When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare comes up, many players’ minds immediately jump to 00’s memories of lobbying up with close friends. For Modern Warfare III, developers Sledgehammer, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Raven Software come together to deliver an updated FPS experience with all the illustrious nostalgic magic we remember, but with enough innovative features to make it feel new.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III returns us to familiar maps and modes like Rust, Zombies, and Team Deathmatch. But this time the name of the game is player control and expression. After playing for hours on PS5 at the recent Call of Duty Next, I found a game that both took me to my classic COD comfort zone, but challenged me with tons of new features at the same time.
Larger maps, more control, and more decision-making make Modern Warfare III an entry in the series that everyone will remember as fondly as the past hits.
Read on for gameplay details, plus Multiplayer beta access details.
Nostalgia in more places than you’d think
Modern Warfare III took me back to 2009 with surprising throwbacks everywhere, you’d think I really took a time machine. Modern Warfare III even brings back the legacy option of map voting, which allows players to vote on the next map to battle in during matchmaking.
There’s a wealth of maps here, including all 16 launch maps from the original Modern Warfare II (2009). Each map is updated and optimized beautifully for PlayStation 5 and will have you running back to MW2 to check if it’s just as you remember it. Besides the impressive graphical overhaul, I’m glad these recreations miss no step in bringing back the exact vibes and possible strategies that they did back then.
A big standout is the classic battleground where all beef was settled, Rust. This map returns in all its industrial glory. My eyes widened when I saw all the classic hiding spots present, players climbing the tower to get good sniper viewpoints, and everyone using their new movement options to traverse the map unlike ever before. I got the same feeling from maps like Skidrow and Favela: two lush urban jungles with tons of room to play around and experiment with.
Along with the maps, classic Call of Duty experience returns in the minimap, complete with red dots to signal where an enemy may be, and in the reintroduction of perks like Silent Movement. With all these updated classic features present I was able to jump right in and not miss a single beat, going right back to the strategies and decisions I made back in 2009.
Your choices drive the experience
Speaking of strategies and decisions, Modern Warfare III makes player choices more important than ever. I was surprised by the player expression that the development team allows here and shocked by the amount of options present.
Before you even get into the gameplay, you’ve got to suit up. To start there’s a new vest system for building loadouts, each holding a different combination of equipment. Whereas one may give you access to two tactical weapons such as Battle Rage, smoke grenades, and scatter mines, others may give youaccess to extra gear which allows you to handle more traversal situations.
Perks and weapon configurations are still an important part of gearing up. Select from a wide variety of perks old and new, each activating from the beginning of a match until the very end. I was more than excited to use the new Covert Sneakers perk, which silences your footsteps, opening up a new world of sneaking and undetected traversal. And I can’t go without mentioning Shrouded, a perk that drops a smoke grenade when you’re downed.
Accompanying perks is a vast weapon selection, including a great number of tools and customizable parts that change the way they’re used. Do you want a rifle that sacrifices accuracy for firerate? Go for it. Or maybe you’re willing to sacrifice damage for better recoil and sights. You can do that and a whole lot more. All of the gameplay depends on what you want to do and everything is crafted around this freedom of choice.
Movement is key
Modern Warfare III puts movement at the forefront by giving players more control over moving through the environment. One of the biggest changes lets players cancel out of slide animations and reload animations.
There were many occasions when I finished a gunfight and went to reload only to be ambushed immediately. Being empowered to cancel out of a reload animation and sprint to safety is a welcome, life-saving option. These movement changes may seem minor, but they make a huge difference during intense firefights.
Playing into this is the new Warzone map, Urzikstan, and the new Zombies map. Both showcase how much larger Call of Duty has gotten. Warzone takes players to a new stage with tons of poi, including a fully pilotable train that will make for interesting traversal and battle moments. On the other hand, there’s the new Zombies mode, which allows up to 24 players to take to an open-world fight against hordes using monkey bombs, rayguns, Perk-a-Colas, and whatever else they can get their hands on. Each map is an expansive setpiece-filled world that allows you to do whatever you need to do to take the dub. Thanks to Modern Warfare III integration, each features all the movement options you have access to in the main game.
And in many modes, there are multiple ways to win. In the new 3 vs 3 vs 3 mode, Cutthroat, players can fight to be the last team standing to reign supreme. Or you can be like me and hide near the flag, capture it when the match time runs out to win without using a single weapon. Again, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is about playing how you want in the thrilling sandbox presented.
Craft your playstyle in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it releases on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 November 10.
Can’t wait to dive into the multiplayer action? Here are the details from Activision on how you can jump in early:
Multiplayer Beta details
Weekend one of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III multiplayer beta is available exclusively on PS4 and PS5.
PlayStation Early Access: Players who pre-ordered the game on PlayStation can begin playing the Beta on Friday, October 6 at 10 AM PT.
PlayStation Open Beta: Starting on Sunday, October 8 at 10 AM PT, the rest of the PlayStation community can begin playing the Beta. The Weekend One Beta ends for everyone on Tuesday, October 10 at 10 AM PT.
PlayStation players can download the Beta from the PlayStation Store. Players who preorder digitally don’t need a Beta code to participate; they’re automatically registered to participate in the Early Access period. If you purchased Modern Warfare III through a participating retailer, you should have received a Beta code printed on the retail receipt or sent via email on an online receipt.
Greetings Lampbearer. Next Friday, October 13, sees the launch of Lords of the Fallen, our debut game here at Hexworks, and we hope you have a fantastic time in the epic and terrifying world we’ve spent the last three years carefully and dutifully crafting. Lords of the Fallen is the first action-RPG to be developed using Unreal Engine 5 and, when combined with the power of PlayStation 5 and the unique features of the DualSense controller, delivers an immersive experience like no other.
Lords of the Fallen is a tantalizing dark fantasy set in the devastated land of Mournstead, and takes place a millennium after the demon god Adyr was exorcised from the world. But of course, evil can never truly die. Now, a spreading corruption heralds his horrific return and it’s up to players to take on the mantle of Dark Crusader, overcome Adyr’s minions, and banish him once more. To help them achieve that herculean task, they’ll harness the energy of a powerful and supernatural lamp, an item of ungodly power that allows players to traverse from Axion–the brutal realm of the living–to Umbral, the nightmarish realm of the dead, seamlessly and in real time.
On PlayStation 5, we knew we could deliver our vision of a seamless transition between two worlds thanks to the ultra-fast SSD, but we wanted to further enhance the rich and immersive experience for players using the unique features that DualSense brings. The DualSense wireless controller’s adaptive triggers provided us with an opportunity to make every group of weapons feel different, giving players visceral feedback through the setting of different levels of resistance in a trigger pull, enabling them to almost sense the weapon in their own hands. For instance, while light weapons and crossbows have a lower resistance attached to them, medium weapons and heavy weapons feel increasingly more substantial to use. Bows have an even higher resistance on the trigger, replicating the feeling of drawing back the string ahead of firing off an arrow towards the targeted horrors ahead.
For immersion’s sake, with the DualSense wireless controller, players who use heavy charged attacks will experience that charge at their fingertips; when most of the trigger is fully pulled back it’ll stop until the attack is ready to be fully unleashed. It’s only then that players will be able to pull the trigger back the rest of the way and execute the attack to devastating effect.
Haptic feedback is a crucial tool that allows players to feel every light and heavy attack. We’ve ensured players know exactly when their Dark Crusader takes a hit from enemies or through fall damage. They’ll also feel that transition from Axiom and to Umbral when they’re first killed, and experience the devastating resonance of bosses roaring. Always tightly gripped in the brooding protagonist’s right hand, the supernatural Umbral lamp will also cause the right side of the DualSense to gently rumble when in proximity to various hotspots across Mournstead.
Of course, it’s not just the feel of Lords of the Fallen that we’ve been able to create and enhance through the DualSense wireless controller… it’s an additional layer of sound, too. The perilous journey players face during the game is audible not only through the full 3D sound capabilities of the PS5, but also through the controller’s speaker, as every footstep taken by the Dark Crusader is heard. When players use a weapon to smite their foes–whether it’s one of the hundreds of melee or ranged weapons or many magic spells–their unique sounds pour from the controller’s speaker, too.
And finally, the DualSense wireless controller’s speaker is the vessel for sounds that emanate from the mysterious Umbral lamp itself. This otherworldly, supernatural relic, collected by the now-Dark-Crusader right at the start of the game, whispers to players as different events transpire: from approaching Umbral points of interest in the game world, to when the lamp is used to rip the very souls of enemies’ bodies using the Soul Flay mechanic, and more.
Together with the rich and compelling sound design of Lords of the Fallen, these audio details bring an additional layer of depth to the entire auditory experience, so the daunting tasks facing players as they traverse Axiom and Umbral never sound far away.
Lords of the Fallen is available to pre-order now and comes out October 13 on PlayStation 5.
We are excited to announce our latest launch – an eight-track music pack that includes new songs and iconic hits from Linkin Park and Mike Shinoda. This is a huge moment for Beat Saber, because it is the first time our platform has debuted a song for a major recording artist; Mike Shinoda’s new track “Already Over” is exclusively launching on Beat Saber ahead of its official global release. Fans will get to experience his music here first along with massive Linkin Park hits like “Numb/Encore”, “Crawling” and “Lost”.
“I’m beyond excited to once again be partnering with Beat Saber to give fans and players even more music by me, Linkin Park, and Fort Minor, and I’m especially excited to share my new single ‘Already Over’ through the platform. It’s an honor that Linkin Park is the first band to have a second music pack and I hope everyone enjoys playing the new tracks.”
– Mike Shinoda
While developing the beatmaps for this pack, there was so much inspiration to pull from. As fans know, Linkin Park + Mike Shinoda’s music can’t be neatly defined by just one genre, it crosses from nu-metal, to hard rock and hip-hop. Players will have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the following pulsing tracks:
Already Over – Mike Shinoda
Crawling – Linkin Park
Fighting Myself – Linkin Park
In My Head – Mike Shinoda & Kaliee Morgue
Lost – Linkin Park
More The Victim – Linkin Park
Numb/Encore – Jay-Z, Linkin Park
Remember the Name (feat. Styles of Beyond) – Fort Minor
There are three different artists in this music pack release, Linkin Park, Mike Shinoda and Fort Minor – and although they have overlapping members and sounds, we wanted players to experience each artist individually through unique beatmaps and light shows. For each song we incorporated their logos, but also drawings on the walls and on the floor that resemble that particular artist to make the experience even more customized.
The new advanced environment is an upgrade from the original music pack release from 2020, and now segments the tunnel using our latest and most advanced lighting system. This is our first environment that allows full control of the elements, each light show also includes some sort of story-telling where we play with the logo movement to accompany the lyrics of the song.
One of the most exciting parts of working on this pack was building a beatmap for an exclusive track for Mike Shinoda. We got to hear the track before anyone else, and wanted to make sure that when players experience it for the first time, it’s as epic as possible – all while slashing to the beat and diving into a captivating light show.
This is Linkin Park’s second music pack with Beat Saber, in 2020 a hugely-popular 11-song pack was released. To celebrate the latest launch, we’ve updated the original music pack with an enhanced environment and levels, including Arc & Chain Notes. Players can easily switch between original and new levels. This is available as a free update for anyone who owns the original music pack, players simply need to update their game.
There are several ways to experience Linkin Park and Mike Shinoda on Beat Saber:
The Linkin Park x Mike Shinoda Music Pack is available for $10.99 USD (or $1.99 USD per song). Fans who missed out on the original Linkin Park Music Pack can snag the Combo Bundle, which features both today’s new pack and the original pack from 2020 (19 songs in total!) for $21.99 USD. And if you’re new to Beat Saber, you can grab both the O.G. Linkin Park Music Pack and the new Linkin Park x Mike Shinoda Music Pack alongside the Beat Saber base game only for $45.99 USD with the Ultimate Bundle.
All now available on PlayStation VR2 and PlayStation VR.
That’s right, PlayStation VR2 fans: our Physical Action Rhythm game, Pistol Whip, has just received its thirteenth (!) free content update, Elixir of Madness This Collection of phantasmagorical delights brings three all-new Scenes to shimmy and shake your way through, plus a whole new genre of music that is sure to get your bones dancin’ ‘til dawn.
Read on for five reasons to check out the spooky spectacular that is the Elixir of Madness Collection…if you dare.
‘Tis the season!
The days get colder, the nights stretch on and on…if you’re in the mood for some seasonal scares with your VR gaming, Elixir has you covered. This Collection has new unearthly environments to rival your best neon nightmares, waves of ghastly assailants, and horrors that some might even describe as…unknowable.
(The best part? Not a jumpscare in sight. You’re too busy tearing up the dancefloor for that!)
Dancing skeleton armies
Need we say more? Elixir of Madness is inspired by vintage horror cinema, and the underground glee of 1920s swing clubs. Smash those two things together, and you get something glorious: a horde of skeletons doing the Charleston, in fact.
But don’t let your guard down; some of these capering cadavers attack in terrifying new ways. Keep a careful eye on the sky, and maybe even on the ground at your own two feet…
Dual-wielding Tommy Guns
Elixir adds three new weapons to your considerable arsenal: the heavy-hitting Sawed-Off Shotgun, the ghoulish Skull Bludgeon, and the burst-fire Tommy Gun. And because you can dual-wield quite literally anything in Pistol Whip, it’s time to unleash your inner zoot-suit-wearin’ bandit, and go in guns (or skulls?) blazin’!
A strange tale of cosmic frights
While our summertime Season, Overdrive, plunged you into five unique spectacles, Elixir of Madness! opens with a chilling scene: a snow-choked road, a desolate car, a forgotten mansion that beckons you forth. Take one step inside, and your fate is sealed; you must battle your way through haunted catacombs, hideous laboratories…and even your own spiraling mind.
A whole new genre: Electroswing
Ever since our foray into the wild, wild west with the Smoke & Thunder cinematic campaign, it’s been clear that tracks don’t have to be EDM to go hard. We’re proud to team up with electroswing artists Odd Chap, Duke Skellington, and the Electric Swing Circus to bring you three wicked new songs to juke, jive, and stay alive to. (Don’t be fooled by the retro vibes and brass sections, these Scenes will still have you sweating at the highest difficulty!)
If you’re excited to see even more unique music genres come to Pistol Whip, let us know. In fact, we might have something powerful in the works already…
Elixir of Madness and all its chilling electroswing goodness has just shambled its way into Pistol Whip on PlayStation VR2, with the first Scene, Halloween Party, available to play right now. Keep a sharp eye peeled for the next two Scenes, Kicking Up Dirt and My Mind, as a new one will arrive each following week.
Have a spectacular spooky season, everyone, and let us know which new Elixir of Madness Scene shows up in your nightmares later.
The world of Horizon Forbidden West brims with life across its spectacular landscapes, fierce roaming machines, and thriving cultures that populate a renewed land once ravaged by the biomass-consuming machines of the Faro Plague.
And though the wilds are breathtaking, and the machines are massive, Horizon’s third essential element is its authentic tribal inhabitants. On her mission, Aloy meets a varied and colorful array of compelling characters, each with their own hopes, journeys, and motivations.
Weaving real personalities and genuine humanity into these characters was a feat accomplished together by many teams at Guerrilla. This PlayStation Blog explores those processes, from the narrative foundations of character development to capturing the perfect performance and ultimately implementing them through cinematics and conversation design.
Each stage is crucial to ensure the characters of Horizon are as realistic and full of depth as the world around them.
Spoiler Alert: Please note this article may contain some spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, and their storylines.
Building compelling characters
When players meet a character in Forbidden West, their place in the world of Horizon is entrenched and clear: we quickly understand their personality, desires, and fears. We may learn they hold certain beliefs due to their upbringing, why they may be rebelling against the status quo, and ultimately, we see how their task crosses over with Aloy’s.
For the narrative team, each character starts with a fundamental question: what does this person want?
“We always start with conflict,” says Annie Kitain, lead writer. “Once we have a pretty good idea about this, we are able to figure out the rest of their character and how we can experience this conflict in the story.”
By starting with a character’s desires and identifying obstacles in their path, the writers establish direction for penning dialogue and seeding subtext—not solely what the character says, but also what they left unsaid and what that may truly mean.
When examining motivation, the narrative team assesses the circumstances that would determine a person’s personality. One example is considering a character’s relationship with others or their surroundings. This approach makes for developing cohesive worldviews and believable interactions, ultimately informing each character’s treatment of Aloy.
“For the writing team, a fun task was accounting for a character’s evolving attitude towards Aloy throughout the main story. A character could have two (or more) different sets of dialogue depending on how well-known Aloy is due to her actions.
“We see characters as a reflection of their tribe’s beliefs, customs, and conflicts, and to better understand them, we need to spend more time with them. You’ll notice that characters will come with Aloy on a quest more often than before. This allows us to get to know them better than if they were only present in cutscenes.”
The growth and development of Aloy’s companions were also closely tied to and paced alongside the huntress’ own conflict in the main story. Each of Horizon’s tribes has distinctive beliefs and disputes, but the imminent threat at the center of Forbidden West affects them all, albeit in unique ways.
“Many characters’ understandings of the world grows so much over the course of the game – something that, previously, Aloy was practically alone in knowing.”
The narrative team collaborated closely with other disciplines to ensure story beats paired with character development so this parallel growth felt organic and natural.
“We work closely with design, cinematics, art, and audio to make sure these emotional beats land and the pacing works,” says Annie. “It’s a very iterative and collaborative process that continues throughout development, with a lot of feedback and adjusting. We all want to get it right so that, in the end, the story lands with players.”
Once the narrative team sets the groundwork, other teams at Guerrilla bring the vision—and the characters themselves—to life. Jochen Willemsen, associate cinematic director, notes that this all starts with casting.
“Casting is crucial. We have a very specific process we follow on how to cast important roles,” Jochen says. “For the parts, I always spend a lot of time figuring out what the narrative team is after and how to find talent that can get that across or even add to it in a way the writer may not have imagined.
“Once you’ve found the right actor, you focus on truly understanding the scene, the subtext, and what the outcome of the scene should be: what function does the scene have for the story and/or the gameplay.”
Working with actors in video games presents a unique challenge. Jochen emphasizes that, unlike some TV and film performances, actors cannot rely on elements like costumes or sets to get into the character; it’s more similar to a green screen set.
“In a way, as a director, you must work a bit harder to give them context and get their imagination going. You have to be vigilant to ensure the talent understands why their character says certain things. Keeping the actor engaged with the material is crucial and constant hard work.”
As a director, Jochen remained focused on capturing the performances the scene needed. Even one of his favorite scenes to work on—Aloy and Morlund crashing in Morlund’s hot air balloon—was a challenge. Due to the stage of the project, the voice-overs needed to be recorded separately, but his understanding of the vision for the scene allowed him to help the actors click, even though they couldn’t be in one another’s presence.
Beyond capturing performance, Jochen simultaneously considers how the cinematics team will work with the material, keeping camera angles and techniques in mind when working with actors.
“Assembling a sequence requires lots of individuals from different departments to realize what the narrative team has put on paper,” explains Alexander Hush, senior cinematic animator. “The actors’ captured performances are translated to the digital versions of the characters and assembled together to create cinematic moments and relationships between Aloy and the characters she encounters.”
The collaboration in this process is crucial. A key aspect of capturing the right emotional tone in cinematics came from the actor’s performance, and it was up to the cinematics team to ensure that the compositions and lenses they used complemented the emotional state of performances.
“Authenticity is an important factor that [Ismaël Auray, former cinematics director] looked for, and he worked closely with the actors to get natural performances in which each character has a life and story,” adds Ari Teger, senior animator on the team. “How they interact with Aloy during her journey can create unexpected and interesting character moments that make a scene much more interesting.”
Crafting memorable moments
The cinematics team at Guerrilla is responsible for conveying the story beats of Horizon Forbidden West through non-interactive cutscenes. Going into the project, they wanted to elevate the quality of the scenes far beyond those of Horizon Zero Dawn. Motion capture technology had improved significantly since 2017, so the team focused on cinematic camera work. They implemented subtle pans and intentional movement, achieving the more grounded, real-world feel of Forbidden West.
Michel Lefèvre, senior cinematic animator, explains that this all starts in the layout phase. “We initially assemble the base elements of what makes a cinematic scene: the motion capture data, the dialogue audio, and the environment geometry. We try variations of the scene to find the best possible version. It must communicate the story in the clearest way possible – that way, the player can get back to the action without lingering, and the immersion is preserved.”
Similar to the narrative team’s approach, they looked at how a scene between characters fit into the context of Aloy’s story, with their techniques dictated by this goal.
“Our director had determined a set of prime camera lenses that we used throughout production,” says Ari. “This includes wider shots when we need to see more of the environment, such as when Aloy is entering a new area for the first time. Longer lenses are used when we need more intimate closeups of characters and when we are focusing on more emotional moments.”
Ari notes that this was one of the team’s core principles: that everything should be portrayed from Aloy’s perspective. This approach ensures the player’s connection to the events and characters surrounding Aloy’s journey, ultimately conveying the intended emotional tones and deep connections between the protagonist and those she meets.
“All the needed information is coming from the performance,” adds Michel. “A wide shot would be used to show conflict between two characters, showing the space that separates them. The camera can stay longer on a character after a line to communicate their thought process or show the listener instead of the speaker to reveal an important reaction.
“And to convey a character’s feelings and show them as human and believable, we would prioritize facial animation—eye darts to convey a thought process, blinks to show doubt. The goal of the layout phase is to find the key moments of the performance and show them at the right time to convey the story beats in the best possible way.”
Michel compares their approach in Horizon Forbidden West to classic Hollywood movies, where the camera movement is driven by the actor’s motions. This movement doesn’t attract attention but naturally complements the blocking and serves the actor’s performance. He particularly enjoys the scene when Aloy first meets the Oseram delvers in Vegas. Right away, the player understands that Aloy and Morlund are off to a great start – not just because their missions align but also because the camera emphasizes their interaction and collusion.
“In that scene, Aloy and Morlund start to connect. The camera is close to them as they look at each other. In the background between them stands Ababund, who doesn’t like Aloy and Morlund getting friendly so quickly. He interrupts them and drags Morlund away from Aloy.”
When capturing emotion in a scene, Ari calls out a scene he loves from Horizon Forbidden West’s DLC, Burning Shores. Set against a beach, Aloy attempts to console her companion, Seyka, after a shocking revelation has shaken Seyka to her core. This moment leads up to Aloy realizing she has feelings for Seyka.
“It’s always a fun challenge to construct a scene in various ways to see what affects the emotional tone of a scene. Letting a moment breathe can really drive an emotional beat home,” says Ari. “We really wanted to build Aloy and Seyka’s relationship over the course of the story. We wanted to play up that moment, building up to closeups as they shared a tender moment. The animation team did a great job adding an extra level of polish and detail to these scenes, where we really get a sense of what Aloy and Seyka are thinking at that moment.”
“I think the slower moments shine in our cinematics, whether when Aloy meets the charismatic Oseram craftsmen in Vegas or a more heartfelt moment between Aloy and Seyka,” he adds. “It was great working with the narrative team through these moments, really seeing the characters come to life.”
Conversations about conversations
The cinematics team had set a high bar for realism. That same eye for detail now needed to be cast over the equally essential interactions, and so Guerrilla assembled the conversations design team to elevate their quality.
Compared to a cinematic, Guerrilla defines a conversation as a dialogue-centric scene—all the interactive moments where Aloy talks with non-playable characters (NPCs). The goal was to elevate conversations to a quality level comparable to full cinematics. That way, the difference between a conversation and a cinematic would be minimal, improving player immersion.
Marion Allard, senior conversations designer, describes this practice as being similar to movie-making. “For Horizon Forbidden West, the goal was to bridge the gap between mocapped, custom-made cinematics and character conversations–and push the envelope by capturing bespoke mo-cap data for the entirety of the content.”
“A conversation typically takes place in a limited space in a single location,” explains PJ Hughes, cinematics sequence lead. “So we work with the conversation system as a base, and then build on top of that, which then works similarly to working on cinematics.”
Horizon Zero Dawn relied on a procedural generator that built conversations from a script automatically. PJ would then polish these scenes manually as the sole designer of conversations at the time.
“For The Frozen Wilds DLC, we experimented with adding motion capture to raise the quality closer to that of our cinematics,” he says. “Players responded well to the greater expression of the characters, which really enhanced the great voice performances. So for Forbidden West, we wanted to go a level further.”
“We still used this automated system as a convenient basis to quickly have a basic version of every conversation in the game before adding properly timed-out voice lines, bespoke mocap, facial expressions, and custom cameras to every single one,” adds Marion. “Broadly speaking, you can say we switched from a procedurally generated approach to an entirely handcrafted approach to reach much higher levels of immersion and quality.”
The great results the conversations design team came down to the level of detail they considered with each scene and character. “First, we have plenty of character-specific considerations: what is their emotional state when Aloy meets them? Is there distress or urgency frequent for quest-givers? Do they have hidden motives? Do they know who Aloy is-–are they impressed or wary?
“The various tribes are a central part of Horizon’s world-building. We made sure each tribe had its own culturally specific gestures and mannerisms. For example, the Utaru characters touch the seed pouch on their chest when showing emotional vulnerability.”
These small details added to building the authenticity of the conversation and, by extension, the characters themselves. By seeking a complete understanding of a character in their design, they established each character as an active, sensical part of their world rather than simply a quest-dispenser for Aloy.
“We discuss the intentions further with the narrative team and make suggestions for adjustments. For example, the script mentions a prop. Do we need this to be bespoke? Or would an existing asset serve the purpose?” PJ explains. “We discuss the location with environment art to find a good place for it to help tell the story. We work with the quest team on the technical details. What state does the scene start and end in? What direction do we want to leave the player looking in?”
An excellent example of this approach was Aloy’s conversation with Gildun, an Oseram delver that players first met during The Frozen Wilds. Gildun returns in Burning Shores, reuniting with Aloy after being trapped during an expedition. The two search for his missing delving partner, Olvar, while they joyfully work together to overcome the area’s puzzles.
“We look for opportunities to make the conversations more dynamic. We avoid static talking heads,” PJ adds. “Gildun is great fun to work on. He is so boisterous and in his own world. The thing that I think makes him great are those emotional moments where you see the bravado. Getting those moments right makes for an interesting, endearing, rounded, believable character.”
The end result
The goal of bringing the characters of Horizon Forbidden West to life was a shared one. With several disciplines in game development working in parallel, the teams needed to stay focused on how the player would experience the world of Horizon through the characters they meet.
“We need to balance flexibility and immersion,” says Marion. “Horizon Forbidden West is an open world: players might do things in any possible order, and to remain immersive, the world and characters should account for that.”
In the end, many teams at Guerrilla brought together their technical expertise to realize their vision: a world where everything the player engages with—the wilds, the machines, the settlements, and finally, the people—feels full of life.
“We like to view getting to know the characters that Aloy meets as an opportunity to gain insight into their world,” says Annie. “So whether players love a character or love to hate them, we hope they enjoy getting a deeper understanding of the world of Horizon and the hopeful, funny, flawed, and complicated people who inhabit it.”
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Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition arrives on PlayStation 5 on October 6 and PC in early 2024. You can wishlist this for PC now:
The Extended Play Sale comes to PlayStation Store tomorrow, Wednesday September 27. It brings with it discounts of up to 80% on a variety of Deluxe, Premium, Ultimate editions as well as season passes, add-ons and more. Those offers include the likes of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Digital Deluxe Edition, Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition, Like a Dragon: Ishin! Digital Deluxe Edition, but all are only available for a limited time*.
In the skies of Project Wingman, players get into the pilot’s seat of advanced fighter jets, taking on missions over the seas and ground of a war-scorched alternate Earth timeline known as After Calamity.
Today, PlayStation players can experience Project Wingman’s thrilling aerial combat from a whole new perspective in Frontline 59—an enhanced version of our indie dev team’s original game, powered up with new missions and PlayStation VR2 features that immerse you in the action.
Project Wingman has always felt like it would be a natural fit for virtual reality, and it’s been a thrill to have the chance to bring that vision to life with the PS VR2. Our goal with Wingman has always been to make people feel like awesome, cutting-edge flying aces, and the VR2 features really help take that to the next level—whether you’re using eye-tracking technology to help pinpoint targets in a chaotic battlefield, or feeling the rush of high-speed passes against pilots who want you dead.
Mission briefing
Taking place during Project Wingman’s main conflict, Frontline 59’s six new missions find the Pacific Federation coming under attack by a Cascadian invasion force seeking to cripple the Federation for generations. You play as reserve pilot in the local Federation contingent, and it’s up to you and the rest of your unlikely wingmen to beat back the enemy and secure the safety of the Federation once more.
These new missions range from intercept sorties to counter-attacks, and even a few adrenaline-rushing surprises. Here’s a beat-by-beat breakdown of what’s in store in Frontline 59’s exclusive engagements.
Mission 1 – Take off to beat back rabid mercenary pilots from pouncing on retreating allied force.
Mission 2 – Provide aerial support to naval coastal defenses as enemy Marines make landfall.
Mission 3 – Break the enemy by clearing the way for heavy hitting firepower.
Mission 4 – Using an unconventional flight plan, surprise the enemy headquarters and destroy them when they least expect it.
Mission 5 – Destroy the enemy invasion at its root, and send them back to where they came from.
Mission 6 – Duke it out over the Arctic Circle in an intense dogfight to try and stop insanity from setting the world on fire.
While PlayStation 5 players can enjoy Frontline 59 whether they’re VR-equipped or not, we built these missions with virtual reality in mind, and we think PS VR2 players will really feel it. If you go into battle with your PS VR2 as your flight helmet, you’ll feel the rush of combat across the entire game experience, too.
Two of the coolest features that help deliver the feeling that you’re really piloting advanced fighter jet technology: You can track targets with full 360 degree awareness, highlighting targets with PS VR2’s eye tracking tech. You can also swivel your head to take in the battlefield, making sure you can see what you want when you want, from any angle.
You’ll also feel the rumble of combat through headset vibrations as you barrel through battlefields; each time you get in close for a dogfight or do a supersonic pass on an enemy, you’ll feel it in your bones. You’ll also feel and hear the aircraft around you as you break through the clouds or bleed speed with spatial audio.
We hope you check out Frontline 59—it was an awesome, challenging, and really satisfying experience bringing our game to life in the VR realm, and we’re excited to finally be able to share this experience with Project Wingman veterans and brand-new recruits across the PlayStation community.
Project Wingman: Frontline 59 is out today on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2.
A brand-new location will soon be unveiled in Fallout 76’s upcoming Atlantic City update. Prepare to travel to a never-before-seen part of Fallout’s post-nuclear world on December 5 as players step onto the boardwalks of New Jersey.
Journey to an all-new Fallout location
Fallout 76’s Expeditions allow players to explore outside the borders of Appalachia, first introduced with the remnants of Pre-War Pittsburgh last year. “We started with The Pitt, which is a classic, fan-favorite location,” says Joshua Moretto,lead quest designer. “When we looked to our next location, we wanted someplace that would feel as different from The Pitt as The Pitt did from Appalachia.”
Place your bets as you visit the somewhat-dingy Casino in a new Expedition mission.
A coastal gambling town is quite a change of scenery from the smog-covered spires of The Pitt, with Expeditions to Atlantic City giving Fallout fans a peek at a new part of the post-nuclear world. “As a native New Jerseyan, I’d been hoping for a long time that we’d get a chance to introduce my home state to the world of Fallout,” says Moretto. “Atlantic City was the perfect opportunity for this.”
Atlantic City’s bustling nightlife and other advancements and amenities (including electricity and running water) may come as a shock to many fresh-faced Vault Dwellers hailing from the wilds of West Virginia. The town was relatively lucky–heavy emphasis on relatively back during The Great War, making it an unlikely haven of post-nuclear reconstruction. “No place was untouched by the war, but Atlantic City weathered better than most,” says Moretto. “It was a tourist destination with no real military or strategic value, so it wasn’t a direct target when the bombs fell.”
Empires on the boardwalk
Meet the Municipal Government (Munis) who keep the lights on in Atlantic City.
However, such prosperity comes at a price. The balance of power in Atlantic City is precariously checked by three major factions, often scheming to get the leg up on each other. “The Municipal Government keeps the lights, water and food running in Atlantic City,” explains Moretto. “Then we have the organized crime rackets of The Family, and we also have a chaotic guild of entertainers known as The Showmen. Each of them controls something vital to the continued functioning of Atlantic City.”
The “somewhat shady” Family who runs the Casino.
Despite cooperation being essential to Atlantic City, relations are strained between the separate factions. The city relies on the Municipal Government’s infrastructure, but also the income from The Family’s supply of vices and The Showmen’s attractions–the latter ranging anywhere from pedestrian magic tricks to more thrilling (read: deadlier) fare.
The Showmen entertainers run the deadliest game show in town.
“Each of our three Expeditions invites you to work closely with one of the three factions and help them achieve their primary goals,” says Ellys Tan, senior quest designer, explaining that players will also get to experience Atlantic City across two content releases. “The first release features two Expeditions and the second release includes one more Expedition, as well as a variety of quests you can do in Atlantic City.”
There is something in the pines
Your first introduction to Atlantic City is the once-glittering Boardwalk.
Internal squabbles aside, a greater threat exists. Bordered on one side by the ocean itself, Atlantic City is now becoming cut off as the dense forests of the New Jersey Pine Barrens grow out of control across the region.
“In the aftermath of the Great War, the barrens have retaken territory and started to encroach upon the city’s borders,” Moretto explains. “Coming from deep within the heart of the Pine Barrens are strange (and previously unknown) mutated creatures…”
Whoa, that’s enough news for now! Whether you’re anxious to visit a new part of the Fallout universe, make your allegiances with Atlantic City’s lively factions or simply roll the dice and see what happens, be sure to check out the Atlantic City update–arriving free for Fallout 76 players December 5. Jump into Fallout 76 and secure your lot in post-nuclear Appalachia today on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
Hey y’all! This week Remedy Entertainment Creative Director Sam Lake stops by to talk all things Alan Wake 2. Plus the team discusses their hands-on time with Alan Wake 2, as well as some indie horror games in preparation for spooky season.
Stuff We Talked About
Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition – PS5, PC
PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for October: The Callisto Protocol, Farming Simulator 22, Weird West
Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian’s Favorite Builds Blog
Paper Beast Enhanced Edition – PS5, PS VR2
Interview w/ Sam Lake (begins at 17:55)
Alan Wake 2 hands-on talk
Indie horror games
The Cast
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Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE
Tim Turi – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE
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Brett Elston – Manager, Content Communications, SIE
Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
