IGN

Fortnite's Next Big 'OG' Update Will See the Battle Royale Return to Its Chapter 1 Roots

5 months ago

Epic Games has revealed that Fortnite’s next major update will see the perennially popular battle royale return to its Chapter 1 roots, while retaining its popular sprinting and mantling gameplay mechanics.

Earlier today, Epic posted an image of the classic Fortnite battle bus to X/Twitter, alongside the words “Sprint (or Mantle, your choice) back to Chapter 1….see you soon 11.2.2023," alongside the hashtag #FortniteOG. The post echoes a similar teaser from Epic vice president and co-founder Mark Rein, who yesterday revealed that the word/theme for the next season of Fortnite was set to be “rewind."

Author
Anthony Wood

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Tekken 8's Built-In Teaching Tools Are Legitimately Awesome – IGN First

5 months ago

To quote an excellent Tekken player who happens to be a friend I train with: in Tekken, “the simple act of moving backwards properly requires practice.” Fighting games are notoriously complicated, and that can intimidate new players or keep them away entirely. Even if you’re an oldhead, learning a new game takes time. But Tekken 8 looks like it’s trying to flatten that curve by providing some of the best teaching tools in the genre. So, listen up, people: class is in session.

In Tekken 8, picking up a character and having a good time is as simple as picking your character and turning on Special Style. But say you want to explore everything that character has to offer. What then? Well, you’ll want to head to training mode. And that’s where you’ll notice the first major change in Tekken 8. Previous Tekkens, including the excellent Tekken 7, only listed a character’s entire movelist – which could total more than a hundred moves – in a single, numbered list. Not so in Tekken 8. Like SoulCalibur before it, Tekken 8 has that same movelist that Tekken fans are used to, but it also has a separate tab for “Main Techniques” – your character’s go-to moves, from pokes, pressure strings, combo starters, and launchers. Better yet, it’ll tell you what they’re good for and if they’re a combo starter, they’ll give you a sample combo to do (with an accompanying demo you can access at any time).

This isn’t new, but Tekken 8’s combo trials are particularly good at walking you through your character of choice’s combo routing. By the time you’ve finished them, you should have an idea of how your character’s moves fit together — and how to construct your own combos.

Author
Ryan McCaffrey

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EA Sports UFC 5 Review

5 months ago

It can be difficult for an MMA game to balance two seemingly contradictory halves: being both a satisfying sports simulation as well as a satisfying fighting game. Lean too hard toward simulation and you could alienate all but the most dedicated fans – but, move too far toward the crowd pleasing violence of something like Mortal Kombat, you might stray from that “as real as it gets” tagline instead. Finding the perfect mix of both sides is what makes EA Sports UFC 5 the best MMA game to date. It deftly balances these approaches into something much more fluid and life-like than past entries while also raising the stakes of every hit thanks to an impressive new damage system, which makes matches more exciting, risky, and rewarding.

Author
Tom Marks

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Disney Dreamlight Valley Exits Early Access in December, Ditches Free-to-Play Launch Plan

5 months ago

Disney Dreamlight Valley will exit Early Access and have its official launch on December 5, 2023. It will also no longer launch as a free-to-play game so the team can "continue delivering on a premium game experience for all players."

In addition to all this big news, it was revealed that Disney Dreamlight Valley's first-ever showcase will take place on November 1 at 10am PT/1pm ET/5pm GMT. This stream will reveal details on A Rift in Time, the game's first paid expansion that will cost $29.99, will get you an extra 5,000 Moonstones (in-game currency), and will require the base game to play.

The team will also be giving a glimpse at future updates during the stream and will "unveil much-anticipated multiplayer features."

As to the decision to no longer become free-to-play, the team shared their reasonings and why it was important to do so. "As we look ahead to the official launch, with the learnings we've gained from Early Access, we’ve made the decision to remain a paid game for the foreseeable future," Disney Dreamlight Valley developer Gameloft Montreal said in a blog post. "This means we will not make the transition to be a free-to-play game when we leave Early Access on December 5th. This choice ensures that Disney Dreamlight Valley will be able to continue delivering on a premium game experience for all players.

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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Spider-Man 2 Director Explains What Happened to the 'Undies' Suit and Other Missing Costumes

5 months ago

We all know what everyone's favorite part of being Spider-Man is, right? Not the thrilling web-slinging, or the hanging from buildings, or the monstrous symbiote powers. It's dressing up in cool Spidey suits. But unfortunately, some of the suits from the original Marvel's Spider-Man are missing in Spider-Man 2. And IGN has the opportunity to learn exactly why.

We spoke to Insomniac senior creative director Bryan Intihar on a spoilercast episode of Beyond to learn more about the suit situation. While the podcast itself was a spoiler-cast, never fear - this article only talks about suit availability, so you can read on safely knowing we've kept all story spoilers quiet on this page. Just don't listen to the podcast itself until you're ready for it all to be laid bare.

First off, Intihar explains, moving suits from Spider-Man 1 to Spider-Man 2 isn't as simple as just pushing a button and making them magically appear. "A lot of those are PS4, and then even the ones that showed up in the remaster, they have to be basically PS5-sized or whatever," he says. "They have to be upgraded. So there's a work factor to get it in there."

What's more, he continues, the web wings and capes present in Spider-Man 2 made things wonky with some of the suit designs, and would have required a lot more work to make every single suit function on a basic level with the game's mechanics, look, and feel.

Author
Rebekah Valentine

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: What Happened to Nelson and Murdock?

5 months ago

Veteran fans of Insomniac’s Spider-Man series of games may have noticed the absence of a fun Easter egg in Spider-Man 2 that at first glance might have been a developer error. It turns out this small map change was very much deliberate, and may even allude to future content.

As IGN’s Spider-Man 2 Easter eggs guide explains, players who explored the previous Spider-Man games could discover Nelson and Murdock's plaque on a building in Hell's Kitchen, suggesting these Daredevil characters ran their law firm from there. Interestingly, in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 the plaque remains but all text is gone, perhaps implying the duo relocated elsewhere.

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We spoke to Insomniac senior creative director Bryan Intihar on a spoilercast episode of Beyond to ask about the removal of Spider-Man’s Daredevil Easter egg. His answer certainly suggests Insomniac is up to something.

“That's a good question,” Intihar said. “Stay tuned. Good find though.”

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Spider-Man 2 Director Explains Why Those MJ Stealth Scenes Had to Be Included

5 months ago

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has seen critical and fan acclaim in the week since its release, but one element that hasn't been universally beloved is the return of Mary Jane's stealth missions from the first game. While these missions were almost universally hated in Marvel's Spider-Man, some tweaks to the formula have made them far more divisive in Spider-Man 2. And we recently spoke to one of the creative directors on Spider-Man 2 to learn exactly why they're in the game at all.

So why have these missions been upgraded from loathed to merely divisive? Well, one big reason is that MJ is OP now. Her stun gun makes short work of enemies that take Peter and Miles multiple hits to beat up. For some, this change of pace is awesome, even John Wick-like. For others, it sucks the energy out of a game that's otherwise fast-paced and wide-open.

Recently, we brought Insomniac senior creative director Bryan Intihar onto a spoiler-packed episode of Beyond to talk about everything Spider-Man 2, and he had plenty to say about the studio's decisions for MJ. Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Man 2 follow. Read on at your own risk.

According to Intihar, Insomniac was well-aware that MJ's missions hadn't been anyone's favorite bit of the first Spider-Man. And they did ponder foregoing them entirely in the sequel. But instead, the team went a different direction:

Author
Rebekah Valentine

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Insomniac Had a Venomized Sandman Concept for Spider-Man 2, but Ditched the Idea

5 months ago

Insomniac has opened up about the development of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, revealing a huge amount of insight into how it made the record-breaking PlayStation 5 exclusive in a new, spoiler-packed episode of Beyond.

Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Man 2 follow. Read on at your own risk.

In the special episode of Beyond, Insomniac senior creative director Bryan Intihar revealed the developer created a concept for a Venomized Sandman who would appear in Spider-Man 2, but decided against moving forward with the idea in order to keep production within scope.

Spider-Man 2 kicks off with an amazing setpiece that sees both Peter Parker and Miles Morales battle an enormous Sandman across New York. It’s a battle packed with epic moments, fast-moving cutscenes, and, at the end, the subjugation of Sandman himself. Check out the Sandman fight in the video below:

Sandman is then incarcerated, leaving the game’s primary villains, Kraven the Hunter and Venom, to do their thing. But Insomniac explored the possibility of letting the alien symbiote latch on to Sandman himself, if you can imagine such a thing.

“I will tell you… I haven't told anybody this,” Bryan Intihar told IGN, “we did have a Venomized Sandman concept.”

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Spider-Man 2 Players Mourn Death of Fan-Favorite ‘Spider-Cube’ Bug

5 months ago

PlayStation players are lamenting the removal of a popular bug in Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, which caused the web-slinging protagonists to manifest as a small white cube during extended play sessions.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 boasts an impressive collection of 72 unlockable cosmetic skins, ranging from Peter Parker’s Venom-infused symbiote suit to Miles Morales’ costume store disguise ripped straight from 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

However, in the days following the launch of Spider-Man 2 evidence began to circulate of an unofficial 73rd appearance, born of a bug that had slipped Insomniac’s attention. Some players reported that, following prolonged play sessions, the character models for Miles and Peter would fail to load, and in their place would appear a small, white cube, which would take the place of the Spider-Men as they swung and fought their way through New York City.

Author
Anthony Wood

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Xbox's Partner Stream Surprised and Delighted – Unlocked 618

5 months ago

We did the podcast live this week immediately following Xbox's Partner Preview livestream, and we spent the entire episode being pleasantly surprised by both the things Microsoft promised would be there (like Alan Wake 2, Ark: Survival Ascended, and Dungeons of Hinterberg), and the things that were surprises (like Metal Gear solid Delta, Still Wakes the Deep, and The Finals). Plus, we give some constructive criticism on Xbox's latest presentation format.

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out my recent Alan Wake 2 preview!

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Author
Ryan McCaffrey

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Mario Wonder Players Are Losing Hundreds of Lives on One Super-Hard Level

5 months ago

Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been out for nearly a full week now, which means the most enthusiastic Mario fans have had time to sink their teeth into some Goombas and get a feel for the game. And while for the most part, players are bopping their way through Mario Wonder with relative ease, there's one level in particular that seems to be giving players massive amounts of trouble. Some are even losing hundreds of lives to it.

I'm talking about a little Special stage called "Fluff-Puff Peaks Special: Climb to the Beat."

Climb to the Beat is just one of a number of Special stages in Mario Wonder, accessible as part of a "Special" world hiding in the sky that can be accessed from a number of semi-hidden points on the overworld. The Special world is full of levels marked with high difficulty ratings, but Climb to the Beat is both available to players relatively early on in the game, and especially grueling. The level itself is an advanced version of a standard Fluff-Puff Peaks course called "Jump! Jump! Jump!" where a series of blocks appear and subsequently disappear to a musical beat that gets faster as the stage goes on. Climb to the Beat does the same, but the climb is far more difficult and involves expert execution of wall kicks to survive.

To give you a taste, here's IGN's own community lead Jada Griffin demonstrating her expert gaming skills:

Author
Rebekah Valentine

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Spider-Man Is Now the Only True Arkham Successor

5 months ago

Do you want to play a superhero game where you sneak around the rafters, taking down enemies below in the cover of darkness? Or use an arsenal of tech to neutralize multiple enemies at once? Or maybe glide from the highest rooftops over a city in crisis, helping citizens in danger whenever it suits your busy schedule? If you said yes to all three, consider playing the newest Arkham game: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

That the Spider-Man series is so indebted to Rocksteady’s Batman games isn’t a dig at Insomniac’s newest take on the Marvel hero, which has closely followed Rocksteady’s Arkham playbook since day one — but with its own Spidey twist. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, and the Arkham formula was so good plenty of games have borrowed it, from Lord of the Rings to Assassin’s Creed. But here’s where things get funny: we know what Rocksteady is working on next, and it’s not an Arkham-style game.

As it stands, if you want to play a modern, Arkham-style superhero game, you can only turn to Spidey

The two studios responsible for the Batman Arkham games, Rocksteady and WB Studios, have each deviated from the original Batman trilogy for multiplayer and cooperative pastures. WB released Gotham Knights in 2022, a multiplayer take on Gotham City that had some Arkham DNA, but was clearly doing its own thing. Meanwhile, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League supposedly takes place in the Arkhamverse, but it’s ditched The Dark Knight’s detective work for co-op four-player mayhem that has as much in common with Borderlands as it does Batman.

Author
Matt Kim

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Diablo 4 Expansion Info Seemingly Uncovered by Dataminers, May Be Named Lord of Hatred

5 months ago

Thanks to the expert sluething of dataminers, we now have some pretty compelling evidence that suggests Diablo IV's first expansion will be called "Lord of Hatred," and will focus on everyone's favorite soulstone occupant: Mephisto.

It shouldn't be terribly surprising that a live-service game supported by three separate development teams will likely be getting some major expansions, especially given how the base campaign's story set up for future conflict with the Prime Evils of Hell. The timing of this discovery is especially relevant since studio head Rod Fergusson recently confirmed that annual expansions could be in the stars for the ARPG.

But heavy foreshadowing hasn't stopped dataminers from working around the clock to dig through the game's code in search of clues.

As reported by WccfTech and YouTuber YbuBaka, Diablo IV's first expansion will seemingly focus on the Lord of Hatred himself, Mephisto, in the returning region of Kurast, alongside new questlines, gear to grind for, and endgame activities to tackle. There are also some surprising references to a new class called Spiritborn and a Mercenary system that would seemingly allow for NPC companions to fight and level alongside the player.

Author
Travis Northup

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First Look at Ark: Survival Ascended Debuts During Xbox Partner Preview, Will Launch on Steam Today

5 months ago

Update, Oct. 25: Lead designer Craig Brown teased on X/Twitter on Wednesday that Ark: Survival Ascended will hit Steam today.

"Guess what's coming out later today..." Brown wrote, pasting the link to Ark's Steam page, where it's listed in early access. The release date currently just says "coming soon."

Previous story follows:

Previous story: Microsoft has revealed a first look at Ark: Survival Ascended, the Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Ark: Survival Evolved.

The video, shown off during the Xbox Partner Preview broadcast, showcased familiar dinosaur-filled environments that made 2015's Ark: Survival Evolved such a huge hit across PC and console.

Developer Studio Wildcard announced Ark: Survival Ascended is "coming soon," and supports cross-platform modding with Unreal Engine 5, which means the Xbox Series X and S version will benefit from mods created for the PC version.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake Reveals First Gameplay, And It Looks Beautiful

5 months ago

At the Xbox Partner Preview showcase, Konami shared the first look at gameplay for its upcoming remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. And it looks breathtaking.

While brief, the gameplay trailer showed off the signature stealth gameplay in action. From Snake crossing through the water while close to a crocodile to him just about to take out an enemy with a pistol equipped with a Silencer attachment.

More interestingly, the end of the trailer confirmed that the game will be running on Epic's Unreal Engine 5, confirming earlier reports that the highly anticipated remake would run on Unreal Engine. Brief gameplay aside, the teaser also provided a good look at Metal Gear Solid 3 running on Unreal Engine 5, with various cuts to several in-game environments and close-ups of animals, such as a snake slithering in the grass or a frog swimming in the water.

A remake for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was announced in late May during the Sony State of Play showcase officially under the name of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. While people were confused that the remake features the Delta (Δ) symbol instead of the number 3, Konami explained that including the Δ symbol in the remake's title was to signify the changes being made to the original game released almost 20 years ago.

Author
Taylor Lyles

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Lets You Manage Your Own Island Resort

5 months ago

Microsoft has shown off a first look at Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's new island activity in a new trailer unveiled during the Xbox Partner Preview broadcast.

Developer RGG Studio has added a build-your-own resort mode, which lets players play a number of activities while managing Dondoko Island. This is unlocked through a side-story that will be available at the start of Chapter 6.

In a post on Xbox Wire, RGG Studio Chief Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto confirmed Dondoko Island is independent from the main story so you will be able to play through at your own pace. Expect loads of mini-games, once of which is called Crazy Delivery, Sujimon Battle. Here, you collect enemies and battle them via a dating app where you chat to find a match.

We previously got a chance to go hands-on with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which revealed an "idyllic new setting begging to be explored". The upcoming sequel will follow returning protagonist Ichiban Kasuga as he journeys to Hawaii for more mini-games, karaoke, and scraps with local gangsters. Sega has confirmed that the new environment will be three times larger than the Yokohama map featured in 2020's Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Author
Kat Bailey

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Xbox Partner Preview October 2023: Everything Announced

5 months ago

Microsoft has revealed a new show format called Xbox Partner Preview and its first stream featured new looks at Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, Alan Wake 2: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, ARK: Survival Ascended, and so much more.

There were a ton of games packed into the roughly 30-minute runtime, and we're here to break down and present to you all the biggest reveals, announcements, trailers, and more in one place! Enjoy!

You can also check out our Xbox Partner Preview October 2023 Games Playlist to keep track of all the games you can't wait to play from the show!

Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake Reveals First Gameplay, And It Looks Beautiful

Konami has finally shared a first look at gameplay from the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and it looks beautiful. While it didn't last very long, the trailer gives fans a glimpse of what this classic will look like on modern platforms as developed on Unreal Engine 5.

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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New Starfield Community Patch Seeks to Address the Smaller Issues Besetting Bethesda's Sci-Fi RPG

5 months ago

Starfield players can now download a free community-created patch on PC that seeks to address a range of minor issues besetting Bethesda’s latest RPG, ranging from fixes for incorrect dialogue to skill tweaks, and numerous other polishing changes.

Back in May 2022, Bethesda announced that it was delaying the launch of Starfield in order to ensure that players recieved "the best, most polished" version of the game. This was a good decision, as upon releasing on September 6 earlier this year players were treated to an expansive RPG that was packed with content, and largely free of major bugs and game breaking issues.

However, as is understandable with a game as expansive as Bethesda's latest cosmic adventure, Starfield still had its fair share of bugs, quirks, and graphical glitches, some of which persevere to this day. Thankfully, the developer is now getting a helping hand in its mission to address Starfield's remaining issues in the form of an unofficial patch authored by a coalition of community modders, whose initial offering seeks to “improve the vanilla experience for all players” while staying true to Bethesda's vision for the game.

Author
Anthony Wood

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Payday 3 Dev Apologises for Radio Silence, Explains MIA First Patch

5 months ago

Co-op heist shooter Payday 3’s launch has gone so badly that more people are playing its 10-year-old predecessor on Steam than its sequel. Now, developer Starbreeze has apologised for its lack of communication, and explained the holdup with Payday 3’s first patch.

“We’ve been quiet over the last few days, and for that we apologise,” began the statement published on the Payday website. “It’s not easy to communicate when we have not been able to offer any updates on the one big topic that’s on everyone’s mind right now: when are the patches coming to Payday 3? Despite our silence, we want to assure you all that the team is still working on our main priority, which is to get the patch we promised out to you, and to make sure our patching process allows us to continue publishing them at a steady cadence in the future.”

Starbreeze went on to explain that Payday 3’s first patch is currently going through a testing and certification process with PlayStation owner Sony and Xbox owner Microsoft, which is important in order to maintain parity between all platforms.

The delay, Starbreeze said, has to do with the discovery of an error that risked player progression being wiped.

“The reason it has taken so long to get this first patch ready is very long and complicated, but the short version is that we discovered critical errors with our update pipeline shortly after the game released,” Starbreeze said. “There was a significant risk to player progression being wiped if we didn’t address this and ensured a solid test environment.”

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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This Xbox Elite Wireless Controller for Xbox Series X Is Only $85 at Walmart

5 months ago

Walmart has recently dropped the price of the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller in Red/Black to only $85.17, a nearly 40% price drop from its $139.99 MSRP and the best price we've seen for an Elite controller ever (even beats out the best deal on Prime Day).

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $85.17

The Xbox Elite Series 2 Core wireless controller is physically the same controller as the older generation Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, which retails for a much higher $180 MSRP. The Elite Series 2 Core controller retains all the integrated pro gaming features like adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. It's a much superior option to the standard Xbox Core controller that the current gen consoles come with.

Aside from the color scheme, the only difference is that the original Elite controller comes with more accessories: extra sets of paddles, thumbsticks, D-pad, and a travel case. The Elite Series 2 Core doesn't come with any of those accessories. That said, all of the accessories are compatible with the Elite Series 2 Core, and you can buy them separately as a component pack for $59.99.

Walmart is the only vendor that currently sells this controller at this price and better yet, it's shipped and sold from Walmart directly instead of a marketplace vendor. We don't expect this deal to last, and we highly doubt the price wil drop lower than this on Black Friday. If you're in the market for a superior gaming controller for your Xbox or PC, then don't hesitate.

Author
Eric Song

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The Best Horror Video Game Face-Off 2023

5 months ago

IGN’s Festival of Fear is underway at IGN as we countdown the days to Halloween, and we thought it would be the perfect time to revisit our best horror video game Face-Off! Do any of the newest spooky games, including Resident Evil 4 Remake, Lies of P, and Sons of the Forest, have the scares to dethrone Silent Hill 2 or the other classics on the list? You can help decide!

We need your help once more to pick which of these games is the best as they “Face-Off” against each other two at a time. A winner needs to be chosen! Will you pick Dead Space or P.T.? Is The Callisto Protocol your new favorite or will nothing shake your love of BioShock? The choice is all yours.

(And don't forget, you can pass on a Face-Off round if you don't know a character by just hitting "skip" at the bottom of the page.)

Click here to start voting in the best horror video game Face-Off!

What Is a Face-Off?

Our Face-Offs are a way to get our wonderful readers like you involved as they pit two beloved things against each other and IGN’s audience is able to pick which ones are their favorites. For this spooky Face-Off, we want to know what you think is the best horror video game of all time. We do want to note that you may see certain games multiple times, so feel free to keep those votes coming on your favorites to ensure they beat out the competition. IGN’s horror experts came up with 147 of the best scary games for you to choose from, and these are randomly matched up for your voting pleasure.

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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IGN Cares and Kinda Funny are Teaming Up for a Week of Wonderful Chaos and Fun for Extra Life

5 months ago

In the greatest assembling of any kind since all of our favorite Marvel heroes did so in Avengers: Endgame, IGN Cares and Kinda Funny are officially uniting for a week of Extra Life charity goodness that will be as meaningful as it will be wonderfully chaotic.

The main event will take place on Friday, November 3, and will see IGN and Kinda Funny facing off in games like Street Fighter 6, WWE 2K23, and even Kinda Feudy, but that’s not all. The whole week leading up to the big stream will be filled with crossovers that include super sized episodes of Beyond x P.S. I Love You XOXO and Unlocked x Xcast and many more surprises.

This guide will ensure you won’t miss a thing, as it will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the shows, including when they start, a list of places you can watch them, and what you can expect from all the charitable festivities.

Extra Life: IGN Cares x Kinda Funny Charity Stream

The Extra Life: IGN Cares x Kinda Funny charity stream will take place on Friday, November 3, 2023, at 10am PT/1pm ET/5pm GMT. If you live in Australia, this translates to 4am AEDT on Saturday, November 4.

The stream will last until 5pm PT, and each hour will see a new game with Team IGN facing off against Team Kinda Funny. The schedule isn’t set in stone, as you never know what surprises are in store for the stream, but here is a tentative one to give you an idea of what to expect!

Author
Adam Bankhurst

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Spider-Man 2 Player Goes Out of Bounds, Discovers a Grisly Fate for Poor Rhino

5 months ago

Spider-Man 2 features a number of familiar Spider-Man supervillains, but there’s one conspicuous by his absence: Rhino.

Spoilers for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 follow.

Spider-Man 2 revolves around the arrival of Kraven the Hunter in New York. Kraven is hellbent on finding a foe worthy of his might as part of his 'Great Hunt', and to that end goes on a surprisingly violent rampage that sees a handful of supervillains disposed of.

During the course of the game Kraven takes on the likes of Scorpion, Mister Negative, and even Venom (check out IGN's list of Spider-Man 2 supervillains for more). But fans have wondered why Rhino, who was so prominent in Marvel’s Spider-Man and spin-off Miles Morales, fails to make a proper appearance in Spider-Man 2. Perhaps Aleksei Sytsevich got wind of Kraven’s arrival and thought he’d better go into hiding. Smart.

One fan, however, managed to get out of bounds in the virtual city of New York, and uncovered what appears to be a cut Kraven trophy room. In it are four heads displayed on a wall, one of which belongs to poor Rhino.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Mortal Kombat 1 Omni-Man Early Access Release Date Confirmed via Xbox Store

5 months ago

Microsoft has seemingly pushed the button early on the early access release date for hotly anticipated Mortal Kombat 1 DLC character Omni-Man.

At the time of this article’s publication, the Mortal Kombat 1 hub on the Xbox console storefront mentions Omni-Man launching in early access form on November 6.

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Omni-Man is a supervillain from the Invincible series, and in Mortal Kombat 1 is voiced by J. K. Simmons, who voices the character in the popular Amazon Prime Video show. A gameplay trailer shown during NYCC 2023 confirmed MK1’s Omni-Man has a number of attacks that will be familiar to fans of the comic-book and show, including his infamous and incredibly gory trip through a train.

Omni-Man will be the first playable character in Mortal Kombat's Kombat Pack 1 and will be available as a standalone fighter or as part of the Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition. Other DLC characters set to come out as part of Kombat 1 are Quan Chi, Peacemaker, Ermac, Homelander, and Takeda.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Cities Skylines 2 Launches Big on Steam, but Suffers Complaints Over Performance

5 months ago

Cities Skylines 2 has launched big on Steam, hitting over 100,000 concurrent players and sitting atop the best-sellers chart. But performance issues have marred the launch, which was met with a ‘mixed’ user review rating of 48% on Valve’s platform.

The majority of the negative user reviews include complaints about the city builder’s performance, which developer Colossal Order had warned would be a problem before the game came out. The current ‘most helpful review’ for Cities Skylines 2 on Steam, from user Ariegan, simply states: “Who would imagine that we would get another unoptimized mess of a game in 2023... I am tired, boss…”

Steam user CountCristo goes into more detail. “Sadly the game isn't ready for release, hold off for now - I'll be happy when the time comes to change this review! The game performs horribly, and on the settings that allow it to scrape by with 20fps it looks dramatically worse than Cities 1. There are also various bugs (especially around ‘not enough customers’) that fill the game with annoying bubble alerts for no reason.”

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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PS5 Slim's Optional Disc Drive Needs to Connect to the Internet to Pair It to a Console

5 months ago

The upcoming PlayStation 5 Slim has popped up online, and with that comes fresh information about how the optional disc drive will work with the Digital Edition of the console.

The charlieINTEL Twitter account published images of the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 PS5 Slim bundle, and eagle-eyed observers noticed a disclaimer that has set the cat among the pigeons within the video game community: “Internet connection required to pair disc drive and PS5 console upon setup.”

The smaller PS5 design comes with 1TB storage for the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition, up from 825GB in the original versions of the console, and the new model provides the option to add an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive to the PS5 Digital Edition.

If you buy the PS5 Digital Edition, you can add the Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive for PS5 later, as it will also be sold separately for $79.99 | €119.99 | £99.99 | 11,980 JPY. Once inventory of the current PS5 model has sold out, the new PS5 will become the only model available.

Here are the recommended retail prices for the new PS5 model, beginning with the rollout in November at participating retailers:

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Mortal Kombat 1 Is Selling a Halloween Fatality and the Community Is Not Happy About It

5 months ago

The Mortal Kombat community has yet another reason to dislike the monetisation of NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat 1 after publisher Warner Bros. Games confirmed plans to sell a seasonal Fatality.

Fatalities are Mortal Kombat’s world-famous match enders. The iconic “Finish Him!” line that plays out at the end of a match offers the victor an opportunity to humiliate their opponent with a typically over-the-top, gory finisher. Fatalities helped Mortal Kombat stand out when the first game hit arcades in the early nineties, and they continue to do so now, 30 years later.

And so, when vague in-game patch notes mentioned “Halloween Fatality added to the Premium Store”, players reacted with a mix of shock and horror. Did Warner Bros. Games really plan to sell a Mortal Kombat 1 Fatality for real-world money? The community searched the game’s store and found nothing of the sort. Perhaps it was a mistake.

And then came confirmation from Warner Bros. Games itself via the official support Twitter page: “The Halloween Fatality will be featured in the Premium Shop at a later date, we expect this to be Friday (10/27). Please keep an eye on official Mortal Kombat social media for any news on this topic!”

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Switch Online's Nintendo 64 Library Gets Another Game This Week

5 months ago

The Switch Online’s Nintendo 64 library swells this week with the addition of Mario Party 3 on October 26, Nintendo has announced.

Mario Party 3 first launched on Nintendo 64 in 2000 in Japan, before heading west a year later. The mini-game collection adds Waluigi and Daisy, and includes the series’ first story mode. There are six game boards and more than 70 mini-games included. The trailer is below:

Here’s the official blurb, per Nintendo:

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Wesley Yin-Poole

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Top 10 Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures and Action Figures

5 months ago

If you are getting into Dungeons & Dragons, or have been into it for a while but are looking to take your game to the next level, figurines can be a great way to increase the immersion. Whether you are a player looking to get a representative of yourself, or a dungeon master trying to create more immersive environments for your players, D&D miniatures can be great visual touchstones for your journeys through Faerûn.

There are several to choose from, but these are the best D&D miniatures we found that aren't too expensive to buy at the moment. Don't forget to get some of the best D&D dice you can find right now, too.

D&D Icons of the Realms: Starter Set

This starter set is great for, you guessed it, 'starters!' It comes with a Gold Dwarf Cleric, Human Ranger, Sun Elf Wizard, Northlands Fighter, Lightfoot Halfling Rogue, and Wood Elf Druid, leaving you plenty of flexibility, whether you are representing yourself, your teammates, NPCs, or even villains in your next play session.

D&D Collector's Series: Ezzat the Lich

If you want to introduce a little undead Elf action into your play sessions, look no further than Ezzat. He's also a great fit if you eventually want to add a dragon/pseudodragon to the mix, due to his friendship with Ipses.

D&D Collector's Series: Manshoon

Author
Brian Barnett

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Metal Gear Solid Fans Uncover Additional Evidence of Possible MGS 4 Remaster and More

5 months ago

After an earlier leak seemed to confirm that Metal Gear Solid 4 will eventually make its way to Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, more evidence of a remaster of the beloved PS3 classic has emerged, with hints of more to come.

Reddit user Timo653 recently posted photos of code they say were taken from the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection launcher. The strings seem to indicate that Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, and even Metal Gear Solid 5 will be added at some point in the future.

IGN%20can%20corrobrate%20evidence%20of%20MGS%204%2C%20Peace%20Walker%2C%20and%20MGS%205%20appearing%20the%20Master%20Collection%26%2339%3Bs%20launcher.

IGN has since examined the code and can confirm that the references are authentic.

Author
Kat Bailey

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PlayStation Controller With Slots for Charging Earbuds May Be in the Works

5 months 1 week ago

A Sony patent has pointed to the potential release of a PlayStation controller with slots for charging earbuds.

GameRant spotted the recently published patent which reveals a design for a controller that acts as both an input device and a headphone storage, charging, and connection case.

“Using the controller as a headphone case and an earbud charger eliminates the need to manage two separate devices,” the patent reads. “This simplifies the overall user experience as the user has one less device to manage communication with the gaming device.”

While many patents never turn into released products, such a DualSense would make sense in the context of Pulse Explore, PlayStation’s first official pair of wireless earbuds. It’s also worth noting Sony’s recent interest in portable PlayStation gaming, with the upcoming launch of new PS5 streaming handheld PlayStation Portal.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Tokyo Resident Arrested for Stalking, Including in Final Fantasy 14

5 months 1 week ago

A 38-year-old Tokyo resident has been arrested on stalking charges including on social media and, more unusually, in multiplayer video game Final Fantasy 14.

As reported by Kobe News, translated by Siliconera and verified by IGN, Japanese police arrested a man for behaviour that violates Japan's Anti-Stalking Control Law. The man has been accused of sending a 28-year-old woman threatening messages.

It's unclear how much of the alleged activity took place within Final Fantasy 14 itself, where players can message each other while roaming the world, but the man was also accused of using social media websites like Twitter and Line to send messages.

In the game, however, the man also allegedly followed the victim's character around without permission while sending unwanted messages, and continued to follow her even after being blocked. The messages sent in Final Fantasy 14 and on social media allegedly urged the woman to speak with the man and not neglect him, otherwise he would tell her family about their prior private conversations.

The man has denied some of the charges made against him and said he has no romantic feeling towards the woman.

Author
Ryan Dinsdale

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PS5 Slim U.S. Release Date and Spider-Man 2 Bundle Leaked Online

5 months 1 week ago

The reliable leaker behind early PlayStation Plus lineup reveals has reported a PlayStation 5 Slim release date for the U.S., as well as what appears to be its first bundle.

Billbil-kun, reporting on French website Dealabs, said the PS5 Slim standard edition bundled with Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 launches in the U.S. on November 8, priced $559.99. That’s the same price as the current standard edition PS5 with Spider-Man 2.

Billbil-kun also mentioned a release date of November 10 for the standard and digital versions of the PS5 Slim in the U.S., so perhaps there will be a staggered release throughout that week, with the bundle going live ahead of the new console’s standalone launch.

The smaller PS5 design comes with 1TB storage for the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition, up from 825GB in the original versions of the console, and the new model provides the option to add an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive to the PS5 Digital Edition.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment Communications senior director Sid Shuman said Sony created this new PS5 "to address the evolving needs of players".

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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How Long is Marvel's Spider-Man 2?

5 months 1 week ago

With two Spider-Men, an expanded New York and a whole host of villains to contend with, you might expect some extended web-swinging action this time round, but just how long is Spider-Man 2? Here we’ll let you know exactly how many hours it took different members of the IGN team to finish the story, and what they prioritised doing with their time.

How Long is Spider-Man 2?

Our fastest player finished the story in 18 hours.

Our “slowest” player spent 25 hours before credits rolled.

Everyone plays games differently, so read on for more details about how everyone played, how long it took to reach the credits, and how much extra time players spent exploring the world. Once you've finished the game yourself, be sure to submit your times on How Long To Beat and see how your time compares!

Dale Driver - Executive Producer, Video Programming

Normally I’m a very story-focused player, but something about Spider-Man 2’s New York compelled me to deal with every side activity I possibly could and because of this, I clocked in 25 hours before I completed Peter and Miles’ journey.

I surprised even myself with just how much fun I had swinging my way around the city, completing any tasks that came my way and I felt like I could have spent much longer doing this if I didn’t continually bump into locked side quests because I hadn’t progressed the story enough. Spider-man 2 actively drip feeds you new side activities as you progress the story, so that was the driving factor in making sure I regularly paid attention to the main quests as well.

Author
Dale Driver

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Spider-Man 2 Developer Insomniac Confirms New Game Plus Release Window

5 months 1 week ago

Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac has said a New Game Plus mode should be added to the hotly anticipated PlayStation 5 exclusive by the end of 2023.

Fans had wondered about the status of new game plus, given its popularity in previous titles. It lets players replay the campaign in an overpowered state, bringing with them all the abilities unlocked from a prior playthrough.

Responding to questions on Twitter (below), Insomniac community and marketing director James Stevenson confirmed new game plus woulld be coming after launch, in an update that "should" arrive by the end of 2023. Also skipping launch is a mission replay feature, Stevenson said.

This week, Insomniac confirmed Spider-Man 2’s fast-travel hold-to-confirm prompt does not hide a load, after players debated just how fast the feature was in-game. And while Spider-Man 2 physical release owners do not need to download its Day 1 patch in order to enjoy the game in full, Insomniac still "highly encourages" those who do buy the disc version to install patch 1.001.002 before they start playing.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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EA Sports FC 24, Mortal Kombat 1, and NBA 2K24 Launch Sales All Down in Europe

5 months 1 week ago

Big-name video games released in September have sold less at launch than their predecessors across Europe, according to fresh data.

Data from Game Sales Data (GSD), which tracks physical and digital sales, shows declines for EA Sports FC 24, Warner Bros. Games’ Mortal Kombat 1, and 2K’s NBA 2K24 compared to launch sales of their predecessors.

As reported by GI.biz, FC 24 launch sales are down 10% compared to the launch sales of FIFA 23 last year in Europe. GI points out FIFA 23 was a monster hit for EA, but FC 24 launch sales are still down compared to 2021’s FIFA 22 by 3.7%. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that EA’s football video game franchise changed its name this year after EA Sports’ relationship with FIFA broke down. According to GI.biz, EA had anticipated a decline as a result.

Last week, EA announced FC 24 had more than 11.3 million players worldwide, including through EA Play. New players in FC 24 are up nearly 20% year-over-year, EA added. As usual, FC 24 sold best in the UK.

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Wesley Yin-Poole

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Halo Infinite Steam Player Count Doubles Following Season 5 Launch

5 months 1 week ago

Halo Infinite is enjoying a modest resurgence following the release of Season 5: Reckoning.

Developer 343 Industries' first-person shooter had hovered around the 7,000 concurrent player mark on Valve’s platform in the run-up to this week’s launch of the Flood-fuelled Season 5. According to SteamDB, Halo Infinite then spiked on October 18, with 18,000 concurrents. That’s the game’s highest peak since the launch of Season 2 some 17 months ago, and enough players for Halo Infinite to crack Steam’s top 50 most-played games based on concurrents.

It’s worth remembering that the only concrete player data we have comes from Steam. Microsoft does not publish official Halo Infinite stats across platforms. But we do know Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is in the top 50 most-popular Xbox games right now, as confirmed by the Microsoft Store. Meanwhile, Halo Infinite has re-entered Steam’s top 100 selling games by revenue in 24th place, which suggests people are spending money on the new battle pass inside the free-to-download multiplayer FPS.

It’s a modest bump that may grow further as the weekend nears, but Halo Infinite is still well off its all-time peak on Steam of 272,586 concurrent players, set nearly two years ago when the game first came out.

Author
Wesley Yin-Poole

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Xbox's Activision Deal Is Done. Now What? – Unlocked 617

5 months 1 week ago

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is finally done, and so we can finally stop talking about it! Or, well, at least we can stop talking about the annoying will-they-or-won't-they regulatory side of it. Now it's time to talk about the games! We discuss Activision-Blizzard games in the back catalog that we'd like to see lightly refreshed for the Xbox Series X|S (similar to the recent Quake 2 remaster), before taking turns talking about which of their IPs we'd like to see Microsoft bring back as a brand-new game. Plus: Starfield tops the sales charts, Bethesda's "Uncle Pete" Hines says goodbye, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out my recent Alan Wake 2 preview!

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

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Ryan McCaffrey

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Hellboy: Web of Wyrd Review

5 months 1 week ago

As a longtime Hellboy fan, it continues to astound me that there are desperately few video game adaptations of the big red monkey devil’s exploits. There’s a lot to love about Mike Mignola’s almost 30-year-old hellion, from his look, to the fable-flavored supernatural world he skulks around righting wrongs and protecting the innocent, to the often touching pieces of self-reflection throughout the many stories that touch on themes of loneliness, discrimination, found families, and the risks and rewards of rising to a higher calling. Seven hours with Web of Wyrd was a good reminder of the challenges involved with turning such a complex work into an interactive game where our actions matter. While it nails much of the look of the graphic novels, Web of Wyrd trades substantial story and characters for an entertaining but low-stakes, action-packed romp whose roguelite elements fail to put up enough of a fight to give the heavy-handed devil his due.

At first glance, Web of Wyrd is gorgeous in the same grumpy way that Hellboy books have been since 1994. Even in three dimensions, the signature bold lines, flat shades, and low-detail faces feel authentic to the series. Baroque-style shadows and lighting feel even more effective when you walk through the gloomy halls of your operating base than it does in still frames, and when journeying through the eponymous Wyrd – a parallel dimension built on the memories of old fables and folklore – the European expressionist inspirations from the page feels fully realized on screen in every twisted branch or gnarled monster’s claw.

Author
Dan Stapleton

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Skull Island: Rise of Kong Review

5 months 1 week ago

Here's the thing about King Kong: He is not just an ape, he's a giant ape. It's his defining feature in the 1933 movie that birthed him and the ultimate cause of his tragic demise. Picking up people, climbing skyscrapers, fighting dinosaurs — being huge is King Kong's whole deal. Skull Island: Rise of Kong is bad for a lot of reasons, but the main one is it's a game that lets you play as an iconically large gorilla and somehow manages to make him feel exceedingly average. Rise of Kong portrays King Kong in the most bland way possible, and then it matches that mediocrity for everything else around him.

Rise of Kong lets you experience how King Kong became King Kong, which was apparently by beating a lot of things to death and getting really angry while doing it. After swearing revenge on the giant raptor that killed his parents like some sort of gorilla Batman, you’ll punch your way through each of Skull Island’s five levels, all of which are as massive as they are boring. There is absolutely nothing here you haven't seen before in a hundred melee-focused action games. Combat gives Kong a light and heavy attack, a dodge roll, and a block, and while you'll earn some special moves along the way, there is never any reason to use them. You'll encounter a small handful of different enemy creatures — dinosaurs, crabs, worms that pop out of the ground and spit acid — but the only variation when it comes to fighting them is when to dodge an incoming attack.

Author
Tom Marks

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