Developer Strange Scaffold’s third-person neo-noir shooter, El Paso, Elsewhere, is heading to the big screen, per Deadline.
LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah, Sorry to Bother You) is currently in talks to star and produce the project alongside Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s Di Bonaventura Pictures and Colin Stark. The adaptation is said to follow protagonist James Savage as he navigates a monster-filled world in order to bring an end to his vicious ex-girlfriend and his own inner turmoil.
The indie hit from studio head and narrative director Xalavier Nelson Jr., who also voices its main character, released last year and tells the story of a vampire hunter who sets out to destroy his ex-girlfriend before she destroys the world. In other words, these first details promise a movie version of this story that will stick close to the game it is based on. Although Stanfield is seemingly still only in talks to join the video-game-to-movie project, Nelson Jr. took to X/Twitter to share his excitement.
— Xalavier Nelson Jr. 🔜 Reboot Develop (@WritNelson) April 22, 2024
El Paso, Elsewhere is Strange Scaffold’s 2023 take on third-person shooting gameplay, but it’s not the studio’s first crack at this world. That status goes to El Paso, Nightmare, a first person shooter that released in 2022. According to the game’s Steam page, this entry is treated as a “standalone survival horror FPS side story” that takes place within the same universe as El Paso, Elsewhere. It’s unclear if that story will be featured in or tie into the movie.
For more on El Paso, Elsewhere and a better look at how the movie might tackle its monster love story, be sure to check out some of its gameplay. You can also take a look at its animated trailer from last year, which gives fans a more cinematic look at its story before diving in.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
We finally have the first full trailer for Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, an upcoming single-player life simulation set in the Middle-earth universe inspired by the books of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Tales of the Shire, published by Take-Two-owned Private Division and developed by Wētā Workshop Game Studio, lets you live life as a Hobbit in the idyllic town of Bywater, which is not yet established as an official village in Hobbiton. The idea of the game is to help bring the community together and achieve official village status by throwing the greatest Bywater Festival the Shire has ever seen.
Expect plenty of wholesome, Hobbit-centric gameplay, including creating and personalizing a Hobbit with an array of customisations, decorating a cosy Hobbit home, and venturing outside for cooking, fishing, foraging, gardening, and more relaxing activities in the Shire.
According to Private Division, the Embracer Group-owned Middle-earth Enterprises has licensed the literary works of The Lord of the Rings series, providing Wētā Workshop Game Studio with “the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books.”
Here’s the official blurb:
Toss your lure to catch trout from the glistening waters of Bywater Pool, gather wild mushrooms, and then use the collected ingredients to bake a succulent pie to serve for luncheon. With a full belly, stroll back outside to explore the Shire and build relationships with the Bywater locals by helping them to build a garden, sharing one of the many daily Hobbit meals, and more.
There’s also word that you’ll meet “iconic characters and familiar Hobbit families” to trade for upgrades to skills, clothes, home, and more. Private Division failed to say which characters, although the trailer shows a glimpse at a famous wizard.
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game launches in the second half of 2024 on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
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.
IGN is proud to once again partner with ID@Xbox to exclusively present the next ID@Xbox Showcase, which promises to feature some of the most exciting upcoming indie games from around the world, including Vampire Survivors, Dungeons of Hinterberg, 33 Immortals, Lost Records Bloom & Rage, and more.
This next ID@Xbox Showcase will premiere on Monday, April 29, 2024, at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST. In addition to being packed full of trailers, gameplay, reveals, and much more, the crew of IGN’s Podcast Unlocked will be breaking down all the biggest moments revealed in the post-show, immediately following the main show.
If you’d like to tune into the ID@Xbox Showcase, IGN will be hosting the livestream on IGN.com as well as across our accounts on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more. You can check out the full list below:
While we wait for the big game reveals, we encourage you to check out what was shown at July 2023’s ID@Xbox Showcase, including Karateka, Sea of Stars, Axiom Verge 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellboy Web of Wyrd, and Mythforce.
This is another big show from Xbox in 2024 and follows its Xbox Developer Direct, which was headlined by such heavy hitters as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, and Avowed.
The ID@Xbox Showcase is also a great sign that we are getting ever closer to all the video game fun happening this summer, including IGN Live – our one-of-a-kind in-person fan event that will take place June 7 – 9 in downtown Los Angeles. Alongside exclusive reveals, trailers, and interviews from some of the biggest names in gaming and entertainment, IGN Live will also have demos, photo ops, exclusive merch, screenings, food trucks, live music, and more.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
In an ocean of new action-platformers, it’d be easy to overlook Tales of Kenzera: Zau, but casting it away without a second thought would be a mistake. This is a short, sweet side-scrolling action game inspired by the many, many children of Metroid and Castlevania. It’s full of crunchy combat and springy platforming, all of which is fun if not groundbreaking in a genre where others seem to raise the bar on a regular basis. But most importantly, its the touching love letter from a grieving son to their deceased father, told in clever and moving allegories about sending restless spirits to the afterlife, that helps it stand out in the pack.
The biggest first impression Tales of Kenzera makes is how great it looks. With a bold color palette and dynamic environments like lush jungles and rolling hills, finding a screenshot of this game that looks anything less than beautiful would take an act from a spiteful god. Though some of the human characters have clunky or stilted animations, the monsters you’ll fight move with a supernatural gait that is fitting for restless spirits, but also useful for clearly identifying when to attack and when to dodge.
Tales of Kenzera’s African inspirations don’t stop at its looks. Its story of a shaman named Zau that must usher restless spirits into the after life – itself being told as a story within a story about the loss of a loved one – is rich with parables about surviving through grief. This is a common refrain in much of the ancestor-worshiping mythology of Central and East African people, where death, though painful, can be a rite of passage. Besides being a solid representation of a culture that goes under-represented in fiction outside of royal cats fighting over space rocks, it’s also an extremely personal tale about a son losing his dad, inspired by director Abubakar Salim’s own relationship with his late father. The simple, delicate, and poignant way Tales of Kenzera speaks to loss is one that will stay with me long after any specific platforming sections or enemies fade from memory.
The simple, delicate, and poignant way Tales of Kenzera speaks to loss is one that will stay with me.
This is partially because of how well each of its three big sections entwine the actual game mechanics with those larger themes – for instance, the key ability gained during a section that involves climbing a volcanically active mountain to chase the Great Spirit of Humanity is one that lets your indomitable human will run through walls like a charging bull. But its also effective thanks to how well written and acted the sparse cast of characters is, especially Zau himself and Kalunga, the God of Death who is more wise uncle than Grim Reaper.
On the other hand, the action of this roughly six-hour adventure through the exotic land of Kenzera meets modern Metroidvania standards, but rarely exceeds them. Each zone is jam packed with platforming sequences that don’t really test your reflexes or abilities, with the exception of some optional sections that limit checkpoints and push the pace for some sort of reward. I enjoyed all of the dashing, diving, and wall jumping in Tales of Kenzera, especially a mid-game chase through a shadowy pocket dimension – but there are very few moments that stand out like this, let alone when compared to the impressive areas of contemporaries like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
I enjoyed all of the dashing, diving, and wall jumping, but there are very few moments that stand out.
There’s a distinct lack of collectible chasing in Tales of Kenzera, too. That might bum out folks who enjoy the treasure hunting aspect of Metroidvanias, but I quite enjoyed the trade off of having to do much less backtracking through winding paths I’ve already explored. And some findables do exist like Echoes, which are voice notes for unexplored lore bits, I just didn’t feel much incentive to stick around any particular place simply to find them. Approachability seems to be the main focus here, and I think Tales of Kenzera succeeds in that regard.
Combat is simple but satisfyingly quick and impactful. Zau’s shaman masks grant him powers of the moon and the sun, which have ranged and melee focuses, respectively. You can switch back and forth between them instantly to adapt to whatever an encounter calls for, usually breaking color-coded shields to open monsters up for big damage. As a fan of Housemarque’s Outland from 2014, I was happy to see this mechanic return in an evolved and more refined form. The moon and sun also have other unique utilities, be it shooting hovering enemies or rushing down ground-based baddies.
Synergies between these enemies add an extra challenge that is by no means controller-breaking, but still clever enough.
Enemy variety is rather small, but the monsters are all pretty different from one another, and they are introduced at a gradual pace. That includes things like the tanky Ngao thats near invulnerable head on, or the bug-like Adze that drains life from all creatures in the area, friend or foe. In the later half of the campaign, the synergies between these enemies add an extra challenge that is by no means controller-breaking, but still clever enough to force tactical thinking and prioritization.
Zau doesn’t have many skills to choose from, and the skill tree itself is limited, but after the first tier of upgrades I didn’t feel like I was truly missing out on much. You get all of his vital skills through progressing the story, such as Kabili, which lets you hover across gaps, or the Zawadi grappling hook, and a few of them have some value both in and out of fights. For example, the same cerulean spear that can freeze waterfalls into walls to kick off of can also freeze enemies and open them up to free damage.
That said, freezing enemies and then nailing them with Zau’s big spirit attacks really trivialized some encounters toward the endgame. This includes some of the bosses, who are high in spectacle but low in difficulty, with fights that end up being pretty similar to one another. I wish there were more of the Spirit Journey trials, which are sets of enemy gauntlets that were consistently the most demanding fights available, forcing me to mix all of my skills and know how to survive.
Earlier in April it emerged that EA Play would get a price increase starting May 10. EA plans to increase the standard tier for EA Play from $4.99 to $5.99 per month, or for those that prefer to pay for a year in advance, the price will increase from $29.99 to $39.99. In contrast, the Pro tier of EA Play will increase from a monthly fee of $14.99 to $16.99 or $119.99 annually (a $20 increase).
The inclusion of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in EA Play would soften the blow of a price rise. Presumably it will also be available as part of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which includes EA Play, although the Microsoft Store is yet to show it.
IGN’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review returned a 9/10. We said: “If Respawn makes a third game like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallen Order, it’ll complete the best Star Wars trilogy in 30 years, hands down.”
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.
Mortal Kombat 1 players have discovered a secret Brutality for all characters that developer NetherRealm appears to have stealth-dropped into the game.
All Mortal Kombat 1 characters have Brutalities — unique moves that end a match in a particularly brutal fashion. They’re triggered by doing an extra input command on top of a specific combo ender or move that wins the final round. Most of the characters in the game have six brutalities, but ever since Mortal Kombat 1 launched in September last year, players have discovered secret Brutalities, too.
As reported by EventHubs, Mortal Kombat 1 players are only now discovering a secret Brutality that works for every character in the game. It involves depleting your opponent’s health bar with a back throw that sees your character launch their hapless foe straight into the game’s camera. To trigger this match ender, hold up and back punch after performing the throw.
X / Twitter user Mortal_Kombat_Addict revealed a few examples of this secret Brutality in the clip below (warning, as with all things Mortal Kombat, the video is a gorefest!):
Season 5: Storms revolves around the arrival of Raiden as the main boss in Invasions mode, and includes fresh challenges, story elements, boss battles, and rewards. Season 5: Storms runs until June 4. Kameo fighter Mavado is available May 2024.
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.
If you watched the Fallout TV show as a fan of the video games upon which it’s based, one revelation in particular will have caught your eye: who dropped the bombs first on that fateful day in 2077.
Fallout’s nuclear apocalypse was thought to have been triggered by China going first. Tim Cain, co-creator of Fallout, said in an interview last year that it was indeed China who dropped the first nuke. “The reason we got nuked is: bio-weapons were illegal and somehow China found out we were doing FEV [Forced Evolutionary Virus],” Cain explained in an interview with Fallout lore expert TKs-Mantis. “And they were like, ‘you have to stop it.’ And we went, ‘OK.’ And all we did is move it. All we did was move it over.”
But the Fallout TV show heavily suggests Vault-Tec, the evil corporate manufacturer of Fallout’s famous vaults, triggered the nuclear war by dropping bombs of its own — essentially for profit.
This megaton has sent shockwaves throughout the Fallout lore community, but there is a groundswell of opinion that Vault-Tec shooting first is a misdirection. For a start, if Vault-Tec started the war by dropping the first bomb, wouldn’t Barb, a high-up executive privy to the company’s plan, have ensured Cooper Howard and their daughter were safe within a vault and not outside at a kid’s party before pushing the big red button?
This contradiction raises the question: did Vault-Tec in-fact drop the first bomb? Or was the company caught off guard by, for example, China going first unexpectedly hours earlier? That’s the theory suggested by redditor Corpolentusmaximus2, who points to Obsidian’s 2010 game Fallout New Vegas to back up the claim. In New Vegas, antagonist Mr. House reveals he miscalculated the Great War by 20 hours. The Fallout TV show confirms Mr. House was in the room when Vault-Tec revealed its dastardly plan. Perhaps everyone was caught off guard by China going “early.”
Fans are now hoping to see more of the backstory to the nuclear war in the confirmed Fallout Season 2, which we know will include one of Fallout’s iconic monsters. It seems inevitable that we’ll get more pre-war Cooper Howard, since his separation from Barb and the events leading up to Season 1’s opening go unexplained in Season 1. But there are other unanswered questions following Fallout Season 1, including about the Snake Oil Salesman’s mysterious serum.
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.
Amid the success of the Fallout TV show, Fallout video games are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. The player boost is so significant that even NexusMods is struggling to cope.
The mod site issued a warning over the weekend that increased interest in Fallout mods had caused heavy network traffic, forcing it to deploy “extra resources” to cope. Explaining the situation, NexusMods namechecked the popularity of the Fallout TV show.
“We are experiencing much more traffic than usual due to the popularity of the Fallout TV series,” NexusMods said in a statement. “We have deployed extra resources where possible and we are monitoring the uptime and performance across the network. We have staff on call at all times to deal with any problems.
“Please do be aware that this extra traffic could cause a degraded experience across the website and our applications.”
Even now, April 22, the problem continues, with a “degraded performance” warning on-site.
Perhaps it’s no surprise to see NexusMods struggling given the increase in player numbers for everything from the original Fallout to the most recent release, Fallout 76. On Steam, which tracks concurrent player numbers, Fallout 4 has seen a significant increase, resulting in a peak concurrent player count of 164,190 over the weekend. Fallout 76, meanwhile, has hit its all-time peak on Valve’s platform, with 73,368 concurrents. The actual player numbers for Fallout games will be even higher, given their availability on multiple platforms, including Game Pass.
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.
Not only that, but there’s been some huge sales on the Fallout franchise since the show hit our screens, and Fallout 76 is even free to download on Xbox and PC right now as well. With all that in mind, if you’re looking to play Fallout 4 again this week ready for the ‘next-gen’ update on April 25, here are all the best deals running right now for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
While some of these aren’t as cheap as the game has been in recent weeks (Fallout 4 was $5 during the Steam FPS sale), it’s worth having an idea of the best prices at the moment in case a better deal does come along and you can act swiftly in order to secure it. Plus, Fallout 4 is also available on PS Plus Extra or Game Pass, so if you have either of those subscriptions the game is available to play at no extra cost.
If you’re after even more of the post-nuclear wasteland, consider checking out our Fallout partnership on the IGN Store; featuring Fallout hoodies, TV show merch, fully functional Pip-Boy replicas, and so much more.
The Fallout TV series arrived on Prime Video on April 10 when the streaming service dropped all eight episodes from the first season concurrently. Following its debut, the series has been met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans and critics — particularly those praising Goggins for his portrayal of the gunslinging Ghoul Cooper Howard. Since its release, Prime Video officially renewed Fallout for a second season.
With the show’s success, IGN recently caught up with Bethesda Game Studios executive Todd Howard and executive producer and director Jonathan Nolan for a wide-ranging, spoiler-filled interview. In it, Nolan alluded to his plans for the future of Fallout.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Solving puzzles may happen in your daily life from various word puzzle games like Wordle, or through strategy-based games and puzzle books, but piecing together a physical puzzle is a great way to focus your brain, relax and unwind. As a hobby for all ages, there are hundreds of jigsaw puzzles to choose from these days. However, this list focuses on what we’ve found as the most challenging yet rewarding puzzles with adults in mind, and even included some 3D gems in the mix.
What’s even better is they come in a variety of different styles and designs once put together. Whether you want the finished product to reflect your favorite franchise, game, artwork, or a piece of beautiful scenery, there are puzzles for everyone to enjoy. The below list includes a nice range of sizes as well, from 1,000 pieces to a whopping 3,000 pieces, so you’ll still have quite the challenge when putting them together.
TLDR: The Best Puzzles for Adults
The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Map Jigsaw Puzzle
If The Legend of Zelda games are right up your alley, this is an excellent jigsaw puzzle to have in your collection. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, you can piece together a full map of Hyrule to have in your home. It has a fantastic antique style that’ll be great for showing off once it’s all put together. Frame it and keep it, or pass it on to the next puzzler in your life to do next!
The Mystic Maze Jigsaw Puzzle
Puzzles from the Magic Puzzle Company truly are magical. Not only does this puzzle, called The Mystic Maze, feature over 50 easter eggs for you to find, but it even has a surprise ending for after you’ve finished putting it together. It’s an exciting twist on the usual puzzle, and well worth picking up for your puzzle and games collection.
Marvel Mjolnir 3D Puzzle
If you’re looking for another unique puzzle, this 3D puzzle of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is a great twist on a usual puzzle. This model kit comes with 8 sheets of 87 pieces for you to use in order to put this iconic hammer together. It even comes with a stand so you can set it up and show it off once it’s all done, making it a great addition to any superhero collection.
Marvel Infinity Gauntlet 3D Puzzle
This is another 3D puzzle from the same company listed above and features another memorable Marvel item: The Infinity Gauntlet. This puzzle comes with a few more pieces than Mjolnir – 14 sheets with 142 pieces – but comes with a stand as well so you can set it up for display afterward. If you’re a Marvel fan, this is a great investment to have, especially if you enjoy collectibles.
Star Wars: Galactic Child Jigsaw Puzzle
This jigsaw puzzle is absolutely worth picking up if you’re a Star Wars fan. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, it features Grogu front and center in his little pod with a gorgeous cosmic background behind him. It also comes with a full-color bonus poster to help you with piecing together this Grogu puzzle perfectly. Other Star Wars fans in your life will want to borrow this puzzle when you’re done; unless of course, you want to keep it and frame it!
Marvel Spider-Verse Jigsaw Puzzle
Venture into the Spider-Verse with this excellent jigsaw puzzle from Buffalo Games. This 1,000 piece puzzle is a sight to behold, featuring Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Ham, and many more Spideys. It even features some of his greatest enemies lurking around if you take a closer look. This Silver Select puzzle also comes in a giftable box with silver foil accents.
Phoenix Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle
Not only does this wooden puzzle look great once it’s all put together, but the pieces themselves also have unique shapes. You’ll find shapes of animals and nature items which are fun to spot as you admire the final pieced-together product. Our pick for this Phoenix jigsaw puzzle above comes with 200 pieces, but you can also grab a large version (290 pieces) or x-large version (680 pieces).
Stained Glass Flower Puzzle
This is another puzzle that’s well worth displaying after you’ve put it together. With 1,000 pieces in the box, this puzzle features a vibrant stained glass design with flowers blooming at the center. It’s a great one to work at slowly and appreciate the beautiful result once you’re all finished.
’80s Game Room Pop Culture Jigsaw Puzzle
Feeling nostalgic? This puzzle is ready to transport you back to the ’80s and ’90s, thanks to its retro style and assortment of pop culture references that you’ll be just as busy pointing out even after you’ve pieced it all together. It also comes with 1,000 pieces, so you’ll be able to spend plenty of time immersed in it.
Stranger Things Trilogy Jigsaw Puzzle
Season 5 of Stranger Things may not be premiering for a while yet, but there’s no better time to start rewatching the previous seasons, right? And while you’re doing that, you can work on this gigantic 2,000-piece Stranger Things puzzle that focuses on its first three seasons and features Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max. It’s a fantastic investment if you’re a Stranger Things fan, and one that’s sure to keep you busy for a while, too.
