Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2025: Every Xbox Announcement and Reveal

Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2025: Every Xbox Announcement and Reveal

Summary

  • Warhammer Skulls – the ultimate festival of Warhammer video games returned today, with a showcase once again hosted by Rahul Kohli.
    It included a world premiere for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition,  a huge update on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a new class reveal on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, as well as new content for a plethora of Xbox Warhammer games.
    The celebration includes a week-long sale, with exclusive discounts on Warhammer games.
     

The ultimate Festival of Warhammer video games returned today for its 9th year – Warhammer Skulls just aired, bringing news for Xbox Warhammer games, and huge discounts.

Hosted once again by huge Warhammer fan, Rahul Kohli, returning for the third year in a row, the Skulls Showcase kicks off an exciting week of world premieres, as well as new announcements and content reveals for Xbox fans. Alongside this celebration, players can expect huge deals and discounts on the Xbox and Microsoft Store, with up to 85% off savings during the event.

Let’s take a closer look at the announcements, reveals, and updates included in the Warhammer Skulls Festival:

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition was announced and will be coming to Xbox and PC on June 10.  This is an uprezzed 4k version of the game with improved character Models, modernized control schemes and upgraded audio. Relive the original adventure on Xbox Series X|S.  Also available Day 1 on Game Pass!

That wasn’t all though, Focus Entertainment and Saber gave us our first look at Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s new Siege mode and revealed it will be coming on June 26.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has announced a new playable Class DLC will be coming to Xbox and PC on June 23.  That’s right, the Adepus Arbites becomes a playable character…. ably assisted by a playable Cyber Mastiff which you can send to disable priority targets and provide vital support to your strike team.  Don’t forget the Darktide base game is available on Game Pass, and it is also available as part of Xbox Free Play Days this week!

Xbox fans will remember Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 was announced at last year’s Skulls Event.  This year, we got a new trailer featuring the Leagues of Votann and a first look at gameplay.  Whether this faction will be allies or foes to the player is yet to be seen, but this will be the first time the faction has appeared in a Warhammer 40,000 video game. Wishlist the game now! In celebration, you can play the first Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus as part of this week’s Free Play Days.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader announced its second DLC is coming on June 24.  Lex Imperialis sees the Arbitrators join the game and a new companion, locations and archetypes.  Owlcat also announced there will be a Season Pass 2 starting during Skulls and have teased there will be another 2 DLCs to follow as part of that.  Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is available to buy on Xbox and PC and is also available on Xbox Game Pass.  It also features as part of the Free Play Days during Skulls.

The bombastic boomer shooter Boltgun returns to Xbox in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, including Warhammer Skulls host, Rahul Kohli, resuming his role as veteran Sternguard Malum Caedo, which was announced today.  Wishlist now!

The showcase also revealed trailers for Season 9 of Blood Bowl 3, which showed off the new Khorne Team (coming June 10), new content for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector available now,and a tease that the Black Legion will be joining the fight later this year.  Vermintide 2 saw the release of the 3rd new level of Verminous Dreams, a free Update.  Vermintide 2 is also available on Xbox Game Pass now as part of Skulls. 

Over on the Microsoft store, Total War: Warhammer 3 gave us a glimpse at the free next legendary lord in their new Tides of Torment DLC content coming to PC soon.

The fun doesn’t stop there though – remember-Darktide, Rogue Trader and Vermintide are all on Xbox Game Pass.  Game Pass subscribers can also use Xbox Free Play Days to try out multiple Warhammer games between May 22-26, including Blood Bowl 3, Rogue Trader, Chaos Gate Daemon Hunters, Mechanicus, Shootas Blood and Teef, Darktide, Chaosbane Slayer Edition and Inquisitor Martyr.  You can also check out Dynamic Backgrounds for Boltgun, Space Marine 2 and Rogue Trader!

Now, that’s a lot of Warhammer to get your teeth stuck into! And that’s just some highlights of the awesome Warhammer content coming soon. Don’t forget, you can check it all out, and grab some great deals, on the dedicated Warhammer Skulls Festival landing page over on the Microsoft Store. Thanks for reading!

The post Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2025: Every Xbox Announcement and Reveal appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Returns, Space Marine Master Crafted Edition, and More: All the Announcements and Trailers From Warhammer Skulls 2025

The Warhammer Skulls 2025 video game showcase has ended, and oh boy was it a big one. Reveal highlights included the revival of Relic’s much-loved Dawn of War real-time strategy series, a surprise Master Crafted Edition of the first Space Marine, a teaser for Space Marine 2’s upcoming horde mode, now called Siege, and the announcement of Boltgun 2.

There was plenty more confirmed during the show. So, in case you missed it, here’s a rundown of everything announced at Warhammer Skulls 2025, with enough trailers to satisfy even the grumpiest of Inquisitors.

Warhammer Skulls revealed the world premiere of the sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, Boltgun 2. The retro first-person shooter is set for launch across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2026.

Meanwhile, free-to-play typing game Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – Words of Vengeance is out now on PC via Steam. Here, you plug in your keyboard and “unleash the might of your WPM (word-per-minute)” in a twist on Boltgun.

Owlcat announced its next cRPG, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy alongside an expansion to Rogue Trader and Season Pass 2. Dark Heresy is the studio’s second narrative-driven tactical RPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and lets you assume the role of an Inquisitor. Set against the backdrop of the Noctis Aeterna and the mystery of the Tyrant Star, players lead a warband of diverse companions in a desperate battle against heresy and corruption — from loyal Imperial subjects, such as a veteran Guardsman from the death world of Catachan, to nefarious xenos, including a bird-like Kroot mercenary. It’s due out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.

Rogue Trader’s second major story expansion is called Lex Imperialis, and Season Pass 2 includes two additional “story-rich” DLCs and an appearance customization pack. Lex Imperialis thrusts players into the iron grip of Imperial Law. A new 15-hour storyline introduces the Adeptus Arbites, a faction of incorruptible enforcers, and a new companion — the grim and relentless Solomorne Anthar. It’s due out June 24.

Season Pass 2, meanwhile, bundles two new expansions and an appearance customization pack. The third major addition to the game lets players enter a Necron vault curated by Trazyn the Infinite, challenge ancient guardians, and uncover relics tied to the Von Valancius legacy. The fourth explores the Processional of the Damned — a surreal voidship graveyard. Each of these DLCs will feature a new companion character, new quests deeply integrated into the main storyline, new mechanics, and deliver around 15 hours of gameplay.

One of the big surprises of the show was a Master Crafted Edition of the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, coming to PC and Xbox Game Pass on June 10. This is described as the “definitive edition” of Captain Titus and the Ultramarines’ fight against the Ork hordes. Space Marine was first published by THQ back in 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The Master Crafted Edition was developed by SneakyBox, and has a 4K resolution, modernized controls, an interface overhaul, improved character models, and remastered audio, which includes over 100 new voice lines for the Orks.

Space Marine 2, meanwhile, teased Siege, the game’s hotly anticipated horde mode. It’s due out June 26. IGN has confirmed, via an exclusive interview with Tim Willits, Chief Creative Officer at developer Saber Interactive, that the Dreadnought shown in the trailer is a part of Siege gameplay. It is Brother Valtus, the mighty Redemptor Dreadnought from the Ultramarines 2nd Company. Players won’t be able to pilot it, but they’ll be able to call him as reinforcement throughout their Siege games. Check out our Space Marine 2 interview with Tim in full for much more.

Fatshark’s Warhammer 40,000: Darktide gets a new paid Arbites Class DLC on June 23.

The biggest announcement of Warhammer Skulls had to be the return of the Dawn of War franchise. Relic Entertainment announced Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Definitive Edition, due out on PC later in 2025. IGN has an exclusive interview with developer Relic Entertainment in which we discuss the long-awaited return of the real-time strategy classic.

After an announcement at last year’s Warhammer Skulls broadcast, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II got another big reveal this year featuring the Leagues of Votann.

Creative Assembly revealed the next DLC for Total War: Warhammer III, Tides of Torment. We also got to see the next Legendary Lord, coming this summer.

Talisman Digital 5th Edition – Talisman Alliances: Fate Beckons, a new cooperative DLC based on the boardgame expansion, was announced. Trailer below.

Well-received strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector revealed a new major free update, which includes a Crusade game mode, Dominions and Orks Boyz with Choppa, alongside a new paid Deeds of the Fallen DLC.

Fatshark’s Warhammer: Vermintide 2 will be available on Game Pass as part of Skulls, while the third Level of the Verminous Dreams campaign has been released as a free update.

Blood Bowl 3’s new season with a new faction launches June 10. The Khorne Team was announced as part of the event, alongside a sale and a free item for players: the coach for the Khorne Team.

Mobile turn-based strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus is getting a new faction, the Adeptus Custodes.

The Emperor’s Children are a new faction coming to Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge (good timing given the recent release of the traitor legion’s new codex).

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius has a new units DLC via the Onslaught pack. The base game is available ‘Free 2 Keep’ on Steam during the week of Skulls. Meanwhile, pre-registration is open for Supremacy: Warhammer 40,000, a brand new grand strategy mobile game launching late 2025.

Daemon Primarch Angron is released as the next Supreme Commander card in Warhammer Combat Cards.

New Warhammer 40,000 in-game stickers based on tabletop decals will be available for Counter-Strike 2 on Steam.

And finally, eight Warhammer video games will be part of the Free Play Days promo over on Xbox from May 22-26, including previous Warhammer Skulls world premiere Rogue Trader, as well as Darktide, Mechanicus, Chaos Gate: Daemon Hunters, and Shootas, Blood & Teef.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Monster Hunter Wilds nabs Street Fighter 6’s Akuma, Chun-Li and more for a Capcom centric collab

The unthinkable has happened, folks: Monster Hunter Wilds, from the one and only Capcom, is collaborating with Street Fighter 6, also from the one and only Capcom. This won’t be much of a surprise for many of you given that 1. Capcom own both titles and can arrange collabs like this pretty easily I assume and B. it’s been teasing it for days now. That isn’t to say the trailer showing off the crossover didn’t have anything concrete, as it did confirm that you’ll be able dress up as Street Fighter baddie Akuma.

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Witcher 3 Special Edition Xbox Controllers Are Now Available

Microsoft has just released two new Witcher 3-themed Xbox controllers that look pretty awesome. Both Witcher 3 Special Edition 10th Anniversary Xbox Controllers are available now, exclusively from the Microsoft Store, in standard ($79.99) and Elite Series 2 ($169.99) versions. The reason for the release is because The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt turns 10 years old this month, which is pretty wild, at least for this fan of the game.

Witcher 3 Special Edition 10th Anniversary Xbox Controllers

The two controllers look very similar, with the same Geralt of Rivia-inspired etchings on them. The wolf medallian Geralt wears around his neck is etched into the center of the controller. The blog post announcing the controllers says they “also feature Glagolitic script, the oldest known Slavic alphabet and the same one found in the game itself.” Finally, the right grip features the red claw marks that act as the “III” of the title on the cover of the game. It looks great.

Aside from the Witcher-y design, the controllers act just like their standard counterparts. The current Xbox controller is far and away my personal favorite controller ever made. It feels terrific in hand and is sturdy enough to stand up to the beating my kids put on it.

The Elite Series 2 model has some extra features to justify its added cost. It has adjustable-tension thumbsticks, hair trigger locks, and a wrap-around rubberized grip. It also has interchangeable components like thumbsticks of various heights, different D-pad designs, and rear paddles you can assign to whatever buttons you want.

Like all new Xbox controllers, these controllers are compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, iOS, and Android devices. If you’re not an Xbox-exclusive household, you may also want to take a look at the new Death Stranding 2-themed PS5 controller that went up for preorder today.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.

Type: Null and the Ultra Beasts Join Pokemon TCG Pocket in New Extradimensional Crisis Expansion

Not done collecting all the cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Celestial Guardians Expansion, which dropped literally just three weeks ago? Too bad. Here comes another expansion. It’s called Extradimensional Crisis, it’ll be out on May 29, and it features the wacky-looking Ultra Beasts and creepy chimera Pokemon Type: Null.

Extradimensional Crisis includes the Ultra Beasts, which are weird alien-looking guys that featured prominently in Pokemon Sun and Moon as invaders from another dimension. Confirmed cards include Buzzwole ex, Blacephalon, Nihilego, and Guzzlord ex. We’re also getting more Alola Pokemon to add to the ones introduced in Celestial Guardians, and Type: Null (which likely means its evolution, Silvally, is coming too).

A new expansion also means new cosmetics, and we’re getting an Ultra Beast-themed binder cover available in exchange for shop tickets beginning May 29, and a floral display board for purchase with event tickets from an upcoming Wonder Pick event starting June 11.

Pokemon TCG Pocket has been dropping expansions at a healthy clip ever since its launch last year. Though Extradimensional Crisis is technically a minor booster expansion (just one booster pack type instead of two or three), it’s still coming right on the heels of the expansions before it. Extradimensional Crisis is the seventh expansion total and the fourth smaller expansion alongside Mythical Island, Triumphant Light, and Shining Revelry. For now, none of the expansions have been retired, and all are still available in game… for now.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s Next Booster Pack Is All About Ultra Beasts

There’s an Extradimensional Crisis coming.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket isn’t slowing down anytime soon, and we have yet another Booster Pack coming to the game next week, on 30th May 2025 — or 29th May at 11pm PT.

This time, it’s all about the Ultra Beasts — which debuted in Pokémon Sun & Moon — in Extradimensional Crisis expansion. 100 brand new cards are coming to the game, which include new ex cards, Trainer cards, and Ultra Beasts such as Buzzwole, Nihilego, Blacephalon, and Guzzlord.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Celebrate 10 Years of Killing Monsters With Special Edition The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Xbox Controllers

Celebrate 10 Years of Killing Monsters With Special Edition The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Xbox Controllers

Summary

  • Special Edition The Witcher 3 controllers are now available exclusively at the Microsoft Store.
  • The collection includes intricately crafted details referencing key elements of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to celebrate the role-playing game’s 10th anniversary.
  • Discover how they were lovingly created by designers inside CD Projekt Red.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, and we at CD Projekt Red have commemorated the milestone by collaborating with the Xbox team to create a tempered and battle-ready controller for players looking to expand their witcher’s toolkit. Embark on the path with the Xbox Wireless Controller – The Witcher 3 10th Anniversary Special Edition and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core The Witcher 3 10th Anniversary Special Edition. This is such a special moment for both our teams, and we wanted to share some insight into how Geralt’s journey brought this design to life.

Our team has put great care into representing the style of The Witcher 3 and Geralt himself, headlined by the wolf medallion iconography at the center of the controller. The medallion acts as a constant for Geralt, one that allows him to adventure and warns him of lurking dangers, and we want players to connect with these controllers in the same way. We love how the design fits the layout of the controller, with the wolf’s head coming below the Xbox button and between the other inputs with its glowing red eyes. It’s very ominous and epic at the same time!

But this is just one design detail The Witcher 3 players can appreciate. The controllers also feature Glagolitic script, the oldest known Slavic alphabet and the same one found in the game itself. As for what the script says… we won’t spoil it here, but let’s just say those symbols are not random. The iconic red claw mark from The Witcher 3’s logo can also be found on the controller, paying homage to the grand adventures Geralt had throughout Velen, Novigrad, Skellige, and beyond. We gave the controller triggers two different colors in homage to the witcher’s twin swords too — silver for monsters, steel for humans.

These decorative elements are true to the style of The Witcher 3, coming across as if once painted or crafted with incredible care but now worn down and weathered. The world of The Witcher 3 is not always a pleasant one; it can be difficult and demanding and it will leave its mark. We also worked with Joshua Flowers, Design Team Lead at CD Projekt Red, on establishing this vision.

“We explored a lot of directions when creating this controller, but from the beginning we knew we wanted to tell a story,” he said. “We wanted it to feel like something that has been with you on the path, something worn and personal. As we developed concepts, we began crafting the story of this controller — and how it might exist in The Witcher 3‘s world. This narrative is what we fell in love with. It had to feel like it belonged in The Witcher 3 universe — like it had lived through battles and carried stories of its own.”

These special edition controllers are the perfect accessories to commemorate 10 years of The Witcher 3 — 10 years of killing monsters, 10 years of playing Gwent, and 10 years of winds howling. The Witcher 3 has such a lasting legacy, and we wanted to commemorate this by releasing something that fits right in the hands of the players who journeyed with Geralt over the last 10 years. We’re not just celebrating a defining moment in CD Projekt Red’s history; we’re also celebrating the endless adventures had by players over the last decade, and all the joy and excitement they’ve reciprocated to us.

“We are incredibly excited to be working so closely with Xbox on the Special Edition The Witcher 3 controllers,” said Agnieszka Skuza, marketing specialist at CD Projekt Red. “It was great to bounce ideas back and forward with Xbox as we both worked to create something truly special. The Witcher 3 has such a lasting legacy and we wanted to commemorate this by releasing something that fits right in the hands of players who’s journeyed with Geralt over the last 10 years.”

Available Now

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to celebrate such an important milestone alongside CD Projekt. This Witcher-themed design is available now for both the Xbox Wireless Controller and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core. The Xbox Wireless Controller includes all the major attributes a witcher needs, including rubberized back grips, remappable controller inputs through the Xbox Accessories app, and Bluetooth support that allows you to journey with Geralt no matter where you play, be it Xbox Series X|S, One, PC, iOS, or Android devices. With the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core, monster slayers that strive for even more customization will appreciate the shorter hair trigger locks, adjustable-tension thumbsticks, and rechargeable battery so you can journey for longer throughout the Continent.

The Xbox Wireless Controller – The Witcher 3 10th Anniversary Special Edition is available now for $79.99 USD ERP and the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core The Witcher 3 10th Anniversary Special Edition  is available now for $169.99 USD ERP, exclusively through  the Microsoft Store while supplies last. Celebrate the occasion in style!

The post Celebrate 10 Years of Killing Monsters With Special Edition The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Xbox Controllers appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown Review

I never expected kicking a member of the Foot Clan to the curb before skateboarding over to pick up a pizza as an orange-clad Ninja Turtle would work just as well in a tactics game as it does in a classic beat-em-up, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown cleverly translates the approachable pick-up-and-play action and slim scope of the team’s arcadey adventures like Turtles In Time into a compelling, if barebones, turn-based tactics game. While missing some of the necessary communication that make the best strategy games tick, it’s still a blast to raise some shell as New York’s bodacious band of brothers.

Trim and concise, Tactical Takedown doesn’t waste time on an ooze-spilling origin story to get its story moving. You’ll know just about everything you need to after the first five minutes, though I’m sure you can guess: The Foot Clan, led by Shredder’s daughter Karai, is up to no good as always. This time, they’ve teamed up with mad scientist and fellow stalwart TMNT villain Baxter Stockman as they unleash a new plot to take over New York. Dialogue is relegated to only a minute or two of text boxes before and after each level, but Tactical Takedown still manages to make the most of that slim territory – it delivers a personal story about loss that does a great job of coloring outside the lines in vibrant blue, purple, red, and orange when it has to, especially with Leo and Raph’s relationship.

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo all ring true to the rhyming taglines about them that you may remember from your theme song iteration of choice, but this tale also sees the soon-to-be-20-something turtles facing the challenges of fighting without their brothers. That’s because all of the levels are solo missions, each carried out by a pre-determined turtle on his own turf. I’m disappointed with how exactly Tactical Takedown chose to reckon with that theme of isolation in its third act, but it does give every brother a chance to shine on their own while fighting.

Each unit, including the Turtles, looks like a static figurine on a grid-based board, almost like what you’d get from a tabletop game. They’re more animated than static game pieces, shifting poses based on their attacks, the last action they took, or what kind of status effect they may have, but are mostly still. It’s a clever, lo-fi homage to the Turtles’ static origins in the panels of Eastman and Laird’s comics, but a zoomed-out camera obscures the personality you’d expect from the colorful, action figure-like combatants. Couple that with a surprising lack of voice acting, these often larger-than-life caricatures of teenagers can feel more like lifeless game pieces.

These larger-than-life characters can feel more like lifeless figurines.

Although the adolescent ninjas all have six health points, six action points to spend on stuff like moving and attacking each turn, and three arcade-style continues for when the going gets tough, they have distinct movesets that play into their weapons and personalities well as they disrupt the Foot in their territory. Leo’s straightforward prowess over martial arts gives him a satisfyingly rhythmic flow that matches up nicely with the tight lanes of the subway. Dispensing debuffs that set up a more devastating blow on the next action, while stacking a buff that allows him to evade any attack, made him my favorite as I cleared a few of his missions without taking a single hit.

Meanwhile, Donnie’s complex but rewarding traps and map control made poisonous sewer water my ally. It was fun to use his kunai attack to stop Foot ninja when they were waist-deep in the toxic sewage, then knock away at their health from dry ground with his bo staff while throwing out electrical traps to keep my perimeter safe. Raph’s powerful bursts of strength suited the small Manhattan rooftops well as I kicked ninja to their doom, which granted a buff that let me deal extra damage and collect extra action points with his sai attack. Then, I’d cannonball into another group of enemies, sending out a damaging shockwave and dishing out a debuff that let me deal extra damage to every enemy around me, reaping even more action points. Finally, Mikey’s skateboard made him a dependably acrobatic street fighter whose mobility made it easy to jet from one end of a stage to the other before kicking obstacles at Foot ninja like in a classic martial arts movie.

Every turtle has extra unlockable abilities to buy from a shop using shells, which are doled out based on your performance in each level, but they don’t feel necessary to reach the end on your first try – in fact, I didn’t even notice the shop until after I rolled credits on Tactical Takedown’s 6-ish-hour campaign. It wasn’t until I started chasing high scores in a few levels that I realized how transformative those new abilities could be, and I loved how customizable each turtle’s moveset ultimately felt. My favorite added useful moves to Raph’s kit that came with downside of damaging himself, but then paired with less powerful attacks that had a vampiric healing effect to balance things out.

Building new loadouts also highlighted something that annoyed me about Tactical Takedown, though: Communication, or lack thereof (ironically, a core theme of this turtles story). This take on TMNT doesn’t make important gameplay elements clear in some moments, which can be a widowmaker in any game where strategy is king. For example, new moves only describe their range or area of effect (ie: 1-meter cone) rather than showing you what that shape or range might look like on the tactics grid. Another move I discovered applied a debuff I hadn’t seen yet, but it didn’t say what that debuff actually did, frustratingly leaving me to find out a few turns into a battle. Basic tooltips like this have been in strategy games for years, making their absence even more confusing and frustrating.

I loved how customizable each turtle’s moveset felt.

These issues aren’t nearly as pronounced when you’re actually in the heat of a battle, but they still pop up in frustrating ways. Instead of just showing what buffs or debuffs an enemy has when hovering over them with your cursor, like most other contemporary strategy games, you need to enter a separate inspection mode to figure out what that move you just used did to the Foot ninja you’re about to take out. Thankfully, you can always hit tab before using a move to check exactly what it does. But other stats, like a Turtle’s likelihood to dodge incoming attacks, which happened at random, just weren’t clear enough to me.

Once I wrapped my mind around what each buff and debuff did, I got into a comfortable rhythm with Tactical Takedown. These effects are visualized on the board by altering the game piece-like characters, each causing different poses or cartoonish flourishes that add some rare life and personality, which eventually made it so I didn’t need to tab over a move to remind myself of a specific effect every other turn.

Things also become easier to track because Tactical Takedown doesn’t really grow or evolve after the first hour or so. Once you’ve played each Turtle’s first level, you’ll have seen a surprising chunk of the enemy types, obstacles, and design ideas the whole package has to offer. This leaves all sense of progression to wholly optional unlocks and the small bites of story, and there’s never much of a challenge until the very last level. Such a narrow scope reflects that of a classic TMNT beat-em-up, and like those bygone classics (and Shredder’s Revenge), Tactical Takedown largely gets by on the merit of its combat and how accurately it nails the feel of each character. Fully clearing the board of Foot soldiers in a single turn using a masterful understanding of each Turtle’s moveset was consistently satisfying and enjoyable, but I still kicked the same nameless ninja off of a lot of different rooftops.

Tactical Takedown further echoes those classics by grading your performance in each level with an arcade-style scoring system. Each takedown adds to a multiplier, further encouraging that hunt for a satisfying screen wipe. And once you’ve cleared a level, your number of KOs, remaining continues, and total damage will contribute to both a final score and the amount of shells you’ll earn to spend in the shop. Each mission comes with a par score to shoot for or surpass, which was a fun motivator to get me back in action and try some levels with new movesets.

The places where this formula breaks from its arcade inspirations don’t do it any favors, either. Disappointingly, it doesn’t have that many boss fights – and what few are present are saved for the very end and aren’t very memorable (except for the very last one), which only worsens that stale feeling. But the lack of a meaningful team-up makes for an even worse break from canon than the sparse bosses. While I understand that Tactical Takedown is all about the Turtles growing apart, it’s frustrating that we never get to see the Turtles at their best: Together. Tactical Takedown partially remedies this in its fourth chapter, but not in a very satisfying way.

Bungie leaders feared Destiny 2’s fancy glowing Trials gear would kill the microtransactions, claims source

A new video from Youtuber Destin Legarie includes a number of allegations about Destiny 2 and Marathon developers Bungie from anonymous former employees. Amongst other things, we hear that Bungie staff once proposed a Destiny subscription model, but were “vehemently shut down” by leaders. There are also lots of claims about toxic, unaccountable management, and some throwaway insights about how the company’s culture has changed in the course of being acquired by Sony.

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