In the wake of a successful launch that saw it win acclaim from fans of the Metroidvania genre, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is set to get even more content as part of a roadmap extending through 2024
Prince of Persia’s new post-launch roadmap kicks off on March 20 with free Warrior’s Path DLC, including a Speedrun Mode, Permadeath Mode, and new outfits for Sargon. From there Ubisoft will be adding the following content throughout the year.
Boss Attack – DLC featuring a Boss Rush mode and more Sargon outfits. It’ll be out Spring 2024.
Divine Trials – New combat, platform, and puzzle challenges along with items.
A brand new story DLC – There’s no additional info on this content, but it looks to expand on the main story and is expected to release later in 2024.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crow was released in January and won praise for its excellent platforming and combat. We awarded it an 8 in our review, writing, “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown captures not only what made games such as The Sands of Time so good, but it irons out a lot of the little issues that plagued the 3D games in this series by opting for a 2D perspective – and owning it.”
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. For more check out all the biggest games coming out in 2024 and beyond.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Last time, you decided that a little hand for a cursor is better than left-handed FPS options. I dearly hope that when you clicked on your vote, your Windows cursor was a little gauntlet or skeletal hand or such. Onwards! This week, I ask you about grabbing (and poking, pulling, burning, pressing, activating, and otherwise using) stuff. What’s better, highlighted interactive objects or retrievable reusable ammo?
Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in! Ubisoft has today revealed a first look at the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown post-launch roadmap, which lays out three free content updates and a new story DLC, all coming our way in 2024.
The first of these content updates, ‘Warrior’s Path’ will arrive next week on 20th March and will add a Speedrun and Permadeath Mode as well as a selection of new outfits for Sargon. The following two will be landing in Spring and Summer respectively, with the promise of even more outfits and a Boss Rush Mode first, and then new challenges, amulets and more later.
I saw the original “Dune” movie in 1984; I didn’t know anything about “Dune” at the time, and to be honest, afterwards I didn’t really understand what I’d just seen. But it piqued my interest enough that I read the book and fell in love with Frank Herbert’s tale of grand conflict, interwoven plots and prophecies, and – of course! – massive sand worms.
Forty years later, with a new “Dune” film in theaters from Denis Villeneuve and Legendary Entertainment, tabletop strategy gamers around the world have given Dire Wolf’s board game, Dune: Imperium, a tremendous reception since its release, with numerous awards and recognitions. And now we’re expanding the conflict on Arrakis to a whole new world of gamers in a crossplay digital adaptation on Xbox.
Dune: Imperium combines deck-building and worker placement to deliver a highly thematic board game experience, where leaders plot and scheme to maneuver their pieces into appropriate positions in a complex world of intrigue. Our game welcomes each player to portray a leader of a Great House of the Landsraad, fighting over control of Arrakis and the spice trade.
Each player is not only waging a land war for precious territory and resources, however. They must also court the key pillars of the Imperium – the Emperor, the Landsraad Council, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, CHOAM, even the Fremen – all NPC factions offering strategic advantages to any House who earns their favor. In one game, you might play as Duke Leto Atreides and befriend the Fremen and make an alliance with the Spacing Guild. In another, you might be Baron Harkonnen, exploiting your opponent’s weaknesses with the Bene Gesserit’s secrets and schemes, while tying your destiny to the Emperor.
We take a “what if?” approach to gameplay, staying true to what each faction should feel like within the context of the game, but allowing players to divert from the specific political alliances and events in the book allowing a new, yet authentic, “Dune”narrative to emerge in every playthrough.
This “what if” approach goes even further. In the book, one of the reasons that Duke Leto becomes a target is that the Atreides family has attracted some of the best allies in the Imperium. Thufir Hawat is a celebrated Mentat, Gurney Halleck is an inspirational military leader, while Duncan Idaho is an unrivaled swordsmaster. In Dune: Imperium, all of these powerful figures who loyally served House Atreides in the books are now available to any House to recruit. What if the Beast Rabban rose to power with Duncan at his side? Or if House Richese aligned with Lady Jessica? You get the idea.
Finally, the story of “Dune” is not only about politics. Why would you be recruiting swordmasters and military geniuses if there weren’t wars to be waged? So, we obviously had to inject a healthy dose of military conflict into the game. Every round, there is a conflict that players can engage with, a skirmish or battle to be won. You’ll have to decide whether to use your cards to send your agents into battle or toward other endeavors. Keeping a watchful eye on your opponents is key; if a battle is heating up between two of your rivals, perhaps it’s better to sit it out and instead muster some troops for future conflicts. Much like the films, we’ve made a game where the fate of the Imperium is determined by the choices you make. What strings will you pull? Who will you trust or betray? How much will you claim, destroy, or sacrifice? With every card comes another choice and challenge that takes the story in a new direction, making each game an epic and memorable adventure.
Experience the ultimate blend of strategy and intrigue as you navigate the treacherous landscapes of Arrakis in the award-winning board game Dune: Imperium!
* Battle online, locally with AI, or against the formidable House Hagal.
* Earn Achievements that showcase your prowess as a leader.
* Embark on more than a dozen Challenges that will test your wit and cunning.
* Compete for badges in the rotating Skirmish Mode where no two games are the same!
Arrakis. Dune. Desert Planet. Raise your banner above the vast wasteland before you. As the Great Houses of the Landsraad marshal their forces and their spies, whom will you influence, and whom will you betray? A tyrannical Emperor. The secretive Bene Gesserit. The shrewd Spacing Guild. The ferocious Fremen of the Deep Desert. The power of the Imperium can be yours, but war is not the only way to claim it.
Dune: Imperium blends deck-building and worker placement in a deeply thematic new strategy game where the fate of the Empire hangs on your decisions. Will you seek political allies or rely upon military might? Economic strength or subtle intrigues? A council seat… or a sharpened blade? The cards are dealt. The choice is yours. The Imperium awaits.
In Dune: Imperium, you’ll step into the role of one of the leaders of the Great Houses of the Imperium in a struggle to control the planet Arrakis and the invaluable Spice it provides.
The game plays out in a series of ten rounds, each of which is defined by a new Conflict on the surface of the planet; some award critical resources, and some provide Victory Points that will propel you to dominance. But choose your battles wisely: spread your forces too thin, and you’ll find your enemies growing too strong to oppose.
Each round, you’ll draw a hand of five cards from your deck, which will get stronger over the course of the game as you acquire new cards. Each card can be played in one of two ways: To send an Agent out into the Imperium to gather resources, or to Reveal at the end of the round to purchase new powerful cards. You must maintain a careful balance to get the most of the resources available to you. How will you find your path?
As your game progresses, you’ll vie for Influence with four factions of the Imperium: The Emperor, the economically powerful Spacing Guild, the mysterious Bene Gesserit, and the ferocious Fremen of the deep deserts. Earning Influence among the various groups helps you to earn the Victory Points you need…but will you compete with your rivals for their favor, or abandon alliances to pursue other opportunities?
Many strategies are at your disposal, and many paths to victory. The cards are dealt. The choice is yours. The Imperium awaits.
After spending six hours with Tribes 3: Rivals at its early access release, I could really get used to skiing around at 200 miles per hour while firing a grenade launcher at weaklings with no mind for speed. Channeling all of the silliness and style the series is known for, this lethal game of capture the flag is packed with moments of satisfying exhilaration and devastating defeat, and it largely nails everything I’ve loved about the Tribes games of yore. The trouble is that it only takes a matter of minutes to see all the maps and try out all the classes and weapons currently available, with no alternate game modes or other distractions beyond an extremely long and demanding ranked skill grind for those truly dedicated to their deadly craft. I fear Tribes 3 may be fated to fizzle out as quickly as some of its predecessors due to that lack of longevity, but the potential here is at least clear from moment one – I’m still excited to play more before I put a final score on this review, even if there’s already little left for me to see.
Tribes 3 pits two teams of up to 32 players against one another in a stupidly fun game of capture the flag to the death, giving you and your friends a pair of skis and a jetpack to help you move across its large maps lightning fast, and an arsenal of futuristic weapons to maim those who get in your way. Maintaining momentum is key to your success, as you’re rewarded for timing your landings at the edge of a slope or boosting up hills to gather speed every bit as much as you are for having good aim. Learning to shred on skis and soar through the air makes all the difference between becoming an unkillable blur and watching someone glide overhead as they take you out with heavy weaponry like the sorry mook that you are – and spending my time somewhere in between those two extremes has been a blast so far.
Classes feel pretty unique, and each has some game-changing options.
Capturing the enemy flag while protecting your own requires attackers and defenders of varying expertise, and with six playable classes (three offensive and three defensive), you’re given a solid number of options for how to approach each side of things. I have a natural affinity for throwing myself at the enemy flag and doing everything I can to break the sound barrier, so I have tended to select the lightly armored and minimally armed Pathfinder class, which allows for deviously delightful teleportation and faster movement at the cost of being both short on explosive weaponry and very easy to explode. If you’re feeling lethargic, there’s also lots to do while remaining slightly more stationary as the Juggernaut, a heavily armored defender that is armed to the gills and can withstand quite a bit of punishment – they have also pretty much been the bane of my existence, all too happy to turn my squishy face into blood broth as I rush toward the flag. All six classes feel pretty unique, and each has some game-changing options, like the technician class, which can throw down defensive turrets and keep the base well-guarded alongside its pre-built protective structures.
The magic of Tribes 3 is in moments where you hit a slope just right, take out an enemy right before scooping up the enemy flag, then go flying across the map to score a point for your team. I can’t claim to be anything more than middling in this incredibly demanding shooter, and even I found myself overcome with feelings of godlike might – screaming into my monitor, absolutely shocked by what I was able to pull off. There were also plenty of times where I was brought low and reminded of my mortal limitations, like when a real expert blasted me to pieces and tore through my base like a lightning bolt, making off with my treasured flag. But those humbling encounters have only pushed me to hone my skill, and are easily drowned out by the satisfaction of victory. There just aren’t many better feelings than those moments of pure PvP triumph, which are made uniquely epic by Tribes’ blazingly fast, ridiculously over-the-top style.
There are interesting strategies to consider outside of the flag itself.
Aside from the usual tug-of-war involved in a game of capture the flag, there are also some interesting strategies to consider, like how you can fight over smaller bases located strategically throughout levels, which give a minor edge to the controlling team by turning turrets in those areas into your allies. Each team also has a generator located in their base that, if damaged, can shut down every defensive asset on your side of the map, leaving you extremely vulnerable to getting steamrolled by the enemy’s offensive players, which gives you another thing to defend or attack if the flag proves too well-guarded. Unfortunately, my experience so far is that neither of these elements matter all that much in the larger fight, since bum-rushing the enemy flag almost always proves the best path to victory.
The main issue I’m already encountering with Tribes 3 is that, despite providing a very entertaining handful of hours, there just doesn’t seem to be much to it right now. As an Early Access game, that’s hardly surprising, and developer Prophecy Games has already announced an ambitious roadmap that aims to inject some much-needed variety into the 10 maps and single game mode currently available – but in its current form at least, I foresee all but the most dedicated jetpackers running out of things to do in short order. We’ll see how much longer it takes me to come down from the initial high of this fast-paced sweatfest, but for the moment I’m excited to play more.
After two years slumbering in the coffin of early access, vampire survival gameV Rising is lifting off the lid and rising into a full 1.0 release. Having previously been announced with a somewhat vague Q2 launch window, we now know exactly when V Rising’s 1.0 release date will be: May 8th.
Steam Early Access hit V Rising launches fully on PC on May 8 and on PlayStation 5 later in 2024. IGN revealed the release date in a cinematic trailer from developer Stunlock Studios, which shows off the gothic action role-playing game’s vampire leads as they take on a new evil.
V Rising begins with the player as a fully-customizable vampire waking up after a century-spanning sleep, very weak and in need of blood. But what begins as a survival action game in the vein of Diablo soon turns into a fully open world adventure with base-building, co-op, and versus multiplayer.
In our 7/10 Early Access review, IGN said: “While its time-consuming crafting aspects can take the bite out of the vampire fantasy, V Rising really does rise to the occasion with its excellent boss design and respectable ARPG combat.”
Not content with being one of the best single-player experiences of 2023, Sea of Stars is readying the modern-classic RPG to become one of this year’s most delightful multiplayer games. Developers Sabotage Studio have revealed that three-player co-op is on the way, letting you adventure through the entire campaign with a party of pals.
Bellwright, an open-world survival game set in a medieval realm ruled by a brutal ruler, will hit
Steam Early Access in the beginning months of 2024, challenging players to claim the throne
and forge a better kingdom for all. Bellwright offers co-op support and features town building,
intense combat, an extensive villager recruiting system, a wrongfully accused murder and so
much more.
Unravel the Truth and Clear Your Name
Many open-world survival games are built around you and your friends discovering their secrets.
With Bellwright, the developers aim to give the story much more of a spotlight as you soon find
yourself framed for the accidental death of the prince and punished with the death sentence.
Forced to live undercover, you must protect yourself from hidden attacks from unexpected places.
Was it bad luck that you became a suspect or is there more to the story? To clear your name
and uncover the truth, you have to become the Bellwright and lead a rebellion against your
homeland’s oppressive Sovereign, delving into your family’s true history and unraveling the dark
mystery surrounding the prince’s murder.
Survive, Build, and Prepare for War
Leading a rebellion isn’t easy, but it certainly can be fun if you prove yourself a worthy leader.
The world of Bellwright in the low Medieval times, is a harsh, but not impossible world to live in.
Learn to survive, and build a home for yourself and those who are deeply loyal to you.
To do so, you’ll need to gather resources, hunt, build, and craft to foster a bustling settlement
that can withstand not only the Crown and its Royal Army, but bandits, nature, and more. Don’t
worry though, as you won’t have to do this alone. Bellwright is all about liberating and freeing
oppressed people and recruiting them to your cause. However, people won’t just come running
to your side. You’ll have to build enough Renown by constructing buildings, completing quests,
and taking down enemies to prove yourself to others.
Once you recruit a villager, they will come with their own individual abilities, strengths, and
weaknesses and can be given tasks like constructing a building or gathering food and other
resources. They can also be placed into a squad in your army. Want to create a cadre of
archers to keep you safe from a distance? Go right ahead. Want a group of shield bearers that
can clear you a path to take down the heart of an enemy encampment? You can do that too.
Lastly, each villager can have a profession like Worker, Soldier, or Guard. Familiarize yourself
with the villagers and identify any professions that may be lacking to best utilize their skills in
your town. Build up the perfect team to protect your home and then go out and take down the
Crown.
Recruit or Conquer those Around You to Become More Powerful
Don’t get too content with just your settlement, however, as that won’t be enough to clear your
name and help the kingdom. Along your journey, you’ll need to handle threats both large and
small in different regions to claim them for your own. These victories will earn you “Insurgency
Points” and new resources that will allow you to learn advanced technologies to grow your
home and strengthen your forces.
Some of these outposts and towns will remain functional after you conquer and liberate them
from the Crown, however their responsibility will now fall under you. You’ll need to build,
manage, and upgrade these outposts and towns with recruits, ensuring their resources are
plentiful so they’ll be ready when called upon for battle.
There are Bandit encampments littered around the map that will also pose a huge threat if
ignored. These camps can either be easy, medium, or hard, and each has a Radius of Threat
that you can see on the map. This red area is one where bandits can attack your villagers
gathering resources, attack your settlements, or guard valuable resource nodes. So, if you want
to build something in one of these areas or have an outpost nearby, make sure to clear out the
camp first!
Take caution though, as the bandits will get increasingly more angry as you take out their
camps, causing the Raid Threat meter to rise. Once the meter is full, the bandits will launch an
onslaught on your settlements, killing villagers, stealing resources, and damaging buildings if
your defenses aren’t up to par.
Lead Your Armies to Victory Alone or With Friends
Once you are confident in your forces or ready to risk it all for the ultimate glory, you can leave
the comforts of your home and take to the battlefield to secure a victory for the ages. Combat in
Bellwright is described as directional combat, meaning you can choose where your attacks will
land on an enemy. With a sword and shield in hand (or other weapons like axes and bows!), you can charge head-first into battle, feeling the weight of every swing and defending yourself against every strike.
You won’t have battle alone as you can bring squads of your villagers with you. While you are
taking down foes left and right, as the powerful leader you are, you can also direct your squads
to follow you into the fray, charge and lead a path, move to a specific spot, or attack a group of
enemies while you focus on another.
While Bellwright can be played entirely solo, it also allows you to bring in a few friends! Build
and fight together because, as it’s always said, it’s more fun with friends!
Bellwright is coming soon to Steam Early Access and will contionusly update as it approaches its launch. For more, wishlist Bellwright on Steam or check out Bellwright’s Discord. Creators interested in covering the game prior to its Early Access release can contact bellwright@noiz.gg
In some respects, Helldivers 2 did come as a bit of surprise. Not a huge amount of marketing, no betas, and review codes didn’t go out until it basically launched. Before it landed on my PC, there was a small part of me that thought it was going to be a rocky ride with severe performance issues or the like. Nope! It’s easily slid into one of my favourite games of the year without question, and presumably, for the hundreds of thousands of others who’ve also opted into preserving democracy.
But there seems to be this sentiment that Helldivers 2’s roaring success has come as a shock, so much of a shock that top execs and investors are doing YouTube thumbnail faces in boardrooms with mini-nuke explosions erupting from their heads. Should its success come as that much of a surprise, though? No, probably not.
