February 2023

Dead Space tech review: this is what a best-in-class remake looks like

1 year 1 month ago

In 2008, EA released Visceral Games' Dead Space - a dark sci-fi horror experience that quickly amasssed a following and spawn multiple follow-ups. Fifteen years later, Dead Space lives again thanks to EA Motive. In this full-on remake, Dead Space merges many of the latest innovations in the Frostbite engine with a fresh new coat of paint and overhauled game design - but how much has the game changed and what does the new tech bring? To find out, I've played through the game on PS5, ran through the original on PS3 and spoken to developers David and Phillipe from EA Motive to get some deeper insights into the technology powering the remake. Here's what you need to know.

The original Dead Space comes from an unusual place - it was built from the technology powering the Tiger Woods games between 2000 and 2007 - but of course it's a completely different experience. Beautiful dynamic shadows and moody lighting helped create a memorable and atmospheric journey for players and, perhaps most surprising of all, it managed to run equally well on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a rare feat for that era. Through a modern lens, Dead Space shows its age, but what the team managed to create remains visually striking even now. Since its release, however, technology has evolved significantly - two console generations have passed, and the Frostbite Engine has become the de facto solution for most of EA's studios.

Author
John Linneman

Tags

Nintendo Switch exclusive Sports Story scrubs game development criticism hidden in secret room

1 year 1 month ago

Nintendo Switch indie exclusive Sports Story has been updated to remove its criticism of game development, which was hidden away within an in-game secret room.

A sequel to the beloved Golf Story, Sports Story itself featured a rocky development, and was originally due to release in 2020. It eventually arrived right at the end of last year, albeit to a lukewarm reception and launch day bugs.

The subsequent discovery by fans of an in-game room - ostensibly a game development office filled with unhappy workers - raised eyebrows at the time. Exploring the room uncovers particularly pointed barbs between co-workers relating to project delivery time, writing feedback and bug-testing.

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Tomb Raider film and TV series reportedly in the works at Amazon

1 year 1 month ago

It looks like Amazon is betting big on Tomb Raider.

Along with the recent news it will be working on and publishing the next Tomb Raider game, fresh reports state the company also has plans for both a film and TV series based on the globe-trotting and pistol-wielding Lara Croft.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, sources state Phoebe Waller-Bridge, known for Fleabag and Killing Eve, is attached to write a Tomb Raider TV project, which is still in the "development stages". However, the actor does not plan to star in the adaptation.

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Original Life is Strange team share first teaser for new project

1 year 1 month ago

The original development team behind Life is Strange have shared a first sneak peek at their upcoming, unannounced game project. Intriguingly, this first screenshot seems to point to a 1990s-era setting.

Don't Nod Montreal, the satellite studio formed by key developers behind the original Life is Strange and its sequel, posted the image on Twitter over the weekend amid a call for staff to join the "new narrative game" project.

The image shows a CRT TV, a VCR and a stack of video tapes, and a cartridge-based video games console that looks to be from the SNES era.

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

XCOM director doesn't know "anything" about series' future right now

1 year 1 month ago

Jake Solomon, director of XCOM and XCOM 2, has said he is currently still in the dark on the future of Firaxis' turn-based tactics series.

Solomon's team at Firaxis most recently released the brilliant yet underappreciated Marvel's Midnight Suns, and are now working on its upcoming DLC plans.

But when asked if an XCOM 3 might be next on the agenda after that, Solomon said he had "no information" and no "secret agenda" for saying so.

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong and Cat Mario spar in latest Super Mario Bros Movie clip

1 year 1 month ago

A new Super Mario Bros Movie clip has been released by Nintendo and Illumination.

This snappy little number gives us another look at the film's upcoming power ups, with Mario suiting up as a cat to do battle. It also lets us hear Seth Rogen's take on Donkey Kong. And, well, it sounds like Seth Rogen.

The setting for this little teaser will be familiar with those who have been following the film's trailers so far. It is the same airborne colosseum-like arena that we saw Mario getting bashed about in by Donkey Kong before. The new video, which you can see below, is titled Smash. So, Smash Bros?

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Dead Space graphical fixes on the way

1 year 1 month ago

Dead Space developer Motive Studios is working on a fix for a varial rate shading (VRS) graphical issue present in the horror remake, primarily on PlayStation 5.

Digital Foundry's John Linneman highlighted the problem via Twitter at the weekend, and showcased how darker sections of the game's environments "basically lose most of their detail".

"The actual resolution is much higher... but VRS causes shadowed regions to basically lose most of their detail," John wrote, calling for an option to be able to disable VRS on PC as well.

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Microsoft claims Sony "briefing people in Brussels" in fresh COD parity drama

1 year 1 month ago

The ongoing spat between Microsoft and Sony over whether the former should own Activision Blizzard - and with it, Call of Duty - took a fresh turn over the weekend.

In an eye-opening Twitter thread, Microsoft chief communications officer Frank X. Shaw claimed Sony was "briefing people in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to offer them parity for Call of Duty if we acquire Activision".

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he continued, before restating a number of Microsoft's familiar arguments.

Read more

Author
Tom Phillips

Tags

Inkulinati review – deep and daft tactical play

1 year 1 month ago

Medieval marginalia strategy game Inkulinati holds the unique honour of being the only game to make me lament, out loud: "Oh no, he's not in my butt range." Overwhelmed in number, I was hoping to force a minotaur-esque beast on the opposing army to take a nap (and skip their turn) by using my rabbit swordsman to moon them. This is, I promise you, very serious tactics, and arguably the heart of Inkulinati: thoughtfully tactical, and uncompromisingly absurd.

So rabbits have the helpful turn-skipping debuff of mooning their opponents. Foxes steal resources from their targets. Devils, naturally, set fires. And that's before you get to the less coherent creatures. It's the weird and wonderful world of "things people drew in the margins of manuscripts hundreds of years ago", weaponised.

I spent most of my time with Inkulinati's Journey Mode, a single-player campaign divided into acts where each notch on the road is a different kind of battle, or event. It's easiest to explain how combat works with the most straightforward type of battle in Inkulinati: beast battles. It's your army of (up to) five versus the enemy army, and the first to eliminate the other wins - unless an apocalypse snares you both.

Read more

Author
Ruth Cassidy

Tags

Actress Annie Wersching, who played Tess in The Last of Us, has passed away

1 year 1 month ago

Annie Wersching, who played Tess in Naughty Dog's original The Last of Us game, has sadly passed away from cancer. She was 45.

In a tribute shared via Deadline, Wersching's husband Stephen Full said she would find "wonder in the simplest moment" and "didn't require music to dance".

"There is a cavernous hole in the soul of this family today. But she left us the tools to fill it," he wrote.

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Let's discuss The Last of Us episode three

1 year 1 month ago

Episode three of The Last of Us is remarkable. Remarkable because, despite giving us a look at moments that aren't actually in the game, it still manages to capture the tone and feel of it all perfectly. It embellishes on the show's theme of love in a world that is crumbling. In all honesty, it took my breath away.

That's not to say that episode three won't be controversial. While it does expand on the series' story in its own way, there are elements from the game that those who have played will likely miss, and I'm confident there will be plenty of discourse on this episode.

So, without further ado, let's dive on in and take a closer look at the third episode of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, 'Long, long time'.

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Blizzard admits Overwatch 2's new Ranked mode "suffered from poor comprehension"

1 year 1 month ago

Blizzard has outlined what changes it has planned for Overwatch 2's third season.

In a brief blog post shared on the official website, director Aaron Keller admitted that the new Ranked mode "suffered from poor comprehension", acknowledging that there was "confusion around players' real rank and how that translated to skill level, difficulty forming groups with friends, and a negative impression of the matchmaker when players of different ranks were put in the same match".

"We will be implementing some changes in S3 and quite a few more in S4 all aimed at creating more clarity in the system. More details on short-term changes and long-term vision will be coming soon," Keller said.

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

Phil Spencer says Halo remains "critically important to what Xbox is doing"

1 year 1 month ago

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has reaffirmed the company's commitment to the Halo franchise, insisting that the series remains "critically important to what Xbox is doing".

In an interview with IGN, Spencer stressed that the series will "always be iconic for Xbox" despite the "missteps that [they] made as a team".

"What we're doing now is we want to make sure that leadership team is set up with the flexibility to build the plan that they need to go build," Spencer explained. "And Halo will remain critically important to what Xbox is doing, and 343 is critically important to the success of Halo.

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

Here is February 2023's PlayStation Plus Essential line-up

1 year 1 month ago

UPDATE 1/2/23: Sony has now confirmed the previously-leaked PlayStation Plus Essential games line-up for February, which as expected includes OlliOlli World, Evil Dead: The Game and Mafia: Definitive Edition, plus Destiny 2 expansion Beyond Light.

Additionally, in a brief note at the end of today's announcement post, Sony quietly confirmed it was calling time on the 20 games provided as part of the PlayStation Plus Collection since 2020. You have until 9th May to claim the lot, and can continue playing them beyond that date.

This list of games includes PlayStation exclusives such as Days Gone, Detroit: Become Human and The Last of Us Remastered, as well as third-party hits such as Batman: Arkham Knight and Monster Hunter World. For the full list, here's Eurogamer's PlayStation Plus Collection guide.

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

PUBG publisher Krafton "remains steadfast" in its plans to "secure and expand powerful game-based IPs"

1 year 1 month ago

PUBG publisher Krafton says it "remains steadfast" in its plans to "secure and expand powerful game-based IPs".

Sharing its 2023 strategic direction with employees, the company said it was committed to "driving sustainable growth and strengthening its publishing capabilities globally" and remains committed to "web3 and deep learning".

It says that whilst PUBG "continues to be a major priority", "the company’s efforts in 2023 to develop a deeper catalogue of titles and stay ahead of rapid advances in tech will drive new processes and internal efficiencies toward essential growth".

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

DF Direct Weekly: Xbox's Developer Direct was the best games show in years

1 year 1 month ago

In this week's DF Direct Weekly, the Digital Foundry team spends much of the duration breaking down Microsoft's Xbox Developer Direct - and to cut to the chase, we're all agreed that this is the best games presentation we've seen from a major platform holder in years.

After years of complaining about how games were presented in practically every E3 media briefing, we've got exactly what we were asking for: a proper showcase on the games we're set to play this year, passionately presented by the people who are making them.

Let's be clear though: we get why E3 media briefings are the way they are and we don't envy the likes of Microsoft, Sony or even Geoff Keighley in getting these shows together. Ultimately, they are a shop window for a vast range of games and getting some kind of representation - any kind, to be fair - within a typically tight 90 minutes is going to be challenging. And perhaps for a more casual audience, the presentation works - at least in highlighting awareness for certain games that may not receive coverage otherwise.

Read more

Author
Richard Leadbetter

Tags

Dambuster Studios says Dead Island 2's new skill deck is "even better" than a skill tree

1 year 1 month ago

Dambuster Studios reckons the game's new skill deck is one of the "most exciting" features coming to the highly-anticipated sequel, Dead Island 2.

Talking to Game Informer (thanks, NME), creative director James Worrall and lead narrative designer Khan teased that the skill deck is "even better" than a skill tree, enabling players to change loadouts "mid-air".

"There's a skill deck… which is even better," Khan said when asked if the sequel would feature an upgradeable skill tree.

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

"Horizon Forbidden West alpha multiplayer" footage leaks online

1 year 1 month ago

In-game footage reportedly taken from Guerilla's upcoming Horizon Forbidden West co-op mode has leaked online.

After Guerilla's recruitment-focused Twitter feed, we already knew that the studio's co-op dreams were still alive, with the company actively hiring for an internally developed "separate online project" in the Horizon universe that will focus on "new cast of characters and a unique stylised look", and allow friends to "explore the majestic wilds of Horizon together".

Now it seems that that "stylised look" is available for all to see thanks to leaked footage allegedly taken from a "Horizon Forbidden West alpha multiplayer" test.

Read more

Author
Vikki Blake

Tags

A chat with the creator of Birth

1 year 2 months ago

Warning: This piece contains discussions of mortality.

To play the current build of Birth, I go to my desktop and click on a small icon showing a picture of a tooth. This is important: it's a whole tooth, with the parts seen and the parts that, traditionally, go unseen, since they exist beyond everyday thoughts and below the gumline. "Below the gumline" might be a nice way of thinking about Birth itself, as it happens, a whole game that exists below the gumline. And that tooth? That tooth is perfect. This is not the cheery childhood mouthful of sparklers you draw with a few idle strokes of the pen. It's the tooth extracted. The whole horrible truth of it. What could be more familiar? But with those roots, those prongs, what could be more inhuman, more uncanny?

Birth is not a game about dentistry, although if you're the kind of person who really wants to play a game about dentistry, you're probably going to enjoy this game too. Birth's creator, Madison Karrh, describes her game, with the concealed weariness, it can seem, of someone who's spent the last few years trying to get an elk to fit on a Vespa, as a point-and-click game about living alone in a big city. To defeat your loneliness, you collect the bones and organs you find scattered around, and with those bones you slowly build a friend.

Read more

Author
Christian Donlan

Tags

Kadabra returning to Pokémon TCG in June after two-decade absence

1 year 2 months ago

Spoon-wielding Pokémon Kadabra will be returning to Pokémon: The Card Game for the first time in over two decades this June, following illusionist, magician, and spoon-bender Uri Geller's decision to drop his long-running lawsuit against the character.

Geller first sued Nintendo in November 2000, claiming the spoon-bearing Kadabra - known as "Yungerer" or "Yungeller" in Japan - was an unauthorised appropriation of his identity. That initial California lawsuit was dismissed in 2003, but additional lawsuits reportedly continued outside the US, and Kadabra has remained absent from Pokémon: The Card Game since 2002.

Then, in 2020, Geller had a change of heart, dropping all remaining legal action and "giving [Nintendo] permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller worldwide." He also told fans, "I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago...I am releasing the ban. It's now all up to Nintendo bring my Kadabra Pokémon card back."

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Forza Motorsport reportedly delayed to 'Q3 or later' this year

1 year 2 months ago

Forza Motorsport has reportedly been delayed from its previously announced "spring 2023" release date on Xbox Series X/S and PC to "Q3 maybe even a little bit later".

That's according to Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, speaking during the latest episode of his Game Mess Decides podcast (thanks VGC). "I feel pretty good about this after asking around a couple of times after hearing it the first time earlier today," Grubb explained. "It does seem like Forza is going to slip later into the year and probably won't be the first half of the year...The timeframe I'm hearing for Forza is like Q3, and maybe even a little bit later than that."

Microsoft had initially given Forza Motorsport a "spring 2023" release window when it was announced in June last year. However, when the game re-emerged during this week's Developer Direct showcase, many were quick to notice that, rather than announcing a launch date, Microsoft had instead revised Forza Motorsport's release to a far broader "2023".

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

HBO's The Last of Us adaptation officially renewed for second season

1 year 2 months ago

Mushroom fans rejoice! HBO has confirmed its critically acclaimed live-action TV adaptation of The Last of Us will be returning for a second season.

It's perhaps not particularly surprising news; The Last of Us has proven both a critical and ratings smash since it premiered on 15th January. Shortly after the show's debut, HBO announced it had become the network's second most-watched premiere in over a decade, with 4.7m viewers tuning in for the first episode - a figure that's since quadrupled, garnering over 18m views in the space of a week. Episode 2, meanwhile, secured the largest week-two audience growth for an Original drama series in HBO's history.

And now, just under three weeks into The Last of Us' first season, HBO has confirmed there's more on the way. "I'm so grateful to [The Last of Us co-creator] Neil Druckmann and HBO for our partnership," showrunner and series writer Craig Mazin said of the news, "and I'm even more grateful to the millions of people who have joined us on this journey".

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Battlefield 2042's class-style Specialists overhaul arrives next week

1 year 2 months ago

Battlefield 2042's long-awaited Class update, which rework's the beleaguered shooter's much-maligned Specialists system into something more closely resembling classes from previous Battlefield games, will launch next week, developer DICE has confirmed.

DICE announced it would be overhauling 2042's Specialists last August, saying feedback on the "polarising" system had highlighted concerns around "the loss of Class Identity, and a shift from familiar gameplay flow that [players] were used to."

As it previously explained, the goal of DICE's Class update is to give Specialists defined roles and an arsenal of gadgets, equipment, and weapon proficiencies suited to their specialisations. To that end, once 2042's 3.2 update arrives next week, players can choose from either Assault, Engineer, Recon, or Support. A far lengthier explanation of the upcoming changes can be found in DICE's blog post from last year.

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is shaping up to be a safe but crowd-pleasing trip to the past

1 year 2 months ago

Like a Dragon: Ishin! stands in a somewhat odd position. It's the first release in the series to drop the Yakuza title. It's a remake of an almost 10 year old game, but is new to audiences outside of Japan.

Having played through a couple of hours of an early chapter, I think it's safe to say that Ishin retains the core of what Yakuza fans dearly love about the series, all with a fresh lick of paint.

The familiar open-world full of side-activities remains. There's several restaurants, sub-quests, and mini-games dotted around the city of Kyo for you to get lost in. During my time with the game, I often got distracted from the main quest to explore each alley and find as many sub-stories as possible.

Read more

Author
Liv Ngan

Tags

Episode one of The Last of Us is free to watch on YouTube

1 year 2 months ago

If you had been hoping to watch HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, but don't subscribe to the necessary services to do so, I have good news. You can now watch the first episode for free via Sky TV's YouTube channel.

This is, of course, a clever way for Sky and co. to keep generating interest and hype for the series. It did the same thing with its Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, and will likely do the same thing with future shows down the line.

Even so, it is a great opportunity for fans of the games (or those totally new to the series) to get a little taster of what the The Last of Us TV team has been cooking up. So, without further ado, you can follow the link here to watch episode one of The Last of Us. Enjoy!

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

GoldenEye 007 cheat codes won't work on Xbox

1 year 2 months ago

GoldenEye 007 is now available on both Nintendo Switch and Xbox, but it turns out cheats work slightly differently across the two versions.

N64 players will remember the likes of DK mode, paintball mode, and the Aztec and Egyptian secret levels, which were unlocked by completing missions within difficulty and time limit conditions. Alternatively, they could be unlocked by inputting cheat codes.

However, while those cheat codes still work on the Switch version, they are not compatible with the Xbox version.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Far Cry 7 and Far Cry multiplayer reportedly in development at Ubisoft

1 year 2 months ago

Ubisoft is reportedly working on both Far Cry 7 - its next mainline release in the series - and a standalone Far Cry multiplayer game.

This news originated from Insider Gamer, but has since been corroborated by Kotaku. Sources state Ubisoft head Yves Guillemot referenced both of these upcoming Far Cry releases during an internal company update last week.

Additionally, the same sources revealed that Far Cry 7 (known internally as Project Blackbird) is being made with Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine, which is the same engine being used for its Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game. Just as a general point of interest, the most recent entries in the Far Cry series used the Dunia engine.

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Drop + Hifiman HE-R7DX review: these $99 headphones are worth buying

1 year 2 months ago

The pitch for Drop and Hifiman's HE-R7DX headphones is pretty simple: bring the essence of audiophile-grade audio down to an affordable level. At $99, these cans ought to be a solid starter for budding audio enthusiasts, promising great audio even if you're driving them from a standard phone or computer rather than a powerful DAC. In fact, Drop's page promises "excellent isolation, impressive details" and even "open-back-level soundstaging". It sounds like a winning formula, but do the HE-R7DX live up to their billing? We tested the HE-R7DX for two weeks to find out.

The first thing you'll notice getting these headphones out of the box is the design, which is simplistic but somewhat retro, with large navy blue plastic earcups and a black, textured leather headband that’s become Hifiman’s trademark feature, complete with small metal forks connecting the two components together. I’ve seen some complaints that the design is perhaps a little uninspiring, but to me, there’s a certain minimalistic and refined quality to the HE-R7DXs that make them seem a lot more expensive. You won’t find anything in terms of additional controls on the underside of the headphones for controlling volume or the like - that’s all left to the host device - and as these are headphones rather than a headset, there's no mic included either. Connectivity is kept nice and easy with a simple 3.5mm audio jack on the end of what is quite a chunky cable, and in the box, you also get a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter to allow use with more professional-grade audio equipment.

Author
Reece Bithrey

Tags

This Fallout 4 realism mod makes introduction impossible to survive

1 year 2 months ago

It is widely accepted that if a nuclear blast were to unleash over us, we would not live to tell the tale (unless you are Indiana Jones and you happen upon a surprisingly sturdy fridge. Yeah, I didn't buy that either).

However, somehow, the couple at the start of Fallout 4 manage to survive the game's opening nuclear blast, and remain unscathed by the heat flash that would have hit them (not to mention, those looking right at the blast would likely be blinded at the very least).

So, while Fallout 4's introduction is certainly an impactful one, it is not exactly known for its realism. Well, that is, until now. Thanks to modders, we can now start a new game of Fallout 4... and not survive the introduction.

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Hasbro lays off 15% of staff to cut costs

1 year 2 months ago

Hasbro is set to lay off approximately 1,000 people from its global workforce this year in an effort to cut costs, around 15 percent of global full-time employees.

This is to achieve its goal of delivering $250-300m in annualised run-rate cost savings by the end of 2025.

"The elimination of these positions will impact many loyal Hasbro employees, and we do not undertake this process lightly. However, the changes are necessary to return our business to a competitive, industry-leading position and to provide the foundation for future success," said CEO Chris Cocks.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Bungie explains Destiny 2 outage this week

1 year 2 months ago

Bungie has released a blog post explaining the reasoning behind an outage of the game this week that's caused players to lose progress.

On 24th January, Hotfix 6.3.0.5 was released but Bungie later announced it would be taking the game offline to "investigate an ongoing issue causing certain Triumphs, Seals, and Catalysts to lose progress for players", as per this tweet.

Now the game is back up and running, but players have lost progress in the process and purchases during this time have been refunded.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

Dead Space accessibility options include content warning feature

1 year 2 months ago

Motive has detailed the accessibility options for Dead Space.

The remake, which was released today, has a variety of features that players can implement at their will. These include narratable menus, a range of subtitle options, controller customisation, five difficulty settings and a colourblind mode. You can see how many of these options look in the video embedded below.

In addition to these features, the Dead Space developer has also added an optional content warning feature. With this feature in use, players will be informed about any upcoming in-game content that they could find upsetting. This is done "by displaying a non-intrusive popup that gives a brief description of the type of event that's waiting around the corner, or in an audio or video log before you play it" (see header image above).

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags

Annapurna published The Pathless out on Xbox and Switch next week

1 year 2 months ago

The Pathless, from developer Giant Squid and published by Annapurna Interactive, will launch on Xbox consoles and Nintendo Switch on 2nd February.

The game was originally released in 2020 for PlayStation and PC, but Annapurna announced at its showcase last summer it was due for release on Xbox and Switch this winter.

iam8bit and Skybound will release physical editions of the game for Switch, with details coming soon.

Read more

Author
Ed Nightingale

Tags

What we've been playing

1 year 2 months ago

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: JRPG heaven, lovely days with pleasant tiles, and a search for a good phone game.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

I'm in JRPG heaven at the moment - I'll be rattling on a bit more about it on the site over the weekend - and am currently enamoured with Chained Echoes, an outrageously ambitious spin on the Squaresoft classics of the 90s that folds so much more in besides.

Read more

Author
Robert Purchese

Tags

Acclaimed narrative adventure Road 96 is getting a musical prequel

1 year 2 months ago

Road 96, the acclaimed narrative adventure from developer Digixart, is getting a prequel, and it's coming to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC on 4th April.

As a quick refresher, the original Road 96 served up procedural road trip adventure - set during a long, hot summer in the mid-90s - in which players hitchhiked across the ever-changing authoritarian nation of Petria in an attempt to reach the border and start a new life. We liked it a lot at Eurogamer, awarding it a Recommended badge.

Its newly announced prequel, officially titled Road 96: Mile 0, rewinds the clock just a little bit further to tell a tale set just prior to the events of the first game. This time, players can explore White Sands, described as Petria's only luxurious community, switching between protagonists Zoe and Kaito - two teenagers from significantly different backgrounds.

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

The Day Before dev insists zombie MMO is not a scam following latest delay

1 year 2 months ago

Developer Fntastic has rebuffed suggestions from increasingly vocal detractors that The Day Before - its now twice-delayed and seldom seen open-world zombie survival MMO - is a scam, saying, "When the game comes out, people will finally see the truth."

The Day Before was revealed back in 2021, with a striking trailer that helped propel it to the top of Steam's most wishlisted games chart. Since then, though, its journey to release has been less than smooth. Its initial June 2022 release date was delayed by a year when Fntastic suddenly announced it was switching development to Unreal Engine 5 less than a month before its planned arrival, then earlier this week, with just two months to go before its revised launch date, the developer pulled the game's Steam listing and announced another delay - pushing its release back a further nine months, this time blaming a trademark dispute.

Throughout all this, very little has actually been seen of The Day Before beyond its initial announcement trailer, a 13-minute gameplay video revealed several months later, and 59-seconds of additional gameplay at the start of this year. All of which has lead to a rise in suggestions around the internet the game may not even be in development at all.

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Why does GoldenEye 007's iconic watch music sound different on Nintendo Switch than on N64?

1 year 2 months ago

UPDATE 27th Jan 2023: GoldenEye 007 is out now and thankfully the watch music is present and correct!

ORIGINAL STORY 26th Jan 2023: GoldenEye 007's watch music is one of the most iconic tracks in video games, a cool beat Bond raised to the screen whenever the player pressed pause.

But those who play GoldenEye 007's soon-to-launch re-release on Nintendo Switch and Xbox may notice the watch music sounds a little different than they remember it did on the N64 back in the 90s.

Read more

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

Tags

Classic city builder remake Pharaoh: A New Era gets February release on PC

1 year 2 months ago

Pharaoh: A New Era - publisher Dotemu and developer Triskell Interactive remake of Impressions Games' classic Ancient-Egypt-themed city builder - finally has a launch date and is coming to PC on 15th February.

The original Pharaoh, which released in the hazy mists of 1999, gave players the opportunity whizz back through time and participate in 15 centuries of Ancient Egyptian history, coaxing their fledging nomad settlements into bustling cities in classic management sim style.

At first it's just a matter of constructing a logistically sound network of housing, roads, and simple amenities to satisfy citizens' needs, but soon considerations around the likes of economy, trade, health, agriculture, education, culture, religion, and warfare come into play.

Read more

Author
Matt Wales

Tags

Xbox Series S vs ray tracing: the story so far

1 year 2 months ago

The Xbox Series S is, on paper, every bit as feature-rich as the Series X. It's based on the same fundamental RAM, storage, CPU, and GPU technologies - which of course means that it is ray tracing capable. You can absolutely get RT acceleration on the system, just like any other RDNA 2-based hardware platform. In practice, it's a bit more complicated. The Series S has a modest 4TF GPU paired with a meagre 10GB of RAM, which makes it challenging to implement complex ray-tracing effects on the console. Most recent games lack ray-tracing on Series S, even if they pack one or more effects on Series X and PS5.

Series S ray-tracing games are so scarce, even two years in, that you can almost count meaningful implementations on two hands. By my count there are just 15 titles in total that use hardware or software ray tracing techniques on the platform, though perhaps there are some low-profile titles we've missed (and maybe there's a case for Gears 5-style screen-space-based global illumination). While the diversity of RT titles might not be there, that's not to say that there isn't software on Series S where ray tracing isn't key to the experience - and by reckoning, there are three experiences where the technology is present and correct on the junior Xbox and works beautifully.

Author
Oliver Mackenzie

Tags

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider and City of Gangsters next free Epic Games Store titles

1 year 2 months ago

Epic has revealed its next free Game Store titles: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider and City of Gangsters.

Both games are free to download from 2nd February until the 9th, when they will be replaced with something else.

In Dishonored: Death out the Outsider, players take on the role of "badass supernatural assassin" Billie Lurk (and, yes, I nearly wrote that as Billy Burke).

Read more

Author
Victoria Kennedy

Tags