Ratchet and Clank – 60 FPS PS5 Update is Live Now

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Insomniac Games announced recently that the PS4's Ratchet and Clank remake, which launched in 2016, would be getting a new update in April that would make it playable at 60 frames per second on the PS5. Well, surprise- the update has gone live a little earlier than it was supposed to.

Insomniac confirmed recently via their official Twitter page that the 60 FPS update for Ratchet and Clank on PS5 is live now. The 2016 action platformer might not be everyone's cup of tea, owing to its relatively limited arsenal of new weapons and gadgets, and its tie-ins with the Ratchet movie, but it's a solid game in its own right, so if you have a hankering for some Ratchet and Clank, this seems like the thing to do. The game is currently also available for free until the end of the day as part of the Play at Home campaign.

Meanwhile, the next game in the series, Ratchet and Clank: RIft Apart will be releasing exclusively for the PS5 on June 11.

Marvel's Avengers – MCU Skins Will be Locked Behind Microtransactions

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Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix recently detailed a content roadmap for Marvel's Avengers for 2021, and cofirmed that the game will be receiving new skins for playable heroes inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe some time this year. There is a catch, however- the skins won't be free.

Taking to Twitter via the game's official page, developer Crystal Dynamics confirmed that the Marvel Cinematic Universe inspired skins, which are coming to the game this Spring, will only be available in the marketplace and will have to be purchased with credits. Credits have to be purchased with real money, all of which is to say that the MCU skins will be locked behind microtransactions.

A Black Panther expansion for Marvel's Avengers is also in the works, due out later this year. Meanwhile, the Spider-Man DLC will be releasing afterward. Operation: Hawkeye – Future Imperfect launched earlier this month- though it certainly wasn't anything to write home about.

Marvel's Avengers is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia.

15 Games Whose Conclusion Came Out of Nowhere

Have you ever played a game, enjoying its various highs and lows but dreading the inevitable conclusion? Has said conclusion come out of nowhere, leading to the desire for more? Let's take a look at 15 games that encapsulated that feeling. Spoilers incoming so be warned.

Vanquish

Vanquish

Rocket sliding into cover and vaulting over in slow-mo to gun down foes never looked or felt as good as it did in Vanquish. But even at roughly six hours for the main campaign, it just simply ended following the battle with Bogey Alpha and Bravo. No final battle with Victor Zaitsev, who subsequently escapes and destroys Providence. Even US president Elizabeth Winters, who sought to destroy Moscow with Providence's microwave transmitter, simply kills herself. At least Sam and Elena survived so that's nice.

15 Resident Evil Enemies That Were Completely Weird

There's no shortage of things that the human mind can imagine that can be categorized in fiction as a bioweapon, which means Resident Evil, over the course of two and a half decades, has conjured up some truly strange enemies and bad guys for players to go up against. We're going to talk about a few of those in this feature. Some of them have been the good kind of weird, others… not so much- but they're all definitely very weird.

RAMON SALAZAR (RESIDENT EVIL 4)

A weird man-child with an annoying personality and an even more annoying voice, Ramon Salazar was the poster boy (poster man?) of the unfiltered weirdness of Resident Evil 4. He spent much of the game trading blows with Leon, and almost always ended up coming short, but even ignoring that, it was hard to ever take him seriously, given what he looked and sounded like.

Monster Truck Championship Interview – Next-Gen Details, Visual Improvements, and More

Who doesn't like monster trucks, right? When you see a game that lets you drive monster trucks to your heart's content, it's hard to deny its appeal. Developer Teyon and publisher Nacon launched Monster Truck Championship on PC last year, and then paved the way for a wider audience with a recent console launch for the game, and it's fair to say that the game delivers exactly what it promises- good old monster truck action. We recently reached out to its developers to learn more about the game and its console launch, especially about what enhancements it offers on next-gen consoles. You can read our conversation with producer Łukasz Bróg below.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game's console launch.

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"In the next-gen edition of Monster Truck Championship, we have primarily focused on the elements that affect the overall quality of the visuals the most."

Can you tell us about the various visual improvements this edition of Monster Truck Championship will bring to the table?

In the next-gen edition of Monster Truck Championship, we have primarily focused on the elements that affect the overall quality of the visuals the most. Also, we have been able to increase the precision of physics. The biggest changes have been made in the lighting and effects, especially the night lighting of arenas. We have increased the detail of the surface of routes which vehicles ride on, and in some levels we have also added more elements. The game runs more smoothly and at a higher resolution.

How do you find working on the new consoles compared to last gen consoles? How much easier was the transition

Working on both generations of consoles has not been that different, since with the previous generation we also had to support more powerful PCs at the same time. The changes between generations are mainly manifested in higher performance, which is similar to modern PCs. The biggest technical challenge was integrating the network code into the new consoles.

In our case, the transition to next-gens has been a bit easier, as we are using Unreal Engine 4, which by definition is a multi-platform tool, so some things are already implemented within the engine.

Do you have any plans for releasing further post-launch content for Monster Truck Championship?

As of today, I cannot confirm releasing more content. It would depend on players' feedback and their expectations, as well as on the strategy of the game's publisher, Nacon.

Will the PS5 version of the game make use of the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers?

There are no plans to support these features at the moment.

What resolution and frame rate does the game run on on the PS5, Xbox Series X and S? Are there multiple graphical modes?

In Monster Truck Championship we use one graphics mode for next-gens, which is the 4K/60FPS mode. Xbox Series S is additionally using a dynamic scaling to make the game run smoother.

monster truck championship

"As of today, I cannot confirm releasing more content. It would depend on players' feedback and their expectations, as well as on the strategy of the game's publisher, Nacon."

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X's specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Many console variants are always a challenge for game developers. It creates the need to perform additional work in order to optimally adjust a game to the performance of various devices. However, we have already got used to it, since we had to deal with it in the previous transition for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro, as well as Xbox One X and Xbox One S. Currently, the performance of the hardware in the latest generation does not cause major problems.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this? How does this compare to Series X's 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

One of the biggest technological changes in the current generation of consoles is fast reading. It will contribute a lot to shortening the loading time of a game and levels, or even eliminate the waiting time during loading at all. But not only that! In the future, further development of the technology for texture and geometry streaming will allow creation of far more complex scenes in games than it is possible now. We can already see a glimpse of that in the demo outlining capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 released by Epic Games. In Monster Truck Championship, the difference between PS5 and XSX is not that noticeable, as the XSX disk speed is enough for a very quick loading – only a few seconds for screens.

There is a difference in Zen 2 CPUs of both next-gen consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

Both are very good processors, and the difference is so small that it does not matter when creating games for next gens. They are far than enough to create modern games requiring a lot of calculations.

Mundaun Interview – Art Style, Inspirations, Development, and More

In a genre that has become as competitive and crowded as horror, most games – especially smaller, indie productions – need to stand out one way or another, and boy does Mundaun stand out. And really, that's glaring obvious even at first glance. Every inch of the game has been lovingly hand-drawn with a pencil by solo creator Michel Ziegler, and the look and atmosphere that achieves is excellent. It helps, of course, that Mundaun is a solid horror game in and of itself as well. Following its launch, we reached out to Ziegler to learn more about the game and about its development. You can read our conversation below.

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"I chose this process because I wanted to hand-draw all the textures – the workflow is just very enjoyable for me."

It's clear even at a glance that Mundaun is going for a very unique visual aesthetic. What was the process like of crafting the game's hand-penciled look? Why did you decide to go with this particular style for Mundaun?

After researching what I wanted to make, I would sketch it out and then create the 3D model of that sketch. After that I would UV-unwrap the model and print out the UV map, which would then basically be a 2D representation of the 3D model. After that I traced the outlines of the map onto a fresh paper and then drew the different parts for the model I'm working on with pencil. That is then scanned back in and put on the 3D model. There's always an element of surprise there when first applying the 2D drawings to the 3D model.

I chose this process because I wanted to hand-draw all the textures – the workflow is just very enjoyable for me.

What's interesting about Mundaun's art style is how successfully it makes the game's environments look beautiful yet bleak and desolate at the same time. My question to you as the developer is, did the game's tone from the art style, or did you choose the art style because of the tone you wanted to go for?

They go hand in hand, and I think I decided on the tone of Mundaun as well as using pencil pretty much at the same time. As the game started taking shape, it was always an interplay of the atmosphere, art style, story, world. All of those things are just different aspects of what I wanted the game to be like and feel like.

Mundaun makes use of a lot of folklore of myths in its story and setting. What was the inspiration behind making these elements such an important part of the experience?

I like folktales and myths a lot and was obsessed with some of them when I was a child. What I really enjoy about them is the dark tone but also the humour and how grounded they are in a place. Often, they are very brief and to the point, and strange and supernatural things just happen in them with no explanation given. It is just part of that world and it is all the more mysterious and intriguing.

Mundaun uses fear as a gameplay mechanic in quite an interesting fashion, but was it challenging for you as a developer to ensure that it struck the right balance? For instance, were you ever concerned that the mechanic could effectively be punishing poorly performing players even further?

Yes, it was always important to me to not punish players and make sure Mundaun was fun for them, as well as have them be interested more in the story and atmosphere than in hardcore survival gameplay. So it is very feasible to play the game in a very cautious manner, trying to avoid contact with the enemy creatures completely. On the other hand, it is possible to engage in combat, but then you need to act smart to not succumb to fear and be overwhelmed. It was important for me to have combat and enemies that can hurt you resulting in a genuine sense of threat. So the sense of dread of the atmosphere is actually backed up by the game mechanics.

mundaun

"I think Mundaun is a game that isn't built around a series of enemy encounters with some story sequences in between them. I always looked at Mundaun from the viewpoint of the whole experience, as the player goes through a kind of odyssey, never knowing what would happen next."

Did you ever consider making combat a more central element of the game during development? Is it de-emphasized to suit the needs of the game and the story, or was it something that arose because of production and development-related reasons?

I think Mundaun is a game that isn't built around a series of enemy encounters with some story sequences in between them. I always looked at Mundaun from the viewpoint of the whole experience, as the player goes through a kind of odyssey, never knowing what would happen next. I tried to add the enemies to the world in an organic way. The journey of the player comes first. I didn't want the game to settle into a predictable rhythm of fight, story, fight, story etc.

Do you have any plans to bring the game to the Switch?

Yes, we are working with MWM Interactive to bring Mundaun to Nintendo Switch, so stay tuned.

Little Nightmares 2 Post-Launch Interview – DLC Plans, Future Ideas, and More

Little Nightmares 2 has been out for a few weeks now, and there's little doubt to anyone who's played it that it's every bit as good as its predecessor, and then some. Charming yet horrifying, grotesque yet oddly beautiful, Little Nightmares 2 feels like the perfect follow-up to the wonderfully unique game that was its predecessor. Like with most people who've finished it, we still have plenty of questions swirling in our minds about the game, about its future, and the future of the franchise as a whole, and we recently reached out to the people behind Little Nightmares with a few of those questions. You can read our conversation with Little Nightmares 2 producer Lucas Roussel below.

Little Nightmares 2_06

"This was one of our challenges in development. How can we bring new features while keeping consistency with the previous installment?"

With Little Nightmares II, it's clear why the decision was made to keep this a single player experience in spite of Six being there with Mono as a companion character, but was there ever a conversation during development to have co-op in the game? Could this serve as a springboard for post-launch co-op support, or perhaps a separate co-op mode?

At the start of pre-production, we discussed if this game could be/should be co-op or not. But quickly, we discarded this option since our story was a much better fit for a single player experience.

Little Nightmares II expands upon the scope of its predecessor in various ways, with a story of much larger scale and even with a setting that's far bigger and more varied than The Maw. How did you ensure that in spite of that larger scope, the game didn't lose the intimate horror and tension of the first game?

This was one of our challenges in development. How can we bring new features while keeping consistency with the previous installment? We went through a lot of iteration on the new features. Let's take the ability to pick up and wield a weapon. We decided to make it quite hard for the character to carry and hit. This design choice was mainly to avoid the player feeling too much empowered towards environments and enemies. It was critical to keep this oppressive feeling from the first game. Yes, you have a companion and yes, you can find some weapons in the game. But you remain a small child struggling in a world not meant for kids.

Like the first game, Little Nightmares II has its fair share of moments and sequences that aren't afraid to get dark. Things happen in the story that are far from happy or optimistic, and I guess that's a crucial defining factor of the series. But have you ever wondered during the development of these two games whether something might be too dark? How do you strike that balance between being bleak but not hammering that bleakness home?

You need to find a good balance. Sometimes, we felt the need for a nice emotional moment that contrasts with the bleakness of the world. And the addition of an AI companion was great for that. But the world of Little Nightmares is bleak and we should not artificially make it more cheerful. The kids are the glimpse of hope that will contrast with everything else. They will do kid stuff that will remind us the best of our nature. A good example is Six playing in the schoolyard while this location looks like anything but a friendly spot. Also I think that the grotesqueness of the antagonists make them feel human, sometimes comical and touching.

Little Nightmares 2_07

"Sometimes, we felt the need for a nice emotional moment that contrasts with the bleakness of the world. And the addition of an AI companion was great for that. But the world of Little Nightmares is bleak and we should not artificially make it more cheerful."

What was behind the decision to have players step into the shoes of a completely new character in Mono and having Six factor in as a companion character?

We wanted to show that they are more kids out there. We wanted to emphasize the world, rather than focusing on Six only. But everyone feels strong about the character and we had more story to tell about her. So, when we came up with the idea of having Six as our AI companion, we were all like: "Yes, that's it. We nailed it."

Much like its predecessor, Little Nightmares II tells its story completely wordlessly, and it does it very effectively. What's the process like of figuring out that balance of telling the story you want to tell, but still leaving more than enough room for players to interpret things their own way?

Dave [Mervik], our Senior Narrative Designer, has done an incredible job expanding the lore of Little Nightmares before focusing more specifically on Little Nightmares II's story. Then, the artists have done their magic to recreate our story through environments, effects, antagonists, etc. And we should not forget the amazing sound design that really helps build such a great atmosphere.

It's very impressive to see how the Little Nightmares IP has created such a rich universe in such a short time, with so many narrative threads and characters and places that resonate with players and audiences. Is this something that you have long-term plans for, as far as sequels or spinoffs are concerned? I know Little Nightmares II is still extremely fresh, but after its ending, it's a question I can't help but ask. 

When Tarsier Studios pitched us the first game, we did not only see the potential of a great game, we saw a huge potential in the universe, and Tarsier shared the same vision. We currently don't have plans to announce for the future of the brand, but we will reveal more when we are ready.

At this point, Little Nightmares has established a strong aesthetic and identity for what a new game in the series should look like. Have you ever considered different approaches to how Little Nightmares might play? For instance, have there ever been any ideas floating around for, perhaps, a spinoff or expansion that doesn't play as a 2.5D game?

There are ideas for a lot of things! A good example is our mobile game, Very Little Nightmares (released on iOS and Android). It is within our universe but has a slightly brighter tone, an isometric 3D perspective with a different art direction.

Little Nightmares 2_05

"When Tarsier Studios pitched us the first game, we did not only see the potential of a great game, we saw a huge potential in the universe, and Tarsier shared the same vision."

The first game received really good post-launch support. Do you have similar plans for Little Nightmares II as well?

We cannot reveal our future plans for the franchise just yet, but we'll be happy to do so when we are ready.

What sort of enhancements can players expect from the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Little Nightmares II when they launch later this year? For instance, are you planning on leveraging the haptics and adaptive triggers of the DualSense?

We'll share information soon on our PS5 and Xbox Series X/S version, so please stay tuned.

This isn't as much about Little Nightmares as it is about you as developers. What would you say your favourite games in the last few years have been? Did any of them have any influence on Little Nightmares or Little Nightmares II?

I don't want to speak for the whole team as the guys have different tastes and play very different kinds of games. Also I don't think there is any game that would influence us like "let's recreate this in Little Nightmares". But I can imagine that there are some games that will give the team something to chew on and they will come up with new ideas later. But that is also true with books, movies, TV series or any kind of artistic material.

Dead Cells "Whack-a-Mole" Update is Now Live, Adds New Weapons and Mutations

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The "Whack-a-Mole" update, which is been in beta testing, is available now for Dead Cells. Following the changes to Malaise in recent months, the update looks to tune the difficulty further while also adjusting the curve between different Boss Cells. New content includes three new Survival weapons and three Mutations.

There's the Oven Axe whose final hit can be chained continuously; the Toothpick, a massive club that breaks over an enemy's head if using a charged attack; the Tombstone which dooms nearby foes upon slaying an enemy with the final hit of its combo. New Mutations include No Mercy, which instantly kills foes under 15 percent health (7.5 health for bosses) and Point Blank for X percent of bonus damage on close range attacks. There's also Barbed Tips which inflicts X damage per second depending on arrows stuck in a foe.

As for the Malaise changes, the movement speed of foes is no longer increased. Enemies also won't spawn or convert into Elites for a few seconds after an Elite foe has been aggroed. Malaise also won't be active in BC4 though enemies will still teleport to your position. For more details, check out the full patch notes here.

Balancing

  • Legendary items now scale based on the sum of your two highest statistics. Legendary no longer increase the item level. This is very subject to change and hence has no visual indication implemented yet.
  • Tesla Coil blueprint drop rate increased.
  • Items obtained by the Collector (when completing a blueprint) are now Colorless.
  • Malaise no longer increases the movement speed of enemies.
  • Sudden Death prevention invulnerability duration increases from 0.5 to 0.6 seconds.
  • All weapons now have a bit of air control if an ennemy is in the strike zone.
  • Capped the fatal fall's damages to 15% of your max life.
  • Added bonus scrolls in Fractured Shrines (in BC3+) and Undying Shores (in BC4+) to make them on par with other levels.
  • Turned one double-scroll into a triple-scroll in Fractured Shrines.
  • Improved Soul Shot's (the off-hand of Ferryman's Lantern) aim to target multiple enemies if possible.
  • You can now find one outfit and one other item as blueprints in a level.
  • Mobs can no longer spawn or turn into elites do to Malaise in the first few seconds after an Elite mob aggroes you.
  • Fixed Shovel, Flashing Fans and War Spear not working with Porcupack.
  • Prevented elite Demolishers to spawn with the cage elite skill.

Outriders Video Offers Devastating Pyromancer Build

Outriders

People Can Fly's Outriders is out tomorrow (or today, depending on your local time) with pre-loading now available. In an interesting new video, the developer has provided a build guide for the Pyromancer, titled "Fire Witch." This build focuses on abilities like Overheat, F.A.S.E.R Beam and Eruption to deal massive damage.

To use this build, players will need the Lava Lich Legendary gear, which increases the damage of Eruption by 40 percent while reducing cooldown by 10 percent. Mods are also employed for added damage and reduced cooldown on all skills. Of particular note is Giga-Blast which increases the radius of Eruption by 100 percent and Size Matters which increases F.A.S.E.R Beam's radius by 100 percent.

If this is part of a video series, then it should be a good way to educate players on strong builds as they push towards end-game. Outriders is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, PC and Stadia with cross-platform play supported for all. It's also launching day one on Xbox Game Pass for console.

Monster Hunter Rise Boss Guide – How to Beat Great Baggi, Kulu-Ya-Ku and Great Izuchi

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Every Monster Hunter journey begins by slaying the most basic monsters and slowly working your way up. In the case of Monster Hunter Rise, your first monsters will be Great Izuchi, Great Baggi and Kulu-Ya-Ku. So let's down to dismantling them one by one, starting with Great Izuchi.

Great Izuchi is weak to Thunder and Water with its head and tail tip being the key breakable parts (which are vulnerable to cutting, impact and shot damage). Ailments like Poison, Paralysis, Sleep and Exhaust are also useful. Great Izuchi fights alongside two regular Izuchi which will either attack together with it or separately.

All three are capable of spitting out rocks at the player with Great Izuchi having greater projectile distance. There's also a spinning attack to beware of, though they can often utilize normal tail-whips as well. You also have to watch out for the regular lunge – Great Izuchi will step back a bit before it executes one so be careful.

A good time to pile on the damage is when its tail is slightly stuck in the ground. Otherwise, try and isolate the smaller Izuchi first. Stay mobile and avoid being sandwiched in between all three. Since this is the first hunt, Great Izuchi won't really chunk you for a lot of health so it's also a good way to just learn the ropes.

How to Beat Great Baggi

Great Baggi is another Bird Wyvern but is weakest to Fire. Its also susceptible to ailments like Blast, Exhaust and Paralysis while being completely immune to Sleep (you'll find out why shortly). The head is its main breakable part with cutting damage being the most effective, followed by impact and then shot damage.

Great Baggi will roar to summon its smaller minions which will immediately rush to the player so stay mobile and take them down quickly. While Great Baggi can often employ regular Baggi to help it, their attacks are nowhere near as coordinated as Great Izuchi and his posse. Great Baggi prefers to hang back and shoot watery projectiles which can inflict Sleep. The smaller Baggi can also inflict Sleep with their attacks so keep some Energy Drinks handy to stay awake.

How to Beat Kulu-Ya-Ku

What would a Monster Hunter title be without the bird-brained Kulu-Ya-Ku? Its main elemental weakness is Water while all ailments have the same level of effectiveness against it. Concentrate on attacking its head above all.

If you've played Monster Hunter World, then Kulu-Ya-Ku is more or less identical in terms of tactics. It will utilize leaping attacks (which have slight AoE so be careful) but may also slightly lunge at the player with its beak. You may also find it rushing across while swiping its claws. Kulu-Ya-Ku's main calling card is picking up a small rock and using this to bludgeon the player with.

It's often advised to attack its head from the side when it's holding the rock since attacks will normally bounce off of the latter. However, you can also hit the rock directly and break it. A well-timed strike to the head will also cause Kulu-Ya-Ku to drop the rock so keep that in mind.