Kotaku Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:30 AM  Happy Sunday, puzzlers! We are 100 percent ready for some football. It's Week One of the NFL season, but maybe that's not your jam, especially if you're a 9-year-old who's beyond geeked up for the Minecraft movie. And if you're older than that and still geeked up for the Minecraft movie, well, that's awesome, too!… |
Kotaku Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:00 AM  Plain and simple, I am a Beatles fan because of video games—prior to a specific game, I didn't give two shits about one of the most influential acts in modern music history. But this week, the sole reason for my fandom, The Beatles: Rock Band, turns 15. Harmonix's rhythm game masterpiece feels forgotten despite the… |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:57 AM  The intricacy of space combat brings a lot of factors to the table, and games such as Eve Online, Star Citizen, No Man's Sky, Elite Dangerous, and Sins of a Solar Empire each bring their own perspective to bear on the format. For those who love rich, rewarding tactics and interlocking, simulation-driven systems, multiplayer strategy game Nebulous: Fleet Command might be just what you're looking for. In a new video blog, developer Eridanus Industries lifts the curtain on its next update, which brings powerful carrier ships into play. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best space games, Best simulation games, Best RTS games |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:50 AM  September 8, 2024: We have added one extra new Special Anime Defense codes to this list of 19 active codes. What are the new Special Anime Defense codes? Another fun anime-themed Roblox game, Anime Special Defense stands out with its colorful neon aesthetics and character drops. By redeeming codes in the game, you can instantly enjoy a whole bunch of helpful rewards even if it's your first time diving in. Just like using the latest Anime Defenders codes or Blox Fruits codes, getting free rewards in Anime Special Defense makes the Roblox experience even more of a great time. Let's get into all of the active bonuses available to redeem right now. Continue reading Special Anime Defense codes September 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Roblox games, Roblox promo codes, Roblox music codes |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:42 AM  You'd better believe it, official Old School RuneScape community servers are finally on the way. Codenamed 'Project Zanaris,' you'll now have complete control over server rules as you play. So if you want to restrict trading, make your own game modes, or even just have a realm for you and your friends, you can do it. The power is about to be in your hands, but we've still got to wait a while for OSRS community servers to arrive before getting too excited. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best MMORPGs on PC, Runescape system requirements, Old School RuneScape: Beginner's guide |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 8:52 AM  September 8, 2024: We've added two new Monopoly Go dice links for free dice rolls. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The household favorite board game has been reimagined as a free-to-play app on smartphones, allowing everyone to experience the thrills of Monopoly on practically any device. Everything that makes the board game special is here in Monopoly Go, so you'll be collecting properties and building hotels as you go around the board, and there are a variety of multiplayer minigames to get through along the way. You're going to need to get your hands on Monopoly dice rolls, but they are difficult to come by no matter how far you are into the board game. There are ways to earn additional dice rolls, including logging into the game every day to collect daily bonuses, progressing further in the game, and inviting friends to try Monopoly Go. While you can also spend real money to unlock more dice rolls, you may want to give our list of Monopoly Go dice links a try instead, especially if you're waiting for the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event. Take a look at all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links September 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 7:52 AM  If you love roguelikes, you need to play The Rogue Prince of Persia. It might be in Steam Early Access, but it's already shaping up to dethrone my favorites. Between the slick combat, movement, and unique art style, it offers an incredibly different experience from the genre you're used to. The problem is, it doesn't have nearly the number of players it deserves. Despite the pedigree of Dead Cells studio Evil Empire, the launch hasn't been that big. 2024 is filled with updates for the game, though, and the most recent one makes it well worth trying. Continue reading Excellent new roguelike from Dead Cells dev gets huge weapons update MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Best platform games, Best indie games |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 6:45 AM  The compelling wave-based survival and upgrade loop of Vampire Survivors won all our hearts throughout 2022, but I couldn't help wondering how it might fit a more active hack-and-slash style of action game. Enter Hordes of Hunger, a new Steam roguelike from Polish developer Hyperstrange and published by Kwalee that infuses gameplay somewhere between Diablo and Dark Souls into a Vampire Survivors style structure. My curiosity most certainly piqued by its initial reveal, I recently sat down to take a closer look at Gamescom 2024. Continue reading Hordes of Hunger infuses Vampire Survivors with Diablo style combat MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Games like Diablo, Best action-adventure games |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 6:24 AM  Your name could be in Valve HQ. It's weird even typing that out if I'm honest, but it isn't any less true. If you signed the famous Save TF2 petition, you've now been immortalized in a book that sits in the building where they make the likes of Portal, Half-Life, Deadlock, and, of course, Team Fortress 2. The grassroots campaign asking Valve to do something about the Steam shooter's botting crisis worked. So to celebrate, a gift for the team now sits somewhere in the office. Continue reading Team Fortress 2's 'Save TF2' petition has been delivered to Valve HQ MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games, Best old games, Best multiplayer games |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 5:00 AM  When you think of the Roman Empire, its great triumphs probably spring to mind first. Its grand conquest and expansion, its political systems, and its deep-rooted influence on everything from language and art to religion and architecture. New survival game Lost Legions bears a love for the period, yet it focuses on one of the more dramatic defeats borne by the Romans - the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, where an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed three Roman legions, leaving them scattered, and marking an abrupt end to Emperor Augustus's plans to expand into the region. I took a look at Gamescom 2024, and I'm already a big fan of the setup. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 5:23 AM  What time does the CoD beta start? As sure as the sun rises and sets each day, a new Call of Duty installation is almost guaranteed for each new year and, with it, a few days of multiplayer early access. Following the reveal of Black Ops 6, we've been making the most of the limited-time beta. Call of Duty Black Ops 6 was first teased towards the end of May, 2024, and within two weeks we saw the FPS game's official reveal at Summer Game Fest. Earlier rumors of a Gulf War themed Call of Duty were proved right, and the Black Ops 6 release date takes us back to the 1990s. There's more on that in our main guide, but read on to find out what we know about the Black Ops 6 beta start times, end times, and sign up details. Continue reading Black Ops 6 beta end time, how to access, download size, and news MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Ops 6 release date, Best FPS games, Best Black Ops 6 loadouts |
PCGamesN Sunday, September 8, 2024 3:00 AM  As Hades 2 early access rolls on, we're seeing several other studios put their own spin on its particular brand of top-down roguelike action. Studio Fizbin, previously known for games with simple, satisfying gameplay and socially relevant narratives - I particularly enjoyed the fulfilling Say No More - has brought that design ethos to bear alongside a deeper gameplay focus in the 'medievalpunk' world of Reignbreaker. I sat down to try it at Gamescom 2024, and came away ready to play more. Continue reading Reignbreaker is a punchy punk roguelike with a unique weapon system MORE FROM PCGAMESN: New PC games, Best PC games, Free PC games |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Sunday, September 8, 2024 6:00 AM  Sundays are for holding talks with the Squirmles to try and talk them down from a diplomatic incident after my cat's various war crimes. Before that, let's read this week's best writing about games (and game related things!) |
Siliconera Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:00 AM
When Sonic x Shadow Generations was first announced at Sony's State of Play in January, I was shocked that Black Doom had been revived for the upcoming game. Honestly, I'm still shocked even now, several months later. Black Doom has only appeared in one game in the Sonic franchise before this, and it's a spin-off title, Shadow the Hedgehog. But considering that Black Doom encourages and coerces Shadow to go on a killing spree in some timelines, it was a villain I thought Sega would have wanted to keep dead and buried.
Back in the early 2000s, Shadow was at the height of his popularity thanks to the success of Sonic Adventure 2. Because of this, Sega Studios USA wanted to create a game centred around Shadow. They decided to base the game on the events of Sonic Adventure 2. This decision actually made a lot of sense, as the overall plot of Sonic Adventure 2 had massive potential to be expanded and developed upon, including the Space Colony ARK, Guardian Unit of Nations (G.U.N) and the backstory of Gerald Robotnik.
Now, everything stated above sounds completely reasonable, right? But anyone who played Shadow the Hedgehog knows the game is a startling contrast to what we had seen in previous games. To explain how strange it was, when the trailer initially dropped for Shadow the Hedgehog, fans were convinced it was some convoluted joke, as the plot and gameplay seemed miles away from what we had seen in any traditional mainline game.
The story follows Shadow, who is suffering from amnesia and lacks clarity on what happened at the Space Colony ARK. An alien race called the Black Arms has landed on Earth, causing mayhem and destruction to human civilisation. The leader of the Black Arms, Black Doom, approaches Shadow and tells him to collect all seven Chaos Emeralds to fulfil his "promise". With Black Doom clearly knowing about his past, Shadow decides to collect all the Chaos Emeralds, but how he goes about this is entirely up to you, as you can choose to be the hero or the villain in the story.
To complete the level, you can either kill the Black Arms aliens that are attacking Earth or kill the human G.U.N soldiers trying to protect the planet. You can even pick the anarchist option and choose to kill everyone you come across. Depending on your actions, it will result in different timelines, with ten possible endings you can achieve. One of the endings even results in Shadow striking down Doctor Eggman in what appears to be his demise. Not exactly what you expect from a Sonic the Hedgehog game. But this is not where the oddness ends, as this is still not the most contentious aspect of Shadow the Hedgehog…you can use guns. Yep, you read that right. You can travel across the stage and pick up guns to shoot down your adversaries.
The first level of Shadow the Hedgehog, Westopolis, is distinctively memorable because it really shows you what the game is about. It starts with you abruptly freefalling from the sky and witnessing the devastating explosions tormenting the city as an eerie red aura consumes the sky. When you finally land on the ground level and dash through the stage, you see the full extent of the carnage, as the city buildings and road structures are turned into derelict dust. You then have multiple opportunities to pick up weapons from the G.U.N soldiers or the Black Arms aliens to take whatever action you see fit. The first stage is a great indicator of whether you will like the overall atmosphere that Shadow the Hedgehog is trying to achieve.
Even though Shadow and the stages are obviously selling points of the game, Black Doom arguably steals the show. Black Doom is a classic villain with no admirable characteristics. There is no divine or symbolic meaning behind his actions. He simply wants the humans as livestock for his race and will do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. This made the timelines where Shadow picked the bad options feel even more sinister because it was leading to Earth's demise. It felt like you were genuinely succumbing to the dark side whenever you did an action that pleased him. Shadow the Hedgehog would not be the same experience if you took away Black Doom.
As you can probably tell by this point, this is not the most kid-friendly game, and there is a reason for that. Takashi Iizuka wanted to create a Sonic the Hedgehog experience aimed at an older audience, emulating action films, which might explain the game's dark undercurrent. In fact, Shadow the Hedgehog was heavily edited to ensure it kept at the E10+ rating.
When Shadow the Hedgehog first came out, I was a few years away from my teens but had already entered my rocker phase (and I still haven't left) and had begun listening to rock bands like System of the Down and Nine Inch Nails. I was their prime audience on paper. So, what did I think of the game? I fell in love with Shadow the Hedgehog for all the above reasons. I found Sonic Heroes a bit too cheesy, so I appreciated the darker tone, and I liked the concept that I could carve out my own destiny. I remember my older sibling raising an eyebrow at me whilst playing the game, questioning why Shadow has a gun, but I completely disregarded these concerns because I enjoyed the game so much.
But I also distinctly remember the first time I saw Black Doom. It may sound silly, as Black Doom's voice, in some ways, is rather comical in how deep-pitched it is, but the kid version of me found it terrifying. His appearance was also menacing, as he was a floating entity with multiple red eyes. They nailed the ominous alien look perfectly, as he was scary but cool at the same time. I wanted to know his backstory and history with Shadow and Gerald Robotnik, which motivated me to complete all ten endings and unlock the true ending.
Looking back, I can appreciate that a few bugs held it back from greatness and begrudgingly agree with my sibling that the guns were unnecessary, but I still have a strong affiliation with the title to this day. I'm not the only one, as Shadow the Hedgehog has cultivated a strong cult following throughout the years.
But since Shadow the Hedgehog was released, which was nearly twenty years ago, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has gone back to its roots and embraced a more kid-friendly atmosphere (at least regarding the games and TV adaptations, the Sonic the Hedgehog comics are a conversation for another day). The recent Hollywood films have solidified this tone even further. It's a hilarious segment, but Jim Carrey doing the floss as Doctor Eggman definitely appeals to younger audiences. But it's also because of these films that Black Doom has returned.
The upcoming film Sonic the Hedgehog 3, set to come out later this year, sees the introduction of Shadow. To complement the film, they clearly wanted to bring Shadow back to the forefront of the games in some capacity. The result is Sonic x Shadow Generations – a remaster of Sonic Generations with a parallel story featuring Shadow. But what was one of the best qualities of the first game that featured Shadow as the protagonist? Black Doom.
Now, do I think Sonic x Shadow Generations will feature guns and the option of killing human G.U.N soldiers? Absolutely not. If anything, looking at the gameplay trailers we have so far, it appears it's tapping into Sonic Adventure 2 more, as the iconic boss battle Biolizard has even been included. But I'm still surprised Sega has revived Black Doom. They could have easily conjured up a new villain, but clearly, even though they have no desire to emulate Shadow the Hedgehog's dark and gritty tone, they couldn't ignore that Black Doom was a pivotal reason for the original game's success. And I'm happy that a new generation of Sonic The Hedgehog fans will be introduced to Black Doom and his ominous voice.
What are your thoughts about Sonic x Shadow Generations bringing back Black Doom? Let us know with a comment below.
Sonic x Shadow Generations will be released on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Xbox One on 22 October, 2024.
The post I'm Shocked That Sonic x Shadow Generations Revived Black Doom appeared first on Siliconera. |
