Redfall Developer Is Working on Reversing Always-Online Requirement

Arkane Austin has said that it is working on a fix that will reverse Redfall’s always-online requirement, an aspect that was met with backlash when first announced.

In an interview with Eurogamer, game director Harvey Smith said, “We listen. And we have already started work to address this in the future. We have to do some things like encrypt your save games and do a bunch of UI work to support it. And so we are looking into – I’m not supposed to promise anything – but we’re looking into and working actively toward fixing that in the future.”

Smith also went into more detail about why Redfall was designed as an always-online experience from the start. It wasn’t to sell microtransactions from an in-game store, as the game doesn’t even have one (DLC is planned, including guns and costume bundles, but they will be sold via the Xbox store). Instead, the decision behind requiring an online connection was to help Arkane understand how people were playing Redfall and when they were facing difficulties.

“It allows us to do some accessibility stuff. It allows us for telemetry, like – if everybody’s falling off ladders and dying, holy shit that shows up,” Smith explained. “And so we can go and tweak the ladder code. There are reasons we set out to do that that are not insidious.”

Smith noted that Arkane wanted to take the empathetic approach to players’ concerns as not everyone has a stable internet connection and are sometimes prone to outages. “And so I think it is a legitimate critique,” said Smith.

Smith’s use of the term “fixing that in the future” may point to the system being changed after launch, so it currently seems sensible temper any expectations that Redfall will definitely launch with an offline mode.

Redfall launches on May 2 for PC and Xbox Series X|S. In IGN’s Redfall preview, we said, “If Arkane Austin can bring its own version of the kind of innovation [Far Cry 2 and STALKER] did back in the late 2000s, then Redfall could well inject a static genre with some long-overdue excitement.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

Redfall Hands-On Preview

In a game all about vampire slaying it’s pretty important that killing your blood-feasting foes feels like an event in and of itself. That’s exactly what Arkane Austin has done with Redfall; much like how assassination-sim Dishonored had gloriously bloody backstab animations, Redfall revels in the act of plunging a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart. There’s weight in the blow as you knock your foe backwards and slam them into the floor, pushing a boot into a jaw that quickly evaporates into fiery dust. Yeah, killing vampires in Redfall feels good.

At a recent hands-on event I played around 90 minutes of Redfall, which gave me the first taste of something akin to a Far Cry game made by Stephen King. It’s an open-world shooter set in modern day Massachusetts, filled with gothic small-town vibes, fanged horrors, and a buffet of activity types.

That means Prey and Dishonored developer Arkane Austin is operating in uncharted territory. Redfall is very different to the studio’s other games and initially feels a lot more conventional. A freely explored map with safehouses, enemy camps, side errands, and tier-graded loot? Check, check, check, and check. But the more I played, the more I saw of what I’d expect from the historically ambitious developer. The island town of Redfall has clever environment design that’s engineered to compliment your skills. The enemy AI is there to be toyed with, allowing you to bait your foes into traps. And every second room I entered felt staged to tell a story. Redfall definitely is an Arkane game, just not the one I expected.

The demo began mid-way through an investigation into Dr. Addison, a physician-turned-vampire god known as The Hollow Man. I was to search his mansion – a ransacked estate that appeared frozen in time, mid-explosion – in the hope of discovering something that may weaken him. Of course, said mansion was crawling with enemies, both blood suckers and the humans who work in service to them. It was a classic infiltration set-up and has much of what you’d expect of Arkane’s work in this field. Patrolling cultists guarded the perimeter, CCTV camera-like vampires lurked on the building’s roof, and there were multiple entry points to choose from. Inside, the route to my objective was spelled out only with clues, and so exploration and close reading of the space is mandatory.

It soon became clear that to find what I was looking for I needed to replace three characters missing from Addison’s daughter’s doll house. After scouring the house and finding the little figures I needed, I was transported back to a period where the mansion was tidy, un-exploded, and Addison hadn’t gone full vampire mode. In this timeline – which felt like a simpler, less fantastical version of Dishonored 2’s Crack in the Slab in the way it repurposed the location to tell its story – I watched apparitions play out a tragedy between Addison and his daughter. It’s a tale I won’t spoil here, but one that reveals the vampire god’s weakness and presumably will help me burn him out of existence in a later mission.

Vampire hunting is a process, a profession. To be the slayer means learning the tricks of the trade.

Of course, Redfall isn’t all about rebuilding creepy doll houses and reliving childrens’ trauma. As mentioned earlier, it’s also very much about sending vampires to hell in very cool ways. Your arsenal comprises a bunch of conventional firearms – shotguns, pistols, assault rifles and the like – as well as a variety of DIY weapons designed specifically for vampire hunting. The selection I’ve used of the former feel heavy and powerful, but even those with the highest stats are unable to truly eliminate a vampire. Bloodsuckers downed by regular guns will reanimate a few moments later and so, in tradition with vampire lore, the only way to properly end them is with a stake driven through their heart. Many guns are equipped with a wooden bayonet for such occasions, but the jury-rigged stake launcher lets you dust vamps from a distance with a single trigger pull. Ammo for the launcher seems much more scarce than regular bullets, though, and so I found myself continually assessing if each fanged target was worth the shot.

Should you be out of stakes, there are other ways to do the job. Fire does the trick, and so exploding hazards or flare guns will turn a vampire into a smouldering barbecue. Electricity also generates heat, and so setting up some kind of a livewire trap will fry them, too. They also hate ultraviolet light (it freezes them into temporary stone statues), so a UV emitter gun is a handy thing to pack – just remember to shatter your targets before the petrification wears off. All these techniques give the sense of vampire hunting being a process, a profession. To be the slayer means learning the tricks of the trade.

Each of Redfall’s four playable protagonists are equipped with unique skills to help with that process. For this session I played as Devinder Crousley, a quippy British cryptozoologist most obviously built around being a modern-day Buffy. His Arc Javelin is an electrified spear that can chain bolts of lightning around a group of enemies, and scoring a perfect throw with it feels immensely satisfying. The Blacklight, meanwhile, floods a wide area with UV light for quick crowd control. They were useful in my single-player demo, but are abilities I’m excited to use as part of a co-op session; I’m interested to see the results of experimentation with a combination of different characters’ skills.

My favourite of Devinder’s gadgets is his Translocator, a frisbee-like device that teleports you to wherever it is thrown. It’s Redfall’s closest answer to Dishonored’s Blink ability and it quickly became my most-used tool, letting me access out-of-reach open windows, flank enemies, appear behind guards for takedowns, and bypass grids of laser trip mines. It also helped just getting around; while Redfall’s map seems much smaller than those in most open world shooters there’s still a lot of ground to cover, and being able to throw the Translocator over houses, streets, and fences was very handy for exploring the town.

Stealth is a component of Redfall, but it adheres to a very different rulebook than that used by Dishonored.

As you’d expect from a game in this genre, there’s a whole bunch of things to do beyond the main storyline. There are multiple safehouses to unlock, each of which becomes an ammunition stockpile and fast-travel location. There are activities which help pull neighbourhoods back from full vampire infestation, such as wiping out cultist rallies or preventing a powerful creature emerging from its blood amber cocoon. Then there are errand-like side quests that appear to be peppered with Arkane Easter eggs, such as one where you head off to find whisky and cigars.

But the best side activities are the strangest ones, at least from the small sample I’ve seen so far. Vampire Nests transport you into a twisted psychic realm where you must destroy a room-sized heart and then claim as much treasure as possible before the entire place collapses around you like some kind of blood splattered game show. Back in the town, you’re frequently reminded that ‘The Vampire Gods Are Watching You’, and if you cause too much trouble they’ll send an Incredible Hulk-like freak to beat seven bells out of you in a battle played out beneath a wild electrical storm. The repeating nature of open-world tasks feels completely at odds with Arkane’s typically hand-crafted approach, but it’s in these two activities that I saw a glimmer of how the studio is rethinking the building blocks of the genre to make them feel more systemic or novel.

The other area in which traditional open-world shooter design is at odds with Arkane’s legacy is stealth. To be clear: stealth is a component of Redfall, but it adheres to a very different rulebook than that used by Dishonored. Sneaking flows between regular bursts of violent, chaotic conflict. And that’s okay. Dishonored was Arkane’s interpretation of pure stealth classics like Thief, but the studio’s touchstones for Redfall are very different. Before my demo began, co-director Harvey Smith namechecked Far Cry 2 and STALKER as influences; two shooters from an experimental period years before the likes of Gearbox and Ubisoft established the largely unwavering open-world FPS formula. If Arkane Austin can bring its own version of the kind of innovation those games did back in the late 2000s, then Redfall could well inject a static genre with some long-overdue excitement.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.

Fire Emblem Engage Story DLC ‘Fell Xenologue’ Launches In April

Wave 4 is almost here.

Wave 4 of the Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass lands on 4th April — or 5th April in Europe. And for Fire Emblem fans, this is likely the most exciting addition yet, as it brings in brand-new story content.

In an ominous trailer, which starts off with “your grave”, the Fell Xenologue will bring more story content to the base game, which is separate from the chapter structure, and will introduce brand new characters Ned and Nil. The pair say there are seven ‘Emblem Bracelets’, and four are missing — meaning there may well be some characters coming back to the fray.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Redfall may be open world, but it hasn’t defanged Arkane’s magic

more akin to Far Cry than Left 4 Dead? I do! I remember a chill ran down my spine as I cast my mind back to Far Cry 6, where the tutorial island itself was longer than anything else I’d played that year. I was scared Redfall might succumb to a similar fate. I imagined it filling my head with map markers until my head swelled, popped like a balloon, and dropped grey rarity brain matter.

Well, having given Redfall a go for 90 minutes I was, perhaps, being a bit dramatic. The game may be open world, and may have some slightly jarring open world-isms, but I felt like Arkane’s magic wasn’t diluted by it all. Their talent for storytelling and level design bubbled to the surface constantly, making exploration a genuine joy. Sure, I have some reservations, but I can’t deny that I’m itching to play it again.

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Character-Full: Why Your Choice of Redfall Hero Will Make All the Difference

Summary

  • I went hands-on with Redfall, playing a solo mission twice to discover how much of a difference your character choice will make.
  • Redfall launches with four characters, each with wildly differing abilities and upgrade paths, making each paythrough different.
  • Redfall arrives on May 2 for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and will be part of Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass on day one.

Arkane has always been a studio that puts player choice at the heart of its ideas. Dishonored gives you huge choice about how to approach your hapless targets. Deathloop, created by Arkane Austin’s sister studio in Lyon, lets you tackle its story in a close-to-infinite number of ways. Prey offers you tools to uncover the mystery hidden at its core, but doesn’t stand in the way of you using them however you’d like. It stands to reason that Arkane Austin’s newest project, Redfall, would live by the same code. But the way it’s approaching that player choice is strikingly new – your approach to taking back a vampire-strewn Massachusetts island will be defined as much by the character you choose to play, as it is your actual interactions.

Redfall’s cast of four playable heroes is the largest an Arkane game has offered. After playing through a 90-minute demo twice, using two different solo characters, it becomes abundantly clear what the team is aiming for here – Redfall is a game that opens up in very different directions based on who you play as – in mechanics, in combat, in exploration, and even in the way it tells its story.

The story mission I was presented with was fairly simple. Get to a mansion on the edge of town, enter a scientist’s lab, and discover his connection to the vampire plague that’s seen you trapped on the island. Getting to that mansion is the tougher part. I chose to make a beeline through the heart of Redfall, passing through Vampire Nests and violent cultist territory, and eventually into the mansion grounds – patrolled, as you’d expect, by a large number of enemies. Much of your route is urban by design, meaning tightly packed streets, high walls, and not a huge amount of room in which to manoeuvre.

Each character comes with a range of upgradable skills and, as I discovered, they make an enormous difference to that journey. I played this same mission with two characters – Devinder Crousley and Remi de la Rosa – and found that the way played was affected entirely by that choice. Here’s how those playthroughs went:

Playing With Remi

An elite Navy rescue team member, Remi is the prototypical action star of the bunch. Having spent her life on combat frontlines, she’s equipped to take on Redfall’s many monstrosities with brute force. But she’s also an engineer, and has brought along a robot buddy, Bribón to help her do so with more finesse than simply “stake anything that moves”.

As you might expect, Remi’s toolkit is designed to let her take down groups of enemies from close range (and she has passive upgrade that allow her to increase close range damage, pushing you further down that path), and to keep her alive while she does so. Her most aggressive ability is a sticky C4 charge that can be detonated remotely, letting you damage multiple enemies at once, or set traps as you guide enemies you grief into its path. To help you with the latter, Remi can also use Bribón (who is a separate AI character, with its own healthbar and attacks) to set off a siren, letting you alert multiple enemies and draw them to you.

Combining these two abilities became key to how I got through Redfall’s streets smoothly. After spotting enemies, I’d throw down a C4 charge and set off Bribón’s siren – a group would charge the robot, while I snuck around cover and flanked them. Having upgraded my siren ability to let me do more damage to enemies that had been attracted by it, I’d then finish off the group with a shotgun, using its attached stake to take down any vampires I put into a vulnerable state.

Playing with Remi as a solo character turns Redfall into an action-packed experience, asking you to balance risk and reward constantly.

If things got too hairy, I could turn to Remi’s ultimate ability, Mobilize, creating a rally point that healed me while I was inside its radius. In these moments, I played like a classic tank, absorbing lots of damage while dealing even more of my own. Most vampires can’t be killed with bullets alone, so in battle with multiple monsters, I’d switch out my shotgun-and-stake for a weapon that fired a UV beam – useless against human enemies, but able to turn vampires to stone in short order, letting me shatter them with a simple melee attack.

I cleared vampire nests (psychical spaces that offer big rewards in return for taking on their challenges) and unlocked a safehouse, which offers safe harbour, a new fast travel point, and extra missions. But attracting so much attention on the streets also increased the attention of the island’s Vampire Gods. As I approached the mansion, a lightning storm erupted around me, and saw the appearance of the Rook – a brutal, melee-focused mini-boss sent to kill me for doing so much damage along the way. It’s a lovely, emergent touch, and an extra trial designed to test you after you’ve begun to master combat.

With the experience I earned from taking down the Rook, I also upgraded my C4 charge to let me ‘boom jump’, taking no area of effect damage and eliminating fall damage, but I used this mainly as another means to get behind enemies while they were distracted – and once I entered the mansion grounds, I combined my abilities to clear out as many enemies as possible in its gardens because of how much aggression I could absorb, before entering its winding corridors with a stake launcher (able to one-shot most vampires) to take down any stragglers.

As you can tell, playing with Remi as a solo character turns Redfall into an action-packed experience, asking you to balance risk and reward constantly. But playing as Devinder offered a very different vibe while engaging with the same mission.

Playing With Devinder

Think of Devinder as, essentially, all four Ghostbusters rolled into one – he has the scientific expertise of Spengler, the wonder of Stantz, the cool demeanour of Zeddemore, and the wit of Venkman. A filmmaker and author with an audience interested in the paranormal, his kit revolves around inventions he’s created to find and document supernatural entities – but he’s now had to upgrade it to kill them off as well.

Devinder’s kit is very different to Remi’s. His Arc Javelin is a mid-range attack that acts as a combined stake and area-of-effect attack, sending electricity out to incapacitate enemies (and vampires can be outright killed by being hit by its lightning). His ultimate, Blacklight, is a super-powered UV beam weapon, which can transform an entire area of vampires into stone near-instantly – very useful for getting out of a tight spot.

And this is the interesting thing about playing as Devinder – the final piece of his toolset is as much about avoiding attention as it is dealing with it. The Translocator is Redfall’s closest analogue to Dishonored’s Blink, a throwable device that lets you instantly transport to where it lands. As a result, instead of getting into action on the streets, I spent most of my journey getting onto rooftops, quietly taking out Watchers (a Vampire form that act like roving security cameras) with my Javelin, and sneaking past larger groups.

Think of Devinder as, essentially, all four Ghostbusters rolled into one.

Like with Remi, I took out a Vampire Nest on my way – but instead of running in guns blazing, I carefully scaled a church roof, entering a belltower and creeping into the encounter instead of taking down the guards around it. And without attracting so much ire, I also didn’t have to take on the Rook, who would have been a sterner challenge with a set of weapons built more for long-range combat.

Even the more manicured mansion grounds played out differently with Devinder. Instead of entering through the front gates, I used my translocator to sneak into the back garden, bypassing deadly areas of Blood Mist that had forced Remi to use the front door. It felt like playing the same game made by a different set of developers, with different interests in how to challenge you, adding a puzzle layer on top of its meaty gunplay.

But perhaps my favorite part of playing with Devinder wasn’t mechanical at all – it was how he told the story along the way. As a para-scientist, Devinder’s interactions with all of this weren’t defined by anger, fear, or triumph as much as they were by fascination. Every new type of vampire I met was greeted by Devinder talking about their physiology or behavior, ending with him giving them a name – a Watcher, a Shroud, and so on (clearly, Devinder is the member of the group creating the vampire taxonomy that the rest of the team use). It’s a lovely choice, making playing with Devinder as much of a documentary about the vampire plague as it is an action story.

Mixing it Up

Of course, the two other characters, Layla and Jacob, would have changed this experience for themselves. And this is just in solo play – every character also comes with abilities designed for co-op play (which also increases the number of enemies you need to fight as you go). Remi can upgrade Bribón to heal the whole team is they stay close by, while Devinder can up allies’ damage through ‘Color Commentary’. I’m just as fascinated to see how these disparate toolsets work when combined as I am to try them all solo.

Even at this early stage, this spin on Arkane’s traditional openness to player expression is intoxicating, enlivening both solo and co-op play. I’m very excited to try out those other characters and delve deeper into how Redfall will let us experiment with its tools.

Xbox Live

Redfall Bite Back Edition

Bethesda Softworks

$99.99

Redfall is an open-world, single player and co-op FPS from Arkane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored. Continuing Arkane’s legacy of carefully crafted worlds and immersive sims, Redfall brings the studio’s signature gameplay to this story-driven action shooter.

Dig your teeth into the Bite Back Edition and receive the Redfall Hero Pass, the Throwback Outfit Pack, Laser Beam multi-weapon skin, and the Tactical Knife Stake weapon attachment for close-range fights. The Redfall Hero Pass gives you access to two future heroes with unique powers and gameplay. The Throwback Outfit Pack includes a unique outfit and backpack for each of the four base heroes inspired by their lives before Redfall.

INCLUDES:
– Redfall Base Game
– Redfall Hero Pass with Two Future Heroes
– Laser Beam Multi-Weapon Skin
– Tactical Knife Stake Weapon Attachment
– Northern Expedition Devinder Outfit
– Eyes in the Dark Jacob Outfit
– War Clothes Layla Outfit
– Engineer Volunteer Remi Outfit

Pre-order or play on Game Pass to receive the Vampire Hunter Pack, including:
– Level 2 Unrivaled Grim Tide Shotgun
– Polar Vortex Multi-Weapon Skin
– Blood Ravager Stake weapon attachment

FEATURES:

Uncover the Truth, Take Back Redfall
The island town of Redfall, Massachusetts, is under siege by a legion of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the citizens off from the outside world. Explore the open world and immerse yourself in a deep story campaign as you unravel the mystery behind the vampires’ appearance. Ally with a handful of survivors against the creatures threatening to bleed the town dry.

Slay Alone or Squad Up
Redfall blends single- and multiplayer options seamlessly, allowing the player to venture into the darkness alone or to squad-up for up to four player co-op. Teammates can try different hero loadouts and combine their strengths to find creative solutions to the vampire apocalypse. You will collect an arsenal of specialized weaponry and customize your character with unique upgrades and abilities to suit your playstyle for guns blazing, stealth combat, and everything in-between.

Unconventional Heroes Vs. The Night
Created by science experiments gone wrong and gifted with psychic abilities, Redfall’s vampires will challenge you and your squad to get creative. You will choose from a team of diverse heroes – each with their own character-specific abilities – to overcome the vampire legion and their brood of maniacal followers.
– DEVINDER CROUSLEY – The Verified Cryptid Hunter: A cryptozoologist and aspiring inventor. Armed with weapons of his own creation, he’s on a mission to prove himself.
– LAYLA ELLISON – The Telekinetic Threat: A biomedical engineering student who volunteered for a medical trial where something went very wrong, leaving her with intense telekinetic abilities.
– REMI DE LA ROSA – The Ingenious Ingeniera: A brilliant combat engineer who has spent her life on the frontlines. With the help of her robot cohort, Bribón, she’s determined to help rescue Redfall’s survivors.
– JACOB BOYER – The Deadeye with an Undead Eye: An ex-military sharpshooter turned private contractor. Strange happenings on Redfall have left Jacob with a mysterious vampiric eye and a spectral raven that’s never far from his side.

The Open World of Redfall
Redfall is a true Arkane experience set in a rich world that blends the familiar with the extraordinary. Redfall’s open world is handcrafted by the master level designers behind Prey’s Talos I space station and Dishonored’s Dunwall. From the town’s once-bustling downtown and the haunted forest to the decimated seaside boardwalk and beyond, you will fight through cultist outposts and supernatural psychic spaces as you piece together Redfall’s many mysteries.

Xbox Live

Redfall

Bethesda Softworks

$69.99

Redfall is an open-world, single player and co-op FPS from Arkane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored. Continuing Arkane’s legacy of carefully crafted worlds and immersive sims, Redfall brings the studio’s signature gameplay to this story-driven action shooter.

Pre-order or Play on Game Pass to receive the Vampire Hunter Pack, including:
– Level 2 Unrivaled Grim Tide Shotgun
– Polar Vortex Multi-Weapon Skin
– Blood Ravager Stake Weapon Attachment

Upgrade to the Bite Back Edition to receive:
– Redfall Base Game
– Redfall Hero Pass with Two Future Heroes
– Laser Beam Multi-Weapon Skin
– Tactical Knife Stake Weapon Attachment
– Throwback Outfit Pack (Unique Outfit for Each Hero)

FEATURES:

Uncover the Truth, Take Back Redfall
The island town of Redfall, Massachusetts, is under siege by a legion of vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the citizens off from the outside world. Explore the open world and immerse yourself in a deep story campaign as you unravel the mystery behind the vampires’ appearance. Ally with a handful of survivors against the creatures threatening to bleed the town dry.

Slay Alone or Squad Up
Redfall blends single- and multiplayer options seamlessly, allowing the player to venture into the darkness alone or to squad-up for up to four player co-op. Teammates can try different hero loadouts and combine their strengths to find creative solutions to the vampire apocalypse. You will collect an arsenal of specialized weaponry and customize your character with unique upgrades and abilities to suit your playstyle for guns blazing, stealth combat, and everything in-between.

Unconventional Heroes Vs. The Night
Created by science experiments gone wrong and gifted with psychic abilities, Redfall’s vampires will challenge you and your squad to get creative. You will choose from a team of diverse heroes – each with their own character-specific abilities – to overcome the vampire legion and their brood of maniacal followers.
– DEVINDER CROUSLEY – The Verified Cryptid Hunter: A cryptozoologist and aspiring inventor. Armed with weapons of his own creation, he’s on a mission to prove himself.
– LAYLA ELLISON – The Telekinetic Threat: A biomedical engineering student who volunteered for a medical trial where something went very wrong, leaving her with intense telekinetic abilities.
– REMI DE LA ROSA – The Ingenious Ingeniera: A brilliant combat engineer who has spent her life on the frontlines. With the help of her robot cohort, Bribón, she’s determined to help rescue Redfall’s survivors.
– JACOB BOYER – The Deadeye with an Undead Eye: An ex-military sharpshooter turned private contractor. Strange happenings on Redfall have left Jacob with a mysterious vampiric eye and a spectral raven that’s never far from his side.

The Open World of Redfall
Redfall is a true Arkane experience set in a rich world that blends the familiar with the extraordinary. Redfall’s open world is handcrafted by the master level designers behind Prey’s Talos I space station and Dishonored’s Dunwall. From the town’s once-bustling downtown and the haunted forest to the decimated seaside boardwalk and beyond, you will fight through cultist outposts and supernatural psychic spaces as you piece together Redfall’s many mysteries.

Related:
Ghostwire: Tokyo Is Coming to Xbox – Play the All-New Spider’s Thread Update April 12
PC Game Pass Preview is Available for Insiders in 40 New Countries
How Elder Scrolls Online Is Adding a New Class, 8 Years After Launch

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is available to pre-order today, pre-order bonuses detailed

Aloy’s journey continues in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores — an expansion which sees the fierce Nora hunter pursue a sinister threat in the untamed wilds of a far-future, volcanic Los Angeles which has been wracked by violent tectonic activity. Pre-orders for Burning Shores, which launches on the PlayStation 5 console on April 19, 2023, are available as of today.


Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores is available to pre-order today, pre-order bonuses detailed

Pre-ordering will give players access to the following digital bonuses:

  • Blacktide Dye Outfit (available at the first dye merchant)
  • Blacktide Sharpshot Bow (available from the first merchant in the Burning Shores)

The story picks up Aloy’s story right where Horizon Forbidden West left off – so, to enter the Burning Shores, you must complete the main quest (up to and including the final quest Singularity) in Horizon Forbidden West. Following the events of Singularity, she will receive a call over her Focus, beginning the DLC.

Aloy will then be able to travel to a dangerous new region south of the Tenakth Clan Lands, where players will experience a compelling new storyline featuring new characters, machines, and adventures – we look forward to sharing more details with you very soon!

Horizon Forbidden West is available now in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.

Capcom are remaking Resident Evil 4 in the form of hilarious anime shorts

Resident Evil 4 Remake is just over the horizon – coming March 24th – but Capcom are remaking the action-horror classic in a cheerier form, too. Over the past few days, Capcom have released two 1-minute episodes of the Resident Evil 4 anime Masterpiece Theatre called Leon And The Mysterious Village, a childlike take on the classic gothic journey. It’s beautifully animated and hilarious, even without context for Resi4. The only problem? These shorts are too damn short!

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Tax Heaven 3000 is a free dating sim that claims to do your taxes

Doki Doki Literature Club was already scary enough for a dating sim, but our Graham has found something just as creepy. Tax Heaven 3000 is an upcoming dating sim that apparently prepares your US federal tax returns and asks you for personal information like your social security number – all while giving you a cheerful waifu to romance. Her name’s – wait for it – Iris. As in the IRS, aka the government branch responsible for taxes. Sigh.

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Mutant Year Zero devs’ new strategy game Miasma Chronicles arrives in May

Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden – The Bearded Ladies – have announced a release date for their next game: May 23rd. Miasma Chronicles is another post-apocalyptic tactical RPG, but this time it replaces the anthropomorphic pigs with a friendly robot – who the trailer refers to as your big brother, I should add. Spiritually rather than biologically, of course. If you’re not sold yet, Miasma Chronicles will be showing up to tomorrow’s Future Games Show.

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