One of my favourite satires is the Screwtape Letters, an epistolary novel by Narnia scribe C.S. Lewis. It consists of messages from an oily elder demon to his nephew about how to correctly groom the soul of an unsuspecting human being. It’s a claustrophobic send-up of managerial politics and nepotism, with World War 1 unfolding in the background. A real pick-me-up. Sintopia is the Two Point incarnation of that premise – in other words, brighter and breezier and definitely more slapstick than Christian. It puts you in charge of a world divided between Earth and hell, and challenges you to ensure a steady movement of optimally sinful souls between one and the other. Say your prayers and watch the trailer.
Outlast is getting a film adaptation, and it’s in the hands of a studio well-versed in the horror genre.
Saw studio Lionsgate, which is also behind series like The Hunger Games and John Wick, announced on Wednesday a deal with developer Red Barrels to bring Outlast to the big screen. The adaptation (which was first revealed by Bloody Disgusting) is being led by horror producer Roy Lee (It, Barbarian, Late Night with the Devil).
JT Perry, who served as the primary writer on the Outlast games, is working on the screenplay. In a statement, Perry called the adaptation “an incredible opportunity to dive deeper into the characters and killers we love.”
Lionsgate hasn’t revealed too much else about how closely it’ll follow the plot of the games, but it does promise to capture the horror elements Outlast become known for — “immersive atmosphere, chilling sound design, and relentless suspense” — in its announcement. Further information, including a release window, is still pending, but it’s still very early days.
“When Outlast launched in 2012, it changed the landscape of horror gaming, setting a new standard for immersion in the genre,” Lee said in a statement. “Its deep, emergent lore has provided a perfect foundation for creating a film that delves into the psychological and physical horrors at the core of the franchise. I’m excited to bring this unique world to life for both new viewers and the series’ dedicated fans.”
“As die-hard fans of horror across every medium, at Red Barrels we are great admirers of Roy Lee’s and Lionsgate’s work,” added David Chateauneuf, co-founder and creative director at Red Barrels. “Horror movies old and new have had an undeniable impact on our franchise over the years, and to now have the opportunity to work on an Outlast film with true horror legends is a dream, or should I say, nightmare, come true.”
The first Outlast released in 2013, and the first-person psychological survival game quickly gained traction for that aforementioned immersive horror atmosphere. Outlast followed journalist Miles Upshur as he investigated a remote psychiatric hospital, but its 2017 standalone sequel picked up on another cast of characters.
Most recently, Red Barrels released multiplayer game The Outlast Trials last year. IGN gave it a 7/10, calling it “a bloody cooperative horror game that burns brightly, but fizzles after a few enjoyable hours.”
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
I never completed the original Red Dead Redemption, but not for the usual reasons of being terrible at the game, or thinking that open worlds are too big and boring these days and I just want to lie down forever and watch anime. I never finished it because my Xbox 360 version was not, in practice, an open world game, but a lonely farm at the bottom of a vortex of butchered spacetime. In the prologue, reformed outlaw John Marston confronts an old bandit acquaintance and gets himself roundly shot to bits. He’s rescued by local rancher Bonnie MacFarlane, who nurses him back to health and gives him a few odd jobs to warm him up for the next plot point.
Hi everyone! Today, we are thrilled to announce Death Note Killer Within, a brand new online social deduction game for up to 10 players where you can play as iconic characters from the Death Note franchise. The key to this game is the Death Note, for the human whose name is written in this note shall die! But beware, this deadly note lies hidden among you and the other players, setting the stage for a thrilling game of strategy and deception. Play as Kira and judge other players with the Death Note or play as L and gather clues to arrest the killer. Get ready to uncover the truth and outsmart your opponents to win.
In Death Note Killer Within, there are four unique player roles: Kira, Kira Follower, L, and the Investigator. Players can select their desired role at the start of the game, but depending on various selection factors, the system will assign each player a final role based on availability. Players will be split into two teams: team Kira and Kira Followers, whose primary objective is to eliminate L, or team L and the Investigators, whose goal is to arrest Kira.
The game progresses through two main phases: a cycle of Action Phase, where players can gather clues and complete their respective tasks, and a Meeting Phase, where players come together to discuss and attempt to arrest Kira based on suspicious behaviors during the Action Phase.
If L is eliminated during the Action Phase, team Kira wins. However, if Kira is arrested during the Meeting Phase, the Death Note will be disposed of and Team L wins. Alternatively, by completing various objectives during the Action Phase, players can contribute to leveling up their team Progress gauge and the first team to max out their Progress gauge will win the game.
Player roles
If you are “Kira”, you will start with the Death Note and use it to eliminate NPCs and other players. However, to judge a player, you need an ID with the player’s real name. You can obtain this by staying close to a target for a short amount of time, but don’t act too suspicious or you will be questioned during the Meeting Phase.
As a “Kira Follower”, your job is to steal Investigators’ IDs and work secretly together with Kira, communicating privately with a Transceiver. In addition, the Death Note can be transferred between Kira and a Kira Follower so even you can become the next Kira! Make the transfer at the right time to deceive other players.
“Investigators” play an important role in identifying the real Kira as they gather clues to support the deduction. Be aware of suspicious players who get too close to you as your ID might get stolen if they are Kira or a Kira Follower. Investigators also carry out objectives such as asking NPCs for testimonials, which helps reveal information about Kira.
If you become “L”, unlike normal investigators, he has special actions that enable him to obtain valuable information during the Action Phase, such as commanding other players to investigate and setting up surveillance cameras. L can also facilitate discussion in the Meeting Phase to narrow down suspicious players. Strategically use your special actions to take one step closer in uncovering the truth and arrest Kira.
To win, you must work together
Death Note Killer Within encourages players to work together as a team to accomplish their goals. Each of the four roles has its own gameplay characteristics. Depending on your assigned role, a wide range of strategies can be formulated, and each randomized scenario develops into a high-stakes game of tactics.
For example, the Death Note can be transferred between Kira and Kira Follower, allowing them to misdirect investigators. L can narrow down suspects by giving instructions during the Action Phase and guiding discussions during the Meeting Phase to efficiently advance his team’s deductions.
Investigate and deceive in style
Customize your game avatar with hats, glasses, masks and various accessories to stand out from the crowd. But that’s not all, you can even choose a custom nameplate and select special animations to be displayed during key moments in the game.
Let’s get the deduction party started!
Death Note Killer Within is coming to both PS5 and PS4 on November 5, 2024 and will support both online cross-play and voice chat. Invite your friends and challenge each other in different roles to see who has the wits to successfully deceive other players and win the game.
On launch day, the game will also be available to PlayStation Plus members as part of November’s Monthly Games, so be sure to check it out!
Classic god sims like Populous and Black & White teach that deities love to reach their horrible holy hands into our world and mess with us directly. They teach us to see 1-1 divine intervention in every random house fire and every lightning bolt that miraculously strikes our enemies. By contrast, the forthcoming Zero Orders Tactics teaches that god prefers to operate via covert means, because after all, personally lobbing some electricity at somebody would be inelegant. It’s far more graceful to trap them behind a mountain, instead.
Sonic fans are in for a real treat, as Sonic X Shadow Generations already has a nice little discount at Woot (see here). Normally this game is listed for $49.99, but it’s currently down to $39.99 so you can save $10 on it. Keep in mind though that this version is probably not the North American version with ESRB rating, but it’ll play just fine on your Switch since the plarform is region-free.
Sonic X Shadow Generations for $39.99
This title comes with a remaster of Sonic Generations and a new campaign for Shadow. Its part of Woot’s ‘Fall In Love With Video Games’ sale event and likely won’t be around for long, so if you’ve been hoping to add it to your collection, now’s a great time.
In our glowing 9/10 review of Sonic X Shadow Generations, IGN’s Jada Griffin said that it “takes an already excellent game and spring jumps it to new heights at a blistering pace by doubling up the campaign length with creative level design, fantastic bosses, plenty of collectibles, and an appreciable graphical upgrade.” It’s a game that “hopefully will be the gold standard Sega holds itself to when it decides to bring back other Sonic games from the past.”
If you’re looking for even more Nintendo Switch games on sale, you’re in luck. We’ve got plenty more to check out in our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals. This includes discounts on even more recent releases like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, also at Woot.
And with big sale events like Black Friday coming up soon, there are going to be even more game deals popping up over the next few weeks. Some retailers are kicking off their sales sooner than you think as well, like Walmart, so you can get a head-start on tracking down different deals.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Introducing Ritual Tides, the first game from Vertpaint Studios, a new developer made up of industry veterans who’ve worked at Rockstar, TT Games, and more. Ritual Tides is a horror game in which players find themselves washed ashore on an island beach with just one goal: uncovering the island’s terrifying secrets. Ritual Tides is due out in Q3 2025 for PC, with console versions to follow later.
“The team also promises to set the visual quality bar for 2025, giving Ritual Tides players a near photo realistic immersive story to unfold,” according to the press release. Watch the first teaser trailer above and check out the first pieces of concept art in the gallery below.
Gameplay details are still a mystery for now, but the developers hint that “gruesomely designed enemies lurk, danger lies around every corner, and you best hide, or run. Ritual Tides presents a ‘gun’, but not in a typical fashion, candidly setting it apart from other games within this space.”
Stay tuned for more on Ritual Tides as development progresses.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Hark! Comments have been temporarily turned off on Rock Paper Shotgun. We and all of our sibling websites are moving to a new commenting platform and the existing comments need to be ported across. This process will take some time – days, perhaps – and we’ll update this post once it’s complete and commenting functionality has been restored.
Switch accessory manufacturer CRKD has announced that it has launched a new ‘Hot Drops’ scheme for its products, which is essentially a rather unsavoury way of instilling a sense of ‘FOMO’ in its potential customers.
In a nutshell, Hot Drop products are accessories that feature unique designs and exclusive colours and will be revealed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis in highly limited quantities. If customers miss their window of opportunity, CRKD states that the products “may appear later down the line or disappear, locked in the vault forever”.
Nuketown comes to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on November 1 ahead of Season 1 arriving on November 14, Activision has revealed.
A Call of Duty blog post outlined the wealth of updates planned over the next few weeks, beginning with the release of fan favorite multiplayer map Nuketown. This map is a recreation of the original Nuketown from the first Black Ops, meaning players can enjoy its 1950s motif and unabridged chaos.
“This remaster remains extremely faithful to the original design and layout of the map, even down to the precise placement of parked vehicles and other scenery harking back to the original three-lane design,” Activision said.
Two weeks later and the publisher promises a “massive content drop” in the form of Season 1. Little was said about the impending update but it will arrive for free in both Black Ops 6 and Warzone and add new maps, modes, and more.
“At the start of Season 1, deploy to the new Area 99 Resurgence map in the free to play Call of Duty: Warzone update,” Activision said.
“Also set in the Nevada desert, this top secret government site is just miles away from the original Nuketown location. See where it all began by exploring the mannequin assembly plant, the factory warehouse including pieces of the Nuketown homes in development, and much more, when Season 1 launches.”
.png?width=1920&height=1920&fit=bounds&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
