Remedy Games detailed its approach to Alan Wake 2’s PS5 Pro update in a new post on its official site, explaining that Quality Mode will add ray tracing at the expense of running at 30 FPS, but that the patch will also include big improvements to Performance Mode.
According to the official post, Alan Wake 2’s Quality Mode will run at 30 FPS with ray tracing while outputting at 3840 x 2160 (4K). Its render resolution will be 2176 x 1224. In some ways it’s not surprising given Alan Wake 2’s hefty PC requirements, which recommend at least an RTX 4080 for good performance with ray tracing turned up.
That said, there are still meaningful improvements to be found in the PS5 Pro version of Alan Wake 2 without sacrifing frame-rate. Among other things, Remedy promises “significantly higher output resolution” roughly on par with the base PS5’s Quality mode by pushing the resolution to 4K, aligning it with Sony’s overall sales pitch for the console. It also includes overall improvements to “stability, fog, volumetric lighting, and shadow accuracy.”
“We did multiple experiments, including upgrading the 60fps Performance mode output from 1440p to 4k and adding PSSR (Sony’s AI-based upscaling method), which positively impacted image crispness and stability under motion,” Remedy explained.
“Increasing the internal rendering resolution consumes a lot of processing power, no matter how powerful your hardware is. However, in our experiments, even putting all the added power to increased rendering resolution provided a barely noticeable difference in the output image or its quality. Adding more pixels to gain visual quality is not straightforward with the new AI-based upscaling methods.”
Remedy’s post goes on to detail the ways that the console version incorporates ray tracing as well as its cost, noting how each ray must be “traced, and its hit evaluated and shaded.”
“In a game like Alan Wake 2, its complex light-material interactions and rich environments can make tracing, shading, and denoising even a single ray tracing effect too expensive to justify the cost depending on the hardware,” the post says. “Geometrically Alan Wake 2 is a very dense game. The usage of a GPU-driven rendering pipeline and its fine-grained culling with the skinning ran on GPU made it possible to create densely populated forest scenes with layers and layers of foliage and trees encountered during Saga’s gameplay segments taking place in the lush environments of the Pacific North-West.”
Ultimately, Alan Wake 2 is one of the best-looking games out there right now, so the results should be impressive no matter which mode you choose. It’ll join a handful of other games that are getting major upgrades on the PS5 Pro, including Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and several first-party releases. Go here to check out our full impressions of the PS5 Pro, which launches on November 7.
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.
Gangstalk is a cat-and-mouse game in which you play both cat and mouse. It’s a stalking game in which you are the person stalking you and also, you are the person being stalked. By you. Yes, I too am wearing an expression of puppy-eyed dismay and confusion. But it sounds interesting, sufficiently interesting that I can disregard the very loud DYSTOPIAN WORLD framing in the trailer.
It’s now been over a decade since the last new Donkey Kong Country game released (yes, you’re that old), and while the world continues to wait for Nintendo to remember that its beloved ape used to star in a really good platforming series of his own, other developers have stepped up to try to fill the void. Indie releases such as Kaze and the Wild Masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all done an exceptional job of emulating the things that made DK’s old side-scrolling romps so enjoyable and now another contender has stepped up to the plate.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World, the inaugural release of Cyprus-based VEA Games, not only does a great job of recreating DK’s best adventures with its own twist, but it takes things a step further by also calling back to the gameplay style of some other classic platformer mascots. And while, yes, one could make the argument that Nikoderiko is a little too comfortable riding the coattails of the classics without adding many of its own ideas, it does such a good job of capturing what made those games great that it hardly matters. Nikoderiko doesn’t eclipse the projects that served as its clear inspirations, but it provides an enjoyable and challenging platforming adventure that we’d suggest to any fans of the genre.
Rejoice PlayStation players, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is almost here. In fact, we’re so close to launch that starting today, if you’ve pre-ordered the game – you can begin pre-loading to make sure you’re ready for day one.
Ahead of launch, we wanted to go a little deeper today into MP and Zombies to make sure there are no details you’re missing. Let’s break down some key components around what to expect.
The multiplayer experience
From new maps and modes to new weapons and equipment, Black Ops 6 gameplay will be an experience unlike any other. There will be the core 6v6 modes you’ve come to know and love from Call of Duty, plus an all-new core 6v6 mode, Kill Order, where you must eliminate the enemy High Value Target (HVT) while protecting your own. In addition to these, jump into 2v2 Gunfight, as well as Face Off Alts of several of the 6v6 modes. Finally, looking for a challenge where your matches only have a limited HUD, friendly fire is enabled, and your health is lowered significantly? Then, prepare for Hardcore, scheduled for launch on certain playlists.
We will have 16 brand-new maps at launch split into two main categories: twelve brand-new Core 6v6 maps and four brand-new, compact-sized Strike maps designed to be played in either 6v6 or 2v2 configurations. We know you got to see several of the maps in the Beta, such as Scud, Rewind, Skyline, Babylon, and Derelict, but you can expect to find incredible action-packed moments on maps you have yet to experience.
There’s Lowtown, a dockside neighborhood with a boat house, fishing shed, lattices to climb, and a canal to swim in. There’s also Vault, a large, lush playspace set within a desert landscape adorned with monuments, sculptures, a central palace, and even an opulent atrium. And this just scratches the surface, there are many more maps to explore from October 25 and on, not to mention the bevy of maps coming in post-launch seasons.
There are over 20 Black Ops 6 Operators to choose from at launch, with some allied to the Rogue Black Ops Faction, and others allied to Crimson One. To give you a little background on these operators. Rogue Black Ops is on the run and being hunted by their former employers. This team seeks to uncover the truth regarding the infiltration of the CIA and expose the conspiracy. As they no longer have state backing, much of their equipment is either improvised, supplied by contacts from other intelligence services, purchased from criminals, or supplied on the promise of IOUs.
They know who’s hunting them and refer to them as “Crimson One.” Crimson One represents the CIA operation initiated to hunt down the Rogue squad. The team is officially sanctioned by the CIA and has access to all intel and tools to complete the job.
By now, you should have heard plenty about the brand-new Omnimovement system coming to Black Ops 6, the most fluid boots-on-the-ground Call of Duty movement system to date. Omnimovement will go across all game modes, but make sure to utilize it in Multiplayer to live out those spy-thriller action-hero moments you’ve always dreamed of.
Weapons & equipment
When it comes to the weapons you’ll be using in Multiplayer, it all starts where you choose your loadouts: the Weapons Menu, which has been streamlined in Black Ops 6 for an approachable, intuitive experience as you level up your weapons over time. Black Ops 6 is set to bring an exceptional arsenal of weaponry and equipment to the game – including returning favorites from the Black Ops universe and weapons all new to the franchise. The primary and secondary weapons slots are going to be your bread-and-butter, but for the first time you have a dedicated third slot to equip a melee weapon, so that knife or bat is always an option when things get heated in close-quarters combat.
Finally, Perks and Wildcard slots in your loadouts will change the way you play, so make sure you’re thinking strategically as you make your choices. Then, tactical and lethal equipment, as well as Field Upgrades and Scorestreaks will round out your arsenal with an array of choices unlocking as you level up and progress, with some new options such as the exciting War Cry Field Upgrade that rallies your team, improves nearby teammates’ movement and health regen speed for a short time. Get ready to gear up!
Zombies
Round-Based Zombies is back in a massive way, with Treyarch delivering the goods across gameplay, narrative, and maps in Black Ops 6 Zombies.
Check out the previous PlayStation Blog post for the full details of Round-Based Zombies, but there are a few key things we wanted to remind you of. There’s a dedicated crew that are the heart of the story for Black Ops 6 Zombies, which continues the Dark Aether storyline that started in Black Ops Cold War. While you can jump into Zombies with any MP operator you’d like, the characters of Weaver, Grey, Carver, and Maya make up the Terminus team, drive the narrative forward, and are the gateway to the most robust experience you can have with this mode.
Then there are the maps, which are basically characters unto themselves. There will be two Round-Based maps at launch, Terminus and Liberty Falls, with additional maps coming in the post-launch seasons. We also went into details on these maps in a previous Blog post, so check that out for more details, but know there will be no shortage of unique and harrowing environments as you and your squad battle into higher and higher rounds.
Finally, the zombie-fighting tools at your disposal will be robust as ever with the return of Perk-a-Colas, Field Upgrades, Wonder Weapons, GobbleGums, Ammo Mods, and the introduction of Augments, which allow you to customize your Perks, Ammo Mods, and Field Upgrades.
One more thing! For the first time in Call of Duty Zombies history, if you’re playing Zombies solo you can elect to save your solo match at any time and return to it later, provided you’re at full health, aren’t downed, dead, or actively engaged in an exfil. (A relief for many, to be sure).
Progression & prestige
Black Ops 6 marks the anticipated return of a more traditional Prestige system, back in Call of Duty and bigger than ever. Players who reach and complete Max level 55 can choose to Prestige and restart their Leveling over again (while losing some already unlocked items), but this time with the chance to earn exclusive rewards along the way – – we know it’ll be worth the effort. But Prestige isn’t the only Progression system that’s gotten a major upgrade this year.
The Treyarch team has set out to build the most rewarding Progression and Challenge systems ever delivered in a Call of Duty game in Black Ops 6 and there’s a ton of unlockable content packed into the game on Day one. Earn XP from by performing well, playing the Objective, earning Medals, and completing challenges, like Calling Card challenges and Reticle challenges.
Additionally, brand new for Black Ops 6, every Weapon, Equipment, Field Upgrade, and Scorestreak in your loadout has a set of MP and Zombies Master Badges to progress through as you master each piece of Gear.
Those are some of the high-level details you can expect for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Don’t forget to pre-order and pre-load starting today so you can hop right in on October 25 and experience it for yourself.
Hit indie title Vampire Survivors is getting its biggest chunk of downloadable content to date in the Ode to Castlevania expansion releasing on Halloween.
Developer poncle revealed a trailer for the DLC on X/Twitter, below. It contains more than 20 characters and 40 weapons alongside one massive stage “and more” for $3.99. “There’s so much content you’re guaranteed at least another 10 hours of gameplay,” poncle said.
A stylish animated trailer shows a combination of Vampire Survivors’ pixel art gameplay with slick Castlevania animations showing off a handful of the characters arriving in the game. Ode to Castlevania will come to all platforms where Vampire Survivors is available on Halloween.
the new Vampire Survivors DLC NO ONE expected! Ode to Castlevania is coming October 31st to all platforms 🍷
our biggest DLC to date, there’s so much content you’re guaranteed at least another 10 hours of gameplay 😈
— Vampire Survivors 🦇🧄 Ode to Castlevania 31st Oct (@poncle_vampire) October 21, 2024
Vampire Survivors is a fast-paced and over the top gothic horror game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you. It became one of the biggest surprise hits of the last few years as what launched as a humble indie game on Steam blew up in popularity and snowballed itself.
In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Need a game to play while listening to podcasts? This is it. Vampire Survivors is outwardly simple but turns out to be an incredibly deep hole to fall down — though it’s not without extended dull periods when you get ahead of its curve.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
If you’re fondly dreaming of an actual Steam Deck 2, not some half-and-half OLED travesty, you should also be fondly dreaming of a better class of battery. Valve designers Lawrence Yang and Yazan Aldehayyat have shared a little of the company’s thinking regarding “generational leaps” in hardware, commenting that they don’t want to release a Steam Deck sequel that is “only incrementally better”, and in particular, that they don’t want to release a new Steam Deck that is drastically more powerful at the expense of battery life.
Alan Wake 2 gets a chunky patch tomorrow, October 22, as developer Remedy Entertainment has unveiled the Anniversary Update.
A blog post outlined the myriad additions coming to Alan Wake 2 in a major update to its acccessibility settings, with Remedy adding options such as infinite ammo and one shot kills. The update is free and launches alongside but not as part of the The Lake House expansion.
Alongside the accessibility additions comes the ability to invert the horizontal axis and not just the vertical, plus updates to DualSense functionality on PlayStation 5 such as motion control support and more haptic feedback. The full patch notes are available below.
“We can’t believe it’s been almost a year since Alan Wake 2 was released,” Remedy said. “Thank you to everyone who has played the game and become a member of our fanbase and the Remedy community, no matter when you joined us or how long you’ve been a fan.”
Alan Wake 2 arrived in 2023 as a survival horror game following the titular writer who continues to face psychological horror beyond anything imagined in his books. In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Alan Wake 2 is a superb survival horror sequel that makes the cult-classic original seem like little more than a rough first draft by comparison.”
As of August, Alan Wake 2 had yet to turn a profit for Remedy, but it had recouped most of its development and marketing expenses.
Alan Wake 2 Anniversary Update patch notes
Added the ability to invert the X (horizontal) axis on mouse and controller, and not just the Y (vertical) axis
Added gyro aiming (motion controls) support on PlayStation 5
You can turn the motion sensor function on and off, as well as tweak horizontal and vertical sensitivity, set gyro space, and choose whether your pitch, yaw, and roll directions are standard or inverted
Added haptic feedback to healing items and throwables on PlayStation 5
Added Gameplay Assist menu in Gameplay Options, which contains several options such as:
Quick turn
Auto complete QTE
Button tapping to single tap
Weapon charging with taps
Healing items with taps
Lightshifter with taps
Player invulnerability
Player immortality
One shot kill
Infinite ammo
Infinite flashlight batteries
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Since this is a Sonic review I’ll go fast and cut to the chase: Sonic X Shadow Generations is a fantastic combination of one of the Blue Blur’s classics and a new helping of smartly designed Shadow levels built around his own abilities, and after spending some time with it has become one of my favorite Sonic games I’ve ever played. Sega and Sonic Team have learned from their recent attempts, Frontiers and Superstars, and have found clever ways to weave the best ideas of those games into a major refresh of a fan favorite. And certainly, when it comes to Shadow the Hedgehog, this is his definitive game.
Half of the content of Sonic X Shadow Generations is remastered from 2011’s Sonic Generations, which we gave an 8.5 In ourreview back then. It does have a few new bells and whistles, like the adorable Chao hidden in each 2D and 3D stages, but other than their level designs are mostly unchanged because they hold up just fine. I’d like to imagine that the Chao are a hint that we’ll see the return of the Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure 2 in a future Sonic game, but for now they’re just a nice homage.
If you never played the original, it’s definitely worth experiencing it for the first time here: Sonic Generations is a stellar combination of 2D and 3D gameplay that celebrated what was at the time a 20-year history by curating and recreating some of the best and most iconic Sonic levels that had come before. Shadow Generations wastes no time showcasing its creativity with multiple stand-out moments. The very first stage, or instance, transforms into fractals and looks like the alternate dimensions we’ve seen in Dr. Strange or Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The levels from Sonic Generations also get a slight but noticeable graphical boost thanks to the current generation of consoles: environments look more polished and the colors are more vibrant, making enemies, hazards, and springs just a bit more noticeable when you’re moving at high speed. So by default this is the best way to play it, even if the difference isn’t night and day.
This is the best way to play Generations, even if the difference isn’t night and day.
However, the real reason you’d want to play Sonic X Shadow Generations is the all-new campaign filled with creative reimaginings of Shadow’s stages from his past appearances throughout the Sonic series. Shadow’s five-hour campaign is separate from the Generations storyline but plays out in a similar way, in that each stage has one part in 2D and another in 3D. Shadow’s stages have all the fast-paced appeal you’d expect to get when playing as Sonic, similar to when new paths open up when replaying a stage after Sonic has gained the light dash ability. Shadow starts with a similar skill called the Chaos Dash, and then goes on to open up even more pathways when returning to stages with abilities like the Doom Wings that let you fly short distances and skip whole sections of levels, making them play very differently.
Shadow’s Chaos Control ability also creates fantastic moments where he does things like freeze time to destroy a missile flying at him in a flashy mini cutscene. And, unlike in the 2D Sonic stages that play like classic Sonic with no homing attack or boost gauge, Shadow keeps all his abilities for his 2D sections so they feel just as fast as his 3D stages.
Besides the main stages there are various challenge stages with objectives like requiring you to destroy enough targets before reaching the goal, or finish a hazard-filled level with a single ring to unlock bosses and the next set of stages. It’s similar to Sonic Generations, with the main difference being that you need to complete all of the challenges to acquire the keys you need, instead of just one. I do miss the collecting of the Chaos Emeralds you get in Sonic Generations, because some of them had fun rival boss battles against characters like Metal Sonic and Silver, but since Sonic is collecting them in his portion of the story it wouldn’t make much sense for Shadow to be collecting them at the same time in his.
With both campaigns combined, the total number of stages is now over 150.
With both campaigns combined, the total number of stages is now over 150, including traditional, challenge, and boss stages. That would take even an avid Sonic fan about 15 to 20 hours to burn through. And for those looking for even more challenges, completing the Shadow campaign will unlock a new option that increases the difficulty of bosses and challenge levels when replaying them.
Though minimal, there are some new storylines that creatively weave between games where Shadow has appeared, tying them into big moments we’ve seen in past games, like Sonic and Shadow’s duel in Sonic Adventure 2. There is also a healthy dose of new scenes filling in Shadow’s past that reunite him with friends and foes, and offer more context to his storylines in games like Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Adventure 2. These moments ranged from fascinating to kickass, and they always left me wanting more.
Like Sonic’s, Shadow’s is made up of fun reimaginations of some of his best stages across past Sonic games. We’ve got new versions of levels like Radical Highway, Rail Canyon, and the Space Colony Ark, and each stage is packed to the brim with creative routes that make good use of Shadow’s old and new abilities.
He begins with his iconic Chaos Control ability, which stops time (including the stage timer) and allows you to outrun hazards like a runaway train, stop groups of enemies in their tracks so you can dispatch them with ease, or use the new Chaos Dash to reach strategically placed shortcuts.
From there, you unlock Doom abilities that give you new options for movement and combat. Without going into spoiler territory, one of my favorites that you get about midway through his story is Doom Surf. This power makes water levels a lot more fun by giving you a shadowy manta ray that can spin-attack through enemies and objects. These abilities are handed out after finishing a group of stages or an area’s boss, and they come at a fast enough pace to keep things consistently interesting and different from what came before.
Doom Surf makes water levels a lot more fun.
There are also some creative and enjoyable new versions of boss fights, like a metallic dragon that has you chasing him on the water, knocking trash into him, and charging up so you can unleash Chaos Control and land some real damage with a homing attack. I wish there were more of those, but those that are here make excellent use of the most recent Doom abilities and are all fantastic additions to the collection of egg robots and various other bosses from Sonic history.
In fact, the only stage that broke my momentum and reminded me of the missteps of modern Sonic games was the Sonic Frontiers 3D stage. It feels empty compared to most of Sonic X Shadow Generations and had an overreliance on a new sludge-based upgrade for Shadow that reminded me of one of my least favorite Wisp powers from Sonic Colors. Other than that, though, I enjoyed replaying every stage to find optimal paths, gather collectible keys to unlock secrets in the hub world, and improve my runs until I earned the coveted S-rankings.
Sonic X Shadow Generations also evolves the all-white hub world of Sonic Generations by taking it from a 2D plane to a three-dimensional one that expands outwards as you complete all the stages in a section and its accompanying boss. In between stages, I’d spend some time exploring the hub world to see what chests I could open using the keys I’d collected, as well as completing various optional activities like collecting 100 rings in a short amount of time to unlock multiple rewards like artwork, music, or journal entries about characters and the events of Shadow’s life.
Similar to his blue counterpart, Shadow also has stages that are entirely locked to the old-school 2D perspective, and they feel right at home as he races his way to the goal. Besides a McDonalds toy called the Shadow Grinder from 2003 and a DLC stage in Sonic Forces: Episode Shadow, this is the first time we’ve gotten multiple full-2D Shadow levels, and it was interesting to see how his expanded move set impacted their designs. Abilities like Chaos Spears allowed me to hit switches from a distance to open up alternate paths, while Doom Surf meant no longer having to deal with those underwater sections of Sonic games that a lot of people don’t enjoy – you can just surf right on top of the water until reaching land.
Finally, I have to call out that the music accompanying our favorite hedgehogs as they race to the goal line is excellent, the guitar riffs for stages like Radical Highway and Space Colony Ark return, and are joined by some fantastic tracks like Crush 40’s All Hail Shadow and Sonic Heroes Rail Canyon theme. One of my favorite elements of the Generations games is the selectable background music for every stage and challenge, so if you only want to hear Live & Learn across every stage like the Crush 40 sicko you are, you can do that! The only catch is that you have to find some music tracks in chests scattered across the Shadow’s hub world or by collecting the musical notes and Red rings in Sonics to unlock them, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
Back in the protean stink of 2013, the beast we call Factorio sprouted in lowercase early access form and began its meticulous, ravenous conquest of the emerging factory sim genre. Some say that Factorio gave that genre life, though I’d point at Dwarf Fortress as one among many notable forebears. Today, the terrain of factory simming is hotly contested by rival piles of conveyor belt spaghetti. I’m not just talking about Satisfactory or Shapez – they’re even making philosophical factory sims these days. They have cosy factory sims now.
Accordingly, the immense, smoke-rimmed cyborg eye of Factorio has turned from the exhausted soil to the relatively untapped heavens. Somewhere up there, there is unspoilt territory. Somewhere, there is land that has never known the roar of a smelter – and in Factorio’s behemothic Space Age DLC, out today, you will find it.
When Blumhouse Productions announced its venture into the video game industry with Blumhouse Games, it would have been all too easy for the company to lean on some of its most recognisable IPs for its first release. Franchises such as Insidious, The Purge, Sinister, and Paranormal Activity certainly have strong potential within the video game realm, but Blumhouse has instead chosen to take a chance on two-person development team Cozy Game Pals and their debut title, Fear the Spotlight.
And boy, was it the right decision! With its low-fi, PS1-style visuals, tactile puzzles, and a sharp focus on atmosphere and dread, Fear the Spotlight is a wonderful venture into the unknown that will keep you enthralled throughout its five-to-six-hour runtime. Very minor performance hiccups aside, if you’re after something spooky yet approachable to complement your Halloween celebrations this year, Cozy Game Pals’ narrative horror is the perfect choice.
