Eurogamer

Mega Man Legacy Collection acknowledges "insensitive cultural depictions" via in-game disclaimer

1 year ago

Capcom has chosen to acknowledge "insensitive cultural depictions" in its recently-released The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection via a warning message at the start of the game.

Fans who spotted the warning have praised Capcom for taking note of the collection's content - while also leaving it intact to preserve the games as originally released.

"Capcom values diversity and inclusivity within its games and its community," the disclaimer notes. "Please be aware the games in this collection may contain some cases of insensitive cultural depictions that are presented as originally created to preserve their authenticity."

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Tom Phillips

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Nintendo copyright claims strike again, this time with Zelda: Breath of the Wild multiplayer modder

1 year ago

Prolific Zelda streamer and modder PointCrow has been hit by dozens of additional content claims and takedowns on his videos by Nintendo, in the run up to the release of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

PointCrow, who's real name is Eric Morino, has seen several of his videos affected by Nintendo's copyright claims recently, including ones pertaining to his Breath of the Wild multiplayer mod. Needless to say, he is not happy about it.

PointCrow recently released a video about the various claims and takedowns on his channel (a video which he said was vetted by his lawyer before its release).

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Dark and Darker developer sued by Nexon for "copyright infringement"

1 year ago

Nexon is suing Ironmace, the developer behind medieval dungeon looter Dark and Darker, for "copyright infringement". The Korean game publisher is now demanding a jury trial, as part of its ongoing dispute with Ironmace.

This lawsuit was officially filed last Friday (14th April) at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.

For a quick bit of background, the team at Ironmace was accused of creating Dark and Darker "using materials and assets they worked on during their time" at Nexon. These accusations specifically pertained to a game known as P3.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Stardew Valley creator pauses Haunted Chocolatier development

1 year ago

Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone is "taking a break" from work on his long-awaited follow-up game Haunted Chocolatier in order to focus on Stardew Valley once again.

Barone previously confirmed there would be more content for his hit faming life simulation back in June last year.

Stardew Valley update 1.6 will include changes to allow for easier and more powerful modding, Barone confirmed via Twitter, alongside some "new game content, albeit much less than 1.5".

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Author
Tom Phillips

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El Paso, Elsewhere's mix of Blade and old-school Max Payne is as good as it sounds

1 year ago

The sands shift, the wheel turns, and time marches onwards: the PS2 is officially so old it's cool again. Sorry. But also, deal with it? Because look at the games we get to play now: El Paso, Elsewhere is the latest of so many various, vaguely 00s-inspired games to emerge from a new generation of developers' new wave of nostalgia recently, but it's also, from what I got to play out at GDC, an absolutely shining example. Everything was better back in my day, of course, whenever my day is for you. But this one's for real.

El Paso's elevator pitch is Blade plus Max Payne, plus an actual elevator, taking you down through the bowels of some Texas non-place hotel to its own pumping, neon-hued underworld - all 46 floors of it. This is Xalavier Nelson Jr's latest thing, the lead at his Strange Scaffold studio who was also behind viral jokes like An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs and the meatier, frantically clever Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator.

Nelson Jr is surging to the front of the pack of the new cool kids of game dev, just 25 and with an effervescent kind of intelligence to go with all the youthful charisma - as I played, he relentlessly peppered me with over-the-shoulder thoughts on game design and reasoning behind the finer details of El Paso's dodge rolls and bullet-time mechanics, while absent-mindedly snacking in a few spare seconds and juggling his next appointments.

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Author
Chris Tapsell

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Sega buys Angry Birds maker Rovio for £625m

1 year ago

Angry Birds maker Rovio has agreed to be bought by Sega.

Sega Sammy Holdings is buying Finland-based Rovio for €706m (£625m). Sega expects the acquisition to close in the second quarter of the 2024 financial year, so by the end of September.

For Sega's part, it reckons the mobile gaming market is projected to account for 56 percent of the global gaming market overall by 2026, so buying Rovio is an attempt to strenghten its position there.

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Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Doctor Who coming to Fortnite later this year, leak suggests

1 year ago

It looks like The Doctor will shortly set down the TARDIS in Fortnite.

Noted Fortnite leaker and dataminer iFireMonkey took to Twitter over the weekend to confirm rumours that a "potential collaboration" was indeed on the way as a two-week long event that will include a "set of free rewards for completing challenges as well as item shop cosmetics".

iFireMonkey even thinks they know what the items will be, too; two skins, a Glider, and an Emote.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Discord rolls out voice messages

1 year ago

Voice messages are now available on Discord.

This means users are able to send messages of up to 20 minutes length to complement the existing ability to converse via voice chat. Right now, the ability to send messages is only available on the mobile version, although Discord says you can listen to your messages "on any Discord platform".

For those wondering: yes, you can disable the ability to receive voice messages on your server via the Server Settings > Roles menu, although there's no specific word on how individual users can disable the facility.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Halo's franchise director, Frank O'Connor, looks to have left Microsoft

1 year ago

UPDATE 17/4/23: Following recent reports of Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor's departure from Microsoft after nearly two decades working on the iconic series, the company has made it official. In a statement provided to Axios' Stephen Totilo, Microsoft said, "We thank Frank for his numerous contributions to the Halo franchise and wish him well going forward."

There's still no word on where O'Connor is heading next, but his updated LinkedIn profile points to a new franchise creative director role at a currently undisclosed Seattle company, where he'll be "creating rich, story-driven entertainment experiences across multiple media."

ORIGINAL STORY 16/4/23: It looks as though Halo's franchise director, Frank O'Connor, has left Microsoft.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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How we ran Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive on an entry-level RTX 3050

1 year ago

The release of Cyberpunk 2077's RT Overdrive upgrade sees a new level of visual fidelity brought to a modern triple-A game via path tracing - the purest form of ray tracing. However, the perception is that only RTX 40-series GPUs or best-of-the-best 30-series cards get to run these visuals, but what if I was to tell you it's easily possible to get a 1080p, 30 frames per second experience on the RTX 3050 - Nvidia's entry-level RT-capable desktop graphics card? It can be done - and this opens the door to all of the 20-series and 30-series cards I tested handing in a surprisingly good experience. Not only that, but higher-end AMD RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 graphics hardware is in the mix too.

I first got the idea of doing some kind of performance piece on RT Overdrive when I added some benchmarks to the RTX 4070 review. The 4070 with frame generation is capable of running the game in excess of 60 frames per second using a combination of DLSS 2 balanced mode and DLSS 3 frame generation - and it looks pretty good. We're already in playable frame-rate territory for the RTX 3080, but the 3070 is struggling. We have options though - reducing resolution, reducing DLSS quality level - but most intriguing of all, a mod has recently appeared that increases performance by anything from 20 to 35 percent in my testing. Right now, Intel is off the table unfortunately, likely down to driver issues, but Arc has great RT hardware and surely it's only a matter of time before these GPUs join the fray.

Author
Richard Leadbetter

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Firewall Ultra showcases the best bits of the PSVR2, but it's not without its problems

1 year ago

Despite having a name that sounds a little bit like a sanitary towel for a server room, Firewall Ultra, the PSVR2 exclusive follow-up to the PSVR exclusive Firewall Zero Hour, has got a lot of hype behind it. But is it actually any good?

Well, that's what this week's episode of VR Corner is all about because, a couple of weeks ago, I got to go hands on with a pre-release build of the game at Sony's London HQ. Aren't I special?

Situated above these words are 20 minutes of me rambling on about the highs and lows of First Contact Entertainment's upcoming squad-based tactical shooter, whilst 5 minutes worth of brand new Firewall Ultra 4K gameplay occasionally pops up to mask an edit that I've made.

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Author
Ian Higton

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Capcom quietly removes raytracing from Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remakes

1 year ago

UPDATE 20/4/22: Well, that was quick. After fans spotted that ray-tracing options had gone missing from Resident Evil 2 and 3 on PC last week, Capcom has issued an update to the game today which it says has now fixed the "issue".

There's still no explanation of why these options disappeared.

UPDATE 18/4/22: Capcom has said it will resolve the "issue" of a raytracing no longer being available in the PC versions of Resident Evil 2 and 3.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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American McGee asks fans to "respect his decision to move on" after EA "killed" a third Alice game

1 year ago

American McGee has asked people to "stop asking questions about Alice" following confirmation that EA would not let him continue the macabre cult series.

In a follow-up Q&A posted to his Patreon page, McGee admitted that he was "feeling the same pain and anger as many of you" but said it was time for he and his fans "to move on".

American McGee's confirmed last week that his attempt to develop a third instalment in his fan-favourite Alice series "is at an end".

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Honkai Star Rail has 10 million users and it's not even out yet

1 year ago

Honaki: Star Rail isn't out until 26th April, 2023, but it already boasts 10 million users.

That's according to developer HoYoverse, which announced the milestone on its social media channels over the weekend.

To celebrate, the studio is encouraging players to retweet the message as many times as possible to secure some in-game goodies, and one participant is in line to win "about" $100.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Bungie says it takes the recent Destiny 2 leaks "extremely seriously" and is "taking action"

1 year ago

Bungie has opened up about a "breach of trust" after a recent creator summit ended in a leak of Destiny 2's upcoming season.

In a statement posted to the studio's social media channels, the company said it it was "taking actions to reinforce its policies" but if it couldn't trust its carefully curated attendees, it "could result in its inability to hold more summits".

"Community interaction and engagement is central to Bungie and our games," Bungie explained in a tweet. "For years, we've invited creators and other members of the community to confidential summits to provide feedback on the future of Destiny. This is a beloved part of the process, but relies heavily on trust.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Gaming among the Baobabs: Into the wilderness with a tent and a Playdate

1 year ago

Trivia time. Did you know, there's no precise definition of a tree. All sorts of distantly related plants can be trees if they stump for it. Grasses, ferns, or really anything with a trunk and a dream. Scientists have tried to impose some rules on the chaos. But, basically, if it looks like a tree, and it's big enough and sturdy enough then, sure, let's call it a tree. Baobab trees, I suspect, tow the line. They're strange, squat things -- hollow in the centre with branches all skewiff at the crown and flush with alien-green fruit pods. In Tanzania's northern savannahs, they pepper the landscape; quixotic giants towering above the sea of acacias. In some places, they're also the only trees suitably thick and thornless to act as backrest for a shaded gaming session.

Some context is probably warranted here. I'm an anthropologist -- a researcher who studies us, humans, in all our tremendous diversity. In service of documenting one small part of that diversity, my work takes me deep into the Tanzanian bush, with a tent, a Land Rover, and a crate of tinned food. I am also a capital-G Gamer. Gaming is my refuge. My happy place. My way to unwind after a hard day's work. And though I love my work, sometimes the dust, the heat and the occasional run-ins with elephants do wind one tight.

Unfortunately, gaming and fieldwork don't readily mix. The Tanzanian wilderness, with its stunning scenery, doesn't lack much, but it does lack plug sockets. This is an impediment for gaming in so many ways, not least because there's nowhere to power your RGB light strips. I suppose the easiest solution is to take a break. Crack a book; touch grass; digitally detox. And by all means, that sounds fabulous, but if you're in as deep as I am, there's another option: become your own sort of tree and draw power from the sun.

Author
Edward Hawkes

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Metal Gear Solid 3 voice actor teases Snake Eater remake

1 year ago

Metal Gear Solid voice actor and vocalist, Donna Burke, has Metal Gear fans once again hoping that a Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake may be on the way.

Burke shared a photo of herself at work today and three simple words - "recording in progress" - but it's the accompanying photo of herself that's garnered the most attention:

Further tweets, in which Burke writes, "nothing beats working with good people. Nothing. Thanks for today Mason Lieberman (director) and Yusuke Mori (engineer) and Tomomi Ura (EA)", have also set tongues wagging, as eagle-eyed fans are convinced that the accompanying photographs include a sheet of the lyrics from Snake Eater's main theme (thanks, PlayStation Lifestyle):

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Gearbox Gives initiative will "organise and direct the studio's philanthropic work"

1 year ago

Gearbox has launched "Gearbox Gives", a new initiative designed to "organise and direct the studio's philanthropic work".

Stating that Gearbox boss "Randy Pitchford [has created the] new Gearbox program to educate, inspire, and create", Gearbox says that the work "encompasses Gearbox’s educational and philanthropic programs, and its community partnerships and initiatives".

"Gearbox has been committed to using our platform and the power of entertainment for good since our founding, and Gearbox Gives is a continuation and expansion of that work," said Randy Pitchford, founder of both Gearbox Gives and Gearbox itself (although he stepped down as president in 2021).

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Sega is reportedly in talks to buy up Angry Birds developer, Rovio Entertainment

1 year ago

Sega is reportedly planning to buy up Angry Birds creator, Rovio Entertainment.

According to the Wall Street Journal (£), Sega Sammy Holdings is currently holding talks with Rovio to discuss a $1 billion deal.

Citing sources "familiar with the matter", WSJ purports that "assuming the talks don't break down on drag out", the deal could complete as early as next week.

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Farming Simulator is now 15 years old

1 year ago

Farming Simulator is 15 years old.

"What once started as a niche title for agricultural enthusiasts became a multi-million selling and family-friendly franchise for all gamers," explains developer and publisher Giants Software, calling its farming sim an "internationally acclaimed simulation series" and revealing that since the agriculture game first launched, 2.5 billion mods have been downloaded for the "modding-friendly" series.

"Along the way, many milestones have been achieved, as the Anniversary Trailer shows: From cooperative multiplayer with Farming Simulator 2011 and the introduction of the portable entries of the series with Farming Simulator 2012, followed by console versions in 2013, over the creation of an official eSports league with Farming Simulator 19, up to cross-platform multiplayer with Farming Simulator 22."

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Bungie outlines a zero-tolerance policy to "players who abuse tools specifically to gain an advantage"

1 year ago

Bungie is clamping down on Destiny 2 cheaters, revealing that "people who abuse tools specifically to gain an advantage over players" will be banned.

In the latest TWAB post, the studio said that the issue had been "a matter of extended conversations both internally and in the community", and was keen "to strike the right balance between Bungie’s goal of simultaneously enabling everyone to enjoy our games and protecting our community".

"Our community has grown increasingly frustrated by a form of cheating that uses third-party peripherals with the intent to manipulate the game client," the team said. "These devices are plugged into a computer or console, where they can - for example - execute simple scripts or trick the game into giving you extra aim assist.

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Vikki Blake

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Here's Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores' launch trailer to get you excited ahead of next week's release

1 year ago

Guerrilla has dropped an all-new Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores to whet your appetite ahead of its release next week.

The expansion – which is set to launch on 19th April – "sees Aloy pursue a sinister threat in the untamed wilds of Los Angeles, now a treacherous volcanic archipelago".

But why read about it when you can watch it for yourself? Check it out below:

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Author
Vikki Blake

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Relative Hell is a shooter for people who think in four dimensions

1 year ago

In Atari's 1979-released coin-op game Asteroids, you play a dinky 2D starfighter blowing up drifting space rocks while fending off the occasional flying saucer. It can feel overwhelming - the play area wraps around itself, so you're constantly having to reorient when an asteroid coasts off screen and reappears opposite. But there's a fundamental orderliness to it. Each rock splits precisely into a pair of smaller, faster fragments when shot, which in turn split in two. Shooting wildly fills the screen with shrapnel, so you learn to be judicious, all the while swivelling and firing your rear booster to manage your ship's inertia.

Asteroids is, for me, one of the Perfect Games: simple props and rules, graceful execution, an organic, player-driven challenge factor accompanied by a cheeky variation on the Jaws theme. Zeno Rogue's homage-of-sorts Relative Hell is a touch less intuitive. It looks like Asteroids at a glance: a hardy little ship in the centre, blasting away at a throng of floating hazards. But that cleanly proportioned square of rogue boulders has become a clouded fisheye, not quite a circle, not quite a ball, with objects shrinking and stretching into bizarre, coloured fissures at the perimeter. Activating your ship's booster deforms the asteroids you're trying to navigate around - are they above or below you? What do "above" or "below" mean here anyway? - while your bullets travel in strange, broken arcs, swelling and dispersing as they travel.

Author
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

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You'll have to pay extra if you want The Lord of the Rings: Gollum in Elvish

1 year ago

UPDATE 18/4/22: Gollum game developer Daedalic has responded to news of the game's DLC which adds Elvish spoken language to the game.

In a statement shared with Eurogamer, Daedalic says you will still hear some Elvish (Sindarin) language without the DLC "from time to time" - though this paid DLC does fills out the game's world with more, recorded by "professional voice actors... trained in Sindarin by our lore experts".

The full statement lies below:

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Author
Matt Wales

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the biggest video game adaptation ever

1 year ago

We already knew the Super Mario Bros. Movie was doing alright for itself, but - having surpassed Frozen 2 as the biggest animated movie debut - it's now officially the highest grossing film of 2023 so far and the biggest video game adaptation of all time.

That's according to Variety, which reports The Super Mario Bros. Movie has now surpassed $500m at the global box office, with $260m of that coming from US ticket sales and $248m of its record-breaking take earned internationally.

Previous reports had placed The Super Mario Bros. Movie as having had the biggest opening of any video game adaptation ever, but latest figures push that even further, making it the highest grossing video game adaptation of all time, surpassing the surprisingly successful Warcraft movie ($439m), Detective Pikachu ($433m), and Rampage ($428m).

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Author
Matt Wales

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Dark and Darker dev asks players to torrent latest playtest after Steam delisting

1 year ago

Dark and Darker studio Ironmace Games has asked players to torrent the mediaeval extraction looter's latest build following its delisting from Steam last month amid ongoing legal woes.

Dark and Darker had a bit of a moment when its third playlest gained more than 100,000 concurrent players during Steam's Next Fest back in February, but that initial success soon took a turn when Ironmace was accused of making its game "using materials and assets they worked on during their time" at developer Nexon.

Although Ironmace has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, the studio was subjected to a police raid in response to those accusations and Dark and Darker's Steam listing was ultimately removed following a cease and and desist demand from Nexon. At the time, Ironmace said it was working with its legal team to remedy the issue.

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Author
Matt Wales

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Pokémon anime relaunches, reveals all-new species

1 year ago

The long-running Pokémon anime returned to Japanese TV screens today following a brief hiatus - as previous series stars Ash Ketchum and Pikachu have now departed after more than two decades.

The revamped show features a fresh cast of characters lead by dual protagonists Liko and Roy - but it wasn't just these new human faces who made their debut.

Today's episode also features our first glimpse at an all-new Pokémon species not yet available in any game - a baby turtle, which remains unnamed (thanks, Serebii).

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Author
Tom Phillips

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De-Exit - Eternal Matters is a joyous game about a difficult subject

1 year ago

De-Exit - Eternal Matters sells itself as both a game exploring death and "an ode to life". It wants to encourage people to talk about difficult subjects, and I gather it was inspired by the death of a close friend of the developer. I've been playing it for the last week, on and off, and while I haven't finished it, I can at least say this: it's a wonderful game, by turns melancholic and joyous. And it's always surprising.

Oh, and it's voxel-based, too, which is always money in the bank. You play as a skeleton exploring a surreal afterlife in an adventure that combines platforming, puzzling and stealth. Going in without knowing much about the game at all, I was delighted by early levels that really felt like the classic Core Design Tomb Raiders. Something to do with puzzles, perhaps, that involved a lot of blocks and pressure plates, but also the glorious chunky graphics, the muted colours, and that sense of being alone, deep inside a complex space. It's everything I love about those old games.

But De-Exit transforms itself fairly regularly. First, I was given a sort of torch power that allowed me to spot invisible monsters and work my way around their patrol routes for a surprisingly nimble bit of stealth. The next power is a kind of personal whirlwind, which destroys certain objects and can shift others about.

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Author
Christian Donlan

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Company of Heroes 3 gets May release date on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S

1 year ago

If you're a current-gen console owner eagerly awaiting your turn to take Relic Entertainment's acclaimed WW2 strategy game Company of Heroes 3 for a spin, there's some good news: publisher Sega has confirmed it's coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on 30th May.

Company of Heroes 3 marks the first time the celebrated series has made the jump to consoles, and arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with the PC version's features - including its two solo campaigns and various multiplayer modes - intact, aside from a couple of omissions.

As explained in Relic's Company of Heroes 3 FAQ, the console edition omits the PC version's in-game store, Challenges, and mod support. However, it does feature some console-specific tweaks, including full controller support, a custom UI designed specifically for gamepads, plus a number of features enabling console players to tackle the game "at their own pace".

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Author
Matt Wales

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Vampire Survivors is revived by new DLC Tides of the Foscari

1 year ago

You can only experience Vampire Survivors for the first time, once, and get that giddy feeling of not knowing what's coming, and oh my gosh aren't there a lot of enemies, and what does this do, and how do I evolve that. Everything is undiscovered and it's the discovery that's a delight.

With repeated play comes the knowledge you'll need to beat it, but also a sense of needing to beat it, and with that comes frustration when you don't - when you don't do as well as the turn before, or build as optimally as you could. And it begins to irk you how long attempts actually take, with all the stopping - much closer to 45 minutes than the 30-minute time-limit levels apparently have. What began as a quick game becomes a slog.

And after a while, though the compulsion is still strong, you find the fun has started to leak out.

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Author
Robert Purchese

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Resident Evil 4 Remake's latest patch brings meaningful improvement to PS5, Series X/S

1 year ago

The Resident Evil 4 remake arrived with a host of issues on launch, with image quality problems, inconsistent performance, ugly screen-space reflections and controller response issues. The underlying game was definitely a successful, attractive effort, but lacking a final pass of polish. The recently released title update 1.004 adds Mercenaries Mode and fixes for many of these issues - here's the current state of play.

The most prominent launch version issue was image quality, with all console versions suffering from a noisy look and PS5 seemingly afflicted by additional reconstruction woes. The new patch makes changes in this area, but the final results are perhaps mixed at best.

On the plus side, the PS5-specific issues have been resolved to some degree, with a sharper look despite some artefacting, but weirdly the Series X/S releases are now worse than their launch versions. The Xbox Series releases now sport a sharper appearance with substantially more aliasing. All resolutions are the same as launch, with a 1080p/1440p split on Series S (performance vs quality modes), an 1800p/2160p split on Series X, and a 1944p/2160p split on PS5, so this all comes down to differences in image treatment between patch 1.002 and 1.004.

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Author
Oliver Mackenzie

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US military leak suspect arrested after being identified via Steam

1 year ago

The suspected leaker wanted by the FBI for releasing top secret military documentation via Discord has been arrested, after being identified using information gleaned from his Steam profile.

21-year-old Jack Teixeira from Massachusetts was scooped up by federal agents last night following a furious search over the course of this week.

Files apparently leaked by Teixeira included highly sensitive details about the war in the Ukraine, and information on US allies apparently obtained through covert means.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Peppa Pig developer discusses viral Queen Elizabeth tribute

1 year ago

Peppa Pig: World Adventures gives players the chance to explore the globe, but perhaps its most memorable moment comes from its section set in London. There, players can meet England's late Queen, in a playful sequence which sees the monarch ride a bus around the capital before joining Peppa and friends in a spot of puddle jumping (everyone loves jumping in muddy puddles, you know).

This particular section of the game became widely-shared online soon after Word Adventures released thanks to a viral clip showing the game's unexpected In Memoriam tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, which pops up at the end of the London chapter.

Following the chapter's conclusion, the screen fades to black and the words: "HM Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022 In Memoriam" appear on screen, alongside an image of the late Queen, mid-puddle splash with Peppa.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Critical Role's Matt Mercer is Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Ganondorf

1 year ago

Matt Mercer, known for his work on Critical Role and as Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 6, will voice Ganandorf in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Mercer shared the news via Twitter last night, and called the role an "an immense honour" he has "thrown [himself] into doing justice" to.

Alongside this announcement, Mercer also shared images of him cosplaying as Link when he was a child, and one of him more recently as Ganondorf.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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Is 30fps for current-gen console games a dealbreaker?

1 year ago

Arkane announced its co-op shooter Redfall will be locked at 30fps on Xbox at launch earlier this week, and it sparked quite the conversation.

Though a 60fps performance mode will be patched into the game "at a later date", its absence at launch has some people reversing their decision to play Redfall when it comes out.

But is 30fps for current-gen console games a dealbreaker? To quote Wes, "no one expects Starfield to run at 60fps", but that probably won't stop a lot of us from playing it when it (hopefully) arrives in September. Harsh words from Wes, but true. Sorry Todd.

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Author
Liv Ngan

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Leaked Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom TV ad shows previously unseen footage

1 year ago

An upcoming TV ad for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has leaked, giving us a glimpse at a few more, previously unknown, details.

Beware elements that could be considered minor spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom below. If you want to head into the game as fresh as you can, this is your cue to head elsewhere.

The video, which popped up last night on reddit, is a TV spot for Nintendo's sequel, likely planned for the game's launch next month. Some of the footage we have seen before, such as Link using Ultrahand to build a Hylian hovercraft, but there are some small glimpses of new things I will detail below.

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Author
Victoria Kennedy

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New Super Mario Bros U really is a classic

1 year ago

Friends of mine who are much more intelligent than me have been telling me something for a while: New Super Mario Bros U is one of the best Mario games ever. I liked it at the time, for sure, but let's remember what time that was precisely. New Super Mario Bros U was a launch title for the Wii U, a console which arrived with a sense of slight inadequacy. The New Super Mario Bros games had started to grate with a lot of people who wanted more of the Galaxy-style big budget Marios. In my memory, this is that rare thing: a Mario game that came and went without making much of an impact.

This week, though, I returned. I intended to play for a few minutes - I'm talking about the Deluxe version of the game that's available on the Switch here - and it ended up eating a whole afternoon. And I spent that afternoon in a state of wonder. And terror, actually. There's something quietly, cheerily terrifying about 2D Mario games in particular: how can they do so much with so little?

I think of this often in the campaign, which I was not expecting to particularly love. Yes yes, nice power-ups and I still remember that strange thrill of seeing Mario in HD for the first time, with his 2D worlds suddenly seeming vast as well as detailed. But about ten minutes into replaying New Super Mario Bros U this week a level just flattened me.

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Author
Christian Donlan

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Promising magic FPS Immortals of Aveum now has a release date

1 year ago

Immortals of Aveum, the upcoming magic FPS set to be published by EA, will launch for PC via Epic and Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 20th July.

Released under the EA Originals label, Immortals of Aveum is a flashy-looking fantasy first-person shooter where you wield magic instead of guns.

Today brings a new trailer (below) with some pretty-looking cutscenes and some chaotic looking gameplay sections that are, frankly, a blur of neon particle effects, as the player fires out spells and conjurs up a magical shield.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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What we've been playing

1 year 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: gardens, TikTok recommendations, and that Doom, Mario Maker mashup you've always wanted.

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

Garden Galaxy is a game where you make little 3D gardens. It has a lovely sense of interconnectivity. Odd tear-drop visitors turn up in your garden and you click on them to get a coin. You put the coin in a magic pot and you get a garden decoration out of it - a plant, a pot, something else - and any decorations you don't want go back into the pot and work towards earning you more coins.

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Eurogamer staff

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