Gaming News

Voxel-Based Heist Game Teardown Gets New PS5 Gameplay, Console Release Date

Teardown, the first-person, voxel-based heist game that might fairly be described as the delightfully bizarre lovechild of Burnout 3's Crash Mode, Minecraft, and Thief, is on its way to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 15. Check out the release date trailer below, and our all-new exclusive eight-minute PS5 gameplay footage above. Teardown was initially released for PC in April of last year, and developer Tuxedo Labs has been hard at work on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series version of it ever since. In Teardown, you'll roam an environment, planning out your route both to the loot and then out to the getaway van. But part of that planning involves utilizing the fully destructible voxel-based environment. If you need to blow a few...

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Ridiculous 89-Hit Mortal Kombat 1 Combo Lasts Almost a Minute

Mortal Kombat 1 players have spent the game’s early life experimenting with the new Kameo system, which lets you call in other characters to perform an action. Using Kameo characters, players are working out how to do elaborate combos that involve “juggling” their opponent with multiple hits. But this new combo from evil sorcerer Shang Tsung is perhaps the most ridiculous yet. Mortal Kombat professional player Jarrad "NinjaKilla212" Gooden, who won the Mortal Kombat 11 tournament at Evo this year, took to Twitter to publish a video showing an 89-hit combo from Shang Tsung, who, in old form, repeatedly juggles poor Baraka with Ground Skulls fireballs, and keeps the fun going by calling in Scorpion for a cheeky Kameo juggle. There's...

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Fortnite V-Bucks Increasing in Price

Fortnite V-Bucks will increase in price in the United States and several other countries on October 27, 2023, Epic Games has announced. Revealed in a Fortnite blog post, the price increase of around 12% to 15% per bundle comes as a result of "economic factors such as inflation and currency fluctuations" and follows similar price increases seen in the UK, Canada, and Mexico. Countries seeing a price increase now include the U.S., Czech Republic, Denmark, Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and all countries where the U.S. dollar is the storefront currency. The U.S. will see the following price increases: 1,000 V-Bucks rises from $7.99 to $8.99, 2,800 V-Bucks rises from $19.99 to $22.99, 5,000...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Players Can Lock Themselves Out of Phantom Liberty By Selecting Wrong Dialogue Option

Spoiler Warning: The following article includes minor spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, mainly surrounding a decision in the fourth main mission: Lucretia My Reflection. Cyberpunk 2077 players can very quickly lock themselves out of the game's one and only expansion, Phantom Liberty, by choosing the wrong dialogue option in-game. As recorded in IGN's Cyberpunk 2077 Guide, the option to simply walk away from Phantom Liberty's main campaign comes during the mission Lucretia My Reflection as Idris Elba's Solomon Reed asks protagonist V of the mission: "is it worth it?" "Know what, Reed? You're right," V will reply. "Somethin' real wonky 'bout this. I'm out." The other characters start sweating a little here...

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Sega Cancels Creative Assembly's Hyenas

Sega has cancelled Hyenas, the multiplayer extraction shooter in development at UK studio Creative Assembly. Issuing a warning to investors that it will record a loss for the financial year, Sega said "profitability has been lowered mainly in European bases". As a result, it has implemented "structural reforms aimed at increasing efficiency", and reviewed in-development games. "We have made the difficult decision to cancel some titles under the development as well as to reduce the fixed expenses," Sega said. "In response to the lower profitability of the European region, we have reviewed the title portfolio of each development base in Europe and the resulting action will be to cancel Hyenas and some unannounced titles under...

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Will OG Xbox Classic MechAssault Return? – Unlocked 614

We open this week's busy episode of Unlocked by discussing two big new games we just played a bunch of: Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty and Alan Wake 2. After that we discuss Phil Spencer's wish to bring back MechAssault and have a fantasy draft for which Xbox developer should make it -- along with our own picks (complete with preferred developers) for other dormant Xbox franchises we'd like to see return. Plus: we get lost wondering how the heck we're going to play all of the games in this historically busy stretch of major game releases that we're in right now, and more! Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out my Alan Wake 2...

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Up to 65% off PlayStation AAAs, the Lowest Eddies for Phantom Liberty, a Meta Quest 3 Deal and More!

I'm back from holidays, and I'm all about the bargains again. Actually, to be fair I was still about the bargains when I was off in Tokyo, too. If you're ever out that way, be sure to check out Super Potato in Akihabara, not to mention the much wider spread chain of Book Off op shops. In particular, their Super Bazaar store variants (think: your local Cashies + a Myer degree of floorspace + insanely good prices on every gaming thing since the NES era onwards). Anyway, onto the deals... This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware - Gameboy console launch 1990. - Tetris (GB) 1990. - Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) 2006. - Mercury Meltdown (PSP) 2006. - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team (DS) 2006. - TESO...

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Counter-Strike 2 Just Officially Launched

Valve surprised everyone when it announced earlier this year that it was making a Counter-Strike 2 - and after months of limited testing, it's now available for PC players. The company announced the news with a new trailer today, which you can watch below. Counter-Strike 2 was announced back in March. Running on Source Engine 2, the same game engine used on other Valve games including Dota 2 and Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike 2 is not a separate sequel to the original game but rather a major free update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. As we have previously seen, Counter-Strike provides a graphical facelift to the popular first-person shooter while adding upgrades and redesigns to the game's maps. More importantly...

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Sony Announces Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition for PS5, but PC Gamers Have to Wait

Sony has finally announced Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition after a series of leaks. It launches on PlayStation 5 on October 6. The PC version, however, launches early 2024 via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The PC version of Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition is developed by PC port specialist Nixxes Software, which Sony acquired in 2021. The Complete Edition includes the Horizon Forbidden West and Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC, and costs $69.99 / €59.99 / ¥7,980 on PS5. Here’s the complete list of contents for Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition on PS5: Horizon Forbidden West for PS5 Burning Shores DLC for PS5 Digital soundtrack Digital art book Horizon Zero Dawn Vol. 1: The Sunhawk digital comic...

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Blizzard’s Hearthstone Team Suffers Round of Layoffs

Blizzard has suffered a round of layoffs at its Hearthstone development team. In a statement issued to IGN, Activision Blizzard confirmed the layoffs, without specifying the number of staff affected. "Organizational changes were made to the Hearthstone team; as a result a small number of roles have become redundant. We want to thank these employees for their many contributions." Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach tweeted to say 10 members of staff, all within the Hearthstone team, were affected. Hearthstone is Blizzard’s free-to-play digital card game set within the Warcraft universe. It launched on PC and Mac in March 2014, with a mobile version launching later that year. For a time Hearthstone was one of the most popular video games in...

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Preorder the Elden Ring Alexander Nendoroid at the IGN Store

Elden Ring fans have quite the treat available to preorder right now in the IGN Store: a Nendoroid of Iron Fist Alexander. This adorable figure stands about 3.9 inches high and can be posed in several different ways, making him an excellent addition to your collectible collection. With an estimated release date of July 2024, you can preorder this figure at the link below for $50.99. Iron Fist Alexander Nendoroid is Up For Preorder at the IGN Store This figure is the latest Elden Ring collectible available on the IGN Store, joining figures of Melina, Vargram the Raging Wolf in his Raging Wolf armor, and a Festering Fingerprint Vyke figure from S.H.Figuarts. These figures are available to purchase right now as well and are still in...

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Starfield Players Show Off Its Physics Playground by Playing Dominoes With Books and Sandwiches

In time-honoured Bethesda game tradition, Starfield players are using objects found in the game world to play Dominoes. YouTube channel Holy Moe uploaded a video showing an early effort at in-game Dominoes, which uses books, space food and other junk items to have fun with Bethesda’s physics playground. Footballs are also used to add extra complexity to the run. You can see the video in the tweet below. “It’s just a concept right now using books as Dominoes,” Holy Moe explained. “Perhaps I will make something more advanced next time. The Bethesda physics are spectacular!” Holy Moe’s video is a starting point for Starfield Dominoes, and already other players are creating more complex runs. The attempt below adds sandwiches to the...

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Alan Wake 2 Performance Mode Confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X

Remedy Entertainment has confirmed Alan Wake 2 will get Performance mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X. The news comes by way of Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha, who announced on in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the developer will add a Performance mode to the game after programming it to run at 30fps to begin with. He said it was done to place emphasis on graphics and the game’s macabre environment. “I’m glad to say that Alan Wake 2 will have a Performance mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X,” Puha said. “The game has been built from the beginning as a 30fps experience focusing on visuals and ambiance, but somehow we have managed to include a solid Performance mode. We’ll talk details later.” Fans on X pointed out...

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Alan Wake 2: The Final Preview

Part of me was worried that Alan Wake 2 would be disappointing. The pessimistic side of my brain feared that it would be a situation where, sure, the sequel we've waited over a decade for was finally getting made – yay! – but what if it didn't live up to the cult-classic legend of the 2010 original? After all, anticipation – particularly so many years' worth of it – has a way of overpowering the reality of the thing you've been waiting for. Though Alan Wake himself is rewriting reality as he seeks escape from the Dark Place in Alan Wake 2, the reality of the game in front of me needed no rewriting. I played a few hours of it across two different missions and what I’ve experienced is fantastic, simultaneously feeling almost nothing...

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Microsoft Signs Octopath Traveler 2 for Xbox Game Pass

At Tokyo Game Show 2023, Microsoft announced Octopath Traveler 2 is finally coming to Xbox. Now, in a new interview, Microsoft has confirmed it has signed a deal with Square Enix to bring the role-playing game to Game Pass. In an interview with Sarah Bond, Corporate Vice President at Xbox, published on Xbox Wire, Octopath Traveler 2 is mentioned alongside Sega’s Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name as coming soon to Xbox Game Pass. Octopath Traveler 2 launched on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam in February this year. IGN’s Octopath Traveler 2 review returned a 7/10. We called it “a very enjoyable JRPG sequel that feels a little too safe and familiar”. Microsoft has worked to improve...

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Wargroove 2 Review

2019’s Wargroove turned out to be one of the best tactics games of recent years, thanks in no small part to its great strategy gameplay clearly inspired by Nintendo’s Advance Wars series. Four years and a proper Advance Wars remake later, Wargroove 2 has arrived with much more of everything that made the first game so impressive, even adding an all-new game mode and improved map creation tools. It breaks very little new ground when it comes to its story or the actual tactical combat options, but that’s forgivable since what’s there is just as much fun the second time around. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Wargroove 2’s single-player campaign takes place a few years after its predecessor and introduces a new faction of...

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Lies of P Patch 1.2 Makes the Game Easier and Fans Are Kinda Happy

Dark Souls and Bloodborne inspired Lies of P's latest patch has made the game easier and a lot of fans are actually pretty happy about it. As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, developer Neowiz has reduced the health of several enemies and bosses including Fallen Archbishop Andreus, King of Puppets, and Simon Manus, Arm of God. The full patch notes (below) were shared on Steam. Basic health reductions aren't the only things making what is, like its FromSoftware inspirations, a notoriously difficult game. Neowiz has also increased the chance of breaking some monsters' stance and the frequency of stagger and increased the staggerable window time. One boss (that we won't mention for the sake of spoilers but can be seen below) has also has...

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Starfield Community Discovers Rain Only Ever Falls on the Player, Developers Explain Why

Some within the Starfield community were surprised to learn that rain only ever falls on the player this week after a Reddit post revealing the normally unseen trick saw nearly 30,000 upvotes. “In Starfield, rain only exists in a small area around the player,” redditor thelastfastbender wrote alongside a screenshot showing the effect in photo mode. The Reddit post then made its way onto social media where the video game community helped explain what’s going on. It turns out pretty much all video games handle rain like this, although usually in a slightly different way. Thomas Francis, lead visual effects artist at Darkest Dungeon 2 developer Red Hook Studios, posted to say rain is normally attached to the camera rather than the...

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In Mortal Kombat 1, Player 1 Really Does Have an Advantage

Some fighting game fans have a favourite side to play on, whether it's the left of the screen on the Player 1 side or the right of the screen as Player 2. While there is normally no gameplay advantage that comes from starting on either side, some players find input commands easier from the left or right. But when it comes to Mortal Kombat 1, it turns out there's a very good reason to pick Player 1. YouTuber mrAPchem published a video demonstrating how Player 1 can perform some combos Player 2 cannot. mrAPchem showed this issue affecting chilly Mortal Kombat veteran Sub-Zero, but it turns out it affects every character in the game across all modes and in all versions. In short: Player 2 cannot connect some combos. It’s a significant...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Players Spot Idris Elba's Solomon Reed Undercover Before Events of Phantom Liberty

Spoiler Warning: The following article features minor spoilers for some characters and dialogue appearing within the first five missions of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, up to and including The Damned. Cyberpunk 2077 players are able to find Idris Elba's Solomon Reed working his deep undercover day job ahead of the events of Phantom Liberty. Reed works as a sleeper agent for the New United States of America but has been undercover for seven years as a bouncer at the start of the Phantom Liberty expansion. As recorded in IGN's Cyberpunk 2077 Guide on Easter Eggs and References, players who frequent Night City's bars can actually see Reed before they meet him officially in Phantom Liberty, working at the Corpo Plaza club wearing an...

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EA Sports Delists FIFA 23 Without Warning Before FC 24’s Release Date

EA Sports has delisted FIFA 23 from online storefronts ahead of the release of FC 24 this week. X user MauroNL noticed that FIFA 23, which is just a year old, was pulled from the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store, the Nintendo eShop, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. EA’s own website is now littered with dead links pointing to pulled listings. However, FIFA 23 is still currently available via a subscription to EA Play. EA Sports delisted FIFA 23 without warning. A note on the Steam page for FIFA 23 reads: “At the request of the publisher, EA Sports FIFA 23 is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search.” IGN has asked EA for comment. It is likely the delisting is the result of the expiry of EA’s FIFA licence. Last...

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Finally Has a Steam Release Date After 3 Years of Epic Exclusivity

The PC version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 launched as an Epic Games Store exclusive in September 2020. Now, three years later, it’s ready to hit Steam on October 3. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is the remastered collection of Activision-published PS1 classics Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater & Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. It was seen as a successful turnaround for the series following the disastrous release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 in 2015. “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 proves that going backwards has been the best step forward for the series in 15 years,” reads IGN’s Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 review. The Steam page for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 lists Vicarious Visions and PC port specialist Iron Galaxy as developers of the game...

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Project Mugen's Lead Producer Reveals the Games and Films Inspiring this Open World Action RPG

After Project Mugen's announcement trailer hit last month at Gamescom, many were quick to draw parallels between the high-flying movements of its main characters and that of Marvel's Spider-Man. However, when I made the comparison to Project Mugen lead producer Ash Qi at Tokyo Game Show last week, he revealed that the inspiration actually came from another source. "When I was maybe 10 or 12, I played Prototype and Prototype 2," explaned Qi, referring to the 2009 and 2012 open world games developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. "Those are the games that inspired me to make Project Mugen. [Prototype] reminded me of the Venom character from Spider-Man, and it was so cool. And I loved the city." Prototype and GTA...

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EA Sports FC 24 Review

What’s in a name? When EA announced it would change the title of its premiere soccer series from FIFA to EA Sports FC24, we all wondered: is this also the year it finally takes a real step forward, out of the microtransaction-focused darkness and into the light of its full potential? Well, the answer is a resounding… kind of. There are breadcrumbs of greatness in EA Sports FC 24, with many new mechanics like Evolutions and Tactical Visions showing the series can evolve into something better. Yet, for every exciting improvement added in, there's still far too many of the same things, like poor AI, that have frustrated me for years. For the first few hours of EA Sports FC 24, everything feels familiar gameplay-wise, for better and for...

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Capcom President Thinks Game Prices Are 'Too Low'

Capcom president Harushiro Tsujimoto claims that the retail price of video games is currently too low. According to a report from Nikkei (per a translation from Kotaku), during Tokyo Game Show 2023, Tsujimoto said that development costs for video games have become too high. “Development costs are about 100 times higher than during the Famicom era, but software prices have not gone up that much,” he explained. Additionally, he claimed that there needs to be pay raises, saying, “considering the fact that wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy option for business.” Tsujimoto also went on to claim that a slow economy wouldn’t have a big impact on video game prices either: “Just because...

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High on Life's Horror-Themed DLC, High on Knife, Is Out Next Week

For those who want to take another stab at High on Life, its first DLC, High on Knife, just got an official release date – and just in time for spooky season. High on Knife will launch next week, on Oct. 3, on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 4 and 5 (High on Life’s Xbox console exclusivity ended when it surprise-launched on PS4 and PS5 in July). A horror-inspired expansion that leans into body horror, as Squanch told IGN at San Diego Comic-Con over the summer, it also got an appropriately spooky new claymation trailer, which you can watch below. The DLC will be a paid one, although we’re still not sure how much it will cost. Still, in an interview back when High on Knife was first announced, Chief Creative Officer...

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Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition Xbox One X Owners Are Still Waiting for Their DLC Refunds

Three years after Xbox and CD Projekt Red partnered to release a limited edition, Cyberpunk 2077-themed Xbox One X console, many of those who bought it are beginning to regret the purchase. Why? Because they're still waiting, years later, for any information at all regarding a refund for the recent Cyberpunk 2077 DLC release: Phantom Liberty, which was originally supposed to be in the bundle. Back in 2020, CD Projekt Red and Xbox partnered to offer a limited edition, Cyberpunk 2077-themed Xbox One X console for sale. The $400, 1TB console came with a Cyberpunk-themed controller, a digital copy of Cyberpunk 2077, a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial, and was promised to also include the "future first expansion release" per a Best...

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Chris Metzen Is Stepping Back Up as Warcraft Executive Creative Director

Blizzard Entertainment has announced today that Chris Metzen, former creative lead on multiple World of Warcraft expansions, is moving into a full time position as executive creative director on the Warcraft franchise once again. "We are excited to share that Chris Metzen has taken on a full-time role as executive creative director of the Warcraft universe," the statement reads. "Right now, his main focus is supporting our World of Warcraft leadership in crafting the next generation of adventures." Metzen has played a key role in the Warcraft franchise since its very beginning on WarCraft 1, going on to work on all three WarCraft games and serving as creative director on the original World of Warcraft and its subsequent expansions...

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Resident Evil 4 Remake's iPhone 15 Pro Version Will Cost $60, App Store Listing Reveals

Capcom quietly revealed how much Resident Evil 4 Remake for iPhone 15 Pro will cost, with the mobile-centric version retailing for $60. On the App Store page, Resident Evil 4's pricing is tucked away under the "In-App Purchases" section on the game's product listing page. A drop-down showcasing all the in-app purchases appears, with the top of the one including the base game retailing for $59.99, as you can see from the screenshot below, along with prices for other in-app purchases available for the game. Resident Evil 4 Remake, costing $60, aligns with the debut price for the PC and console versions when it was released earlier this year. Apple has previously touted that the iPhone 15 Pro is a smartphone capable of console-quality...

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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Delayed to Avoid Other Big Game Releases

Don’t Nod and Focus Entertainment have announced that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has been delayed to Feb. 13, 2024. The game was originally supposed to launch on Nov. 7 this year. Don’t Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert and Focus Entertainment managing director John Bert were upfront about their reason to delay the game, which was to avoid clashing with the heavy release schedule in the coming months. “We have decided to postpone the release of this new franchise by three months, as the market is experiencing an intense release cycle for AAA titles on PC and consoles at the end of the year” they said in a joint statement. “We are convinced that a commercial release of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden during a less saturated period will give it...

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