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When the Past was Around Review

Have you ever wanted to visit the memories of a woman's relationship with a man with an owl's head? Well, do we have the utterly perfect niche title for you. When the Past was Around follows Eda, a young woman who lost someone important to her at a point in the past and is trying to come to terms with the life that remains without them.

This tale is told through her memories with a figure who is initially represented as a scratched out drawing before slowly revealing their appearance through her time with them. You join them on dates to the beach, while drinking hot drinks in their home, and playing music together, but while these are joyful memories, there's an atmosphere of sadness and inevitability that hangs over them all.

The gameplay sees you solving the various puzzles in these memories to progress. These puzzles follow the blueprint of the classic point and click titles of the 90s, but with all the elements needed to progress isolated within the area you currently find yourself. It creates an almost escape room-style experience, as new layers of the puzzle revealing themselves as you complete each task.

When the Past was Around does add some other features for ease of play, such as the ability to see all objects that can be interacted with at the touch of a button. This means that you can easily locate the often completely mundane items that you need to progress. Furthermore, it should be noted that most of the puzzles are not as distressingly esoteric as other games in this vein.

So, if you see a cardboard box that is sealed to interact with, you will generally need scissors or some other sensible item to open it and not, you know, a lobster claw or something stupid.

This doesn't by any stretch mean that the game is flawless. Divided into levels based on memories, these sometimes fall across several locales or screens, meaning there is a fair amount of backtracking between puzzles in different parts of the memory. You will occasionally find that a required item or solution to a puzzle is several screens away.

Also, just because most of the puzzles aren't esoteric that doesn't mean it doesn't occasionally dip into this well with some of its solutions. I would definitely recommend having a pen and paper nearby or a note in your phone because if you have an awful memory like myself you will struggle to retain some of the more complex or numeric puzzle solutions in your mind.

There's not much more to the gameplay than this, although there are some hidden puzzles throughout that garner you achievements if you discover and solve them. But this isn't really the point of When the Past was Around. The idea, much like similar other titles like Coffee Talk or If Found…, is to portray realistic emotions and a tangible story in a fantastical and otherworldly way.

The visuals in this game are stunning, pulling in beautiful watercolour illustrations with simple animations to give the impression of a story book in motion. The music leans on the same motif throughout to give the whole game a superb sense of flow, but will strip it back to just the key notes or cause the instruments to swell at points for emotional impact.

Also, as both Eda and Owl wrote music together and both played instruments in the story, we witness the music track playing in the game being composed by the characters together. It gives the song additional weight and ties the music to the narrative in a cohesive way, especially in instances when you are following a faint rendition of the music through an area.

The greatest triumph here is how well the visuals and music alone portray the story, and how the themes of love and loss are conveyed without any spoken dialogue. The emotional weight of the story beats comes in moments as simple as a visual stripping of colour or a change of key in the music, and this simplicity lends power that dialogue would struggle to match.

Sea of Thieves: Season One is now live

Rare have launched Sea of Thieves: Season One, the first in a new series of content updates for the piratical multiplayer game that will reshape how the game develops and grows in future.

Switching to a seasonal plan is a controversial change, to be sure. Leaning on the format popularised by Fortnite, each Season will last for around 3 months, with Rare planning a large update to start off a season and implement major changes, followed by smaller updates on a monthly basis. For Season One a new Merchant Alliance Voyage becomes a permanent part of the game, and this will be followed by Events and challenges dropped through the next few months.

This is free for all Sea of Thieves players, and ties in wiht a new progression system. As you play, you'll level up through Renown, which has a reward track that includes in-game currency, cosmetics, emotes and more. However, there's also a premium Plunder Pass, which will cost 999 Ancient Coins ($9.99 in real money) and has a second reward track that features in-game cosmetics from the Pirate Emporium that would otherwise cost $40.

Alongside the Seasonal progression are new Trials, which will test your adventuring, exploring and battling skills with Deeds. These come in a variety of forms, so that there should be something to suit game sessions both long and short, and reward players in their own right.

Sea of Thieves has come a long, long way since it launched in March 2018. Originally feeling rather bereft of meaningful content, but with an alluring promise of adventure and mischief on the high seas, Rare quickly adapted to add new content. This came in the form of in-game events, new sea monsters, the PvP Arena mode, and some narrative adventures to follow, you've also been able to become an Emissary and get a pet cat. They built up a steady following, boosted further by the game's release on Steam, and it feels logical that they turn their focus to ways to monetise and sustain the game in the long run, especially as other parts of the company get to grips with developing Everwild. Reportedly, they're still in the experimental stage of trying to figure out what that game will actually be…

Source: Rare

PS5 exclusive Destruction AllStars trophy list appears

With Destruction AllStars just days away from its big launch the PS5 exclusive's trophy list has now appeared online, detailing all of the unlockable PlayStation accolades.

There are 30 trophies to grab in Destruction AllStars (including the platinum) with a decent mix of bronze, silver, and gold. Those lower tier trophies should be easy to scoop as you cross off the game's tutorials though others are tied to career progress with some requiring you to pull off some gnarly in-match feats.

Destruction AllStars launches next week on Tuesday, February 2nd 2021 and will be free to download until April as long as you are a PlayStation Plus subscriber. It will be joining Control: Ultimate Edition (PS4 and PS5) as well as underrated PS4 exclusive gem, Concrete Genie.

Sony and developer Lucid Games recently gave us a closer look at Destruction AllStars via the latest PlayStation State of Play broadcast. This multiplayer focused PS5 title will blend vehicular combat with stylish parkour as larger-than-life contestants battle it out across four supercharged game modes.

Destruction AllStars PS5 Trophy List

Trophy Name Description Rarity
Hall of Fame Unlock all Destruction AllStars Trophies Platinum
Rookie Earn all of the star objectives for a single event Bronze
Ultimate Respect Earn all star objectives in Ultimo Barricados' Series, Mutual Respect Gold
Wreckognised Earn an S Rank Wreckognition rating or higher in any event Gold
No Free Ride Complete the vehicle emote tutorial in Open Training with any character Bronze
Stars and Cars Collide Complete and Win the Mayhem Tutorial. Bronze
Detonate to Dominate Complete and Win the Carnado Tutorial. Bronze
The Last AllStar Complete and Win the Gridfall Tutorial. Bronze
Bankety Bank Complete and Win the Stockpile Tutorial. Bronze
Wrecking Ball Perform 100 Wrecks in any mode Gold
The Hero we don't deserve Wreck an opponent's hero vehicle in an online match Silver
Ghost Deal 100 damage whilst stealth in Cypher, without taking any damage in an online match Silver
Impenetrable Block 100 damage with the Undisputed's shield in a single use of the breaker in an online match Silver
Stronghold Keep a full shield in Gravitron for 5 seconds in an online match Silver
Bullet Slice 2 vehicles in a single slice with Sabre in an online match Silver
Flamethrower Set an entire team on fire with Cerberus in an online match Silver
Flame on Set 3 AllStars on fire at once with Wildfire in an online match Silver
Pitch Perfect Wreck 3 enemies using CRASHendo in an online match Silver
Home Run Wreck 3 opponents with a single use of Mr. Sparkles' breaker in an online match Silver
Hit List Take out 3 targets in a single use of Xero's X-Ray in an Online Match Silver
Ultimate Precision Take out 3 targets in a single use of Number One's Lock on in an online match Silver
No Escape Wreck all opponents with Barong's Countdown in an Online match Silver
Chewed Up Shred 3 cars in a single use of the Shredder in an online match Silver
Prickly Spike 3 enemies at once with the Morningstar in an online match Silver
Instant Service Attach drones to 3 enemies with The Boxmobile in one use in an online match Silver
Party Animal Smoke 3 enemies with the Smoke Commander in one use in an online match Silver
Terminal Velocity Reach 135 MPH with Callisto in an online match Silver
AllStar Win 50 online matches Gold
Checking out the competition Win at least 1 online match with each AllStar Gold

We'll be bringing you our review of Destruction AllStars next week.

Ninja Theory call it a day and end support of Bleeding Edge

Less than a year after release, Ninja Theory have announced that there will be no more content updates for their multiplayer brawler Bleeding Edge. The game's servers will stay up for the time being, but the studio are shifting all their focus over to other projects that include Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Project Mara and The Insight Project.

The first new game released by the company after its acquisition by Microsoft, the game was an Xbox One and PC exclusive, trying to take a step into the realms of Games as a Service multiplayer battling. Somewhere between a League of Legends MOBA and a Hero Shooter like Overwatch, and filled out with a grungy cast of characters, it was a curious mix that showed potential upon its release on 24th March last year.

In our Bleeding Edge review, Dom wrote:

Bleeding Edge has all the components in place to be a genuinely entertaining multiplayer mainstay, there just needs to be more of it. With only a couple of maps and modes, and far too few skins and emotes, Ninja Theory will need to roll out more content to keep players engaged.

Unfortunately, despite that promise, the writing was on the wall for Bleeding Edge, right from the off. Though overall player counts would have been higher, and the game was featured in Xbox Game Pass on day one, SteamCharts only saw an average 480 players from the game in March 2020, and it slid from there.

Ninja Theory released a few updates for the game, adding two fighters – the dolphiin a mech-suit Mekko in April, and the angelic support character Azrael (with real shades of Overwatch's Mercy) in July. There were a couple of new maps as well, but the Azrael update was the last that the game received, and while I'm sure the team continued to work on the game behind closed doors, they had been practically silent for the last 6 months prior to this announcement.

Source: Twitter

Bonkies Review

Bonkies answers one of the age-old questions about our evolutionary pal, the monkey. No, not the one about the whole infinite monkey theorem thing – no-one's got time for that – but a more niche conundrum. Namely: what would it look like if four monkeys, equipped with robotic arms and banana fuelled jetpacks, were given construction tasks to complete in outer space? The answer would, if Bonkies is anything to go by, be sheer unadulterated chaos and a right good laugh.

Bonkies is a four player couch co-op party game. Each player has their very own cuddly primate to control and must work together with their banana loving pals to construct a wide range of objects and vehicles. From precariously stacked towers, to bridges barely balancing across pools of lava and rockets ships blasting through space, it seems there's no limit to a monkey's building skills. To manage this construction wonderment and clear a level though, there's a number of tricky elements that the player must contend with.

First up: robotic arms. Every space monkey has a giant robotic arm attached to their jet pack – Think Dr. Octopus if he'd just had a particularly unpleasant encounter with a giant child who delighted in plucking the appendages from unwitting arachnids. Each arm is controlled by tapping the four face buttons of the controller to manoeuvre it into the correct position and then squeezing the trigger to pick up the desired block. Every construction project is outlined on the single screen levels, so all the monkey has to do is move the block to the correct position and keep it there for three seconds until it is locked in position.

Sounds, easy enough, right? Oh no, my friend. Your supposed family or friends sat on the couch playing the game with you? Get ready to hate them as everything goes horribly wrong.

Teamwork can quickly unravel in Bonkies. For example: a burst of jet pack juice might be needed to boost your monkey and their block into the correct position. However, the whole issue with doing this in zero gravity can lead to misjudging the velocity needed, resulting in said monkey and block crashing into the team's structure and sending the whole lot tumbling to the ground in a physics-based nightmare. Cue family and friends hitting you with cushions and informing you that "you absolutely suck". Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Monkeys will also need to work together to lug around particularly heavy blocks, requiring good communication between teammates to ensure everyone is pulling their weight. Or rather, the weight of the block. It's all too easy for a chunky block to remain steadfastly in place whilst the two monkey heave-ho in contrary directions – all while the level timer keeps on ticking down. Things don't get any easier when the block is finally cajoled to where it needs to be. The aforementioned lack of gravity can cause a block to slide like a celebrity on Dancing on Ice, requiring quick reactions from team mates to work together and keep it in place.

Despite its party game aspirations and family friendly visuals, Bonkies is really anything but. Yes, building space ships with monkeys is as fun and hilarious and chaotic as you'd expect, but it's also a demanding game that is fairly inaccessible to new gamers. Not the ideal characteristics of a party game, where being able to pick up and play is a must for accessibility. Take the controls, which require you to use pretty much every button, trigger and stick on the controller. Easy for someone whose controller skills have been forged through countless hours of bullet hells, insta-kills and souls-likes; utterly baffling to someone entirely new to video games. It's also not an ideal fit for younger players, lacking the simplicity and accessibility of a Cake Bash or the modifications to the gameplay that Moving Out allows for.

That said, if you are lucky enough to have a group of experienced gamers to hand who are up for a laugh then there's a lot to like here. It's a genuinely refreshing take to have a game that tasks players with creating something together, rather than destroying individually. It is also a game that asks, no, demands genuine teamwork and plentiful communication to be able to complete a level – particularly the tricky later stages.

No one player can take the lead here and do all the heavy lifting alone, it requires a team effort to get anywhere. By the time explosive objects, wheels and laser blasting blocks have been added to the gameplay mix, prepare to have the bonds of your friendship stretched to the absolute limit. If all the players do work together though, then this is can be an enormously rewarding experience – one that will transform you and your pals into a crack squad of space simians.

Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 4 Preview

You typically know what you're going to get with yearly sports franchises. It's rare that they can take a big leap forward, and when they do, it's often off the backs of years of preparatory work switching to a new game engine or more powerful gaming hardware.

Juggling all manner of two-wheeled racing franchises, Milestone always have their work cut out for themselves trying to evolve how they represent each real world racing formula, but this is a year unlike any other. With the new generation of games console and the old ones to cater to, as well as streaming on Stadia, will Monster Energy AMA Supercross 4 FIM World Championship – The Official Videogame be more of the same, or a leap into the future while you blip off the rev limiter?

If you're coming into Supercross 4 off the backs of a previous game in the series, then diving into the action will be immediately familiar. Each track found on the racing calendar is set in a stadium with tracks built up and carved out of muddy mounds for 22 riders to race across – a staggering 450 riders are included in the game. The game faithfully recreates the Covid-affected race schedule found in the 2020 season, with the first ten races that ran as expected up until March, but the final seven races occurring back-to-back in Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium after being rearranged to later in the year. Instead of the 17 planned locations and tracks, it's the 17 tracks that were actually used in 2020 that feature in the game.

Racing requires a deft touch, though it's got enough leeway to be accessible to newcomers and provide a stiff challenge for those who want it. By default the game sets itself to the Assisted physics that tames some of the power of the bike and makes it easier to handle. The game will also give you joint front and rear braking and automatically handle the rider's weight transfer and bike's transmission (though you can override the latter two as you see fit). Turn those assists off and it's much more challenging to wrangle your bike through turns, deal with the balance of the bike across humps, and ensure that you don't splat when you land after a big jump.

Really it's all about flow. The tracks all have humps, bumps and jumps that you'll need to master, with plenty of long straights leading to hairpins making it relatively easy to grasp the best racing line, but then demanding that you master how to manage your airtime. The less time you spend in the air, the better, so you can get back to powering forward, but it's easy to overshoot or undershoot a large jump with too much or too little speed, losing momentum down a straight whenever you get it wrong – higher AI difficulty will punish you and race off into the distance. You can quickly flick the analogue sticks in opposite directions to send the bike sideways and bring you down to ground a little quicker – with semi-automatic rider weight, they'll automatically bring you back to a neutral position when you let go.

A whole new compound has been built for this game, with terrain based off Maine Island, letting you hoon around in this outdoor setting and get to grips with some of the more varied terrain that dirt bike racing can throw at you. It's a nice environment to just drive around in free roam, exploring on and off the beaten path – though in our pre-release build that led to a few too many "deaths" than I'd like – but you can also hop into races against AI and see how you fare. Sure, you can get the same no-stakes racing by just hopping into a single custom race, but there's a different atmosphere here that I found rather enjoyable, and one of the tracks is a free-flowing Motorcross-style ride through the environment, rather than an artificial Supercross-style circuit.

A lot of this feels quite familiar, but Supercross 4 does promise some steps forward outside of what we were able to preview here. The career mode has a new structure to it which will start you off in the Supercross Futures, climbing the ladder to reach the 250SX and eventually the 450SX categories. What's shaking things up this time around is that you will earn skill points through racing, taking part in special events, training and completing special objectives, and then get to funnel those into a new skill tree.

As a cross-gen release, Supercross 4 feels like a relatively conservative entry in this yearly franchise. There will be improvements for those playing on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in terms of frame rate and fidelity, and the hope that the DualSense controller can offer something transformative to the experience, but it's really the career that will likely hold the most promise for fans of Supercross, adding more depth to the experience of going through the seasons of racing as you ride for the top spot.

PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal has been delayed to April

Sony have announced that the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive shooter Returnal has been delayed. The game will now be released on 30th April 2021, with SIE and Housemarque making the decision to add a final bit of spit and polish to the title.

It wasn't that long ago that the game's release date was announced, with a trailer at The Game Awards 2020 setting the release date for 19th March. Clearly, this side of Christmas, Housemarque have realised that there was a bit more work to do than they thought, or they've found that the bugs they were ironing out were a bit more challenging and time-consuming than they had hoped.

The game features a third person view, stepping away from pure arcade delights of Housemarque's most popular games and wrapping a narrative around the action. Returnal delves into the mind of Selene, an Astra space scout who's trapped in a Groundhog Day loop on an alien planet. It's a roguelite in structure, with exploration elements to go alongside the bullet hell of projectiles coming your way.

On PS5, it'll obviously look fantastic, and loading times will be nigh on invisible, but you'll feel the difference on the DualSense with the Adaptive Triggers able to define a half squeeze to shift from aiming down sights and activating the alt-fire that each weapon has.

Housemarque built a name for themselves with outstanding arcade shooter action through games like Super Stardust HD and Resogun, but found that returning to that well for later games wasn't delivering diminishing returns. That saw them try to diversify, dipping a toe into the battle royale genre with the development of Stormdivers, but with the difficulty of making a hit in this genre, they shelved that game (and other projects) and instead shifted to focus on Returnal.

We'll have a little longer to wait to see if the new genre and viewpoint pays off for the team.

Source: Twitter

Evil Genius 2: World Domination set for March release

Rebellion has revealed their grand, machiavellian plans for the release of Evil Genius 2: World Domination. The spy villain lair builder will be release on 30th March for PC via Steam.

The sequel to the early 2000s cult classic, Evil Genius 2 puts you in the shiny shoes of a bad guy and tasks you with building up a secret island lair, capable of repelling attacks from the Forces of Justice until you can dominate the world.

The game features four campaigns with a choice of the narcissistic Mac, muscled madman Ican, former spy Emma and scientist Zalika as you navigate a story campaign on the way to subverting the world order. Three islands can be turned to your evil whims, with a casino resort at the front and tons of wild traps and contraptions behind closed doors.

The release date trailer reveals some of the new elements being added to the game, such as the Sushi Chef henchman, the Venus Spy-Trap, both of which will surely up your ability to off invading spies with a sharp and witty one-liner.

Intriguingly, Rebellion say that there's more to show of the game in the next two months before launch, including a game mode that has yet to be revealed.

Originally planned for release in 2020, the game was delayed, not because of any devious plots or schemes, but for the most obvious reason in the world right now: Covid-19. At the time of the delay announcement, Rebellion said, "The impact of COVID-19, transitioning from the studio to our homes and adapting to new ways of working all contributed to this difficult decision.

"We want to deliver a sequel that will do justice to the franchise and be loved and played by the Evil Genius community for years to come, just like the original. And while we know many of you will be disappointed to wait a little longer, launching next year affords us the time to do precisely that."

Source: press release

Olija Review

Olija is about a penniless lord (if you can excuse the oxymoron) called Faraday. Having set sail from his home country in search of a better life, he ends up shipwrecked, trapped in the mysterious islands of Terraphage, where his true adventure awaits.

The story of a man in a foreign Eastern-inspired land could be a deliberate parallel to Olija's solo creator Thomas Olsson, who developed the game in Japan under the banner of the aptly named Skeleton Crew Studio. Either way, it is an action-adventure that manages to cram a lot of inventiveness and cinematic moments into its brief running time, harkening back to the 2D cinematic platformers of yore.

If the minimalist pixel art, limited palettes and a lack of scrolling initially give off the impression of gaming classics Another World or Prince of Persia, you're in for a surprise once you realise that Faraday jumps at three times his own height, even with just a quick tap of the button. Where those games were keen to convey a sense of realism in both their aesthetics and mechanics that made any encounter with enemies or the environment potentially fatal, Olija confounds this expectation by making Faraday a distinctly empowered character who can be impaled by spikes before quickly respawning on the same screen with just a slap of the health bar. It's a game less set on giving you a hard time and more focused on letting you have fun – to be honest, I'm all for that.

Where it really comes into its own is the signature Harpoon you find early on. It's not just a great weapon for melee or chucking at enemies, but works almost like a grapple, latching onto enemies or more often creepy parts of the environment with an eye poking out. Press the button again while moving towards that direction and Faraday warp-strikes right over, giving the double whammy or teleportation and damage. Changing the direction of your attack also results in a varied moveset, which makes for some fun combos as you beat down enemies, sometimes sending them flying back and smashing into a bloody pixelated pulp. In fact, the Harpoon is so good that it's easy to overlook the secondary weapons you can acquire in your arsenal, from a rapier to a shotgun.

Enemies aren't even that threatening, some barely getting up to register your presence before you're already skewering them into oblivion, but it makes it no less satisfying pummelling them as they cry out and get obliterated with a bunch of crunchy sound effects. Again, in contrast to the minimalist presentation, much of the game is heightened thanks to some terrific audio design, from the unsettling ambience of the island's perilous caverns to the semi-gibberish that makes up the game's voice acting giving a further sense of mystery (about the only word that's distinctly audible is 'Faraday'). Best of all are the weapon sounds, especially the delightful 'shing' from the swing of your rapier.

Both the sound and visuals help create an oppressive atmosphere despite the fact you're rarely in any great danger. Things ramp up slightly for the bosses who have the ability to knock you down relatively hard, annoyingly delaying your recovery to move again, which may not be great if you're suddenly rushed by a mob of enemies and get lost amidst the pixels. More unusual are moments where the game forgoes action altogether, slowing you to a walking pace or presenting the scene in a zoomed out wide shot, as well as narrative-specific sections involving encounters with Olija herself (perhaps alluding to Zelda, this is also a game title named after a significant but non-playable female character).

In other ways, it's a loose Metroidvania, where you need to find keys to access a further dungeon or there's a handful of optional collectible items (or captured castaways) but these you rarely have to go out of your way to find them. You also have access to a hub called Oaktide where you regularly revisit to rest up or spend money on upgrades – namely some rather fetching hats for Faraday which also grant different perks. It's a nice place of comfort, almost recalling Majula in Dark Souls 2 or perhaps the evolving settlement in Ashen as rescued castaways take refuge here and add a couple more features to your home away from home.

That said, unlike those games, you won't be around to bask in that comfort for long since Olija is a relatively brief adventure that can be finished either in an evening or a few brief sessions over the course of a week. You'll likely have close to 100% completion without even trying. Ironically, the only thing that might prevent you from finishing is a bizarre bug that seems to only occur right at the end of the game when the credits are about to roll anyway (a fellow reviewer for the PC version had also reported encountering a bug that crashed the game after the final boss prompting a restart). It's nonetheless just the right length for an austere yet varied adventure to kick off a new year, and quite the accomplishment from a solo developer.

Mediatonic say they are working to bring Fall Guys to "every major platform"

Fall Guys was a surprise hit and continues to enthral players with regular new content drops but is only available for PlayStation and PC, Twitter is full of calls for it to come to Xbox, Switch and other platforms.

CEO and co-founder Dave Bailey seems to have confirmed that it will eventually show up, telling GI.Biz "We want it to come to every major platform, and we're working hard to achieve that." He also hints that cross-platform play will be enabled, ""We want to come to all the different platforms, and hopefully connect those platforms so people can play together."

Last week the official Xbox Instagram account stated that smash hit multiplayer scramble Fall Guys was coming to the service but Devolver Digital have quickly refuted this claim. A mobile version of Fall Guys is also in development for the Chinese market and Mediatonic will be closely monitoring how that performs.

The success of the game has meant Mediatonic have been expanding quickly, bringing on new staff to work on the game to satiate the hungry players who demand regular content, "It's unbelievable how insatiable people's appetite for content is," comments Bailey.

The ravenous requirement for more things to do has meant that the current third season will be getting a mid-season update brining a new level, over forty variations on existing levels, and of course some new costumes to dress up your bean.

"We've just scratched the surface in terms of what we can do with the game," adds Baily, "Joe's original pitch was to create the greatest game show on Earth, and when you think about it in that way, there's a million different ways we can take this and I hope people will see that come through in future."

The game has spawned lots of fan art, including the rather amusing animation below.

Source: GI.Biz

Hitman 3 sales have already recouped development costs

After topping UK sales charts, Hitman 3 has already recouped its development costs according to developer IO Interactive.

The Danish studio, who also self-published this closing part in the Hitman reboot trilogy, have been delighted with Hitman 3's launch week sales.

Outperforming Hitman 2, IO Interactive "have been really happy with the Hitman 3 journey", buoyed by the game's success as they push forward with new projects. Not only has Hitman 3 sold well, it's also one of the highest rated games of 2021 so far with an OpenCritic average of 86, securing an early spot on those GOTY shortlists.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Hakan Abrak outlined the game's success and what it means for the developer:

It has been a labour of love between our fans and everyone at the studio. As the developer and publisher, we are immensely proud that we can say Hitman 3 is already profitable. We have recouped the total project costs in less than a week. That puts us in a really good place and allows us to confidently move forward with our ambitious plans for future projects.

We've been able to create a game that our players will love and bring it to them in the most direct way possible; developed and published by IOI. Having that focus early on has kept us on a path that we all believed in. Everyone at the studio was behind the vision for the game and they know the Hitman universe better than anyone.

Hitman 3 wraps the stylish and inventive trilogy perfectly, having scored an 8 out of 10 in our review. Hitman 3 is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, as well as Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch.

We can't wait to see what other projects IO may have in the pipeline. Last November the team announced that they are working on a James Bond 007 game – a perfect fit for the studio, if you ask us.

As for Hitman 3, there's a chance that we'll get to explore even more locations via post-launch DLC. There's been no confirmation as of yet though it's worth mentioning that Hitman 2 had a season pass following release. We're also waiting for news on the return of Hitman's Elusive Targets. These time-limited contracts have appeared in both Hitman and Hitman 2, offering exclusive rewards with a twist: you only get one shot at killing these targets with no saves or restarts.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Hitman 3 Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

Control won't allow save transfers to PS5 or Xbox Series X|S versions

One of our favourite games of 2019, Control continues to wrap itself in beguiling confusion many months after its celebrated launch.

However, this latest bout of head-scratching has been brought on by the game's transition to new consoles as opposed to Control's mind-bending story.

With the suped up Control: Ultimate Edition finally touching down on new consoles in February, developer Remedy Entertainment have been detailing what new features to expect. It's not all good news though…

The studio's Communications Director, Thomas Puha, has confirmed that save transfers from last-gen consoles to their newer counterparts won't be an option when Control: Ultimate Edition launches. So, if you've been looking forward to finishing that PS4 playthrough on PS5 – benefitting from the beefed up visuals and performance – you'll have to start from scratch. Here's why, according to Puha in a recent tweet:

Save games unfortunately do not transfer over from previous gen to next-gen. The version of our engine in the next-gen Control is way different to the version used in the previous gen Control. Long story short, lot of changes in things like how we handle data etc.

This isn't something Remedy plan on addressing. When asked if they potentially patch in the option for cross-gen save transfers, Puha answered: "No. Have to move onto future projects.".

Control: Ultimate Edition will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S next week on Tuesday, February 2nd 2021. The key upgrades worth mentioning are a 60fps performance mode as well as 30fps mode with ray-tracing enabled. Note that the Xbox Series S is 60fps only with no option for ray-tracing.

Those who have a PlayStation Plus subscription will get Control: Ultimate Edition for free on launch day along with Concrete Genie and Destruction AllStars.

Control was one of our highest scoring games of 2019. Although we've known about the new-gen version for some time now, it drew controversy when first announced, 505 Games confirming that it wouldn't be a free upgrade, Ultimate Edition requiring a separate purchase.

Source: Twitter (@@RiotRMD)

Spider-Man: Miles Morales update 1.08 adds some extra polish

Insomniac Games have pushed out a new update for their web- slinging semi-sequel, Spider-Man: Miles Morales. A fresh patch is now available on both the PlayStation 4 and PS5 versions, showing as 1.08 and 1.008 respectively.

Digging into the patch notes there doesn't seem to be anything of note so don't expect anything new in terms of content. Spider-Man: Miles Morales 1.08 includes "general fixes and polish" as well as "various additional fixes".

In comparison, the previous Spidey update introduced a new graphics mode for those playing on PS5. By hopping into the game's menu and swapping to the "Performance RT" visual setting you can experience Miles Morales in 60 frames per second with ray-tracing enabled.

We gave Spider-Man: Miles Morales 8/10 in our review. "Spider-Man: Miles Morales feels like more of a sequel than it is a stopgap, entangling players within its web of cleverly refined mechanics while delivering some familiar web-slinging thrills," said Jim. "A heroic technical showcase for PS5 owners picking up their consoles on day one, this meaty side story in the Spider-Man saga has us even more excited than before to see what Insomniac Games have planned next."

You can read the full review here.

So far we don't have solid confirmation of when Spider-Man 2 will be coming but at least we have some clues as to the direction of the sequel's story (watch out for spoilers). Right now, Insomniac Games are no doubt going flat out on the development of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It claimed seventh place in our list of top 50 most wanted games of 2021.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

Cyberpunk 2077 Keanu Reeves joytoy sex mod taken down after CD Projekt Red objects

Releasing modding tools for a game that features sex scenes has led to the most obvious outcome: a Cyberpunk 2077 mod that allows for model swaps that let you have "sex" with Keanu Reeves' character Johnny Silverhand, amongst others.

CD Projekt Red have now stepped in to have the mod removed or its scope changed, which is no doubt disappointing for those with the hots for Reeves, but thoroughly understandable.

They issues the following explanation to Eurogamer:

"Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can't be harmful towards others. In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.

"Therefore, when making fan content, creators have to make sure they've got permission from all the concerned parties (which might be people other than CD Projekt Red). For the characters we've invented for the game, we broadly permit you to tweak the game at will and just have fun. When it comes to models of real people whom we've asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don't have their explicit permission.

"For a more granular set of rules, please check the License Agreement and Fan Content Guidelines."

In other words, while they're more than happy for the fictional character models to be edited into the sex scenes, for any character modelled after a real person, like Keanu Reeves, you would need their permission to do so. Chances are, they agreed to very certain uses of their likeness while signing the image rights.

This kind of mod was always going to happen, though. In fact, mod creator Catmino told Eurogamer that "Keanu Reeves was one of the most asked for swaps for joytoys from the community, as I did not have him included in the very first version of the mod. On top of that, the archive files are one of the easiest to mod, as just placing the modded version into 'patch' folder swaps out the original one, so I believe this was something they intended for modders either way – maybe not in the sense of swapping Keanu Reeves for a joytoy, but modding models and other game files in general."

They also opined that, "Since [there] are already sex scenes with Keanu Reeves in the game, and my mod uses the textures and models that are already in the game – I don't really see a reason why would they go against it," though remained open to the fact that CDPR or Keanu could object and the mod would be removed.

Model swapping is still possible, of course, with people able to manually dive in and swap them out, but an easily distributed mod using Cyberpunk's modding tools is not going to be OK any time soon. In other words, I'm 100% certain that we'll still see videos of Hideo Kojima and a bunch of characters from Metal Gear Solid V cropping up online, but you won't be able to easily add them to your own version of the game…

Unless they tweet that it's OK, that is…

Source: Eurogamer [1, 2]

Black Legend may be the fusion of Bloodborne and XCOM you never knew you needed

Aside from being a fantastic and challenging game, Bloodborne really stood out for me due to its overall atmosphere and architecture. Eschewing the more fantasy aspects of the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne's medieval-inspired environments are a joy to explore (apart from the hordes of monsters trying to kill you, of course). I was therefore excited to check out Black Legend – a turn based strategy RPG set in the fictional city of Grant, a city that is closely based on 17th century Low Country architecture.

The switch to turn-based combat seemed well suited to allow for more sightseeing, whilst the accompanying focus on alchemy sounded like a perfect fit for the setting. After some time with the demo (available on Steam) I can reveal that these aspects work really well, although there is still some room for improvement.

Visually, Black Legend really nails the early modern aesthetic. Gloomy and narrow streets, fog shrouded graveyards, dangerous dockyards, and only occasional well-lit respites all go together to create an atmospheric and effective setting. Overturned carts and barrels abound to provide necessary cover, whilst the twisting alleyways disorientate and confuse you. There are often optional areas for grinding and looting and these feel like they belong in the general city plan rather than being added in for effect. The result is a wonderfully coherent game world that really drew me in.

Gameplay-wise, Black Legend will be familiar to fans of games such as XCOM or the recent Wasteland 3. You gather your team of mercenaries and explore the city of Grant, frequently being forced into turn based combat. These battles are always clearly visible (no random encounters here), but are generally unavoidable as the game is almost entirely focused on getting you into a scrap. You do find NPCs who will give you fetch quests or battle challenges, but there is little in the way of conversation trees or dialogue to work through. This may well be a positive for many, but it left me wanting a little more narrative to engage with.

Fortunately the combat itself, being the real heart of the game, is a good mix of challenging and interesting. There are difficulty levels to help you get familiar with the systems before ramping things up and really testing your strategic abilities. Higher skill settings will require far more focus on the more intricate aspects of the mechanics – especially the alchemical system which takes the place of more familiar elemental powers and weaknesses. Mastering this is the key to progress, as stacking and combining ailments based on the four humours of medieval medical theory is the only way to inflict damage quickly enough to avoid defeat.

Your party is made up of a mixture of anonymous mercenaries and occasional NPCs who join you (sometimes AI controlled). Mercenary here is also a character class, alongside 14 other unlockable classes, all with unique abilities and equipment. Unusually, you unlock these classes by finding the right items to equip your characters through your adventure, a nice approach that definitely encourages you to explore off the beaten path. While the early fights can be managed with a single class party, you quickly need to diversify to include distance attackers, alchemy (magic) users and more defensive classes. The ease of switching between classes once unlocked looks to be a real boon for later battles, as there will be many ways of approaching difficult fights rather than just grinding levels and returning as is so often the case.

The battles require genuine strategy as well, since character direction opens up weaknesses to attack and the aforementioned alchemy system is used by your enemies too. Even at lower skill levels it is easy to make a mistake that leaves you vulnerable. That being said, the sheer number of battles, combined with how involved and lengthy they can be, did cause the game to drag a little for me.

I freely admit that I am more interested in the story and setting rather than the mechanical systems here so this isn't necessarily a fault of the game itself but ironically it was most evident when playing on the lower difficulties as battles were no longer a threat but more a regular annoyance. I think this is a title that will reward the more ambitious player who is willing to take it on its own strategic terms. I'm still very interested in how it develops and look forward to the full release on all platforms – PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch and PC – hopefully sometime through the first half of this year.

Drunken Fist Review

Often the quality of a game is very easy to assess. Most games fall into one of two categories – good and bad – with various shades between, but then there's the select breed of games that are so very bad that they miraculously become good again. These games are a guilty pleasure that we relish in our privacy. Sure, we wouldn't want to tell everyone that Dead of Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is our second favourite video game of all time, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Every so often, one can encounter a type of game that is so rare that some think it doesn't even exist: a game so bad that it becomes good and then keeps on going until it ends up being bad again. A game so bad that it's bad-bad, if you will. Drunken Fist is one such game.

Drunken Fist casts the player in the vomit coated shoes of a violent inebriate. This fisticuff loving booze monster stumbles the streets of an unknown city, punching, kicking and urinating on every unfortunate soul he meets as he tries to find his way home. Be it jocks, gangsters or even guitar strumming peace loving hippies, all will learn to fear his beer fuelled rage. Drunken Fist is a 3rd person brawler then, one in which each miniscule level holds a selection of "bad guys" to beat up and some random items to collect. Carry out these simple objectives and you'll move on to the next level to do it all again.

Were it so simple though. Playing Drunken Fist makes you feel drunk. Maybe that's the point? Though I reckon there's far more enjoyable ways to achieve tipsiness than having to play this game. Drunken Fist is made impossibly difficult thanks to your protagonist being utterly useless at fighting and the controls seeming to have little to no effect on proceedings whatsoever through their laughably slow response times. Tap a button and maybe, just maybe, the vodka addled vigilante will unleash an uppercut but, more often that not, he won't do anything at all.

It's also nearly impossible to discern if an attack will hit an unwitting member of the public; punches, kicks and roundhouse sweeps that should strike whistle past embarrassingly short of their target. Perhaps this is all due to the physics-based nature of the combat, perhaps it's due to the woeful camera, but I'm pretty sure it's just because Drunken Fist hates me.

Even walking proves nearly impossible, the Malibu soaked martial artist will stumble and fall regardless of what the player does. This turns traversing the small levels into an absolute chore. What makes getting around even more of a slog is the need to keep your character's Drunk Meter topped up by chugging beers, as well as having to urinate so his bladder doesn't explode. I mean, it doesn't really explode, but it will gradually deplete your health meter until the game just stops and demands you start again.

All of these elements are dogged by the incessant problem of the same useless controls. Drinking a beer or unleashing alcoholic urine hell requiring several stabs of the button before anything happens, andon't even get me started on the challenges of trying to find, let alone reach, another beer to down. Suffice to say it's a miserable experience.

To start with, all of this goofiness is rather funny. It swings almost immediately over to that guilty pleasure column where you can laugh at how bad it is as a horde of jocks slipped, tripped and died on a puddle of my wee. The problem is, the game hasn't got any other jokes to tell. Like a drunken bore at a party it just repeats the same gag again and again. You can tell the game still thinks its funny, but you'll have stopped laughing long ago.

Levels also become frustratingly difficult. By the fourth stage you're tasked with taking out a veritable army of foes, hampered by the same treacle soaked controls, painful input lag, useless camera and all the random nonsense that the physics-based combat brings. With no ability to level up your fighter and even the odds, it feels like the developer never actually intended for anyone to play any further. Which might explain why every trophy is awarded by the end of level three. On the plus side, if you're a trophy hunter, then Drunken Fist is absolutely your game: I platinumed the thing in an hour.

Netflix announce an animated Tomb Raider series

Successful movies based on video games are few and far between but hop over to Netflix and you will soon be swamped by animated adaptions. Tomb Raider is the latest of which, a new anime series which will follow on from the end of the current rebooted video game trilogy.

The series will be created by Legendary, the people behind the upcoming Godzilla Vs. Kong.

A sequel to the recent Tomb Raider movie was set to release on March 19th 2021 but that looks highly unlikely now, although there has been no announcement of a new date. Alicia Vikander is back as Lara but director Roar Uthaug – who is an actual director and not a character in Skyrim – has been dumped in favour of Ben Wheatley.

Dragons Dogma and Castlevania are already available as animated series on Netflix and they will also be joined by Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness,  a CG anime series expected to launch in 2021. . Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness instead will be similar in execution to the the latest Dragon's Dogma series, though with more CG than hand drawn animations. You can watch the teaser trailer for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness below.

Alongside that, Ubisoft are teaming up with Netflix for multiple projects based on Assassin's Creed. The main live-action show to be joined by an animated and an anime adaptation of the franchise, Netflix are currently looking for some showrunners to manage these, but Ubisoft Film & Television's Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik will be executive producers.

There's also The Witcher: Blood Origin, a live action Resident Evil series, a Cuphead animated series, a live action movie based on The Division, and a Beyond Good and Evil animated movie all in production for the streaming service.

Source: Twitter

EA start a new studio to create Skate 4

Vancouver, already home to many EA development teams, has just got another one as EA have created Full Circle, a team dedicated to developing Skate 4. Daniel McCulloch, former general manager of Xbox Live and producer of Forza games, is leading the team.

"The fans wished Skate back into existence and we want them to feel involved in the process from development to game launch and beyond. We want them to feel like they are a part of Full Circle," McCulloch said in a press release. "We're all about having fun and making great games that people want to play with their friends. And, we're looking for more developers to help us build compelling worlds for players to explore."

Deran Chun and Chris "Cuz" Parry are heading up the creative team, both of them have worked on previous iterations of the franchise.

While there have been some pretenders to the throne over the last couple of years, with Session and Skate XL two ambitious skateboarding games currently in Steam Early Access, it seems that all they managed to do was convince EA that it might be worth greenlighting a new skateboarding game of their own.

Our excitement peaked a couple of years ago when the Skate 3 servers were turned back on and we got to wondering about whether we would see more from the series, but the obvious answer was that the game had recently become backwards compatible on Xbox One. Even so, the player base will have been incredibly small and seemed a weird one to justify the cost of turning the servers back on. Perhaps it was all in the hope of keeping the Skate community happy until they could set out the next step in the franchise, and that day has finally come.

Skate 3 was released over ten whole years ago and our beloved Blair didn't really enjoy it, scoring it just 6/10 and  saying "There really isn't much depth to be found with Skate 3, due to the short career mode and lacking extra features. Thankfully, the simplistic yet effective controls and the fun to be found in some of the challenges help somewhat. With Skate 3, we see that innovation can only last so long before it becomes uninspired and stale."

EA will be hoping to prove Blair wrong when they return with the Skate franchise, sometime in the future

Source: EA

The February PlayStation Plus games have been announced, details here!

Your February PlayStation Plus have been announced and they are Control: Ultimate Edition, Concrete Genie, and Destruction AllStars! That's not a bad line up at all, Destruction AllStars is brand new for PlayStation 5 and the PS5 version of Control is also included. PlayStation VR owners also get an extra treat as Concrete Genie has a PSVR mode.

Here's Sony with more details on the games…

Destruction AllStars (PS5)

Entertain the crowds by bringing controlled chaos to the vehicular combat arena of this metal-crunching multiplayer game*. Pick one of 16 superstar competitors, then leap into four game modes, using timing, tactics and skills to cause carnage behind the wheel or create havoc with your parkour skills. Perfect your character's abilities – including a hero vehicle unique to them –  to give you the edge in free-for-all battles or team challenges and become Global Destruction Federation Champion. The game also supports PS5's Game Help feature, giving you hints and tips to become the ultimate destructive machine without the need to leave the game.

Control: Ultimate Edition (PS5 and PS4)

Master supernatural abilities and wield a shape-shifting sidearm in this third-person action-adventure from Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne, Alan Wake). Take on the role of Jesse Faden, Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, whose New York headquarters are breached by an ominous enemy. Despite outward appearances, the skyscraper's interior is vast and ever-shifting. You'll need to explore – and weaponize – this unpredictable environment to clean house and repel the invaders.

The Ultimate Edition includes the base game as well as The Foundation and AWE expansions.

And on PS5 console, use the console's Game Help feature for hints and walkthroughs to help you solve puzzles and overcome challenges as you explore the Oldest House.

Concrete Genie (PS4)

Pick up a magic paintbrush and return the polluted town of Denska to its former bright and bustling seaside self in this touching and multi-award winning action-adventure. Cleanse streets and alleyways, then use your Living Paint to create mischievous Genies whose magical powers will aid you in overcoming puzzles and seeing off bullies who pursue you. The game also includes two additional modes built especially for PS VR to let you further unleash your creativity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGU-Y-rpuY

The Medium Review

The Medium developer Bloober Team has made a name for themselves over the past five years with a series of interesting, if flawed, entries into the horror genre. Leaning towards the more psychological end of horror rather than action packed gore, titles such as Layers of Fear and Blair Witch have demonstrated that the Polish team are well versed in getting under players' skin.

The Medium is by far their most ambitious and high profile game so far, especially as it's one of the earliest Xbox Series X|S exclusives and the innovative way it looks to take advantage of the added oomph of processors and the benefits of SSD storage. Reviewing the game on PC, and testing both a standard HDD and an SSD, the latter is essential to get the best performance.

Having originally been conceived at a time where it would have been set to release on Wii U and the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, The Medium has certainly come a long way from its earliest origins. The unique selling point of the dual reality perspective is perhaps the most obvious aspect that requires the increased power of contemporary technology, but the graphical fidelity and motion capture quality also clearly benefit from the later release date. The game also features important performances from Silent Hill veterans, with the ubiquitous Troy Baker putting on a supremely creepy performance as the terrifying Maw, and composer Akira Yamaoka bringing his personal brand of eerie to the score, ably supported by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's vocals on several truly haunting folk style ballads. It should be clear from this that The Medium is heavily influenced by Silent Hill, whilst also offering an interesting East European perspective on the genre.

Set in late 1990s Poland, The Medium features Marianne, a young woman with a mysterious ability to speak to the dead. It's a unique skill that is initially presented in a highly intimate and emotional opening that also provides an excellent introduction into the world of The Medium, setting the scene well for the far darker storyline that will develop. An almost melancholic atmosphere of personal loss and bereavement permeates the game throughout and makes it a far cry from the usual horror affair. That being said, there are certainly still the requisite jump scares and action sequences to complement this atmosphere.

Following the low-key opening, Marianne finds herself lured to the abandoned Hotel Niwa complex in search of a mysterious man who claims to know the secrets behind her abilities. It soon becomes clear that this hotel is itself haunted by past tragedy and Marianne is caught up in a nightmarish world of trauma, ghostly apparations, and a deadly demonic secret. In order to combat the perils that this situation produces, she must  discern information from objects by tapping into their psychic auras, recalling the echoes of conversations, tracing hidden paths and, most importantly, interacting with the environment through an alternate reality. Here, Marianne is presented almost as a negative version of her normal self, with bright white hair.

Unlike many other games that have employed the alternative reality trope – and they are far too numerous examples to mention here – The Medium offers the potential to see and move around both versions simultaneously, splitting the screen vertically or horizontally depending on the scene. This effect isn't constant throughout the game but is embedded into a good two thirds of the playing time.

General exploration is carried out in the normal world, whilst you will also sometimes need to spirit walk in out of body experiences that only involve the alternative world. These sections are timed as your body eerily fades away the longer you remain out of contact with your physical self. This results in some fairly familiar puzzles, but the world traversal effect helps to cover up the otherwise formulaic structure of finding items in one version that are necessary to progress in the other. This sense of the style being a smokescreen for some traditional gameplay continues throughout and may lead to some disappointment for players looking for greater innovation.

Whilst in the alternate world, you will be attacked by eerie clouds of moths that can swiftly kill you, as well as the larger and more threatening enemies such as The Maw (I'm not going to spoil any of this aspect though). To defend yourself you must find sources of energy which Marianne's alternate version can use to form barriers or to power up mechanisms that are locked in the normal realm. Again this mechanic boils down to something surprisingly familiar, but I was taken in enough by the overall setting and narrative to forgive such gameplay. While very different in terms of moment to moment action, the role of wider world building and atmosphere reminded me of Remedy's Control.

As you would hope of a game looking to justify its Xbox Series X|S exclusivity, the graphics of The Medium are mostly excellent. The visual design, both of the rundown Polish buildings and the shadowy other realm, are superb, with the latter in particular having a look and feel that manages to both show its influences from the aforementioned Silent Hill (and Stranger Things) whilst also having a feel all of its own. I often found myself stopping to admire the strange decaying environments, with some having a weird sense of beauty. Facial design and motion capture are effective, but the running animation of the central character feels oddly stilted and dated, almost as if it's a deliberate nod to the likes of Silent Hill.

The contrast between environments enabled by the dual perspectives is hugely effective, helping to draw attention to details that might otherwise be overlooked, however that effect has come with a cost to game performance. Reviewing on a PC with a Ryzen 3600 and RTX 2060, I was between the recommended specs for 1080p30 and 1440p30 at High settings. While that's lower than my PC can typically produce in other games (with a single perspective, it must be said), it's exactly what I saw. You can forget about ray tracing at this level, but it's fair to say that an SSD feels almost essential, playing from a regular HDD dropping performance down to the mid-20s. Of course, you can lower settings to Medium (ha!), which helps and doesn't impact image quality too heavily.

The music is great throughout the game, and whilst much of it is more about atmosphere than memorable tunes, the standout songs featuring McGlynn's haunting vocals (and a hidden one seeing Baker duet with her) are spine tingling in their emotional and narrative effects. Having played many horror games with bad voiceovers, the quality of the acting here is particularly welcome, with Baker in particular carrying off a demonic performance that is unlike anything I have heard from him before.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Preview

Super Mario 3D World is probably the Wii U game I've been most excited to revisit on Nintendo Switch. That's not just since its port was announced; I always thought that this game was wildly underrated, in fact, I'd go so far as saying it's one of the best Mario games of all-time, but it was held back by the console it was on. From what I've played of the Switch version, I'm feeling pretty vindicated so far.

The thing that makes Super Mario 3D World so enjoyable is that each level feels as though it's been designed as a way to show off what Mario games could do. Each one feels like it's an example of some alternate universe Mario game where the weird and wild concepts hold all of the power.

Take Shadow-Play Alley, which has sections entirely played by looking at the shadows on the wall (not a parable, thankfully), which means you have to gauge depth without really know where anything is. If that's not your thing, then how about Plessie's Plunging Falls, which has you trying to control a tiny loch ness monster through an obstacle course. That one's particularly entertaining in a group because the controls are basically democratic, and we all know how well that works out.

It's not just the level design that's great, the new powerups are great too, whether you're multiplying recklessly using the Double Cherries, which give you a new version of yourself to control every time you pick one up (I've managed five Fire Flower-infused Marios so far, but am well up for aiming higher) or just becoming an anime hero with the Super Bell. These were available in the original version of the game as well, but given that it was on the Wii U, it's likely that a lot of people will be discovering these for the first time.

Then you've got the little overworld to explore and loads of mini-games to find as you dash from level to level, as well as the odd secret if you're willing to snoop around a bit. Of all of these, it's very hard to top the Captain Toad levels in terms of the ingenious design they bring to the experience, as well as a very nice change of pace. Also, Captain Toad about jumps as often as most of us do in real life, which is not at all. That's just nice because Mario can be a little too energetic to relate to, despite his dad bod.

Each world is topped off with a boss battle reminiscent of the old games, where you have to battle through a scrolling level filled to the brim with enemies, cannons, and secrets that you have to have a keen eye to spot. Each of these is then capped off with a boss battle that, once again, will induce as much nostalgia as your ageing heart can muster for jumping on one of Bowser's kids three times. Of course, we know Bowser Jr. exists now, and I kind of feel bad for the Koopalings as a result. There's no way Bowser Jr. isn't the favourite child here.

Speaking of which, that leads nicely into the completely new content in this game as we've also got the Bowser's Fury adventure.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from Bowser's Fury, but I do know it wasn't this. It's like some weird genetic experiment where they attempted to splice Odyssey, Sunshine, and 64 together. That sounds incredibly messy, but the end result is actually an incredibly focussed open-world adventure that has you taking on short three-minute obstacle courses multiple times to try and get your hands on Cat Shines, which you need to collect to further your progress in the mode.

You do all of this to allow Mario to turn into a Super Saiyan cat in order to battle Fury Bowser, who I can only assume is as angry as he is because Bowser Jr's cutting out his nap and it's making him into a little monkey in the late afternoon. Bowser, I appreciate it's a frustrating time in your life, but it's nobody else's fault that you taught the little tyke how to skoot around in your weird Clown Head machine, is it?

Anyway, I can't say too much about the mode just yet, but I'm looking forward to continuing my journey in it and finding out how it develops. I've got high hopes for it, and it feels as though it could be a tease for a future style of Mario game. Either way though, it certainly seems to add in enough new stuff to make the package worth the while of those who already finished 3D World on Wii U.

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town (fnar fnar!) heads to Nintendo Switch

"I've just seen a news story you might enjoy though," says they Editor In Chief, "It's in the newspool". "Oh," says I, "Which story cou… ah, there's one with knob innuendo in the title"

Yes indeed, the smuttily named Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town will be splooshing on to Nintendo Switch screens everywhere sometime before the end of March, following on from the PC launch last year.

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is described as a "a modern take on side-scrolling adventure game classics such as Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island", a point and click adventure but with "contemporary mechanics", which could mean it has modern game design or maybe it features people who fix cars using computer diagnostics, it's unclear to me at this point.

Here's some official blurb which has no innuendo in it all, and neither has the game. None. Not a smidgen. You've got Willy and Bone in the title of your game, what are you playing at VLG Publishing?

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town offers a modern take on point-and-click adventure games by having players collect clues and solve puzzles in a computerized 3D pirate themed world. As Willy uncovers details regarding his father's mysterious disappearance, fans of all ages are able to enjoy hilarious dialogue, whimsical characters and charming cartoon graphics. Old school fans of the genre can appreciate easter eggs that reference iconic titles they grew up with during the good old days of gaming.

10 years have passed since the mysterious disappearance of Willy's father, the famous archaeologist Henry Morgan. After Willy receives a strange letter containing a cryptic message he heads on a perilous adventure to Bone Town, an unconventional place full of pirates and shady characters, to once and for all uncover the truth behind what happened to his father.

Source: Press release

The Division 2 4K 60fps PS5 & Xbox Series X upgrade arrives next week

The Division 2's next-gen upgrade is coming next week in Title Update 12.1, bringing 4K and 60fps graphics to the game when played on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X from Tuesday 2nd February.

The news comes from Ubisoft Community Developer Johan, replying to a query about a new State of the Game blog post:

TU 12.1 is otherwise a relatively focussed update, with the only other elements being a rebalance of the Optimization Station costs and the start of the Resident Evil 25th Anniversary crossover event. Full patch notes will be released on Monday, just ahead of TU 12.1's release.

The Division 2 X Resident Evil event will run until 15th February. It's largely focussed on cosmetics instead of a barmy gameplay event, but you'll be able to collect iconic Resident Evil outfits, weapon skins and more as you play. In fact, you can snag a Leon Kennedy RPG outfit just by logging in.

Next-gen support was confirmed back in December, with Ubisoft having committed to similar updates for other live games, For Honor and Rainbow Six Siege. Even without the update, The Division 2 has been able to benefit greatly from the improved loading times granted by the PS5 and Xbox Series X SSDs, letting players rapidly hop around Washington D.C. and New York City. Playing at 60fps will be a welcome boost to game performance, even if a cover shooter like The Division is well suited to 30fps play.

There's been some decent content updates to the game in the last year or so. In September, Ubisoft added a new PvE mode called The Summit, which tasked you and your team with battling through a 100-story skyscraper, while Season 4 kicked off with Title Update 12 in December, making tweaks to The Summit and its challenges, and reintroducing the Optimization Station.

What's less clear is what the future holds for the game. Massive Entertainment are working on two further franchises, both licensed games for the Avatar and Star Wars universes, and it's not clear who will really be taking charge of the game and the series' future. Even in the shorter term, will there be a new expansion to kick off the year and introduce a new story arc, similar to Warlords of New York?

For now we'll just have to wait and see.

Source: Twitter

Apex Legends Season 8 Kings Canyon map changes revealed

When it kicks off next week on 2nd February, Apex Legends Season 8 is going to once again make some sweeping changes to Kings Canyon, the original map from the game.

Having illustrated this with an explosive cinematic trailer last week, Respawn have now detailed exactly what's new and different.

The goal with the changes was to open up a new area of the map to explore (done by exploding and crashing a ship into the map!), make the north west more attractive as a drop point with better rotations through those northern areas, remove some obvious 3rd partying chokes, and also add some new high-ground opportunities.

The new area is Crash Site which, as you might've guessed, is where the ship has crashed up in a previously inaccessible part of the map. It can be reached through the throughly destroyed Artillery area, while the tunnel to the side of Artillery has been breached to allow for another access point.

All of this feeds into Spotted Lakes, an area that replaces Slum Lakes which was wiped out by flooded, contaminated waters from the crash. ECHO camps have been set up to thematically clean up the fuel that spots this water, and it looks like a more cohesive, less slap-dash area. Another route to this area has been opened from The Pit, while a more sheltered path now exists to get you to Runoff and Airbase behind some giant bones uncovered by the attack on the region.

ECHO camps have also been set up down the central river through the map, which feature four observation towers that will provide ideal sniping vantage points, while Explosive Holds replace Season 5's bunkers to give looting opportunities – though they'll make plenty of noise as you blow them open!

Respawn have also sought to reduce some of the 'sweatier' play through the map, simply removing the Farm from the map as one of the main culprits.

Source: Respawn

Tipster suggests Death Stranding PS5 edition on the way with new content, The Last Of Us 2 PS5 patch as well

There appear to be many leaky ships on the seas of videogaming these days with people releasing information all over the shop. The latest comes from the ResetEra forums where the user Navtra has suggested that an enhanced version of Death Stranding will be heading to PlayStation 5.

"If you're interested in Death Stranding but haven't played it yet, it might be worth it to wait a lil bit", Navtra said. They then went on to suggest the game will have new story content although I doubt it would be substantial, Kojima's story is intricately woven it would very hard to slot in anything new so it may just be some extra side missions that do not affect the main story.

They also suggested that this may be paid content, even if if you already own the PS4 version. I'd take that with a pinch of salt, we've seen how badly gamers react to paid upgrades, only Call of Duty has got away with it so far. They have also said a patch for The Last Of Us 2 was in the works for PlayStation 5, that seems a given especially as Naughty Dog are still working on the multiplayer side of the game which will no doubt ship with a PS5 version from day one.

Navtra has had previous form correctly predicting exclusivity deals and event reveals so has some form, but please treat these revelations as rumours for now. However, last year Hideo Kojima has tweeted that he is hard at work on what we presumed was his next game and included a couple of pictures as a tease. Here's the first one in which he describes what he is listening too.

The interesting part here is the sketch of the of a vehicle, the posters over at ResetEra have noticed if you zoom in closely and flip the image you can read the text, 'Bridges'.

Those who have played Death Stranding will know bridges, both real and metaphorical, are core to the story of the game. They will also know there are no flying vehicles in the the world of Death Stranding as the goopy whalesquids have stopped all air transport but this image is labelled "Landing ship". There is a ship the game, a conventional water based one, but looks nothing like the image above. Kojima also tweeted a second image which includes a BB out of his protective casing, so perhaps these were teases for the PlayStation 5 version of the game rather than a sequel.

Check out our Death Stranding Hub for everything you need to know about the game!

Source: ResetEra va Wccftech

Redout: Space Assault Review

The future-racing genre has had a few notable jumpstarts over the last few years, with Redout sitting heavily amongst the frontrunners. Its fantastically realised visuals, exceptional music and breakneck sense of futuristic speed meant that it carried on Wipeout's legacy while bringing its own sense of style to proceedings. The folks at 34BigThings decided that the Redout universe was so strong in fact that they would create an arcade space shooting prequel.

Having appeared first on Apple Arcade, Redout: Space Assault is now making the jump to console and PC, and while it doesn't revolutionise its new franchise genre, there's enough fun to be found here for fans short on rail shooters.

You're Leon, an ace fighter pilot in Bravo Squad, wrapped up in the tumultuous events surrounding the colonisation of Mars. As a tool of the Poseidon Security Forces you're tasked with protecting the interests of the corporation, but unlike most arcade shooters there's been some actual thought and attention given to the characterisation and storyline that takes it beyond the 'fly here, shoot that' setup we've seen so often before.

Redout: Space Assault has two primary gameplay modes. The first, combat missions, play out as an on-the-rails shooter in the loving vein of Space Harrier or Panzer Dragoon. With a knowing nod to Sega's template, holding the fire button down allows you to lock onto multiple enemies, while you can tap the shoulder buttons to barrel roll your way out of danger. You're able to gain a regular blaster too, as well as a host of other weapons, though you disappointingly don't have direct control over it and simply have to line your ship up with something to shoot at for it to kick in.

The second of Redout: Space Assault's gameplay modes allows you to freely move in 3D space, exploring meteors and space stations alike, while searching for various mission sensitive pick-ups and blasting the occasional bad guy. These sections take off the leash and let you taste full control of your craft, but there's very little of the dog-fighting potential fulfilled, neutering the obvious potential that the game has. I'd have loved to see it flip between on-rail and large scale open combat, but that was seemingly beyond the scope of what the team at 34BigThings were looking to create.

As arcade shooters go, Space Assault's visuals really sell the fiction, with cool, stylised spaceship designs – you can choose from a batch of different skins for your own ship – and you get a genuine sense of the technology of the time. There's also the expected nods here and there to the tech that evolved into Redout's vehicles and futuristic architecture, and it all hangs together really well, just as you'd expect for a world that's already been thoroughly designed. Redout was a looker, and Space Assault is similarly pleasing to the eye.

There's the nagging feeling that this is a mobile game that's made the jump to home platforms, and it is. However, this doesn't feel like an utterly meaningless cash grab. Firstly, it's available digitally for £9.99, which feels fair, and I've had slightly more fun with it than the recent Panzer Dragoon remake – as a long time Sega Saturn fan that causes me actual pain to say. Secondly, the on-rail shooter is a genre that rarely shows its face these days, and while we wait for the Panzer Dragoon Zwei remake, Space Assault is a suitable little timesink for fans.

It's not without a few nagging problems though, and you'll discover them soon enough. Whether it's the short mobile-oriented missions, the inability to completely stop your ship – which routinely leads to unavoidable collisions and death – or some odd difficulty spikes which feel designed to get you to grind out a few more upgrades, there's just a few elements that mean that Redout: Space Assault feels a touch underdone.

There's a slightly unnecessary card-based boon system that lets you pick a sub-system to boost, as well as an upgrade tree that sees you spending your earned currency on improved shields, health, missiles or weaponry. Those upgrades do initially give you some obvious improvements to your craft, but there's a diminishing return for your currency as you progress. If you're a veteran of the genre you'll likely find that you can blast your way through much of it as well until you hit one of those difficulty spikes.

It wouldn't be a Redout game if the music wasn't up to scratch and there's some brilliant synth-led sci-fi tones to massage your ears with, stretching out into exceedingly cool rock riffs, and beyond. The audio definitely added to my enjoyment of the game, almost diminishing some of the more obvious issues.

EPOS announce next generation of gaming audio headsets

This morning EPOS hosted their "Power of Audio" virtual media event, giving us a deep dive into what they are looking to achieve with their gaming range, and how decades of engineering experience is aiding them in this venture.

Of course, as part of the event, EPOS teased us with a look at what products they will be launching in the near future. They revealed to us their "next generation" gaming headset that will offer a "360 degree" upgrade as EPOS continue to pursue audio perfection, improving comfort, mic pickup, and of course, overall sound quality, as well sourcing the best build materials. They even teased the possibility of a removable boom arm.

Empowering content creators is another pillar of the EPOS future strategy, the company also unveiling a microphone built with video production/broadcasting in mind. Although we can't share images, we can tell you this is embodies the signature EPOS approach to design aesthetic, compatible with desk stands and boom arms. It will also offer an accompanying app which will help streamers tailor their audio.

It's no secret that audio can be just as effective at engaging players than cutting edge visuals and this is where EPOS are looking to innovate, deepening that sense of immersion through a growing arsenal of high-end headsets and other premium audio equipment.

Amidst a crash course on the science of human hearing EPOS VP of Research and Development, Jesper Kock, elaborated on the intensely technical design behind the EPOS range and its emphasis on perfect sound reproduction, spatial orientation, and eliminating noise disturbance.

Having sampled a handful of the latest headsets in the EPOS range, we can definitely vouch for their quality. We recently reviewed the EPOS GSP 370 wireless headset, the more robust EPOS GSP 670 wireless headset, and the EPOS GSP 300.

Each one has passed with flying colours and although they come at a slightly higher price than most gaming headsets, they definitely earn their reputation for being considered high-end from their comfort and sound quality down to their class-leading design and robust feature sets.

Haven is coming to Switch and PS4 next week

The Game Bakers have announced that Haven will be gliding onto PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and into the Epic Games Store next week on 4th February.

The game is already available for PS5 – buying the game on PS4 will allow free PS5 upgrades, and vice versa – Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, GOG and the Windows Store, but this will see them spread their adventure of love further, and just in time for Valentine's Day!

Haven launched in December, the second game from indie developer The Game Bakers, it marked a major departure from the boss rush bullet hell hybrid of their first game Furi.

The game sees two lovers on the run and trying to settle on the planet of Source, an uninhabited world shattered into floating islands. The pair must travel these lands using Flow bridges, combatting the corrupting Rust that is spreading across it and make a home for themselves. It's an intriguing adventure that can be played solo or in local co-op, depicting the maturing bond between these to young people.

The game garnered a fair bit of praise at its launch for the relationship it depicts, the positive tone of its story, its visual style and superb soundtrack from Danger – in fact, this won Best Original Soundtrack in our 2020 Game of the Year awards.

In our Haven review, Aran wrote:

Haven is an uplifting and positive tale of a young couple setting out to make an alien planet their home. Yu and Kay are a likeable pair as you watch their relationship strengthen, the world of Source is a gorgeous place to explore, and the soundtrack is great as well. While the overarching story could be deeper and battles could be streamlined further, Haven is a game that offers a chilled out escape.

Source: press release

The Sheriff Mod adds a new twist to Among Us

Indie hit Among Us has a new PC mod that adds an extra twist to the game. The Sheriff assigns one player the role of a Sheriff who's sole task is to hunt the imposter, but they have the additional ability to kill a crew member if they think they have found the correct player. The twist is that if the Sheriff kills the wrong player, both the player and the Sheriff die, making it easier for the Imposter.

You can get the mod from GitHub. 

Microsoft and developer Innersloth have confirmed that Among Us will be coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S this year and it will be part of Xbox Game Pass for console when it arrives.

There's no word about PlayStation at the moment, but surely it's only a matter of time before it arrives on Sony's platform as well. Of course, there could be a timed exclusivity deal in effect here, but there's no mention of exclusivity either.

Among Us has been one of the indie hits of the summer, despite actually having released all the way back in 2018. The game was discovered by Twitch streamers, with its paranoia-infused multiplayer making for a lot of fun and plenty of cross-channel collaborations. It helps that the game's really cheap at just £4.

The game is built for 4-10 players, with one or more players being an "imposter", and alien interloper who has to try and murder their way through the other players as they try to complete tasks. As murdered bodies are discovered, players report them and call a group meeting to bicker, accuse, and potentially kick someone out of an airlock.

We dove into the Nintendo Switch release, pondering what it could mean for the game's future and the problems that Innersloth need to figure out before they can really bring the game to PlayStation or Xbox consoles.

Given how much buzz there is surrounding Among Us, it's no surprise that Innersloth have sought to bring it to console, and Nintendo Switch is by far and away the most logical first platform for them to tackle. That said, they've clearly got their work cut out for them to make it truly feel like a first class citizen on the platform, ironing out the kinks and figuring out how best to translate the game to PlayStation and Xbox.

Source: GitHub

Kevin Hart joins the cast of the Borderlands movie

The live-action Borderlands movie has picked up another big name with Kevin Hart set to play Roland, joining Hollywood superstar Cate Blanchett who will be playing Lilith, a character who appeared in the very first game, with Eli Roth is directing the movie. He has previously worked with the actress in the film "The House With a Clock in Its Walls."

If you're expecting another jape filled adventure now that Kevin Hart has joined the cast then prepare for a shock, according to The Hollywood Reporter this will be a "serious acting turn for the star."

"I'm thrilled to be working with Kevin," said Roth in a statement to THR. "Borderlands is a different kind of role for him, and we are excited to thrill audiences with a side of Kevin they've never seen before. He's going to be an amazing Roland."

"Kevin has been behind some of the world's biggest blockbusters, and our source material is inspired by one of the world's best-selling video games. We love the way our filmmaking team has adapted this story, and we couldn't be in better creative hands," adds Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.

Back in June 2019 Full Circle reported that Lilith will be the main protagonist in the movie but it's unlikely Kevin Hart will be taking a backseat. A plot summary was also released last year.

The movie will find Lilith in the Atlas Corporation space prison when the CEO gives her the chance to earn her freedom by rescuing his daughter, the foul-mouthed Tiny Tina, on the planet Pandora. The mission takes an unexpected turn when it becomes clear that the little girl is the key to unlocking a valuable alien vault that Atlas wants all for itself.

Joining her on the adventure is the previously mentioned Claptrap, Tina's bodyguard Krieg, and a group of vault hunters (it is unclear if they will be established game characters).

The film has been in development for a good few years and was announced way a back in 2015.

Source: THR