Eurogamer

French investigative news outlet Mediapart has published a statement after being cleared of all defamation charges filed by Quantic Dream execs David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière.

It's the first formal statement to come from any of the parties involved since the court verdict was reached earlier this month.

The statement reveals Cage and de Fondaumère had objected to seven passages in Mediapart's article concerning their actions as executives at Quantic Dream, developer of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. It also revealed details of offensive photomontages of staff and practices which raised questions under French labour law.

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Microsoft has announced a number of quality of life improvements and new features coming to Xbox.

The big new feature is Play Later, which allows you to curate your own list of titles from Xbox Game Pass which you can come back to another time. The new tab will show personalised recommendations that's reminiscent of Steam's discovery menu.

Next, the world's most beloved browser, Microsoft Edge, has been updated on Xbox to the Chromium version (which shares the underlying code as Chrome) that was released on Windows PCs last year.

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Nintendo fan excitement at the impending arrival of N64 games for Nintendo Switch Online has been tempered somewhat in Europe by confusion over whether we will get the region's original 50Hz versions.

A rewatch of last night's Nintendo Direct and comparisons with the versions shown in North America and Japan suggests the segment on N64 did use European PAL footage to advertise the upcoming Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass.

But it remains to be seen whether Nintendo will offer a simple switch between different localised copies, or offer the US 60Hz versions of games alongside the European 50Hz originals.

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Last night's Nintendo Direct gave us all the details on the second half of Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity's expansion pass: Guardian of Remembrance.

Guardian of Remembrance features new story content (Battle for Kakariko Village, Battle of Goponga Village, and more), new stages (including the Coliseum), an expanded roster (including Sheikah researchers Purah and Robbie), and new battle skills for existing characters.

"Zelda gets the Dynasty Warriors treatment once more, folding in inspiration from Breath of the Wild for the best musou spin-off yet," said Martin Robinson in Eurogamer's review of the game.

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If you've recovered enough from last night's news that Chris Pratt is now Super Mario, here's some words from the newly-appointed actor on landing the plumb role in Nintendo's upcoming animated movie.

Speaking via Instagram, Pratt said that getting to play Mario was proof "dreams come true" after he used to steal quarters from a local wishing well to play the Super Mario Bros. arcade game.

"There was this coin-operated laundromat by my house and it had Super Mario Bros., the original arcade game. I loved that game. I never had a quarter... I'd steal them from the wishing well.

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Earlier this month, a curious list of PC games was leaked from a datamine of Nvidia's GeForce Now service.

Nvidia responded to the leak saying the games were "speculative" and "used only for internal tracking and testing", though various projects on that list were reported to be real - if in some cases outdated.

Now, a new development gives further credence to the list's reliability. Pavel Djundik, the dataminer and creator of SteamDB, said in a tweet that Ubisoft had issued him a DMCA notice for the list.

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Inception and The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy is now available in Fortnite, in the form of his Eddie Brock/Venom guise.

Of course, the release of his character ties into the upcoming launch of Venom: Let There Be Carnage in cinemas.

Fortnite also includes a Carnage skin as part of this season's battle pass, and currently features superpowered Venom and Carnage symbiotes as Mythical items in matches.

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The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has tightened some of its guidance around the advertising of in-game spending.

This new guidance covers adverts which might appear via in-game storefronts or platform stores as well as general advertising for games, and is aimed at stopping adverts which might mislead consumers on the existence and price of microtransactions, how items might affect gameplay, and pressure you into a purchase.

However, the ASA conceded a difference in games which allow you to only purchase a premium currency, rather than ones which let you earn some of it too. The conclusion was that the ASA would treat games differently which view an in-game currency as a direct analogue to real-world money.

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Earlier this month we got our first set of details about Battlefield Mobile with a listing on the Google Play Store. With the game now in early testing in Southeast Asia on Android devices, players have been posting footage of alpha gameplay.

The clips below, posted on Reddit (thanks,MP1st), show what appears to be a match of Conquest in the Grand Bazaar map, filled with infantry and vehicles.

Another clip shows off the loadout system, along with weapon attachments for the F2000 and SMAW rocket launcher.

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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: dungeons, buildings, and a bit of music.

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

Since June, I've been playing D&D every week as part of an ongoing campaign, and I couldn't be more delighted. I've wanted to do this my whole life, except maybe when I wasn't potty trained, but I've never really known how. I didn't know anyone playing D&D growing up. But now I do.

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It was the summer of 2008, after much pestering our mum finally caved and bought us the new Simpsons game on PS2.

The Simpsons Game first came out in autumn of the previous year. After much hype and talk from our friends and cousins, my brother and I stopped at nothing until we got our hands on it. The game follows the Simpson family - Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie - who learn they are part of a video game and are each given powers to beat Matt Groening, God, and even killer dolphins, in order to save Springfield.

When we first started this game, we found it easy. The first mission as Homer was a piece of cake, literally. We thought we'd get through it with no bother - even with our lack of gaming skills at the time.

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15 years in and the streets of Kamurocho and beyond have played host to so many different systems and stories. If last year's new and giddily entertaining turn-based RPG direction for Yakuza Like a Dragon proved anything, it was how flexible this series could be, and how drastic changes could breathe fresh purpose into it all.

Following a first entry that sometimes struggled to find its own space in the series, the Judgment spin-off returns, this time with a greater sense of purpose. With the mainline series now seemingly staying on its turn-based RPG path, Lost Judgment carries the action torch alone, its backbone provided by back-breaking real-time combat, complemented by a dazzling selection of the series' ever-expanding side activities.

And at this point in the series' lifespan, an expansive thing it is indeed. If you judge an open world game by its distractions and this is easily Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's best, its take on Kamurocho and the Isezaki Ijincho stuffed with things to do. Like Yakuza: Like a Dragon before it, it's the sprawling bustle of the Yokohama district that serves as the predominant backdrop, and once again it's a peerless piece of digital tourism - something that feels more necessary now than ever before.

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Microsoft's mysterious new Perfect Dark game will be co-developed by Marvel's Avengers and Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics.

It's a surprising announcement considering the fact this reboot was, until now, an entirely first-party project. Crystal Dynamics, meanwhile, is a subsidiary of Square Enix.

But it does make some sense. The Initiative, Microsoft's Santa Monica-based team set up to work on the project, was founded by former Crystal Dynamics boss Darrel Gallagher, and also counts Tomb Raider reboot director Daniel Neuburger among its ranks.

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Another Nintendo Direct has been and gone, bringing with it new looks at previously announced games, a couple of reveals we were expecting thanks to good old Mr. Leaky, and a handful of surprises. And if you missed it all, here's the whole thing conveniently summarised.

First up was the announcement Monster Hunter Rise is getting a "massive" expansion. It's called Sunbreak and will introduce new stories, locations, and monsters, as well as new gameplay mechanics and a new quest rank. Expect to see it next summer.

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons drought is finally over and the series' much-loved pigeon barista Brewster will arrive in a new update later this year. There's no release date yet, but Nintendo says it'll reveal more in October.

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UPDATE 24/9/21: Tonight brought our first look at Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars in action, courtesy of its reveal trailer which debuted in tonight's Nintendo Direct.

Even better, we heard it would be released soon - on 28th October - with a free demo available from the Nintendo eShop today. Oh, and it's also coming to PlayStation 4 and PC.

"Players will square off in experiences that reveal themselves through cards, including turn-based battles, where their skills - and a little bit of luck - will determine the victor," the game's blurb reads, describing Voice of Cards as a "fresh take on tabletop RPGs".

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UPDATE 11pm UK: Nintendo has now officially announced Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which launches for Nintendo Switch in spring 2022.

"In this new 3D platforming game, players can freely navigate areas using familiar Kirby copy abilities," Nintendo says in its blurb. "What lies in store for Kirby as he explores a mysterious setting filled with abandoned structures from a past civilisation?"

Here's the first official trailer from tonight's Nintendo Direct:

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UPDATE: Castlevania Advance Collection was announced (finally!) during tonight's Nintendo Direct - and it's out now on the eShop priced £15.99.

The compilation includes classic Castlevania games from the Game Boy Advance and Super NES:

New are Rewind, Quick Save and Button Mapping features. All regional versions of each game, as well as a gallery mode with never-before-seen artwork, are included.

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Nintendo has released a fresh look at Switch-exclusive shooter Splatoon 3.

The video below shows off new and returning stages in 4v4 battles, and new weapons.

The trailer then goes off the deep end with a tease for the single-player campaign. The video is called Return of the Mammalians, but it's hard to make much sense of what we're seeing.

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Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt will play Mario in Nintendo's upcoming animated Super Mario movie, which will release in cinemas during "holiday 2022".

Nintendo announced the casting of numerous Mushroom Kingdom names tonight in its latest Nintendo Direct, including Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day as Luigi.

Jack Black will voice Bowser. Keegan-Michael Key will play Toad. Seth Rogen will voice Donkey Kong.

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Bayonetta 3 is alive and kicking.

Platinum's action game starred in tonight's Nintendo Direct with a new trailer, below, and a 2022 release window.

The video shows off plenty of action, with Bayonetta revealing her new look and what sounds like a new voice actress. There's all the over-the-top fighting you'd expect from the series, and a big boss to boot. This time, Bayonetta can directly control demons.

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If it's leftfield announcements you're after, how about this one? Cult-classic Super Nintendo game Actraiser is getting the remaster treatment, and you won't have long to wait to play it - it's out now on Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, iOS, and Android.

ActRaiser initially released for Super Nintendo back in 1990, drawing praise for its unusual combination of side-scrolling, sword-swinging action-platforming and god-game-like top-down urban planning as players, in the role of the Lord of Light, attempted to save mankind from the evil Lord of Dark. Oh, and it had some cracking music too.

All of that returns in the newly announced ActRaiser Renaissance, which features "remastered" 2D new visuals, new stories, expanded action and realm management gameplay, new action stages, a new realm and boss, plus new music - including 15 new tracks and re-arranged original music by Actraiser composer Yuzo Koshiro. There's also auto-save and difficulty options.

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Nintendo Switch gets a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic port on 11th November.

This is a port of BioWare's original role-playing masterpiece, courtesy of Aspyr. There's no word on a Nintendo Switch version of the KOTOR remake, also in development at Aspyr - that's currently set for PC and PlayStation 5 as a timed console exclusive.

We've written plenty about KOTOR over the years. Give Bertie's lovely piece on his favourite planet, the twisted and scarred Malachor V, a read.

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Nintendo Switch Online is getting a higher cost "Expansion Pack" subscription tier which will include N64 and Sega Mega Drive games.

Exactly how much this will cost, Nintendo did not say. At its launch in late October, nine N64 games will be offered including Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Certain games, like Mario Kart 64, will also offer online play.

14 Sega Mega Drive games coming at launch include Ecco the Dolphin, Streets of Rage 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with more to follow.

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While we wait for news on the next instalment in the Mario Kart series - I really hope this doesn't happen during the NIntendo Direct that's going on right now because then I'd look really stupid - Square Enix is stepping up to the plate with an unlikely follow-up to 1999's Chocobo Racing.

Chocobo GP is coming to Switch in 2022, and takes characters familiar from the Final Fantasy series and puts them into the comforting mold of the kart racer. There are chocobos, moogles and mages, all squished into karts and using magicite to take each other down in their efforts to cross the finish line first.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons will finally gain its real MVP, pidgeon barista Brewster, in a new update later this year.

Nintendo will fully unveil this update during a special presentation to be broadcast in October (at a date still to be confirmed).

A quick teaser shown during tonight's Nintendo Direct showed Brewster's Roost cafe will open up in your island's museum.

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Disco Elysium: The Final Cut launches on Nintendo Switch on 12th October.

That's the eShop version, priced £34.99. A physical version is due out on Switch early 2022.

Disco Elysium is the compelling role-playing game from ZA/UM that first launched in 2019. You play a washed up detective who solves a murder while dealing with stuff. It's a fantastic game I enjoyed very much. You should play it!

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Capcom's superb Monster Hunter Rise is getting a "massive" paid expansion, titled Sunbreak, on Switch and PC next year.

Specifics are near-non-existent at present, but, in its brief announcement post, Capcom teased a "massive amount" of content in this "new, ominous chapter" of Monster Hunter Rise, including new stories, locations, and monsters.

Players can also expect new hunting actions and a new quest rank - very much in the same vein as Monster Hunter World's Iceborne expansion, although probably not quite as frosty going by its name - with Capcom promising more details at a later date. Here's a first teaser trailer:

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Planet Zoo's globe-spanning menagerie continues to grow on 4th October with the arrival of its latest DLC expansion, the North America Animal Pack.

This latest exhibit-enhancing paid DLC - the seventh, following on from Planet Zoo's Africa, Aquatic, Australia, Arctic, South America, and South East Asia Animal Packs - introduces a total of seven new creatures to developer Frontier's zoo-themed management sim.

The American beaver, moose, California sea lion, cougar, American alligator, black-tailed prairie dog, and arctic fox are all new habitat animals, meaning you'll need to get your enclosure-designing hat on to give them a good home, and there's a single exhibit animal addition in the form of the American Bullfrog.

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Way back in the murky past of last July, Sony put a real-life replica of Ellie's guitar from The Last of Us Part 2 on sale that would set purchasers back a not-inconsiderable $2,299 USD. At the time, it was only available in North America, but now, to the presumed delight of more local, musically minded Last of Us fans, it's made its way Europe.

In fact, Europe is getting two The Last of Us 2 inspired instruments - the aforementioned replica of Ellie's guitar and a more affordably priced black and white custom Taylor GS Mini, featuring a design based on Ellie's familiar tattoo.

Ellie's instrument - in actuality, a custom Taylor 314ce - is described by Sony as featuring a "distinctive rich tobacco sunburst top and a custom moth fretboard inlay in grained ivoroid", while the GS Mini features "back and sides of layered sapele together with a solid mahogany top [producing] a bold, resonant acoustic sound with impressive volume and projection."

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Join us tonight to watch Nintendo's latest Direct broadcast, live at 11pm UK time.

The bumper stream is set to last 40 minutes, so grab a late night coffee and settle down for plenty of updates on Nintendo Switch games due over the remainder of 2021 - such as Metroid Dread, Mario Party Superstars, Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp, and Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain.

It's also time we heard about the final character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Birdo, we've been rooting for you since launch), as well as that Animal Crossing: New Horizons update Nintendo previously teased (Brewster, please)!

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The Forgotten City, an award-winning ancient civilisation murder mystery which started life as a Skyrim mod, will today launch for Nintendo Switch as a cloud game.

Set in a cursed Roman city stuck in a timeloop, this puzzle-solving investigative adventure has gained a huge amount of popularity and a Writers' Guild award for its script.

Originally a mod for Skyrim, it launched separately for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X back in July with numerous upgrades.

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UPDATE 23/9/21: A last-minute update to the FCC filing for a new Nintendo Switch peripheral has today pushed back the reveal of its photos and documentation until 31st October. As reported yesterday, the previous date for was this Friday, 24th September.

What does this all mean? Simply that whatever Nintendo does or doesn't choose to include in tonight's Nintendo Direct, the FCC will now not make this filing public for another five weeks.

UPDATE 22/9/21: Eagle-eyed fans have spotted an update to last week's FCC filing which details a mysterious new Nintendo Switch peripheral.

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One of more original games of the last generation, Death Standing's focus on traversal and delivery over combat was a welcome alternative take to the open world concept - and it was also one of the most beautiful games on PlayStation 4. So where does Kojima Productions go next for this inevitable upgrade to PS5? The answer is the Director's Cut, which delivers a range of options, improvements and additional content. Rest assured, you're getting your money's worth from £5/$10 upgrade fee in this case.

Of course, this isn't the first time Hideo Kojima has revisited his games - releases dating back to Snatcher, Policenauts and the first three Metal Gear Solid games all received similar re-releases back in the day. Death Stranding: Director's Cut is essentially Death Stranding: Subsistence or Substance, if you will. New elements like the firing range, for instance, offer a lot more than what the name would suggest - this is effectively equivalent to the VR Missions from those first three Metal Gear Solid re-releases. There are also new story sequences and areas to explore along with a subtle revamp to the open world itself.

I'm worried about eFootball.

It's not just the 30th September launch - what Konami has already admitted amounts to an extremely limited demo with just a handful of teams available to play.

It's not just that key gameplay features, including new mechanics, animations and even kicks won't make it in time for that initial launch.

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Sony's recent PlayStation 4 firmware update v9.0 has quietly solved an issue with the console's internal CMOS battery.

This battery powers an internal clock the console uses to check eligibility for game ownership. Without the battery - such as when it naturally drains - both physical and digital games are left unplayable without connecting online.

Reports this week suggested the problem had been fixed in the v9.0 software update, even though it is not mentioned in Sony's official patch notes. Our Digital Foundry team has since been able to corroborate this and confirm the problem is indeed now solved.

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Apex Legends developer Respawn has backtracked on a definitive-sounding statement regarding the future of fan-favourite series Titanfall.

Earlier this week, Respawn's Jason Garza gave a refreshingly frank answer when asked by a fan about what was going on with Titanfall these days. In short: nothing much at the moment, as the studio was so busy.

But as coverage of his comments gathered steam, Respawn this morning issued a new statement via Twitter aimed at press coverage of the matter, deliberately muddying the waters.

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It's funny how much the mind fills in. The art for Sable: you could say, hey, it's Moebius, the French artist who once made the Silver Surfer such an elegant, lonesome presence, a needle of swift, glittering will darting above the blasted canyons of Manhattan. Or you could talk of the thinness of the line, the slow-strobing pastel colours, the sparing use of shadow.

But these are just separate pieces, and the mind fills everything in anyway. It works with the emptiness, giving this desert landscape with its speckled earth and Vegas carpet of exposed strata an overwhelming sense of spent time. Time passing! Centuries have soaked into the ground, bleaching animal bone and dulling machinery, revealing a hard, dry world scoured of obvious context. Wide expanses of sand make you wonder about what forgotten lake once pooled here. Meanwhile, the thin black line that gives the game its illustrative flair works on the scattered dwellings, rendering plasterwork with a powdery, ossuary feel, the ragged scraps of sheeting flapping like old shrouds.

The trees, what trees there are outside of the forest region, can seem seared, the outer bark stripped away by the sun. Elsewhere, the huge things lying about are ancient scrap, half-pipe fragments of something that was once vast and science-fictiony. Smoke rises against thin clouds - a clue? A prompt? And then night falls and the sky is suddenly so dark, so blue, the land loses its banding to the wonderful gloom, and the stars come out and make everything a delight.

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Epic's recent antitrust case against Apple - in which it lost all but one of its legal challenges - may be over for now, but the drama continues. Apple has told Epic it won't be reinstating its Fortnite developer account until the appeal process is over - a decision that could mean the battle royale game remains unavailable on Apple devices for years.

Apple initially revoked Epic's Fortnite developer account - blocking Fortnite from being distributed on its devices - last August, after Epic deliberately circumvented contractually mandated App Store payment mechanisms within its Fortnite iOS app - a move Apple has since called an "intentional breach of contract".

Epic appealed the move unsuccessfully, and Fortnite has remained unavailable on Apple devices for the duration of its legal proceedings. However, now the court's judgement has been passed - which included confirmation that Apple is within its rights to keep Fortnite off its App Store - Epic has once again attempted to have its developer account reinstated, this time by appealing directly to Apple.

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EA has been in a bit of a revitalising mood for The Sims 4 of late, revisiting and improving a range of existing features, and that spirit of rejuvenation continues with the game's latest update, which adds a massive 1,200 colour variants to a whole heap of items.

In total, 149 Build Mode items from the base game have received new colour options as part of the update, including cups, curtains, windows, lamp shades, floorboards, action figures, bins, ovens (and other assorted kitchen appliances), plus a huge range of furniture - from bookshelves and coffee tables to chairs and beds.

The goal of all this, explains EA over on the official Sims 4 forum, is to "complement and enhance [the game's existing] assets so Simmers have more choices and have more use out of them". Certainly, if you've ever found yourself frustrated that you couldn't match your window box to your wastebasket in the past, your prayers may finally have been answered.

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Developer Hinterland Games' superb sub-zero survival experience The Long Dark will finally receive its extremely long-awaited fourth story episode on 6th October.

Fury, Then Silence, as the Episode 4 is known, follows pilot Will Mackenzie's desperate attempts to escape a murderous gang of convicts from one of the darkest corners of Great Bear Island in order to continue his search for second protagonist Astrid.

Hinterland says Fury, Then Silence will feature between 7 and 10 hours of gameplay, 60 minutes of narrative cinematics, and over 40 minutes of new music, with its action unfolding in a brand-new region dominated by an old prison complex built in the shadow of Blackrock Mountain.

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