Amazon Announces Halloween-Themed Prime Gaming October 2024 Lineup

Amazon has announced the October 2024 Prime Gaming lineup of free games (Prime Gaming is a benefit of Amazon Prime membership).

There’s a Halloween-theme to this month’s lineup, which includes the likes of BioShock Remastered, Doom Eternal, and Scorn. Other horror games in the deal include Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation (fresh from the studio’s announcement that a sequel is in the works), Tormented Souls, a survival horror game inspired by the original Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark series, and Death’s Door. Illfonic’s Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is also on the list.

October 2024 Prime Gaming lineup in full:

  • Now Available Hive Jump 2: Survivors [GOG Code] – Hive Jump 2: Survivors is a sci-fi, action-packed, bullet heaven roguelike. After a squad of intrepid jetpack Jumpers are decimated in an intergalactic ambush, a lone survivor sets out for vengeance while fending off endless waves of killer insects.
  • Now Available SCARF [Amazon Games App] – Scarf is an atmospheric and emotional journey about what it means to be a hero. An adventure game mixing puzzles and 3D platforms.
  • Now Available Tomb Raider: Legend [GOG Code] – Follow Lara Croft down a path of discovery as she travels the globe to remote, exotic locales in search of one of history’s greatest artifacts that unleashes unwelcome figures from Lara’s mysterious past.
  • Now Available The Eternal Cylinder [Epic Games Store] – Control a herd of strange creatures called Trebhums and explore an unforgettable alien world filled with exotic lifeforms and surreal environments. Discover dozens of mutations and evolve to reach new areas, overcome puzzles and survive a dangerous world.
  • Now Available Spirit of the North [Epic Games Store] – Spirit of the North is a single-player 3rd-person adventure game inspired by the breathtaking and mysterious landscapes of Iceland. Play as an ordinary red fox whose story becomes entwined with the guardian of the Northern Lights, a female spirit fox.
  • Now Available No Straight Roads [Epic Games Store] – Start a rock band and end the EDM empire in No Straight Roads, a rockin’ action-adventure that mashes together rhythm-infused third-person combat with a kick-ass soundtrack!
  • Now Available BioShock Remastered [GOG Code] – BioShock is a shooter unlike any you’ve ever played, loaded with weapons and tactics never seen. You’ll have a complete arsenal at your disposal from simple revolvers to grenade launchers and chemical throwers, but you’ll also be forced to genetically modify your DNA to create an even more deadly weapon: you.
  • Now Available DOOM Eternal [PC via Microsoft Store Code] – Hell’s armies have invaded Earth. Become the Slayer in an epic single-player campaign to conquer demons across dimensions and stop the final destruction of humanity. The only thing they fear… is you.

○ Please note: The DOOM Eternal offer is available only in Prime Gaming regions where the Microsoft Store is also available. Prime Gaming offers may sometimes vary by region. See primegaming.com for more details.

  • Now Available DreadOut 2 [Amazon Games App] – A third-person horror adventure that draws inspiration from Indonesian urban legend. Play as Linda, a high school student with the ability to sense and see ghosts. This spine-chilling sequel expands on the cult hit original, making DreadOut 2 another terrifying addition to the horror genre.
  • Now Available Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition [Epic Games Store] – Hunting or haunting! The choice is yours in the upcoming asymmetrical Ghostbusters game from IllFonic, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Play with up to four friends or solo on multiple platforms.
  • Now Available Priest Simulator: Vampire Show [Epic Games Store] – A mockumental action game. Go forth and rock in the absolute weirdest and most messed up simulator in the history of sandbox shooters. Fully unprofessional English language version. This dub will have you in stitches.
  • Now Available The Gap [Amazon Games App] – Driven by a rare neurological affliction plaguing his family, Joshua has to recover his memories by exploring parallel realities through déjà vu. Facing the innermost depths of his past – moments both joyous and painful – seems to be the only way to get his life and family back together.
  • October 17 Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets [Legacy Games Code] – Solve intriguing puzzles in different boxes to discover mysterious stories about popular inventions!
  • October 17 Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness [Amazon Games App] – Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness puts your sanity to the test, challenging you to escape a labyrinth of nightmares and torment. Test your mind against a slow burn of puzzles, light survival mechanics, and methodical action.
  • October 17 Through the Darkest of Times [Amazon Games App] – Berlin 1933. “Adolf Hitler is chancellor!” We all know the consequences this message bore. Unspeakable horrors and suffering would sweep across the world. Few would stand and fight the monstrosity that was the German Reich. Will you? Lead an underground resistance group Through the Darkest of Times.
  • October 17 Killing Floor 2 [Epic Games Store] – In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe after it has been overrun by horrific, murderous clones called Zeds that were created by rogue elements of the Horzine Corporation. 6-player Co-Op & 12-player VS Zed-slaughtering mayhem.
  • October 17 Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol [Amazon Games App] – Enjoy 16-bit console gaming with the cult classic Zombies Ate My Neighbors and its sequel, Ghoul Patrol. Join Zeke & Julia on their adventures as they save people from Zombies, Chainsaw Maniacs, Mummies, Evil Dolls, Lizard Men, Blobs, Vampires, Giant Ants, Martians, Garbage Can Ghosts, Ninja Spirits, zombified historic dudes, and more.
  • October 24 Pumpkin Jack [GOG Code] – Pumpkin Jack is a Spooky Scary 3D platformer in which you embody Jack, the Mythical Pumpkin Lord! Dive into an Epic Adventure through otherworldly landscapes and help the Evil annihilate the Good!
  • October 24 The Gunk [GOG Code] – The Gunk stars Rani, part of our duo of gritty space haulers, struggling to make a buck as they chance upon an untouched planet brimming with life. They came in search of valuable resources, and it looks like they’ve hit the jackpot.
  • October 24 STASIS: BONE TOTEM [Epic Games Store] – Get ready for a thrilling underwater adventure with classic point-and-click gameplay. Explore with three characters simultaneously. Featuring atmospheric isometric graphics, rendered video, and a soundtrack by Mark Morgan.
  • October 24 Gargoyles Remastered [Amazon Games App] – Gargoyles Remastered is an artfully crafted revival of the ‘90s classic 16-bit side-scrolling platform adventure. Relive the epic journey of Goliath and the Gargoyles featuring enhanced visuals, animations, and SFX, all inspired by the acclaimed animated series.
  • October 24 Monster Train [GOG Code] – Monster Train is a strategic roguelike deck building game with a twist. Set on a train to hell, you’ll use tactical decision making to defend multiple vertical battlegrounds. With real time competitive multiplayer and endless replayability, Monster Train is always on time.
  • October 24 Morbid: The Seven Acolytes [Epic Games Store] – Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a Horrorpunk Action RPG filled with Lovecraftian horrors and Cronenbergian gore, making it the most gruesome take on the isometric Souls-like genre yet!
  • October 31 A Plague Tale: Innocence [GOG Code] – Follow the grim tale of young Amicia and her little brother Hugo, in a heartrending journey through the darkest hours of history. Hunted by Inquisition soldiers and surrounded by unstoppable swarms of rats, Amicia and Hugo will come to know and trust each other. As they struggle to survive against overwhelming odds, they will fight to find purpose in this brutal, unforgiving world.
  • October 31 Death’s Door [Epic Games Store] – Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it’s honest work for a Crow. The job gets lively when your assigned soul is stolen and you must track down a desperate thief to a realm untouched by death.
  • October 31 Haunted Hotel: Personal Nightmare Collector’s Edition [Amazon Games App] – After 20 years, you receive a letter about your missing mom and sister. Answers are waiting at the Freedom Hotel, but nothing there is quite as it seems. Can you overcome your deepest fears and save your family in time?
  • October 31 Scorn [GOG Code] – Scorn is an atmospheric first-person horror adventure game set in a nightmarish universe of odd forms and somber tapestry.
  • October 31 Coromon [GOG Code] – The sun begins to dawn on Velua, a new day for the world and a new day for you, a freshly minted Battle Researcher of the global research society known as Lux Solis. It’s your first day and everything goes smoothly until a mysterious force attacks your latest workplace. Build up a squad of Coromon, track down the invaders, and grapple with a rising threat that endangers everyone on Velua!

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.

Silent Hill 2 Remake Mod Switches Pyramid Head for Thomas the Tank Engine, Obviously

A Silent Hill 2 Remake modder has continued the tradition of turning a game’s big bad into Thomas the Tank Engine, this time replacing Pyramid Head with the children’s cartoon character.

The Pyramid the Tank Engine mod from ZombieAli is available to download on Nexus Mods and, as per the description, it simply “replaced Pyramid Head with Thomas the Tank Engine.”

The pyramid head does remain, however, but comes across more like a bold fashion choice for Thomas as opposed to the focal point of a horrific monster. “As the mod prophecy once foretold, thou shalt always put Thomas into moddable games,” ZombieAli said.

The trend seemingly began with The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, when a modder replaced the mighty dragon Alduin with the mighty tank engine Thomas. It’s been a thing ever since, with modders sticking Thomas into myriad games.

But the beloved children’s cartoon character, originating from a TV show about talking trains who go on adventures and teach wholesome life lessons, has perhaps been most prominent in horror games. Thomas the Tank Engine has replaced the stalking xenomorph in Alien: Isolation, smashed through walls when replacing Mr X in Resident Evil 2, and even taken on the guise of Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Villlage.

The Thomas the Tank engine mod is only one of many to hit the Silent Hill 2 Remake, with other mods removing things like hair sheen and the fog, and one even turning the game into Sunny Hills.

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

Best PS5 and PlayStation Deals Today (October 2024)

With massive sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the horizon, the holiday season of savings is kicking off. In the meantime, though, there are still quite a few discounts for PlayStation fans to check out. And with the brand new PS5 Pro up for preorder now with a hefty price tag, there’s really no better time to take advantage of PS5 deals.

We’ve gathered up some of our favorite offers below, including some excellent discounts on games such as the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 for $19.99, God of War Ragnarök for $39.99, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $49.99. These deals only scratch the surface of what’s available now, though. Below, you can also find other deals on everything from accessories to SSDs and even information on where to buy a PS5 now.

Navigate to:

Where To Preorder a PS5 Pro

The PS5 Pro has finally, officially been announced with a monumental price tag of $699.99. If you’re itching to get your preorder in, today’s the day! Preorders are live at a variety of retailers we’ve listed out below. The console will officially release on November 7.

What to Buy Ahead of the PS5 Pro’s Release

It was also revealed during the 9-minute presentation that the new console does not come with a disc drive or the vertical stand. So we thought it best to point you in the direction of these items so you can purchase them now in the event they sell out. The PS5 Disc Drive will cost you $79.94 and the vertical stand will set you back $29.94.

Preorder PlayStation 5 Digital 30th Anniversary Limited Edition

For those looking to get their hands on the 30th Anniversary PS5 console, preorders are now live for that as well. They’re selling out fast, though, and already sold out at quite a few retailers, so be quick to pick one up if you find one still available.

DualSense Controller 30th Anniversary Edition Preorders Now Live

Styled to evoke nostalgia for the original PlayStation console, the 30th Anniversary Edition DualSense is now live for preorder. Unfortunately, it’s sold out everywhere right now, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for when the next wave of preorders come in.

Best PS5 Video Game Deals

There are plenty of excellent PS5 game deals to check out at the moment. Some of our favorites are on the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 for $19.99, God of War Ragnarök for $39.99, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $49.99. You can see even more of our favorite game deals below.

Perfect PS5 2TB SSD with Heatsink for $139.99

SSD prices have been rising in 2024 but, with significant discounts available, now is the perfect time to buy. This is one of the best deals on a 2TB SSD at the moment: You can score the 2TB Seagate FireCuda 530R PS5 SSD with Heatsink for $139.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. This deal isn’t the only one worth checking out right now, either. You can see even more of our favorite SSD deals below.

PlayStation Portal Back In Stock

Best PS5 Headset Deals: 60% Off the Razer Kaira Pro Dual Wireless Gaming Headset & More Deals

There’s no shortage of PS5-compatible headsets. If you’re constantly having to turn down the volume when you play, you might want to pick up one of these, then you can listen to your games as loud as you darn well please. And if you’d like to see even more options that are worth buying, check out our collection of the best gaming headsets.

More PS5 Gaming Headset Deals:

How to Trade in Your Old PlayStation Consoles

If you’re looking to trade in your old PlayStation consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.

While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you’ll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction, the latter of which poses its own risks.

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2024, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as Switch and Xbox, and we keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Football Manager 25 Gets Huge Delay in Shock Move, Now Releasing Just Two Months Before the End of the Season

In a shock move for the popular sim, Sega is delaying Football Manager 25 until March 2025, putting its release barely two months before 2025’s Champions League Final.

Developer Sports Interactive and Sega released a statement calling it “tough decision” and saying that specific platform dates will follow once confirmed. The statement continued, “In our last Development Update in September, we explained that we needed to push FM25’s original release back to give ourselves more time to deliver the best possible experience for this first installment in a new era of Football Manager. This additional time has not been sufficient to ensure the game quality and experience meets your expectations and our very high standards.”

Developing…

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

25 Years Later, Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles Is Coming Back

After reviving Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Battlefront, and, most recently, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, port specialist Aspyr has turned its attention to another classic Star Wars video game from yesteryear: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles.

LucasArts’ Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles launched in 2000 on the PlayStation before hitting the Dreamcast and the Game Boy Advance. As the title suggests, it’s set during the time frame of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, with a mix of platforming and beat ‘em up gameplay. Playable characters include Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Masters Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, and Plo Koon,

Aspyr’s Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles brings the game to modern platforms with modern controls, 13 newly unlocked characters from the beginning, all levels unlocked, versus and training modes introduced in later releases of the game, and two-player couch co-op.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles will be released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam on January 23, 2025 priced $19.99, just shy of 25 years after the original came out.

Here’s the official blurb, from Aspyr:

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles with this fast-paced lightsaber action game featuring enhanced gameplay, models, environments, game modes, and more. Use the power of the Force and your trusty lightsaber against legions of droids, assassins, and other legendary foes as you fight through iconic locations from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace like Theed Palace and more.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles key features:

  • Jump into Side-Scrolling Arcade Action in the Star Wars Galaxy: Play as Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Adi Gallia, and Qui-Gon Jinn and face off against classic foes in iconic locations from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
  • All Secret Characters Unlocked & More to Discover: Play with all secret characters and levels from the original game unlocked from the start, including Darth Maul, Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala and more. There’s also 13 new playable characters to unlock after your first playthrough, like the Rifle Droid, Tusken Raider, Ishi Tib, and Weequay!
  • Play with a Friend in Classic Couch Co-op: Battle side-by-side with a companion in two-player couch co-op for the entire 10-level campaign and bonus mini-games.
  • New Features & Modes for Modern Platforms: Use classic or modern controls, toggle your lightsaber colors, enter classic cheat codes like Big Head Mode, dive into the VS and training modes from later releases of the game, and discover more surprises in this 25th-anniversary celebration of Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is yet another Star Wars revival from the Embracer-owned Aspyr, which is still working to fix this year’s disastrous launch of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection.

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.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero DLC Revealed Via Steam Backend

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero developers Bandai Namco Games and Spike Chunsoft are seemingly planning some downloadable content for the fan-favorite fighting game not already announced.

As reported by ComicBook, the Steam backend has been updated to reference a new DLC called the Martial Arts Pack. This is listed on SteamDB alongside already announced extra content including the Season Pass and Ultimate Edition bonuses, the Anime Music Packs 1 and 2, and the upgrade and preorder packs.

No details on what’s included in the pack were revealed on the SteamDB page but Reddit user Zeucleio discovered its contents through a companion book released for the game in Japan today, October 10. According to their post, the book contained a bonus code which unlocks the Martial Arts Pack in-game, despite no official word from Bandai Namco Games or Spike Chunsoft.

The contents of the pack were therefore revealed, and it includes early unlocks of Bardock, Future Gohan, Future Gohan SSJ, and Bardock’s Z costume, alongside the Super Sparking ability item.

As mentioned, neither developer nor publisher Bandai Namco has commented on this DLC officially or if it will be made available beyond this companion book.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero launched October 8 for anyone who preordered (and otherwise launches October 11) and is proving a hit with Dragon Ball fans, with many appreciating its evident love for the series through features like Encyclopaedia Mode.

One fight is proving particularly tough, however, as Great Ape Vegeta has the coveted combination of random, unrelenting, and rapid attacks that all do big damage. Players are pulling their hair out at its difficulty and placement relatively early on in the game’s campaign, though Bandai Namco has assured it’s okay to lower the difficulty and move on.

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

Old Rivals Konami and FIFA Sign eFootball Esports Deal Following EA Sports Split

The world of soccer video games took another twist today after Konami and FIFA — for years rivals on the virtual pitch — signed their first deal following the end of EA Sports’ long-running FIFA games. But don’t get too excited yet, it’s just for esports.

Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series had for years tussled with EA Sports’ all-conquering FIFA series before finally pivoting to the free-to-play eFootball. EA has largely cornered the market, locking up the rights to the Premier League, La Liga, and other popular leagues, with Konami left fighting for scraps.

EA dropped the FIFA license in 2022 amid reports that the organization, which serves as the governing body for the various national associations around the world, had asked for more than $1 billion per four-year World Cup cycle. EA rebranded the series as EA Sports FC in 2023 with relatively few changes. Since then there has been speculation that Take-Two, with its 2K Games label, might take on the FIFA license, but in August Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that any potential competitor to EA Sports FC would face numerous complications.

Now, we have the Konami and FIFA collaboration, which will see eFootball used for this year’s FIFAe World Cup on both console and mobile (EA Sports’ FIFA games were used in previous years). It should be noted that this is not an agreement for Konami to take on the FIFA video game series, or rebrand eFootball to FIFA, but it’s a notable shift in the ever-evolving dynamic between video game makers and those who hold the keys to real world football.

Clearly, EA will be watching developments with great interest. In July, EA Sports welcomed the potential for genuine competition in the football video game space amid rumors of a new FIFA game entering the market.

In May, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed a new FIFA game was in the works, saying: “We will develop a new e-game, because (the) football simulation game is called FIFA. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, when they play (a) football simulation game, they play FIFA. It cannot be named something else.

“We are developing with new partners a new game which obviously, as everything we do, will be the best. So get ready for the new FIFA e-game.”

If 2K does take on FIFA, perhaps it will relaunch as FIFA 2K, similar to 2K’s already successful annualized sports games such as NBA 2K. If it goes with Konami, maybe eFIFA? Pro Evolution FIFA? Or, perhaps more likely, the simple return of FIFA with the year popped on the end.

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.

PlaySide Studios on Kill Knight

With Kill Knight, PlaySide Studios has stepped into the console (and PC) space with a compelling and challenging high score-chasing, twin-stick shooter. We already gave you our thoughts after extensive hands-on time with the game, but we also spent a day at one of PlaySide Studios’ Melbourne offices, chatting with the team about their goals for the game and getting the inside track on how it changed over the course of development.

Here are some of the most interesting insights that Ryan McMahon (General Manager of PlaySide’s PC and Console Games Division) and Sean Gabriel (Lead Game Designer on Kill Knight) told us during our visit.

The Eldritch Layer Pitch

Ryan McMahon: Kill Knight is an ultra-responsive, arcade-inspired isometric action shooter and, funnily enough, that is the one line pitch that [Lead Game Designer] Sean came into this with when we first started development. So that isn’t our tagline [that] we’re saying now; it’s straight from the original pitch before we started development and we’ve maintained that… throughout the entire development. It’s been that one liner that the team’s always come back to when we’re trying to determine the art style… or we’re talking about the music, or we’re talking about how the game should feel to play. That’s what Sean and his team have always brought things back to. Is this that arcadey feel that we want, or is it responsive enough? What’s the frame rate? Staying true to all those goals is essentially what that line says about the game, and it’s something that they set out as the vision from the very beginning.

Sean Gabriel: You’ve got the one half [of the game], [where] it’s an obvious power fantasy, right? It’s one of those games where we want you to feel awesome – you’re a badass guy, you’re fighting demons, [it’s] a straight-up power fantasy… But then the other thing is through the lens of this game and this genre, and top-down in general, it’s dominated [by] Diablo, ARPGs, inventories, builds, all that sort of crazy knowledge stuff. Whereas… we wanted this to bring back that arcade [sensibility] of – we’re actually going to bombard you with all this stuff, and if you love the aesthetic enough, and we can draw you into this world and get you immersed. We’re going to bring you along on this journey to make you so good at the game that the power fantasy that you see? We’re going to get you there and, once you’re there, you just have that blending of the power fantasy and your actual skill. You can’t really beat that in terms of that sense of accomplishment. That sense of, ‘Okay, I’m actually The Kill Knight; I’m doing this.’ If we had made the mechanics simpler or made it a bit too accessible in terms of the things you need to learn to get up there, you just wouldn’t have that full connection.

Ryan McMahon: It’s not a game where if I play more and grind more I get more XP, or I get more equipment that’s going to make me better at the game. The experience that you gain is you as a player getting more mastery of the game, and it’s very much a game that rewards mastery.

It’s very much a game that rewards mastery…

Difficulty and Unlocks

Ryan McMahon: This game is all about… making the player feel powerful… and the way you do that is you make it very push-forward focused. So your player never stands still; you’re constantly trying to build that momentum and maintain it. And when you get things right and you have that momentum, it feels super satisfying, so we’re constantly… rewarding aggression, rewarding precision. The game has four distinct difficulty settings, so when we’re talking about the game being hard, it doesn’t have to be super hard. You can start on the lowest difficulty and work your way up and we reward the player for working their way up those difficulties by multiplying their score.

Sean Gabriel: All of the equipment is gated around learning all the mechanics. So, keeping your [kill] streak high, utilising specific pieces of equipment in an interesting way, etcetera. The whole game is teaching you while you’re playing through, just wanting to unlock all the cool stuff… you have to trust the game. We’re going to get you there and we do it in all these different ways.

Ryan McMahon: Unlocking those weapons changes things a little bit. So if you unlock new pistols it changes the active reload response to those pistols as well. If you unlock a new heavy weapon it also changes the wrath blast that you get when you use that heavy weapon. If you get a new sword it changes the active reload you get when you use your sword on the active reload… all the mechanics stay the same but the reaction to those mechanics from the weapon you’ve chosen changes with it.

When you get to the end of the game there is a boss you fight, the Last Angel, and that is the ‘final’ encounter in the game. Once you defeat the Last Angel you unlock two things – Sever mode, which is a special mode where layers 1 to 5 are condensed into one super level, combining all five layers… Every single level has also been revisited in this mode… It’s intense the whole way through.

The second thing you unlock is a new difficulty mode called Sufferance. So if you really like suffering, which you probably do if you’ve made it to the end where you’ve beaten the boss, [you can] go back through all the levels and play on the hardest difficulty and then get an even higher score because that’s the hardest difficulty you get.

Sean Gabriel: Yeah, it can get pretty tough, but I think there is a yearning for games that demand a little bit more from you, and get you to come to them a bit. There’s a yearning for that from gamers, and that’s what we leveraged.

I think there is a yearning for games that demand a little bit more from you, and get you to come to them a bit.

The cool thing about our difficulty modes too, is a lot of games… [they] just bloat the health [on enemies], you know, just to make it harder. But we had to find some creative ways to make it challenging, while also viable for the leaderboards, while also not breaking our mechanics and the timings that you’ve inherently learned after smashing your head against one layer for ages. [Increasing the difficulty] doesn’t increase the health [of enemies]. It does increase things like their speed, spawn times, distances, damage [taken]… We have a couple of pieces of equipment that you have to get on the higher difficulties, which is interesting.

An Alien Arcade Machine

Ryan McMahon: Atmosphere was a very big thing for making Kill Knight… and a lot of that is done through not just the visuals, but also the music, the audio-scape of the game, all those things coming together create the tone which is Kill Knight, which is intense, surreal, suppressive, oppressive, demanding, everything’s very overwhelming…

[Sean] did a whole brief at one point about it being an alien arcade machine. Imagine if we went to Mars and found an arcade machine – what game would we play? That was a whole thing the team was talking about for a while. But that atmosphere piece, even in the UI, how the UI glitches in, has that CRT monitor effect and everything. All those things are super intentional in creating that tone from the moment you boot up the game, that glitchy alien arcade sound effect when you boot up, it’s put in front of you from the very start, the music that plays when you first boot up, the spawn effect when you jump in, the music that kicks off, the noises of the enemies as they first spawn, all those things are very intentional in setting up that tone.

Sean Gabriel: It was probably about halfway through the project, there was an epiphany moment… we were aiming for this dark, brutal – it’s like top-down Dark Souls… oppressive, angry, and then just where the project was moving, where the art style was moving, we were introducing more colours, as the game mechanics were coming up, we’re like, ‘Okay, we need purple here, red here, blue here.’ And we started thinking, ‘…this needs to be more vibrant. This needs to be more alien. This needs to be more something that you look at and it looks fun…’ And that’s that half-half [aspect], where it’s half… this grim, dark, fully atmospheric thing but also – we’re playing an alien arcade game. Let’s live in that a bit. Let’s have fun with that.

The art style came… very quickly… ‘deep fried pixels’, [the team] call it. I reckon that’s so awesome. And that brutalist serious architecture, with the deep fried pixels, with the almost jester-like character Kill Knight. It all started clicking together.

Kill Knight’s Gameplay Evolution

Sean Gabriel: We originally started with [the idea] it was going to be a mostly melee game, and then we quickly learned that we wanted the tempo faster… and we had it pretty fast [already]. It was pretty fun – but [we] realised very quickly, maybe in the first month or two, that – wait a minute, no, we need guns. This needs to aesthetically be knights with guns. Because that’s just inherently cool, inherently ridiculous, and that’s just Kill Knight as an aesthetic. Cool and also ridiculous and immersive, and the guns increases the tempo… you can swap between shotgun and this and that and we bring in the melee as a utility, and you’ve got to start using the sword more because that’s how you get your heavy weapon ammo back and other things like that. And so that was kind of the kernel of it. I don’t want to say top-down Doom Eternal because it came from a rich history of ideas… [but that descriptor] isn’t a bad one, either.

We came to the layer stuff probably about halfway through the project, because initially it was going to be an adventurous exploration, speedrunning from end to end kind of game… like a dungeon run. We had this idea that you’re exploring as you’re fighting. But we realised that what we were doing was just making an arena that you were contained in, [then a] corridor, [then an] arena that you’re contained in, corridor, arena. We’re basically building eight arenas and we have this Escher art style. And we have this ‘everything is shifting’ abyss… what if we just sort of stacked it, and then it shifts and then shifts again and shifts again? Do we even need you to have any downtime? And that was another big thing – we didn’t want any downtime. We just wanted you to go, go, go and we felt that these like traversal points [created downtime, so]… what if we didn’t have any of that as a problem? And we just stacked it on top of each other, how’d that feel? And that was a big epiphany, ‘Oh, we can just maintain the momentum the entire time.’

A very important part of the game was having no fluff – it’s a fluffless game. Everything’s important, everything’s meaningful, you have to use everything. To be good at the game, you can and should have to use everything. That naturally led to being inspired by all these different games like Doom Eternal, Hyper Demon, where you’ve got that rhythm, you’ve got that flow state. All the mechanics have to flow into one another…

A very important part of the game was having no fluff – it’s a fluffless game.

Kill Knight’s Equipment

Sean Gabriel: The really important pillar we had for equipment was we wanted no fluff, no nonsense… being an arcade game, being a score chasing game, we wanted every bit of equipment to be viable. Viable in terms of getting high scores.

Also, in terms of the equipment, we wanted to support a few different play styles, obviously. Are you more defensive plus back? Are you more aggressive plus forward? Are you a bit more tactical? Do you have the mental ability to manage different things and you want to do that? So we wanted to have allowances for that. We wanted allowances for mindless pure damage – plough through. We wanted to support all those things, but the big challenge was making everything viable.

But being a top-down game, we also wanted to have a bit of an expression of games that have come before us. So you’ve got your [Assault] Android [Cactus], you’ve got your Ruiner, you’ve even got Cannon Spike, which is this way old Dreamcast game, [plus] all these punch ’em ups. We wanted to pay tribute a bit to a lot of different games, and have this big spread of equipment to use, so a few of the weapons are just straight up homages to some different things that people might go, ‘Oh wait, that’s from that!’

The Active Reload System

Sean Gabriel: We were exploring equipment, we were exploring our depth of combat. Some things were landing, others weren’t fully. And we just kept pushing on giving the player more things to do in the micro, rather than just the macro. I’ll put it like this: whenever you pause the game, this could go in a bunch of different directions in the next one to two seconds in terms of the microdecision making. Do you dash out of the way and get a better position? Do you sword reload? Do you pistol reload? It was a real push to create that freeze frame depth. When I freeze the game, I want to be able to have a snapshot and go, ‘Whoa, how many different things can I do?’ Because that’s kind of like playing these games in a nutshell, right? That’s what your brain is doing every second. It’s these microdecision making points.

It was a real push to create that freeze frame depth.

And that was really important to increase that combat depth. That [idea that] your run is different from my run; no run’s the same. And there’s so much potential for skill expression. So that’s where the active reload came from. We want[ed] that little bit of skill… that rhythm skill, but [also]… how can we build player expression into the active reload? And so you’ve got the three different reloads, but then even all the equipment have different things that they do. Then you can see that you’re hitting more of that depth again, and that combat player expression. We want you to be dancing as the Kill Knight. And that’s all ticking the overall goal, which is immersion.

That level of immersion was really important to us because we knew we had a hard game. We wanted you to really feel that. And so it was intentional to have that immersive quality so that when the game gets challenging and when it’s getting frustrating, you’re feeling, ‘Okay, I want to get right back in there.’

Layers of Lore

Ryan McMahon: You play as the Kill Knight… [a] knight who’s been condemned to eternal sufferance, deep within the voids of an Eldritch arena set below Hell itself.

Sean Gabriel: What’s deep in the lore is [that] each layer’s kind of like a psychological phase that the Kill Knight as a character is going through. You’ve got the stages of grief and you’ve got things like Dante’s Inferno. And so we’re thinking – okay, what’s this step-by-step process that you as a character would be going through when you’ve basically been given this mission to save the world that is practically impossible? And also possibly you’re the bad guy. And there is no escape. Humanity has pushed you into this thing and it’s completely unfair and you don’t want to do it, and you’re very reluctant, but you’ve been here for years and years and years doing this. What are the psychological stages you’d go through?

I won’t get into it too much but we start with Solitude as the first layer because you have this sense of abandonment. You’re alone in this new space. And then Entanglement. Now you’re entangled with the world and you’re stuck down here. This is characterised by thorns and even in the gameplay a lot of the things start slowing you down and trapping you a lot more. Traps start being introduced. And then you’ve got Viscera, which is this red, bloody zone… he’s sort of mentally cutting the idea that he’s ever going to have any life other than this… and then you’ve got Echelon and Reflection.

I really felt strongly [that we needed] to bake it with some themes that people that do get immersed in it have something to grab onto. We have no narrative or exposition… so there needs to be that textural undertone that you can grab onto. It was really important for all our artists too, for all the artists to have something tangible [to anchor them].

We have no narrative or exposition… so there needs to be that textural undertone that you can grab onto.

The Last Angel

Sean Gabriel: You’re in this ‘end of humanity’ sort of cycle. You’ve got these characters called Kill Knights, which are essentially sentinels that the last of humanity’s training and power has been imbued into. This… was a very angelic world, deep in humanity’s past. But something happened – which we can explore at some point – all the angels betrayed humanity… [and now there’s] this abyssal keep where all these horrible creatures are coming out and destroying the earth again because all the angels have left and… there’s no protection.

Kill Knight is out now on PC, PlayStation, Switch and Xbox.

Cam Shea is the former editor-in-chief of IGN AU, and now spends most of his time immersed in Australia’s craft beer scene.

Last Chance to Save 40% Off the Best PS5 Wireless Gaming Headset for Prime Day

For the remaining hours of October Prime Day, Amazon is taking 40% off the highly rated SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7p wireless gaming headset, now only $109 after you clip a $34.98 coupon. This is the best deal of the year on one of the best wireless PS5 gaming headsets (it’s also compatible with PC) and at this price there’s really nothing else that can even remotely compare. You shouldn’t hesitate though, because we expect this deal to go kaput at midnight PT.

40% Off the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7p Gaming Headset

IGN writer Matthew Adler reviewed the PC version of the Arctis Nova 7. He writes “SteelSeries continues to push the boundaries of what a headset is capable of. With the addition of simultaneous Bluetooth audio, you can enjoy music, podcasts, or just chat with your friends without losing your game audio – all with a single pair of headphones. The Arctis Nova 7’s new design is sleek, lightweight, and still remains one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve ever used.”

The SteelSeries Arcis Nova 7p is the latest successor to the highly rated Arctis 7 series of headsets. This is a sturdy and comfortable headset; the headband has a flexible metal core that can be twisted without snapping and, in my opinion, the AirWeave memory foam earcups are more comfortable than the pricier Arctis Nova 7 Pros. It’s every bit as good as its predecessor but with some welcome upgrades like a USB Type-C charging port, longer 38-hour battery life, fast charging (6 hours of battery with just 15 minutes of charging), simultaneous wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, and multi-platform compatibility. It’s also fully compatible with the PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D Audio.

If you’re looking for deals on other PS5 accessories, check out the best Prime Day PS5 deals going on right now. If you don’t yet own a PS5 console, you’re in luck. The PS5 Slim is currently on sale for Prime Day, and Sony recently announced a more powerful PS5 Pro that is currently up for preorder and ships out next month. For more general Prime Day related content, head over to our Prime Day megapost to see our cherry-picked list of all of best deals. You better hurry, though, because we expect most of these deals to go back up in price after midnight.

More Prime Day Console Deals Ending Tonight

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

The Best SSD for Gaming Is on Sale for Prime Day, But the Price Goes Up After Tonight

For the final hours of October Prime Day, Amazon is offering an excellent deal on the best gaming SSD. Right now you can get the blazing fast Samsung 990 Pro 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 solid state drive (SSD) for only $139.99. This is the lowest price we’ve seen this year, but you better jump on this deal soon because we expect it to expire at midnight PT tonight. 4TB and 1TB models are also on sale. The 990 Pro is one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market. It’s compatible with the PlayStation 5 console and it comes preinstalled with a low-profile heatsink.

Prime Day Deal: Samsung 990 Pro PS5 SSD with Heatsink

The 990 Pro is Samsung’s fastest PCIe 4.0 M.2 solid state drive. Compared to the 980 Pro that it replaces, the 990 Pro has been updated with Samsung’s newest Pascal controller and 7th gen TLC NAND flash chips which are manufactured in-house. It boasts sequential speeds of 7,450MB/s read and 6,900MB/s write and random speeds of 1400K read and 1550K IOPS write, which is up to 50% faster per watt than the 980 Pro. The 990 Pro will be one of your best options as a boot drive for your gaming PC, and the 2TB model is currently the best compromise between capacity and price point.

For console gamers, the Samsung 990 Pro also happens to be one of the best SSDs for the PlayStation 5. In fact, performance-wise, it’s overkill since the stock PS5 SSD only has speeds of up to 5,600MB/s. This 990 Pro comes pre-equipped with a low-profile aluminum heatsink that’s guaranteed to fit in both the PS5 and PS5 Slim consoles. It’s also backed by a 5 year warranty; by the time your warranty runs out, you might have already moved onto the PS6.

If you want to compare this deal with other PlayStation 5 compatible options, here’s a list of our favorite PS5 SSDs. If you’re looking for deals on other PS5 accessories, check out the best Prime Day PS5 deals going on right now. If you don’t yet own a PS5 console, you’re in luck. The PS5 Slim is currently on sale for Prime Day, and Sony recently announced a more powerful PS5 Pro that is currently up for preorder and ships out next month. For all other deals, head over to our Prime Day megapost to see our cherry-picked list of the best deals we’ve found. You better hurry, though, because we expect most of these deals to go back up in price after midnight.

Are October Prime Day Deals as good as Black Friday?

Although Black Friday is still the overall best time to buy just about anything every year, October Prime Day is just as good as Black Friday for many different items. Amazon’s own devices that are currently on sale likely won’t go much lower in price. The same goes for most of the deals we’ve featured on this list, which are at some of their lowest prices of the year so far. If you are unsure whether or not you’re getting a good deal on anything, you can reference specific products on the CamelCamelCamel website to see historical Amazon pricing.

More Prime Day Deals on Console Storage Upgrades

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.