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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be released this June

Sony have revealed that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be released on June 11th 2021. That's slightly later than some might have expected as Sony described it as a 'launch window' release.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will have an optional 60 frames per second (fps) mode, Insomniac Games has confirmed in an interview with Famitsu. However, the 60fps will not be playable in 4K resolution. If you want to play in 4K then you will have to settle for 30fps. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is taking advantage of the technology offered by the PS5. Loading times are all but gone allowing for rift jumping between stages to be very smooth. If you missed it earlier, you can catch the extended gameplay demo below.

Quite a lot of information has been released for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and we have that list of information below.

The Rift Tether is the name for the ability for latch onto dimensional rifts and kind of pull them toward him.
There will be no load screens throughout the game.
You can feel the energy of a shatter bomb fade away through the haptic feedback of the DualSense
The adaptive trigger can be used to enable secondary fire with weapons. The Enforcer can fire one shot by half-pulling the trigger until you feel a bit of resistance, before then pulling it all the way to fire the second.
This is a canonical continuation of Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, but can be treated as a standalone game.
There are more dimensional rift abilities that haven't been shown.
The fast-paced dimension hopping will be reserved for when you chase after Doctor Nefarious.
Though she will be playable, the mysterious female Lombax name was not revealed. It might not be Abby, though.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was one our most wanted games of this year, you can read more here.

Source: YouTube

King Arthur: Knight's Tale early access roadmap revealed

Neocore Games have revealed a roadmap of upcoming updates for King Arthur: Knight's Tale, detailing updates for the next four months as the game goes through Steam Early Access. The first update will arrive this month, on 23rd February, bringing with it a new class, increased level cap, new buildings and more. Content for March, April and May has also been revealed.

The February update introduced the Vanguard character class, a scout-type who comes with a pair of one-handed melee weapons, and can hide and ambush enemies from cover. There will also be new side missions, new items and an expanded level cap.

March will be similarly beefy, with all side missions from Act 1 added, new events, hero traits and loyalty, consumable items and gamepad support. April will then introduce a new Sage class, update the Adventure Map and bring new items, and May will have extra side missions and an early loot and artifact system.

What is King Arthur: Knight's Tale?

Coming from Neocore Games, the developers of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor – Martyr, King Arthur: Knight's Tale is a game that mixes a new twist on the legend of King Arthur with XCOM-like turn-based combat, RPG depth to the character growth through the campaign, and with permadeath and other roguelite elements thrown in for good measure.

The game is currently in Steam Early Access, with release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S planned for when the game has been completed.

Nic Reuben played the initial Early Access release for us in January, finding a compelling set of gameplay ideas and thematic setting, but an experience marred by its pre-release nature. Most enjoyable for him was how reminiscent he found it of PS1 classic Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

From our King Arthur: Knight's Tale preview, he wrote:

"King Arthur: Knight's Tale has more going for it than just appealing to own very specific personal nostalgia. The meat of the experience is turn-based combat which is more reminiscent of Divinity: Original Sin 2 to me. There's back stabs and opportunity attacks, armour points with squishy flesh health points underneath, and action points that can either be spent or converted for the next term. There's also a melee overwatch system which is, dare I say, neato."

Source: Neocore Games

Six Days in Fallujah – cancelled Iraq War shooter revived, coming late 2021

In a surprising announcement, controversial real world shooter Six Days in Fallujah has been revived by Golem developer Highwire Games and publisher Victura. The game had originally been announced in 2009 by Atomic Games, but was thought to be cancelled after original publisher Konami decided to avoid courting the controversy that it had managed to stir up. The new Six Days in Fallujah is planned for release in late 2021 for PC and consoles.

Six Days in Fallujah is an almost entirely new project, it seems. Highwire Games is a completely different studio, with the core leadership having previously worked on Halo and Destiny series. There's also just the fact that it's been almost 12 years since its first cancellation, with dramatic leaps in game console and PC power – the original game targeted the PS3 and Xbox 360 – and much newer game engines.

The game has been in development for the past three years creating new technology and game mechanics that are designed to not just replicate the tactics of modern warfare, but also the uncertainty that a battlefield can provide.

Six Days in Fallujah has returned after being cancelled all the way back in 2009.

The core idea is the same, coming from Marine Sergeant Eddie Garcia who was wounded during the Second Battle for Fallujah in 2004 and originally pitched the idea for a game in 2005. You will lead a fireteam through thoroughly recreated encounters from the real battle, trying to navigate the dangers of urban warfare.

There's also some remnants of the original project on the publishing side. Victura is a publishing company founded in 2016 by former Atomic Games CEO Peter Tamte, who has been intent on seeing Six Days in Fallujah made. Tamte had asserted at various times over the past decade that the game was not cancelled and that all the work had not been lost.

Why was Six Days in Fallujah controversial?

Six Days in Fallujah was immediately surrounded by controversy as soon as it was announced. The second Iraq war was still very fresh in the memories of the public and the US and UK-led coalition was still battling against the insurgency. While the was was declared won in 2003, it soon became clear that the fight was not over, with the Battle of Fallujah taking place in 2004, additional troop commitments made in the 2007 surge, and then new president Barrack Obama trying to navigate a troop withdrawal. Six Days was met with criticism from war veterans and activist groups like the Stop the War Coalition, who pointed to the many civilian casualties that had occurred as soldiers fought house-to-house. The controversy pushed publisher Konami away from the project.

However, there's a chance that now in 2021 there's enough time and distance to a battle that was fought over 15 years ago, just as there are plenty of video games set in World War II, the Vietnam War, and other allegorical wars in the modern era.

Despite the original outrage at the notion of turning a real conflict into a commodity and entertainment that glorifies war, Garcia asserts "Sometimes the only way to understand what's true is to experience reality for yourself. War is filled with uncertainty and tough choices that can't be understood by watching someone on a TV or movie screen make these choices for you. Video games can help all of us understand real-world events in ways other media can't."

For the game's creation, over 100 Marines, Soldiers and Iraqi civilians who were present during the Second Battle for Fallujah have provided their stories, videos and photographs to give the game as much authenticity as possible.

Source: press release

Street Fighter 5 – five years on

2021 will marks a fair few gaming anniversaries, but the one that stood out to me while looking through the list was Street Fighter V. It has been five years since we first threw down in the base game, followed by two overhaul updates, and yet Street Fighter V is still steeped in negativity. I wanted to take a look back at its original launch, the problems it faced, what it's like to play in 2021, and what the future holds for the franchise.

First, let's take you all back to February 2016. At the time, I was embroiled in the fighting game community (FGC) in Brighton, UK, who were increasingly more excited for the release of Street Fighter V in the run up to launch. However, when the game landed, the disappointment was palpable. Some loved it, but most weren't happy with the direction Capcom had taken. The complaints were varied, ranging from the slightly "wet" aesthetic (which still persists) to the lacklustre base roster, but there were many of them.

Street Fighter V at launch: what went wrong?

What is comes down to though, was there simply wasn't enough of a game at launch, and it was obvious that this was because of the live service model that was adopted for this iteration. In principle this was a great decision – forgoing the multiple Super and Arcade iterations of previous Street Fighter games – for a more consumer-friendly approach. However, with such a sparse single player offering, Street Fighter V didn't feel like a full package, especially in contrast to fighting games such as Mortal Kombat X and Tekken 7. And then, of course, Capcom inevitably pulled a U-turn in the following years with the release of both Street Fighter V Arcade Edition and Street Fighter V Champion Edition.

In terms of design issues, the brand new V-System was an interesting enough concept, but it was just that in the beginning, a concept. Rather than the game-changing mechanics such as the Parry in Street Fighter III or the Focus Attack in IV, the V-System felt half-baked at launch. In fact, I would argue that this set of mechanics didn't truly come into their own until the Champion Edition in 2020, which increased the number of V-Skills per character, giving the player the choice of two V-Skills and two V-Triggers for each.

Finally, there were the online features of the game, and oh boy did they mess this one up, with the worst of it being that it launched with eight frames of input latency. This is already bad, making it difficult to pre-empt opponents and keep combos going; but then when you added the inevitable additional lag from the internet, Street Fighter V became borderline unplayable at points. Add this problem to the online competitive scene and the Ranked Match system, and you had a ton of frustration from fans that even resulted in an apology from Capcom themselves.

Is Street Fighter V worth playing in 2021?

But, five years on, how is Street Fighter V looking from a gameplay standpoint and it is still worth playing (or picking up if you haven't yet)?

From a modern perspective, Street Fighter V isn't a bad package. With 40 characters, both new and returning, with a whole host of mechanics through the V-System, a variety of game modes, and countless costumes/stages, the Champion Edition release is bursting with value amid a plethora of content.

Street Fighter V still has a fairly solid footsie structure – the combo links are more forgiving to make them easier for newer players to execute, and the roster as it stands is pretty diverse. The Arcade Mode has different runs for each of the phases of Street Fighter from the first game to IV, which is a fantastic nod to the history of the franchise. The UI is far clearer and more stylised now too in the most recent editions making for a more pleasant visual experience.

It is, in essence, a good fighting game now – mostly.

In fact, in the most recent iteration of Street Fighter V, there are only two issues that still stand. The first, persisting from launch, is the online side of the game. The built-in online lag, although reduced now from 2016, still leaves the online environment dipping into being almost unplayable at times. This is even more noticeable in the last year owing to newer fighting games appearing that have far better net code, or older ones adding rollback net code post release. We're looking at you Guilty Gear.

The second is one that has come more with time, and that's the balancing issues of the game. Although Street Fighter V appears to be balanced on a surface level, many of its dedicated fans would claim otherwise. Which aspect of the game itself is unbalanced differs from person to person, but the move sets come up a lot, especially the power differential between the V-Triggers. If you wanted a far more technical breakdown than I could make as to why that is, there is a great piece over on EventHubs from last year about precisely this issue.

What it comes down to with Street Fighter V is that the game is, well, fine and has been for a while. But "fine" isn't quite good enough for one of the most popular fighting game franchises of all time. You can get a fair amount of fun out of it, and I would honestly recommend the Champion Edition if you have even a passing interest for its value alone, but this iteration doesn't quite live up to the legacy of its predecessors – even five years on.

What's next for Street Fighter V?

This being said, Street Fighter V is still growing, with Capcom's upcoming Winter Update livestream due to reveal a new mechanic for the game and more information about the first character of the fifth season of fighters, Dan Hibiki.

With some legacy characters incoming such as Rose and Oro, and even a new crossover with Akira from Rival Schools, there is the potential here for a decent final year for the game. It's just a shame that the best of Street Fighter V came so late.

Pigs have learned how to play video games

Next time you log in to Fortnite keep out for the usernames Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony and Ivory, as they may just be pigs. As in, actual snouty, bacon flavoured animals, not toxic players. Researchers have taught the pigs to manipulate a joystick using their snout, moving a cursor around a on-screen and reaching the goal and rewarding the porcine player with a delicious treat to eat.

"This sort of study is important because, as with any sentient beings, how we interact with pigs and what we do to them impacts and matters to them," lead author Dr Candace Croney told the BBC. The researchers are impressed the pigs could even play the game as they are far-sighted creatures and, well, they have no hands. The MVP was Ivory, a Panepinto micro pig, who managed to reach the target 76% of the time.

"What they were able to do is perform well above chance at hitting these targets," commented Candace Croney, director of Purdue University's Center for Animal Welfare Science and lead author of the paper in a phone call to Gizmodo. "And well enough above chance that it's very clear they had some conceptual understanding of what they were being asked to do."

"They're not playing Minecraft – but that they can manipulate a situation to get a reward is no surprise at all," commented Kate Daniels from Willow Farm in Worcestershire.

The pixel perfect porkers were spared the chop when the research ended, Hamlet and Omelette and were adopted by a couple running a bed and breakfast on a farm and Ebony and Ivory are living out their days in a children's petting zoo.

The research will help with animal welfare and allow farmers to devise interactions to help stave off boredom, and may also help them monitor social interactions.

Read our Orwell's Animal Farm Review

Meanwhile, humans are using Pomegranates to play Hades.

SAT 1PM NZT / FRI 4PM PST

WEIRD CONTROLLERS ARE BACK ON @Twitch https://t.co/H1RBWnrrtp pic.twitter.com/5maLOqdYCC

— Rudeism (@rudeism) February 11, 2021

Source: Gizmodo / BBC

UK PlayStation 5 restocks – Game pre-order queues active again, but wait times are over an hour [Updated]

Update 13:15PM: Game have seemingly filtered another set of consoles onto their site. Visiting Game's PS5 bundles page and clicking to pre-order with once again place you in a queue.

Update 11:25AM: Unfortunately, we were otherwise occupied when Game did go live at around 10AM, as opposed to our predicted 12PM. Game is now out of stock, but we may see further PlayStation 5 stock appear at other retailers:

The original article follows.

UK retailer Game seems to be gearing up for the release of fresh PlayStation 5 stock later today, having listed a bunch of new console bundles on their online store in the last 24 hours. There's no word on when exactly the stock will go live – in part to try and stall scalpers' efforts to scoop up as many consoles as they can – but following on from a restock of Xbox Series X|S consoles yesterday, we would expect to see the PlayStation 5 listings going live around midday today, Thursday 11th February. If you're looking for a console, you'll need to prepare and be ready to react as quickly as you can!

Game PlayStation 5 restock bundles

Game's online storefront shows fifteen PlayStation 5 console bundles, all labelled as pre-orders with expected release dates on 26th February 2021. The listings are not currently active and will take you to the generic PlayStation 5 hub page on the site, but you can view the listings here:

Visit Game.co.uk PlayStation 5 bundles

The bundles see the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition consoles combined with games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, extra DualSense controllers, PlayStation Store credit and more. Click the following link to browse what will become available, and we recommend creating a few bookmarks for later, but be sure that you're picking bundles with the version of the PlayStation 5 that you want to purchase.

Game are expected to offer 15 PlayStation 5 bundles later today

While you will need to be quick, yesterday's Xbox Series X stock gives cause for optimism. Game installed a queueing system and Captcha to avert scalpers making off with their stock, and the stock seemed to last for around an hour before selling out.

This would be the latest in a steady trickle of new consoles arriving on the market, following a restock that occured around the middle of January. Ever since the first pre-orders and high demand, scalpers have been quick to respond to the PS5 shortage, taking to online marketplaces such as eBay, Gumtree, Depop, and Facebook to peddle their PlayStation at a premium price. However, while they seem to be making off with thousands of consoles and grabbing the headlines – and the scrutiny of the UK government – the vast majority are actually making their ways into legitimate customers' hands. The simple fact is that the PlayStation 5 is incredible high demand and Sony are struggling to keep up.

Sony shipped 4.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles by the end of 2020, roughly in line with the opening sales of the PlayStation 4, which was in similarly high demand. Their ability to keep up is being hampered by issues surrounding the fabrication of new chipsets for the consoles. Produced at TSMC 7nm fabs, under contract from chipset development partner AMD, the supply chain has been under severe strain through 2020 to match demand. There's a juggling act to satisfy the demand of PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, as well as AMD's new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and Radeon 6000 series GPUs. Microsoft have stated that they expect the Xbox Series X to remain in short supply until at least July and we can likely expect a similar situation to apply to the PlayStation 5.

Even so, the PlayStation 5 is off to a flier and Sony have expectations that their PlayStation business will have its best ever year in terms of revenue and profit in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Source: via Digital Foundry Deals

CDL 2021: start times, teams, and how to unlock reward drops

Ahead of CDL 2021, Activision have shared more details on the annual Call of Duty esports event including the full team line-up and rosters, how to unlock rewards drops, and where to watch CDL 2021 online.

The Call of Duty League has returned for 2021 and will see the world's 12 best teams compete across five seasons, each one culminating in a Major where the season winners will be crowned. As always, teams will be playing the most recent CoD game with Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War being the focus of CDL 2021.

Teams consist of four pro players each (down from five the previous year) and will be going head to head in best-of-five matches played on PC, picking up points with every match win. CDL 2021 will feature a revised spread of game modes including competitive favourite, Search & Destroy, as well as Control, and Hardpoint.

Where to watch CDL 2021

All CDL 2021 matches will be streamed live and can be viewed via the official Call of Duty League YouTube channel. The first match will be taking place later today to kickstart the opening weekend with Los Angeles Thieves going up against Minnesota ROKKR, February 11th at 8:00PM GMT. This will be followed by the second match of the day at 9.30PM GMT between Seattle Surge and Dallas Empire. You can visit the Call of Duty League website for the full CDL 2021 schedule.

How to earn YouTube reward drops

During CDL 2021, Call of Duty fans will have the chance to unlock plenty of in-game content for Black Ops Cold War to enhance their multiplayer experience. All you need to do is link your YouTube and Call of Duty accounts (Activision promises this will only take 30 seconds) then tune in to watch live matches and earn free goodies. Note that you will need to be signed into a linked account while watching or these rewards won't unlock. Confirmed YouTube drops for CDL 2021 include cosmetics such as an exclusive weapon charm, emblems, calling cards, and weapon/XP boosts.

CDL 2021 teams

Here is the list of all 12 teams competing in CDL 2021, complete with their current player rosters.

Atlanta FaZe | USA
· Chris "Simp" Lehr
· McArthur "Cellium" Jovel
· Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris
· Alec "Arcitys" Sanderson

OpTic Chicago | USA
· Seth "Scump" Abner
· Brandon "Dashy" Otell
· Matthew "FormaL" Piper
· Dylan "Envoy" Hannon

Dallas Empire | USA
· Cuyler "Huke" Garland
· Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro
· Indervir "iLLeY" Dhaliwal
· Ian "C6" Porter

Florida Mutineers | USA
· Cesar "Skyz" Bueno
· Joseph "Owakening" Conley
· Travis "Neptune" McCloud
· Josiah "Slacked" Berry

London Royal Ravens | UK
· Sean "Seany" O'Connor
· Alex "Alexx" Carpenter
· Thomas "Dylan" Henderson
· Trei "Zer0" Morris

Los Angeles Thieves | USA
· Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat
· Kenny "Kenny" Williams
· Thomas "TJHaLy" Haly
· Donovan "Temp" Laroda

Los Angeles Guerrillas | USA
· Reece "Vivid" Drost
· Justin "SiLLY" Fargo-Palmer
· Adam "Assault" Garcia
· Bryan "Apathy" Zhelyazkov

Minnesota Røkkr | USA
· Preston "Priestahh" Greiner
· Dillon "Attach" Price
· Lamar "Accuracy" Abedi
· Michael "MajorManiak" Szymaniak

New York Subliners | USA
· James "Clayster" Eubanks
· Makenzie "Mack" Kelley
· Obaid "Asim" Asim
· Conor "Diamondcon" Johst

Paris Legion | France
· Ulysses "AquA" Silva
· Luis "Fire" Rivera
· Nicholas "Classic" DiCostanzo
· Matthew "Skrapz" Marshall

Seattle Surge | USA
· Sam "Octane" Larew
· Peirce "Gunless" Hillman
· Preston "Prestinni" Sanderson
· Daniel "Loony" Loza

Toronto Ultra | Canada
· Anthony "Methodz" Zinni
· Tobias "CleanX" Juul Jønsson
· Cameron "Cammy" McKilligan
· Ben "Bance" Bance

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launched last November on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Nick scored the FPS sequel a 7/10 in his Cold War review. Activision have yet to confirm what their plans are for Call of Duty in 2021 though it's more than likely we'll get another mainline series as well as ongoing support for Call of Duty: Warzone.

PS5 scalpers don't like the bad press they are getting, compare themselves to Tesco

A PS5 scalper is very sad. Apparently everyone is horrible and mean and we shouldn't be writing about how they are the scum of the universe, all the scalpers are doing is providing a legitimate and much needed service.

"There seems to be A LOT of bad press on this incredibly valuable industry and I do not feel that it is justified, all we are acting as is a middleman for limited quantity items," said Jordan from scalping advisory group The Lab, in conversation with Forbes.

"Essentially every business resells their products. Tesco, for example, buys milk from farmers for 26p or so per litre and sells it on for upwards of 70p per litre. No one ever seems to complain to the extent as they are currently doing towards ourselves."

For the record, milk isn't exactly in short supply and there are many options for purchasing cow based products which is why scalpers aren't making huge profits on moo-juice and instead focus on in-demand consoles.

Some retailers should be releasing new PS5 stock today, for more on that click here.

A debate surrounding the act of scalping – and, more crucially, the use of bots to automatically order consoles and other expensive tech – has been called for by a number of UK Members of Parliament (MPs).

In a nutshell, they wish to block "the resale of gaming consoles and computer components at prices greatly above Manufacturer's Recommended Retail Price", to "[deny] unscrupulous vendors the chance to make themselves vast profits at the expense of genuine gamers and computer users, while also deterring fraudulent cybercriminal activity," reports VGC.

In their motion, these MPs also wish to outlaw the use of automated bots which have been employed by individual scalpers and syndicates to jump retail queues. They propose legislation that mimics that surrounding the resale of concert and event tickets.

Scottish National Party MP Douglas Chapman has discussed the bill he will be submitting to Parliament with the BBC.

"It's simply not in the consumer's interests to have lots of stock for in demand, very exciting new products just being bought up en masse. It doesn't give the ordinary consumer fair access to the market… It's just so unfair for the ordinary person who just wants to play their game or give a gift to their child for Christmas. This situation's just going to get worse and worse."

PlayStation 5 Guides and more from TheSixthAxis

Source: Forbes

Lance Reddick offers a very sweary take on a key Destiny 2 Season of the Chosen scene

Lance Reddick, the voice of Destiny 2's Zavala is a big fan of the game and regularly interacts with fans on Twitter. He has responded to a Tweet from another Twitter user @xMechanizex who suggested some alternate dialogue to a scene from the new Season of the Chosen. In the original version Commander Zavala meets with Empress Caiatl, daughter of the former exiled Emperor Calus, and she proposes a truce and commands Zavala to kneel.

@xMechanizex has suggested that rather than a simple but firm "No" Zavala should have said something rather more… fruity. You can watch Reddick perform the alternate dialogue below but please be warned it is very sweary and includes such delightful phrases as "clap ass".

Dear @xMechanizex and @DestinyTheGame fans: This is for you. #Destiny2 pic.twitter.com/uYYKIuyI25

— Lance Reddick (@lancereddick) February 10, 2021

Bravo to Mr. Reddick for that, what a top chap he is.

Season of the Chosen picks up after the events of Season of the Hunt which knocked the established order of the solar system with the Pyramids and some Hive-y shenanigans. Empress Caiatl, the daughter of Calus and new leader of the Cabal, has arrived and seeking an alliance. However, when negotiations break down, you must now strike out from the H.E.L.M., acquire the Hammer of Proving and battle her war council to stave off the threat she poses.

Season 13 adds the new Battlegrounds mode, a three-player matchmade activity where you fight against Caiatl's chosen warriors. It also brings a few Strikes into the game, with The Devil's Lair and Fallen SABER returning from Destiny 1 in the Old Russia location. Later in the season an all-new Stirke, Proving Grounds, will see you fight the Cabal to save the Last City once again.

New gear is arriving, with Season Pass owners immediately unlocking the seasonal Praefectus Armor Set and Exotic bow, Ticuu's Divination, which fires Solar arrows that track multiple targets. More than 25 Exotic, Legendary and ritual weapons will be available to collect.

The new Seasonal Artefact is the Bell of Conquests, which as per usual will increase your Power every time it's upgraded, letting you grab some Seasonal mods to tweak your build.

Source: Twitter

Skate City shredding onto PS4, Xbox, Switch, and PC soon

Skate City will soon be bringing its vibe-fuelled brand of skateboarding to PC and consoles very soon, its developers Agens and Snowman have announced. Originally released exclusively on iOS devices in 2019 with the launch of Apple Arcade, Skate City is due to grind and flip its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as Nintendo Switch and PC.

More OlliOlli than Skater XL or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, Skate City adopts a side-on view as players weave through each of its cosy stages, weaving together tricks and crossing off a list of skateboarding challenges. There's no word on a release date or pricing just yet – more information should soon be made available via Skate City's Steam page (it has been confirmed for release on the Epic Games Store, too).

Here are some more details about what to expect from Skate City:

About Skate City

Skate City captures the heart and soul of street skating in an authentic light. Players will have the opportunity to explore three unique cities based off of real-world skate locations, including the streets of Los Angeles, Oslo, and Barcelona. Set to original lo-fi beats, you can ride like a local through each city's Challenge mode, or take it at your own pace with Endless Skate. Head to the skate shop to customize your player and unlock everything else available!

Key Features

Coast through three beautiful and iconic locations based off of real world skate spots in Los Angeles, Oslo, and Barcelona.
Hundreds of trick combinations, including flip tricks, grabs, grinds, spins, and manuals with our easy-to-use controls.
Over one hundred challenges to complete. Or chill out and ride at your own pace with Endless Skate.
Customize your skater by picking up a new deck, trucks, wheels, shoes, hats, glasses, clothes, or hairstyle. You can also change your skin tone while creating your skater.
Capture and share your best runs with our in-game recording tools. You can zoom in, spin the camera and even slow down time to highlight your best tricks.
Original soundtrack of atmospheric lo-fi beats.
Dreamy, beautiful, nostalgic art style.

Source: Press Release

Dreams update 2.21 now live on PS4 and PS5

With the first anniversary of Media Molecule's Dreams fast approaching, the UK-based developer has been tinkering away at a new game update. Available to download now on PS4 and PS5 (via backwards compatibility) Dreams update 2.21 is loaded with new features and more ways to explore its myriad of user-created content.

This latest patch doesn't come tagged with any new creation tools and is mainly focused on helping players managing playlists and discovering content made by other Dreamers. Changes include a new message of the day feature as well grouped notifications, a "play later" button, and a revised social page for Dreamer profiles.

If you're at all curious about Dreams and the creations its community have been working on over the past twelve months, make sure you tune into The Impys. Available to watch live via YouTube and Twitch, Media Molecule will be celebrating the artistry and ingenuity of their players. If you're looking to load your Dreams playlist up with experiences to watch or play, it should be well worth a watch.

Here's everything including in the Dreams 2.21 update:

Dreams Patch 2.21 (aka, The Impy Update!) isLIVE NOW!

Ready for the #ImpyAwards
Message of the Day
Notification aggregation & new look
Social Page
Other improvements and bug fixes!

Full patch notes can be found here: https://t.co/h8HBmCUxsa #MadeInDreams pic.twitter.com/UOUxchoEGj

— Media Molecule (@mediamolecule) February 10, 2021

Other Improvements

My Creations Search Filters: New filters have been added to My Creations to help creators more easily manage their local storage space.
System Background Music: Playing Dreams on PlayStation®5? You'll now hear some Dreamiverse tunes playing when highlighting the game on your homescreen. A PlayStation®4 player? Scroll
down to the Activity area below Dreams to check this out.
Save Transfer Messaging: When switching to a new console, players will be reminded to transfer/copy over their Dreams save data.

Fixes

Tidied up the button prompts around imps while DreamSurfing
Fixed some crashes that were occurring on certain creations
Fixed a rare issue where the Keyboard wouldn't open
Fixed an issue where some creations in a Community Jam could not be played
Fixed an issue where UI to delete creations would not appear when local storage space was full

We scored the incredibly ambitious PlayStation exclusive a 9/10 in our Dreams review:

Taking Media Molecule's creative ethos to new heights, Dreams is a PlayStation essential. Booting the game up each time and having no idea what awaits is an intoxicating feeling. A remedy, forcing me from the rut of my predictable gaming habits to explore an inner creativity I'm often too lazy or wound up to let free.

If there's one game I feel guilty for not playing on a more regular basis, it's Dreams. Hopefully, The Impys will help broadcast the jaw-dropping creations players have been working on and get more PlayStation fans involved.

Source: Dreams

Orwell's Animal Farm Review

Who among us hasn't felt like we are living inside some sort of Orwellian nightmare at times? The author's name has become synonymous with overbearing, claustrophobic control, inspiring an entire catalogue of games from Observer to the bluntly named Orwell series. The combination of paranoid futurism and the very real technology available to us today makes for a pretty devastating sci-fi dialogue, one which is hard to get wrong. 1984 gets the credit for a lot of these games, but Orwell's Animal Farm takes its inspiration directly from the source of another classic Orwell tale, without the safety net of science fiction.

Assessing, probably quite rightly, that the majority of players are already familiar with the story of Animal Farm, the game promises a more inventive approach to its narrative. Instead of mindlessly walking you through a well-worn story, there's a branching storyline in which you can improve on the original fate of the animals, with specific objectives along the way. Whether or not you are well-versed in the contents of the book really doesn't dictate how much you can understand – but to be able to anticipate certain events may prove a useful bonus.

At one of the earliest points in the game, after running Mr. Jones out of the farm, you'll be able to pick up a ledger with the objectives and possible endings inside. It is your job to explore as many of these avenues as possible, taking on the role of all the farm animals, in turn, to ensure that Animal Farm thrives without its human leaders. This element swiftly tries to separate Animal Farm from the obvious Visual Novel categorisation, promising multiple endings and considerably varied playthroughs.

Unfortunately, other than the inclusion of this book, there is little to actually encourage multiple playthroughs. The game struggles with simplicity, at times making it a useful feature, and at others feeling cold and dull. The plot almost takes second place to the soft management sim that consumes most of the play time. The better you play, the less actually happens, as you can circumvent most of the negative events in the book, causing the game to become repetitive and tragically unrewarding.

Initially, there are regular meetings that allow you to voice concerns or support the pig-led government. Some animals will be resistant from the start, voicing their anxieties during these meetings and thus giving you the choice to allow them to speak or (in some cases) ban them from even participating. This element dwindles as the game progresses, with the animals meeting on a far less regular basis. Clearly, this is meant to represent the removal of democracy from the farm, but from a gameplay standpoint, it removes a lot of potential variation from the dialogue.

Other than these meetings, the rest of the game feels like a soft management sim. You're given some basic tasks – not all of which can be completed – and asked to prioritise the workload between members of your community. Some of the animals will work harder, but to their own detriment, while some take the slow and steady approach. Having such a familiar story as the background for the game does mean the player is more likely to protect certain individuals, which leads to some interesting reimaginings of the work at hand.

The element of choice does mean that much of what happens is not written by Orwell himself, but to their credit, the team manages to create a congruent storyline. The slow pace may turn some players off, but the audio narration works really well alongside some attractive graphics to create that tone of sinister oppression.

Animal Farm outdoes itself with audio-visual performance, in what is possibly the strongest elements of the game. Characters are easily distinguished and illustrated with expression and personality. The backdrop and changing face of the farm is easy to read, with a minimalist overlay that does the job quite efficiently. The music is appropriately ominous, with all animals voiced by a booming and authoritative voice actor. Stirring tones of nationalism and warfare, the quality of these elements is enough to redeem the game quite significantly.

Played at its most simplistic, with these attractive visuals and immersive soundtrack, Animal Farm is almost instructive. A useful teaching tool about the book. It seems almost as though it could be used as a student's companion, which would perhaps excuse its less engaging elements.

There is a sense that the game perhaps misses its target on occasion, that it doesn't always address the opportunities in the narrative is achingly apparent. There's a frequent gap where the story has the potential to be witty, or genuinely challenging – and it just falls a bit flat. The randomly generated yearly tasks are unrewarding and the mechanics are never justified. Raising Animalism always seems like an afterthought, leaving you with very little energy to do anything else on the farm. I can't say the game railroads players in any one direction, as it clearly strives to provide the varied endings, but you do feel a little hemmed in.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that people unfamiliar with the book will have much to engage with here. The book's contents are stretched thin over the frame of a weak resource management game, a slow-moving experience with frustrating elements. For fans of the book, and particularly students, it may prove a more fulfilling journey, but the branching narrative seems a little forced at times. For a game where choices matter, it is surprising how little your choices do matter and how dull the game becomes if you make all the 'right' decisions. I suppose in this way, maybe unintentionally, the game provides us with an unusual reading of authoritarian literature, diminishing your actual decisions whilst everything on the surface looks great.

The Last of Us TV show casts The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal as Joel and GoT's Bella Ramsey as Ellie

Two major pieces of the puzzle for the upcoming The Last of Us TV adaptation have fallen into place with the casting of The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal as Joel and Games of Thrones' Bella Ramsey as Ellie. They're a pair of high-profile casting choices for the series, which is in development for HBO by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann.

Did we say we're building out the cast? Thrilled to see @PedroPascal1 join @BellaRamsey on the @HBO series of The Last of Us https://t.co/xUODu1ypdX

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) February 11, 2021

Pascal has been on a string of great roles since his recurring role in Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell, playing Javier Peña in Narcos for three seasons before his most recent stint as the titular Mandalorian. From that show, he is obviously very familiar with the basic premise of The Last of Us, in which Joel is a grizzled smuggler tasked with escorting 14-year old orphan Ellie, who will be played by Bella Ramsey, best known as Game of Thrones' Lyanna Mormont, through a hostile post-apocalyptic rendition of America.

Pedro Pascal will be Joel in The Last of Us HBO TV series

Meanwhile, over in The Mandalorian, Pascal has been escorting a baby Yoda around the Star Wars galaxy. I'm not saying that Ramsey's Ellie and baby Yoda are quite alike, but… there's some passing similarities to the plot, I guess?

Bella Ramsey is Ellie for the show, though expect her to look a bit older by now…

The biggest difference for Pascal will probably be that he doesn't have to act through the impenetrable and emotionless helmet of the Mandalorian armour. Well, that and there being zombified Clickers out to get him…

Pascal was announced shortly after rumours emerged that two time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali had been offered the lead role, and that Matthew McConaughey had turned it prior to this. These rumours were quashed and both Ramsey and Pascal's signing were revealed shortly after.

The Last of Us' HBO adaptation was announced back in March 2020, with Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann teaming up with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin to bring the blockbuster video game story to TV audiences. Kantemir Balagov will be directing The Last of Us' HBO pilot episode, no doubt able to tap into his experience in directing the Russian movie Beanpole, set in the ruined city of Leningrad during WW2. They've also called upon Gustavo Santaolalla to create the series' soundtrack, which was such an integral part of the atmosphere of both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.

Source: Deadline

Borderlands 3 Director's Cut arrives in March – Tales from the Borderlands returns to digital stores

Gearbox had a bunch of fan-pleasing announcements in the latest The Borderlands Show, with the release date for the Borderlands 3 Director's Cut add-on set for 18th March across all platforms – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC & Stadia. The Director's Cut is part of Season Pass 2, which will also see a bunch of new premium cosmetics adde to the game, while everyone can enjoy the returning Broken Hearts Day seasonal event, and pick up the game at a healthy discount. Speaking of buying games, Tales from the Borderlands, one of Telltale's best graphic adventures, is also returning to digital stores next week!

Take on a new raid boss in Borderlands 3 Director's Cut

The Director's Cut will arrive individually or as part of Season Pass 2, featuring a range of new content added to the game. While not a significant new story arc for the game, like the expansions found in Season Pass 1, there's still plenty of new looter shooting to be getting on with. The headline act is the new raid boss: Hemovorous the Invincible, a huge Varkid that's been hidden away behind a door on Pandora since launch. There's also a series of murder mystery missions spread across Pandora, Promethea, Eden-6, and Nekrotafeyo, introducing new locations and crime scene analysis gameplay.

The Director's Cut will bring a bunch of behind the scenes content form the game's development, including bloops (who doesn't love bloops?), cut content, and a gallery of concept art, storyboards, maps and more. Then there's the trio of Vault Cards which unlock bundles of themed loot through daily and weekly challenges, with one card active at launch and the other two coming later in 2021.

The first Vault Card for Borderlands 3 Director's Cut

But that's not all for Season Pass 2, with the new premium cosmetics, The Disciples of the Vault, also announced. There's four multipacks available, each with a unique vault hunter body and head, and they'll arrive alongside the Director's Cut on 18th March. This all compliments the Designer's Cut that arrived back in November.

Broken Hearts Day is also back running from now until 25th February, with hearts hovering around lovesick enemies throughout the game. Shoot enough hearts and you'll unlock five special themed rewards including reclours of last year's cosmetics and two Legendary weapons.

To hop into the action, Borderlands 3's various versions are between 50% and 72% off across Xbox, PlayStation and PC via both Steam and Epic.

And finally, the graphic adventure Tales from the Borderlands is returning to digital storefronts on 17th February, after having spent more than a year in limbo after the collapse of Telltale Games in its original form. Set between the events of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3, there's plenty of choices to be made as you shape the events of the Borderlands universe. The game will be returning to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, but you'll be able to play on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility.

In our review for Borderlands 3, Jason wrote:

I've got very mixed feelings about Borderlands 3. Overall I like it and it's fun to play, but it could have been so much more and the writing feels like time traveling back to your high school days and being surprised and a little disappointed at how immature everyone is. Few things in life are as embarrassing as the person you were five years ago. If you're not embarrassed, then I'm sorry to say that you may well be the Borderlands 3 of your friend group; stuck in the past unable to grow or change in any meaningful way, relying on fart jokes as a stand-in for your personality.

You can read the full review here.

While not to everyone's tastes, Borderlands 3 has been very well supported. There's been a ton of added content for Borderlands 3, with regular seasonal event, the first Season Pass – which waded in with a string of new campaigns to battle through, including Guns, Love, and Tentacles: The Marriage of Wainwright and Hammerlock, Bounty of Blood: A Fistful of Redemption and Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck – and now Season Pass 2, which took a different approach to adding content. Oh, and then there were the free upgrades to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Source: press release

PlayStation Store Big in Japan sale returns with up to 75% off

The Big in Japan sale has returned to the PlayStation Store once more, with Sony offering major discounts on Japanese games in this familiar recurring promotion. The selection of games and genres is broad, with the defining characteristic simply being that the game must have come from the Land of the Rising Sun. From Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions (40% off), to Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (86% off), Dark Souls III (75% off) and back again to anime with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (50% off), there's a game here for pretty much everyone… except those who literally only play FIFA and Call of Duty each year.

There's a good selection of discounts to trawl through, for which you can mosey on over to the PlayStation Store itself, but we've a list of all the discounted games below as well.

Big in Japan Sale – February 2021

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – £24.99
428: Shibuya Scramble – £8.99
88 Heroes – £2.39
A Pixel Story – £4.49
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – £6.99
Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault – £4.79
AI: The Somnium Files – £19.99
Akiba's Beat – £3.99
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed – £7.49
Arcade Spirits – £9.59
Assault Suit Leynos – £3.99
Azur Lane: Crosswave – £17.99
Azur Lane: Crosswave – Deluxe Bundle – £3.19
Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack – £16.49
Bayonetta – £9.99
Blazblue Centralfiction – £7.19
BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend – £3.99
Blazblue Cross Tag Battle – £3.99
Blazblue Cross TAG Battle Special Edition – £11.24
Breakout – £2.99
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions – £26.99
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions – – Deluxe Edition – £45.49
Cat Quest – £1.99
Cat Quest II – £7.19
Catherine: Full Body – £15.74
Catherine: Full Body – Deluxe Edition – £18.89
Chaoschild – £4.99
Code Vein – £13.99
Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ – £13.49
Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ – £17.99
Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars – £19.99
Conga Master – £1.47
Crystar – £16.99
Danganronpa 1/2 Reload – £8.74
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls – £3.74
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony – £13.99
Dark Rose Valkyrie – £13.49
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin – £7.99
Dark Souls III – £11.24
Dark Souls III – Deluxe Edition – £13.74
Dark Souls: Remastered – £10.49
Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation – £9.99
Dead Or Alive 6 – £16.49
Dead Or Alive 6 Digital – Deluxe Edition – £20.99
Death end re;Quest 2 – £17.99
Death end re;Quest 2 Deluxe Pack – £19.99
Death end reQuest – £9.99
Decay of Logos – £7.99
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers – £17.49
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition – £5.99
Digimon World: Next Order – £9.99
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories – £29.99
Disgaea 1 Complete – £17.99
Disgaea 4 Complete+ – £26.99
Disgaea 5 Complete Bundle – £17.49
DmC Devil May Cry – Definitive Edition – £8.74
DMC4SE Demon Hunter Bundle – £7.49
DOA6 Season Pass 3 – £49.49
Doraemon Story Of Seasons – £17.49
Dragon Ball Fighterz – FighterZ Edition – £11.19
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 1 and 2 Bundle – £11.99
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot – £19.99
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot – Ultimate Edition – £37.49
Dragon Marked For Death – £19.79
Dusk Diver – £14.99
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair – £3.19
Earth Defense Force 5 – Deluxe Edition – £30.99 – £37.19
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain – Ultimate Edition – £25.89 – £36.99
Earth's Dawn – £3.19
Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky – £14.99
Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force – £9.99
Fire Pro Wrestling World – £13.49
Fire Pro Wrestling World – Deluxe Edition – £22.49
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise – £7.99
Gabbuchi – £3.24
Gal*Gun 2 – Complete Edition – £29.99
Gal*Gun: Double Peace – Ultimate Edition – £16.49
Gal*Gunvolt Burst – £3.19
Giga Wrecker Alt. – £9.99
Giraffe and Annika – £16.24
God Wars Future Past – £6.74
Guilty Gear – £3.99
Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- – £7.99
Guilty Gear Xrd Rev.2 – £6.99
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX with Bonus – £7.19
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition – £27.99
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition Deluxe – £31.99
Harvest Moon: Mad Dash – £12.79
Holy Potatoes! A Bundle?! – £14.99
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! – £5.99
Holy Potatoes! We're In Space?! – £5.99
Holy Potatoes: What the Hell?! – £9.59
I Want To Be Human – £0.39
Illusion of L'Phalcia – £7.19
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate – £24.49
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven – £6.71
Judgment – £16.49
Jump Force – £7.69
Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story – £12.49
Kill la Kill – If – £7.99
Kingdom Hearts All-In-One Package – £22.49
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX – £9.99
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue – £11.99
Kingdom Hearts III – £16.49
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory – £33.49
Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa – £3.99
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk – £17.99
Langrisser I & II – £23.99
Little Dragons Café – £27.99
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite – Deluxe Edition – £14.99
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite – Standard Edition – £8.74
Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Combo Pack – £9.99
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 – £16.24
Mega Man Zero/Zx Legacy Collection – £16.24
Megadimension Neptunia Viir – £13.99
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – £2.39
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – £7.49
Metal Gear Survive – £11.54
Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On – £29.24
Monochrome Order – £5.99
Monster Viator – £8.39
My Hero One's Justice 2 – £24.99
My Hero One's Justice 2 – Deluxe Edition – £29.99
Naruto Shippuden – Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – £7.99
Naruto Shippuden – Ultimate Ninja Storm Legacy – £9.59
Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker – Deluxe Edition – £9.74
NBA 2K21 – £23.99
NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition Bundle – £67.99
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – £6.71
Ninja Shodown – £1.99
Nippon Marathon – £3.99
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir – £16.49
Omega Quintet – £4.99 – £7.49
One Piece World Seeker – Deluxe Edition – £19.49
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 – £24.99
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 – Deluxe Edition – £38.49
One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows – £24.99
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos – £5.99
Our World Is Ended. – £17.99
Override 2: Super Mech League – £19.99
Override 2: Super Mech League Ultraman – Deluxe Edition – £26.39
PixelJunk Monsters 2 – £2.39
PixelJunk Monsters 2 – Deluxe Edition – £3.59
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness – £8.99
Punch Line – £8.74
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 – £26.24
Raging Loop – £12.49
Resident Evil Revelations 1 & 2 Bundle – £13.99
Rico – £7.99
Robotics;Notes DaSH – £17.99
Robotics;Notes Double Pack – £29.99
Robotics;Notes Elite – £17.99
Roombo: First Blood – £2.63 – £3.29
Root Letter – £3.19 – £4.79
Root Letter: Last Answer – £4.99
Sakura Wars – £24.99
School Girl/Zombie Hunter – £11.99
Seek Hearts – £7.19
Sephirothic Stories – £5.99
Shenmue III – Digital Deluxe Edition – £13.99 – £20.99
Snk Heroines Tag Team Frenzy – £26.99
Song Of Memories – £7.49
Sonic Forces – £17.49
Sonic Mania – £7.99
Soulcalibur VI – £7.69
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark – £17.99
Spirit Hunter: Ng – £22.49
Steins;Gate Elite – £24.99
SteinsGate 0 – £3.99
Steinsgate: My Darling's Embrace – £12.49
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition – £16.74
Strider – £2.39
Super Neptunia Rpg – £9.99
Superbeat: XONiC Ex – £3.99
Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris – £29.99
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet – Complete Edition – £12.49
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! – £9.99
Tales of Berseria – £7.99
Tales of Vesperia – Definitive Edition – £8.74
The Caligula Effect: Overdose – £17.99
The Disney Afternoon Collection – £3.99
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III – £29.99
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV – £37.49
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Digital – Deluxe Edition – £49.49
The Lost Child – £11.24
The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 – £17.99
The Witch and the Hundred Knight Wicked Bundle – £21.99
The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition – £11.54
The Wonderful 101: Remastered – £27.19
Tokyo Ghoul:re [Call to Exist] – £24.99
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs – £4.79
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ – £9.99
Trailblazers – £4.99
Trails of Cold Steel III – Digital Deluxe Edition – £35.74
Umbrella Corps – £2.99
Umbrella Corps – Deluxe Edition – £3.74
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] – £19.24
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] – £9.99
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen – £34.99
Utawarerumono: Zan – £16.49
Valkyria Chronicles 4 – Complete Edition – £15.99
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story – £1.99
Vanquish – £9.99
Warborn – £11.99
White Day – Ultimate Horror Edition – £19.79
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School – £3.74
Wizards of Brandel – £7.19
World End Syndrome – £8.74
Yomawari: Midnight Shadows – £9.99
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution – £13.19
Yu-No: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. – £17.99
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning – £9.99
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games – £14.99
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma – £11.99

via HUKD

Dead By Daylight update 4.5.0 adds new Tome, graphics upgrade

As we wearily stumble through 2021 like a wounded survivor, Behaviour Interactive have emerged from the fog, sharpening their hooks. A new update for Dead By Daylight is now available on all available platforms including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Google Stadia. The mid-chapter patch comes tagged with the expected shopping list of fixes and improvements with some welcome extras stuffed in there for fans of the macabre multiplayer hit. On top of that, a new Tome has been activated – this is Dead By Daylight's take on the popular battle pass progression system, presenting a branching track chock full of rewards.

Dead By Daylight update 4.5.0 introduces balance changes for Killers The Clown, The Trapper, and The Wraith. More noticeable is the upgraded player HUD which now displays match information clearly and more intuitively. Long time fans will also see a difference in how the game looks following the latest graphical update which improves environmental details, character models, lighting, and survivor animation among other visual boosts.

Dead By Daylight Update 4.5.0 Patch Notes

Content

Tome VI & The Gilded Stampede Event

Tome VI for The Archives will start tomorrow on Feb. 10th at 11AM ET
The Gilded Stampede event will start the day after on Feb. 11th at 11AM ET

New HUD Layout – Several HUD elements have been moved or updated

The player status widget (player names, health states etc.) has been redesigned. Along with a number of graphical improvements to animations, the player status widget is now positioned on the left side of the screen. While this change was not made lightly, it was necessary in order to make the player names readable across all platforms and resolutions as well as make room for new HUD elements like the Hook Count.
The objectives have been moved to the top center of the screen to give us more room to display detailed instructions.
Score events and status effect alerts have been moved to the right side of the screen. This was primarily to bring the status effect alerts closer to the status effect indicators they reference.
The number of visible score events has been increased when multiple events are triggered at the same time.

New HUD Element – Hook Counts

Killers see a new widget which displays how many hooks they've earned during the match out of the possible total hooks. This is only visible to the Killer.
Survivors see a new set of markers above each of the Survivor player's names. This lets the Survivor players know how many times each Survivor has been hooked. This is only visible to the Survivors.

New HUD Element – Survivor Portraits

The healthy and injured health state icons have been replaced with each character's portrait.
The Injured state has been improved from the PTB to be more obvious, especially for colorblind players.

UI Scale Sliders

The Settings menu has been updated with two new slider settings that allow players to adjust the size of their UI. Players may adjust the size of the menus and HUD separately. This replaces the previous maximum scale value used in previous releases.

Visual Update:

Visual updates to maps in Gideon Meat Plant and Asylum.
Updated model and textures on 4 Nurse outfits.
Update model, texture on the Clown base outfit and updated his VFX.

Updated Survivor Locomotion

New:

Updated the posing for all Survivor locomotion animations.
Added Start/Stop transition animations and quick turn animations.
Added ability to use Flashlight while crouching.
Updated crawling turn speed and added animation feedback for recovering.

New from PTB:

Added new animation when entering the hatch while crawling.
Updated Self-Heal fail animation.
Slightly raised the camera when crawling.

Balance

Killers

The Clown:

Power:

Clown now has two types of bottles: Tonic and Antidote.
Tap Secondary Power to switch which will be thrown
Hold Secondary Power to reload bottles
Reload time is now 3 seconds (down from 5 seconds)

Antidote bottles:

Release a gray cloud that activates and turns yellow after 2.5 seconds
Antidote clouds last a total of 7.5 seconds and are smaller than Tonic clouds
Overlapping Antidote and Tonic clouds causes both to disappear
Survivors and The Clown gain the "Invigorated" status effect when they touch the Antidote cloud
Invigorated grants 10% movement speed bonus for 5 seconds
An Intoxicated Survivor touching a yellow Antidote cloud is no longer intoxicated
Tonic clouds remain unchanged

Addons:

Party Bottle: Thrown bottles emit confetti when shattering (was Ether 5 Vol%)
Fingerless Parade Gloves: Bottles are thrown with a different arc that doesn't go as high but goes further
Smelly Inner Soles: Greater move speed bonus when reloading (was Common, now Rare)
Solvent Jug: Moderately increases the Invigorated effect duration
Thick Cork Stopper: Smaller reload time reduction
Spirit of Hartshorn: Moderately expands The Antidote cloud area (was Ether 10 Vol%)
VHS Porn: Swaps yellow and purple color of Antidote and Tonic effects (was Rare, now is Common)
Cigar Box: When any player becomes Invigorated, they see all other players' auras within a 16m radius
Garish Makeup Kit: Considerably increases Invigorated Effect duration
Tattoo's Middle Finger: Auras of Intoxicated or Invigorated survivors are revealed to you for 6 seconds

Audio:

The Clown now has his own Terror Radius & Chase music.

The Trapper:

Escaping from a Bear Trap now has a 1/6 (16.6%) chance of succeeding on each attempt, but is capped at a maximum of 6 attempts
Addons that reduce the chance of escape increase the maximum number of attempts as well as reducing the chance per attempt

The Wraith:

While cloaked, the Wraith is completely invisible (no shimmer) to Survivors when more than 20m away
Increased the duration of the uncloak speed boost from 1.0s to 1.25s
Restored a missing bone-rattle sound cue at the beginning of the Wraith's cloaking animation (sometimes referred to as "bell tech")
Fixed an issue where the Wraith would appear to uncloak completely while kicking a generator or breaking a pallet or wall while cloaked. The Wraith now only uncloaks the necessary bits.
Fixed an issue that caused the Wraith's add-on "The Serpent" to reset the uncloaking progress after completing an interaction. It will now leave the Wraith completely uncloaked and able to attack, and trigger an uncloak speed boost, after damaging a generator or breaking a pallet or wall.

MISCELLANEOUS

Hex: Undying:

While Hex: Undying is active, Survivors within 2/3/4 meters of any Dull Totem have their Aura revealed.
When another Hex Totem is cleansed, that Totem's Hex transfers to the Hex: Undying Totem, deactivating Hex: Undying. Any tokens the transferred Hex had are transferred as well

Misc. Perks:

Fixated: Now works while injured
Iron Maiden: Effect lasts 30 seconds
Second Wind: Durations now 28/24/20 seconds
~~Pebble~~ Diversion: Now charges in 40/35/30 seconds. Distance thrown now 20 meters at all tiers.

Deep Wound:

Now always has a 20-second timer
Frank's Mixtape and Stab Wound Study adjusted to have the same proportional impact on Survivors' Deep Wound timers
Borrowed Time's tier adjustments are now the duration of the Endurance status effect at 10/12/15 seconds

Mangled:

Mangled status effect always lasts until fully healed
Vigil no longer affects Mangled
Begrimed Head: Removed repair speed debuff, added Hemorrhage status effect
Rusty Attachments: Only applies Mangled to injured Survivors

Bug Fixes

Fixed a hitch occurring in the Loadout Panel when selecting an item
Fixed a hitch when opening the Bloodweb after a certain level
Fixed an issue that could cause some survivors passively falling asleep to not count towards the "Dream Master" achievement
Fixed some issues regarding user impersonation
Fixed a crash that could occur on the initial interaction screen
Fixed an issue that occurred occasionally after the killer disconnects from a match where the Player Level would display incorrect Level and Devotion values
Fixed an issue where the Survivor could get stuck and not be able to be picked up if downed while repairing a generator.
Fixed an issue where the Flashlight cone would not expand after successfully blinding the Killer
Fixed an issue where the 1st generator piston would move abnormally fast.
Fixed an issue with Steve's lips while gesturing.
Fixed an issue with the camera when the Nurse would carry a Survivor and attack.
Fixed an issue where Jane and Kate chest physics would not work properly.
Fixed an issue where the Oni's armor would be floating.
Fixed an issue where the Clown's hair would be floating.
Fixed an issue where Totems located next to the Combine Harvester's wheel on Coldwind Farm couldn't be cleansed.

Audio:

Fixed an issue where Elodie is screaming louder than other survivors.
Fixed various surface tags for footsteps and impacts
Fixed an issue where Doctor static attack doesn't play his sound.
Fixed an issue with some locomotion survivor animations
Fixed an issue with Legion customization "Hooded Leather Jacket"

PC only:

Fixed a crash that could occur when pasting an empty text in the promo code

Windows Store only:

Fixed an issue when launching the game and navigating directly to Play as Killer/Survivor, the user's currency would display as 0-0-0 instead of the real values.

Switch only:

Fixed an issue where multiple sound effects weren't echoed on Nintendo Switch

PS5 only:

Fixed an issue where the player wouldn't be brought back to the initial interaction screen when the internet connection is lost

Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 only:

Fixed a crash that would occur after loading the tutorial while the game is not completely installed

Fixed Issues from PTB

Fixed an issue where Survivor would not be able to nod their head up/down anymore.
Fixed an issue where Survivor character would stuttered changing direction quickly.
Fixed an issue where the Survivor would play the incorrect animation when bleeding out of Deep Wound.
Fixed an issue where the players would be able to steer character during Dead Hard.
Fixed an issue where the Survivor would snap back to their original position after letting go of repairing a generator.
Fixed an issue where the character would stutter when using the flashlight while moving.
Fixed an issue where the character would remain in fall stance after vaulting.
Fixed an issue where the character would not play the Dead Hard animation properly from idle.
Fixed an issue where the Survivor would clip through lockers doors while rushing out.
Fixed an issue where the Survivor carrying an item would clip through the ground.
Fixed and issue where Ash hand would jitter while carrying an item.
Fixed an issue where character would "T" stance when infected by the Plague and interacting with the exit gate
Fixed an issue where character would "T" stance when interacting with fountains.

Last year's November update for Dead By Daylight introduced a new killer, The Twins.

Will Dead By Daylight get bots on PC & consoles?

We recently re-reviewed Dead By Daylight for 2020, bumping up its original score:

Dead By Daylight has evolved into somewhat of a phenomenon, proving that the often maligned games-as-a-service model produces more than just cookie cutter loot shooters. It's still an acquired taste and a bit rough around the edges though stands out as one of the most unique ongoing multiplayer games of the generation.

Those who currently own a copy of Dead By Daylight on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One can upgrade for free on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S respectively, carrying over their progress – here's how.

Source: Dead By Daylight

We Are Legion: Rome is a first person action RPG where you play as a Roman Legionary

Gaming Factory has announced a first-person action-adventure called We Are Legion: Rome, in which players take on the role of a Roman Legionary. As you make your way across the Roman world the characters will face off against Rome's enemies and engage in battles. Some battles will be close quarters with sword and shield in hand, while others will require the use of siege machines for siege warfare. If players want to succeed in the Roman military they will have to follow orders to the letter.

We Are Legion: Rome's features have been listed below, showing exactly the kind of things players may experience in the virtual Roman Army.

Join the brotherhood of steel: The legion is you, and you are the legion. Without your brothers in arms, you will achieve nothing, just like the legion needs every legionary to be strong and effective.

Enlist with Rome's most elite troops: Be faithful, punitive, and follow orders without thinking twice to get promoted and quickly reach the top of the military hierarchy.

Dive into the legion's life and the rules that drive it: A legionary's reality is not only combat and battlefields, but also mutual relations and everything that makes up camp life.

Your survival depends on your equipment and skills: Depending on the cohort you decide to join, you'll need to equip yourself with the proper weapons and develop a skillset essential for success.

Fight for the glory of Rome: Face enemies in brutal encounters, execute tactical tasks, conduct sieges, and try to maintain captured footholds, all in the glorious name of Caesar.

Learn the true face of an ancient war: Everything from armor and weapons, through combat tactics and fighting style, to the overall look of the battlefield.

See how love and hate intertwine: Some say that with every life you take, you lose a part of yourself and that only love can save you from the horrors of war. Try to protect your humanity so as not to lose yourself in hateful madness.

The game is coming to PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, though a release date is yet to be confirmed for We Are Legion: Rome.

Source: Press Release

Paradise Lost trailer explores an alternate timeline where WWII went on for decades

All In! Games and developer PolyAmorous have released a brand new trailer for the post-apocalyptic title Paradise Lost. This trailer explores the Paradise Lost's alternate timeline where WWII took place over decades, with the USA not joining for nearly 20 years after hostilities began. In this alternate timeline, Nazi Germany builds its own nuclear arsenal and as the allies close in the Nazi's bombard Europe with those nuclear bombs. The Nazi's hide in bunkers but are infiltrated by the Polish resistance. Europe remains a nuclear wasteland and it is one you can explore in Paradise Lost.

In Paradise Lost players take on the role of Szymon, a 12 year old boy who is exploring post-nuclear bombarded Poland in 1980. As he explores the world Szymon finds one of the Nazi's bunkers and makes his way inside. As he explores the bunker, Szymon searches for a man in a photo. A photo that his mother had left him. The bunker itself appears abandoned but Szymon is guided by a mysterious voice belonging to some claiming to be called Ewa. Players will explore this uninhabited bunker which is covered in Slavic pagan imagery and industrial technology.

Paradise Lost is currently available to pre-order on Steam, and it is scheduled to be released in 2021.The game is also slated to be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Source: Press Release

Black Myth: Wukong trailer celebrates the Chinese New Year in stylish Kung Fu style

Game Science Studio made a splash when it revealed the action RPG Black Myth: Wukong last year in an effort to gain more attention and bring more people onto the project. The original trailer showed 13 minutes of action and the environments players would find themselves traversing once the game is released. Now, Game Science Studio has released a brand new trailer for Black Myth: Wukong to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the start of the Year of the Ox. This trailer focuses a lot on the combat but also shows some abilities players will have access to including shapeshifting and using other magic.

There are not too many details though going by the official site the inspiration does seem to be the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to The West by Wu Cheng'en. In an FAQ on the Black Myth:Wukong's website, the developers have stated that the game will be a single purchase title but will not rule out additional DLC after the launch of the game. While a launch date is yet to be confirmed, Game Science Studio has also confirmed that there are other titles planned for the Black Myth series, though the release of those would likely depend on the success of Black Myth: Wu Kong. The reason Game Science Studio released the footage of Black Myth: Wu Kong was partly because the team needs more members.

Source: YouTube

Guilty Gear Strive gameplay demoed in three different match videos

Arc System Works has released three new gameplay videos for its upcoming fighting game Guilty Gear Strive. Six different characters go head to head in these matches which shows the different movesets each has, the way they counter each other, and there are also two different stages shown across the videos. The matches that are showcased include Sol vs Nagoriyuki, Ky vs Giovanna, and Axl vs Ramlethal. Previously Arc System Works has has been happy to oblige with a treat of a trailer that showcases Anji Mito's new look and fighting style.

Bandai Namco has confirmed that an open beta for its upcoming fighting game Guilty Gear Strive will be available on PS4 and PS5. The open beta will begin on February 19th at 3PM GMT and run until February 21st at 2PM GMT. The beta itself will allow players to pick from 13 fighters from the roster and play single player against bots, or go online and face off against other players. There will be cross play between PS4 and PS5 players enabled. To sign up for the beta players can go to the Guilty Gear Strive official beta site, and will need to log in to their Bandai Namco account or create one. Last year, Dom had some hands on time with the closed beta and wrote:

The moment that the cranked heavy metal riffs start spilling out of your TV's speakers, you know this is Guilty Gear. It's arguably my favourite fighting franchise – sorry Virtua Fighter – offering a level of extraordinarily in-your-face action, and enthralling world building that none of the others have ever quite grasped. The Guilty Gear series has always been built on the belief that being the loudest and the coolest will make you stand out from the pack, and after going hands on with the Guilty Gear Strive closed beta, I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with them.

My only real worry, if it is a worry, is that Strive could lose out on its impact if it strays too close to the launch of the next generation of console. Fighting game fans should keep their targets firmly set on this one though, new consoles be damned.

You can read the full Guilty Gear Strive preview here.

Source: YouTube

Adventure puzzle game Harmony's Odyssey announced for Nintendo Switch & PC

Blending together the modern world with a comedic take on mythology, Harmony's Odyssey is a quirky looking, and thoroughly colourful adventure puzzle game coming to Nintendo Switch and PC in 2021. Obviously, all of the tangled puzzles that you're set to unravelling are that fault of a mischievous black cat.

Hailing for a peaceful forest near the city Olympus Harmony is a young wizard (though some would surely describe her as a witch), who has to head out from her hut to chase after her cat, who stole her magic wand and used it to completely mess up the world.

The game features little worlds made out of tiles that you have to reoganise so that everything is back just the way it should be with, for example, cars that need to be able to drive through the world along properly connected roads. Without order, the fables and urban legends aren't able to go about their daily lives, with Minotaurs getting ready for a Bull Football match, penguins looking to shoot selfies, and dragons getting stuck in traffic.

It's got a cutesy art style to bring it together, and will feature seven distinctive worlds and a range of mini-games as well.

Source: press release

Ubisoft could move away from relying on AAA game releases

Ubisoft are looking to shake up their business strategy and portfolio of games and shift away from relying almost exclusively on big budget AAA releases, it has been revealed in an earnings call following the company's Q3 financial report. While its plans for fiscal year 2022, which runs from April 2021 through March 2022) are unchanged and will still feature three major AAA games as per their established yearly template, after this point, Ubisoft will shift away from those games being the core pillar of their business. Game series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry likely aren't going anyway, but we can expect to see more free-to-play and other experiences feeding in as well.

Company CFO Frederick Duguet explained, "We said for a number of years that our normal template is to come with either three or four AAA games, so we'll stick to that plan for fiscal 2022, but we see that we are progressively, continuously moving from a model that used to be only focused on AAA releases to a model where we have a combination of strong releases from AAA and strong back catalog dynamics, but also complimenting our program of new releases with free-to-play and other premium experiences."

Far Cry 6 was recently delayed to later in 2021.

What the future will look like for Ubisoft is particularly curious, then. Games like Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Skull & Bones, Riders Republic and more are still on the cards are paid games, but Ubisoft have also experimented over the past few years with more of a Games as a Service business model at times. Rainbow Six Siege, For Honor and The Division have all enjoyed varying degrees of success in that arena, for example. There have also been forays into free-to-play gaming with the likes of Brawlhalla and battle royale Hyper Scape – a game that was notably unmentioned in the call and was a flop for the company.

There's clearly some range in how Ubisoft release their games, but the implication seems to be that they really want to tap into the mobile gaming market. They have a number of mobile games, such as Might & Magic: Chess Royale, the controversial Tom Clancy's Elite Squad and Idle Restaurant Tycoon which were released in the last few years, but mobile gaming only makes up around 9% of the company's total business.

They'll be hoping to expand that by investing in titles like the previously announced Assassin's Creed mobile game developed with the help of Tencent for the Chinese market.

Duguet said, "In fiscal 2022, we will continue our evolution from a AAA release-centric model toward a model where AAA stands alongside new premium and free-to-play innovative experiences across platforms. These diverse experiences will feed on each other through complementary gameplay and business models."

Rainbow Six Siege remains as popular as ever, despite being six years old.

As they look to make this shift, Ubisoft is still able to rely on the long-term revenue that their back catalogue of games provides. Rainbow Six Siege might be six years old, but there were 15 million new players in the last year, while games like Far Cry 5, The Crew 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, older Just Dance games and Mario + Rabbids are still selling relatively well.

I think the key thing here is that, while Ubisoft can invest in and chase more profits, gamers will be keen to see them not sell out entirely to the mobile and free-to-play market. There are already a wide range of microtransactions that are inserted into games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and as we see all too often in video games, the balance between microtransactions that feel fair and free-to-play monetisation that feels exploitative is a difficult one to judge.

Source: IGN

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie title has Tails in "extremely obvious" announcement

The official title for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie has been revealed to be Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by the Sonic the Hedgehog movie Twitter account. They dubbed it "groundbreaking", not to mention "thought provoking," but admittedly also "extremely obvious".

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be coming to movie theatres (we really, really hope) on 8th April 2022.

Groundbreaking. Thought provoking. Extremely obvious. Presenting the official title of the #SonicMovie sequel: Sonic the Hedgehog 2! Catch #SonicMovie2 in theatres in 2022. pic.twitter.com/SlVk7fakp3

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@SonicMovie) February 10, 2021

I guess the latter two statements probably allude to the two tails that the number 2 in the title has, which obviously referred to the two-tailed fox known as Tails to fans of the franchise. In fairness, this is probably the least surprising news ("extremely obvious" if you will) to anyone that watched the original film and stuck around for the teaser post-credits scene, which featured, well…. Tails!

Sonic the Hedgehog was a big hit at the box office in the pre-pandemic start to 2020. The film sprinted past the previous record for an opening weekend, set last year by Detective Pikachu, managing to overcome an extensive delay and redevelopment to be a success. The film sees Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, making a new life for himself on Earth. After setting off an EMP pulse that knocks out power across a large part of North America, the US government puts Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik on his tail, forcing Sonic to make a new best friend in Tom, played by James Marsden, and road trip across America. It doesn't really make too much sense, but then it's a video game movie for kids.

The 10 best Sonic games, according to Metacritic

We reviewed it on its cinematic debut, calling it "A solid, fun and watchable family film, Sonic The Hedgehog doesn't always hang together, but it does at least do justice to one of gaming's most iconic characters."

Elsewhere in the Sonic-verse, Netflix announced Sonic Prime, a new animated series that is in development for the streaming giant, while LEGO has announced that they will be taking the fan-suggested Sonic the Hedgehog set and making it a reality.

Source: Twitter

Riot Games CEO sued by former assistant for sexual harassment

Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent is being sued for sexual harassment by his former executive assistant Sharon O'Donnell. O'Donnell, who was fired by the League of Legends and Valorant developer in July 2020, alleges that Laurent asked her to "cum" over to his house while his wife was away, commented on her physical appearance, asked her underwear size, and further slimy behaviour. For rebuffing his advances, O'Donnell claims that she was punished and went unpaid for hours worked before eventually being fired from her position. The suit was filed in the Superior Court for the State of California in Los Angeles in January 2021.

The lawsuit claims that "Shortly after Plaintiff was hired the Defendant Laurent began a pattern of harassing Plaintiff based on her sex or gender. This continued until the end of her employment." Laurent's behaviour was not limited to O'Donnell, but extended to telling female employees that they should have children to handle the stress of living through the Covid pandemic.

In response to a request for comment by VICE, Riot Games stated that Laurent continues to work:

"In this case, because some of the claims relate to an executive leader, a special committee of our Board of Directors is overseeing the investigation, which is being conducted by an outside law firm. Our CEO has pledged his full cooperation and support during this process, and we're committed to ensuring that all claims are thoroughly explored and appropriately resolved.

"One subject we can address immediately is the plaintiff's claim about their separation from Riot. The plaintiff was dismissed from the company over seven months ago based on multiple well-documented complaints from a variety of people. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."

The lawsuit does not directly target Riot Games, but it certainly fits with the reports, allegations, court cases and settlements that have come out of a toxic workplace over the last few years. Following reports company was sued in 2018 for gender discrimination, which they eventually announced in late 2019 would be settled for $10 million… except they've now backtracked and sought to take the case back to individual arbitration.

In July 2020, Laurent wrote an open letter amidst the swell in accusations emerging from across the industry, addressing the steps the company had taken since 2018, taking disciplinary action, hiring Diversity & Inclusion staff, bringing a woman onto the board of directors and more. He offered his resignation if the board were not satisfied with the company's progress, and in the letter said, "As I write this, I'm thankful we made sufficient progress that the board kept me on. But more importantly, I'm proud of the Riot we have become, and that we continue to evolve every day."

However, as uplifting as that letter was, the timing now seems somewhat ironic. The lawsuit maintains that "Riot Games is a male dominated culture. Female employees, including Plaintiff are discriminated against, harassed and treated as second class citizens. There are very few female executives at Riot.

Source: VICE

Destruction AllStars update 1.2.3 comes crashing in

Rival-wrecking PS5 exclusive, Destruction AllStars, has entered the pitstop for a new update, Lucid Games having launched their latest patch. Available to download now on PS5, you will need to install update 1.2.3 in order to access online features, including network multiplayer. One big change fans will notice right away is the increased rewards for completing daily and weekly challenges. Daily challenges pay out a far greater amount of experience points now whereas weekly challenges will offer AC currency instead of XP.

Here are the patch notes for the new update.

Weekly Reset time has been set to Wednesday 3pm UTC
Small blue diamond Weekly Challenges now award AllStar Coins instead of XP
Small blue diamond XP rewards for Daily Challenges have been increased from 3k to 25k
Fixed several issues preventing successful matchmaking
Small blue diamond Reduced the frequency of parties being split into different games at the end of a match
Large blue diamond Fixed an instance of the UI incorrectly reverting player level
Fixed several server crashes relating to Gridfall
Large blue diamond Fixed several client crashes
Large blue diamond Improved some error message descriptions

Destruction AllStars isn't quite on par with Sony's other PS5 exclusives, scoring a 6 out of 10 in our review at launch. While fun in short frenzied blasts, like most car combat games it can get repetitive and is let down by an overall lack of engaging content. Here's what we had to say:

The car combat genre has long been out of fashion and still has a way to go if it wants to take us back to its glory days of the 1990s. Destruction AllStars is a mostly satisfying modernisation that has some neat ideas and looks fantastic, though ultimately spins its tyres on repetitive rival-wrecking gameplay and a lack of truly worthwhile content at launch.

The manic multiplayer exclusive was originally meant to launch alongside the PS5 in November 2020 alongside Demon's Souls, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Godfall, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and other day one titles. However, Sony and Lucid Games made the decision to delay Destruction AllStars to February 2021, also making it a freebie for those with an active PlayStation Plus subscription.

Source: Twitter (@LucidGamesLtd)

Destruction AllStars guides and more from TheSixthAxis

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Review

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is probably now my favourite Mario game of all-time. The package as a whole brings a variety of different Mario experiences, and the ability to do it all in co-op is a gift. Granted, the lack of online co-op in Bowser's Fury is a little annoying, but it's still an immense excellent experience anyway.

This is, of course, a Nintendo Switch re-release of Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U, and there's probably not all that much here to attract those who played on the quirky console, but that doesn't stop it being an excellent game in its own right.

Designed from the ground up to cater to co-op play, the camera is much further away from the action that a typical 3D Mario game, shifting around so that the game feels like a blend between the 2D adventures of old (well, the New Super Mario Bros. games at least) and Mario's ventures into 3D. While some may disagree with my love of it, I don't think anyone can argue with the fact that it's a riot in multiplayer thanks to the strange mix of co-op and competitive play that you end up with. Sure, you can literally carry your friends through difficult sections, but also you can chuck them into lava as well.

This is all made far better for the Switch release by the addition of online co-op throughout – something that's nice and stable in my limited experience prior to launch. It was a glaring omission on the Wii U, but given how essential online multiplayer is in 2021, it's great to see Nintendo adapting the game to fit. Even the Captain Toad mini-games now feature four player multiplayer!

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that the later stages in this game are incredibly hard. I'm talking "don't play this with your significant other or near children" hard. If you like a challenge, you'll be in heaven, but these levels will be a slap in the face to anybody you've been carrying, literally or otherwise, through the game up until that point.

Of course, the real draw of the game for Wii U owners is the new Bowser's Fury mode, and I've got news for you: Bowser's Fury is sublime. If you took everything that makes 3D Mario games great and distilled it into one game, it would be this.

The story goes that Bowser has gone and gotten himself cursed, or he's eaten something bad, or he didn't sleep well. Whatever the case, he's really grumpy and has also been transformed into a giant metal AF version of himself that can shoot out spines, shoot out beams of fire, and just generally trash everything around him. His son, who is possibly the cause of all of this, has asked Mario to help sort things out.

You do this by going around the open world and collecting Cat Shines from various courses, all of which only take less than five minutes to complete. It's like speedrunning what makes up a Mario game, but there's still a healthy helping of game to play here. Each course has a few Cat Shines to find across various different objectives, a lot like the Mario 64 levels. They're all pretty damn wonderful, and the difficulty increases at a very satisfying rate.

What happens as you're going about your business, is that it'll start to rain, and the music will change. This signals Fury Bowser's approach, and usually means you have to drop what you're doing or try and do it a lot faster under a lot more pressure. When he arrives, he'll start raining down fireballs, explosives spikes, and using his aforementioned laser fire breath. You'll have to scare him away by getting a Cat Shine or waiting it out.

The aim of the game though, is to beat him up. You can do by activating the Giga Cat Bell turning Mario into a Super Saiyan giant version of Cat Mario, and you then get a little boss battle to get through. Activating the Giga Cat Bell requires you to have found a certain number of Cat Shines, and you'll need to find half of the available ones to finish the game.

Every visual effect is a delight, and the music is stellar as well. I've also now got a few photos of my daughter trying to play it and drive Plessie around the beautiful looking water. This is the first game she's taken an interest in, and while her hands aren't really big enough to use a controller yet, it was still one of the best feelings in the world to watch her elation at being able to make Cat Mario jump.

Bowser's Fury is now forever intertwined with my feelings towards video games and my little one, and I'm hoping that in a few months I'll be able to get her to listen for long enough that we can actually play some together. Speaking of which, you can play Bowser's Fury in local co-op, with the second player controlling Bowser Jr and helping out. He's a little like a whirlwind of death that can fly out at will, as opposed to taking a really active role as they would in 3D World. He's a more destructive version of Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey. I'm just upset that there's no online co-op for Bowser's Fury, when it was integrated so well in 3D World.

Bowser's Fury could remain a curious side-experiment, but this could also be a sign of where the Mario series is heading in future. Big open worlds can be tiring to explore, but if you give me a bunch of smaller ones to dive into like this, I'll be happy as a cat scratching up an expensive sofa. I really hope we see more of this style of adventure for our moustachioed hero going forwards.

Genshin Impact Paimon voice actor on fandoms and dealing with haters

Genshin Impact currently has 28 playable characters, but whether you're playing without spending a penny or dropping cash regularly for those Primogems, everyone will be well-acquainted with Paimon.

From day one, players have had a lot of opinions over your Traveler's fairy companion who is essentially the mascot of Genshin Impact. A fair number find her presence annoying, from her high-pitched babyish tone to her over-talkative nature, as well as a certain pushiness in contrast to the more neutral blank slate of your mostly mute protagonist. That is exactly how she's supposed to be, when discussing this with Paimon's voice actor, Corina Boettger.

Why Genshin Impact is the most interesting open world game since Breath of the Wild

Acting as early as when they were eight years old (incidentally including a voice promo for a video game at a convention), Boettger has featured in small roles in film and TV, though they only transitioned to voice-acting in recent years including anime Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars and visual novel AI: The Somnium Files. As Genshin Impact's momentous popularity continues, including the upcoming 'All That Glitters' event coinciding with Lunar New Year, we had the opportunity to chat with Boettger, who turns out to be just as talkative as Paimon.

TSA: When did you first get the role of Paimon and did you have any idea how big Genshin Impact was going to be?

Boettger: I believe I auditioned the first time back in August 2019, and then I got the callback in September, then booked the role and started working in October of 2019. It's always a pretty quick process!

I was honestly surprised [with its popularity], because unless you're part of a second iteration of anything like that, when you get a part of a game you really don't know how big it's going to be until it happens. At the beginning of 2020, I was looking on their Twitter and I was like, 'Oh, they have like 6,000 followers, that's really good. And then right before the game came out, they had hundreds of thousands of people following them, and I was like, 'Holy crap, this is going to be bigger than I thought it was going to be!'

TSA: There was also some buzz building up in the beta stages too. Were you following that at the time?

Boettger: I was, and I even secretly signed up for the beta under my own gamertag, so I started playing it myself. It also meant I could actually understand what was going on [laughs], which is normal for like 90% of video games – you're alone in a booth, and you only see your lines. Luckily, I work with a director who reads the other lines, that way it's like I'm playing off of somebody, but not every director does that.

I started seeing the reception online and miHoYo did too, and that kind of changed how we did some voiceover at that point, because I specifically remember them thinking that Paimon might be too mean. They were like, 'Tone down the sassiness', and I was like, 'Oh, but I like that'. Then the beta came out and everybody kept on saying how much they liked when Paimon was sassy, and so they were like 'Okay, be as sassy as you want.' [laughs]

TSA: Just how difficult is it for you to put on the Paimon voice?

Boettger: It's not that hard for me. I'm naturally a high-pitched person and so Paimon is just [in Paimon voice] switching into my higher register, that's all! [laughs] Basically, you want to get to a point in voice acting where a character's voice is always easy for you. If you're doing something that's really hard for you, you could possibly damage your vocal cords. Your vocal cords don't fix themselves 100% once they're damaged, so once they're damaged, your vocal register is changed forever.

When I originally auditioned for Paimon, I actually had her set closer to my natural tone. Once I booked the character, that was when I sat there with miHoYo for a good 30-40 minutes and they were like, 'Okay, we want it higher – go higher – can you go higher?', and it kept getting higher until we're at the highest point of my register, and then they were like 'Now just add breathiness, we want a whole bunch of breathiness to make it more ethereal, to have that ethereal feeling for Paimon.' So yeah, that was definitely a direction.

TSA: You mentioned the community responded well to Paimon's sassiness at the start, so it's interesting that reactions from the wider audience were more divisive, with many finding her very annoying. Does that feedback have any effect on you?

Boettger: No, because Paimon is supposed to be annoying. Anytime they're like, 'I don't like Paimon, they're annoying', I'm like, 'Good, I did my job!' [laughs] Paimon was always meant to be over-talkative, over-explaining, over-exaggerated and in English, [miHoYo] were like, 'We really do want Paimon to speak in third person'. Again, I don't necessarily know why, but that's what they wanted from the beginning. They even talked to me about how in other languages it's harder to have Paimon speak in third person all the time because other languages have different rules about their language, but in English, we can actually do that all the time!

Maybe it's just because I'm a lot like Paimon in the sense that I talk a lot, and I've been called annoying by a lot of people because I talk too much, and I've also over-explained things and stuff like that, so I relate to Paimon in that way. I've always liked characters that do that because as a person who is neurodivergent, sometimes spelling it out for me is what I need! [laughs]

TSA: A cutesy talkative companion is also just a common trope character in these kind of games too, much like Navi in Ocarina of Time. So were you already familiar with this character type yourself?

Boettger: It's funny that you say that because Navi was another character that everybody always said, 'Oh, that character is annoying', and I was always like why? I absolutely adored Navi as a kid. That was at a time when voiceover roles were not in video games at all, so the fact that they had the little bits of voiceover that they even did, which was basically just Navi, blew my mind. I always wanted to be Navi, and now basically I am!

TSA: How do you deal with the fan reactions? Is it best to just embrace those who love Paimon and just ignore the haters?

Boettger: Bottom line is there's always going to be haters in every game or fandom, no matter what, but they don't sign my paychecks. [laughs] You can not like a character all you want and that's totally fine. I've had plenty of people that said, "I don't like Paimon but I like you as a person," and as a voice actor and I respect that – you've every right to not like the character, but you're smart enough to associate that I'm still a human being and I exist.

There is also a difference between flat-out hating and actual criticism, and criticism is also fine, but the bottom line is that anybody who criticises is, well, they're not the client. The client is miHoYo, and as long as I do what miHoYo wants, I'm doing my job correctly.

TSA: It's interesting that it took a couple months after launch before the voice actors were officially revealed. How difficult was it waiting for that?

Boettger: That was really frustrating, especially because certain people were also claiming to be Paimon's voice actor, or they would start doing impressions without making it very clear to their fandom that they are not the voice. Mind you, Karen Strassman is an amazing actor who never once claimed to be Paimon in Genshin Impact but she apparently voices a character called Paimon in an entirely different show, so I got a lot of people actively fighting me, saying 'You're not the voice of Paimon, Karen Strassman is'. She's a titan in the industry, so thank you for thinking that I am her, but also she's an alto – she can't even reach the decibels that I have!

I also stream on Twitch, and have been streaming a lot of Genshin Impact lately as well, but I didn't start playing the game until I was announced, so that way I could stream my first reaction to the game and say I was in the game. Jackie Lastra, who plays Xiangling, was already streaming the game before she could announce. She was like, 'I basically just stayed away from my character so that way I wouldn't accidentally say anything'. And I was like, that's fun for you – my character exists in everything!

TSA: Speaking of other Paimons, there's fans who are making links with a mythical demon king called Paimon who's one of Lucifer's servants and what that could mean for the character. Do you pay attention to these different fan theories yourself?

Boettger: I stay away from fan theories as much as possible, because the bottom line is that I don't even know what's going to happen. NDAs are so strict in video games, and you as a voice actor are on a need-to-know basis. So I get questions like, 'Where does Paimon come from?' and I'm like, as far as I know, Paimon was fished out of the ocean, so that's it. I would love to participate in talking about those fan theories, but I can't because I'm under NDA, I don't want to give off the impression that I'm actually giving thought to a fan theory because it's true.

When I stream, I've had people ask me a question and I'll say, 'I know nothing about that', and then they will literally respond with, 'Then it is true! I saw it in your smile'. I'm autistic. There is nothing happening on my face that is showing you anything, and I know that because I'm autistic!

TSA: But you still like engaging with fans though?

Boettger: I really like streaming because it's a good way of getting in contact with the fans, and I also like talking about the behind the scenes. When I play through the game, that's when I remember that certain things happened because the scene will trigger that memory in my brain all of a sudden for me.

Usually, it's a lot of pronunciation things because I've been told by miHoYo that I'm the best at pronouncing the Chinese words, but my problem is apparently the English words. My director has been letting it be known very loud and clearly that I don't pronounce words correctly, but I believe he doesn't pronounce words correctly! We worked on AI: The Somnium Files together so we're actually really good friends. He gives me a hard time when I can't pronounce stuff like dandelion, but I am pronouncing it right. He says it's 'dan-da-lion' – he's wrong, it's 'dan-di-lion'. I will die on that hill!

[Ed – You're obviously right, and he is very wrong.]

TSA: Funnily enough, there also seem to be inconsistencies with the ways different characters pronounce the Chinese names in the game, especially Liyue.

Boettger: Here's my thing: we're all native English-speaking people trying to say certain words that have phonic intonations that don't exist in English. miHoYo is on the line on every single recording to make sure we try to do as close as we can to how it should be pronounced, but then my director, who's from Boston, also said, 'Depending on where you're from in Boston, you pronounce Boston really differently.' And that's totally true. In Louisiana, there's people who pronounce New Orelans differently, even though it's the same city. I'm from Seattle originally and we have a lot of places named after Native Americans. I mean, Seattle was named after Chief Seattle, but we also have a place called Snohomish, and watching certain people pronounce it differently, it's just different people come from different backgrounds and they might pronounce things differently and that's kind of where we've decided to take it.

TSA: Since you're playing quite a lot of Genshin Impact yourself, what's your party pick?

Boettger: I main Mona – Mona's the best! I am lucky enough when I'm streaming that people were kind enough to donate money so that I could get Mona because that was my main goal. The only characters I'm missing are Klee and Venti, only because they happened before I was able to play and say which character I was. So I'm hoping that they'll come back because Klee is disgustingly broken! That's the character that my director mains as and it's hilarious to just have him come into my world with Klee and just wreck everything with that tiny little girl. My main line-up right now though is Mona, Xinyan, Fischl and Qiqui.

We'd like to thank Corina for taking the time to chat with us. For more on Genshin Impact, check out our launch day review.

Hitman 3 PS5 update 1.002 adds exclusive new features

Developer IO Interactive have dropped a new patch for their assassination sequel, Hitman 3. This latest update will show up as version 1.002 on PS5 and you will need to download it in order to access the game's servers. Alongside the regular bout of bug fixes and glitch stomping, IO have introduced new features exclusive the PS5 version of Hitman 3. Those who have an updated copy of the game will be able to access content from the PS5 home menu by selecting from the newly added Activities tabs. Hitman 3 – as well as its predecessors Hitman and Hitman 2 – have also been patched with the PS5's intuitive Game Help feature allowing players to access hints while gaming, but only if they have an activate PlayStation Plus subscription.

Here's everything included in Hitman 3 update 1.002 on PS5:

Game Help
We've added more support for PlayStation 5 'Activities' to include Game Help Hints for all campaign missions in HITMAN 1, 2 and 3.
(This is a platform-level feature and doesn't impact gameplay)

When playing a campaign mission in HITMAN 3, PlayStation Plus subscribers on PS5 can choose to get hints on how to complete each objective, with step-by-step instructions.

Viva La Vita
We've also removed some outdated messaging about the PlayStation Vita, which would show when your controller is disconnected.

In our Hitman 3 review, Jim wrote:

Charting the series' progress since that 2016 Paris debut has been a fascinating journey. IO have learned a lot over the past five years and that really shows in Hitman 3. It's a flashier, more fluid evolution of IO's original template – a rewarding conclusion to one of the most unique video game franchises around, and one we'll continue playing for many weeks and months to come.

IO Interactive recently announced their February roadmap for Hitman 3, promising new content every week of the month with new missions and rewards.

Source: IO Interactive

Hitman 3 Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

Four more games come to Nintendo Switch Online NES & SNES library next week

Nintendo have dusted off another small selection of SNES and NES games to add to the library of 8-bit and 16-bit classics that are made available as to all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. The four games will be added to the collection on Wednesday 17th February, next week, with three SNES games and one NES game. Now, at this point, you're probably thinking "Huh, they must be running out of classic games around about now," and this set isn't all that likely to change your mind. I know that I haven't heard of the games on this little list, at the very least…

Here are the four games:

SNES – Nintendo Switch Online:

Doomsday Warrior
Psycho Dream
Prehistorik Man

NES – Nintendo Switch Online:

Fire 'n Ice

Four more titles will be added to the #NES & #SNES – #NintendoSwitchOnline collection on 2/17!

Super NES – Nintendo Switch Online:
・Doomsday Warrior
・Psycho Dream
・Prehistorik Man

NES – Nintendo Switch Online:
・Fire 'n Ice pic.twitter.com/ObOk5uyw2t

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 10, 2021

Doomsday Warrior is a 1992 fighting game – released in the wake of Street Fighter II – where you play as defectors from the Doom Squad, a group of fighters under the influence of Main. There's an interesting character upgrade system where you choose your opponents and can upgrade your characters stats using Ability Points earned after each battle.

Psycho Dream was a Japan exclusive title in which Ryō or Maria battle through 20th century Japan with sword and whip. The game was originally planned for a US release, but it was cancelled before it saw the light of day.

Prehistorik Man (also published under the more dubious title P-Man), is a stone age platformer sequel to Prehistorik 2. The game first game out in 1995, but was ported to Game Boy Advance in 2001 and popped up on DSiWare in 2010.

And Fire 'n Ice for NES might be better known as Solomon's Key 2, in which you have to race through levels extinguishing fires by creating and either melting or kicking ice into fires.

So, what's the verdict? Are these worthwhile additions?

Nintendo Switch Online launched in 2018, as a somewhat controversial paid subscription service for Nintendo's latest games console. A Switch Online subscription is now required for online gaming on Nintendo Switch, where this was free on the Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and before, but it does significantly undercut the price of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold. In addition to online multiplayer, Switch Online also offers save game backups in the cloud, certain offers and promotions, exclusive games like Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35 and the NES and SNES Classic Games Library, featuring instant access to 86 games. These were previously added on a monthly basis, but since the inclusion of SNES games, Nintendo has shifted to a more irregular release pattern.

Source: Twitter

More The Division content is coming from Ubisoft Massive in 2021 and 2022

Ubisoft have confirmed that Massive Entertainment will continue to develop content for The Division 2 through 2021 and 2022 in their latest financial conference call. The statement that "more Division content" is on the way comes from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot who asserted that Massive would be able to handle the workload, despite also leading development on Ubisoft's recently announced Star Wars video game, as well as the long-in-development Avatar Project. While the scope and scale of the planned content is unknown, as we come toward the end of the second year of the game's life, this is encouraging news for fans of the series.

To handle further development of The Division as a franchise, Ubisoft say that Massive is a large studio in its own right, but that they are also coordinating with other teams to spread out the workload. With the announcement of a new Star Wars project in development at Massive, and the previous Avatar game, there were understandable questions over the future of the studio's home-grown looter shooter series. The studio now leads development on three titles.

However, it's worth remembering that Ubisoft games are almost never developed and supported by a single studio. The Division 2 was developed with additional work by Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Leamington, Ubisoft Shanghai, and Ubisoft Sofia. Red Storm in particular had a significant role to play, as they took over support of the original game so that Massive could focus on The Division 2.

Again, what's left unclear is how significant this upcoming content will be. Following on from the season pass of content through the game's first year, The Division 2 received a significant expansion in March 2020 with Warlords of New York, which added lower Manhattan into the game, returning to the stomping grounds of the original game. Will we see similarly grand expansions in future? We'll just have to wait and see.

At the time of its release, we said in our The Division 2: Warlords of New York review:

Warlords of New York is a welcome addition to The Division 2 and it probably marks the most fun I've had with the series to date. While some content falls a little flat, each one of the special encounters is a manic and explosive experience that will bring you to the edge of your seat. The quality of life changes, including the refined loot systems, also breathe life back into one of last year's more enjoyable looter-shooter titles.

The future might still feel uncertain, but for the time being, The Division 2 has been given a shot in the arm with Title Update 12.1 adding support for the new consoles and bringing 4K 60fps gaming to the table. Though a mid-season update for the game, there's also the Resident Evil 25th Anniversary cross-over event and a major reduction in the cost of Optimization Station.

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Why Genshin Impact is the most interesting open world game since Breath of the Wild

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SNES – Nintendo Switch Online:

NES – Nintendo Switch Online: