Author: Game Infliction

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March: EA Sports F1 23, Sifu, Hello Neighbor 2, Destiny 2: Witch Queen  

The PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for March sees racing sim thrills in the shape of EA Sports F1 23, martial arts-powered face-offs with Sifu, a slice of stealth horror in Hello Neighbor 2 and sci-fi action with Destiny 2: Witch Queen. 

All four will be available to PlayStation Plus members on Tuesday March 5 until Monday, April 1*. 

Let’s take a closer look at each game. 

EA Sports F1 23 | PS4, PS5

Be the last to brake in EA Sports F1 23, the official videogame of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship. A new chapter in the thrilling “Braking Point” story mode delivers high-speed drama and heated rivalries. Race wheel-to-wheel at new Las Vegas and Qatar circuits and earn rewards and upgrades in F1 World. New Red Flags add an authentic strategic element, and the 35% Race Distance feature delivers more action and excitement. Drive updated 2023 cars with the official F1 lineup of your favorite 20 drivers and 10 teams. Also, F2, the ultimate training ground for F1 is now updated with the latest 2023 Season content, including the new cars and driver lineups across the paddock. Create your dream team and race to win in My Team Career Mode, compete in split-screen or in the expanded cross-platform multiplayer, and be more social with new Racenet Leagues.

Sifu | PS4, PS5 

Is one life enough to know Kung Fu? Sifu is a stylish yet gritty beat-em-up, featuring visceral hand-to-hand combat in a contemporary urban setting. From Sloclap, creators of acclaimed PS4 fighting game Absolver, Sifu follows a young kung fu student on a path of revenge, hunting for the murderers of his family.  One against all, he has no allies and countless enemies. He will have to rely on his unique mastery of kung fu to prevail and preserve his family’s legacy.

Hello Neighbor 2 | PS4, PS5

Solve the mystery of missing kids in the rural town of Raven Brooks in this family-friendly stealth horror sequel. Hello Neighbor 2 invites you to a seemingly quiet town of Raven Brooks where everyone is hiding something. You are an investigative journalist looking to uncover the darkest secrets of your neighbors and solve the case of Mr.Peterson, infamous antagonist of Hello Neighbor. Sneak around, search for clues behind the mysteries and play against complex opponents controlled by advanced neural network AIs that learn from you and all other players – the whole town is your playground now!

Destiny 2: Witch Queen** | PS4, PS5

Delve into Savathûn’s Throne World to uncover the mystery of how she and her Lucent Hive stole the Light. Learn the secrets to crafting new weapons, the new Glaive, and survive the truth within her web of lies. A twisted wonderland of corruption and splendor, Savathûn’s Throne World plays host to a fragile balance of power. From her palace to the swamp, all that she hides can be found here. Create custom weaponry with unique mod, shader, and stat combinations. Master the new Glaive weapon type and unleash powerful melee combos, projectile attacks, and a deployable energy shield.

The Finals S.O Sleek Bundle, exclusive to PlayStation Plus members

PlayStation Plus members can access a unique cosmetic bundle in The Finals, includes two different sets of military themed outfits and weapon skins:

•  2 Epic Outfits
•  12 Epic Weapon skins

You’ll be able to find and download this bundle in addition to the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games line up on PlayStation Store. Download The Finals from PlayStation Store to access. Once downloaded, the bundle’s contents will be available in-game immediately, regardless of whether you’re a new or returning player.  

Last chance to download February’s Monthly Games

Foamstars, Rollerdrome and Steelrising are available to add to PlayStation Plus members’ game library until Monday, March 4. 

*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup may differ in certain regions. Please check the PlayStation Store on launch day for your region’s lineup. 

**Destiny 2 is required to play Destiny 2: Witch Queen. Destiny 2 is available for download at no extra cost on PlayStation Store.

Square Enix Causes Havoc in Japan by Mislabelling Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Discs

Square Enix has caused havoc in Japan by accidentally mislabelling all the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth discs.

As reported by Gematsu, the once boasted two-disc physical edition of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has had a bit of a misstep, as a manufacturing error has seen every Play Disc printed with “Data Disc” and every Data Disc printed with “Play Disc”.

Square Enix issued a statement on its Japanese website announcing the error and explaining to players they’ll need to swap the discs during the installation process. “We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused,” it said.

Square Enix advertised the two discs boldly when it announced Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s launch window, putting “on two discs” on the big screen to the amusement of fans.

The highly anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake arrives tomorrow, February 29, and lets players explore iconic locations from the original like Gold Saucer and Junon. The latter can be explored in the recently updated demo too.

In our 9/10 review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenges and an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”

Those looking to see how long it takes to get through the epic can also check out IGN’s How Long Is Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? guide.

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

Last Epoch ‘Here to Stay’, Dev Declares Amid ‘Mixed’ Steam User Reviews

The developer of Steam hit Last Epoch has addressed the influx of negative reviews that came in after the action RPG’s bumpy launch.

Last Epoch is one of the most-played games on Steam, but its long-standing Early Access user review rating of ‘mostly positive’ plummeted to ‘mixed’ in recent reviews after the game launched in 1.0 form with a raft of issues that prevented people from playing. Online connectivity was so bad that Eleventh Hour Games announced plans to give players an in-game gift as compensation.

Now, in a post on Steam, Eleventh Hour Games founder and game director Judd Cobler expressed his surprise and delight at hitting 265,000 players online at one time over the weekend, the 39th highest concurrent user count recorded on Steam ever.

“We appreciate you all bearing with us as the load initially gave us trouble for online gameplay, but we’re happy to say that we’re holding mostly steady above 200,000 players in-game and have made improvements each day in the backend infrastructure to support the demand,” Cobler said. “We’ll continue to monitor and address any issues that crop up.”

Still, Last Epoch’s ‘mixed’ user review rating remains, at least for now, and clearly it’s caused some concern within the game’s community and Eleventh Hour Games itself, so much so that Cobler moved to calm the player base, declaring: “Last Epoch is here to stay.”

“While we’re continuing to receive high praise about the game itself, Steam reviews and sentiment took a heavy hit due to the initial turbulence of online services at launch,” Cobler said. “We are committed to regaining that trust by making improvements to our backend infrastructure for this amount of load and providing a great experience for online play.

“We take time to read your reviews and feedback on Steam, socials, and our forum and take swift action to improve the areas that we see players are dissatisfied with. We know that seeing our Steam reviews lower than they’ve ever been is concerning to players who are looking forward to the future of Last Epoch, but we want to assure you that the team has always been committed to making a game you can enjoy and expect updates from for years to come. We’ve seen that passion reflected back at us in the community this past week, and it has bolstered our resolve to that goal even further.

“Last Epoch is here to stay.”

To that end, Cobler outlined future content plans, including the upcoming patch, 1.1. There’s a heavy emphasis on expanding end-game content now Last Epoch has launched out of early access. “For future patches we have plans to expand the monolith, bring great new itemization options, add more boss content, class and balance updates, campaign content, etc,” Cobler revealed.

“For 1.1 specifically we’ll be focusing on bringing some ‘pinnacle’ content, or very hard fights that will give you challenges to aspire to. We’ll be sharing more on this and more of what’s to come in 1.1 in the not too distant future.”

Elsewhere, Cobler reaffirmed plans to release Last Epoch on console “in the future”, and so improvements it’s making to the existing gamepad support will benefit the game long-term.

IGN’s Last Epoch review returned an 8/10. “Push past its one-note campaign and Last Epoch is an impressive, time-bending action RPG that combines rich customization with modern action,” we said.

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.

To survive Skull And Bones, pair it with Catfish

I don’t think I’ve fully recovered from my time with Skull And Bones, having suffered tremendously as a result of the review. There might be fun in some of its slower moments, but some of the generally positive, “It’s actually quite a good game!” takes that I’ve seen honestly baffle me. The game is a series of long, annoying journeys, during which the most fun I had was turning my head to watch Catfish on my other monitor. MTV’s show about people getting duped online was the perfect sailing companion, and perhaps, one of the only reasons I survived my brush with the live service seas.

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Preorder the Bethesda Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology Edition for PC

The Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology Edition for PC is up for preorder, with a release date that’s not too far away either on April 11. This collection will set you back $59.99 and contains PC codes for Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition, Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition, and Fallout 76. On top of that, they’re all packaged inside a mini-nuke case that even features an audible bomb sound.

This is a must-have investment for Fallout fans. You can preorder yours at the link below.

Bethesda’s Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology Edition for PC is Up for Preorder

Games included:

  • Fallout
  • Fallout 2
  • Fallout Tactics
  • Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition
  • Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
  • Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition
  • Fallout 76

The timing of this release also lines up well with the brand new Fallout TV show, which will premiere on Prime Video on April 12. Considering the show’s creators have stated that they view the new series as Fallout 5, there’s no better time to go back and revisit all of the previous games and their stories. McFarlane Toys is even releasing some new Fallout figures alongside the series, if you’re looking to pick some up for your collectible collection.

If you’re looking for even more games to preorder, there’s plenty to look forward to this year. Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is one highly-anticipated release, set to come out on June 21, and is available to preorder right now with a variety of different editions. These range from a digital download of the expansion alone, which will set you back $39.99, to a $249.99 Collector’s Edition. But, if you’re curious to see what’s coming out in the next few weeks, check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 preorder guide. There, you can learn more about what editions are available to preorder ahead of its release on March 22.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Stellaris launches expansion subscription offering access to all DLC for £8.50 per month

If you were to buy every Stellaris expansion and content pack separately at full price, it would run you £227.62. To make that perhaps a little less daunting, Paradox have launched an optional monthly subscription service that gives you access to all the expansions. They’ve done this for several of their other grand strategy games before. It starts at £8.50 for one month then offers discounts for longer terms. While I can see niche uses for the option, I certainly wouldn’t want to pay for this regularly. Would you?

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Batman: Arkham Knight Still Runs Poorly On Switch Despite Massive Update

16GB of… what?

Batman: Arkham Knight wasn’t in the best shape when it swooped onto Switch at the end of last year. Fortunately, the game has today received a monster 16GB update, one that’s guaranteed to fix all of its problems, right? Well…

By the looks of it, Batman Arkham Knight still runs poorly on Switch. The official patch notes for the latest update are yet to be published, but the changes seem to be minimal at best. The black sheep of the Switch’s Arkham Trilogy collection, Knight’s visuals still seemingly leave much to be desired, frame drops remain regular and it looks like there are still bugs a-plenty.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Ex-Call of Duty: Black Ops Dev David Vonderhaar Reemerges With New First-Person Co-Op Game

Former Call of Duty: Black Ops developer David Vonderhaar has founded a new studio and announced a new first-person co-op game.

The remote-first Los Angeles-based studio, called BulletFarm, is backed by NetEase and on the hunt for staff. It’s working on “an ambitious new AAA game set in an original universe with an emphasis on co-operative gameplay”, NetEase said. This unannounced new game is built using Unreal Engine 5, and “will craft a more intimate and relatable experience while offering a fresh take on first-person gameplay.” Also at BulletFarm as creative director is Chris Cowell, who also worked at Treyarch on the Call of Duty series.

“Starting this new studio has given me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at making something entirely new and different,” Vonderhaar said. “This is a departure from the games I’ve worked on, but one that showcases my passion for rich characters, precise mechanics, more intimate storytelling, and plenty of action.

“NetEase has provided us an incredible support structure to explore these new avenues and allow true freedom to begin building the concept and ideas for our game.”

“NetEase Games is fully dedicated to giving BulletFarm the resources and support required to build this new first person experience,” said Simon Zhu, president of global investments and partnerships at NetEase Games. “David’s leadership and the early collection of game development talent assembled at the studio is set to offer something truly unique for his existing fans along with a new audience.”

Vonderhaar was Treyarch’s studio design director and had been with the Activision-owned company for 18 years before leaving last year. Vonderhaar had worked on eight Call of Duty games, starting with 2005’s Call of Duty 2: Big Red One and ending with 2020’s Black Ops Cold War.

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.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster review: a handsome glow-up of LucasArts’ classic, if now rather creaky Star Wars FPS

A long time ago on a desktop far, far away, my family once owned a demo disc for the original Star Wars: Dark Forces. I cannot remember for the life of me which level(s) it contained. My only surviving memory of it is having quite a good time blasting Stormtroopers and the chaps in black with the swoopy, knock-off Vader helmets, but also getting terribly lost and not really knowing what the heck I was meant to be doing. Now, playing Nightdive Studio’s Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster as an adult probably close to three decades later, both these feelings have come roaring back, as this is very much a Star Wars FPS in the vein of Doom and other early 90s shooters (thumbs up). But it’s one that leans so hard into its maze-like level design that it can regularly feel like a little bit of a tough hang in the cold hard light of 2024 (thumbs down).

Crucially, though, not to the point where it’s best left consigned to the history books. This is still an enjoyable and worthwhile artefact in Star Wars’ PC gaming history, and if your eyes (and general patience levels) can’t quite stomach the ‘Classic’ and still available 1995 original, then this remaster is a pin-sharp glow-up for modern hardware.

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Helldivers 2 Patch 1.000.13 Fixes Super Credits, Unlimited Stratagem Use Glitch, and More

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released yet another patch for the hugely popular co-op shooter, and it makes some key fixes for troublesome issues.

Patch 1.000.13 fixes the Super Credits issue that was preventing the in-game resource from showing up after purchase or collection. Elsewhere, the patch fixes the unlimited stratagem use glitch that occurred after an AFK kick. This was something IGN reported on as part of shining a spotlight on the growing problem of cheating in Helldivers 2. On that, there’s no note about anti-cheat in this latest patch.

Helldivers 2 is Sony’s biggest PC game launch of all time, with a peak concurrent player figure of 458,709 on Steam. Helldivers 2’s success has even sparked renewed interest in Starship Troopers, the film from which it draws quite a bit of inspiration. If you’re playing, be sure to check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 guide.

There’s a lot going on in the world of Helldivers 2. IGN has reported on the fall of Malevelon Creek, one of the game’s most popular maps, as part of the galaxy-wide war against the bugs and bots. We’ve also reported on how Helldivers 2 players are kicking teammates who don’t have ‘meta’ loadouts, and Arrowhead’s return to the “original plan” now it’s on top of the server issues.

Helldivers 2 Update 1.000.13 Patch Notes

Fixes

  • Improved: login speed and error messages on PS5
  • Improved: support for AZERTY keyboards by allowing the Ship HUD shortcuts to be rebound
  • Fixed: Super Credits not showing up after purchase or collection
  • Fixed: Premium Warbond not being accessible after purchase
  • Fixed: crash which could occur when a player changed their rank or title
  • Fixed: missing text in HUD for Acquisitions and Social menus
  • Fixed: crash which could occur while browsing the mission Hologram
  • Fixed: unlimited stratagem use glitch which occurred after an AFK kick
  • Fixed: missing equipment issues after an AFK kick
  • Fixed: purple question marks appearing after an AFK kick

Known Issues

These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.

  • New Personal Orders are not showing.
  • Login rate limiting when many are logging in at the same time.
  • Players can become disconnected during play.
  • Rewards and other progress may be delayed or not attributed.
  • Various UI issues may appear when the game interacts with servers.
  • Pick-up of certain objects in-game may cause characters to freeze in place for an extended period of time.
  • Some games would not be joinable by others for a short period of time during heavy load.
  • Other unknown behaviors may occur.
  • Japanese VO is missing from intro cutscene and Ship TV.
  • Armor values for light/medium/heavy armor do not currently function as intended.

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.