Amid the explosive launch of Palworld, its developers have taken to social media to say they have received death threats.
Last week, IGN reported on how Palworld, aka ‘Pokémon with guns’, had sparked a vociferous debate online about whether it had “ripped-off” Nintendo’s famous franchise.
Palworld developer Pocketpair has insisted Palworld is more akin to survival crafting games such as Ark Survival Evolved and Valheim than Pokemon, but that hasn’t stopped people from continuing to hit out at the game.
Pocketpair community manager Bucky, who has been active on Twitter / X and Palworld’s Discord, posted to say they had received death threats since the game went live in early access form on January 19.
“Frantically working through all my DMs and emails! I promise!” Bucky said. “However, you’ll excuse me if I skip over the death threats, threats to the company and massively outlandish claims.
“If you’re capable of writing like an actual human being though, I’ll reply asap!”
Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe also tweeted to say they had received death threats, and hit out at “slanderous comments”.
“Currently, we are receiving slanderous comments against our artists, and we are seeing tweets that appear to be death threats,” Mizobe said.
“I have received a variety of opinions regarding Palworld, but all productions related to Palworld are supervised by multiple people, including myself, and I am responsible for the production.
“I would appreciate it if you would refrain from slandering the artists involved in Palworld.”
In a new interview published by Automaton, Mizobe addressed the question of potential legal issues surrounding Palworld’s release and its likeness to Pokémon. According to the site, Mizobe said Palworld cleared legal reviews, and insisted there has been no action taken against it by other companies.
Mizobe said: “We make our games very seriously, and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies.”
Last year, a new survey from the Game Developers Conference revealed a majority of game developers see harassment from players as a major problem for the industry. Of the 2,300 developers surveyed, 91% said player harassment and toxicity towards developers was an issue. 42% said it’s a “very serious” issue.
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.
While Palworld has enjoyed an enormous launch, there are a number of serious bugs affecting players. Developer Pocketpair said it’s working on issuing fixes, including for players who are unable to enter servers, unable to play multiplayer, and a dreaded lost saved data bug.
In a post on the Palworld Discord, community manager ‘Bucky’ said the developer had received over 50,000 inquiries since the game went on sale on January 19. “We sincerely apologize for the delay in response from our support team,” Bucky said.
Bucky said save data from single-player and co-op “may be able to be restored”, and pointed to a Google Doc with instructions to help. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused,” Bucky continued. “Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
Palworld has a particularly nasty bug that may cause the ‘Memory Reset Drug’, which is used to reset character stats, to permanently reduce the player’s capture power. Community manager Kei said Pocketpair is investigating this issue, and warned players not to use the item until a fix was issued.
Palworld has also suffered issues as players flood the servers. Pocketpair said that after concurrents across all platforms exceeded a whopping 1.3 million, the Epic Online Service experienced outages, causing connectivity issues with co-op and servers.
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.
Palworld’s astonishing success swelled over the weekend, with the ‘Pokémon with guns’ survival and crafting game shooting up Steam’s most-played games list and selling millions more copies.
Palworld launched on January 19 in early access form on Steam as well as on Xbox and Windows PC, day-and-date with Game Pass. Palworld overtook CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 to set Steam’s fifth highest peak concurrent player count with 1,291,967 online at the same time on Valve’s platform. Palworld is currently the most-played game on Steam, ahead of behemoths Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG. It is just the sixth game ever to hit one million concurrents on Steam.
There are a number of Steam records that go along with this success on Steam. Palworld is now the most-played Japanese-developed game ever on Steam (its developer, PocketPair, is based in Tokyo), ahead of previous record holder, Elden Ring. And Palworld is the second most-played paid game ever on Steam, behind PUBG’s perhaps insurmountable peak concurrent figure of 3,257,248, which was set before the battle royale went free-to-play.
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.
Palworld’s astonishing success swelled over the weekend, with the ‘Pokémon with guns’ survival and crafting game shooting up Steam’s most-played games list and selling millions more copies.
Palworld launched on January 19 in early access form on Steam as well as on Xbox and Windows PC, day-and-date with Game Pass. Palworld overtook CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 to set Steam’s fifth highest peak concurrent player count with 1,291,967 online at the same time on Valve’s platform. Palworld is currently the most-played game on Steam, ahead of behemoths Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG. It is just the sixth game ever to hit one million concurrents on Steam.
There are a number of Steam records that go along with this success on Steam. Palworld is now the most-played Japanese-developed game ever on Steam (its developer, PocketPair, is based in Tokyo), ahead of previous record holder, Elden Ring. And Palworld is the second most-played paid game ever on Steam, behind PUBG’s perhaps insurmountable peak concurrent figure of 3,257,248, which was set before the battle royale went free-to-play.
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.
Envisioning an alternate-universe, retro futuristic apocalypse teeming with mutated monsters, soldiers in hulking power armor and sinister human experiments disguised as bomb shelters, the Fallout franchise has spent over two decades establishing one of the richest settings in video games. Fans will next dive into that world later this year when Prime Video releases thefirst-ever live-action Fallout TV show, which will present an original, canon story set in the series’ desolate wasteland.
With the show’s April release date steadily approaching, there’s never been a better time to strap a Pip-Boy to your wrist and reacquaint yourself with the world of Fallout, but where’s the best place to start? Below, we’ll run through the franchise’s entire chronological history, as well as some advice on where to start for those embarking on their first-ever Fallout adventure.
In total, there are nine main Fallout games – eight on home console and one on mobile devices. There are also thirteen major expansions spread across Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. The Fallout franchise is a core Bethesda game that will likely continue to receive support.
Which Fallout Game Should You Play First?
For newcomers, the best starting point is arguablyFallout 4, although Fallout 3 and New Vegas are still great ways to enter the franchise. Fallout 4 is the most recent single-player addition to the series, and as a result, is the most modern-feeling take on the universe. More importantly, it’s the only mainline single-player Fallout game still easily accessible on all modern consoles bar Nintendo Switch.
As for those worried they might be behind on the story, each Fallout game tells a fresh narrative with a new lead character and setting, and Fallout 4 is no different. Although you may miss a few references to the events of previous games, it’s pretty easy to jump in without any prior knowledge of the lore.
How to Play the Fallout Games in Order
These blurbs contain mild spoilers for each game, including characters, settings, and story beats.
One thing to note before we get started: We will not be counting two games on our chronological timeline. The first is the mobile vault management simulator,Fallout Shelter. Although the game does follow the lore of Fallout’s vaults, it also features characters and items hundreds of years before they appear in the Fallout storyline, making it non-canon.
We also didn’t countFallout: Brotherhood of Steel, which Bethesda has confirmed takes place in its own chronology. That being said, we have included Fallout Tactics, despite its canonicity being questioned. Although Bethesda has since retconned elements of Tactics’ story, certain events from its narrative have been referenced in future games, making it at least semi-canon to the timeline.
Finally, we won’t be including any expansions that don’t contain story content. For example, Fallout 4’sWasteland andContraptions Workshop expansions aren’t featured on the list. The same goes for New Vegas’ Courier Stash DLC.
1. Fallout 76
Bethesda’s most recent addition to the Fallout canon is the first on the chronological timeline.Fallout 76 is an online experience that follows the first vault dwellers to enter the wasteland 25 years after nuclear war eviscerated the world.
Taking on the role of one of these pioneers, the player’s journey begins as they exit the titular Vault 76 and embark on a journey through Appalachia in search of their missing overseer. Along the way, they discover the world they once knew has been transformed into a nuclear hellscape, complete with mutated monstrosities, long-dormant killer robots, and zombie-like irradiated humans known as Ghouls. To survive, they can team up with other survivors, build bases, complete quests, and reestablish a community among the ruins of a fallen world.
Fallout 76 was Bethesda’s attempt at creating a fully online Fallout game for the first time, allowing players to explore the wasteland with friends. Although it was received poorly at release, it has been updated frequently in the years since, with theWastelanders andSteel Reign updates adding NPCs and new questlines.
2. Fallout
Fast forward 59 years and we reach the events of the first game in the series. Developed by Interplay Productions,Fallout follows a vault dweller living in a bomb shelter known as Vault 13. Hiding away from the apocalyptic wasteland outside their doors, the player’s peaceful lifestyle is thrown into chaos after the vault’s water systems stop working, threatening the lives of everyone living in Vault 13.
They’re tasked with a seemingly simple mission: venture into the wasteland, recover a new water chip, and return home to save their fellow survivors. However, the stakes of the vault dweller’s mission become far grander after they encounter an army of mutated abominations known as Super Mutants and their leader,the Master. Not only do these monsters jeopardize the future of Vault 13, but they pose a major threat to the entire wasteland.
Offering a markedly different gameplay style to the Bethesda-developed Fallout games released years later, the first Fallout was an in-depth CRPG, featuring turn-based combat and a top-down camera. That being said, much of Fallout’s future was present in its first entry, including a heavy focus on player choice and immersive role-playing.
3. Fallout Tactics
Three decades later, we reach the events of Fallout Tactics: a strategy spin-off developed by Micro Forté. Although some of the lore of Fallout Tactics has since been retconned and is considered non-canon by Bethesda, certain events from its story have been referenced in future games, making it at least partially part of the timeline.
The game itself sees players lace up the boots of an initiate of the iconic power-armour-clad faction, the Brotherhood of Steel. Joining the army’s ranks and leading a group of fellow soldiers, they complete various missions across the Wasteland.
Fallout Tactics took the gameplay of Fallout in a new direction, as players command their squad through a series of strategic battles against iconic foes such as Super Mutants, Ghouls and Deathclaws.
4. Fallout 2
Fourty-four years after Fallout Tactics concludes, the events of Fallout 2 take place. With Black Isle Studios taking the reins as developer, Fallout 2 was the series’ first major sequel, this time following a descendent of the Vault Dweller from the original game known as the Chosen One.
After their settlement is hit by a long drought, the Chosen One is selected to leave the confines of their home in search of a terraforming device known as a G.E.C.K. Their adventure takes them across the vast reaches of the Wasteland, landing them in the sights of a highly advanced faction known as the Enclave. As the Chosen One dives deeper into the faction’s goals, they discover the group’s hard at work on a sinister experiment.
5. Fallout 3
After Bethesda purchased the rights to the Fallout license in 2007, Bethesda Game Studios took its first crack at the franchise with Fallout 3. Set three decades after Fallout 2, Fallout 3 picks up the story in the new setting of the Capital Wasteland, casting players as a vault dweller known as the Lone Wanderer.
Living a mundane life within the sealed walls of Vault 101, the Lone Wanderer’s life is thrown into chaos after their father mysteriously disappears, causing the protagonist to be exiled from their home. Beginning a journey across the Capitol Wasteland in search of their father, they discover his disappearance may be more significant than it first seemed and eventually become embroiled in a sinister plot concocted by the Enclave.
The first expansion for Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage offers players a series of new quets set during the events of the main campaign. The story follows the Lone Wanderer helping the Brotherhood of Steel enter a sealed pre-war armory. The only way in is to survive a simulation of the infamous Battle of Anchorage, which took place in Alaska prior to the nuclear war that destroyed Fallout’s world.
Throughout the campaign, the player steps inside the simulation and takes on the role of an American soldier fighting against Chinese troops, experiencing Anchorage firsthand. The DLC allows players a lengthy glimpse of a previously unseen part of Fallout’s lore, as well as offering plenty of new combat encounters.
7. Fallout 3 – The Pitt
Fallout 3’s second major expansion, The Pitt also takes place during the events of the main campaign. It adds a new locale for players to explore in the titular Pitt, a ruthless, plague-infested city found amongst the ruins of Pittsburgh.
After meeting a slave that escaped the city, the expansion begins with the Lone Wanderer venturing to The Pitt to find a cure for a rampant disease that’s been transforming the population into blood-thirsty monsters. Along the way, they become involved in the conflict between the enslaved citizens and their raider masters, making tough decisions that will forever alter The Pitt and its inhabitants.
8. Fallout 3 – Point Lookout
Fallout 3’s fourth add-on, Point Lookout is set during the events of the main campaign and takes players to an all-new setting, with the Lone Wanderer setting sail for the haunting swamps of the titular coastal town. The expansion begins with the Lone Wanderer offering to help a mother find her missing daughter, Nadine, who recently embarked on a journey to Point Lookout.
Upon arriving in the town, they quickly discover the truth behind Nadine’s disappearance runs much deeper than expected. Lodging themselves in the center of a long-standing rivalry between the owner of a local mansion and a tribe of cultists, the Lone Wanderer is forced to contend with the swamp’s eerie mutated inhabitants, confront buried secrets, and even endure impromptu brain surgery in a bid to survive.
9. Fallout 3 – Mothership Zeta
The last expansion added to Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta is set during the events of the main campaign and offers a unique, B-movie sci-fi spin on the franchise.
After responding to a radio signal out in the wasteland, the Lone Wanderer is abducted by a UFO, experimented on by aliens, and imprisoned on their craft. Escaping their cell, the player teams with the aliens’ other human prisoners to overthrow their extraterrestrial captors and return to Earth.
10. Fallout 3 – Broken Steel
The third expansion for Fallout 3 but the only add-on to take place after the events of the main story, Broken Steel acts as an epilogue with a new ending. Although players were originally unable to continue their Fallout 3 save after the credits rolled, Broken Steel added the ability to resume their adventure, alongside delivering a short series of new missions.
Surviving their encounter with Colonel Autumn in the Purity Project control room, the expansion sees the Lone Wanderer team once again with the Brotherhood of Steel, assisting the group in eradicating the Enclave from the Capitol Wasteland for good.
11. Fallout: New Vegas
In the years following Fallout 3, Obsidian Entertainment took its crack at the Fallout license with a spin-off titledFallout: New Vegas. Set four years after the events of the previous game, New Vegas tells the story of a courier who’s ambushed, shot, and left for dead in the Mojave Wasteland while transporting a priceless package to the glitzy, reclaimed streets of Las Vegas.
Found and patched up by a group of local settlers, the courier rises from their grave and proceeds to track down the man who attempted to kill them, unwittingly becoming the center of a power struggle between the various factions vying for control of the New Vegas strip. As they dig deeper into the package they carried and the man who stole it from them, the Courier realizes their decisions have the potential to change the Mojave Wasteland forever.
12. Fallout: New Vegas – Dead Money
The first expansion released for Fallout: New Vegas, Dead Money is set during the events of the main campaign and offers a new locale to explore. Taking players to the Sierra Madre, the story sees the Courier kidnapped, fitted with an explosive collar, and forced to rob a seemingly impenetrable pre-war casino with the help of three unlikely allies.
The task, by all accounts, is a suicide mission. The casino is surrounded by a cloud of deadly toxic gas, while a faction of ruthless survivors known as the Ghost People patrol the streets eliminating any and all treasure hunters. It falls to the Courier to organize a daring heist with the help of their allies to bypass the casino’s defenses and access the legendary loot behind its walls.
13. Fallout: New Vegas – Honest Hearts
The second expansion to hit Fallout: New Vegas, Honest Hearts falls within the events of the main campaign and sees the Courier venture to Zion National Park. There, they stumble across Joshua Graham, the legendary “Burned Man” who has become something of a bogeyman to Caesar’s Legion after surviving a seemingly fatal run-in with the faction’s ruthless leader.
Finding themselves in the center of a war between the Burned Man’s army and a rival tribe known as the White Legs, the player must team with Graham to save Zion and its people.
14. Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues
The third New Vegas expansion, Old World Blues takes place during the main campaign and begins with the Courier tracking down a crashed satellite projecting a mysterious message. After interacting with the satellite, the Courier is knocked out and taken to a scientific facility contained within Big Mountain, where they discover they’ve undergone a mysterious surgical procedure.
Exploring the facility, they meet a panel of nonsensical AI scientists, who inform them that their brain has been stolen by a nefarious robot known as Doctor Morbius. Teaming with their new AI allies, they adventure across the research facility to defeat Morbius, retrieve their brain, and learn more about Big Mountain’s secrets.
15. Fallout: New Vegas – Lonesome Road
The fourth and final New Vegas expansion, Lonesome Road takes place prior to the conclusion of the main campaign but wraps up a lot of outstanding story beats established during the main game and previous DLCs.
The adventure sees the Courier venture into a new area known as The Divide in search of Ulysses, the courier originally designated the job of transporting the platinum chip before it was entrusted to the lead protagonist. Promising answers about his real identity, Ulysses summons the Courier for one final confrontation, putting the pair on a crash course that will unveil their dark pasts.
16. Fallout 4
Returning to the IP for the first time since 2008’s Fallout 3, Bethesda released Fallout 4 in 2015. Beginning on the day the bombs fell, players take on the role of a civilian known as the Sole Survivor who takes refuge in Vault 111 with their spouse and son. Cryogenically frozen inside the vault, the Sole Survivor wakes up two hundred years later, finding their spouse dead, their son missing, and the world destroyed.
Emerging into the Commonwealth, Bethesda’s apocalyptic take on the Greater Boston region, they begin a tireless journey to track down their son. Along the way, they lock horns with a mysterious, scientifically advanced faction called the Institute, which kidnaps wastelanders and replaces them with sentient robots known as synths.
As their fight against the Institute rages on, the Sole Survivor learns the dark secrets behind the Institute’s plans, eventually teaming with the various factions of the wasteland to bring the group down.
17. Fallout 4 – Automatron
The first story expansion for Fallout 4, Automatron takes place during the events of the main story and sees the Sole Survivor go up against an antagonist known as the Mechanist.
It features a short chain of new quests in which the Sole Survivor battles the Mechanist’s robots and eventually tracks their foe down to their lair. The main purpose of the add-on, however, is adding the ability to build and mod robots you can take with you around the wasteland.
18. Fallout 4 – Far Harbour
The second story expansion for Fallout 4, Far Harbour is set during the events of Fallout 4’s main campaign, and sees the Sole Survivor sail to the eerie titular island in search of a missing girl. There they find a secret community of independent synths led by advanced AI known as DiMA.
As DiMA reveals new information about his community and Far Harbour, it becomes clear that the island is caught in a struggle between the locals and a radiation-worshipping cult known as the Children of Atom, who are attempting to cover the island in radioactive fog. It doesn’t take long for the Sole Survivor to get caught up in this dispute, giving them the power to make decisions that will irreversibly change the spooky locale and its citizens.
19. Fallout 4 – Vault-Tec Workshop
A small expansion released after Far Harbour, Vault-Tec Workshop takes place during the campaign and sees the Sole Survivor take on the task of building their very own vault. After liberating Vault 88 from raiders, the Sole Survivor meets an overseer trapped within the ruins who intends to revamp the abandoned bomb shelter.
Assisting her, the player is able to build their dream vault, recruit dwellers to live inside it and increase the shelter to maximum efficiency.
20. Fallout 4 – Nuka World
The final story expansion for Fallout 4, Nuka World is set during the events of the main campaign and hands the Sole Survivor the keys to an all-new area containing a massive, Nuka-Cola-themed amusement park.
After arriving and immediately being pitted against a series of ruthless raiders, trap rooms and robotic enemies, the player is granted the title of Nuka-World overboss. However, the position is hardly the dream job it’s cracked up to be. Their new-found leadership requires that they deal with three raider factions living in the park, forcing the Sole Survivor to decide whether to appease them and grow their territory or eradicate them altogether.
All Fallout Games and Expansions in Order of Release
1. Fallout (1997)
2. Fallout 2 (1998)
3. Fallout Tactics (2001)
4. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004)
5. Fallout 3 (2008)
6. Fallout 3 – Operation Anchorage (2009)
7. Fallout 3 – The Pitt (2009)
8. Fallout 3 – Broken Steel (2009)
9. Fallout 3 – Point Lookout (2009)
10. Fallout 3 – Mothership Zeta (2009)
11. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
12. Fallout: New Vegas – Dead Money (2010)
13. Fallout: New Vegas – Honest Hearts (2011)
14. Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues (2011)
15. Fallout: New Vegas – Lonesome Road (2011)
16. Fallout Shelter (2015)
17. Fallout 4 (2015)
18. Fallout 4 – Automatron (2016)
19. Fallout 4 – Far Harbour (2016)
20. Fallout 4 – Vault-Tec Workshop (2016)
21. Fallout 4 – Nuka-World (2016)
22. Fallout 76 (2018)
What’s Next for Fallout?
As mentioned earlier, the next major addition to the Fallout universe is the upcoming Fallout TV show, which is set to launch on Prime Video on April 12. Telling a new story, it will take place in the ruins of Los Angeles with a vault dweller played by Anna Purnell venturing out into the wasteland. The show has a stacked roster of talent behind it, including Westworld creatorJonathan Nolan.
As for video games, Bethesda has made it clear Fallout 5 is on the way, thought it won’t be anytime soon. Speaking to IGN back in 2022, Fallout director Todd Howard confirmed Fallout 5 will come after The Elder Scrolls 6. Considering Bethesda Game Studios has only just wrapped up work on its most recent release, Starfield, it seems we’re going to be waiting several years before stepping back out into the wasteland.
Callum Williams is a freelance media writer with years of experience as a game critic, news reporter, guides writer and features writer.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the newly titled next video game starring everyone’s favourite whip-wielding archaeologist, is set in the year 1937. But where does that place it in the grander Indy timeline? Well, we know it’s set in-between the Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, the first and third films in the original trilogy respectively. But it’s a little more complicated than just that, with other films and games coming both before and after Dr Jones’ latest adventure. Let’s take a quick look at his story so far, the artifacts he’s already discovered, and the relationships he’s forged (and broken).
What’s Come Before
The first Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is set in 1936, but it isn’t actually the earliest chronologically. That would be The Temple of Doom, which takes place a year prior in 1935. Indy’s journey to deepest, darkest India would see him go in search of a mystical stone in order to help a nearby village from a dangerous cult who have been kidnapping their children and practicing black magic.
Along the way, Jones would survive attempts to have his heart stolen by the cult in honor of the Goddess Kali, but would eventually have it taken (figuratively) by Wilhelmina “Willie” Scott in a short-lived romance. Willie would not be mentioned again in the Indiana Jones series, apart from a photograph seen in the 1957-set Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so it’s unlikely we will see her resurface in the Great Circle.
Indy was seemingly very busy in 1935 though, with video game Indiana Jones and The Emperor’s Tomb also set in that year. Acting as a prequel to The Temple of Doom, it follows Indy as he goes looking for the titular tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. It also sees Jones take on what will become an all-too familiar foe for one of the first times: the Nazis.
The Nazis would once again be Indy’s opponents in the race to uncover the Ark of the Covenant in Harrison Ford’s first appearance as Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Set one year after Indy’s Asian expeditions of 1935, he would actually lose the race to find the artifact, but ultimately win by remembering to close his eyes and keep his face. This would lead to the destructive powers of the ark being stored away for safe-keeping in a cavernous government facility.
On this journey Indy would reconnect with Marion Ravenwood, a former romantic interest who would become a current one again after the two get tied up fighting the Nazis in Egypt during 1936. Despite the reigniting of their feelings, the couple wouldn’t last long together, with developer MachineGames confirming that they have separated just before the events of The Great Circle. They would eventually rekindle their relationship years down the line in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but for now Marion is out of the picture and almost certainly will not feature as part of the game.
What to Expect
That leaves Indy in a particularly lonely place in 1937 when it comes to the beginning of the Great Circle, then. Marion is nowhere to be seen and at this point in his life he’s still estranged from his father, Dr Henry Jones Sr., who he won’t reconcile with for another year yet until the events of The Last Crusade.
One familiar face who can be spotted in the reveal trailer is that of long-time friend and confidant Marcus Brody. A museum curator with a shared passion for archaeology, Brody appears in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, so we know that he’ll survive the events of the Great Circle no matter what happens. Also, the Nazis are back to ruin Indy’s day. He loves those guys!
But what will be the objective on Indy’s adventure this time around? The circle itself seems geographical in nature rather than referring to any specific artifact. Here’s what Jerk Gustafsson, game director at MachineGames, says can be inferred from the title in an interview with Lucasfilm:
“A “great circle” is any circle that divides a sphere in half. On Earth, the most well-known one is obviously the equator. But they can exist from any point really, and are used heavily in aviation when plotting your course. It turns out there is a very real and mysterious great circle that is not the equator, but one that connects many of history’s greatest historical sites such as Giza, Easter Island, Sukhothai, Nazca, and many more. Their connection has remained a mystery, and this provides the perfect adventure for our game.”
What’s to Follow
1937 remains a mysterious chapter in Indy’s life for now then, but what we do know is what will happen the following year. The Last Crusade is the next part in Indy’s story after The Great Circle and takes place in 1938. It sees him once again facing off with the Nazis as they race to find yet another lost treasure in the lead up to World War Two, which will start one year later. That treasure is, of course, The Holy Grail, the cup of Christ that is believed to be the source of immortality. It’s an interesting choice of relic for the Third Reich, but it would be Indy who chooses wisely in the end, however, with his Nazi captors paying the ultimate price for their greed.
So, could the Great Circle somehow link to another very famous mythological item in the form of The Round Table from Arthurian legend? Could this very tangential link I’m creating to King Arthur’s Knights and the knight who guards The Holy Grail in The Last Crusade be something that triggers that quest one year later? Probably not, I’m just having a bit of fun with it.
Will the Great Circle end with Indiana Jones confronting a mob boss on a stormy Portuguese coast just like how the first 1938-set scene of the Last Crusade plays out? That’s perhaps a little more likely.
Either way, the early signs of MachineGames’ new Indiana Jones adventure look very promising and – crucially – faithful to the thrillingly adventurous nature of the two fantastic films it is bookended by chronologically. There’s plenty of 1937-set blank pages left to be filled by the Great Circle, then, when it releases later in 2024.
Simon Cardy loves Indiana Jones more than most things in this world. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.
I didn’t always love my time with Another Code: Recollection, but I love that it exists. Nintendo is generally conservative with its remakes, updating the graphics and controls while usually leaving gameplay and story largely unchanged. That’s not the case here, though, as developer Arc System Works took a huge swing with this dual remake, completely modernizing a pair of extremely niche puzzle adventure games with revamped exploration, a new third-person perspective, and a reworked script with decent voice acting. The developers clearly care about Another Code, and it’s awesome to see a huge publisher bring back a small series like this. But even with all of its improvements, Another Code: Recollection falls short of greatness due to lackluster puzzle design and a predictable story that leans too heavily on convenient amnesia tropes.
Another Code: Recollection is a full-blown remake of the 2005 DS game Trace Memory (now known in North America by its Japanese and European name, Another Code: Two Memories), and its Wii sequel, Another Code R: Journey Into Lost Memories, which hasn’t seen a North American release until now. This remake smartly treats these games as two halves of the same story, both following the endearing teenager Ashley Mizuki Robins as she works to uncover forgotten memories from her childhood.
Recollection tosses away the outdated top-down gameplay of the DS original and the strange point-and-click-sidescrolling hybrid of its Wii sequel, replacing both with a modern third-person perspective and fully explorable 3D areas. Think Life Is Strange but for a younger audience: You’ll listen to Ashley’s entertaining inner monologue as you walk around examining objects and locations, talking to characters along the way to learn more about the central mystery and advance the story. It even has some supernatural leanings like Life Is Strange, but its themes are aimed more toward young teenagers compared to its modern adventure game contemporaries.
I finished Another Code: Recollection’s fairly basic story in just over 13 hours , and Ashley is the key element that really makes it work. She’s extremely likable and relatable from start to finish, as she struggles to navigate complex relationships with her family while also dealing with classic teenage clichés like dreams of playing in a rock band. But she also expresses emotional maturity and compassion beyond her years with a genuine desire to take care of those around her. I rooted for her throughout the story, and I really hope we see her in a brand new adventure in the future.
Ashley is the key element that really makes it work.
While Ashley soars, much of the overall mystery around her falls flat. There are only a couple meaningful characters in Two Memories’ story, leading to a very predictable outcome that’s heavily foreshadowed the whole way through. Journey Into Lost Memories somewhat avoids this issue thanks to a much larger cast of characters — many of whom have enjoyable side stories that directly weave into the overall plot — but both halves still rely too heavily on tired amnesia tropes.
Most revelations take place when Ashley or another character simply happens to remember something at a convenient time, usually triggered upon entering a new location. Flashbacks occur constantly, and by the end I was exhausted by this haphazard method of storytelling, especially when the twists it’s building to were often unsurprising. The reworked ending of Journey Into Lost Memories is at least a highlight, giving Ashley’s story a stronger, warmer, more emotionally resonant sendoff, but the overall tale seems better suited for a newer audience that hasn’t experienced the twists and turns of every Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, and Life Is Strange like me.
Where Another Code: Recollection really falls short, however, is in its puzzle design. The puzzles have been completely reworked for this remake, and I was hoping for some solid brainteasers that made use of the atmospheric environments in interesting ways. But unfortunately, puzzles feel like a bit of an afterthought here. They come in a handful of varieties, but none of them are particularly exciting. There are scavenger hunts where I had to search around an area for some item I needed to progress, a few puzzles where I had to take a photo and bring it to the right location, and a lot of quick time events where you follow button prompts that appear on Ashley’s Switch-shaped gadget. There are also a couple of motion control puzzles where the gyro controls didn’t work as well as I would’ve liked them to, but thankfully those are few and far between. Puzzles feel more like fetch quests or checklists than actual challenges, which was disappointing, but they are at least all short enough that I was never stuck on their monotony for long.
What makes the underwhelming puzzles even more of a missed opportunity is the fantastic new built-in hint system. You can turn hints on or off at any time in the settings, which is great for folks who just want to bypass the puzzles completely. There are three steps to the hint system: a generic hint, a detailed hint, and finally the puzzle solution. I could choose which of these three hints I wanted to see, giving me the exact amount of help I wanted. There’s also an optional navigation tool that displays an arrow telling you exactly where to go next. But such a great hint system feels wasted when the puzzles are so basic.
Fortunately, Another Code: Recollection is about soaking up the excellent vibes and atmosphere as much as it is about the story or the puzzles. Two Memories’ mysterious mansion is begging to be explored, and Journey Into Lost Memories’ Lake Juliet instantly took me back to summer camp as a kid. I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to that place and those characters when the journey came to an end, as it perfectly captured the feeling of a chapter of childhood coming to a close.
Recollection is also lifted somewhat by its presentation. Conversations are engaging thanks to their unique comic book panel style, most scenes are well voice acted with your choice of English or Japanese dubs, and the piano-filled soundtrack is easy on the ears. Some environments could benefit from a bit more detail, but the cutscenes that play during important story moments almost always look very nice. The new art style also captures the tone of the characters and story very well, and it was exciting to see these long overlooked games remade with such a high level of care.
Ubisoft is gearing up for its first AAA release of 2024 with Skull and Bones. The pirate-themed co-op open-world action RPG is coming to consoles and PC overa decade after it was originally conceived as an expansion for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.
After six delays across six years, Skull and Bones is finally on the release schedule for mid-February. For those curious about Ubisoft’s pirate adventure, we’ve got everything you need to know about Skull and Bones below.
Skull and Bones Release Date
Skull and Bones will be released on February 16. Those who purchase the Premium Edition or subscribe to Ubisoft+ can play three days early (February 13).
Skull and Bones Platforms and Price
Skull and Bones will be released for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It costs $70 USD on consoles and $60 on PC.
Skull and Bones Special Editions
In addition to the standard version of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft is offering a Premium Edition for $90. The Premium Edition, as detailed by Ubisoft, includes the following:
Skull and Bones base game
Three days early access
Premium bonus pack: Bloody Bones Captain outfit & Ashen Corsair Ship Set with 11 different ship vanity items
Two extra missions: The Ashen Corsair and Bloody Bones Legacy
84-page digital art book
Digital soundtrack
Smuggler pass token (unlocks a battle pass)
Skull and Bones Gameplay
Skull and Bones is an action RPG that can be played solo or with up to two others. Its primary gameplay system is naval combat, though you’ll spend time on land as well collecting contracts and preparing for your next seafaring adventure.
Naval combat appears to be a much more robust version of that found in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue. In Skull and Bones, ships can be customized in great detail to match your aesthetic and practical desires. There will be 10 ships at launch, each with different perks that strengthen specific aspects of your ship, from offense and defense to navigation and smuggling. Within each of those ships, you’ll be able to customize your weaponry, armor, and furniture — all of which affect a ship’s stats. Weaponry includes cannons, ballistae, mortars, rocket launchers, and torpedoes. On the cosmetic side, you’ll be able to customize the color of your ship’s hull; the color, pattern, and emblem of your ship’s sails; and your ship’s figurehead. You can also choose from a variety of pets to keep you company at sea — cats and lemurs are two animals Ubisoft has named.
Smaller, yet notable open-sea gameplay mechanics include a spyglass, which allows you to identify a ship’s rank and loadout from a distance, and flares, which you can shoot into the sky to rally nearby players to your aid. Naval combat is largely PvE, though PvP battles can be initiated by picking up legendary treasure maps.
In addition to doing battle with other pirate ships, you’ll encounter settlements, production sites, outposts, and forts. Settlements can be pillaged or utilized as trade hubs. Production sites are a specific type of settlement where materials and goods can be bought and sold. Outposts are neutral areas where you can repair your ship, buy supplies, pick up contracts, and/or fast-travel. Forts are large settlements of civilized life where pirates aren’t welcome. These areas are heavily defended, meaning the encounters will be among the game’s most difficult. Locations are tiered from 1 to 15; the higher the number, the better the resources (and the greater the resistance).
These different settlements are run by different factions, all of which will track your behavior throughout the open world. Angering a faction can make them hostile, potentially closing off trade opportunities and leading to more combat encounters.
Progression is framed through Skull and Bones’ infamy system. The more you make a name for yourself at sea, the more opportunities you’ll have to improve your ship, accept contracts, and obtain valuable treasure. Once you reach Tier 6 of the infamy rank, the game opens up in a major way, introducing you to a secret smuggling ring called The Helm and granting you the ability to create your own pirate lair and begin your own smuggling operation.
Not everything in Skull and Bones happens at sea. On foot, from a third-person perspective, you’ll be able to explore pirate dens such as Sainte Anne. These are safe zones filled with vendors such as shipwrights and blacksmiths, as well as characters who can turn you on to new contracts or tall tales, which can lead to encounters with supernatural enemies.
While it’s understandable to be skeptical about Skull and Bones given its troubled development, we came away from December’s closed beta impressed. IGN’s Travis Northup said Skull and Bones’ robust ship customization made it “feel like a true naval RPG.”
Skull and Bones Story
Skull and Bones is not a story-driven game even though it exists on the Assassin’s Creed timeline. There’s no proper campaign, no overarching plot to follow. It’s instead a live-service game in which you begin as a shipwrecked captain who embarks on a “rags to riches” journey in hopes of making a name for themselves in the brutal world of piracy. From here out, your gameplay experiences are “the story.”
However, there are narrative elements. Skull and Bones game director Ryan Barnard told IGN there are “pivotal characters” in the world that “will have bits of story and background that you will be able to [learn through] jobs or the contracts.”
Those looking for more story content can check out Dark Horse’s three-issue comic series, Skull and Bones: Savage Storm. Here’s the official synopsis:
A merchant vessel on the high seas is besieged by a vicious crew of pirates, but the fighting is interrupted by a devastating typhoon. When the storm crashes in, it leaves predator and prey stranded on an island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Discover the mysteries and danger that will betide them all. A gritty story set in the merciless world of Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate game.
Ubisoft also began a tie-in podcast series in 2024 called Gangsters of the Sea (published in the Ubisoft Echoes of History podcast feed). Narrated by Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and Furious), the series explores “the sordid history of the Indian Ocean’s most terrible pirates.”
Skull and Bones Development
Skull and Bones has undergone one of the most tumultuous development cycles in modern gaming. What began in 2013 as an expansion for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag evolved into an MMO spinoff which ultimately became the standalone game Skull and Bones.
It was revealed at E3 2017 with a Fall 2018 release window, though it would miss that window — and many others — due to six delays, ultimately landing on February 16, 2024. In addition to changes in direction, Ubisoft attributes the delays to making too many games at once.
Skull and Bones is the first original game in which Ubisoft Singapore served as lead developer. The studio previously assisted on the development of every mainline Assassin’s Creed game since AC II. Ubisoft Singapore was assisted by the publisher’s studios in Belgrade, Berlin, Chengdu, Kiev, Montreal, Mumbai, Paris, the Philippines, Pune, and Shanghai.
The project has churned through three creative directors, most recently losing Elisabeth Pellen in September.
It was developed using the Ubisoft Anvil engine, which has previously been used to create Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy games (with the exception of The Division and XDefiant).
Skull and Bones TV Show
In 2019, Ubisoft announced a live-action Skull and Bones TV series. Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, the Skull and Bones show is described as a “female-driven drama set in the lawless frontier of the Indian Ocean at the end of the golden age of piracy in the 1700s.”
The project is a collaboration between Ubisoft and Atlas Entertainment, which previously helped produce DC’s Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad, as well as SyFy’s 12 Monkeys.
There’s been no update on the series in the five years since its announcement.
Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.
The odd thing about all of this is that there isn’t officially a Quake 5… unless you count Quake Champions, a free-to-play, hero shooter take on the classic IP. It could just be a jest on MachineGames’ part.
If it’s not, though, the only developer more qualified to work on a new Quake is probably series creator id Software. In addition to bringing id’s other-other-classic-shooter-franchise-not-named-DOOM to modern audiences with their take on Wolfenstein, MachineGames also has a history of working on Quake. The studio made two expansions for the original Quake – Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine – which were included in the 2021 remaster. Machinegames also developed 28 new campaign levels and a new Deathmatch level for last year’s remaster of Quake 2. If anyone besides id is going to develop a new Quake, Machinegames seems like a natural choice.
We’ve reached out to Machinegames for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Twitter @bywillborger.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is right around the corner, and our month-long IGN First covering the game has revealed tons of new details about its incredible new monsters, systems, and vocations. In our conversations with creator Hideaki Itsuno, we also learned about a number of new features of the NPC systems in Dragon’s Dogma 2, including one that might result in NPCs fighting one another over the player character.
The first Dragon’s Dogma featured a “pawn” system, where players could customize an NPC assistant that would follow the player around the world, fight alongside them, and assist with quests. They could then flesh out their party with two additional pawns borrowed from other people playing online who would arrive with their own skills, personalities, and knowledge of quests they’d done in their respective games. When not in the player’s party, these pawns would fill out the world of Dragon’s Dogma, wandering the roads and towns available to be recruited at any time. It was a strange and unique system that helped the world feel full, if occasionally a bit robotic.
In Dragon’s Dogma 2, that system is back, says Itsuno. But Capcom has had a lot of time and tech to improve on the system since then. Itsuno says he wanted to create “properly detailed NPCs” and ended up with a “ridiculous number of people” in the world, and he’s been trying to build systems where characters behave as if they have goals and are making decisions in the world regardless of what the player is doing. One notable improvement is that now not only can NPCs have affinity for the player as they did in the previous game, they can also feel attached to other NPCs.
“For example, if you find a pair of friends, hitting one will cause the other to get mad at you too. Or if you do something nice for a child, the parent might thank you and like you more as well. That’s what I mean by relationships between NPCs.”
But the relationships between NPCs and players may also be enhanced. Itsuno notes that while the team is still finalizing this feature, it may be possible in Dragon’s Dogma 2 for NPCs to get into fights over the player if they perceive another NPC as a threat.
“A character who grows close to you might come over to your house to play, but if they meet another character there who’s done the same thing, a fight might break out,” he explains. “Personally, we just made the system because we wanted to be able to say, ‘Stop, don’t fight over me!’ It might be best if your readers play through the game while trying to avoid that kind of outcome.”
Along those same lines, we should also expect improvements in character creation and character customization, both for the player and the appearances of NPCs themselves. Itsuno tells us that the game’s character creator has been improved to allow for extremely ridiculous levels of detail and customization, thanks to improved hardware performance since the previous game.
“It’s something I was thinking even when we made the first game,” Itsuno says. “I thought that there aren’t any action RPGs that allow for proper character creation, so my initial goal was to make one that could at least allow you to create the kind of character you wanted to see. While the first game’s character creator is actually limited in a lot of different ways, and I know this might get cut, but we did go so far as to allow for profiles with extreme settings, to the point where you could make something like a character from the popular series Kaiji. Doing that ruins the character though, and so we didn’t make that available to users, but there was enough freedom in the settings to basically allow you to recreate manga characters as-is.
“It’s something we put a lot of work into for the first game, but with better hardware performance this time around, we could add as much freedom to the system as we wanted. The problem is that this means that the act of creating a cool character, or the character that you want to see, becomes no different from doing so with clay. It becomes impossible if you don’t have an understanding of art. You could have your ideal character in mind, but you’d basically need to be an artist to form that character with your own hands, so that’s where we had to begin when deciding how character creation would work.”
Itsuno goes on to talk about improvements in photogrammetry technology, which allows for scanning of real objects in 3D and then creation of in-game graphics that look real, such as with a human face. The team wanted to make use of this, allowing for heavy customization while also letting players who were less artistic make faces that looked good. Here’s the solution they came up with:
“The first idea we had was to scan nearly a hundred human faces, then use those as a base for creating characters. This real-life data acting as our base meant that it would be easy to create realistic faces so long as you don’t apply absolutely ridiculous values to them. The other thing we did was to make it easy to create the base face that you would directly edit. By picking the face that seems the most acceptable among the ones that come up, you’re then given other possibilities based around that face. By repeating this process of picking the best out of a group, you’re able to get pretty close to the kind of face that you like. From there, you can make the final adjustments yourself, which gave us a system where you can do whatever you want while not requiring everyone to be an artist. If you’re able to control truly detailed settings, a perfectionist like myself could spend hours upon hours and still not finish creating a character.”
