Author: Game Infliction

Microsoft Announces October Release Date for All-Digital Xbox Series X

Microsoft has announced two new Xbox Series X consoles and one new Xbox Series S console will be released on October 15, 2024, including a digital-only Xbox Series X.

The consoles, which are now available to preorder, were outlined on Xbox Wire, where Microsoft confirmed the impending simultaneous release for the All-Digital Xbox Series X, the Special Edition 2TB Xbox Series X, and the 1TB Xbox Series S in Robot White (previously only available in Carbon Black).

The All-Digital Xbox Series X is only available in Robot White and comes with a 1TB SSD hard drive for $449.99, down $50 from the launch Xbox Series X which has a disc drive installed. The Robot White 1TB Xbox Series S, meanwhile, costs $349.99, the same as the Carbon Black version already available.

The Special Editon Xbox Series X is available in black but speckled with green and white, and its 2TB hard drive and inclusion of a disc drive ramps the price up to $599.99. The controller has a black front and green back, though the speckled design seeps into the directional pad too.

These console variants don’t come with any extra power or features but are simply alternatives to Microsoft’s current offerings, likely targeted at brand new buyers. Increased hard drive space is becoming increasingly more relevant, however, as the size of video games continues to rise.

The release of these three new Xbox consoles comes amid plummeting sales of the Xbox Series X and S, which lag behind competitor PlayStation 5 as both sets of consoles near their fourth birthday, and tough questions over Microsoft’s committment to the console business from its hardcore fans.

At gamescom 2024, Xbox boss Phil Spencer explained Microsoft’s decision to release upcoming first-party game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5, and indicated more Xbox games will make the multiplatform jump.

In our 8/10 launch review of the Xbox Series X, IGN called it “a quiet, compact, laser-targeted games machine that should make 4K/60fps gaming the wonderful new norm” that “still lacks as many must-play games as the competition.”

The Xbox Series S received a 7/10 in our review, though its base storage of 512GB was raised as an issue even then. “The Xbox Series S has its place and could shine as a second console, but it’s hard to recommend as your primary gaming platform due to its 1440p resolution and claustrophobic storage capacity,” we said.

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

Nintendo Museum Tickets Will Feature Your Mii

One for Mii, please.

When the Nintendo Museum opens up on 2nd October 2024, we’re sure a bunch of fans will be piling through the doors, eager to get a look at all of the beautiful exhibits and play with the interactive stations. But, if you’re one of the lucky ones who manages to snag a ticket, there will be a delightful little surprise even before you enter the museum.

Spotted by Nintendo Wire, your unique entry ticket — if you get one, that is! — will show your Mii on the front. That’s a superb little touch, especially given that you need a Nintendo account to grab tickets to the museum.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Capcom Reveals Who’s Voicing Frank West in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

Dead Rising fans rejoiced a few months back when Capcom announced that it was remastering the first game in the series. But many were surprised that Capcom had recast the voice of beloved protagonist Frank West. After weeks of speculation, Capcom has finally announced the new West: Jas Patrick.

Speaking to IGN in a recent interview, the development team behind Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster confirmed that Patrick would voice Frank West. Patrick is best known for his work on Octopath Traveler 2, where he voiced Partitio. Additionally, Patrick has lent his voice to other projects, such as Genshin Impact, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and the 2023 version of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, to name a few, as shown on his YouTube account and listed on his IMDb page.

“Jas Patrick is the new voice of Frank West for Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. We’re very pleased with the work he’s done for this project,” the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Development Team confirmed to IGN in the interview.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was announced in late June. The first teaser trailer revealed that T.J. Rotolo, the original voice actor for Frank West, was not voicing the character. Following the trailer’s release, Rotolo revealed to a fan on Instagram that he was not reprising his role in Deluxe Remaster because Capcom did not contact him, and “the reasons are the producers’ own.”

When we asked them about this, the development team said they regret that “[they] were unable to have TJ Rotolo reprise his role in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster.” However, Capcom added that the studio “sincerely” appreciates all of the work Rotolo did for the Dead Rising series.

Frank West is just one of many characters who received a new voice actor in Deluxe Remaster. Nevertheless, as I mentioned briefly in an episode of Unlocked, Frank West’s new voice grew on me.

Dead Rising Dexlue Remaster is the second remastering of the 2006 original. Powered by the RE Engine, Deluxe Remaster improves the lighting, in-game backgrounds, and environments. More importantly, a ton of quality-of-life changes have been introduced, such as the ability to move while aiming and improved survivor AI. Some things have also been removed, such as the “Erotica’ genre in the photography mini-game.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will be released on September 19 for digital storefronts, while the physical version will be released on November 8. For more, check out our hands-on preview and a video comparing Dead Rising (2006) to Deluxe Remaster.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Splitgate 2 remains a portal-hopping FPS delight, but it really needs to lighten up

Now, I never played quite as much as our Brendy did of the original Splitgate. But I had a fun time with its mixture of Halo-esque trigger pulling and portalling around! So I was intrigued to give the alpha version of Splitgate 2 a go and see if it had a little more substance to it than its initial reveal, which gave off a, “it’s Splitgate but with more money” feel.

Well, I think it’s… a bit serious? It certainly has more polish and some extra additions, yet I didn’t come away from it thrilled by its more competitive, class-based FPS leanings. I think it just needs a bit more time, perhaps, for a portal to open and some silly rocket launchers and baseball bats and zombies to come tumbling out of it.

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It Looks Like Keanu Reeves Is in Amazon’s Armored Core Animation

Announced during Opening Night Live, Amazon’s Secret Level adult animation anthology series from the people behind Netflix’s Love Death + Robots stole the show with its eye-catching trailer packed with video game adaptations. But one short flew under the radar — and it looks like it stars one of the most popular actors on earth.

The glimpse and you’ll miss it look at the Armored Core animation that’s a part of the Secret Level anthology series includes a snapshot of a character that looks a lot like The Matrix and John Wick star Keanu Reeves. Check it out:

If that’s not Keanu Reeves, then I expect his agent will be on the phone to Amazon first thing in the morning demanding a royalty payment. Surely this is in fact Keanu Reeves — the face is instantly recognisable.

Reeves, of course, is no stranger to the world of video games. Most recently he starred in CD Projekt’s 2020 action RPG Cyberpunk 2077 as Johnny Silverhand. Now, in a surprise move, he’s turned his attention to FromSoftware’s Armored Core, which, while a popular series, is not considered one of the bigger video game franchises around. But then, there are other surprising entries on the Secret Level anthology list. No-one was expecting an animation for Unreal Tournament, for example, or Spelunky, but here we are.

Secret Level will have 15 episodes based on various video games. Here’s the list:

  • PlayStation Studios
  • Sifu
  • Warhammer 40,000
  • Unreal Tournament
  • New World: Aeternum
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • The Outer Worlds 2
  • Pac-Man
  • Honor of Kings
  • Armored Core
  • Mega Man
  • Exodus
  • Spelunky
  • Crossfire
  • Concord

A word on the Warhammer 40,000 animation: Games Workshop has confirmed it’s “inspired” by the upcoming video game Space Marine 2, which is due out in September. It stars “Titus and the boys” in animated action, which is certainly something for Warhammer 40,000 fans to get excited about.

The 15-episode Secret Level series premieres December 10. For more, check out everything announced at Opening Night Live.

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.

One Very Early Black Myth Wukong Boss Is Absolutely Destroying Players

With Black Myth Wukong now out in the wild and breaking records left and right on Steam, players are finally getting to grips with its sort of soulslike gameplay, and running up against its spectacular and often tough boss fights.

While Black Myth Wukong is more easy-going than FromSoftware’s games, for example, with no meaningful punishment upon death, there’s one mini-boss encountered very early in the game that’s ripping unsuspecting players to shreds.

Warning! Black Myth Wukong spoilers follow:

In the Outside the Forest area of the Forest of the Wolves, which you’ll get to about half an hour or so into the game, you’ll hear an odd noise coming from across the way. It’s an extremely tough and, we must stress very optional, mini-boss with a giant head.

This is the Wandering Wight, which Black Myth Wukong players are already singling out as one of the toughest mini-bosses in Chapter One. Some fans have already given it various nicknames (‘Blue Bobblehead Thanos’ made me laugh).

Across Discords, subreddits, and social media, Black Myth Wukong players are reporting that they have spent or are still spending hours dying to the Wandering Wight before they either emerged victorious or moved on. And here’s something I can relate to: some are saying they’re too stubborn to move on until they’ve defeated the Wandering Wight, even though it’s entirely optional, encountered very early in the game, and would be a much easier fight later on once you’ve improved your character’s abilities and stats a bit.

The Wandering Wight is causing so much trouble because its fast, hard to avoid attacks do a huge amount of damage to early game players who are yet to increase their health pool. Similarly, it has loads of health itself, making it a bruising fight to take on.

If you’re currently banging your head against the Wandering Wight, be sure to check out IGN’s Wandering Wight Boss Fight and Guide. While you’re here, IGN has plenty more Black Myth Wukong guides to help you out, including Essential Tips and Tricks, Things Black Myth Wukong Doesn’t Tell You, and our Boss List and Guides.

Meanwhile, developer Game Science has apologized for any tech or performance issues players have encountered since the game went on sale earlier this week. Game Science took to Black Myth: Wukong’s Steam page to issue a statement promising patches aimed at these performance issues.

IGN’s Black Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.”

This week, IGN verified an email sent from the Black Myth: Wukong marketing team that told content creators who were granted a Steam key that they must not include “feminist propaganda” or use what are called “trigger words” such as COVID-19 in their coverage.

Chinese studio Game Science has yet to respond to IGN’s previous report compiling numerous sexist comments made by the studio’s founders and other developers spanning the last decade.

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.

Game Of Thrones Star Confirmed As In-Game Narrator For Civilization VII

Latest entry launches February 2025.

The upcoming Switch title Sid Meier’s Civilization VII was confirmed to launch for Switch on February 11th 2025 during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live showcase. It’s also been revealed that the in-game narrator will be none other than English actor Gwendoline Christie.

Christie has become pretty well-known in recent years thanks in large part to her exceptional role as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones. She also played the underutilised Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and more recently appeared in TV shows such as Wednesday and The Sandman.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Avowed Hands On: Playing One Quest in Two Very Different Ways

Avowed Gamescom Hero

Avowed Hands On: Playing One Quest in Two Very Different Ways

Avowed, as with all Obsidian Entertainment games, has been designed with player choice at the forefront – your gear, your playstyle, your dialogue, your approaches to quests are all up to you. Xbox Wire had the chance to experience this for ourselves with the first playable preview with the game, which sent us on a journey to retrieve a lost relic.  

To get a sense of the freedom that Avowed presents, Wire editors Danielle and Mike both played, and took two very different approaches to the demo. Here’s what we found.  

Character Background 

Danielle: True to RPG form, Avowed offers up myriad ways to approach the job at hand – even with your very first choices. Avowed offers five different background choices that will primarily affect your dialogue choices in-game, but all equipment and abilities are available to you regardless of the background you choose. Forever a fan of clean, stealthy operations that make me feel cool, I opted for a ranger build with a Vanguard Scout background – more at ease with the wilderness than around noble folk, but a skilled and observant hunter.  

Mike: I, however, picked the Barbarian — Danielle took my preferred ranger class before I could blink — but I enjoyed not having to concern myself with stealth, and instead leaned in heavily on the power of my melee weapons, where running headlong into enemies was a bit more of my character’s forte during this demo. My character traits were not strong enough to do any Intellect or Perception checks in interactions with any characters I encountered, but I was able to successfully lie (more on that in a bit). 

The World 

Danielle: After picking our characters, we headed into the game itself. Avowed is an action RPG set in the land of Eora, which Pillars of Eternity fans will be familiar with. The section we played takes place inside a lush dungeon, paring down the scope of the full game for the sake of a demo but, as we quickly found out, by no means restrictive. In this quest, we’re tasked with locating an expedition group that has gone missing in search of a holy relic. We are however, in true Obsidian fashion, immediately sidetracked by another quest, which involves fetching that relic for another character we meet on the way, which we’ll get into shortly. 

As I’m making my way through this cave system towards the first objective, it’s impossible not to notice how gorgeous these surroundings are – vibrant wildlife coats the walls and ceilings, a sparkling waterfall cascades in the distance. I’m transported instantly into the world of Avowed and the adventures it has to offer. 

Mike: I too was immediately struck by the bright and colourful design of the cave system. This is no dark, grim fantasy adventure (as the developers have previously mentioned). It’s rich and full of greenery and grand views. I particularly liked how the giant tree roots almost looked like massive arms holding everything up and in place. We know Avowed will have a variety of biomes for us to adventure through, but this was a great introduction to seeing what one of these dungeons looked like – and this is just a side quest! This bodes well for what the main adventure will have in store for us.  

Weapons and Magic 

Danielle: This is where the fun truly begins. As a ranger, I am of course equipped with a trusty and extremely potent bow called “The Long Touch” which offers some serious bonus perks to sharpshooters. I’m also given the option to upgrade the bow using materials gathered from the wilderness, which is a nice touch for when you don’t want to give up that special weapon after levelling up a few times. Using the bow alongside the Shadowing Beyond skill – which made me invisible for a time – allowed me to deftly chew through smaller enemies with ease. 

In a later boss fight, I quickly realized stealth wasn’t going to cut it, and I was able to completely flip the switch into a “shocking” secondary loadout. This included a unique pistol that dealt shock damage. It’s a slower, louder option that sacrificed dexterity for pure pain, which came in handy for battering down the dungeon’s boss. I didn’t just have different weapons either – Tanglefoot, a magic ability that sprouted spiky roots out of the ground to hold enemies in place, came in super handy for dealing with pests. I also had a throwable Electric Lily Seed, which dished out additional shock damage to everyone in this relatively small room.  

Even with a loadout I hadn’t fully chosen myself, it felt like I had a ton of options for how to approach each situation, but the tools I had still felt augmented to the style and background of my character.  

Mike: Mine was a more… direct approach than Danielle’s. I was able to hot-swap between two weapon loadouts: a dual wield option that paired a common sword with a one-handed axe called “Drawn in Winter” – it deals frost damage, if the name wasn’t a giveaway. I could also quickly swap to the two-handed “Seven Strings” club which dealt massive damage. I elected for the club for most of my playthrough, mainly because I liked the ability to block enemy attacks from the lizard-like Xaurip and giant spiders we encountered. I also had two abilities: Charge, which was a powerful dash-like attack, and Barbaric Shout, which interrupted enemy attacks. 

I also liked how my companion Kai, a blue-skinned Aumaua voiced by Brandon Keener (Garrus from Mass Effect), would call out locations of enemies to ensure I don’t get flanked. While the demo only offered us a small glimpse, it’s clear the companion system will be a major component of Avowed and I’m excited to see how this works in the longer-term adventure. Obsidian has shared there will be four recruitable companions that can aid you on your journey – and I’m excited to see how they all play into the story.  

Play Your Way 

Danielle: The preview presented several opportunities for dialogue, which gave a sense of how conversations will shape your adventure just as much as combat. The Vanguard Scout-specific choices were snappy and to the point, as a background of roaming amongst the trees rather than mingling with royalty would imply. I was given the choice to be polite and honest to Caedmon, a young chap that needed aid, or snarky and unhelpful, but figured that kindness might afford more opportunities down the road if he remembers that I saved his life in a dark cave. Avowed features attribute points that will unlock different dialogue choices, as well as buffs to your combat skills. As a ranger, I was particularly buffed out in the Dexterity and Perception departments, which delivered both extra critical hit chances and more observant options while I talked with other characters.  

Mike: It wasn’t long until I was saying to myself that this felt very Obsidian-like – the myriad of dialog choices and interactions afforded to my character will be immediately familiar to players of the studio’s other games. While Danielle took a noble, helpful approach, I took the opportunity to see how the world and characters would respond to a brash warrior who lies through their teeth. There seems to be a wide variety of choice, and more humor than I was expecting (this was a good thing), that make this feel like an Obsidian RPG in the vein of Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. Being able to either help Caedmon by healing his wounds or straight-up lying to him and pretending you’re a ghost is peak form for this studio – and I hope to see high level of player choice throughout Avowed. 

I was also curious to see how far I could “push” the dialog with Sargamis, the gold-bodied Oracle who tasked us with retrieving the dagger so he could imbue a soul into a giant, lifeless stone giant – who may just have had something to do with the missing expedition. I’m not going to spoil exactly what happened here – it’s way too much fun not to let you discover it for yourself – but the fact that Avowed let me go so far with Sargamis’ conversation branches, has left me really excited for just how many dialog paths there will be in the mainline adventure. 

It’s clear to see that Avowed is shaping up to be an extremely impressive adventure – there’s rich lore to be found in every corner and minimal rigidity to the builds, so you can play however you’d like. Even in this purposely select area, the bones of Obsidian’s RPG mastery are truly at work here, and we can’t wait to see how the choices play out in the full game. This will have to sate you for now but keep an eye out for more updates on Avowed, heading to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass on February 18, 2025.  


Avowed
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Avowed

Xbox Game Studios

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★★★★★

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Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?

The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.

Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.

Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.

The post Avowed Hands On: Playing One Quest in Two Very Different Ways appeared first on Xbox Wire.