Steam

Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed Shadows is being censored in Japan to comply with the local ratings board CERO and their concerns over gore. It's been a longer road than many likely anticipated for Assassin's Creed Shadows following multiple delays, though with its March launch date finally approaching, fans have finally started to see more positive news. View the full article

AMPLITUDE Studios have announced ENDLESS Legend 2 and teamed up with Hooded Horse, who are quickly becoming known for publishing some great strategy games. It looks gorgeous too. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

When I visited Ubisoft Quebec last year to see Assassin’s Creed Shadows for the first time, I was encouraged by the development team’s enthusiasm for stealth. While I’ve enjoyed Assassin’s Creed’s foray into RPG territory, after hundreds of action-heavy hours I think it’s about time the series rediscovered its sneakier genes. Not by way of Mirage’s “back to basics” approach, but by reaching forward to provide some much-needed evolution in the series’ stealth design. Shadows’ promise of a Splinter Cell-style lighting system had me excited, but after playing a three-hour demo build, I’m not quite convinced that it’s delivering a meaningful change for Assassin’s Creed. The demo’s quest chain, set in Harima Province, had me infiltrating a variety of strongholds, from small gardens with just a couple of guards to towering castles packed with opponents. If you’ve played an Assassin’s Creed before, the fundamental approach to all this is practically unchanged; you’ll be scaling to highpoints to identify guard placements, using simple distraction techniques to create opportunities, and stabbing a lot of people in the neck with a hidden blade. All of this can be achieved using the same techniques you’ve relied upon for years, and many of the flaws that have previously hampered such techniques also make a return. For example, the hidden blade can once again be foiled by high-level opponents, neutering planning and positioning in favour of skill points and upgrades. Incredibly sticky environments continue to be the norm, which ensures you never fall from a rooftop or slip during an ascent, but being glued to surfaces often proves catastrophic when it comes to quickly reacting to enemy threats. Emergency escapes feel like you’re fighting against a magnetic leash that really wants to lock you in a bad place. If you’ve read IGN's recent hands-on preview you’ll know that our writer, Alessandro, really enjoyed Shadows’ revamped take on stealth. While I feel differently, having left Ubisoft’s playtest room somewhat disappointed, it’s important to note that Shadows is fulfilling its promise of taking stealth seriously. One of its two playable characters is Naoe, a ninja wholly dedicated to stealth. Aside from the prologue in which I had to play as combat-focused Yasuke for tutorial purposes, I was able to play as Naoe for the entire duration of the demo. While Shadows often asks if you’d like to switch roles, it had no issue with me choosing Naoe every single time. Standing notably shorter than her heavily armoured companion, Naoe is able to avoid enemy sightlines more easily. Her slender frame allows her to do things the bulkier Yasuke can not, such as slip through narrow gaps and hide in boxes, while her grappling hook opens up access to rooftops and ledges that have no climbing handholds. Playing as Naoe opens up new routes and pathways through Shadows’ world… or perhaps, more accurately, playing as Yasuke closes the door on many established Assassin’s Creed traditions. He’s unable to perform any of the series’ staple stealth actions, aside from using his bow for silent ranged attacks. Those stealth staples become more interesting (at least on paper) thanks to refreshed ideas. Shadows’ title partly refers to its new approach to detection. Staying in the dark renders you invisible to enemies, and the closer you move towards a light source the more visible you become. This is clearly spelled out by a meter on your HUD that fills and empties as you move around. The clever bit, though, is that you can manipulate the environment to create advantages. Lanterns can be destroyed with blades or thrown shurikens, plunging rooms into darkness so that you may draw blood completely unseen. It's an idea that was prevalent in the era of Thief and Splinter Cell, but has fallen by the wayside since stealth largely became an optional approach in action games rather than its own dedicated genre. I found the presence of light rarely impacted my progress or forced me to devise smarter methods of approach. The adoption of this approach sounds like a complete game changer, but in reality it had minimal impact on a playstyle I’ve honed across 13 prior games. I don’t doubt that, under the hood, the engine’s enemy AI routines are influenced by this new simulation. But when it comes to actually playing Shadows, I found the presence of light rarely impacted my progress or forced me to devise smarter methods of approach. I could stand on rooftops with a full visibility meter and no one would see me. Traditional sightlines seemed to be the only factor I truly had to consider. This sense of same-but-different persists across many of Shadows’ ideas. Naoe is able to lie prone and crawl on her stomach, which certainly did make a difference when it came to invisible repositioning. But the environment I encountered in the demo made little creative use of this ability. For example, I was disappointed to discover that a tunnel beneath a house didn’t have a hatchway into the room above. Instead of acting as an alternative entry point, all this crawlspace offered was the same pathway that could be faster accomplished by simply scaling across the rooftop. A more positive shift can be found in the positioning of enemies, with encounters offering an increased challenge over Mirage’s overly-simple arrangements. I was caught out more than a couple of times by overlapping vision cones and patrols, and the resulting high alert state does seem to make guards more persistent in their hunt for you than in previous games. Simply hiding on a roof and tracking foes using eagle vision did seem enough to easily avoid them, though, at least on the default difficulty. Because of the better guard placements, there is an increased and welcome emphasis on assessment and planning. Gone is the drone-like bird of the last few games, replaced with an over-the-shoulder zoom, meaning scouting and marking enemies can only be done from your own sightline. It’s a good change, one that forces you to explore an area on foot and spend more time considering your angles of approach. But when it comes to executing a plan, things return to the very familiar. Naoe’s toolbelt holds kunai throwing knives for insta-kill headshots and smoke bombs for concealing attacks and escapes, both of which are necessary but vanilla stealth tools. The same can be said for repositioning guards, which is done either by luring them to your position with a whistle, or baiting them to a specific spot with a thrown bell. There’s the obvious combos, such as encouraging a guard towards an explosive barrel that you then detonate with a throwing knife. But beyond that, at least in this demo, there didn’t seem to be the canvas for anything more experimental or exciting. To choose a stealth character and then be forced to engage in direct combat with a boss does feel like being told your decision is invalid. Shadows seems reliant on a lean and familiar set of abilities, at least as far as stealth goes. Even options that initially seem to be fresh are repackaged tools from the past; you can call on an allied brawler to charge at a designated target, which works as both a distraction and a method of remotely eliminating enemies, but this is really just a thematically different take on the berserk darts that have appeared in a number of prior Assassin’s Creed games. Naoe does have a detailed skill tree, allowing you to build and hone her abilities beyond those standard tools. But all the exciting options are combat focussed, such as the elaborate nine-strike Guard Breaker, or Eviscerate with its kick-flip finisher. When it comes to stealth, the most exotic option I could find was the ability to slow down time for a few seconds. As far as this demo was willing to show me, there’s nothing along the lines of traps, disguises, or other more advanced stealth ideas. Perhaps the changing of the seasons, which I didn’t get to experience and is promised to change the landscape considerably, is where Shadows’ more interesting stealth challenges lie. Instead, the toughest challenges I faced were direct clashes. Shadows effectively has two combat systems; Yasuke’s feels like a direct continuation of Valhalla, but tuned up to feel significantly swifter and a little more tactical. I liked it a lot, at least as far as I could tell in the limited time I played as him. Naoe, meanwhile, is nowhere near as strong as her samurai counterpart and so takes considerably more damage and cannot block as effectively. This forces her fight style to prioritise dodging and staying nimble. I really like the concept that drives this – that each character provides a distinctly different version of the same experience – but on the battlefield I found myself frustrated. Playing as Naoe, it feels like the rhythm of combat runs at a different tempo to the attack animations, and so I constantly tripped up over awkwardly-timed dodge and parry windows. In most instances, the brutal punishment inflicted by combat forced me to take stealth seriously. Its classic carrot vs stick stuff, and an effective stick at that. What I’m less enthusiastic about is my pure stealth playthrough being derailed by mandatory bosses with huge health bars. I wish, when playing as Naoe, these bosses were reconfigured as stealth-focused assassination challenges in the mould of Assassin’s Creed Unity’s centrepiece missions. Instead I’m forced to defeat my foe in a one-on-one duel that’s clearly designed to fulfill the samurai fantasy side of Shadows' offering. I appreciate that Shadows always gives you the option to switch to Yasuke (and prior to one of these fights even prompted me to), but to choose a stealth character and then be forced to engage in direct combat does feel like being told your decision is invalid. Maybe, with several more hours of practice and a combat tune-up prior to release, duelling with Naoe will feel less like a punishment. After three hours of play, I’m fairly confident in saying that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be the best stealth experience of the series’ RPG era. Having a character and toolkit entirely dedicated to the approach signifies that Ubisoft is taking this fundamental part of the franchise seriously for what feels like the first time in many years. But, as dedicated fans will know, stealth never actually went away – it was just eclipsed by the action. Shadows lets that stealth step back into the limelight. However, just because stealth now has prominence doesn’t mean it's undergone any meaningful change. For all the studio’s talk of Splinter Cell-like detection systems, Shadows feels like Assassin’s Creed getting back to business as usual rather than exploring a new, sneakier frontier. For many exhausted by the reign of Spartans and Vikings, that will likely be enough. But if what I’ve played is representative of Shadows as a whole, I think Ubisoft has missed a huge opportunity to capitalise on the advanced stealth potential of one of history’s most recognisable clandestine assassin groups. Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor. View the full article

Geralt de Rivia's voice actor, Doug Cockle, has reflected on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's lasting appeal, mentioning that he believes few games have reached its level of immersive storytelling. The actor offered his perspective on why, with the game’s 10th anniversary just around the corner, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues to be a popular game with an active community. View the full article

Spurred by his father's untimely death, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter sees Arlo, the little rat that could, setting out on a sprawling fantasy hack-and-slash adventure. With a strong core loop, beautiful presentation, and a respectable translation of soulslike combat to a 2D game, Tails of Iron 2 comes close to greatness but is let down by a few disappointing design decisions. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Incredible and overlooked soulslike gets a huge sequel you can try now One of the best indie soulslike games is back with a frosty sequel View the full article

I reckon you're likely to be in one of two camps with precision platformer Bauhaus Bonk - which I instantly appreciate for giving me an excuse to use the word "bopping" - either finding it so easy you wonder what the point is, or getting genuinely sucked in by its deceptive trickiness. It's a single-button affair, having you navigate levels by alternating a pivot-point on a shape I don't know the name of so I'm just going to call a spinny stick. There are moving background elements in some stages - in others, you make your own pace. Except I can't really make my own pace, can I Bauhaus Bonk? Because the swing soundtrack makes me feel like a plodding buffoon if I'm not responding with appropriate gusto. This is entrapment, game. I am devilishly compelled by swing, like a ******* Madness extra. Read more View the full article

Koei Tecmo has announced plans to release Rise of the Ronin for PC. The Team Ninja-developed game will be available via Steam on March 11, 2025. Pre-orders are now open, with the title priced at $49.99 / £39.99. The Steam version will support PC features including ultra-wide monitor combability, 8K resolution, 120 fps and 3D audio. Read More... View the full article

Pokémon TCG Pocket is getting ******* and better with the introduction of a new major set focused on the Sinnoh region, adding over 150 new cards to the game. If you can’t wait for the release, we’ve got everything you need to know. Initially launching with just one set, Genetic Apex, Pokémon TCG Pocket then added a mini set for fans to enjoy in the form of Mythical Island, but the latest set, Space-Time Smackdown, will be significantly ******* than the last. View the full article

We're likely to continue seeing more developers try mixing up classic games like Balatro did with Poker, and now we have Aotenjo: Infinite Hands aiming to do similar for Mahjong. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Nazis are pretty much the definitive bad guys. They're perfect videogame fodder because you never have to feel bad about punching, shooting or exploding them. And for sad real world reasons, it's never felt more cathartic to do so—so Sniper Elite: Resistance couldn't have come along at a better time. Channelling the spirit of a classic WW2 movie, there's daring romps and blockbuster beats aplenty... Read more.View the full article

Dress to Impress frequently adds special assets around holidays and events you can only claim for a limited time. You can unlock a few Lunar New Year items to celebrate the start of 2025. The more items you have in your closet to work with, the better your chances are of creating a stunning look that lands you a spot on the winner’s podium. These special assets are sure to inspire you to create something extraordinary, so here’s how to get all Lunar New Year items in Dress to Impress. View the full article

There are three different versions of the PGA Tour 2K25: Standard, Deluxe, and Legend. Each version offers different levels of content and features, explaining the price differences and attracting different players. The Standard Edition is the most basic option, the Deluxe Edition adds more value, and the Legend Edition is the most complete package. If someone pre-orders an edition, they often get some bonus items, like a digital copy of the last game. View the full article

Last week, the fan-led Grand Theft Auto: Vice City remaster dropped a new trailer ahead of its January 25 release. Overnight, the mod went viral among the community, and in response, Take-Two took down the team's entire YouTube channel. View the full article

With so many excellent survival games thriving, new entries in the genre need to set themselves apart. Stalwarts like Rust, DayZ, and Ark are all still immensely successful, making it harder for more recent games to find footing on platforms like Steam. This is exactly why the upcoming StarRupture, from developer Creepy Jar, is doing things differently. Not only does this sci-fi survival game blend the likes of Satisfactory and Starfield, but it also has one earth-shattering gameplay idea. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Green Hell dev heads to space for FPS and building game StarRupture View the full article

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a 2D platformer souls-lite where players defend their kingdom from necromantic bats and other menacing predators, all from the perspective of a rat. In this snowy sequel, players are put in the shoes of Arlo, a young rat who has to step in as the Warden of […] Source View the full article

A bit of strategy gaming on the go? Developer Billionworlds and publisher Daedalic Entertainment recently announced the release of Yield! Fall of Rome. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Three times daily in Pokémon Sleep, you can create different dishes that’ll strengthen your Pokémon, leading to better spawns at night. You can make a new disk from 4am to 12pm, 12pm to 6pm, and 6pm to 4am local time and depending on the ingredient you use to make dishes, you will create a new recipe. Giving a Snorlax a dish will increase its strength, and you will also increase the strength of your dishes by continuously using the recipes. View the full article

One modder took it upon themselves to turn their Steam Deck into a Steam Brick, a tiny little console that makes me really want a proper Steam Machine. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

MIGHTY 1990 is the next game from Chaosmonger Studio who have been pumping out releases over the last few years including ENCODYA, Speedollama, Three Minutes To Eight and Clunky Hero. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Amid Microsoft’s multiplatform video game push, all sorts of Xbox games are rumored to be set for the PlayStation 5 and the recently announced Nintendo Switch 2. But could Bethesda’s Starfield be among them? In an interview with IGN’s former Director of Video Content Strategy, Destin Legarie, for his new Patreon-funded show Save State Plus, Microsoft’s gaming boss Phil Spencer was asked directly whether he could confirm that Starfield was staying Xbox exclusive for the time being. Phil Spencer on Starfield exclusivity Destin: "Can you solidify that Starfield is staying put for the time being?" Spencer: "No." Source: [Hidden Content] [Hidden Content] — Destin (@DestinLegarie) January 25, 2025 "No,” was Spencer’s response. “There’s no specific game… this kind of goes back to my red line answer. There’s no reason for me to put a ring fence around any game and say this game will not go to a place where it would find players, where it would have business success for us. What we find is we’re able to drive a better business that allows us to invest in great game lineup, like you saw. And that’s our strategy. Our strategy is to allow our games to be available, Game Pass is an important component of playing the games on our platform. But to keep games off of other platforms, that’s not a path for us. It doesn’t work for us. What we’re doing now, we think really enables us to build the best platform for the world’s best games. “The world’s biggest games are available in multiple places. And more and more creators are asking us, ‘how do we stay connected when our game might be playable in all these different places?’ And we want Xbox to be absolutely the platform that enables that. “We think that makes us unique. Most of the other platforms out there are single platform on single device. Whether that’s PC, whether that’s mobile, whether it’s a console. And we want Xbox to be a platform that enables creators across any screen that people want to play on.” Starfield and MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were both reported as being considered for PS5 as far back as March 2024. Indy ended up confirmed for PS5 with a spring 2025 release window, a few months after its release on PC and Xbox Series X and S. But Starfield is yet to be confirmed for PS5, although Spencer's comments here certainly suggest it's on the cards. A number of Xbox games are currently available on PS5, including Rare’s Sea of Thieves, Tango Gameworks’ Hi-fi Rush, and Obsidian’s Grounded and Pentiment. Microsoft already publishes Minecraft games on PlayStation consoles, among many other platforms, and is set to publish Doom: The Dark Ages and Ninja Gaiden 4 on PS5 later this year. There are even reports that Microsoft is finally ready to release Halo on PlayStation after decades of Xbox exclusivity. Meanwhile, Spencer has teased Microsoft’s plan to release Xbox games on Nintendo Switch 2, reinforcing recent reports that indicate the company is set to back the next-gen console in a big way. Spencer has said Xbox’s multiplatform push is in part about bringing in more money to Microsoft’s gaming business — with the pressure now on to deliver following its eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard. “We run a business,” Spencer said in August last year. “It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company. Because we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing and what we’re able to go do. “So I look at this, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. It’s just going to be a strategy that works for us.” Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

The Depthseeker Rod is a striking piece of gear in Fisch. Apparently engineered with advanced deep-sea technology, it’s built for anglers ready to test their skills beyond shallow waters. Keep reading if you have the C$ to waste and want to add this rod to your collection. Table of contentsWhere to find the Depthseeker Rod in FischDepthseeker Rod statsIs the Depthseeker Rod worth It?Best enchants for Depthseeker Rod Where to find the Depthseeker Rod in Fisch The Atlantis Merchant. Screenshot by Dot Esports You can purchase the Depthseeker Rod for 125,000 C$ at Atlantis. To locate it, head to coordinates -4459, -605.5, 1867. Alternatively, use the Heart of Zeus to portal directly to the central Atlantis pavilion, turn left (east), and walk out of the main structure. Nearby, you’ll spot a Merchant stationed in a bright yellow building just before the east bridge. View the full article

Marvel Rivals fans took to social media to express disappointment with the battle pass, stating it takes too long to progress and that simply playing matches should reward players with Chrono Tokens. There are three types of currency in Marvel Rivals: Lattice, Units, and Chrono Tokens. While Units and Lattice can be spent on acquiring skins in the game's shop, Chrono Tokens are exclusively used to claim rewards in the battle pass. These three currencies can be earned through challenges, daily objectives, or even achievements. View the full article

Fancy an official behind the scenes look at the Five Nights at Freddy's 2 movie? Well, there finally is one, but it doesn't really show all that much. Read more View the full article

The recently released Magic: The Gathering card, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd is spiking in price, going from $2.10 one month ago to $5.60 today. Though it's still pretty affordable right now, this price spike may just be heating up, as the card is seeing increased play in more than one top Modern deck. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: You'll never guess MTG Aetherdrift's final desparked Planeswalker All MTG sets in order, as of January 2025 MTG card spikes 200% as Standard's strongest deck fights itself View the full article

Keeping up with the Assassin's Creed series is a tall order, but it's one that I frequently get the urge to follow. While I haven't played all the games, I've parkoured my way through a lot, from entering the series with the iconic Assassin's Creed 2 to trying out more sidelined titles like the PS Vita spin-off Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation. I've started to fatigue with the scale of the modern open-world games, but after spending some time with Assassin's Creed Shadows at a hands-on preview event, I think it might just have the hook to get me excited again. View the full article