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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s First Major Post-Launch Update Out Now, Adds New PvE Map and Lethal Difficulty

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has launched its first major update, adding a new PvP map and Lethal difficulty for free to all players across all platforms.

Update 4.0 adds new PvE map Termination, which is available in the Operations game mode. As revealed this week, Termination sees players battle against a huge Tyranid Hierophant Bio-Titan, added to the game for the first time, on the planet Kadaku.

Elsewhere, the update adds a new, even harder difficulty called Lethal. This is difficulty five of five for Operations mode. And photo mode is now available in Operations (works only in solo), with characters able to follow the camera with their eyes.

It’s worth noting that from a balance perspective, Update 4.0 makes a number of significant changes, with the upshot of making Operations mode harder. Check out the patch notes below, where the developers explain the tweaks.

Coming later is the new weapon, the Neo-Volkite pistol (this is also free for all players). Termination, the Bio-Titan, the Neo-Volkite pistol, and the Lethal difficulty are all part of Space Marine 2 Season 2, which runs until the end of 2024.

The hotly anticipated cosmetics for the Dark Angels chapter of Space Marines, available through the game’s premium season pass, are due out at some point during the Season 2 period.

These cosmetics, when they do hit the game, will add new weapon styles, armor pieces, and color schemes featuring the Unforgiven (the name given to the Dark Angels chapter following the disastrous events of the Horus Heresy in Warhammer 40,000 lore). The Dark Angels Champion Pack, meanwhile, includes a full armor set for the Bulwark class.

Publisher Focus Entertainment has teased what’s to come with Seasons 3 and 4, including a new PvP game mode and PvP arena, as well as a Horde mode. Eagle-eyed fans, meanwhile, have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, and even an unannounced new Thousand Sons enemy type.

Saber recently released Space Marine 2’s game-changing patch 3.0, which made a seemingly innocuous change to the ending that got Warhammer 40,000 fans excited. Meanwhile, IGN interviewed Tim Willits, Chief Creative Officer at developer Saber Interactive, about Space Marine 2’s record-breaking success. He revealed the boost he expects the PS5 Pro will give Space Marine 2, discussed how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the studio, and how protective Games Workshop is over the Warhammer 40,000 brand.

This week, Focus announced Space Marine 2 had sold an incredible 4.5 million copies in just over a month. It’s already the most-played Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 video game of all time on Steam.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 4.0 patch notes:

NEW FEATURES

New Operation – Termination

This new Operation takes place on planet Kadaku. New dreadful foes have arrived. Make good use of the artillery to annihilate them.

Added Lethal difficulty for Operations

Major highlights of it:

Ammo Crates have limited refills per player.
Majoris enemies can become enraged and will be more deadly and harder to kill.
Armour restores from finishers only if you stay close to your battle-brothers.”
Overcoming such a challenge will grant you new cosmetics…

Added photo mode in Operations (works only in solo). Also, characters can now follow the camera with their eyes.

GAMEPLAY AND BALANCING TWEAKS

Melee Archetypes: Fencing weapons’ perfect parry window will now have the same duration as balanced weapons but it will start from the first frame of parry animation.

Melee Perks: Chainsword, Power Fist, Combat Knife charged attacks perks get significant damage increase.

Basic Auspex Scan: bonus damage on bosses is reduced by 30%.

Melta Charge: damage to bosses is reduced by 70%.

Enemy Spawn Director PvE:

Tweaked idle spawns.
Enemy variety within waves is now less random while enemy variety between waves is bigger.
Extremis enemies can now spawn have additional enemies.

Difficulty:

Ruthless: Ammo crates have limited refills per player.
Ruthless: Player’s armour reduced by 20%.
Substantial: Player’s armour reduced by 10%

Note from the devs:

“With Patch 3 we have noticed that Operations mode became noticeably easier, especially Chaos operations. We are happier with what we have right now compared to what we had on release, because before Patch 3 Chaos missions were unpopular. Still, we think that currently Operations mode is a bit too easy.

“Overall these changes are going to make Operations mode harder, but it is difficult to measure by how much. We will continue to monitor those changes and will continue to adjust the balance of Operations mode. This is not the last change.”

PVP

Increased delay between announcer messages in PvP.
The starting animation of the Grapnel Launcher for the Vanguard is shorter in PvP.
Fixed Power Fist in PvP dealing too much damage with short charged attacks.

AI

Enemy Dodges: Globally replaced full invulnerability on dodge moves of enemies with heavy melee damage resistance.
Rubric Marine with Boltgun: Disengage teleport max distance is slightly reduced.

CUSTOMISATION

More options for colours customisation for Chaos:
- Tertiary colours: Sotek Green, Night Lords Blue, Death Guard Green, Khorne Red.
Decal colours: Sotek Green, Khorne Red.
Colours: Added Liberator Gold colour to default for primary and secondary colours palettes.
Fixed a lot of issues with display of colours, now they should be more lore accurate (Mechanicus Standard Grey, Ushabti Bone, Phoenician Purple, The Fang, Iron Hands Steel, Retributor Armour).
Decals: Added new Chaos faction decals for the right shoulder.

LEVELS

Vox Liberatis – Daemonhost: Disabled respawn until the last altar in the final arena.

GENERAL FIXES

Fixed a bug where the Assault perk “Ascension” could kill its owner.
Fixed a bug where the Sniper perk “Targeted Shot” wasn’t always working in some cases.
Fixed an unintended animation cancel with the Bulwark by using the block, which resulted in faster attacks.
Fixed an issue with the Tactical team perk “Close Targeting” not triggering properly.
Fixed: Tactical perk “Radiating Impact” not triggering properly.
Fixed an issue with the Sniper perk “Guardian Protocol” cooldown not working properly.
Fixed an issue where sound was lost after switching the speaker configuration.
Fixed several issues in Trials.
Fixed several issues that were causing loss of saves.
The Thunder Hammer perk “Patience Rewarded” description is now accurate with its actual effect (added “When your Health is below 30%” part).
Lots of minor UI fixes and improvements.
Lots of minor animation fixes and improvements.
Localisation fixes.

TECH

Crash fixes and general stability improvements.
Fixed several connectivity issues causing disconnects for players.
Slightly improved performance.
Fixed issues controllers not working with Steam Input enabled.

RENDER IMPROVEMENTS

General improvements and fixes.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

IO Interactive fail to mention if a potential Project 007 “trilogy” will feature Hitman’s glorious queues, so who’s to say whether it’s worth my time

In a recent chat with the Ian Games Network, IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak said the Hitman developer “absolutely feel(s) like 20 plus years of training for the agent fantasy, creating an agent that travels the world and globetrotting whatnot, has given us some know-how” on bringing James Bond to the greasy screen (“greasy screen” is my new attempt at coining a “the big/small screen” but for games. I foresee big success.)

Abrak is so confident, in fact, that he reckons their Bond project might end up mirroring the World Of Assassination’s trilogy format. “But what’s exciting about that project is that we actually got to do an original story,” Abrak says. “So it’s not a gamification of a movie. It’s completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future.”

It’s a fine interview, worth a read. But I must ask: how are the queues, Abrak? How am I supposed to get excited about a new IO game if you don’t mention the queues?

‘It Takes Two’ Has Sold A Staggering 20 Million Copies

It takes 20 million, apparently.

Hazelight Studio’s co-op platformer It Takes Two has officially sold over 20 million copies since its initial launch in 2021.

This comes via an announcement from the official social media account confirming the milestone, accompanied by an image of the game’s protagonists, Cody and May. It’s important to note that the platform split for this isn’t available, so it’s unclear how many Switch copies have been sold specifically.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The demo for Streets Of Rogue 2 lets you roleplay as the world’s most violent chef

I punched a cultist in the face in Streets Of Rogue 2, just because. He started running away – something I would not allow. When another robed cultist spotted what was happening, he tried to intervene, and a kind of Benny Hill pursuit chain began. We ran across a beach, through public toilets, and into the surf. In the end I had to knock them both out. As they lay unconscious, I worried they might soon wake and tell someone what I had done. This can’t happen, I hate accountability. I punched their unawake bodies toward the sea in an effort to float the evidence away. But after a few punches the first man exploded into chunks of flesh. I am a murderer now. I was supposed to be a chef.

Streets Of Rogue 2 has a demo out for Steam Next Fest, and while a lot of features are locked up behind the word “UNAVAILABLE” in red font, there’s still quite a lot of mischief for you to get up to.

Round Up: The Previews Are In For Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Here’s what the critics are saying.

Although the attention is on Super Mario Party Jamboree this week, next month sees the arrival of the new RPG Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

If you haven’t already seen our own ‘hands on’ here on Nintendo Life, we think this etnry will be worth the wait and seems to take the best bits from the AlphaDream playbook:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Switch Online’s Missions & Rewards Adds Super Mario Party Jamboree Icons

Wave 1 is available now.

To celebrate the arrival of Super Mario Party Jamboree this week, Nintendo has released a brand new wave of Switch Online icons.

The first wave is now available, with rotations lasting until November. The first batch includes avatars for Mario, Bowser, Wario and the rest of the gang. These will set you back 10 Platinum Points each and you can also grab some backgrounds and borders for 5 Platinum Points each.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Nostalgia Perfected – How 8-Bit Adventures 2 Won Hearts with Pixels

Summary

A story rich tribute to the Golden Age of JRPGs nine years in the making.
Strategic turn-based combat with Team Attack finishing moves inspired by pixel adventure classics.
8-Bit Adventures 2 launches on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One today.

“My Final Fantasy.” That’s how I described the first 8-Bit Adventures game in 2015. But while my work was heavily inspired by the legendary series, I really meant this as a personal ultimatum. I’d spent four years making games on PC and mobile which failed to turn a profit. So just like Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of Final Fantasy) in 1987, I was prepared to quit the industry and give up on my dreams if 8-Bit Adventures 1 was a failure.

What a difference nine years can make! Now the sequel 8-Bit Adventures 2 launches today on Xbox, against a backdrop of growing popularity and glowing public reception – including (at the time of writing) an 87 score on Metacritic, a 91 score on OpenCritic, and a Very Positive rating from players on Steam.

It’s been described by players as a “story-telling masterpiece”, with writing that is “inspiring” and which provides an emotional journey that’s “up there with Chrono Trigger” – accompanied by characters that are “grounded and relatable”. Other players said that it’s “a whole, full, new, refreshing, satisfying RPG”, “game of the year on its character writing alone”, and “the best RPG that I’ve played in years.”

Earning that reception has taken nine years of hard work from a team of four. But how was this achieved, and what really makes an RPG special? In 8-Bit Adventures 2, I believe it comes down to three core elements – characters, combat, and community.

The most essential element of any RPG is the characters. If I think back on Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, Persona 5, or Baldur’s Gate 3, the first thing I remember is the cast and how I connected with them. So seeing players relate to every member of the 8-Bit Adventures 2 party has been especially satisfying – be they a sharp-tongued former thief with a heart of gold, a blind martial artist with a desire to prove her worth, or an Exterminator-class robot who struggles with the limitations he was programmed with.

But not only did I want the characters to be memorable and relatable; I wanted them to be always present. One of the issues with a lot of classic RPGs is that you’d only have three or four allies participating in battles and story sequences at once; it was hard to make full use of the entire cast. In 8-Bit Adventures 2, the full party is always present, and you can swap characters in and out of battle without wasting a turn. This means you don’t have to stick with a few favourites while everyone else sits on the bench. Rather, every character gets their time in the spotlight – especially since, inspired by Mother 3, the characters are always visible and showing off their personalities in combat.

And character swapping is not only an option; it’s an integral part of combat. You have seven playable characters, each with an arsenal of unique abilities suited to different situations. But taking a page from Chrono Trigger, we also have Combo and Trio attacks which allow different members of the party to team up and deliver devastating blows. Combined with equipable Augments and Accessories which grant special bonuses and status buffs, and a turn-based system inspired by Final Fantasy X (allowing you to see and manipulate the order of turns ahead of time), you can devise some incredible strategies which take advantage of your entire party in a single fight.

But beyond characters and gameplay mechanics, I feel that 8-Bit Adventures 2 is a game which was shaped by our community. Nine years of development is a long time, but what it also offered was nine years of engaging directly with RPG fans and applying their feedback. This ranged from adding a sprint button, to removing random encounters, to speeding up the flow of dialogue, and much more.

I’ve made it a point to try and respond to every comment about my games, even if it’s just to say thank you. That’s getting progressively harder, but I think it’s really important and can open up some amazing discussions with insightful players. These interactions have encouraged me to put my own passions and inspirations on full display. Because it turns out that if I want to see, for example, a new take on Final Fantasy X’s battle system, a lot of other RPG fans will also feel the same way!

And so I find myself where I was nine years ago – on the verge of releasing another personal “Final Fantasy”. Yet things are different this time. On the one hand, I’ve put almost a decade of my life into this project, so the stakes feel higher than ever – especially since I want to fund future games. But on the other hand, most players and critics love 8-Bit Adventures 2, we’re reaching a wider audience on new platforms like Xbox, and I’m supported by a wonderful community of fans. I’m even reaching media with help from the wonderful team at PR Hound. So rather than an ultimatum, this time it feels like the beginning of something special.

I started making games because I wanted to make people happy – the way titles like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger did for me. I strongly believe that entertainment should leave us in a better place than where it found us. So, if you’re looking for an uplifting experience – and if you love Japanese-style RPGs, turn-based combat, or story rich games – I sincerely invite you to try 8-Bit Adventures 2, out today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S!

8-Bit Adventures 2

Critical Games

☆☆☆☆☆
1

★★★★★

$19.99

Get it now

8-Bit Adventures 2 features everything you love about classic JRPGs. An earnest, engaging storyline; relatable, easy-to-love characters; strategic turn-based combat; deep party customization; an unforgettable soundtrack; and a large, fantastical world – traversed by Airship, and brought to life by vibrant 8-Bit inspired visuals.

When a mistreated child with impossible powers threatens to reshape the world, a hero’s disappearance kicks off a grand adventure – and a battle for survival…

While it may be a sequel, anyone can jump into this all-new JRPG experience!

The post Nostalgia Perfected – How 8-Bit Adventures 2 Won Hearts with Pixels appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Get a 2TB PS5 SSD with Heatsink for Only $120

We’ve seen the cost of SSDs trending upward for most of 2024, but lately it looks like prices have normalized and are even starting to drop back down. Today, Amazon is offering the Nextorage Japan 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SSD) for $119.99 exclusively for Prime members. This SSD includes a preinstalled heatsink for PS5 compatibility out of the box.

Nextorage Japan 2TB PS5 SSD for $119.99

Amazon Prime member exclusive

The PlayStation 5 console comes with a 1TB SSD, but 300GB of that is reserved for the OS, leaving around 700GB left over for games. That space will run out quickly because some games take up an enormous amount of space, especially if you buy digital copies. For example, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and NBA 2K25 all require 140GB each. Even older games like God of War: Ragnarok, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon Forbidden West require 90GB of space apiece.

The Nextorage Japan SSD is a guaranteed fit in both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Slim consoles. Performance-wise, it boasts read speeds of 7,300MB/s and write speeds of 6,900MB/s, which is well above Sony’s minimum recommendation of 5,600MB/s. It’s also pre-equipped with a low-profile aluminum heatsink. The 2TB capacity triples the storage of a PS5 or doubles the storage of a PS5 Pro, which should be enough for most people.

Is Nextorage legit?

There’s an interesting story behind Nextorage Japan. Nextorage describes itself as a company that was “created by a group of ex-Sony engineers and staff with over 20 years of experience in the development of memory and storage products.” Nextorage was originally created by Sony in 2019 as an SSD sub-division about a year before the PS5 was released. Presumably this was to be the basis for an official SSD sold by Sony direct. For whatever reason, Sony decided to ditch that idea and sold this business to another stakeholder in the company, Phison, in 2022. Phison is another large reputable company that specializes in solid state memory controllers. You’ll find its controllers in name-brand SSDs like Seagate, Corsair, and Sabrent. Under Phison, Nextorage Japan eventually accomplished the goal of releasing an SSD catered specifically for the PS5 console in the form of this product right here.

Alternative for Non-Prime Members

Amazon also has the PS5 compatible Lexar NM790 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SSD) with pre-installed heatsink for only $128.99. This deal does not require an Amazon Prime membership. Lexar is a well-known and established flash memory brand and its SSD has garnered plenty of positive reviews. Performance-wise, it boasts read speeds of 7,400MB/s and write speeds of 6,500MB/s and it also includes a pre-attached heatsink.

If you’re not sure which SSD to get and need some advice, check out our favorite SSDs for the PS5. If you want more deal options, here’s a list of all of the best PS5 SSD deals available right now. For those of you who don’t yet own a PS5 console, the new PS5 Pro is currently up for preorder and ships out next month. This is a more powerful version of the PS5 with double the storage capacity at a significantly higher price.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Don’t Nod Announces Layoffs That Could Impact Up to 69 Workers

Don’t Nod’s ongoing struggles continue, with the company announcing it’s preparing to implement a reorganization that could result in layoffs of up to 69 employees.

The announcement comes with the company’s financial results for the first half of the year today, which showed an 11% year-over-year decline in operating revenue. Per the company, the decline is the result of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jusant not performing as well as expected.

“Our half-year results for 2024 reflect the economic underperformance of our latest release, despite solid ratings on Metacritic, as well as the accounting impact of the decisions we had to take,” said CEO Oskar Guilbert in a statement. “The initial performance support measures announced last spring no longer seem sufficient to maintain the company’s competitiveness. As a result, today we presented a reorganization project to the employee representative bodies, which could set Don’t Nod on a new development trajectory. I am fully conscious of the impact this project may have on all our employees. Securing our company’s resources and restoring its ability to perform more in an increasingly competitive and selective industry is extremely necessary.”

Our half-year results for 2024 reflect the economic underperformance of our latest release, despite solid ratings on Metacritic

The company has already taken some restructuring measures to reduce costs, including “pressing pause” on two unannounced projects. However, this seems to not be enough, as Don’t Nod is also expecting to lay off a number of individuals in the coming months. The exact number is still in flux, as Don’t Nod management must negotiate with employee union representatives and may implement other measures such as a voluntary redundancy plan. Notably, earlier this year, the representative French union Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) accused the company of mismanagement, claiming employees were facing burnout due to the ongoing reorganization and that communication, understaffing, and shifting deadlines were endangering the workforce.

According to a games industry layoff tracker, over 13,000 game developers have been laid off just this year (including 32 just yesterday at Riot Games). Over 10,000 developers were laid off in 2023 and over 8,000 in 2022. We’ve previously reported on how the ongoing industry mass layoffs have impacted those affected by them.

Don’t Nod has said that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is still on track for its February 18, 2025 release, and that two other projects in development are expected to release before the end of 2027.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

The Best TV for PlayStation 5 Pro Is on Sale Today

One of the best high-end TV deals is discounted early for Black Friday. Amazon is offering the 65″ LG Evo C3 4K OLED Smart TV for only $1,296.99. This is a 2023 model that has been superseded by the 2024 C4 model, however both TVs have nearly identical picture quality and the C4 is $300 more expensive right now.

LG’s C-series OLED TVs have won top spots in several of our buying guides, including best 4K TV, best TV for gaming, and best TV for the PlayStation 5. It’s a great match for the new and more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro that’s currently up for preorder.

65″ LG Evo C3 4K OLED Smart TV: The Best PS5 TV

The C3 is the previous generation 2023 model among LG’s highly vaunted C-series OLED TV lineup. Compared to a traditional LED LCD TV, an OLED TV offers superior image quality, near-infinite blacks, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times. The C3 uses LG’s Evo panel, which offers higher brightness levels than traditional OLED TVs. Because of these advantages, the OLED TV excels at displaying 4K HDR content in all of its intended glory. Compared to other OLED TVs, LG has the most generations of updates and improvements.

The C3 also has all the features you’d want in a gaming TV. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports all capable of up to 120Hz refresh rate at 4K resolution. That’s great news for PS5 (and now PS5 Pro), Xbox Series X, and PC gamers, since several games can be played at frame rates of 120fps. The C3 also supports variable refresh rate (VRR) including Nvidia G-Sync and auto low latency mode (ALLM). When connected to a PC, it supports chroma 4:4:4 for better text legibility.

A particularly nice feature that isn’t advertised often is the surprisingly light weight of the C3. The 65″ TV weighs in at only 36.6 pounds without the stand. That’s because the rear cabinet housing is made of a composite fiber that’s lighter than the plastics most TVs use. It might not matter much in the long term, but this is a welcome advantage when you are first setting up your TV, especially if you plan on wall mounting.

What’s the difference between the 2023 C3 and the 2024 C4?

The LG Evo C3 is a 2023 model, just one year behind the 2024 LG Evo C4. So what are the differences? Aside from the $300 price difference, not much. The most important trait – picture quality – is more or less identical. Where the C4 improves on the C3 are an upgraded processor, newer WebOS smart interface, and a higher 144Hz refresh rate, all of which are updates that you may very well never notice.

Should You Buy Now or Wait for Black Friday?

Although this is an extremely good discount for one of our favorite gaming TVs, you may be wondering if you should wait until Black Friday to make a purchase. Black Friday 2024 will definitely have more options available, however if this particular model drops in price even more, it certainly won’t be by too much. Whatever you decide, this discount makes this easily one of the best TV deals right now.