

“We know this news may be disappointing. However, as we looked at what the future of the series required, it became clear it was time for us to shift our resources and focus to be fully dedicated to what comes next,” Beede said.

In the meantime, EA plans to serve up more content as part of Season 7, which launched back in March. Planned updates include a revamped map based on the Stadium from Hourglass, another LMG, two more in-game events, and another vehicle.

Season 7 marks the end of Battlefield 2042’s comeback trail after its disappointing release back in 2021, which saw fans and critics pan its 128 player matches and its Specialist system among other criticisms. In the years since it has managed to rehabilitate its reputation somewhat, though it still sits at Mixed on Steam.

Vince Zampella, who is the Group GM of both Respawn and Battlefield, previously called the Battlefield Connected Universe an “and” strategy back in 2021, saying that EA would continue to “evolve and grow Battlefield 2042.” But a little more than two-and-a-half years after its original release, it looks like EA is ready to move on.

Motive joins the Connected Battlefield Universe

Looking ahead, EA says that the Connected Battlefield Universe is officially leaving pre-production and adding another studio. Following Ridgeline Games’ closure in the wake of the departure of founder Marcus Lehto, EA revealed that a team at EA Motive led by Roman Campos-Oriola and Phillipe Ducharme will be joining in the game’s development alongside Ripple Effect, DICE, and Criterion.

“[Ducharme and Campos-Oriola] will build a team at Motive to work alongside the Battlefield studios around the world creating what’s next for Battlefield – a universe across both multiplayer and single-player experiences,” Motive GM Patrick Klaus wrote in a separate blog post. “Their proven expertise in storytelling, immersive battles and developing on the Frostbite engine uniquely positions them to help advance the vision for Battlefield, led by Vince Zampella (EVP, Group GM of Respawn and Battlefield) and Byron Beede (SVP, GM Battlefield).”

Ducharme and Campos-Oriola previously led development on the Dead Space remake, which was acclaimed for its excellent visuals and its “carefully balanced innovation and renovation with preservation.” Their new mission will be to “support single-player and multiplayer objectives for Battlefield Universe,” EA says.

Motive’s move to Battlefield isn’t expected to impact development on its untitled Iron Man game, which continues apace. Klaus said that Iron Man made “excellent progress this year, hitting a major internal milestone and laying a robust foundation for the journey ahead.” He added that Iron Man remains an “important priority” for the studio.

Their proven expertise in storytelling, immersive battles and developing on the Frostbite engine uniquely positions them to help advance the vision for Battlefield

EA announced that it working on the Connected Battlefield Universe in 2021 and that it would be “interconnected with shared characters and narrative.” The project remains shrouded in mystery and is still some way off from release, but EA has repeatedly described the project as “ambitious,” which is reflected in the number of teams involved in its development.

EA recently underwent a series of layoffs impacting around 670 workers that included the cancellation of Respawn’s Star Wars FPS and the aforementioned closure of Ridgeline Games. It’s all part of a broader strategy of doubling down on owned franchises, CEO Andrew Wilson says, of which Battlefield is a significant part. Elsewhere, the games industry continues to be heavily impacted by layoffs, including Sony, Xbox, Riot, and other major publishers.

Neither Motive’s Untitled Iron Man game nor the Connected Battlefield Universe have a release date. You can find our list of the biggest games coming in 2024 right here.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Genre-bending horror dating sim sequel Sucker For Love: Date To Die For unleashes a sexy goat mommy this month

Rebecca (RPS in peace) was our resident monsterfucenjoyer for a while, and she was well up for Sucker For Love: First Date, but was slightly disappointed that as a horror-themed dating sim it leaned away from the dating and well into the horror. Now the sequel, Sucker For Love: Date To Die For has revealed a release date of April 23rd, and seems to be leaning into horror even more, while also still being a dating sim featuring an eldritch goat god with massive cans. Yet the presser also says “no scares this time”. I am confused, which is why it’s probably good there’s a demo on Steam to sort of give you a taster.

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This Monster-Collecting Deckbuilder Decides Battles On The Roll Of A Dice

Roll out!

Publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment and developers LEAP Game Studios and Tiny Ghoul have today announced that the monster-collecting, deck-building roguelike Dicefolk will be rolling onto Switch later this year.

There’s a dash of Pokémon in Dicefolk’s creature catching, sure, but the combat system is far from anything that you would see Pikachu and co. pull off. As the name suggests, dice play a big part in this one, with your moves all being decided by what you roll. The added tactical layer comes from your ability to control both teams, so you’ll have to think ahead to get the best match-up possible.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Star Wars Outlaws Release Date Leaks Online Early — Courtesy of Ubisoft Itself

The Star Wars Outlaws release date has leaked online early — and the source of the leak is Ubisoft itself.

As reported by Gematsu, the description of the Ubisoft Japan YouTube video for the new Star Wars Outlaws trailer set to go live at 9am PT today, April 9, confirms the release date of August 30, 2024 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.

The YouTube description, now offline along with the video itself, also confirmed a Gold and Ultimate Edition of the game, which comes with a Season Pass and three days of early access. Pre-order bonuses include the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack, which includes cosmetics for the Trailblazer spaceship and speeder.

Star Wars Outlaws is one of Ubisoft’s biggest releases of 2024, and is in development at The Division and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora developer Massive Entertainment. It’s billed as the first ever open world Star Wars game, and is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For more, check out everything we know about Star Wars Outlaws.

Today’s trailer is set to reveal more about Star Wars Outlaw’s story, which stars scoundrels Kay Vess and Nix. We learned more about Star Wars Outlaws when speaking with narrative director Navid Khavari, creative director Julian Gerighty, and Lucasfilm senior creative executive Matt Martin last year. During our chat, we found out more about Kay Vess as well as how the project fits into the wider Star Wars universe.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds: Battlegrounds has added destructible terrain

The multiplayer FPS which fools would tell you is named PUBG: Battlegrounds has added destructible terrain in an update today, letting you dig your own hole or punch through to enemies. Some might tell you this is inspired by Fortnite or Minecraft, especially considering you can dig with a pickaxe, but in my heart it’s further confirmation that Plunkbat is a stag & hen weekend simulator. After all, you can have your stag do at Diggerland. Awright lads, where we digging?

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Two Days After Helldivers 2 Players ‘Eradicated’ the Automatons, the Bots Are Back With a Massive Invasion Fleet

Helldivers 2’s period of relative stability lasted just two days, with developer Arrowhead unleashing the full might of the Automatons upon Super Earth forces.

After some players had hoped for the addition of a third enemy faction to the explosive third-person PS5 and PC co-op shooter, Arrowhead has now released a new Major Order calling on the Helldivers 2 community to hold back the latest Automaton invasion fleet.

On April 7, Helldivers 2 players were told they had completed their mission to completely eradicate the Automaton threat. “You did it, Helldivers,” read an in-game statement. “Operation Swift Disassembly was a success! With the bots eradicated and bugs contained, the galaxy is free once more.”

But this proved to be short-lived, as today, April 9, following the release of patch 01.000.202, “Somehow, the Automatons returned.” “As suspected all along, the previous Bot force was merely a vanguard,” reads a fresh statement. “A massive fleet has now begun an assault of Cyberstan and the surrounding planets. Helldivers, hold back this unprovoked invasion. The fight continues!”

The in-game galaxy map now signals the arrival of this invasion fleet and makes a number of new planets available to play. The Helldivers 2 community now has just three days to succeed in the defence of at least five planets. What happens if the community fails is unknown.

This is the latest twist in Helldivers 2’s ongoing meta narrative, a fascinating push and pull to liberate planets from alien control, all driven by Arrowhead’s Game Master, Joel. But this move was perhaps expected by most players. No-one truly believed Arrowhead would simply pull the Automatons as one of Helldivers 2’s two enemy factions, never to return. The question was how soon the bots would make their comeback, and the answer was: very soon!

If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others.

Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The time of the mecha-shark is upon us in upcoming Besieged expansion The Splintered Sea

The Splintered Sea is an upcoming expansion for beloved battlements blasting building game Besiege, taking its so far decisively land-based action to the high seas for some aquatic anarchy. You’ll be able to pit your custom war machines rudder to fin with enemy fleets and underwater nemeses when it launches May 24th on Steam.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender Arrives in Fortnite Today

Avatar: The Last Airbender is the latest franchise to collaborate with ever popular battle royale Fortnite as content based on the beloved animated series arrives in store today, April 9.

Revealed in a post on X/Twitter, below, a handful of main characters from the show will be available in the Fortnite Shop, but interestingly not the last airbender himself. Fortnite leaker Shiina suggested Aang will be included as part of an Event Pass later instead of being immediately purchasable.

In the meantime, however, fans can buy skins of water bender Katara, earth bender Toph, and fire bender Zuko, with the trio joining the titular character from Avatar: The Legend of Korra, who arrived on April 2.

Publisher Epic Games is yet to share what the skin packs for these new characters include, as only a short trailer was released alongside the announcement post. It recreates the scene from the opening of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as Katara approaches an iceberg containing Aang and his flying bison Appa before it and the trailer explode into snippets of fighting from the three new characters.

Collaborations like this are now part of the norm for Fortnite, which has also seen crossovers with Alan Wake, Eminem, Family Guy, LEGO, Metal Gear Solid, Lady Gaga, and so much more — and that’s all in the last six months.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

League Of Legends is getting a Vampire Survivors-like PVE mode

Ahhh League Of Legends, a MOBA that occupied my university years. While I’d argue climbing the ranked ladder with my housemates were some of the best game moments I’ve ever had, I’d also argue giving up League was necessary. I became too involved, too close to the toxicity. But now League’s threatening to drag me back in with something I hadn’t seen coming – a Vampire Survivors-like PVE mode. No! I must resist (I will be on it immediately when it arrives).

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