If there’s one thing I’d like to get across about my time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard – perhaps a surprise given Bioware’s recent history, Anthem, and some of the early marketing for this game – it’s that in my 50 hour return to Thedas, I very rarely felt I was playing something cynical.
It’s the final week before the U.S. 2024 presidential election, and in the waning hours of her campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is making a bid to a group that’s not often targeted in such races: gamers.
Today, Harris’ campaign is launching its own Fortnite map: Freedom Town, USA. It’s a custom creative map themed around some of Harris’ campaign pledges, including tax breaks for small businesses and a focus on affordable housing. The map can be found in Fortnite Creative starting today using code 733155366547.
Freedom Town, USA is joined by political takeovers of at least eight other Fortnite Creative maps by Fortnite creators Jordan “Huskerss” Thomas, Morgan “MODELMORG” Pope, Lyah “Himalyahs” Barberan, and Khairi “Kdot” Harris. These maps (Drive City, Troll Bed Wars, Meme Boxfights, Super Box PVP, Football Boxfights, Bullseye 2v2, Bullseye 1v1, and Bullseye 3v3) will include political in-game signage, custom models, and themed audio cues. One of these cues, played when collecting a cat, plays a quote from Harris’ rival former President Donald Trump: “they’re eating the dogs, eating the cats.”
This move comes as part of a recent, much broader appeal made by the Harris campaign to reach young, male voters through video games. Other recent efforts include a Geeks & Nerds for Harris fundraiser, a weekend Twitch stream where Vice Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz played Madden NFL and Crazy Taxi with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a number of advertising efforts across mobile games, sports betting platforms, and YouTube channels. (The Harris campaign has also advertised on IGN. You can view our policy on the separation of editorial and advertising interests here.)
While the Trump campaign has not made a similar targeted push to gamer audiences, the former President has commented on video games before. During his tenure in the White House, President Trump blamed violent video games for a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, saying that such games were “shaping young people’s thoughts” and publishing a reel of “violent video games” that included clips from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Wolfenstein, Dead by Daylight, Sniper Elite, and Fallout 4. We’ve reached out to former President Trump’s campaign for comment.
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.
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In case you don’t know the headline reference, Orpheus was a mythical Greek musician who famously descended to the underworld to rescue his snake-bitten lover, Eurydice. The underworld’s rulers, Hades and Persephone, were massively bummed out by Orpheus’s emo lyre-playing, and swiftly agreed to let him lead Eurydice’s soul upward to the waking world, with the extremely simple proviso that he not look back at her till they’re both on the surface.
Being a love-drunk spannerhead, however, Orpheus couldn’t resist a quick peek at Eurydice after crossing the threshold – and the result is a timeless moral about human frailty and the specific truism that you should absolutely never date musicians, which Australian developers Oppolyon Studios have totally ignored in their otherwise-redolent game about kicking your brother’s soul out of hell.
Nova say Nova Again.
Some in the UK may know comedy TV personality Adam Buxton, who was once the counterpart of Joe Cornish in the Adam and Joe Show (1996-2001), and, as recently as 2020, was still guesting on popular Channel 4 panel shows. Nowadays, he’s more well-known for The Adam Buxton Podcast, but in 1999 he walked into a London-based video game store where I was working as staff, and, retrieving a copy of Raiden DX from the Japanese PlayStation section, asked if I was familiar with it. I told him if he liked the series, it was by far the best entry and a superb arcade port full of bells and whistles. He immediately handed over the cash, wished me a good day, and left. I didn’t bother to say, “hey buddy, I watch you on TV”, but I was impressed with his gaming choice.
Raiden, you see, is like a secret handshake amongst the shooting game hardcore, a distinguished Masonic-like fraternity of middle-aged men who get enthusiastic about blowing things up with spaceships. It’s known by many, but played seriously by few, and since its debut in 1990 its myriad sequels have been largely overlooked by the mainstream. Regardless, it’s an excellent series, from the Raiden Fighters spinoffs to the newer polygonal sequels. So, why the celebrity flex? Well, it left an impression. Not just because it was Adam Buxton, whose TV show was popular at the time, but because I never forgot that Adam Buxton was both a shoot-em-up player and Raiden fan. That was cool.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
On behalf of the team at Striking Distance Studios, I wanted to offer up a huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered [REDACTED]. I hope you’re enjoying the 72 hours of Early Access on Xbox.
If you haven’t pre-ordered the game yet, you’ve still got a chance to get in on the fun and check out the new gameplay trailer before our official launch on October 31. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
[REDACTED] is our take on a fast-action dungeon crawler roguelike. It’s set in Black Iron Prison, a deep space penitentiary where the shit really hits the fan after a full-blown outbreak has created a terrifying mob of bloodthirsty monsters. You’re an expendable prison guard with one mission – find the last escape pod and get the hell out of there.
This is a passion project for our team between AAA releases. We’re huge fans of roguelikes and wanted to put our stamp on the genre, with a vibrant comic-book-inspired style, and a high-energy, futuristic punk rock vibe.
We’ve already talked about a few of the innovative new gameplay features we’ve added, like “Rivals” and “Fight Your Last Corpse.” But of course, we’ve saved a few surprises for the end.
Today, we wanted to tell you about a devious ultra-hard mode called “The Watcher Run.”
“The Watcher Run” is a completely optional endgame playthrough for the hardest of the hardcore out there. It’s the only way to unlock the final pieces of the story in [REDACTED], and is the ultimate test of your skill, strategy, and sanity.
You’ll unlock dossier filers for each Rival you encounter in the game as you battle through Black Iron Prison. Each completed dossier scores you a code used to unlock a mysterious Vault in the escape pod bay at the end of the prison.
Once you secure all eight codes and reaches the vault next to the escape pod, you have the option to unlock “The Watcher Run.”
And here’s where things get interesting.
If you choose to take on this challenge, you’ll assume the role of “The Watcher.” Playing as the “The Watcher” has its perks – you’ll wield a cattle prod and the Plasma Gun, a new and powerful ranged weapon. Otherwise, it’s simple – you have to make one last run through Black Iron facing off against every boss and rival from start to finish – without dying.
Don’t worry, The Watcher isn’t just a guy with a big shiny gun and cattle prod. He has a unique ability to exit any room that doesn’t include a boss or Rival encounter before it’s cleared. This speeds the run up and reduces your exposure to combat, but it costs you the ability to unlock upgrades along the way. Which is a real high-risk scenario, because there’s a catch.
If you die, you’ll lose every upgrade you’ve purchased. So, basically, just about everything you’ve earned up to that point. Like I said, The Watcher Run isn’t for the timid and the stakes are high. But so are the rewards.
If you battle your way through the prison, clear the whole run without dying, overcome one last life-or-death battle that unlocks one of two special endings for the game (no spoilers here), you win access to the Plasma Gun and a new suit that grants 100% hazard protection and deflects enemy projectiles back at the attacker.
I can’t wait to hear about all your own unique player stories exploring Black Iron Prison (whether you take on “The Watcher Run” or not) in the days ahead as we launch the game globally on October 31. We hope you have as much fun playing the game as we did making it!
![[REDACTED]](https://store-images.s-microsoft.com/image/apps.44183.14513673392733485.c5dca3a4-4228-45b9-afc2-f27838b658b6.8097de63-6dc8-4428-8494-cec49ba7a6eb?w=400&h=600)
KRAFTON, Inc.
But you aren’t the only survivor looking to escape. Your rivals – a deranged custodian, a violent gangster, a maniacal lunch lady, and more – can’t wait to step over your corpse and save themselves.
Only one of you can make it off the moon – make sure it’s you!
FIGHT/DIE/ADAPT
Each death is a learning experience. Starting fresh each run, build up your loadout with powerful experiments, weapon schematics, and buffs to battle through Black Iron. When you die (and you will die), use your hard-earned loot to purchase new permanent weapons, suits, and skills. Get stronger, experiment with your strategy, and get out!
ROUT YOUR RIVALS
You’re not the only person to survive the initial outbreak or willing to use a bit of violence to get to the last escape pod. Some prisoners and even your correctional services colleagues are just as eager to escape and will make escaping harder by attacking you remotely or challenging you to a one-on-one duel. Race them, attack them back remotely, and fight them to the death to make it out in one piece.
FIGHT YOUR LAST CORPSE
When you die, you leave more than a coverall-clad carcass. Defeat the reanimated corpse of the last guard to succumb to the prison’s dangers to earn a powerful experiment. But beware, it’s not going to be an easy fight. The semi-alive guard has the same loadout they had when they met an untimely end and a few extra tricks up its sleeve to keep things spicy.
“GAME OVER, MAN”
You’ve made the perfect build, battled through bosses, ran through rivals, killed your corpse, found all the files, and now you’re standing in front of that last escape pod. Sure, you could leave it all behind for the sweet taste of freedom… or risk it all in one last hardcore do-or-die run back through the prison. Fail and you lose all your purchased gear, skills, suits, and weapons. But IF you succeed, you’ll unlock new powerful permanent gear.
FUTURE PUNK
An irreverent attitude, unique presentation, vivid graphic novel style, and a 180bpm original arcade-punk soundtrack by Mutato Muzika enhance [REDACTED]’s sci-fi setting and fast white-knuckle action.
The post A Deep Dive into [REDACTED]’s Challenging End Game appeared first on Xbox Wire.
I’ve often thought lighthouse keeping would make a fine second career, albeit mostly because in my head, it would give me endless time to write (and finish Baldur’s Gate 3). You won’t have much time to write in Static Dread, sadly. The world has ended, the oceans teem with unspeakable biofauna, and it’s your job as the apparent sole surviving lighthouse keeper to distinguish vessels loaded with eldritch horrors from vessels loaded with people who need saving from eldritch horrors.
Going by the teaser trailer, below, this appears to be comparable to playing border guard in Papers, Please, but it’s less political and more tentacular. You field queries over the radio, run your finger down a clipboard, and decide whether to kindle the lamps or beg the coastguard to blast that ship back to hell. There’s a dialogue line in the trailer which I, personally, would consider highly untrustworthy. “It’s consuming my team!” screams a self-described ship captain. “Please, send help! Gosh…” Look, “friend”, no genuine human being says “gosh” in an emergency situation. Not even British human beings say “gosh” in an emergency situation. That’s what you say when somebody tells you the pizza-flavoured crisps are back on sale at Aldis.
Have you readiness for this?!
As we inch ever closer to the launch of Mario & Luigi: Brothership on 7th November 2024, Nintendo is ramping up its marketing for the game with a brand new video short posted on YouTube.
It’s one of those teasers that doesn’t show any direct footage from the game, but the amusing scenario provides a nice glimpse at one of the key combat abilities available to the bros while also making sure to poke fun at Loo, uh… the green one.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
One of my biggest challenges as a writer has been tempering my love of vague gestures at metaphysical concepts with the revelation that the people who read my articles also, apparently, can’t read my mind. Pah. A skill issue if I ever saw one, honestly. Decade is a fascinating adventure game that drew me in with its apparent vagueness but then, like some sort of considerate, sensible coward, went on to explain itself well in on its Steam page.
It’s the end of the world, and you’re not too happy about it, so you’ll be shoving children in a time machine with little more than a rotting Lunchly and some instructions to help you figure out exactly what went wrong.
What are you dressing as for Halloween? Me, I’m dressing as someone trying to bring back “tray-tray” in an effort to give Edwin a seizure. Here’s the tray-tray:
Uber One is teaming up with IGN to launch an epic giveaway to help budding EA SPORTS FC™ 25 players who are Uber One members improve their game on the pitch. Thanks to Uber One, three Uber One members have a chance to win an EA SPORTS FC™ 25 prize pack which includes a 4K Ultra HD TV, PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Console and more!
Better yet, every Uber One member who enters will score an EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Ultimate Team™ Pack*!
Three prize winners will score:
For EA SPORTS FC™ 25 players looking for tips on how to improve their in-game skills, be sure to checkout the Uber One Underdog Academy hub to access a series of quick, insightful video guides, presented by Uber One.
For your chance to win, all you need to do is join Uber One if you are not already a member and answer this question:
In 25 words or less, tell us who’d be the star player on your ultimate team, and why?^
*Each Uber One member who enters the Uber One X EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Ultimate Team competition between 25 Oct 2024 and 25 Nov 2024 will be entitled to receive an EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Ultimate Team pack. Details on how to redeem the EA SPORTS FC 25 Ultimate Team packs will be shared to members via email within 2 weeks of competition entry. See Uber One T&Cs here.
^T&Cs – See full program terms and conditions [here] (t.uber.com/EAAUTC2).
The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for Sunday, October 27, below:
Sonic X Shadow Generations just released this week, and you can already save $10 off a Nintendo Switch copy at Woot. This package includes a remastered version of Sonic Generations and a brand-new campaign focused on Shadow. Both 2D and 3D levels are included, making for the ultimate package for any Sonic fan.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is on sale for the very first time at Amazon. With the game’s outstanding success, physical copies have been somewhat hard to come by recently, so this is a great deal overall. If you’re looking for a deeper discount, though, it might be worth waiting for Black Friday. In our 8/10 review, we stated, “Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a terrific third-person shooter with a compelling story, loads of weapons that are a blast to use, and a healthy variety of enemies to use them on.”
Bloober Team’s remake of Silent Hill 2 is on sale for the very first time this weekend at Amazon. Recreating one of Konami’s most beloved titles was never going to be easy, but the Silent Hill 2 remake delivers an immersive horror experience that preserves almost everything that made the original so great. In our 8/10 review, we said the game “smoothly polishes down the rough edges of the original game’s combat while taking a piece of heavy grit sandpaper to scuff up every rust and mold-covered surface of its nightmarish environments, successfully making them appear far more abrasive and menacing to explore.”
For a limited time, you can save $100 off the Corsair iCUE 2000D RGB Airflow Mini-ITX PC Case. If you have a Mini-ITX Build, this is one of the best cases you can buy. Three RGB AF120 SLIM fans are included, alongside steel mesh panels for maximum airflow all around. The iCUE 2000D RGB Airflow has support for full size GPUs from the RTX 40 Series, so you can transfer your build with little to no problems.
EA Sports College Football 25 is available on sale for $39.99 this weekend. This game marked the first college football title from EA since NCAA 14, as a lawsuit regarding player NIL (name, image, and likeness) prevented the company from producing further entries. Many of the older modes have returned to College Football 25, including Dynasty, Team Builder, and Road to Glory. Of course, dozens of new features have been added, including Stadium Pulse, which creates challenging road environments in college football’s biggest stadiums.
The remake of Super Mario RPG is $31.99 at Woot right now, which is a great price for this classic title. If you’ve yet to either play the original or check out the remake, this is the perfect time to do so. Composer Yoko Shimimura returned to compose the remake’s original soundtrack, and each boss and environment has been expertly recrafted for the Nintendo Switch.
If you’ve just finished Sonic X Shadow Generations and don’t want the Sonic fun to end, this Shadow the Hedgehog LEGO set is the perfect item to keep it going! Target has this LEGO set on sale this weekend for 15% off, which will save you over $10. This set includes a stand and nameplate for the model, alongside a few Rings to display with it.
Red Dead Redemption made the jump to PlayStation 4 in October 2023, and this release includes both the base game and Undead Nightmare. For fans of Red Dead Redemption 2 who have never played the original, now is a great time to check out John Marston’s story. This is the lowest price we’ve seen Red Dead Redemption at since last December, so be sure to pick this one up while it’s on sale!
Macy’s has multiple LEGO Super Mario sets on sale this weekend for a limited time. You can save on sets like King Boo’s Haunted Mansion, Peach’s Castle, Super Mario Adventures, and the Wiggler Set. If you own LEGO Mario, you can interact with each of these sets in ways like never before!
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is available this weekend at Woot for only $39.99. This is one of the best games available on Nintendo Switch, filled with charm and all sorts of fun puzzles. With Halloween right around the corner, there’s never been a better time to pick up the game if you haven’t already!
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is the ultimate collection of Final Fantasy music. Featuring tracks from Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy XVI, this game is perfect for any fan of the RPG series. As a rhythm-based title, there is plenty of challenge to be had, especially on higher difficulties. For a limited time, you can save on both the Nintendo Switch and PS4 versions of this popular game.
![A Deep Dive into [REDACTED]’s Challenging End Game](https://www.gameinfliction.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/REDACTED_FP_Launch_Thumbnail_16x9-568e61b3a98900d62c22-1024x576-1.jpg)
