It’s no secret that Ubisoft’s seafaring pirate game, Skull & Bones, which was first revealed way back in 2017, has endured a troubled development. Originally conceived as an expansion to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, then an MMO spinoff, and finally an independent project that’s suffered numerous delays, it's understandable for players to be concerned about the upcoming action game where naval warfare and piracy are placed front and center. But after numerous hours sunk into the recent closed beta, I’m happy to report that I came away from the experience much more confident that we’ll be getting a worthy successor to Black Flag’s awesome buccaneering ways. With a much more interesting story than I was expecting, some really...
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Sonic Superstars isn’t the first time that Sega has attempted to recapture the magic of playing the original Sonic the Hedgehog more than 30 years ago. Just five years ago, in fact, Sonic Mania stuck that landing. So is there enough creative juice left in that IP tank to truly warrant another stab at rebooting the classic sidescroller? After blazing through four levels with Sonic and his cabal of colorful friends, each with their particular set of skills, signs point to yes — with a caveat. Ultimately, Sonic Superstars is just more Sonic with a facelift and a few new bells and whistles. The game is fun and tricky, great to look at, and speaks to those Sega Genesis memories lodged forever in my brain, but it also doesn’t feel amazingly...
Over the course of our month long coverage of Lords of the Fallen, we’ve dived deep into the Umbral/Axiom dual realm mechanic, went over some vital combat tips, and talked about the ways in which the developers at Hexworks are aiming to innovate upon the standard Soulslike formula. But one important element that we’ve only briefly touched upon has been the magic system of the game. And so, let’s correct that oversight and breakdown how magic works in Lords of the Fallen.
Three Schools of Magic
In this new Lords of the Fallen, there are three schools of magic, each tied to one of the three warring Gods at the heart of the story. There’s Rhogar, which is the magic of the god of Chaos Adyr; Radiant, the holy magic of the god Orius; and...
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Patch 2 comes out soon, said developer Larian Studios.
The developer said in a tweet (below) that this patch includes “major performance improvements” with “many” new tweaks and changes, and is also the start of Larian incorporating feedback into Origin character epilogues. More details are coming soon, but the developer didn't share exactly when.
Larian director of publishing Michael Douse called Patch 2 “equally chonky”, referring to the size of Patch 1, whose patch notes were so big they exceeded Steam's text limit. “We’re discussing internally about comms, dates, and rollout,” Douse said. “As well as all things around it. We’ll give details soon.”
Players will hope Patch 2 goes some way to addressing problems...
FromSoftware's iconic Moonlight Greatsword weapon from the likes of Dark Souls and Elden Ring also makes an appearance in Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon.
The sword, which in most games takes the form of a giant blade that glows an eery green and blasts beams of light, appears in the giant mech battler Armored Core 6 as the IA-C01W2: MOONLIGHT, also known as the Light Wave Blade.
Its single, double, and horizontal slash attacks all fire waves of green light, reminiscent of the Moonlight Greatsword's abilities in previous FromSoftware games.
Though now associated with the Dark Souls series and similar titles (like FromSoftware itself), the blade first appeared in 1994's King's Field as the Moonlight Sword. It's since appeared in...
Ukrainian development studio Dreamate and Fulqrum have announced New Arc Line, a fantasy steampunk CRPG due out in 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Check out the reveal trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.
New Arc Line is set in its fictional world's gilded age of magic and technology. Dreamate says you'll "invent deadly gadgets or master the arcane arts, fight, steal or smooth-talk your way to the top, make foes and allies, fall in love, get involved in a massive conspiracy, and influence the course of history."
Combat is tactical and turn-based, with you commanding your customized character and the party you recruit. You can be as good or as bad as you want to be as you explore New Arc Line's diverse...
If you need a break from the rogues, wizards, and knights of Baldur’s Gate 3, I highly recommend switching things up with the rogues, wizards, and knights of Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy, which continues the series’ long-standing puzzle platforming excellence. This quinary sequel certainly plays it safe by sticking very closely to Trine’s established co-op playbook, but it does make some key improvements by significantly ramping up the difficulty and complexity of its puzzles, expanding upon Trine 4’s progression system, and adding several unique and memorable boss fights. That said, it still hasn’t broken out of the series’ rut of bland combat sections that pad out the adventure, or conjured up a story that doesn’t pale in...
Bethesda's epic space RPG Starfield is right around the corner and springing leaks left and right, with one revealing a 'Boundary Reached' message that's caused concern with some fans.
Starfield is currently in the hands of reviewers, influencers, and some other players who have illegally obtained it, and while sharing any real details is against the terms set out in Bethesda's non-disclosure agreement, some tidbits have made it online regardless.
One video of alleged leaked gameplay showed a player running in one direction for around 10 minutes before a 'Boundary Reached' message appeared on screen. "Open the map to explore another region, or return to your ship," it said, giving the player the option to fast travel to their ship...
Ahead of Mortal Kombat 1's September 19 release date, developer NetherRealm Studios has released a new live-action trailer that pays homage to the iconic 1993 TV commercial.
The new trailer, titled It's In Our Blood, features actor and retired pro wrestler Dave Bautista as he rallies a bunch of people from all walks of life in a city, encouraging them to embrace their inner warriors. What's interesting about the trailer is that Bautista's role is similar to that of Mortal Kombat character Liu Kang, who we previously learned has forged a new universe where he serves as the Fire God.
The commercial is a great walk down memory lane for those familiar with the Mortal Monday commercial that appeared in 1993 to promote the original Mortal...
Mimimi Games has announced its final game is Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew and that the studio will slowly shut down over the next few months.
In a statement on its website, the studio said the team enjoyed creating games for the past 15 years and are proud of what they accomplished. However, the game development process took a toll.
"At the same time, dedicating the past decade and a half of our lives working on increasingly ambitious games took a heavy personal toll on us and our families,” Mimimi said. “After the release of Shadow Gambit we decided it was the right time to prioritize our well-being and to pull the brakes instead of signing up for another multi-year production cycle.”
Mimimi will no longer create any new games...
RoboCop: Rogue City is delayed to November 2, developer Teyon has announced. It was due out in September (the RoboCop: Rogue City Steam page still caries the September release window).
Confirmation comes from a tweet from Teyon:
IGN went hands-on with RoboCop: Rogue City at gamescom 2023, and found slow first-person shooting, decision-making, and a spot of detective work is all part of this unique-feeling game. The video below has 16 minutes of exclusive gameplay, fresh from gamescom 2023.
RoboCop: Rogue City now launches on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S on November 2.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at...
Blizzard has announced Diablo 4’s first XP and Gold boost weekend, which just so happens to clash with the launch of Starfield.
From 10am PT on September 1 to 10am PT on September 5, all Diablo 4 players earn XP and Gold at a 25% increased rate. This bonus applies to both Season and Eternal Realms, and all World Tiers, Blizzard clarified. Starfield’s early access kicks off Friday, September 1, ahead of its main launch on September 6.
Diablo 4 players will see a new in-game icon beside their potion count that signifies the increased rate of earning Gold and XP.
“Stoke the fire, gather round, and rally your most savvy of companions to slay demons with renewed fervor,” Blizzard said. “The Blessed Mother’s cruelty is matched by her...
Activision has unveiled a new-look Lara Croft who’s set to hit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone as part of Season 5 Reloaded, and the design has certainly set tongues wagging within the Tomb Raider community.
Lara Croft arrives in Call of Duty as a store bundle operator, with the Tracer Pack: Tomb Raider bundle adding Lara’s signature Mach-5 dual pistols based on a new sidearm coming to Call of Duty. These pistols are also used in Lara’s Play for Sport finishing move.
But it’s images of Lara in Call of Duty released by Activision that some fans are calling our first look at the new “unified” Lara Croft.
In early 2021, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Tomb Raider, developer Crystal Dynamics shared some information on...
The developers of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria took a frankly over-the-top approach with their Fourth Age-set Dwarven-focused survival-crafting game: they created the entire secret Dwarven language just so players can hear their characters use it in-game.
While Tolkien fans have worked to develop the Dwarven language, called Khuzdul, over the years, the developers at Free Range Games went one step further and worked with a linguist to create a full Khuzdul grammar.
That linguist is David Salo, who worked on the languages of Tolkien for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, expanding the languages (particularly Sindarin, one of the languages spoken by the Elves) by building on vocabulary already known from...
It’s been a pretty great gamescom for Warhammer. A full showing of Space Marine 2 finally charged into the fray, Darktide got a long-awaited console release date, and Rogue Trader showed off its retinue of fantastic companion characters. But perhaps the most interesting Warhammer showing at the convention was Realms of Ruin, the strategy game set in Games Workshop’s lesser-explored Age of Sigmar fantasy universe. After an hour of hands-on time with its single-player, I’ve found myself excited by the prospect of a game that finally continues and potentially advances the legacy of the great Dawn of War cinematic campaigns.
Dawn of War was, of course, the touchpoint that we identified in our first preview of Realms of Ruin. The first of...
Microsoft has removed the $1 / £1 Xbox Game Pass trial, just days before Starfield launches.
Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed it would put an end to the monthly $1 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial offer, but after raising the price of the subscription, the $1 trial returned in 14-day form.
XGP spotted the removal of the 14-day trial from Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass sign-up page. This 14-day trial was the only trial option left after Microsoft cut the full month $1 Game Pass trial earlier in August. IGN has asked Microsoft for comment.
It means those hoping to jump into Game Pass just to play Bethesda’s space role-playing game now have to pay $9.99 / £7.99 for a month on PC, or $10.99 / £8.99 for a month on Xbox, or $16.99 / £12.99...
The biggest difference between Starfield and Fallout 4 is Bethesda's decision go with a silent protagonist this time around. But that wasn't always the case.
In a recent interview with Polygon, lead designer Emil Pagliarulo talked about the decision to feature a silent protagonist in Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi RPG. Asked whether Bethesda went the direction it did because of the negative fan reaction to Fallout 4, Pagliarulo said it was a factor. Fans will recall that Fallout 4 voiced protagonist drew criticism owing to the reduced number of dialogue options despite more than 13,000 lines of dialogue.
Still, there was apparently a point where Bethesda wanted to give a voice to their hero and even recorded a few lines of dialogue.
"We...
When Baldur's Gate 3 launched earlier this month, it earned near universal praise for its gameplay, characters, and apparently infinite choices. Since then, many have been taking it slow through the first two acts to discover everything hidden across the continent of Faerûn.
However, as players reach act 3, many are discovering that it's... a touch less polished than the first two acts.
Warning: Many of the threads linked contain heavy spoilers for act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3. Click through at your own risk.
On the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit, a number of users have chimed in to express frustration at act 3 for being buggy, laggy, and in some cases, seemingly unfinished. For instance, u/rejian called out that they had 11 quests in...
Elon Musk, who has spent much of the year in the headlines for his radical transformation of the platform previously known as Twitter, didn't have a great time at a recent Valorant tournament.
Musk dropped in on the finals of the Valorant Champions tournament over the weekend, which took place in Los Angeles. He was filmed outside the event with his young son, X Æ A-12 Musk, then later joined the crowd as Evil Geniuses took on Paper Rex.
At one point Musk appeared on the main video screen, drawing boos and chants of "Bring back Twitter" from the crowd. The moment quickly caught the attention of social media users, who responded to the boos and discussed Musk's handling of X generally.
"Elon should have figured out who was a blue...
Rockstar Games vice president of writing Mike Unsworth has reportedly left the Grand Theft Auto VI developer after 16 years. Unsworth's LinkedIn profile was updated to indicate the veteran developer had left Rockstar.
"Mike is an accomplished writer who spent over 16 years working for Rockstar Games as a creative lead on some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful video game franchises of all time, most notably Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption," his profile states.
Unsworth has credits on most of the Rockstar big hits including Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto 4 and Grand Theft Auto 5, Max Payne 3, and L.A. Noire.
Unsworth joined Rockstar as a senior creative writer in...
The Xbox Series S version of hit role-playing game Baldur's Gate 3 won't have split-screen when it launches later this year, but that's not to say it won't receive the feature after launch.
A message on the official Xbox Twitter account (below) gave Series S players hope. "To answer some questions we're getting, we'll continue to work with [developer] Larian to explore the addition of split-screen on Series S post launch," it said.
Baldur's Gate 3 currently lacks a release date on Xbox despite having already launched on PC and its coming to PlayStation 5 on September 6. Larian wasn't able to get split-screen working on the weaker Series S, and Microsoft's feature parity policy prevented the studio from releasing even on the more...
The upcoming Bloodborne-inspired Soulslike Lies of P features three endings for players to experience, just like Bloodborne itself.
Speaking to IGN at gamescom 2023, game director Ji-Won Choi said players will encounter different endings depending on the decisions they make throughout the game. Lies of P, perhaps unsurprisingly, features a lying system, and the extent of players' lies throughout the game will determine which ending they receive.
"The lies in the game are not only lies that you are fooling others [with] but also white lies you have to do to make others feel better," Choi said. "You have to understand others' emotions to make a decision so [we] want users to feel how they would as a human in the game, and it will show...
I had to go back and play a little of Chrono Trigger just to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me about the obvious similarities between that classic RPG and Sea of Stars. This brand-new yet old-school game doesn’t present nearly as much time-hopping or world-traveling as its clearest inspiration, but its seafaring adventure still has plenty of twists and turns that fill up a solid 30 hours of linear spelunking. Rich and often funny character-driven stories wrap up with surprising twists that give weight to the story and provide a reason for its visually wild and mechanically interesting boss fights. At the same time, there’s just not that much depth to its combat options, and its 16-bit graphics generally satisfy nostalgic cravings...
FromSoftware's Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is off to a flying start on Steam, with publisher Bandai Namco saying it's "thanks to Elden Ring".
As reported by PCGamesN, the epic mech battling game from the Dark Souls developer topped Steam's best selling games chart over the weekend, and while it now sits at fifth place, its launch day performance knocked the critically-acclaimed Baldur's Gate 3 from its throne.
Fires of Rubicon arrives as the first Armored Core game in 11 years but more crucially as the first after FromSoftware released the likes of Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Bandai Namco had higher expectations for this game as a result.
"This is an opportunity for us to truly widen the...
Disney has updated the Star Wars website to include a neat list of eras (and where ever film and TV show fits) and provided a brief synopsis of what The Old Republic will entail.
As spotted by SWNN, the update to StarWars.com gives us a breakdown of the different time periods in the galaxy far, far away, including the time of The Old Republic.
“The Republic is founded among the worlds of the Galactic Core,” it reads, “and the Jedi Order emerges to protect it. A schism within the Jedi leads to the creation of the Sith in this epic era.”
"The Republic is founded among the worlds of the Galactic Core and the Jedi Order emerges to protect it."
Of course, The Old Republic has existed in Star Wars lore for some time, even if it's no...
Starfield is just about here and Bethesda has revealed its global release times alongside the minimum and recommended PC specifications ahead of its early access release date of Friday, September 1.
Bethesda Game Studios shared the details in a blog, giving important details to those of us still living on the "old neighborhood" called Earth. First up, it shared the release timing for those who will get access to Starfield via early access.
If you pre-ordered or purchased the premium edition, premium edition upgrade, or the Constellation Edition, you will be able to take off into the great beyond on September 1 (or even earlier!). If you have the standard edition, you will have to wait until September 6.
You can see the image below...
While the PS5 version of Armored Core 6 runs very well and mostly at 60 FPS in performance mode, the PS4 Pro version run on a PS5 appears to give you a locked frame rate of 60 FPS, much like it did for Elden Ring.
As noted by Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) and confirmed by IGN, the PS4 Pro version of Armored Core 6 will run with a locked framerate of 60 FPS on PS5 despite Namco Bandai saying it maxes out at 30 FPS at 1800p resolution. While it takes a small resolution hit, those looking for the best performance may want to give this a shot.
As previously mentioned, this was the case with Elden Ring as well, as we showed in our Elden Ring performance review.
"One nice benefit of the PlayStation 5’s backwards compatibility mode is...
gamescom 2023 was filled to the brim with some incredible cosplay, and the official gamescom cosplay contest showed off some of the best of the best and rewarded these incredible people with some fantastic prizes.
While there were obviously a ton of people in cosplay at gamescom, 30 of them competed for the ultimate prize in the official gamescom cosplay contest. All of these cosplayers deserve recognition for their fantastic work, and there is a good chance you'll find representation from your favorite game somewhere in there.
As for the winners, you can see a full list below alongside a video of their cosplay in action. The overall winner was Pockyy Neko Cosplay's Valkyrie from Apex Legends, but all are worth a look. You can also...
Welcome to a new week of blink 'n' you'll miss 'em bargains. Those of you who are subscribed to our IGN weekly deals email would have noticed a $679.15 PS5 console up for sale at about 9 o'clock. In the time it took for me to translate that email to this article format, and have a coffee — boom — sold out. Just another compelling reason to click that subscribe button. Or for me to drink less coffee...
This Day in Gaming
Aussie birthdays for notable games and hardware
- Vib Ribbon (PS) 2000.
- PlayStation Portable (2005) console launch.
- Jetpack Joyride (iOS) 2011.
Table of Contents
Nintendo Switch
PC
Xbox
PlayStation
Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch
Expiring Deals From Yesterday
Hardware Watch
How much to make the...
Now is your chance to relive the cult movie classic Texas Chain Saw Massacre in all its gory glory. This new multiplayer asymmetric horror survival game pits you as either a Victim or a member of the ruthless Family, a group of senseless murderers who delight in killing for sport.
Whether you awake in the basement as a Victim or choose to dominate the match as one of the Family, the odds are never guaranteed to be in your favor. Mastering the art of slaughter or escape is crucial to winning in this horrific game. Here are some tips to carry you through your first few matches as either a Victim or the Family.
Tips for Family
Welcome to the Slaughter Family. For reasons unknown, you have captured and tortured four Victims, chaining...