Technical Issues Restrict Biomutant to 1080p, 60 FPS on PS5
THQ Nordic released gameplay footage of Biomutant running on PS5 today, and the news isn't good for folks who were hoping to play Biomutant on PS5 in 4K. The footage starts with a disclaimer, which is always a good sign: "The footage you are about to see has been captured on a retail PS5. With this build, the option for native 4K on PlayStation has been deactivated due to stability- and performance-related reasons. What you see here is 1080p @60fps upscaled to 4K @60fps. It will remain deactivated for the release version, too. It will not be a native current gen experience. More information on that will follow soon, though."
The news is disappointing, but it does makes sense. Biomutant is not a native PS5 game; it's a PS4 title running through backwards compatibility. Folks had hoped – and perhaps expected – that the game would see improvements to take advantage of the PS5's superior hardware as games like Days Gone and God of War did. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be possible.
What's worse for PS5 players is that the Xbox Series X will run at native 4K at 60 frames-per-second. It should be noted that this doesn't mean that the game will never support 4K and 60 FPS on PS5. The game could always get a patch that adds 4K support in the future. We'll just have to wait and see. Either way, you have to respect THQ Nordic's honesty.
You can watch gameplay of Biomutant on PS5 below:
Aksys Announces Blazing Strike, New Fighting Game Inspired by Arcade Classics
If you were lucky enough to play games in the heydey of the arcade, you're familiar with fighting games that had pixel art and 2D sprites. That age is long gone, but a lot of those games have found second life in re-releases and remasters. It's been a long time since we got a new fighter in that classic style, however.
That's all about to change thanks to publisher Aksys Game and developer RareBreed Makes Games, who announced Blazing Strike, a 2D fighter in the classic style set to release next year. The game is set to mix classic elements and new gameplay mechanics.
"I was always fond of classic fighting games and I wanted to make a fun fighting game with an emphasis on mobility," said Rarebreed founder Mark Chung. "Our goal is to create an homage to the classic pixel art-based 2D fighters, but with updated game mechanics that not only will bring nostalgia to 90's arcade kids but will offer something new and entertaining to all gamers, regardless of whether they have played fighting games before."
"Blazing Strike features a 4-button system with six normal attacks: light, medium and heavy punches and kicks, as well as three defense moves: block, guard and parry," according to a press release. "A Rush Trigger enables fighters to execute fast-paced attacks and movements, but using it will slowly drain the Rush Meter, sending the character into a temporary groggy state. This allows players to execute exciting combos while having to manage the Rush Meter. The game will include three play modes: Story Mode, Arcade Mode and VS Mode, with training, sparring and online match via Persona AI, and online play powered by GGPO."
The game looks good and the description sounds interesting, especially since it will be using rollback netcode thanks to GGPO integration. Blazing Strike will release on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC in spring 2022.
Moon Samurai, Gorgeous 2D Action Platformer, Announced for PC, Switch, and Mac
Russian developer Nunchaku Games has announced Moon Samurai, a gorgeous 2D pixel action adventure platformer set in a cyberpunk world. The game will release on PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch. While Nunchaku Games currently has no plans to release the game on Xbox or PlayStation platforms, the developers is "considering it." No release date has been announced.
According to Nunchaku Games, "you will play as a young futuristic samurai named Buddy. Fight your way through a dangerous science-fiction world, unravel its mysteries, and escape all the traps. Tornadic scuffles against a broad range of enemies will go hand-in-hand with exciting parkour-style jumping over rooftops, balconies, and ladders."
Nunchaku lists Prince of Persia, Double Dragon, Comix Zone, Oni, Battletoads, and Karateka as among the game's influences. The game also "draws its inspiration from old-school martial arts movies and cyberpunk culture." Nunchacku Games promises Moon Samurai will have more than 50 different locations across 8 levels, several weapons, epic boss fights and a deep combat system.
You can watch a teaser trailer for the game below:
Overwatch 2 Will Move to 5v5 Matches Featuring Only One Tank
We already know that Overwatch 2 is going to change quite a bit about Overwatch, but it looks like it's going to change even more about the series than we thought. In a livestream today, game director Aaron Keller revealed that the new game would be a 5v5 game. The original Overwatch was a 6v6 title.
"There are a lot of reasons we wanted to make this change," Keller said. "If you think about it, there's a lot going on in an Overwatch match. And we have always tried to make our combat easy to read and understandable. But even with all the work we've done, sometimes it's just too hard to read what 11 other players are doing on the battlefield. Removing two of them simplifies everything."
While Overwatch initially launched with an open queue that allowed players to build teams however they wanted, Blizzard introduced a role queue for the game in 2019. The change required players to choose a specific role – either tank, DPS, or healer – and stick with it. In the 6v6 setup, there were two tanks, two DPS, and two healers on each time.
In Overwatch 2, however, there will only be one tank per team, and two fewer players per game. "Tanks can be a problem," Keller said, explaining the change. The development team believes that the current setup makes the game slower and harder to understand, something the team is hoping to change in Overwatch 2.
Overwatch series director Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard last month after 19 years with the company. The game is still in development, and today's livestream is one of first time the game has been shown since its announcement in 2019.
You can watch the livestream below:
NBA 2K21 is the Latest Free Game on the Epic Games Store
Generally, Epic Games reveals the next free game on the Epic Games Store a week before they release. They broke from that trend last week, announcing only that we'd be getting a mystery game this week. Well, the mystery is over. This week's free game is NBA 2K21. 2K's basketball title will be available for free until May 27th.
NBA 2K21 will be replacing Mi'pu'mi Games' The Lion's Song, which was free on the service until May 20th. The Lion's Song is "a narrative adventure game. It is steeped in early 20th century history and focuses on a cast of Austrian artists and scientists with each episode taking a closer look at their intimate struggles with creativity and inspiration."
2K also said PC players can "now also experience cross play for NBA 2K21 on Epic and Steam platforms" in a separate announcement. Interestingly, next week's game is also a mystery title. Mystery titles on Epic Games Store generally mean the free game is a high profile release, so keep an eye on it once NBA 2K21's free window expires on May 27th. If you're looking to buy something on EGS, their Mega Sale is also going on right now. Players can also claim a coupon that will take $10 off any title that is $15 or more, even if that title is already discounted.
New Epic Games Promotion Sale Knocks $10 off Everything Over $15
A new promotion at the Epic Games Store takes $10 off everything priced at $15 or more. The discount varies slightly based on where you live – in the UK you'll get £10 off any title priced £13.99 or above, while folks in Europe will get €10 off anything €14.99 or above, for instance.
The promotion coincides with the launch of the Mega Sale, which offers discounts of up to 75% on various games at the Epic Games store. The $10 off promotion is valid on any game already on sale, provided said game still clears the qualifying amount after the discount. There are some limitations, however. The promotion is only valid for full games, so it won't work on DLC, season passes, in-game purchases, or when buying in-game currency.
Players can claim their coupon by claiming it once they sign into the Epic Games Store. Each time someone makes a purchase using an Epic Coupon, they'll get another one for free. That's good, because there's no shortage of excellent games on sale.
Insomniac Games has already promised a range of accessibility options for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and in a new post, it's outlined what fans can expect. There are four main difficulty levels – Rookie Recruit, Rebel Agent, Resistance Leader and Renegade Legend (which is the highest). You can also choose to disable all tutorials if you wish.
In terms of screen effects, Motion Blur can either be reduced while Depth of Field can be turned off. Chromatic Aberration can also be toggled on or off along with Fullscreen Effects like heat shimmer, gas effects, lens flare and more. If screen shake is too much during gameplay, it can also be disabled.
Along with Brightness, Contrast (which has different shader and high contrast options) and HDR, players can also enable a High Contrast Background for better visual clarity. You can also apply a Hero Shader, which is a single-color shader, for Ratchet or Rivet to improve their visibility. Single-color shaders can also be applied to interactables, hazards, collectibles and enemies.
There's a lot more to go through like shortcut options, HUD colors, controller remapping, simplified traversal (for mapping all traversal options to one button) and more. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart releases on June 11th for PS5. For new footage of the various planets and exploration, head here.
Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Prince's Edition Launches for Nintendo Switch on September 17
When Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch launched for the Switch a couple years ago, most series fans knew that it was only a matter of time before its sequel came to Nintendo's hybrid as well. The same was leaked thanks to a recent ESRB rating, and now, we have an official confirmation as well.
Publishing Bandai Namco has announced with a new trailer that Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Prince's Edition will launch for the Nintendo Switch on September 17. In addition to the base game itself, it will also include both of the game's expansions, The Lair of the Lost Lord and The Tale of a Timeless Tome.
Currently, Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is available for PS4 and PC. You can read our review of the game through here. Level-5 confirmed in 2019 that the series' next instalment was in development, but there have been no updates on that since then.
Microsoft Won't Interfere With Bethesda's Publishing Services – Xbox Game Studios Boss
Acquisitions and mergers are not exactly uncommon in the games industry (or any industry, for that matter), but very few deals in the industry have been of the same scale and scope as Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda. As one of the biggest third party publishers around and the owner of some of gaming's biggest and most popular franchises, the addition of Bethesda to Microsoft's first party portfolio is a massive deal- but, of course, there are questions about how exactly Microsoft is going to handle Bethesda going forward. Will they be allowed to retain their autonomy and creative independence, or are they going to be integrated into Microsoft's business more heavily?
According to Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty, it's going to be a case of the former. In an interview with Le Figaro (via Reddit), Booty said that Microsoft is not going to interfere with Bethesda's publishing wing, which includes everything from publishing and marketing to sales and communication, and more. At the same time, Bethesda's studios are also going to be able to retain their creative freedom and independence, much like the approach that Microsoft is taking for all the studios it is acquiring.
Booty also re-iterated that Bethesda, much like all Microsoft studios, is going to focus on delivering content for Xbox Game Pass. At the same time, Booty says Microsoft doesn't want its studios to create their games specifically based on what sort of an experience would work best for the subscription service.
In the same interview, Booty also confirmed that Microsoft and Bethesda will have a joint press conference at E3 2021.
Back 4 Blood Trailer Details the Cleaners and the Ridden
Back 4 Blood was delayed to October 12th but there's an open beta coming this Summer (register here to be notified when it goes live). So it's a good time to get acquainted with the various Cleaners that you'll be controlling and the different Ridden that you'll be slaying. Check out both in the trailer below.
There are eight Cleaners to choose from and each has their own unique abilities and traits. Walker gains increased accuracy on precision kills while adding to team health. Karlee can sense hazards and increases the team's use speed of items. Hoffman adds on to team ammo capacity and can spawn ammo with kills.
Among the Ridden are the Breaker, an infected brute whose hardened fists deal lots of damage; the Ogre, which throws infected "meat balls" from range; the Snitcher who can summon hordes upon spotting you; and the Hag which will grab players and eat them whole. Other Ridden are teased, including one with a large arm that it slams down. Back 4 Blood is slated to release for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC.