September 2021

The 10 Best Star Wars Video Games of All Time

11 months 4 weeks ago

Star Wars video games have been around nearly as long as the iconic Star Wars movies have, letting players journey to a galaxy far, far away for decades. Some have tried to recreate the movies, others have offered new stories set somewhere in the canon of the Skywalker Saga, and others still have carved out their own corners of the galaxy.

There’s certainly no shortage of games to choose from, but we’ve tapped into the Force and whittled down the list to what we consider the 10 best Star Wars games of all time now that Star Wars: Jedi Survivor has arrived.

These entries stretch across console generations, genres, and stories, but they’ve all captivated us in their own way.

Read this list, you should.

10. Star Wars Dark Forces (1995, MS-DOS, MAC)

When you think of '90s first-person shooters, Doom and Quake are often the most recognizable ones, for obvious reasons. Yet Star Wars: Dark Forces is another first-person shooter among the best to come out during that decade.

While it lacked a multiplayer feature, Dark Forces more than made up for it with solid graphics for the time and superb level design that provided a good challenge throughout. It also introduced Star Wars fans to Kyle Katarn, a major character in Star Wars video games for years to come.

Author
Lucy O'Brien

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Marvel's Midnight Suns Combat Uses a Card System, But Won't Have Loot Boxes [Update]

2 years 7 months ago

Update: Since unveiling the tactics card battle system in Marvel's Midnight Suns, some players have expressed concerns there could be loot boxes in the game.

However, the developers have confirmed that there are no loot boxes in Midnight Suns, or any microtransactions involved with the cards system. There will however be purely cosmetic skins that will be available for purchase, but these won't impact the balance of the game.

Midnight Suns creative director Jake Solomon also responded to concerns from players, telling IGN, "We knew we were swimming in the deep waters with this one." However, Solomon says the card system is "easily as tactical as XCOM," though he understands the confusion. There will apparently be more gameplay revealed next Tuesday.

Author
Matt Kim

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Marvel's Midnight Suns Gameplay Revealed

2 years 7 months ago

Today, XCOM developer Firaxis Games unveiled a look at gameplay for their upcoming tactical RPG, Marvel's Midnight Suns. As you can see in the gameplay reveal trailer above, it is not simply "Marvel's XCOM." Instead, when it is released in March 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, it will play much differently than Firaxis's previous games.

For a deeper dive into the gameplay, check out the six-minute narrated gameplay walkthrough video below. In it, you'll get a better look at the playing card/deck-based combat (these are superheroes, after all – they don't miss attacks!) as well as the relationship-forging side of Midnight Suns that takes place in the Abbey.

Marvel's Midnight Suns includes a large variety of heroes from across the Marvel universe, including The Avengers, the X-Men, the Runaways, and more. You'll play as the Hunter, a completely customizable hero who is canon in the Marvel universe. You must unite heroes like Iron Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and many more in an effort to stop the newly awakened Lilith, the Mother of Demons and also mother of your Hunter character.

Check out the first gameplay screens below:

For even more gameplay video, tune in to the game's official website on September 7 for the next gameplay deep-dive. And if you missed the announcement (and announcement trailer) for Midnight Suns, check that out on IGN.

Author
Ryan McCaffrey

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DC's Injustice Animated Movie Arrives This October

2 years 7 months ago

DC's feature-length animated Injustice movie officially has a release date of October 19, 2021. It will launch on Blu-ray and Digital formats.

The movie is based on the fighting video game series of the same name, which includes 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us and 2017's Injustice 2. Developed by Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm, the series is set in an alternate universe where Joker tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane, sending him down a dark path.

The movie is set to be based on the first game, as well as the best-selling graphic novel based on the series, titled Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year One.

The Injustice movie cast features Justin Hartley as Superman, who is no stranger to the DC universe. Hartley is known for playing Green Arrow in Smallville. Anson Mount, who plays Captain Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Discovery, will star alongside Hartley as Batman. Other members of the cast include Laura Bailey, Yuri Lowenthal, and Steven Universe's Zach Callison.

Author
Logan Plant

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Tokyo Game Show 2021 is the First Consumer-Focused Game Show to Offer a VR Version

2 years 7 months ago

Tokyo Game Show's organizers have announced the schedule for this year's show, detailing what fans can expect from the four-day event. Unexpectedly, this includes a VR version that will be available on select virtual reality headsets.

The show's organizers have yet to elaborate on exactly how Tokyo Game Show VR 2021 will deliver in terms of a unique experience, but the official website teases that VR users will be able to "visit booths as if you were wandering around inside the gaming world." Organizers of the event said that the VR version of the show is a "grand experiment" and that they are "taking on the challenge of building the game show of [the] future."

Tokyo Game Show VR 2021 will be available when the show begins on September 30 and will support the following VR headsets: Oculus Quest 1 & Quest 2, Oculus Rift, and the HTC Vive. Oculus Quest owners will have the option to stream the VR version natively through their headset in addition to PC.

Author
Taylor Lyles

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Pokémon Go Announces Changes After Community Outcry

2 years 7 months ago

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has announced a set of changes and future intentions following the community’s outcry to its handling of COVID-19 related alterations.

Following the announcement that the interaction radius for PokéStops and Gyms would be kept at 80 meters instead of the previously proposed 40 meters, Niantic has also said that it intends to roll out seasonal bonuses on a global level, rather than country-by-country. It has also set out plans to keep in closer contact with players via regular developer diaries and conversations with community leaders.

Starting in October, Niantic will publish a developer diary every other month that explains the company’s current priorities, events, and planned features for the game. Additionally, the Known Issues page on the Pokémon Go website will be updated to allow greater visibility of the status of bugs.

Following the outcry about PokéStops and Gyms having their interaction radius reduced, Niantic spoke with 30 community leaders from around the world. The developer intends to continue these conversations on a regular basis.

In a statement released by Niantic, executive producer Steve Wang said “The lack of communication regarding the PokéStop and Gym interaction radius was not handled well on our part, and it was a great learning experience on how to better engage with our players moving forward.”

Author
Matt Purslow

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Hitman 2, Overcooked Headline September 2021's PlayStation Plus Lineup

2 years 7 months ago

PlayStation has announced that the PS Plus lineup for September 2021 includes Overcooked: All You Can Eat, Hitman 2, and Predator: Hunting Grounds. Overcooked is for PlayStation 5 owners, and the other two titles will be available on PS4. The new games arrive next week, on September 7.

Overcooked: All You Can Eat includes remastered versions of all the content from Overcooked and Overcooked 2, as well as every piece of DLC. The crazy cooking game touts local and online multiplayer, so you can get together with your friends and family to play with too many cooks in the kitchen.

Hitman 2 takes Agent 47's assassination shenanigans to new sandbox locations around the globe. Hitman 2 introduced new features to the series, including a Sniper Assassin mode and co-op play for the first time in the franchise. Earlier this year, IO Interactive continued the series with Hitman 3, which we called 'Amazing' in our Hitman 3 review.

Author
Logan Plant

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Lost In Random Is a Rare Thing – a Game That Feels Truly New

2 years 7 months ago

It’s very easy to describe how Lost In Random looks – imagine Tim Burton’s stop-motion work stretched across the skeleton of a high fantasy world – but a lot harder to explain how it plays. Even in its early stages, that’s absolutely to its credit; Swedish developer Zoink! (Fe, Stick It to The Man) is making something that plucks some very specific, very disparate heartstrings – claymation movies and deck-building tabletop games – and the tune it’s playing on them is already sounding unexpectedly sweet.

Lost In Random’s world is essentially a feudal system built on dice rolls – every citizen throws a magic die on their twelfth birthday, with chance deciding their future. Roll a one and you’ll be sent to the sunken slums of Onecroft, roll a six and you’re welcomed into the heavenly Sixtopia, with a different town for every number in between. But the game’s hero, Even, begins to suspect the game may be rigged after her older sister Odd rolls a six and is ripped away from her family of Ones, and seemingly sends a ghostly call for help.

What follows is an escape from her assigned home, as Even meets a living, magic die (named Dicey, naturally) and they team up for a journey through all six of Random’s realms – two of which I had the chance to play through in a roughly three-hour hands-on. It’s impossible not to notice Lost In Random’s art style first, with its world not just looking like, but moving like its animated movie inspirations (and how many games can you say remind you of Nightmare Before Christmas more than anything else?). But spending even a little time in the game’s world – full of curiously elongated humans, glum fish-men, and a giant mayor with an evil twin sprouting out of his hat – reveals that it’s living up to that comparison in spirit, too.

Author
Joe Skrebels

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Golf Club Wasteland review: real life crazy golf

2 years 7 months ago

We aren't short of grim, dystopian futures in games these days, but it's refreshing to finally play one that doesn't involve clubbing neon thugs into paste while raging against your big man megacorps. Instead, the only thing you'll be whacking in Golf Club Wasteland is tiny orange space balls around the ruins of Earth. Having clearly failed to save our planet from all manner of looming crises, humanity's now jumped ship to Mars while the rich and powerful jet back home on the weekends to indulge in a round of golf.

Or maybe that should be extreme golf. Instead of fairways and putting greens, you'll be chipping your way across abandoned warehouses, crumbling apartment blocks and leafy, overgrown parks full of ball-eating (and stealing) squirrels, cows and escaped giraffes, with your rotund, balf golfing man hovering from hole to hole with their trusty jetpack. Demagog's challenging sports game is crazy golf writ large across the landscape, and let me tell you, it's great fun.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Minecraft Live returns in October

2 years 7 months ago

Minecraft Live - developer Mojang's annual livestream celebration of all things Minecraft - returns this year for another parade of block-based news and japery on Saturday, 16th October.

Specifics are somewhat limited at the moment - Mojang's announcement doesn't amount to much beyond a 'save the date' - but the developer is teasing appearances from "new and familiar faces" within the studio and Minecraft community for "in-depth interviews, exciting reveals, a nail-biting vote, and puns galore".

Last year's show saw the announcement of Minecraft's massive Caves & Cliffs update (which has since been split into two more manageable development chunks), and gave fans the opportunity to vote on the Minecraft Dungeons or Minecraft Earth mob they wanted to see introduced to the main game - with the exotic Glow Squid ultimately being the oceanic victor.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Pokémon Go's postponed in-person events from 2020 will finally be held this autumn

2 years 7 months ago

Pokémon Go's ticketed 2020 Safari Zone events will finally be held this autumn, as hybrid events with the option to play either in-person or from home.

Those with tickets to 2020's postponed Liverpool, Philadelphia and St. Louis events will be able to visit the cities and take part there. Alternatively, the option to play remotely will also be supported.

Here in the UK, Pokémon Go Safari Zone: Liverpool will now be held Friday 15th to Sunday 17th October in the city's Sefton Park.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Top 10 Shooters To Play Right Now

2 years 4 months ago

What makes a good shooter? Immediate answers might include punchy phrases/words like “gun feel” or “kit customization.” Even so, it’s hard to define the gratification that comes with securing that coveted victory in ranked multiplayer or surviving a seemingly never-ending onslaught in single-player horde mode. A good shooter tends to contain a smorgasbord of enticing components – gripping atmosphere, weapon/ability balancing, enjoyable arenas, etc. Regardless of style (e.g., FPS, third-person, top-down), the aforementioned features tend to mesh well with polished gameplay, sweeping narratives, and new or improved mechanics. If you feel at home sprinting through multilayered environments, mowing down adversaries with precision and cunning, then the ten games on this list are definitely worth your time and attention. 

Author
Game Informer Staff

Oscar-Winner Tilda Swinton Narrates Goliath: VR Film That Explores Schizophrenia

2 years 7 months ago

Goliath: Playing With Reality is a VR film experience narrated by Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton that explores mental health, schizophrenia, and a connection to gaming. A deeper experience that thrusts the viewer into a new world, one unfamiliar to many, providing a unique perspective on the weight of mental health. It's also an uplifting media that celebrates the positive impact of the gaming community. 

The VR film features heavy themes and is directed by Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla. It's a 25-minute interactive experience that allows VR users to explore the mind thoughtfully and respectfully. Narrated by the Hollywood actor, Goliath offers a unique look into the mind of a man that has been cornered into isolation due to his schizophrenia. He spent a good portion of his life in solitude until he discovered the connective powers of multiplayer games, opening him up to a new world of human interaction, kindness, and friendship

Click here to watch embedded media

Author
Liana Ruppert

Far Cry 6 Overview Trailer Showcases Plenty of PC Features

2 years 7 months ago

Far Cry 6 launches in just over a month, so Ubisoft has been releasing trailer after trailer to gradually reveal more about the game. Today’s trailer focuses on the features coming to Far Cry 6 on PC in a descriptive overview.

The video goes into detail about hybrid raytraced reflections, raytraced shadows, and fidelityfx to find a balance between fidelity and performance. The graphics settings can also be previewed before they get applied, which is a nice, convenient option.

There are also adaptive resolution options, frame rate lock, an HD textures pack option, button remapping for both keyboard and mouse and controllers, and a whole host of accessibility features.

Author
Ethan Anderson

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Ghost of Tsushima Legends Trailer Provides In-Depth Look at New Rivals Mode

2 years 7 months ago

Earlier this month, Sucker Punch Productions revealed that the multiplayer mode for Ghost of Tsushima, titled Legends, would be getting a significant update that included a brand new mode, called Rivals. The game type pits players against each other in teams of two, tasking them with defeating waves of enemies in order to win.

While we got to see a glimpse of this action in the reveal trailer, the latest video “Prove Yourself in Rivals” went even more in-depth. As you can see in the video below, Rivals will be much more than two teams trying to compete to rack up the highest body count.

Some notable features shown off in the video include taunting and the ability to collecting Magatama that you can use to buy curses that affect your rival. The more of this you end up spending, the quicker you’re team will activate Last Stand Waves that you can defeat to win the game.

Author
Andrew McMahon

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Apple's AR/VR Headset Could Require an iPhone to Use

2 years 7 months ago

We already knew that Apple is hard at work on its own augmented and virtual reality headset. But a new report today suggests that the upcoming hybrid headset may rely on another Apple device to take advantage of all the features available on the device.

In a new report by The Information, the outlet claims that the headset is designed to communicate or be tethered to a host device via a wireless connection, such as an iPhone or another Apple device.

The reliance on another product within the Apple ecosystem is due to the headset's custom 5-nanometer chips, which Apple recently completed. Though these chips are not as powerful as chips used in other Apple devices, reporting that it lacks a neural engine for AI and machine learning abilities.

Yet, the headset still includes a CPU and GPU, so there's a chance the device may have some limited features available without another Apple device connected. This chip is also rumored to offer better wireless data transmission, video compressing and decompressing, and energy efficiency features.

Author
Taylor Lyles

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And Now, The Ultimate Retro Gaming Device

2 years 7 months ago

You may have heard rumblings of a magical box capable of flawlessly running games from old-school arcade titles up through the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. That box is called the MiSTer, and over the past couple of years, it’s completely transformed the retro emulation scene. I’ve been playing with one for several…

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Author
Mike Fahey

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Monster Rancher's Suezo is also paid DLC for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania

2 years 7 months ago

Just one day after announcing players will be able to shove Hello Kitty into a Monkey Ball following the release of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania next month, Sega has revealed another post-launch DLC character for its simian-rolling platformer: Monster Rancher's Suezo.

For those previously unfamiliar with Koei Tecmo's long-running Monster Rancher series (and I count myself in that number), its blend of sim-like creature-rearing and battling originally debuted on PlayStation back in 1997, meaning next year marks its 25th anniversary.

Koei Tecmo previously revealed it's releasing versions of the first two Monster Rancher games on Switch in the west this December as part of the series' birthday celebrations (the first time Monster Rancher has travelled west in over a decade), but we now know those anniversary festivities will also extend to shoving one of the games' most iconic monsters - yellow one-eyed worm-thing Suezo - into a Monkey Ball too.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Judge Dredd Comes To Call Of Duty

2 years 7 months ago

Call of Duty Season 5 continues to roll along with some substantial additional content updates and announcements, with most landing next week on September 9. However, the biggest is clearly a new operator skin that lets players live the dream of becoming Judge Dredd and dispensing some justice on the enemy.

Author
Daniel Tack

Marvel's Midnight Suns Exclusive Impressions

2 years 7 months ago

Click to watch embedded media

Marvel's Midnight Suns looks to be an outlier in a world where superheroes typically occupy third-person action games or open-world adventures. The latest game from developer Firaxis games is a tactical RPG that pulls from some of the lesser-known corners of Marvel while also allowing players to step in the shoes of a wholly original character in The Hunter. But how will players be controlling some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes? 

Join Ben Reeves, Brian Shea, Alex Stadnik, and Alex Van Aken in a podcast pullout from this week's Game Informer Show as our panelists discuss their hands-on time with the game! We dive into a ton, including the newly announced card system players will use to save the world. 

Author
Alex Stadnik

Marvel's Midnight Suns Hands-On, Far Cry 6, And Returning To Destiny 2 | GI Show

2 years 7 months ago

Click to watch embedded media

In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, the podcast crew discusses their Marvel's Midnight Suns hands-on reactions, Far Cry 6 preview impressions, news surrounding the upcoming Dead Space remake, and returning to Destiny 2: Season of the Lost after last week's announcements about The Witch Queen expansion. Later in the show, we react to the community's hot takes about games like Metal Gear Solid 5 and Uncharted 4.

This month's cover story revealed that Marvel's Midnight Suns is the upcoming card-based strategy RPG from Firaxis, the studio behind the beloved XCOM series. The game's necromantic themes and dark narrative separate it from Marvel Games' other offerings, and after playing it ourselves, the game feels very promising.  

Author
Alex Van Aken

GTA Online Adds Union Depository Contract Heist, Discounts, & More

2 years 7 months ago

Today, GTA Online revealed its next update, which is set to feature plenty of dope new features, including cars, a heist contract, and lots of RP and money reward incentives. Info from the press release can be found below.

The latest vehicle from the Los Santos Tuners update, the Übermacht Cypher, is now available for purchase from Legendary Motorsport alongside a suite of bonuses and discounts.

Also new this week, Auto Shop owners can take on the Union Depository Contract – hitting one of the most heavily guarded buildings in all of Los Santos. To sweeten the deal, all completed Robbery Contracts will pay out double GTA$ and RP all week.

Further highlights from today’s update include:

Author
Andrew McMahon

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The Witcher: Ronin Kickstarter Launches Next Week; First Day Pledge Statue Bonus and Collectors Edition Revealed

2 years 7 months ago

Today, CD Projekt Red posted to their social media that The Witcher: Ronin Kickstarter campaign will launch at noon CEST on Sept. 7. In the post, the company also detailed that anyone that pledges within the first 24 hours will receive a 12cm tall collector’s miniature, which you can see below.

The statue features a fight between Geralt and Tengu, a small bird-like yōkai, that will seemingly be depicted in The Witcher: Ronin manga. The upcoming story is set to be 100 pages and will be colored by Jaki and Hataya.

Anyone interested in more can check out the following tidbit from IGN, who spoke with the manga’s creator, Rafal Jaki, The Witcher: Ronin.

Author
Andrew McMahon

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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Release Date Seemingly Leaks

2 years 7 months ago

We already knew that Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, a Smash Bros-esque fighting game with characters from popular Nickelodeon shows, will be released on consoles this fall. But it appears that the release date is sooner than we expected if Nintendo's website is anything to go off of.

Heading to the Nintendo eShop, the Switch version for the upcoming fighting game notes that it will release on October 5 of this year. The listing also reveals the game's file size comes in at 2.9GB. IGN has reached out to a representative for the game and will update when we hear back.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is currently in development by Ludosity & Fair Play Labs. Alongside a Nintendo Switch version, the game will also launch on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. The game was announced last July and features a well-rounded roster with characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Hey Arnold, The Wild Thornberry's, and more. In recent months, new characters have been announced for the roster, including CatDog and April O'Neil.

Author
Taylor Lyles

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Point-and-click adventure sequel Beyond a Steel Sky coming to consoles this November

2 years 7 months ago

Beyond a Steel Sky, the sequel to beloved 90s point-and-click adventure Beneath a Steel Sky, is making the leap to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch on 30th November.

Beyond a Steel Sky, which initially released for iOS and PC last summer, reunites designer Charles Cecil and art director Dave Gibbons - the duo responsible for the first game - for another bout of dystopian sci-fi adventure.

This time around, returning protagonist Robert Foster plots a course for Union City - a fortified utopia in a war-ravaged world, where "people live happily under the surveillance and control of a benign AI" - in search of an abducted child.

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Author
Matt Wales

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See the New Amazon in Action in New Diablo 2: Resurrected Trailer

2 years 7 months ago

Diablo 2: Resurrected is quickly approaching its Sept. 23 release date. Multiple betas have gone down at this point and many players have gotten a taste of what to expect. Like we mentioned in our hands-on time, Blizzard has taken a very safe and effective approach: make it prettier and don’t fix what isn’t broken.

While the gameplay is very familiar, there are obviously some big visual changes that go along with a remaster like this. The Amazon, like all of the characters, look quite a bit different from their pixely 2000s-era graphics. In a new trailer released today, you can get a peek at what the Amazon (and her other party members) look like and see her in action as well.

The Amazon primarily uses bows and javelins and is lethal at a range and when dealing with large groups of clumped-up enemies. The “Javason” was a favorite of mine when running through the Secret Cow Level many years ago.

The video does have a bit of dislikes, possibly due to the negative opinion that some have of the new Amazon design, which is a sentiment that has been seen on social media in recent weeks. That said, the ratio is still quite positive for the most part. Either way, Diablo 2: Resurrected will release in a few weeks on PlayStation, Switch, Xbox, and, of course, PCs.

Author
Ed McGlone

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns Reveals Even More Gameplay With Deep Dive Video

2 years 7 months ago

Following the recent cinematic reveal and yesterday’s gameplay debut 2K games and Firaxis Games released another video of Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

This time around, the video focuses entirely on gameplay, providing a deep dive into the mechanics of the game.

While, of course, combat is important, there appears to be a lot more to do in Midnight Suns than fighting baddies. Basically, it feels more like a superhero life simulation than a pure tactical battle game.

We’ll we get dating sim elements? Your guess is as good as mine, but my money is on “yes.”

You can check out the video below and see if this entices you as much as it does me.

Below you can also read a brief official description of Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which releases in March 2022 for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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Chill junkyard gardening sim Cloud Gardens is out now

2 years 7 months ago

Townscaper left early access last week, a chill town building game I compared to pruning a bonsai tree.

I clearly should have saved that description for Cloud Gardens. It's a similarly chill urban design game, but here you're planting, growing and, yes, pruning plants across dioramas of urban decay. It's now hit 1.0 and left early access, too.

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Author
Graham Smith

A Total War Saga: Troy is now on Steam, alongside new Mythos expansion

2 years 7 months ago

It seems as if the historical Total War series has been looking enviously at the gleeful monsters of Total Warhammer for a couple of years now, but Mythos is the clearest sign so far. An expansion for A Total War Saga: Troy, it embraces "the legends of Ancient Greece" by saying 'fuck it, let's put a gryphon in.'

It also marks the base game's arrival on Steam after a year of Epic Games Store exclusivity.

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Author
Graham Smith