Short(ish), narrative games are what Game Pass is perfect for, and there are a couple of interesting ones heading to Game Pass on April. On top of the pile is Life Is Strange: True Colors, but there's also the day one indie release of gorgeous cybernoir adventure game Chinatown Detective Agency.
Find the complete list below.
Netflix have started filming the third season of The Witcher, their flashy (and dumb and campy and fun) adaptation of the books about the white-haired monster hunter. To prove it, they shared a single on-location photo of the filming and the new season's official synopsis.
Development on the next Tomb Raider game was announced on today’s “The State of Unreal” livestream. The general manager at Crystal Dynamics, Dallas Dickinson, confirmed that the studio has started developing Lara Croft’s next adventure in Unreal Engine 5.
Unlike other role-playing games, Elden Ring’s lack of a quest log requires players to really pay attention to dialogue and the world around them to follow along with certain NPC storylines. But the beginning of one questline was so well-hidden that FromSoftware took steps to make sure folks would naturally gravitate…
Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher:
DrinkBox Studios
Developer:
DrinkBox Studios
Release:
(PC,
Xbox One,
Xbox Series X/S),
(PlayStation 5,
PlayStation 4,
Switch)
Rating:
Teen
One of the best games from January is coming to more platforms in less than two weeks. Drinkbox Studios has announced it will release Nobody Saves the World on PlayStation consoles and Switch this month.
Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher:
2K Games
Developer:
Supermassive Games
Release:
Rating:
Mature
Supermassive Games has released the first 30 minutes of gameplay from The Quarry, which is its upcoming spiritual successor to 2015’s Until Dawn.
Most of us know playing board games with friends and family can be a great way to spend your free time. But what about turning to board games when you find yourself alone and looking for something to pass the time? It's not as strange as it may sound, because many board games these days are designed to be played solo, or at least have a fun solitaire mode. From strategy games to roll-and-write board games and everything in between, there are many options available for solo play. Below, we'll take a look at some of the best board games that can be played alone, giving you a chance to relax and unwind while still engaging your mind.
Korean MMORPG Gran Saga pulled a rather unusual card from the Square Enix deck for an upcoming collaboration event.
Developer Npixel revealed that the game will host a Final Fantasy XV crossover, which is certainly an interesting choice considering that the latest numbered Final Fantasy game is over five years old.
That being said, we’ve certainly seen worse. For instance, Cygames will soon host a Final Fantasy XI event in Granblue Fantasy.
Being Gran Saga’s first crossover event Npixel pulled all the stops for the promotion, releasing a rather epic CGI trailer featuring the know faces from Final Fantasy XV’s boy ba… ahem, circle of friends.
You can watch it below.
Gran Saga is currently available only in Korea and Japan for PC, iOS, and Android, and both countries are getting the event, even if details have not yet been shared.
While a western release date has not been announced, Npixel did hint at the possibility of a western launch at some time in 2022.
Wargaming, the developers of World Of Tanks and its various spin-offs, are ceasing operation of their studios based in Russia and Belarus. They're transferring the management of their live games in those regions to Lesta Games, which was previously owned by Wargaming but now "is no longer affiliated" with the company. The games will continue to be available to play in those regions.
It would seem to safe to assume that there's always a Tomb Raider game at some stage of development, but Crystal Dynamics just confirmed it. At the tail end of today's 'State of Unreal Engine' stream, they said that they've "just" started work - and in Unreal Engine 5, obviously.
It’s a good thing Horizon Forbidden West has a bottomless inventory. Developer Guerrilla Games recently sped up looting in its robot-busting adventure through the quiet addition of one simple feature: the option to disable pickup animations.
Big news for those who've still been trying to get their hands on an Xbox Series X: the shortage might finally be over. Plus: our Game Pass picks for new Series X owners, the upcoming Xbox Game Pass Family Plan has been confirmed, Unreal Engine 5's completion means a bunch of Xbox exclusives just got one step closer to release, and more!
Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our latest IGN Unfiltered interview, where Joseph Staten – one of Halo's original creators and now the head of creative on Halo Infinite – discusses his fascinating career:
Oh, and you can be featured on Unlocked by tweeting us a video Loot Box question! Tweet your question and tag Ryan at @DMC_Ryan!
For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.
Haunted Chocolatier is taking a much more action-focused approach compared to Stardew Valley, and we're now learning that the game will even include boss battles.
In an episode of Reason Livestream (via PC Gamer), Haunted Chocolatier and Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone showed off a new song from the game, titled "Bee Boss". The song is a catchy tune that definitely gives off beehive vibes, but the reveal also serves as the first confirmation we've seen that boss battles are coming to Haunted Chocolatier.
In addition to bosses seemingly being present, there is a larger emphasis overall on combat in Haunted Chocolatier. We previously learned that Haunted Chocolatier's combat is being remade from scratch compared to Stardew Valley's, with Barone saying, "Haunted Chocolatier has a greater focus on combat, so it needs to be very fun, satisfying, and engaging, while also appropriately fitting into the big picture."
In Stardew Valley, combat took place in the mines, where players would descend deeper into the mine to find tougher enemies and better rewards. However, there weren't many options for players to choose how they wanted to approach combat. Barone is working on upgrading the combat for Haunted Chocolatier, introducing a shield/stun mechanic, among other new gameplay features.
Corsair's shiny Dominator Platinum DDR4 RAM looks great - and today, we found a 16GB kit that's 22% off over at Ebuyer in the UK. It hits the sweet spot spec of 3200MHz CL16 too, which I've personally found the best bang for your buck in terms of actual in-game performance. Of course, you're paying a little more here for the RGB lighting and the trendy white colour scheme, but there's no harm in choosing components for their aesthetics too.
I felt sad upon completing Half-Life: Alyx, because I'd spent years before its release without new Half-Life to play and then, all too quickly, it was true again. Half-Life Alyx: Levitation is exciting to me, then. It's a mod for Half-Life: Alyx which is promising a 4-5 hour campaign, and it looks excellent in its first trailer.
Today Spike Chunsoft released a new gameplay trailer and details of its upcoming game AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative.
The trailer provides a look at the gameplay mechanics that we can expect to face during our investigations.
We also learn about a limited-time bonus DLC that will be available for free from June 24 to July 14, including the “3 Pattern T-Shirt Set” and the “Hot Dog Costume Set” for the game’s AI-Balls Aiba and Tama.
You can check out the trailer below.
It may have taken a long time, but Marcel the Shell is finally getting onto the big screen. Following the stop-motion short put out by Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate 12 years ago, the pair are bringing the adorable protagonist to life yet again in a full-blown feature film with A24. Positioned as a mockumentary, Marcel the Shell With Shoes is absolutely endearing in the new trailer.
Living out life with his grandmother in an Airbnb, Marcel is discovered by a documentary filmmaker, whose video about the shell goes viral and gives our hero the chance to find his long-lost family. Who knew that a trailer about a talking shell could be so emotional?
Serving as a follow-up to My Time at Portia, Pathea Games has just announced that My Time at Sandrock will via releasing on Steam and the Epic Games Store as an early access title next month. The game shares a lot of similarities with the farming sim game My Time at Portia, but has a much larger scale this time around.
You can check out the release date announcement trailer down below:
Set in the city of Sandrock, players will quickly find out that it’s struggling economically, and it’s up to you to “revitalize the region and restore the city to its former glory.” The game will feature tons of NPCs that you can meet and get to know, as well as a crafting system that allows you to build new tools and structures to help improve the city’s facilities.
My Time at Sandrock also features an action-RPG combat system where players will get to explore areas below the desert sands to discover new blueprints and resources.
My Time at Sandrock is set to be released as an early access title on May 26.
The Crucial P5 Plus is one of the very fastest NVMe SSDs on the market, hitting sequential read speeds of up to 6600MB/s. That makes it an ideal choice for mid-range to high-end gaming rigs, and it's also fully compatible with the PS5. No matter which manner of gaming machine you stick it in though, you'll benefit from faster loading times that should get even better once DirectStorage-compatible games start being released in the months ahead. Today, the Crucial P5 Plus is also heavily discounted, dropping below the £100 mark for the first time here in the UK.
Internet person Logan Paul, fresh off wearing a $6 million Pokémon card to Wrestlemania—a sentence I am reeling from having to type—has also this week opened a site called Liquid Marketplace. It claims to be selling stakes in physical collectibles, but in reality sounds like a disaster waiting to happen on every…
Ubisoft has released plenty of games over the years, but there has not quite been one like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Launching to a negative reception almost everywhere, the development team has been trying their hardest to improve the game through updates, fixes, and more content. Today, Ubisoft has officially confirmed that development has stopped for Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
Hey Ghosts, we have an important message we would like to share with you all
— Ghost Recon (@GhostRecon) April 5, 2022pic.twitter.com/kYeyVWVtgi
This announcement comes via a tweet from the official Ghost Recon account, sharing that “The last four months marked the release of our final piece of content: The brand new Operation Motherland mode, tons of new items including 20th anniversary iconic outfits and Quartz items for Ghost Recon Breakpoint.”
Devolver Digital, together with Flying Wild Hog and Leonard Menchiari, is getting ready to unleash Trek to Yomi on the gaming masses. The black and white sword fighting game is a visually arresting game, and its moment to moment gameplay promises high stakes as you embark on a journey of revenge. Now, having released a new gameplay trailer, we also know the release date of Trek to Yomi, which is slated for a May 5 release.
Just as we experienced in our preview, the trailer showcases sword fighting combos, devastating finishers, and the fixed camera perspective that allows the cinematography to shine through for every scene. As the protagonist, players have to save their town following a series of tragedies, and that means cutting down any fool that stands in your way.
Needless to say, the presentation of the game is a big selling point, and it remains to be seen if the full game has enough in its tanks to keep players interested.
Here is the official description for Trek to Yomi:
Having conquered video games and staking a claim in the world of television, Halo‘s Master Chief is far from done. 343 Industries has revealed that Halo: The Official Cookbook will be arriving in just a few short months, containing more than 70 recipes that can feed an army.
Time to upgrade your armory right alongside your pantry. Announcing, the official Halo Cookbook from @insighteditions! Available for pre-order right now, releasing in August.
— Halo (@Halo) April 5, 2022https://t.co/DBaBYA7BoM pic.twitter.com/zslDek8ZuX
Authored by Victoria Rosenthal, she comes with a pedigree honed by other similar pursuits, with cookbooks for the likes of Final Fantasy XIV, Street Fighter, Fallout, and Destiny under her belt.
If you’ve been playing Elden Ring since it launched about a month ago, you’ve probably already beaten Starscourge Radahn, who is one of the main demigods you can challenge in the game. For those who have only gotten it recently and have just beaten him in the past week, however, it turns out Radahn wasn’t exactly at full strength during that period of time.
When Bandai Namco and FromSoftware pushed out update 1.03, it turns out that Radahn had been nerfed by accident. He dealt considerably less damage to players, and his attack hitboxes were also smaller than what they ordinarily should be.
While Elden Ring is a pretty challenging game overall, Radahn could be a really big wall for players as half the fight is just getting to him in the first place while he pelts you with great arrows that can easily two-shot you. With the latest update, it looks like Radahn is back to full strength as the notes state that a bug has been fixed regarding his balance adjustment where the power of some of his attacks were unintentionally reduced.
Elden Ring is now available on PC and consoles.
It would seem that Robert Downey Jr. is making a comeback to the Sherlock Holmes universe, but not as the titular character. The renowned actor is set to be on board as an executive producer alongside Lionel Wigram, with two new Sherlock Holmes series in early development at HBO Max.
In addition to Downey and Wigram, Team Downey’s Susan Downey and Amanda Burrell will also exec produce for the projects under Warner Bros. Television.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, this will further expand the Sherlock Holmes universe. However, there are no concrete details as to what fans can expect from these new developments. That also extends to the all-important question of whether Robert Downey Jr. will be reprising his role following the two films directed by Guy Ritchie in 2009 and 2011.
Today Atlus released its new daily trailer of the upcoming JRPG Soul Hackers 2, showing a few of the demons included in the game in action.
This time around the trailer shows Angel, Fenrir, B. Hawaii Frost, and Gurr, and as they execute a Sabbath attack.
As usual, we also get the daily horoscope, but today it’s a little different only listing four lucky signs, Libra, Virgo, Pisces, and Taurus.
Soul Hackers 2 releases for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (Steam and Windows Store) on August 26, just one day after the Japanese launch on August 25.
Dr Oliver Sacks was a neurologist, and yet that description feels insultingly reductive. His understanding of the human brain, and his ability to diagnose and understand the many, many ways in which it can malfunction, were astonishing. However, this is just one bullet point in a long list of reasons to immortalise him in videogame form.
If you don’t recognise the name, you might know him as the doctor from the movie Awakenings, as played by Robin Williams. Based on Sacks’ book of the same name, the story that the film tells is incredible but true. A small number of patients with ‘sleeping sickness’ saw, through the actions of Dr Sacks, a dramatic reversal of their catatonic states. This recovery was sadly short-lived, and in some cases came with very unpleasant side effects, but it was nonetheless a stupendous achievement, and completely unprecedented. All the more impressive, then, that this proved to be just one of many flourishes in the rich tapestry of his life.
Oliver Sacks wasn’t just a gifted neurologist; he was also a wonderfully talented writer. He wrote over a dozen books, most of them collections of case studies. These were not cold, dry accounts of diagnosis and treatment. His writing, in fact, is the clearest window into his genius. Many of his patients experienced the world in a way that meant only neurologists like him had any chance of seeing things through their eyes. In his books, Sacks brought these people to life onto the page for all to see, and - although most had their names changed in the interests of privacy - their unique, fascinating, and real lives have been carefully and lovingly preserved. They are forever people, not patients.
Elden Ring's Malenia is an optional encounter but also by far the hardest boss in the game.
She is however a required opponent if you wish to complete Millicent’s questline and obtain Miquella’s Needle, which is a key item for reversing the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending if you had visited the Three Fingers.
As Malenia has attacks that can easily one-shot you, it’s highly recommended using spirit ash summons for this fight just to give you some breathing room.
As someone who spent a considerable amount of time with Phasmophobia back when it first launched in early access, Midnight Ghost Hunt seemed like a refreshing change of pace. No shade on Phasmophobia, which is still an excellent co-op horror game that will keep you tense the whole way, but Midnight Ghost Hunt has opted to go in a wildly different direction and the result is a chaotic multiplayer experience that’s always a good time, no matter which role you’re in.
The game is centered around a core 4v4 multiplayer mode where we have four ghosts and four human hunters. At the start of a match, the hunters have a few minutes to hunt down all four ghosts and destroy them. If you’re playing as a ghost, you’ll need to do your best to conceal yourself until midnight comes around.
This phase definitely starts the ghosts off at a disadvantage; while it is possible to use spectral abilities to catch the hunters off-guard and even knock them out, they’re a lot less effective than they would be at midnight, and the hunter tools are just way too powerful at this stage. Because of that, you’ll need to cleverly hide yourself in various household objects around the environment, and maybe knock over a table or two to throw a hunter off your scent.
This results in tons of hilarious moments in the early game because as a hunter, you just never know when a TV is going to launch itself in your face when you round a corner. While hunters do have the advantage at the start, you can easily get knocked out if you’re not careful.
I’ve thought a lot about The House of the Dead since its arcade debut roughly 25 years ago. Despite the impact it had then and its legacy since, Sega’s original on-rails zombie shooter has only ever been made playable outside of an arcade in the form of mediocre ports to PC and Sega Saturn in 1998, with Sega reportedly losing the original source code. So when a full remake was announced for Switch at long last, I was eager to see what developer MegaPixel Studio could do to make this classic appealing to both veterans like myself and total newcomers to the series. Unfortunately, frustrating controls, a few performance issues, and unavoidably repetitive gameplay make The House of the Dead: Remake a mixed bag for new and old fans alike.
Just like in the arcades, you assume the role of either A.M.S. Agent Thomas Rogan or Agent G as they pump hordes of undead full of bullets and try to stop mad scientist Dr. Curien from destroying mankind, with three possible endings depending on how well you do. There are more interesting nuances to the world and its characters than the one-dimensional way they are presented in-game, but sadly finding that story context requires a bit of research through old game manuals or The Wiki of the Dead rather than being explained in The House of the Dead itself.
Get ready to cook up a feast worthy of a Spartan army, as 343 Industries has unveiled its new Halo cookbook.
"Time to upgrade your armoury right alongside your pantry,” the developer tweeted. "Announcing the official Halo Cookbook from Insight Editions."
Along with a photo of the upcoming book, 343 also revealed Halo fans can preorder their copies now, with the book itself releasing this August.
Mobile game Shining Force: Heroes of Light and Darkness has been cancelled.
Set for release in early 2022 when it was announced last year, it would have been the first new game in Sega's strategy series since 2009.
It was being developed by Hive, a Japanese subsidiary of Korean developer Vespa (the studio behind mobile role-player King's Raid) but development has ceased due to development costs and time required, according to Touch Arcade.
New release Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has set fresh records for TT Games' Lego series on Steam.
While not enough to trouble the likes of perenial Steam favourites, or rival the enormous Steam launch of Elden Ring, it is worth pointing out how good a launch Lego Star Wars has had compared to other games in the series.
The Skywalker Saga hit an 82,445 player peak on its launch day, compared to numbers around the ~5000 player mark for Marvel Super Heroes, The Hobbit, Ninjago and Lord of the Rings (thanks, BenjiSales).
Jeff Ross, one of the directors of PlayStation exclusive Days Gone, has announced he's joined Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics.
In a tweet, Ross wrote: "I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director.
"That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people. I will become a Seattleite this summer."
UPDATE 2pm UK: Ghost Recon Breakpoint may be over, but Ubisoft has suggested its NFT scheme will still continue.
Ubisoft Quartz released its first NFT items as part of Breakpoint - which will no longer be updated, despite the NFT items only being added over the past couple of months.
Today, Ubisoft pointed GamesIndustry.biz to a message prepared for Breakpoint NFT owners. "You own a piece of the game and have left your mark in its history," the message reads. "Stay tuned for more updates with features to the platform and future drops coming with other games."
Aloy can now instantly pick up resources in Horizon Forbidden West, after Guerrilla quietly added in the new feature.
Available as a toggle in the options, players can now turn off pickup animations so that Aloy instantly grabs nearby resources, speeding up the flow of exploration considerably.
It seems the feature was added in the most recent patch, though it's strangely missing from the patch notes.
Released just yesterday, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is going down really well with both critics and audiences alike. And to celebrate, developer Traveller’s Tales and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have dropped a brand new launch trailer for your viewing pleasure.
Take a gander at the freshly-cut footage down below:
Not only does LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga pack in all nine of the core Star Wars movies in gamified form, but it also boasts 300 playable characters, 45 story missions and 23 unlockable hub planets. Put simply, it’s a jumbo-sized package with lots of content for fans of the iconic sci-fi series.
Yours truly reviewed the game recently for Twinfinite, and I was super enamoured with it, ultimately awarding it a 4/5, concluding:
Konami is finally releasing the full version of eFootball on April 14, with a new patch set to fix bugs and add new features many have been waiting for since last year.
Patch 1.0 promises to turn the game from what Konami said was "basically a demo" into the fully-fledged first version of its new soccer series.
Announced in a blog post on the eFootball website, the development team said it had been working hard to "regain the trust" of players and had taken on feedback to fix bugs, improve online play, and add new gameplay mechanics.
We are pleased to announce that the update (version 1.0.0) for eFootball™ 2022 will be released on 14th April 2022.
— eFootball (@play_eFootball) April 6, 2022
One of the major additions comes in the Dream Team mode, previously branded as Creative Team, which allows players to combine a mixture of their own players and real-life soccer stars to form a, well, ultimate team.
Several changes to eFootball's gameplay will also be made. Konami promised that defending has been made more intuitive overall, and it's also added commands for a shoulder charge, call for pressure, and a one-on-one match up option (essentially the L2 button in FIFA).
Passing has also been reworked, the AI should now make smarter decisions when receiving and passing the ball, and Konami has added a "stunning pass" command for some added finesse.
If you’ve been looking for Funimation’s YouTube channel, you won’t find it. The channel has been rebranded as Crunchyroll Dubs. While the name has changed, what it’s offering, so far, hasn’t. Anime News Network reports that it will still stream trailers, clips, and episodes of English-dubbed anime.
