Category: Video Games

Developer Player First Games has released a new patch for its free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus. The patch includes various fixes and improvements, along with details about how the Iron Giant will be nerfed when he returns.

As noted in a new blog post, the MultiVersus 1.01 patch notes first mention that Iron Gaint is still unplayable after the developer previously pulled the character from the roster. They also note that a status update will be shared sometime next week.

The Iron Giant was removed from the MultiVersus character roster after complaints that he was overpowered and was causing an unfair advantage. The patch notes mention that this next update should add changes that will “prevent Iron Giant from chaining certain sets of attack infinitely.” Two things getting nerfed in Iron Giant’s move set are the Ground Side Attack, which will get a “slightly smaller” hitbox, and his Rage Mode Up Special, which will decrease the final hit damage from 5 to 6.

Clank! is a deck-building adventure that’s very much worth your consideration. The game is for 2-4 players, and while the recommendations say that it takes 30-60 minutes to complete, matches go about double that or more, especially with more players. So sit down and get ready, because it’s time to deck-build your way out of a dungeon before the monsters get you.

Clank!, made by Dire Wolf Digital and Renegade Game Studios, is a competitive game that integrates a base board game with cards and tokens. Movement is pushed forward with cards gained in the deck-building portion of the game. As with any deck-building game, you’ll start with a small collection of cards to start, but advancement will require more cards to be added through your turns.

You’ll take turns moving and exploring dungeon depths, collecting cards and artifacts, gaining mastery, and evading a boss, which in your starter game is, of course, everyone’s favorite medieval adversary: the dragon. Go through the dungeon’s depths with rewards and you will score well. But wait, it’s not so simple.

When all players are knocked out of the dungeon (unless playing in a two-player game, where the first player to do this will make the game end), successfully exits on their own or with the help of townspeople (a few spaces on the game board above the depths of the dungeon), they will add up their accumulated scores. Scores are added on acquired treasures (artifacts and other tokens gained along your journey through the dungeon), the value of gold tokens, and cards with a green amount visible in the top right-hand corner. The amount on the cards includes everything you’ve had in your collected journey- not just the ones in your hand.

The game also has an optional companion app (available for both Android and Apple users) that can be integrated into play. With the app, you’ll add a further dimension to the experience. You can also play it as a solo board game if you want to go deep alone.

The Base Game

Clank! A Deck-building Adventure

Contents: Two-sided game board, 180+ cards, 80+ tokens, 30 cubes, 4 player meeples in different colors, 24 dragon cubes, cloth dragon bag, dragon monster meeple

MSRP: $65.00 USD2

• 4 Players (best with 3)
• 20-30 minutes
• Ages 13+

The original base game of assorted dungeon hijinx is needed to start your adventure through what may be a series of dungeon exploits. It will guide your adventure through a simple dungeon with obstacles, even at the base game. Future expansions and packs can be added to the game to enhance the difficulty and boss monsters that seek to end your trek to defeat.

Expansions

Clank! has two types of expansions. The original expansions follow a similar medieval approach to the base game. They add obstacles and other medieval and fantasy-type bosses. The other expansion type goes a different route, which is more geared toward players with a deeper understanding of the game. Those expansions are broken up into space-themed dungeons and legacy playing. Space-themed editions have an expanded board and have space as their fantasy direction. Legacy editions of games are intensive versions which incorporate multiple versions of the game. They will involve numerous playthroughs to complete. As a standard, you won’t finish a legacy game version of really any game on one game night, regardless of which game it is. That’s no different with Clank!’s versions. You’ll have to sit through multiple nights of dungeon-crawling gaming for those.

Standard Fantasy Style Expansions

Sunken Treasures

Contents: Two new maps, a marketplace board, more dungeon cards, Treasure rooms added to the board, room challenges from environments, and card effects brought on by discarding cards. Two-sided game board, 36 cards, market board, 5 tokens

(Base Game Required)

MSRP: $35.00 USD

• 2-6 Players
• 20-30 minutes
• Ages 13+

This first expansion adds new sunken depths to your dungeon experience. The addition of water and environmental elements can force players to incorporate new strategies involving timing and skill. Will you sink to the bottom in defeat or will you tread water and escape to the surface unscathed?

The Mummy’s Curse

Contents: Mummy monster in addition to the dragon, a mummy curse die, additional cards and rewards tokens, artifact changes. Two-sided game board, 41 cards, 31 tokens, market board, dragon meeple, mummy meeple, pyramid die

(Base Game Required)

MSRP: $35.00 USD

• 2-4 Players
• 30-60 minutes
• Ages 12+

Think a dragon was a tough enough adversary for your dungeon crawl? The addition of the mummy monster will add further challenges to the dungeon. It works with curses that change the dynamic, causing havoc and frustrating the dragon. As mentioned in the contents portion, the Mummy’s Curse also changes the route to acquiring artifacts in the game. The artifact changes made in this second edition of the game where a player can use an action to gain an artifact in the room (the first two editions didn’t allow for that), become a mainstay approach for all subsequent game versions.

Expeditions: Gold and Silk

Contents: Double-sided game board, 8-point artifact, 3 mining bonus tokens, market board, 4 player meeples, 12 web tokens, 3 mining bonus tokens, spider meeple character monster

MSRP: $25.00 USD

• 2-4 Players
• 30-60 minutes
• Ages 12+

Two additional boards with a gold mine are key to this treacherous Gold & Silk expansion dungeon. A spider opponent adds danger as you explore gold mines filled with gold veins and treasures. Webbed rooms create further danger. Successfully navigating the mine may result in additional treasures hidden in a section the spider has placed in its secret lair. Will you get through the spun silk before the spider gets you?

Temple of the Ape Lords

Contents: 1 two-sided game board, 1 Ape boss meeple, 4 player meeples

MSRP: $25.00 USD

• 2-4 Players
• 30-60 minutes
• Ages 14+

This version of the game adds several elements which may make players go bananas. It integrates apes into the dungeon, bringing a barrel full of assorted shenanigans. Movement on the board can be rotated in some spaces. This version also allows for a mini-campaign mode for playing two different versions of the game- each on their side

Clank Adventuring Party

Contents: side board used for 5-6 players, 30 cubes in 2 additional colors, 6 player meeples, 6 character boards, 127 cards (including 6 starter decks each with 10 cards), 90+ tokens, Hexavultus boss meeple, rules

(The base game is required, but this expansion is also compatible with Clank! Legacy.)

MSRP: $35.00 USD

• 2-6 Players
• 60-120 minutes
• Ages 13+

In Clank! Adventuring Party, you’ll gain six new adventures to choose from to guide you through the dungeon. Each adventurer in this edition will wield its own connected powers. Most are typical magic and fantasy types characters such as the dwarf, orc, elf, and mage. However, there are also a couple of animals too. You can play as a robot monkey or a cute kitten with some bite to it. This version also adds a new villain: Hexavultus. Which party will you choose to go into the depths this time? Choose wisely.

More Expansions & Add Ons

There are multiple versions of space-type expansions in the series. The game operates a bit differently with a changeable spaceship-type board. There are three space versions of the game available. Clank in Space is the first in the series. Others in the space edition of expansions are Clank in Space: Apocalypse and Clank in Space: Cyber Station 11.

A legacy version of the game based on a comic and podcast was created. That version is called Clank! Legacy Acquisitions Incorporated.

There are also character Packs (to be used in the legacy after they’ve completed the legacy version of the game: the Upper Management Pack and The C Team Pack.

Several promo cards can be added to the game.
Bottom Line

With a 7.8 rating on Board Game Geek and multiple dungeons to unlock, Clank! is a solid choice for your gaming adventures. The base game is tons of fun to play on its own accord, but each expansion adds an assortment of new adventures. My main complaint is that, sadly, despite the irony of the game being made by a company with “digital” in their name, Clank! isn’t available to play digitally. Their side companion app is a great addition to things, but I wish there were more ways to play. Clank! And its expansions are massive games with tons of pieces. Older kids will love this, but families, especially those with younger kids in the house, will dread when pieces go missing. Moving past those two items, the game is a highly enjoyable adventure in fantasy dungeons with enough challenges to keep folks entertained for a long time.

Microsoft is reportedly working on a remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved, and there are suggestions that it may also come to PS5 in addition to Xbox.

In a new report by The Verge, Tom Warren writes in his Notepad newsletter that Halo is “one game” being considered for release on Sony’s console. Warren notes that it is in “early days” of development, so it is very unlikely that Microsoft will announce this project during this Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase.

Cyberpunk 2077 never received a New Game Plus mode like CD Projekt’s predecessor The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt because it would “break the way the game is constructed.”

Speaking to DualShockers, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director and its sequel’s associate game director Paweł Sasko gave a somewhat vague explanation for why the now beloved role-playing game didn’t receive New Game Plus in its more than three years of updates.

“For us, it’s really important that when you have components in a game, they all work together and they all work well and they all make sense,” Sasko said. “The thing is, Cyberpunk is very specific when it comes to its construction.

“It’s incredibly difficult to figure out a way where New Game Plus could be done in a way that doesn’t completely break the way the game is constructed.”

Sasko referenced Bethesda’s latest RPG Starfield and its New Game Plus system, which actually ties into the overall story and has a logical explanation for how and why the entire world is resetting, and seemed to suggest this was the only option for incorporating the New Game Plus mechanic.

He didn’t address why Cyberpunk 2077 couldn’t have a more traditional means of New Game Plus, however, that simply sees the player restart the story while keeping abilities or experience. This is how The Witcher 3’s version of the system worked, as it had no story connection or explanation for the reset whatsoever and just allowed players to experience the game again with a few extras.

Sasko even admitted Cyberpunk 2077 was designed to be replayed, which would suggest this style of New Game Plus would work well.

“It’s to be replayed. It’s to try different life paths, try different romances, try different builds,” he said. “There’s so many things that you can at least, twice or three times, have a very varied experience in 2077. So this is another answer, the game was built to be replayed that way.”

Fans still holding out hope for a New Game Plus mode shouldn’t hold their breath, as CD Projekt announced there is no longer a dedicated Cyberpunk 2077 team working at the studio as employees instead turned their attention to its sequel and, predominantly, the next Witcher game.

That’s not to say it won’t receive any support in the future, however, as CD Projekt confirmed to IGN that Cyberpunk 2077 will still get the long promised FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR3) support at some point.

Development was wound down after the release of its first and only expansion, Phantom Liberty, in September 2023. It came after the game-changing Update 2.0, which completely revamped Cyberpunk 2077 with features such as a new perk system and improved AI, and was followed by another big update in 2.1 but only minor changes afterwards.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Cyberpunk 2077 throws you into a beautiful, dense cityscape and offers a staggering amount of flexibility in how you choose to take it from there.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

The next Dragon Age is set to get its first big gameplay reveal on June 11, and when it does, it will be with a new name. IGN can exclusively reveal that the latest entry in the Dragon Age franchise, previously known as Dragon Age Dreadwolf, is being renamed Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The news comes with a host of details that shed new light on BioWare’s anticipated RPG, which up until this point has been kept heavily under wraps. Among other things, BioWare confirmed that The Veilguard will feature seven playable party members, and that it will feature “fun and fluid, moment-to-moment combat” while continuing to center strategy via the unique powers of each companion.

But it’s the name change that will do the most to raise eyebrows among the fandom. Ever since the conclusion of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC, fans have expected a story focused on Solas, the former companion who was revealed to be the Elven god Fen’Harel, also known as the Dread Wolf. BioWare general manager Gary McKay explains that while Solas is “still very much a part of the story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” the team wanted a title that reflected a “really deep and compelling group of companions.”

Concord’s $39.99 price point “provides the full experience,” Sony has said.

Following Concord’s divisive reveal during Sony’s State of Play showcase in May, some had wondered whether the live service hero shooter would release in free-to-play form.

Confirming Concord launches in both physical and digital standard editions for $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99, Pam Piscitello, director of marketing and operations at developer Firewalk, said in a post on the PlayStation Blog that this full experience includes all 16 playable characters (called Freegunners in-game), 12 maps set on various worlds, and six team-based modes.

This will expand shortly after launch with regular, post-launch updates for all players at no additional cost, Piscitello added.

“From the very beginning, we wanted Concord to be a complete multiplayer-focused experience that combines engaging gameplay, rewarding progression, and a robust roster of characters, maps, and game modes right out of the gate, while also creating a platform for us to evolve and expand the game and universe over time,” Piscitello commented.

As is the modern video game way, the more expensive Digital Deluxe Edition ($59.99 / £49.99 / €59.99) gives early access to Concord when it launches this August. That amounts to up to 72 hours of early access before the global launch on August 23.

As already announced, a pre-launch beta is set for PlayStation 5 and PC with cross-play support. Those who pre-order get early access to this. Pre-ordering any edition of Concord grants you five codes for the beta early access weekend in July.

By launching Concord on PS5 and PC simultaneously priced $39.99, Sony is replicating the release strategy employed for Arrowhead’s co-op shooter Helldivers 2, which went on to become the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time with an incredible 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks.

Cheaper price points and simultaneous releases on PS5 and PC may be the way forward for Sony’s live service games, if Helldivers 2 and now Concord are evidence of an overall strategy. Sony has insisted it will continue to release its big ticket single-player games on console first before coming to PC later.

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.