Children Of The Sun instantly shot to the top of my personal most-wanted list when it was first announced at the start of February alongside its accompanying Steam Next Fest demo, and happily, publishers Devolver Digital have now set a release date. It’s coming real soon, with its single-shot murder bullet puzzles hitting Steam on April 9th – and to celebrate, there’s a flashy new release trailer to go with it. Come and be dazzled by its exploding headshots below.
System Shock fans who lack a gaming PC will be able to play the remake of the first game pretty soon. A new trailer for the System Shock remake console ports revealed that the game will be released on May 21, 2024, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
You can check out the new trailer below. Unfortunately, Nightdive Studios did not provide any details on when Linux and MacOS users can expect their respective ports to be released.
The announcement comes nearly a year after Nightdive Studios released System Shock Remake on Windows PCs. The console release has been a long time coming for PlayStation and Xbox players itching to play the remake of this influential ’90s sci-fi shooter.
A few days after the PC version was released last year, Nightdive Studios revealed that the console versions were “running smoothly” in a developer Q&A held on its 100th Kickstarter post. However, it mentioned that it required “a few rounds of QA support” before it could receive certification, ensuring it was putting out the best product to players.
Nightdive Studios began development for System Shock Remake in 2015. Roughly a year later, the developer launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2016, raising over $1.3 million in funds. However, the game had a long and troubled development cycle, and Nightdive had to delay the release several times. The reasons for the game’s delay include the switch from the game engine Unity to Unreal Engine 4 and the pivot from making it a reboot to making it a “faithful remake.”
In our review of System Shock Remake, we awarded it a 9/10, saying, “System Shock deftly returns a classic immersive shooter to its place on top of the heap, updated for nearly anyone to enjoy.”
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Though its purpose is unknown.
The Pokémon Company has seemingly set up a new subsidiary in Japan called ‘Pokémon Works’ after the company was registered on 4th March, 2024.
As spotted by Serebii‘s Joe Merrick, the exact purpose of the subsidiary is unknown at this time, though it appears as though its location is in the same building as ILCA, the development company behind the likes of Pokémon HOME and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“We are the Borg. Resistance is Futile.” These seven words, first uttered in 1989, forever cause chills to run down our spines as Star Trek fans. The Borg are an implacable, unstoppable foe, one who has menaced the characters of many Star Trek shows for decades. Now, Star Trek Online has unleashed a new version of those Borg, one far fiercer than ever before.
It’s well known to Star Trek fans that there is another universe, called the Mirror Universe, where everything seems backwards. Good people are unrepentant villains, and the world is dark and cruel. Everything in the Prime Star Trek Universe exists there, but we’ve never seen the Mirror Universe’s version of the Borg, until now. Blasting through a portal into our world, these Mirror Borg are more advanced and far more aggressive than the Borg we know. Resistance, they say, will be annihilated.
Now, teaming up with Captain Harry Kim and Captain Ezri Dax (both portrayed by their original actors, Garrett Wang and Nicole de Boer), your Captain must stop these Borg before they can take a foothold in our universe. If you fail, everything will die.
Star Trek Online has long been known as the place to go for continuation of classic Star Trek stories. From the Bluegills, to the Tzenkethi, to the Voth, Star Trek Online has taken threads that were cut for time from the original Trek shows and developed them into full blown stories. For the past year, players have been battling the Mirror versions of Captain Janeway and Admiral Leeta, but as that conflict resolved, the Mirror Borg came through to wreck our hopes of peace.
In the newest release, Star Trek Online: Both Worlds, players will take the fight to the Mirror Borg as they attempt to place a beach head in our universe. Battle them in a new story mission, including facing their mysterious leader, the Borg King. And for fans of the classic Borg, you can replay one of the most defining moments of Star Trek’s history, the Battle of Wolf 359, in a brand new Task Force Operation.
The developers of Star Trek Online are huge Star Trek fans, and they relish the opportunity to expand the canon. The Mirror Borg are a unique opportunity to tweak a foe that is very familiar for Star Trek Online fans. The original Borg were one of the very first enemies brought in to Star Trek Online nearly fifteen years ago, and as the player Captains’ powers have grown, this once terrifying threat has been reduced to much less of a challenge. The Mirror Borg bring the Borg back to their roots, once again causing nightmares to reverberate through the Star Trek Universe.
Should you choose to face these new Borg, do it with caution, and get ready to modulate your frequencies. We’ll see you out there in the Final Frontier. Star Trek Online: Both Worlds is available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One today.
The post Take On the Mirror Borg in Star Trek Online: Both Worlds, Out On Xbox Today appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Helldivers 2 has exploded onto the gaming scene in a massive way. This co-operative third-person shooter packed with danger, action, humor, and surprises has already become one of this year’s most talked-about games. What some people may be less familiar with though is its progenitor. The original Helldivers, which debuted in 2015 (and is still active) is a co-op, multiplayer overhead twin-stick shooter packed with action, intensity, and plenty of challenging situations that a player might find themselves in.
We asked Johan Pilestedt, CEO & Creative Director at Arrowhead Studios about the process of adapting the original overhead-view gameplay of Helldivers into the third-person format–after first congratulating him for the rip-roaring success of the game. We asked how the team felt about the positive reception. “Overwhelmed and ecstatic! Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen a keen interest in the types of games we make and it was great to see our work recognized at this scale.”
He then elaborated on the process of choosing to go third-person view. “After the successful launch of the original Helldivers, we knew we wanted to test the game design philosophy in first- or third-person. Our stance has never been about ‘only top-down.’ However, a lot of the things we are aiming for when we make games lend themselves to perspectives that are a bit more “removed” from play, such as our commitment to draw inspiration from real life and pop culture. We tried this by pulling down the camera in Helldivers. We wound up feeling really excited by the viscerality of the combat, which made us committed to exploring what Helldivers would be like in third-person.”
“A good co-op game forces players to play together, but a great one makes players want to play together”
Maintaining a persistent sense of danger and chaos was crucial to both games. “Maintaining the sense of chaos was one of the largest challenges we had in creating Helldivers 2. In a top-down perspective, everyone knows what the team members are doing and shares the same reality. But in Helldivers 2, each player has their own perception of events that have unfolded. You gain some and lose some from both approaches.
The launch trailer for the original Helldivers, showing many elements that’ll be familiar to players playing the PS5 sequel today.
The launch trailer for Helldivers 2.
“Since Helldivers is fundamentally a game where collaboration and cooperation is key, we struggled with this early on. The key thing that resolved this was the need for the “watering hole” which encourages players to
gather in certain locations. We created these locations dynamically by making the shared resupply stratagem, players dropping sample containers upon death, and through reinforcement Placement. I believe that a good co-op game forces players to play together, but a great one makes players want to play together. Helldivers 2 should feel like when you are going into a dark basement – You want a friend by your side. And we could only achieve this by creating the sensation that no single person can do this alone–even though some crazy people out there have done so!”
“Feeling human is a key part to the Helldivers experience.”
How did the team reference the first Helldivers’ core gameplay mechanics and progression loop when creating Helldivers 2? “Initially we went further away from the original Helldivers,” explains Pilestedt. “Our philosophy is always “don’t mimic, understand deeply and go from there”. Helldivers 1 took a lot of inspiration from real life and military-sim experiences – merged with combat against extraterrestrials. The distance in top-down viewpoints, however, does not allow for more immersive experiences. We also had pivotal functions that we knew we wanted to include: The viscerality and intensity of combat, the haphazardness and friendly fire. We always knew we wanted the juxtaposition between the fragility of humans with overpowered tools versus physically superior foes only vulnerable to heavy weapons. Feeling human is a key part to the Helldivers experience.”
Which brings us to another major element of both titles: friendly fire always being turned on, and all of the headaches and hilarity that ensues. Pilestedt described the logic behind its inclusion. “The most important thing when we make games is believability. Things should be consistent in the game world and therefore, we must have friendly fire. If your bullets can kill enemies, and the enemies can kill you, then logic dictates that your bullets must also be able to kill your friends. This kind of design is inherently systematic, where we create a rule set that applies to everything in the game world, with minor exceptions.”
“What this does, and maybe most clearly noted by friendly fire, is create a complexity to the gameplay where players have to actively think during combat sequences – not in a “solve the puzzle” way but instead in a very primal creative problem solving way. Also, the chuckles that happen when you accidentally carpet bomb your friends allows for a playfulness that in reality would be a tragedy – but within the self bounds of games we can explore the dark humor of these situations. And finally,, the friendly fire element makes the players a true interactable part of the game world that plays a great part in positioning and helps with team play.”
“Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a mech?”
Another element that appears in both games are the stratagems, powerful tools that can be accessed using a special code and called onto the battlefield when needed. We asked how the concept emerged, and how they developed between the two games. “Generally, stratagems are based on real world examples. We’re interested in both war movies and pop culture, so in some cases the concept may be inspired by a pop-culture reference, but realism is added by taking real world guns and applying them to the mechanics.”
“All-in-all, stratagems are generally designed in an iterative and sprint based fashion. We play the game and get bored by the current selection, so we add another one. Maybe a designer that has an idea, such as the walking barrage, or something more advanced. The Exo-44 Walker that came about by the team saying “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a mech?” Then the process started. What would a mech be like in this universe? What would the armament be? What would be the strengths and weaknesses of a mech? It all comes back to believability.”
Helldivers II looks to have a long and prosperous future ahead of itself, so we wanted to know what players can expect in the future. “So much! The game is designed from the ground up to be an expandable universe. We have grand plans, but we do not want to make any early announcements as we love to surprise and delight players with new stuff. What I can say is that we have a massive list of quality of life improvement ideas that we source from the community.”
And any advice for new Helldivers? “Come in with an open mind, be kind and do your part. This is a fun community where everyone is on the same side. We’d love to have you spread some democracy with us. You never know what’s going to happen – login to Helldivers 2 and help create the history of Super Earth and the Galactic War.”
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi was surprised the remake once again spurred a debate around the use of yellow paint in video games.
Using yellow paint on ledges and walls to indicates a traversable area in a video game has been a hot topic among players ever since its rise in popularity in the likes of Uncharted on PlayStation 3. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth uses this tactic too, with players voicing their opinions on it since the first demo for the role-playing game was released.
Speaking to Red Bull, Hamaguchi said he “didn’t think that the yellow paint [debate would be] discussed on social media” following the demo’s release, and said he and the development team at Square Enix have heard players load and clear.
“For things like camera options, where people have a wide variety of preferences and there’s no one right answer, our basic approach is to offer various accessibility options,” Hamaguchi said. “So I would like to take on board the valuable feedback we have received towards this for future games.”
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is just the middle part of an entire remake trilogy, so this comment perhaps suggests Square Enix may make the yellow paint an optional accessibility feature in the third and final game, or perhaps allow players to adjust the intensity of it themselves.
In our 9/10 review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenges and an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”
Those playing can check out IGN’s extensive guide on the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and see how long it takes to beat, our PlayStation 5 performance review, and how Square Enix caused havoc by mislabeling its discs in Japan.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
An alleged trailer for Spider-Man: The Great Web has leaked online – Spider-Man: The Great Web being a cancelled Insomniac Games comicbook adaptation with a focus on co-op multiplayer. I am not going to embed the footage because I’m not sure if doing so would cause screaming Spider-Lawyers to crash through my window – best of luck finding tall objects to swing from in darkest West Yorkshire, webheads! – but I will do you the great honour of describing the footage below.
Best Buy is offering a nice little deal for Nintendo fans right now – you can get a free $25 e-gift card when you purchase a select Nintendo Switch model there. This bonus credit will be sent to you after your purchase and is great to use as a discount towards some Nintendo Switch games or accessories for your new console.
The Nintendo Switch consoles using this promotion are the White OLED model, the OLED model with Neon Red and Neon Blue Joy-Con, the original Switch with Neon Blue and Red Joy‑Con, and the Blue, Turquoise, and Coral Switch Lite. Check out these models at the links below to get your free $25 Best Buy e-gift card before the offer’s gone!
If you’re looking for even more Switch-related deals to take advantage of right now, there are still quite a few MAR10 Day deals available. At the moment, you can still save on select Mario games and Mario-themed accessories, alongside some excellent SD card deals. Not to mention, Nintendo’s offering a 14-day free trial of Nintendo Switch Online as well (extended from their usual 7-day free trial), which will be available through March 17.
You can also check out our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals to see even more discounts available outside of the world of Mario. Right now, you can also save on popular titles from last year like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Bros. Wonder. If you want to check out deals for other consoles, we also have roudups dedicated to the best Xbox deals, the best PlayStation deals, and the overall best video game deals.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
This weekend I said one of the games I was planning to be playing was Chasing The Unseen, and I did in fact do that. It is indeed a strange, dream-like experience where you leap floaty leaps onto thin, spindly crags of rock in a sage-grey void. Rather than finding it soothing, I found it it extremely stress-making. This was the opposite experience to what I had expected.
Persona 3 Reload players have taken to Steam to express frustration at Atlus announcing a $35 expansion pass one month after promising the game is a “complete experience”.
Persona 3 Reload’s expansion pass has been dubbed a “cash grab” by some fans who spent as much as $200 on the Collector’s Edition only to see more content announced just one month later. “Imagine buying a $100 Premium Edition and one month later you have to buy another $35 for what is just cut content,” Hourai said in a Steam review. “Awful cash grab,” added Zandig.
Fans were originally concerned that Atlus would release the base game in 2024 and soon after announce an expanded edition, as it did with the original Persona 3 (with follow-ups called Portable and FES), plus Persona 4 (with Persona 4 Golden), and Persona 5 (with Persona 5 Royal).
Persona Team production manager Kazuhisa Wada insisted fans could buy Persona 3 Reload with confidence upon its February 2 launch, however, promising it “offers a complete experience”. But on March 6, Atlus announced an expansion pass containing more background music from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal, additional costumes, and the Episode Aigis expansion, which included around 30 hours of extra content in the original game. Atlus itself calls this segment the “final chapter” of Persona 3 Reload.
The Steam reviews for Persona 3 Reload have taken a hit in response to the announcement of the expansion pass, the first wave of which (including the bonus tracks) arrives today, March 12. Just 2.98% of reviews were negative on launch compared to 39.22% today.
It’s the specific expansion pass Steam page that has taken the brunt of frustration, however, as it currently has a “mostly negative” rating with just 21% of its reviews being positive.
“People who bought the $100 Digital Premium Edition or $200 Aigis Edition should be entitled to this,” wrote Crazydog1435, referencing that most deluxe editions now come with the season pass included. “Love how this doesn’t come with any of the expensive editions,” said Timo654.
“Great game but this remake shouldn’t have been advertised as a Persona 3 remake without FES content just for this to be announced a month later for such an egregious price and not included in the big versions we’ve already bought,” said Photo.
Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma said upon its announcement that Atlus “wanted to really genuinely work on recreating the Persona 3 experience” so wouldn’t be remaking the extra content from FES or Portable. Wada assured the decision to remake the FES content was made after this, though certainly before he promised the base game was a “complete experience”.
“Devs lie saying ‘no FES content planned’ yet this releases just over a month after initial release,” said thatguyoverthere. “I am the problem. I bought this since it’ll probably be fun, but I’ve spent about $60 in additional content for this game for things that should’ve been in there day one. I really hope this doesn’t happen again with any Atlus or SEGA game.”
Persona 3 Reload also has myriad pieces of downloadable content available at launch including costumes and additional music. IGN has asked Atlus for comment.
Persona 3 Reload is available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X and S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version hasn’t been announced so far, though Persona 3 Reload’s director Takuya Yamaguchi has said it’s not out of the question.
In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “With a stellar visual overhaul and countless small but impactful changes, Persona 3 Reload tells a timeless story of tragedy and hope with sharp emotional sincerity.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
