Developer Cococucumber has established itself as a dependable indie studio over the past few years. Specialising in accessible throwbacks, it adds a fresh spin on old genre formats. Although its latest title Ravenlok is (pun intended) locked away behind Xbox exclusivity, Switch owners can finally try the second in the dev’s self-styled ‘Voxel Trilogy’ – Echo Generation.
A nostalgic and charmingly funny adventure/RPG hybrid, it takes the beautiful voxel style of the developer’s 2019 title Riverbond, and applies it to the bizarre summer holiday of a group of suburban kids. Tipping a hat to the point-and-click classics of Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer, there’s also more than a little reminder of EarthBound in its creepy view of suburbia.
A Deep Dive into the Supernatural Threats and Secrets of New World: Aeternum
Timmy Palmieri, Editorial Content Manager, Amazon Games
Explore a cursed island plagued by mystery when New World: Aeternum comes to Xbox Series X|S on October 15. In search of rumored riches on the eternal isle of Aeternum, you shipwreck and are plunged into the depths of an immortal spiral. Its strange inhabitants pulled in by the winds of opportunity, or so you thought.
Learn the ways of the island’s increasingly savage, supernatural cycle and forge your story to uncover the truth lurking behind Aeternum’s perpetual conflicts in this thrilling action-RPG set during the twilight of the Age of Exploration.
Pursue Your Ambition
Conflict and bizarre happenings in Aeternum date back further than anyone can remember. But a loss of memory is only one of the many fates worse than death that you’ll encounter throughout your travels. Some give into the seductive whispers of power and turn into a mindless Corrupted, while others lose their sense of purpose and become a soulless Lost. Many even go mad after recovering from death after death.
Isabella is an intrepid explorer that ventured to the island in pursuit of Azoth, the source of magic in Aeternum. Possessed by the insatiable evil of the Corrupted, she now creeps ever closer to spreading the corruption’s ghastly influence beyond Aeternum. The coastal storms have grown worse, countless adventurers wash ashore daily, and an ominous presence lurks around every village. To stop her, you’ll need to successfully navigate the island’s restless terrain as well as different adversaries.
Forge Your Story
Your curious voyage starts with character creation. That customization then extends to outfits, weapons, tools, mounts, camp skins, and emotes. Solve every mystery surrounding Aeternum solo or with friends for a completely different experience. There are also Trade Skills like Cooking, Fishing, Musical Instruments, Crafting, and many more that grant various bonuses and further immerse you in your favorite aspects of the game. Need some extra coin for a house? Put on a musical performance and gather tips at the nearest settlement. Want more coin for your Company to buy matching Flail skins? Create your own furniture and sell it.
Companies are organized groups of adventurers that can team up for both competitive and cooperative activities. To join another player’s Company, you’ll first have to be in the same Faction. Early on, you’ll have the choice to join either the Marauders, the Syndicate, or the Covenant. All three Factions have unique values, colors, and philosophies, complete with their own quests and schemes. Maybe you’ll join the Marauders because you love the color green, the Syndicate because you share their passion for knowledge, or the Covenant because your friends did. This is your story, so there’s never a wrong choice.
Faction members can help you complete quests and fend off danger throughout Aeternum. Your fellow members might gift you gear for easier progression, take a few swings at powerful enemies, or revive you in chance encounters while traveling to their next destination. Lend a hand to help your Faction thrive.
Carve Your Destiny
Aeternum constantly changes at the hands of those in power. Whether you fight the Corrupted, the Lost, or another Faction, you can overcome any foe after stumbling across a mysterious box in your ship’s wreckage. To better ease you into the unique timing and positioning of every weapon, you’ll pick a character archetype at the start of your adventure. Each of the seven character archetypes includes two weapons and a few initial Trade Skill boosts, plus multiple skill trees with customizable abilities. Mix and match different options until you find the perfect combination for your playstyle:
Executioner: Great Axe and War Hammer
Musketeer: Rapier and Musket
Mystic: Void Gauntlet and Life Staff
Occultist: Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet
Ranger: Spear and Bow
Soldier: Longsword with Shield and Hatchet
Swordbearer: Greatsword and Blunderbuss
Beyond the main story quest, there are many horrors of Aeternum for you to vanquish. Hunt a colossal Sandwurm in one of the game’s challenging Trials, unearth some of the island’s darkest secrets in Expeditions and banish otherworldly demons during seasonal events. As you piece together the lore around each bad omen, you’ll better understand the troubled history of the eternal isle. There’s always another threat skulking about Aeternum, not to mention numerous ways for you to personalize your approach.
We look forward to new ambitions, secrets, and threats coming to the eternal isle through future adventurers. What story will you bring to the island? New World: Aeternum is available for pre-order now. Check out the New World: Aeternum website for more information.
Pre-order now to get the following digital content:
• Azoth Stalker wolf mount
Experience a thrilling action RPG set on the supernatural island of Aeternum. As a shipwrecked explorer who washes ashore on the mysterious island, forge your destiny on an adventure filled with danger and opportunity.
Discover the island of Aeternum: Explore a massive, beautiful world and uncover the secret truth of the eternal island and its strange inhabitants. Endless opportunities to fight, forage, and forge await among the island’s wilderness and ruins.
Play your way: Play solo or use cross-platform play to team up with others, or compete head-to-head in a variety of PvP battles. Customize the look, skills, and abilities of your character, and experiment with different builds to suit your play style.
Swords, guns & sorcery: Control magical forces or wield deadly melee and ranged weapons. Timing and positioning are key to defeating enemies in combat. Use your skills to survive the island’s horrors and reap its valuable rewards.
Grow in power: Gather resources and refine them into working materials to craft powerful new potions, weapons and gear, and increase your power and skill in combat.
Summon your mount: Master horses, dire wolves, and lions, each with a unique look, dyeable equipment and a name you can set. Level up your Riding Trade Skill to earn upgrades like increased speeds, buffs and higher tier consumable food for your mount.
The original Resident Evil might be returning to PC – and soon! – if recent signs hold true. An age rating for the 1996 survival-horror classic was recently confirmed by European suitability judges PEGI, hinting at an impending (re-)release for the almost three-decade-old zombie game.
Mortal Kombat 1 has a new patch that finally removes the 30fps cap for cutscenes on PC.
NetherRealm’s fighting game launched with a 30fps cap for in-game cutscenes such as Fatalities despite gameplay running at 60fps. Developer NetherRealm has insisted this cap lets it create flashier cutscenes, but some players have said the switch from 60 to 30 and back again is jarring.
Now, in a fresh update for Mortal Kombat 1, that 30fps cap is removed with the addition of a new graphics setting that increases the lock to 60fps on PC only, but it’s worth noting that NetherRealm warned this setting is intended for PC gamers with high-end rigs.
The patch, also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, makes a number of character fixes, including to the recently released DLC character Homelander. The patch notes are below.
Added a new Graphics Setting to increase the 30 FPS lock on certain sections to 60 FPS, which is intended for users with High-End Hardware
The new setting to enable this is accessed via Main Menu > Settings > Graphics > Experimental > 60 FPS Mode: OFF (Default)/ON
Note that this setting will not affect pre-rendered movies and will be automatically disabled during Online Matches to avoid stability issues
General Fixes & Adjustments
Fixed several desyncs that could occur during online play if the game had been hot-fixed
Adjusted camera behavior when Homelander, Omni-Man, or Peacemaker are interrupted or hit high off screen
Character Specific Adjustments
Main Fighters
Reptile
Fixed damage scaling on Force Ball when not enhanced
Peacemaker
Human Torpedo & Enhanced Human Torpedo now hits High
Reduced base health value to 650 (from 700)
Homelander
Fixed canceling into Flight when grounded more than once in a kombo not consuming Super Meter
Fixed Jump Attacks during Flight be able to be canceled into Flight on block
Fixed not being able to breaker God Complex & Enhanced God Complex
Improved Punching Down linking into God Complex & Enhanced God Complex from Flight when it hits opponent near the top
Fixed issue that could result in Homelander sliding on the ground sometimes when God Complex from Flight was canceled from certain heights
Fixed rare issue that could result in Homelander sliding on the ground sometimes when God Complex from Flight was performed just as flight was about to time out
Fixed rare instances of some juggle kombos sometimes behaving slightly differently against Homelander with specific timing
The following attacks can no longer be parried by Dirty Trick
Kitana – Fancy Strike (Away + Front Punch)
Rain – Tide (Away + Back Punch) & It Pours (Back Punch, Front Punch, Front Punch, Back Punch)
Reptile – Kneet Trick (Towards + Back Punch, Front Kick)
Sindel – Shear Genius (Towards + Front Punch) & Off The Top (Away + Back Punch, Front Kick, Back Punch)
Ermac – Dragged Under (Front Kick, Back Kick)
Peacemaker – Gutshot (Away + Back Kick) & Pinky Toermenter (Down + Back Kick)
Quan Chi – Skeleton Jacker (Towards + Back Punch, Front Punch)
The following attacks can now be parried by Dirty Trick
Kenshi – Quick Slice (Jump Front Punch in Sento Stance), Upper Gash (Jump Back Punch in Sento Stance), Ancestral Guard, Soaring Sento, & Teamwork
Kung Lao – Kung-Kussion & Shaolin Shimmy
General Shao – Power Strike
Smoke – Vicious Vapors & Smoke Bomb
Peacemaker – Coming Through! (Towards + Back Kick, Front Punch)
Homelander – Grounding Fist from (Air) Diabolical Dash & Soaring Strike from Diabolical Dash
Kameo Fighters
Cyrax
Fixed canceling into Horizontal Kopter Chopper from Kopter Chopper not using Kameo Meter
Khameleon
Reduced pushback on block of first 2 hits of Roll & slightly reduced the pushback on block of the last hit
Reduced base health value to 250 (from 300)
Janet Cage
Slightly increased combo damage scaling on Hop Punch & Hop Skip Punch
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.
Yesterday, we learned that Sims-like Life By You had been canceled, and its developers Paradox Tectonic had been shut down by parent company Paradox Interactive. Later the same day, game designer Willem Delventhal shared more a detailed account of his experience working on the game through to its cancellation, via LinkedIn.
Ubisoft has delisted Beyond Good and Evil on Steam ahead of an expected reveal of a remaster.
A note on the Steam page for the cult classic adventure signals Ubisoft’s decision: “Notice: At the request of the publisher, Beyond Good and Evil is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search.” At the time of this article’s publication, Beyond Good and Evil remains available to buy on GoG.
Ubisoft has said it will announce more news about Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition during the Limited Run Games Showcase on June 20 at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern 7pm UK. It seems likely a re-release is inbound.
Looks like Uncle Pey’j has a message to share with you all… See you at the Limited Run Games Showcase on June 20th at 2pm EST for more news about Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition! 👉 : https://t.co/zaLKVRlN2A Big thanks to Hubert Chevillard for this little teaser😀 pic.twitter.com/dY2PqL2JWn
In August 2023, the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rated Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Then, in November, Ubisoft accidentally released Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition early, blaming it on a “technical error” while confirming an early 2024 release window.
Beyond Good & Evil first launched on November 11, 2003, so we’ve skipped past the actual 20th anniversary. In IGN’s 9/10 Beyond Good & Evil review, we said: “While it’s over a bit before you’d want it to be, Beyond Good & Evil tells its story with amazing pizzazz and polish. Even better, it’s a story well worth telling.”
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.
Near the bottom of the official page on Nintendo’s Japanese website, we and many other fans have spotted the little amiibo symbol next to the game’s box art and release date. We’re not too surprised, given that the Link’s Awakening remake — which uses the same art style — also has amiibo support, but it certainly has us thinking “Hey, can we get a Zelda amiibo in the same style as the Link’s Awakening one?”.
Activision has detailed Call of Duty’s Fallout crossover and confirmed a release date of June 20, 2024.
The fusion of both Microsoft-owned franchises sees Price, Ghost, Soap, and Gaz of Task Force 141 dressed in Vault Dweller skins. There are Vault-Tec-themed weapon blueprints and other Fallout-themed items for use in Modern Warfare 3, Warzone, and Warzone Mobile.
The in-game Fallout: Vault Dwellers event goes live at 10am PT on June 20 through to 8am PT June 26. The Tracer Pack: Fallout Vault Dweller Bundle includes two Fallout-themed weapon blueprints featuring Vault-Tec Tracers and a V.A.T.S. Death Effect.
Equip the “Vault-Tec Approved” M16 Weapon Blueprint with two Aftermarket Parts: the JAK Cutthroat Stock offering an unrivaled combination of speed and stability while aiming down sights, plus the JAK Patriot Conversion Kit which transforms the M16 into a fully automatic rifle with superior recoil control and firing aim stability.
Accompanied by a 45 Round Mag plus two attachments improving handling and recoil control, this is the ideal weapon for lasering down foes from a distance.
For closer fights, opt for the “Atomic Disintegrator” HRM-9 Weapon Blueprint geared for sustained combat in close quarters. With a 50 Round Drum Magazine plus thermal target identification, improved accuracy and recoil control, and extended range, this SMG configuration is ideal for aiming down sights with the ability to compete out to the mid-range.
The Fallout Bundle also features a “Vault 141” Operator Skin for Price, Ghost, Soap, and Gaz plus six loading screens and more. The full list of included content is as follows:
Four “Vault 141” Operator Skins
“Atomic Disintegrator” HRM-9 Weapon Blueprin
“Vault-Tec Approved” M16 Weapon Blueprint
“Let’s Do This!” and “Fatman” Charms
“Wasteland Workshop” Calling Card
“You’re Special” Large Decal
“Vault-Tec Engineer” Emblem
“Nuka-Cola Spacer” Sticker
Six Loading Screens including “Nuka-Cola,” “Please Stand By,” “Survivors’ Journey,” “Sanctuary Hills,” “Vault 141,” and “Restoring Democracy”
The Fallout: Vault Dwellers Event, meanwhile, features challenges across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone. Here are the details:
Use any of the Vault Dweller Skins during the Vault Dwellers Event for an additional XP boost. Earn additional Fallout-themed cosmetic items like the “New California Republic” Large Decal, “Nuka-Cola Caps” Emblem, “Slocum’s Joe” Sticker, “Nuka-Cola” Charm, and the “Nuka-Cola Quantum” Weapon Camo.
Activision has gone big on crossover events in Call of Duty in recent years, with everything from Warhammer 40,000 to Gundam seeing in-game skins and weapons. The Fallout bundle comes hot on the heels of the breakout success of Amazon Prime’s Fallout TV show, which has boosted interest in everything related to the post-apocalyptic setting.
Modern Warfare 3 continues to receive updates as Activision prepares to launch Black Ops 6 in October. Activision is expected to move on from last year’s shooter to focus on new seasons for Black Ops 6 and Warzone later this year.
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.
Tales Of The Shire unfolds in a world without shadow. There are shadows, technically, but they’re so mellow and fuzzy they might as well be stray pools of sunlight that have forgotten to glow. In this latest chunk of Lord Of The Rings memorabilia from developers Wētā Workshop and publisher Private Division, you are a custom-created hobbit who has just taken up residence in the charming Tellytubby town of Bywater, there to spend your days foraging, fishing, feasting and fraternizing with your fellow halfings, all of whom wear expressions of rosy-cheeked humour so intense in their winsome affability that your own face soon forms a merry rictus in response – like that terrible smile from Disco Elysium, but cosy. Oh god, no. Oh god, get it off me.
