Alien Hominid was a run-and-gun Adobe Flash game originally released in 2002 via influential website Newgrounds. It then got a vastly improved HD release on various consoles between 2003 and 2007.
That HD re-release is now being re-released, and this time it’s heading back to PC. It’ll have upgraded graphics and weekly and monthly leaderboards when it arrives sometime this year, alongside a sequel.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide features fun, grisly, co-op combat, but at launch was criticised for live service cruft – from an incomplete crafting system to meagre progression rewards. Some criticism also fell upon its four classes, who lacked the ‘career’ subclasses of its developer’s previous game, Vermintide 2.
Darktide’s classes will therefore get an overhaul October 4th, when an update will introduce skill trees for each class.
VALORANT, Riot’s popular first-person tactical shooter, is all about quick reflexes, teamwork, and hard fought duels across a wide selection of maps. During the VALORANT Champions Tour Grand Finals, or VCT for short, Riot took time to unveil its tenth standard map, Sunset, which is heavily inspired by Riot’s hometown of Los Angeles. Sunset joins the map pool roughly five months after the release of VALORANT’s 21st agent (well, 22 if you’re big into the lore,) and native Angeleno, Gekko (You can check out his abilities in our VALORANT guide).
Sunset is as gorgeous as its namesake, featuring a neon sunset glow that highlights the cultural staples of LA scattered throughout the map. The map includes both Art Deco and Mission-style architecture, and even graffiti that Riot sourced from a few local LA artists. There are also unending traffic jams that plague LA and food trucks, which are one of my favorite staples when I visit. There are also a few areas like the clock tower and parking lot affected by Radianite, though why they have a different look compared to the Radianite affected areas on other maps is being kept under wraps for now.
The gorgeous neon sunset glow apparently wasn’t as simple as changing the color palette of the skybox. When asked about any unexpected challenges in designing the map Joe Lansford, the Lead Map Designer, explained “Getting the lighting right took a lot of fine tuning and collaboration between art and design. We wanted to hit the mood of an LA sunset with a pink skyline and long shadows, but those aren’t great for gameplay. After a lot of back and forth, we think we found that sweet spot that captures both the tone and clarity we want.” But how does it play? IGN got to fly around Sunset in spectator mode for a bit ahead of its official release.
Sunset is a three lane, two site map with the usual adornments of boxes, barrels, and other VALORANT staples to give both attackers and defenders various angles to cover. However, the big element of Sunset is its emphasis on controlling mid. By design, Sunset has nice long sightlines making rifles a great option for either side, perfect for fans of the Breeze map before the overhaul.
My initial time spent on Sunset wasn’t what I would call “successful” – experienced Rioters made quick work of me while I was still trying to learn a new map, plus I had been skipping VALORANT practice these last few months. I did, however, manage to plant the spike in one of the rounds and assist enough to allow a teammate of mine to clutch out the round, so I’ll take that as a small victory.
Though I didn’t get the glory, I was happy for us to take the round. Each round I noticed my damage output and survival time improving which was victory enough for me on the day, which I think speaks to the readability of Sunset. While VALORANT has been off my mind for the past month or two with – thanks to what feels like a neverending release schedule of amazing games this year. The neon glow of golden hour on Sunset might be the trick to get it back in my rotation.
Factorio developers Wube have been teasing an expansion for a couple of years, but they’ve now announced what it is. It’s called Factorio: Space Age, and it’s about constructing space platforms in orbit and then visiting four new planets, each with their own resources for you to exploit and challenges for you to overcome with conveyor belts and robot arms.
Earlier this week, we learned that Ice-T himself will be making an appearance in Payday 3, courtesy of a reveal during gamescom Opening Night Live 2023. But the extent of his involvement in the game was still a little murky…until we sat down with the Payday 3 team at gamescom to clear things up.
Below is our full, detailed Q&A with Payday 3 lead producer Andreas Häll-Penninger and global brand director Almir Listo about everything Payday 3: it’s planned Unreal 5 update, the new Ice-T heist, its $40 price, and more:
IGN: Why did you decide to launch the Unreal 5 version of Payday 3 after the launch of the game?
Andreas Häll-Penninger: I can take that. So when we started the development of Payday 3, we just had Unreal 4. Unreal 5 wasn’t available, and as Unreal 5 became available, we did look into it and evaluated it. But we just saw that moving and transitioning during development would put some risk to the core experience of the project, and the most important thing for us right now is to make sure that the game is fun and it plays well. So the transition post-launch just makes sense for us from a development point of view.
We saw new footage of the new heist that is available later. Can you tell us a little bit more about this particular one?
AH-P: Yeah. So like you said, in the beta we had a bank, which…has a very classic bank robbery feel to it. It’s very close to the core fantasy. This one is a little bit different, most noticeable. It has a very different setting. It’s also a little bit more stealth-oriented, and it has a very interesting feature where when you steal the loot that you’re after, it degrades over time. So you need to be very quick and very coordinated with your team to get it back to its container before it loses its value.
Almir Listo: It also features a new contractor. So for this heist, we’re working together with Ice-T, who portrays the character of Mac. And apparently, we didn’t know this before, but Ice-T has been a fan of Payday since seven, eight years past. Yeah, Payday 2. So when we reached out to him, he was super excited to work with us. So he’s a new contractor, this is his heist in New Jersey, because he’s from New Jersey, so we had to do that for him.
What was the biggest challenge in developing Payday 3 on the new engine as well? You did talk about the different technical challenges it presented.
AH-P: I think, so Payday 1 and Payday 2 were developed in our in-house engine diesel, and Payday 3 is done on Unreal 4. And one of the biggest challenges that we faced very early on was making sure that we still capture that Payday feel, the moment-to-moment. Because it has a very particular feel. So we worked on that for a very long time and made sure that we had a prototype that felt like Payday before we started fleshing out a lot more features.
I also think something cool that we could prepare properly for Payday 3 was that when we made Payday 2, we didn’t know we were going to be working on it for 10 years. But making Payday 3, we’ve built the proper foundation so that we know that we can continuously update it over time. And with our partner Deep Silver, we can look forward to at least 18 months of post-launch content.
We see a lot of games coming out at the $70 price point. What was the reasoning for the $39.99 release price?
AL: I only have 40 bucks! No, but I think it’s a fair price point for a fair amount of content. Payday: The Heist to the highest, the first game had six heists on launch. Payday 2 had 12, and Payday 3 has eight on launch. But over time, we’re going to add more content, both free and paid, whether it’s characters, heists, weapons, gadgets, new outfits. So over time there’ll be more to enjoy. But I think $40 is a great price point, because if it would be a $70 title, maybe that would be two more years of development or whatever. But we feel this is a good price point for the amount of content you get.
The preview has some mechanics that we weren’t able to do before, like putting the mask on and being able to climb things to help with the stealth gameplay. So what were the biggest changes in Payday 3’s mechanics from Payday 2?
AH-P: What we did early on was really try to identify how we can get closer to what the heist fantasy is all about. So not necessarily looking at mechanics that are like, yes, this would be fun. That’s obviously a very important part of it, but starting with how do we enhance that? So I think, at least for me, and many of the people in the studio, all the new mechanics around hostage management, now you can grab civilians and guards as human shields, you can trade them with the police and negotiate with them, you can trade them between assaults to get resources back. So there’s a lot of things to play with there that really fits into what bank robbery is all about.
AL: For me, it was a lot about retaining the integrity of the game, like the world of Payday. I think with Payday 2 we went over time, we went all over the place trying different things and so on. And for Payday 3, even though the game is an evolution of the series, we still want to pull back the fantasy and make it more mature again. A bit more dark and gritty. So I think that’s reflected in the behavior of the world, how it looks, the atmosphere of it all, how New York feels and so on. But also our characters, that they look five years older. Because a matter of fact, it’s been five years since they retired in Payday 2, and that’s also an important part of making a sequel. That it’s the same world, it’s the same storyline. We haven’t gone and changed everything. It is your OG for coming back into a world of crime for whatever reason that is going to unfold in Payday 3.
Can you actually go into a little bit of the story? Why did they come out of retirement and what have they been up to?
AL: I think we don’t want to spoil too much, but what I can say is that what happened after the White House heist in Payday 2, when they stole their pardons, their presidential pardons, the gang retired, and there were more than 20 people in the Payday gang at the time, they retired and went their different ways, and for whatever reason that we’ll find out in Payday 3, they were forced back into a life of crime. And Mac, the new contractor that is portrayed by Ice-T, including others, are bringing them to New York to help them along.
You did mention earlier that there are going to be some expansions, some free, some not. So how many DLC do you have planned for this game so far?
AL: We’re looking at year one initially, because that’s what we have coming up. But of course we’re fantasizing about what’s to come and there is so much input. I really want to give a shout-out to the community. They’ve been with us through these past 10 years, always having great feedback on what to do, what not to do. And they’ll definitely influence us, I think, as soon as they get to try their hands on the launch content and as soon as they start feedbacking us, we’ll be taking that in and adjusting course probably slightly.
AH-P: Yeah. We want to work with them closely. And then also, even though we haven’t said exactly what we’re going to do for year one, what I can say is that it’s important to us that it’s not just a content treadmill, not only characters and weapons and cosmetics. We want to ensure that we grow the product and we take the experience where we want it to be, and we work together with the community on finding out what’s that going to be long-term.
AL: It’s funny with Payday 2 as well, I remember when we were making collabs initially, we made over 30 different collaborations for Payday 2 over 10 years, the fans were like, “Why did you do this? Why did you add this? Oh no.” And now with Payday 3, they’re like, “When am I going to get my favorite collab back?” So the tide has changed somewhat, but we still want to retain the integrity, focus on the core gang initially, and then over time we’ll try to see what collab should we do, what shouldn’t we do?
AH-P: Yeah. And I think retaining the integrity has a lot to do with collaborating with your community. We have people that have thousands of hours in the game, and Payday 2 has almost been … Almir and I have been at Starbreeze for almost 12 years now and working on Payday 2 for a long time, and Payday 2 for us has almost been like a test bed. We’ve been trying and experimenting a lot with different things, some stuff that works, some that doesn’t really. So I think we’ve learned a lot from that and really learned that working together with our fans on making sure where their expectations potentially aren’t met.
AL: Especially being really clear on when we screwed up, because we have … In over 200 updates over 10 years you’re bound to screw up at some point. And I think being very honest and open about that and telling the community, “We’re sorry, we should have done this, we should have done that instead,” and just listening to them and having that very truthful and straight relationship with them, I think that’s done a lot over the years.
For more from gamescom 2023, you can catch up on all the news with our roundups of day one, day two, the gamescom awards, and Opening Night Live. And for more Payday 3, we got a hands-on first look earlier this year.
Rebekah Valentine is a Senior Reporter at IGN.
It has been 16 years since STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl. That means it’s also been 16 years since I last played a STALKER game. I admired the original but never loved its wonky, ambitious heart enough to explore its two follow-ups. But despite that decade-plus time away from the series, when I sat down to play STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl at gamescom 2023 it felt like I’d never been away. As if reactivating a long-dormant muscle, I found its creeping pace and scrappy gunfights instantly familiar. That’s good news for devout fans of the cult PC series, but perhaps more of a challenge for the potential legion of newcomers that will arrive at launch via Game Pass.
Despite its Unreal Engine 5 base and prominent Microsoft support, the fifteen-minute gamescom demo suggests that STALKER 2 still sits in the ‘eurojank’ category; the colloquial term for eastern European games that are overly ambitious and technically wobbly. This sequel’s animations are stiff, its human faces look like haunted waxworks, the AI struggles to stay smart, and inventory management is fiddly. But in exchange for that you get a Soviet bloc world that feels authentic and layered with opportunity. This demo may have been short, but its small areas featured numerous angles for stealth or action approaches, fun flanking routes, and a variety of side objectives.
My sample misadventure through the rusted carcass that is the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone begins with a rabid dog mauling away at my ankles. The mutt is dispatched by kicking it into an anomaly; the rippling miniature storms that litter STALKER’s world. The dog explodes into a dozen gory chunks, demonstrating that these anomalies are to be steered well clear of. I’m also given some bolts, which can be thrown into anomalies from a safe distance to cause them to erupt and open up a safe path. These storms don’t turn up again for the rest of the demo, but I hope in the full game they fulfil a dual role as environmental hazard puzzles and traps to lure enemies into.
Further down the road I discover a man fighting off more of those mutated dogs. My over-cautious nature sees me blast a hole in the side of his head (why would I trust anyone in this god-forsaken place?), which results in a notification that I’ve failed an optional objective. Thankfully I’m able to reload the demo and approach in a more friendly manner, but this slip-up shows off STALKER 2’s push for realism; NPCs are not safe from stray or purposeful shots, and objectives will change with their fates.
With the dogs dispatched on this fresh attempt, I have a quick chat with the survivor and his injured friend. The conversation really highlights STALKER 2’s graphical limitations; these characters look like Bethesda NPCs from the previous generation and move with a similar lack of grace. Beyond this room, the wider world feels a lot like a cutting-edge PC game from ten years ago; still detailed and sharp in a grungy way that suits the decayed setting, but clearly not of the modern era. Graphics are obviously not a vital part of the experience, but considering its next-gen exclusivity and Unreal Engine 5 foundations, I did expect STALKER 2 to be more of a looker.
The survivors, named Zhorik and Gloomy, turn out to be fellow STALKERs who have been attacked by bandits. Zhorik laments that their attackers have seized the nearby boiler house. I volunteer to take on the bandits, knowing it will be the ideal testing ground for the combat systems. It turns out to be a pretty classic outpost-style location; a building and courtyard arrangement surrounded by a perimeter wall. A gateway provides a direct route in, but crumbling brickwork to the side signals an alternate route in for a stealthier approach. I duck through the hole and behind a large fuel drum, peering beneath it to spy on the patrolling bandits. And then, one slightly fumbled headshot later, I’m thrust into a skirmish that feels completely true to the origins of the series.
STALKER 2’s guns are snappy and punchy in the way you’d expect of firearms that have survived being lugged around a rusting world. But, in an approach that puts them a world apart from weapons in modern shooters, they feel almost entirely unreliable. In Call of Duty, if you shoot an enemy in the head, that enemy is dead, and you even get a visual and audio cue to confirm that. STALKER 2, in keeping with both its predecessor and real life, offers no such feedback. Bullet spread is difficult to predict, and that gets trickier at longer ranges. It makes for tense, dirty firefights with plenty of character and just a dash of fear. There are very few games like this on the modern FPS scene, especially on consoles, and I admire that developer GSC Game World is doubling down on its unique flavour.
But, as with everything in this demo, the good comes with the jank. The bandits are not exactly the sharpest tools in the zone, and spend their time either bumbling in the open or glued to cover. I hope that in the months between now and launch, GSC can sharpen the AI’s senses. This is not to say that they are incapable of being a danger in their current state; I’m unceremoniously gunned down on my first attempt at clearing the camp. This does highlight STALKER 2’s approach to death, though, which resurrects me a few metres outside the boiler house and keeps the world state intact. I’d much rather death send me back to a previous save and allow me a fresh attempt at a challenge.
With the bandits cleaned up, a voice on my radio informs me of an incoming ‘emission’, and advises that I take cover. I sprint through the woods in search of a building and eventually find my way into a shabby cabin just as my Geiger counter goes into overdrive. Through a gap in the roof I watch as the sky turns a vibrant red, pierced occasionally by searing forks of white lightning. My subsequent death amid the unending rattle of radiation warnings signals the end of my short demo, but this concluding moment hints at emissions being regular occurrences that will force you to drop whatever you’re doing and run for your life. I hope the AI is as responsive to these situations as you need to be, because the idea of battles breaking out as characters fight for access to radiation-safe buildings is a thrilling one.
And that’s all I saw. This was an incredibly short and simple demo for what is presumably – based on its predecessors, at least – going to be a fairly complex FPS. I’m left wondering what the bigger picture is, how the systems interlink and overlap, and how flexible its combat encounters are. But what I did learn from this slim sample is that STALKER 2 feels somewhat of a remake of the original game. Not physically – everything here is new. But spiritually and mechanically, this slice felt almost exactly like my memories of the 2007 original.
Heart of Chornobyl’s old-school approach is great news for the original game’s dedicated fanbase, but I’m not sure what it means for more mainstream players who are being coaxed into its orbit by Microsoft’s big Game Pass push. They are likely better served by Metro: Exodus, the other Soviet bloc shooter that – despite being four years old – feels more modern than anything in this demo. But for those with a tolerance for rough edges and a hunger for something that’s unlike anything in the contemporary console space, STALKER 2 could be something to keep an eye on. We’ll need a much more substantial demo to truly know if it’s worth being excited about, though.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
“We just make the games that we want to make”.
Back when Sea of Stars — Sabotage’s follow-up to its hit genre-bending platformer The Messenger — was unveiled to the world in 2020, there was a sparkle in many an RPG fans’ eyes. The game’s stunning SNES-style aesthetic, the combo-centric turn-based combat, and the beautiful music, brought forth cries of Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and many other classics from the mid-’90s.
Over three years later, and after a handful of delays, Sabotage’s highly anticipated RPG is almost ready to launch. The journey of the Solstice Warriors lies ahead for many Switch owners, but the question of whether this will transport 16-bit RPG enthusiasts back to a time when they truly fell in love with the genre remains.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
IGN is on the ground at gamescom 2023 where we’re checking out all the latest and greatest in games in Cologne, Germany. In the wake of Opening Night Live, where we got to see updates for Mortal Kombat 1, Modern Warfare 3, and lots more, we had a chance to sit down with a ton of developers over the course of our multi-day live show.
This article will highlight the biggest and best moments from each day of gamescom. You can find more info on what to expect as gamescom 2023 continues into the weekend, including the awards show and lots more with our gamescom 2023 schedule and how to watch.
It may be hard to believe, but we are already on day 4 of gamescom. IGN had a ton of games on our liveshow, and we wanted to share them with you so you can see the latest from some of the most exciting upcoming games.
Alongside a new look at Black Myth: Wukong, we also got to see new gameplay and speak to the teams behind other such games as Lies of P, Off the Grid, Sky: Children of the Light and its animated series spin-off, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Homeworld 3, and much more.
Black Myth: Wukong has been making a big splash at gamescom 2023 and we had the chance to not only get our hands on the much anticipated Unreal Engine 5 soulslike, but also share with you 19 minutes of glorious and intense gameplay.
In our Black Myth: Wukong hands-on demo, we said, “It’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting action RPGs of the soulslike era, one with its own fresh approach to challenge, pace, and abilities.
“What remains to be seen is how developer Game Science has approached wider RPG systems, such as character development and leveling up. Should that, plus the level design of further chapters, match up to the quality bar of the bosses we’ve seen, then Black Myth: Wukong will be the success everyone is hoping for.”
Lies of P, the upcoming soulslike that is based on Pinocchio and is set for release on September 16, got another great demo at gamescom 2023. We came away very impressed and believe this could end up being an A-class soulslike that could hopefully stand toe-to-toe with FromSoftware’s finest work.
In our demo, we got a chance to check out the King of Puppets boss and some new weapons that will hopefully keep you from a horrifying death.
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp stopped by gamescom to discuss Off the Grid, a game he is directing that is being billed as a dystopian battle royale. While it promises battles with up to 150 people in its battle royale mode, Off the Grid will also have a 60-hour narrative campaign that will help build out the world.
Off the Grid also got a gameplay trailer at Opening Night Live and it showed the battle royale in action, traversal via trucks, cars, grappling hooks, and jetpacks, and much more.
Journey developer thatgamecompany has revealed a new look and title for Sky: The Two Embers, its upcoming animated series arriving in 2024 that’s based on the world and lore of Sky: Children of the Light.
thatgamecompany CEO and creative director Jenova Chen also stopped by our gamescom studio to talk about Children of the Light, its animated series spin-off, setting a Guinness World Record, and much more.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a spin-off game starring Kazuma Kiryu that looks to connect Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
At our gamescom studio, Like a Dragon series chief producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto joined us to share new details about the game’s combat, fighting styles, customization, and how its Colossseum battle arena will work. He also reveals why Kazuma Kiryu, who is no working under the codename Joryu, is a lot like Superman.
For more, be sure to check out our preview of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
Homeworld is returning for the first time in 20 years with Homeworld 3, and game director Lance Mueller and lead writer Martin Cirulis stopped by our studio at gamescom to share more about what makes this game so special.
One of the biggest revealed was the new War Games mode that adds co-op roguelike missions, and that should make for an even more exciting game when it is released in February 2024.
For more, check out the Homeworld 3 story trailer from gamescom Opening Night Live.
Payday 3 lead producer Andreas Häll Penninger and global brand director and head of community Almir Listo were on-hand to not only answer all our questions about the upcoming heist game, but also share some brand-new gameplay.
Come listen to them talk about developing in Unreal Ending, working with Ice-T and new mechanics, how they plan on supporting the game with major updated for at least 18 months post-launch, and more.
Project Mugen was one of the bigger surprises at gamescom 2023. This free-to-play urban open-world RPG not only looks to be a fusion of Cyberpunk 2077 and Genshin Impact, but it also looks to have players traversing the world in a way that would be right at home in Spider-Man’s universe.
Project Mugen senior marketing director Riten Huang came to IGN’s gamescom studio to talk about the game’s anime art style, its many characters, and share some new combat gameplay.
Tomorrow will be the last day of gamescom and we’ll be hosting gamescom’s Cosplay Contest! Be sure to stop by to find out the best costume, best dress, best built, and fan favorite. We will also be showcasing even more trailers troughout the show.
gamescom Day 3 has arrived and we kicked it off by hosting the gamescom 2023 Awards! We also revealed a ton of new trailers, got a closer look at Path of Exile 2, and lots more. Keep reading for a full rundown of everything shown in Day 3 of gamescom 2023!
The gamescom awards took place today, and Little Nightmares 3 was selected as Best in Show! Here’s a full list of all the winners.
Awards were not the only thing announced at the gamescom awards — lots of new games appeared, too. Here’s all the trailers shown at the 2023 gamescom awards.
Path of Exile 2 appeared at this year’s gamescom. And IGN can exclusively reveal that we saw some new images and gameplay for the upcoming RPG.
The first bit focused on the Druid, which included a narration from Jonathan Rogers, the co-creator of the game. The second piece of gameplay focused on seven minutes the Warrior and the Huntress, which again includes Rogers providing a voiceover describing what is going on in the demonstration.
Grinding Gear Games also shared a ton of new screenshots for Path of Exile 2, which focused on bosses, in-game environments, and spell effects.
We got to see the first gameplay trailer for Off The Grid, a new battle royale third-person shooter directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9). Off The Grid throws players into a covert corporate war between three companies on the tropical, dystopian Teardrop Island. Blending PvE and PvP, you’ll experience hectic 150-player battle royales as a cyberlimbed Zero, fighting to survive while simultaneously taking on a 60-hour narrative campaign. Extract high-value loot and upgrade your body with cybernetic limbs to give yourself the edge to reach the top.
One of a handful of tech announcements coming out of the gaming-focused trade show, AMD took the stage on Friday to unveil two new desktop GPUs it’s adding to the Radeon RX 7000 series: the RX 7800 XT and 7700 XT. According to AMD, both GPUs are designed for PC gamers who prefer high-FPS 1440p gaming.
Additionally, AMD shared some details on FSR 3.0, which it revealed will introduce a new native anti-aliasing mode. No release date yet for FSR 3, but AMD says the third generation of its supersampling tech is “coming soon.”
We sat down with Sam Lake at gamescom 2023 to talk about Alan Wake’s horror inspirations, its need for a little bit of comedy, and not wanting to go neck and neck with Spider-Man 2. Read the full interview here!
IGN’s Destin Legarie had a chance to check out a demo of the next major installment of Forza Motorsport at gamescom. My colleague described a bit of a new game mode called the Builder’s Cup, describing how it’s a mode where you can obtain XP by racing “as cleanly as possible,” and noted that the demo showed Audis, Mercedes, and BMWs racing each other.
Legarie also notes how the XP is key in Turn 10’s “Level, Build, Dominate” philosophy it has implemented in Forza MOtyorsport. Explaining that the new game mode and its mechanics should help him (and maybe others) learn the ins and outs of a vehicle.
If you are looking for a survival horror game where you’re fending off dinosaurs instead of something like zombies or the paranormal, Deathground might be what you are seeking.
Developed by Jaw Drop Games, Deathground has you playing solo or with a friend as you survive a world that is infested with lethal AI dinosaurs. There’s no word yet on when the game is coming out, but the developer says it’s “coming soon.”
The second day of gamescom 2023 kept the momentum going. Some games that made an appearance on day two include STALKER 2, Marvel Snap, and The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. The full list is below.
IGN can exclusively reveal the 13 minutes of gameplay for Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Yesterday we exclusively revealed the next game in the popular fantasy series inspired by the books by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria will be released on October 24, 2023, on PS5 and PC as an exclusive on the Epic Games Store, while an Xbox Series X/S version is targeting an early 2024 release.
Despite the game being pushed back to early 2024, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl developer GSC Game World appeared at gamescom to share a slew of new gameplay for its upcoming first-person shooter.
Additionally, the CEO of GSC Game World sat down with us to answer all questions we had about the development team and its project. We also shared our first impressions of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s gameplay, which you can watch right here.
My colleague Stella Chung had a chance to sit down with game director Gabriel Amatangelo to discuss the new content coming to the next expansion of Cyberpunk 2077, including a quick look at a new zone called Dogtown.
More interestingly, Amatangelo revealed that Phantom Liberty is the last big expansion fans will see before a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 launches. Check out the full interview here!
We sat down with Like a Dragon series producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto at gamescom 2023 to get some answers to our questions on Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, including new details about the game’s setting, fighting styles, battle arena, Kiryu’s fashion sense, and more.
Since the reveal of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, many veteran fans of the series have been perplexed by the decision to bring back long-time series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu as a dual protagonist. However, Like a Dragon series producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto claims that Kiryu’s return has been in the cards for a long, long time.
Ben Brode, the Chief Development Officer at Second Dinner sat down with us to discuss Marvel Snap’s PC launch and his favorite deck in the game.
At Opening Night Live earlier this week, Second Dinner announced that Marvel Snap was finally out of Early Access. Last October, the game was released on PC (via Steam), in addition to macOS and mobile devices, but only the Steam version was left in Early Access.
If you’re a Destiny and/or World of Warcraft fan, Wayfinder might be up your alley. This upcoming MMO. IGN sat down with AJ LaSaracina, the director of marketing and engagement for the game. He explained the game’s journey so far and what fans can expect when it finally releases sometime next year.
Project Mugen is a new open world RPG where Cyberpunk meets Genshin Impact
After teasing the game a few days prior, NetEase Games and Naked Rain announced Project Mugen, a free-to-play urban open-world RPG that resembles a fusion of Cyberpunk and Genshin Impact.
Despite no release date, we do know Project Mugen is coming to PlayStation, PC, and mobile devices. Pre-registrations are open now for those interested in giving the game a try.
The first full day of the trade show started off strong with new information on Starfield, Alan Wake 2, and RoboCop: Rogue City. Of course, we also saw some great surprises, including a brand-new teaser for the Fallout TV series.
During a presentation for Bethesda’s upcoming open-world RPG Starfield, Todd Howard surprised those who attended with a sneak peek at the forthcoming Fallout TV series.
📍 Vault 33
Location: Los AngelesFallout, an original series, coming to Prime Video in 2024 pic.twitter.com/tlHh2WutF4
— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) August 23, 2023
The TV adaption based on the popular post-apocalyptic franchise was announced in 2020 and is a collaboration between Bethesda Softworks and Prime Video. However, there’s been comparatively little news on the series. Howard mentioned in the presentation that there will be bigger tease, and Prime Video confirmed the series would premiere sometime next year.
We also got to see the first mission for Starfield at gamescom 2023. The first 15 minutes of Starfield follows its showing at Opening Night Live, which include a live-action trailer among other highlights.
The first mission of the game has players on the Argos Extractors Mining Outpost on the Moon of Vectera, mining for ores before wandering in a tunnel alone, where we discover and interact with a weird blue deposit, which leaves us unconscious with a transition into you waking up and commencing the start of your character creation.
Phil Spencer sat down to chat with us about a variety of things: from sharing his opinions on Baldur’s Gate 3, to teasing more Final Fantasy games coming to Xbox consoles, and reiterating that there is no plans to offer a mid-generation upgrade to the Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Circling back to the Final Fantasy comments, we asked him if Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16, two games that have been big heavy hitters on PlayStation consoles, would ever make its way onto Xbox. While we did not get an outright confirmation, Spencer noting that Square’s previous commitment to Xbox sounds hopeful for RPG fans in the Xbox ecosystem.
At Opening Night Live yesterday, we got new details on Zack Snyder’s upcoming sci-fi films Rebel Moon. Part 1, subtitled A Child of Fire, which we already knew will hit Netflix on December 22, but Part 2: The Scargiver, will arrive on April 19, 2024.
At day one of gamescom, Snyder revealed the approixmate runtimes for both films in an interview with us, with both films lasting roughly four hours. But if you are craving for longer run times for both, Snyder did reveal that there are director’s cuts of the films also in the works, too.
More interestingly, Zack Snyder told us that he would love to adapt Gears of War for the big screen, while also mentioning that he is interested in the Halo franchise. While Halo is already being adapted for the small screen with a second season on the way at Paramout+, a Gears ofWar movie and adult animated series were announced last year.
With Alan Wake 2 released in October month, Remedy Entertainment showed off a full chapter comprising some 40 minutes of its horror sequel. The chapter is set in an ominous replica of New York City called The Dark Place. Remedy previously noted that Alan Wake 2 was going to be its first survival horror game.
The Dark Place offers a stark contrast to what Alan Wake fans have previously seen; its roads are populated with oil-spill-like pools od darkness and newspapers litter the streets. Outside of its NYC-infleunced design The Dark Place is filled to the brim with Easter Eggs, including a cameo from creative director Sam Lake, who is already confirmed not to be reprising his role as Max Payne and instead playing another character in Alan Wake 2.
We had a few interviews on day one of gamescom from Netherealm Studios, and they were all about its upcoming fighting game Mortal Kombat 1.
IGN sat down with Netherrealm’s story and voiceover director to discuss the lore and how it has changed in Mortal Kombat 1 as the next main installment serves as a reboot for the series. A separate interview had us talking to Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, where he addressed the criticisms made about certain attack animations featured in Mortal Kmbat 1.
My colleague Mitchell Saltzman published his final preview for Mortal Kombat 1, discussing the new Invasions mode, which he described as an “RPG mixed with a board game.” You can watch the video version of that preview above.
In 2021, a RoboCop first-person shooter was announced. And today, IGN can exclusively reveal the first 16 minutes of RoboCop: Rogue City. The 16 minutes is filled with elements fans of the films can expect, including a gaggle of ED-209s.
IGN can exclusively reveal that The Lord of the Rings: Return of Moria is coming to PC and PS5 on October 24. An Xbox Series X/S version was previously announced as well, but Indie developer Free Range Games and publisher North Beach Games said that version will arrive early next year.
Nightdive Studios, the developer who previously gave the remaster treatment to System Shock and Quake 2 announced its next project: Star Wars: Dark Forces remaster. It’s in development for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Alongside a remaster for Star Wars: Dark Forces, Nightdive Studios also announced at this year’s gamescom that Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is also on the way. It’s slated to release sometime between October and December of this year and will launch on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.
Another exclusive IGN revealed outta this year’s gamescom is Son of Nunu: A League of Legends Story. The latest trailer featruures gameplay, a look at the fictional region of Freljord and an appearance from Braum, a champion from League of Legends.
Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story does not have a release date (yet) but we do know it will release sometime this fall.
IGN’s Max Scoville sat down with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and Art Director Patrick Martin to talk about Hellboy’s new game, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd.
Patrick and Mike talk to Max about multiple elements of the new game. They discuss the game’s heavy emphasis on melee combat that still includes shooting. More than that, they also dug deep into the game’s rogue-like elements, like Hellboy’s different upgradable abilities and what players could expect to customize from run to run.
Assassin’s Creed Jade is the first full game in the franchise to be made exclusively for mobile devices. Playable at gamescom 2023, we took to the level Infinite booth to get some quality time with Assassin’s Creed Jade to see just what the developers were able to achieve on the mobile platform.
That’s about it for our recap of Day 2 of gamescom! Keep an eye on this space for lots more interviews, trailers, and announcements as we roll on to Day 3 of gamescom. Tomorrow are the gamescom 2023 awards! Here’s a list of what to expect.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Journey developer thatgamecompany has revealed a new look and title for Sky: The Two Embers, its upcoming animated series arriving in 2024 that’s based on the world and lore of Sky: Children of the Light.
Sky: Children of the Light is thatgamecompany’s follow-up to 2012’s Journey and is a social adventure that tasks you and your friends to restore a fallen kingdom above the clouds to its former glory. To do so, players will explore seven realms, solve puzzles, fly through the sky, and work together with others to push back the darkness and bring back the light.
As for the new series, we only catch a small glimpse, but it has a striking art style and teases that “a new world awaits.” While the story has yet to be fully revealed, it looks as though the main characters may need to search for a new home after a war or some threat comes to their doorstep. That threat is seen via a striking shot in the rain of a dragon-like creature flying above an army of sorts.
In our review of Sky: Children of Light, we said it is “a breathtaking follow-up to thatgamecompany’s previous hit, Journey, that surprised and delighted me from start to finish with its subtle story of exploration and healing.”
Sky: Children of the Light was recently in the news as it broke the Guinness World Record for the Most Users in a Concert Themed Virtual World with 10,000+ players in one virtual stadium. Soon, it will be going for a second record when it tries to have The Most Players Emoting Together at the Same Time in a Video Game.
For more, check out our recap of the biggest moments of both gamescom and Opening Night Live.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
TCGee, I don’t know.
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve been chewing over. Today, Mahin laments the loss of a treasured deck, and recounts his quest to build it anew. For real, this time…
There was once a time I was doing moderately alright at the Pokémon TCG Online game, taking down EX and GX cards with a tactic that nullified those types, which were mainstays in many decks. Now, all that’s left is a broken deck. A family of Pokémon torn apart for the sake of capitalism where the motto isn’t ‘gotta catch ’em all’ but ‘gotta keep buying the new ones’. This is an ode to my long lost Pokémon Deck from Pokémon TCG Online, caught in the crossfire of the new migration system to Pokémon TCG Live.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
