We are excited to bring FragPunk Closed Beta, a fast-paced 5v5 hero shooter, to Xbox Insiders on Xbox Series X|S consoles! The closed beta will begin on Thursday, October 10 at 3:00 PM PT (22:00 GMT) and Xbox Insiders are able to sign up early to participate. Space is still available so join now to secure your spot! Come join and on October 10, battle it out while selecting special Shard Cards that dramatically change the rules of engagement.
Key Features:
Bend the rules with Shard Cards! No two rounds of FragPunk are ever the same. Discover over 100 Shard Cards with an activatable selection that changes every round. Cards can enhance your jumps, resurrect allies and so much more!
Frantic 5v5 Hero Shooter! Each round lasts 2.5 minutes, so get a move on! The short TTK means you have to aim well and react fast. Pick between 12 heroes with diverse abilities, customize your weapon combination, choose your cards and get ready for a fight!
Immersive Maps & Vibrant Visuals! Prepare for rich map designs and mixed visual effects including graffiti and a blend of realistic and stylized textures. Feast your eyes on bold colors, sharp shapes and dynamic lines to provide you with diverse visual experiences while the bullets fly.
Playtest Times:
Pre-load: Tuesday, October 8, 3:00 PM PT (22:00 GMT) Start: Thursday, October 10, 3:00 PM PT (22:00 GMT) End: Monday, October 21, 4:59 PM PT (23:59 GMT)
How to Participate:
Sign-in on your Xbox Series X|S console and launch the Xbox Insider Hub app (or install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Store first if necessary)
Navigate to Previews > FragPunk
Select Join
Wait for the registration to complete to secure your spot for the Closed Beta!
NOTE: FragPunk Closed Beta begins on October 10. Joining now secures your spot for the playtest. Return to the Xbox Insider Hub on October 8 and select Show in Store to begin installing the game early. On October 10, in game servers will open to allow you to play.
NOTE: Limited space is available and offered first-come first-served.
NOTE: This playtest is only available on Xbox Series X|S consoles.
For more information: follow us on X/Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the Xbox Insider SubReddit.
As PlayStation celebrates its 30th Anniversary, we’re excited to share some thrilling news with our PlayStation Plus members. To make this milestone even more special, we’re adding one of the most beloved titles to the Game Catalog: The Last of Us Part I. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members* will have the chance to experience or revisit the unforgettable journey of Ellie and Joel. Fittingly, the game will be available today, in time to mark the series’ own The Last of Us Day celebrations, September 26.
To make this occasion even more memorable, we’ve lined up several exclusive activities for our community:
PlayStation Star Campaign
From September 26 to November 26, all PlayStation Stars members that play The Last of Us Part I, which is in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog*, will earn a fearsome Clicker Digital Collectible.
New PlayStation Plus Avatars
Starting September 26, known by fans and Naughty Dog as The Last of Us Day, you can redeem a voucher code for new PS5 and PS4 avatars featuring key characters from The Last of Us. Choose from Ellie, Joel, or even a Clicker to personalize your profile. The voucher will be available on the PlayStation Plus website and on The Last of Us Page on the PS Plus Hub on your console. The avatars will be available until October 26.
Discount on PlayStation Gear
Show off your fandom with official The Last of Us merchandise! From September 26 to October 26, PlayStation Plus members can enjoy a 10% discount on select The Last of Us merchandise at PlayStation Gear. Simply use the promo code TLOUPLUS10 at checkout. Visit gear.playstation.com to explore all the items and find the perfect addition to your collection.**
We hope you enjoy these activities as well as the chance to revisit or experience Ellie and Joel’s unforgettable journey when The Last of Us Part I launches onto PlayStation Plus Game Catalog later today.
*Game Catalog varies over time, region/country, and plan. PS Plus is subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Terms apply: play.st/psplus-usageterms.
**Some exclusions Limit one per customer. Must use code at checkout for discount. Only valid on The Last of Us Products.
A Cyberpunk 2077 mod turns the game into indie favorite Superhot, where time only moves when the player moves.
Nexus Mods user jackexe shared the Cyberpunk Super Hot Mode mod, which adds a new element to the beloved sci-fi first person role-playing game.
“When you move, time moves. How fast you move determines how fast time moves,” the description reads. “You can use the Cyberpunk engine tweaks to bind the controls to toggle this mode on and off.”
Longtime fans looking for a new way to play Cyberpunk 2077 — on the one year anniversary of its one and only expansion Phantom Liberty launching — could perhaps find some entertainment here. Toggling in and out of the mode for certain battles seems like it would add some new intensity to the game and allow players to perform some particularly dramatic takedowns.
In fact, the gameplay change somewhat recreates a piece of cyberware available to players in Cyberpunk 2077: the Sandevistan. Though this does exist in the game, it’s not available in quite the same flashy way it was shown off in anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners, where protagonist David Martinez would manipulate time to dodge through bullets and take down baddies.
This mod is based on Superhot, a puzzle game which debuted the mechanic of time stopping if the player stops. “Every level in Superhot is an exciting, self-contained, time-bending puzzle that turns typical fast-paced first-person shooter mechanics on their head,” IGN said in our review.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Bravely he stood, alone on his hill, unwavering in the face of backlash: Chrono Trigger should have just let Frog be a talking frog instead of being a knight turned into a frog. So, trash game. Fortunately, I can finally experience what it’s like to actually enjoy Chrono Trigger – Canadian Studio Riyo Games are making what they describe as a “spiritual successor”. It’s called Threads Of Time, it’s “aided by legendary developers and composers from Japan who have helped define Xenoblade Chronicles, the Mana series and more,” and it looks beautiful. Hop on over to the trailer below.
During Microsoft’s Tokyo Game Show 2024 broadcast, Square Enix announced nine of its classic RPGs are coming to Xbox today, September 26.
Final Fantasy I – VI Pixel Remaster is finally available on Xbox Series X and S and Windows PC (but not Game Pass). The Pixel Remaster series takes the classic originals and remakes them with new pixel art optimized for HD displays, with rearranged soundtracks and quality-of-life features, including multiple font options, the ability to switch to the old soundtracks if you’re a purist, the ability to boost experience for faster levelling, turn off random enemy encounters, and even auto-battle.
Meanwhile, Square Enix’s Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana are available on Xbox Series X and S, Windows PC, and Game Pass today. Visions of Mana launched on Xbox Series X and S earlier this year.
And as already announced, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has a November 14, 2024 release date. The new Tokyo Game Show trailer is below:
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.
Indie developers love making retro-styled games that look like PlayStation games you rented from Blockbuster and blitzed through in a feverish winter weekend. I’m glad, so here’s another. Cold And Afraid is a murder mystery that aims to channel the 1990s with chunky characters and lots of lovely dithering. You play a detective out to stop a serial killer with a grisly pattern who’s preying on the young women of an unnamed US city. On top of the obligatory tank controls, it aims to have “consequential dialogue choices” and a “Time Event system where you must meet certain people at specific times to forward different story threads”. Ah, forgive me, you’re here to see the chunky limbs. Here’s a recent trailer that shows ’em.
This Echoes of Wisdom Walkthrough will give you all the wisdom you need to explore Hyrule as Princess Zelda and complete the game, including Dungeon Solutions, All Clothing, All amiibo Unlocks, All Accessories, All Stamp Locations, plus Beginner’s Tips and guides on Every Boss in the game.
Sci-fi Extraction Shooter Synduality Echo of Ada Arrives January 23 – Pre-order Today
David AlonzoBrand Manager, Bandai Namco Entertainment America
Find a way to survive in Synduality Echo of Ada, a new online extraction shooter where humanity must rely on mechs and AI companions to rebuild.
After a massive toxic rain event brings terrifying creatures to the world and drives humanity underground, mankind has developed two technologies to survive – Cradlecoffin mechs to safely forage for resources on the unforgiving surface, and your humanoid AI assistant, a Magus.
Your job is to rise to the surface with your Coffin and Magus in tow to collect resources that improve your base. Can you ascend beyond mere survival when you never know if other players are friends or foe?
Your one constant in this world is your Magus companion. As advanced machines that can assist in various tasks, a Magus is bound to their human through the Three Laws of the Magi:
1. Law of Contract: A Magus shall form a contract with a single individual. Said contract cannot be terminated by the Magus itself.
2. Law of Friendship: A Magus shall stand by their contractor, like a friend of humanity.
3. Law of Growth: A Magus must grow alongside their contractor, as long as said growth does not contradict the first two laws.
Under these directives, the Magus bond adapts to their human’s playstyle, evolving new feedback and information through continued sorties to the surface.
Law of Contract
To form your contract with your Magus, you will first build and customize them.
You’ll select from four different models, each with a different personality type. From the encouraging big brother type to the unexpectedly witty, a Magus type with different communication styles exists for all humans. Once selected, Magus also have different System types. The Weather Gazer is environmentally-focused, displaying incoming toxic rain on the HUD and equipped with a skill to shield from it. The Anti-Cradle System on the other hand is combat-focused, making up for limited environmental resource scans with an ability to read the health of other Cradlecoffin and a skill to restrain them. More Systems exist with their own benefits and drawbacks for different situations.
Further customization of the face shape, hair color, and more ensures your Magus is well-suited to your own aesthetic preferences. After you’ve selected the body, system, and customized the Magus to your liking, your Magus will be optimized in both personality and skillset to best assist you in your quest to gather AO Crystal currency and other resources.
Law of Friendship
Friendship is scarce in a world where monsters and other players with unpredictable loyalties can mean losing everything you’ve gathered in a sortie. Though you may lose equipment, materials, and even your Magus in a fight, your Magus is the only thing that will always find their way back to base with you.
The base is where you’ll spend most of your time when you’re not fighting beasts and scavenging for goods on the surface. Here, you’ll catch glimpses of your Magus doing yoga, tidying up – even dancing. Not only this, but they can offer guidance on how to build up your base to improve your facilities. With the proper resources, you can create a craft station to make equipment and materials without journeying to the surface, and a pit area to focus on your Cradlecoffin.
But to truly ascend beyond survival, one needs more than just weapons and crafting stations. At the base, you can spruce up your Magus with new outfits, and even improve their living quarters – upgrading an empty warehouse into a lavish kitchen, and even building a shiny new shower to help clean up after particularly rough missions. Your Magus may be contracted to stand by your side, but there’s no reason why you can’t reciprocate their friendship with some creature comforts.
Law of Growth
As you continue to sortie, your Magus will learn more about your playing style and the environment, offering insightful advice on which enemies may lurk in certain areas or let you know if that special resource you need to upgrade your base is lurking nearby. They’ll also give you analysis on and off the field – filling your map with useful info as you explore more and even letting you know if that player in the distance has a history of taking out other players, so heed their advice because it might just save you!
Ruled by these Three Laws of the Magi, your Magus will assist you in every step of your way to rising in the world of Synduality Echo of Ada and with the Ultimate Edition, you’ll also get 7 days early access and one more exclusive Magus type – Mystere from the anime Synduality Noir! Unlike the others, she’s got a bit of a rougher personality, but her cool demeanor can help you in the heat of battle. Be sure to pre-order the Ultimate Edition today!
Synduality Echo of Ada arrives January 23, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S.
StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection hit Game Pass from November 5, Microsoft has announced.
Blizzard’s sci-fi real-time strategy games are the latest from the company following Microsoft’s $69 billion aquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.
While the entirety of the original StarCraft and StarCraft 2’s multiplayer components are free-to-play, StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft 2: Campaign Collection will be available to anyone with a PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscription from November 5.
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.
I reckon I’ve got quite a strong long term memory. For instance, I can recall that time I read Stoner on a backpacking trip through Italy and realising that I particularly like sad books. I can also recall the delicious taste of a Mars Delight chocolate bar. But my short term memory, whew. Yeah it’s not so good. And the demo for Disposition, a liminal escape room game where you’ve got to remember how things are arranged in rooms, has hammered this point home.
