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I shouldn't say this out loud because it feels like I'm jinxing things, but I think Half-Life 3 might actually be getting closer. Combined with some of the hints, leaks, and rumors from the past couple of months, Valve, generally, seems a little more interested in Half-Life these days. First there was the big 25th anniversary celebration for the original game and now, investigating the Steam backend, it looks like Half-Life 2 might be getting the similar birthday treatment. Four years since Half-Life: Alyx and two decades since the last mainline outing for Gordon Freeman, G-Man, and co., we're certainly - still - very ready for Half-Life 3. But some kind of relaunch of the second game wouldn't go amiss, either. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: If Half-Life 3 is coming, the original games need even more attention Here are some of the best Steam games most own but too few have played Half-Life 2's worst level is suddenly a lot better thanks to RTX View the full article

Batman, Indiana Jones, Marvel. I've nearly lost count of how many brands have undergone the Lego treatment since my first foray into the various Lego games since Lego Star Wars in 2005. And after a two-hour demo session with Lego Horizon Adventures, based of course on Sony’s two-game open-world ******-dinosaur-hunting action-adventure franchise, I'm happy to report that it's familiar enough for long-term fans of Lego games, but could be just different enough to reignite the interest of fans who have begun to skip over other recent ones. Now, I can't say precisely what it is yet, but in the best way possible, something felt different when playing Lego Horizon Adventures as opposed to the countless other Lego games I've played. It didn't feel like a Lego game; it felt like a game that just happened to be portrayed through a Lego lens. My only hunch about why it felt so different is that Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo are handling development instead of this being a traditional Travelers Tales Lego game. Whether that will be positive or negative in the long run is still to be seen, but at the very least, it hooked me right out of the gate. After playing just one or two encounters in our demo, my co-op partner and I came to the consensus of why we haven't gotten a co-op Horizon game yet. Teaming up against machines from the left and right to ******** multiple parts at once felt rewarding; the humorous or heroic moments we created by baiting enemies towards the edge and then simply knocking them off a cliff while reviving each other and both instinctively plopping down hot dog cart man for maximum chaos just felt inherently good. I imagine the main reason we haven't gotten co-op yet is that it would be more challenging to hit the emotional highs and lows in the story. So, how does Horizon translate into Lego form? Very well, actually, and a lot of what I got to experience early on in my demo was covered in our previous preview, so I'll be mainly focusing on the upgrades and skill tree mechanics as well as a deeper ***** into the combat. Lego Horizon Adventures feels like another Horizon game, with the only difference being that everything is made of Legos. Aloy is witty and deadly with her bow, as are the enemies she comes across – especially on the maximum difficulty setting, which I jumped into to test out during our two-hour demo session. It may be novel, but I've never worried about dying in a Lego game before, yet with Lego Horizon Adventures, I felt compelled to sit up a bit in my chair to make sure I was dodging the fast-flying arrows from cultists and making sure to ******** homing projectiles from watchers that felt like they would chase me forever. It wasn’t difficult in the “Oh man, here goes my fifth or sixth attempt on this boss in Elden Ring” sense, but for once, I could feel a Lego game start to push back in a way that they don't normally do, and that felt great. To put this in perspective, on the maximum difficulty, one hit from a traditionally weaker ****** like a Grazer (the deer-like enemies in Horizon) using its jumping slam ******* would remove two and a quarter hearts from our three hearts early on, and the hordes of cultists attacking us would deal one and three-quarters with their spear attacks. This became more forgiving as we leveled up and saw our maximum health increase to five hearts, which only took maybe an hour or so, but it has me wondering: if these basic enemies are dealing that much damage, how hard is Thunderjaw going to hit with its tail swiper or laser attacks? And since health doesn’t automatically recover, we quickly got used to rationing the limited healing items available in each arena we would ****** in. If basic enemies are dealing that much damage, how hard is Thunderjaw going to hit with its tail swiper or laser attacks? Unfortunately, we didn't get to see if there was a penalty for both players dying, as my co-op partner and I were able to revive each other any time we happened to get knocked out, which is done by simply holding a button while standing next to the ghost of the fallen ally. We did notice that any temporary upgrades like the multi-shot bow or hot dog man cart would be lost on ******, so that was at least some incentive to try and not ****. Like Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, Aloy and her friends have access to a focus and can use it to identify things in the environment you can interact with. Here, it will highlight objects or structures you can build or ********, chests to open for items or currency, and targeting weak points on machines. This is one of my favorite mechanics to transfer to the Lego format, as it added a bit of depth to the combat. Taking down cultists or machines rewards you with experience to level up Aloy and friends and bestows rewards such as increased health, bonus damage, and more. There are also character-specific upgrades, such as Varl's Piercing Damage Spear that gains bonus damage for each additional ****** he hits on a spear throw, incentivizing us to line foes up to maximize his damage, as well as universal upgrades for things like bonus experience, increasing the duration of status effects on enemies, or bonus damage when attacking from stealth. These can be substantial upgrades when maxed out; having an ****** on ***** for six extra seconds can be helpful to chew through their health, especially on the higher difficulties. One of the early upgrades we invested in was Weak Sauce, which granted bonus experience for removing weak points on machines and topped out with a whopping 50% bonus when fully upgraded. Many of these upgrades are locked until you collect enough gold bricks earned by completing stages for the first time or fulfilling various jobs at the community board in Mother's Heart. This offered additional gold bricks for adding a table with a feast to a house in Mother's Heart and then enjoying the festivities. There were also more combat-oriented ones, such as destroying eight enemies with elemental damage, or removing a specific number of weak points on machines. Our time in the demo took us across multiple stages in one area that changed after clearing the one before it. One mission had us freeing citizens of Mother's Heart (the main village in Zero Dawn) from cultists and another battling hordes of machines. The final stage of the demo took us inside one of Horizons's usually formidable Cauldrons. Despite all these stages beginning from the same starting point, the areas beyond the initial zone would change drastically, leading us to different areas with different objectives, keeping each level feeling fresh. After spending a few hours with Lego Horizon Adventures, I now can't wait for its release. Though looking back, I do have a few things that stood out that I'm curious how they are going to handle: bosses or big fights with multiple large machines as you'd expect in Cauldrons; and how they were going to handle Sylens after the passing of Lance Reddick, whose performance played such a prominent part of the first two Horizon games. We reached out to Guerrilla Games about the role of Sylens in Lego Horizon Adventures and to which Senior World Artist Lucas Bolt responded with: "Lance Reddick tragically passed away in 2023, and he is deeply missed within Guerrilla and our community. He wonderfully portrayed the essential character of Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. The character of Sylens does appear in LEGO Horizon Adventures, and we will introduce the new actor at a later date. Hearing the voices of other original actors including Ashly Burch as Aloy, JB Blanc as Rost, John Macmillan as Varl and John Hopkins as Erend has really brought back the tone of comradery found in the original game." The developers aren't afraid to have fun with the storyline and characters. It will be interesting to see who ends up in the role of Sylens. Could Keith David be filling in again like he did for Commander Zavala in Destiny 2? Certainly there are plenty of talented voices across the industry that could play Sylens but the work of Lance Reddick as Sylens will be one that will be impossible for me to forget. The early story beats we saw were primarily early game and focused on Helis and Hades as antagonists, which makes sense since this will take place in the Horizon Zero Dawn timeline. And nearly every story bit, from being unable to count enemies because the characters don't have fingers to the Lego hot dog cart showing up, means that they aren't afraid to have fun with the storyline and characters – which could mean that Helis and Hades could be elevated to play a more significant role in the story and help navigate sensitivities involved. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Lego Horizon Adventures is recasting Lance Reddick's character Sylens after the actor ***** in March 2023. Sylens is the deuteragonist of Horizon Zero Dawn and a returning character in its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West. He allies with protagonist Aloy to discover the truth behind the machines and the fate of the Old Ones. Guerrilla Games' senior world artist Lucas Bolt told IGN that, while Sylens will appear in Lego Horizon Adventures, he will be played by someone new. "Lance Reddick tragically passed away in 2023, and he is deeply missed within Guerrilla and our community," Bolt told IGN as part of our final preview of Lego Horizon Adventures. "He wonderfully portrayed the essential character of Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. The character of Sylens does appear in LEGO Horizon Adventures, and we will introduce the new actor at a later date. Hearing the voices of other original actors including Ashly Burch as Aloy, JB Blanc as Rost, John Macmillan as Varl and John Hopkins as Erend has really brought back the tone of comradery found in the original game." Recasting Sylens may seem like a necessity given Reddick's ****** but the developers could have taken different routes. Lego games have previously pulled dialogue straight from the source material, for example, and artificial intelligence was used to replace a voice actor in Cyberpunk 2077 following his ******. Recasting perhaps suggests this new actor, as Sylens, will appear in future Horizon games, though nothing has been confirmed on this front yet. Guerrilla is working on a live service Horizon Online multiplayer game, with Horizon 3 potentially a ways off. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered launches at the end of October. Reddick, who was also known for his roles in John Wick, Destiny, and The Wire, passed away suddenly from natural causes on March 17. The entertainment and video game industries paid tribute to the actor following his ******, with many major names coming forward to share their love. Guerrilla Games included a tribute to Reddick in Horizon Forbidden West too, with an in-game memorial built for him in an area available through the Burning Shores expansion. Image credit: Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb. Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

I go into Lego Horizon Adventures ******—seeking to test the mettle of my Aloy. Difficulty setting? That’s new; I crank it right up to 5 out of 5 (“Hero”). Worse yet, I also take this co-opportunity to play with my son for this hands on. How would backup be a hardship enhancer and not a problem halver? In the 27-odd Lego games we've clocked together, he's double-jumped at the chance to ******, saber, or sneakily screen-scroll me to ******. Repeatedly. His favourite thing in life is handing me my own Lego pants-part. His favourite thing in life is handing me my own Lego pants-part. With zero surprise, it dawns on me quickly that our demo will be yet another trial by friendly-*****. To my actual, genuine shock: the combat system being employed against me is, far and away, the deepest Lego fisticlaws either of us have seen. Players can’t damage one another with basic bow shots, per se, but he finds new ways to hassle me whenever I put my DualSense down to take notes. It's like I’m playing Horizon forbidden rest. Something else I soon realise: LHA is built different—mostly but not completely for the better. We've a new dev (Studio Gobo) with a new design philosophy, so best le’ go of your preconceptions right now. I’ll ***** into the specific culture shocks in a sec, but I should detail some asking prices first. You can, of course, skip that window shop to read my continued thoughts. Table of ContentsLego Horizon Adventures pricesPreorder bonusesHands OnCheapest Lego Horizon Adventures Prices Amazon – $99 PS5 | $89 Switch Big W – $99 PS5 JB Hi-Fi – $99 PS5 | $89 Switch MightyApe – $99 PS5 | $109 Switch Harvey Norman – $108 PS5 | $98 Switch Digital: PlayStation Store – $109.95 Standard | $124.95 Deluxe Nintendo Store – $109.95 Standard | $124.95 Deluxe Epic Games – $109.95 Standard | $124.95 Deluxe Steam – $109.95 Standard | $124.95 Deluxe Back to top Lego Horizon Adventures Preorder Bonuses Preorders of either edition will net you the Shield-Weaver outfit. What about fancy editions? There's a Standard or Digital Deluxe Edition. Here’s what is in the latter: The game itselfRoller Coaster CustomisationBanuk Armor outfitShadow Stalwart outfitRatchet outfitRivet outfitSackboy outfit“Alloy” Aloy outfitHands on continued Let me place a big green flat-piece and set the stage for you. In Lego Horizon Adventures, we’re roughly resampling the events of Zero Dawn, though it’s a lighthearted and often fourth-wall-breaking retell. Take, for example, the slapstick-tastic intro where an uncommonly gifted baby Aloy uses her adoptive father, Rost, for target practice. One sympathises. But while that familiar “IP *****-take” tone of the TT Games feels alive and well here, it’s immediately clear that LHA's framework of exploration and combat builds off in surprising new directions. Most notably, in the removal of a basic melee punch and double jumps. Also, a downtick in destructible world elements filled with more studs than a Magic Mike cosplay convention. That last choice strikes us as odd, given the level designers aren’t cheating. Absolutely every square centi-cube of this world is a brick. My boy and I quickly readjust to bow attacks instead of biffing. Taps of Square loose out low damage/distance shafts, which only ***** at the lifebars of our minifig foes. A four-second max draw will earn you ******* pain and pushback, but they’re still not powerful enough to go the full screen distance. Much to my son’s annoyance, these shots only disrupt me momentarily instead of nixing a heartpiece. He finds new ways to hammer me, of course. Triangle allows you to pick things up in the world, be it stunned enemies, unsuspecting buddies, or explosive barrels. With the former two, you can effectively run to a cliff and hoik your captive off. With barrels, we discover that if I’m holding one and he lands a disruptive shot, the barrel will indeed drop to my feet, explode, and deal hellacious damage. We discover that fact…repeatedly. Though I miss punching scenery and ****** minifig faces terribly, I quickly find a new love in the stealth and Focus mechanics. Those of you who’ve never played a Horizon game should know that Aloy is a cunning huntress who can leverage old-world AR tech and the odd bit of grass lurking to prevail against sizable dinobots and superior odds. Leverage old-world AR tech and the odd bit of grass lurking to prevail against sizable dinobots. Likewise, her machine enemies have location-based damage with many destructible components. Taking a moment to ping out an L1 x-ray scan of the battlefield lets you snap-target onto ****** doodads that deal extra damage, inflict status effects, or deny the use of certain attacks. All of that has been translated here in a clever, approachable fashion. The battles in LHA are tactical and ******* terrific whenever your co-op partner momentarily puts aside their need to ***** you. These brouhahas are primarily wave-based arenas that are sprinkled with strategic opportunities for a shrewd hunter. You might draw a bull charge into an element that stuns the ******. Or perhaps you’ll manoeuvre your foe so that a campfire sits between you, at which point any arrows that pass through will set them alight. That latter mechanic shows up again in other forms, most notably in the electrical fields in Cauldrons, which tack on lighting-based damage. No great shock there. So to speak. Better yet, as our demo progresses, we earn limited ammo special weapons to spice things up further. On the previous topic of immolation, you can earn Blast Boots, which enable the use of a fiery double jump that scorches anything underneath them (including path-blocking thorns). I also loved being able to R1 switch to SpreadShot arrows, which ping out five shafts a pull. I should also mention a summonable Hot Dog stand that, once built, randomly lobs out explosive ****** to everybody (including you if you’re not careful). And also the fact that when the second player shifts from Rost to Varl, that he seems to earn sub-weapons of his very own (like a boomerang spear throw). Pretty cool stuff. Difficulty-wise, this ain’t no Dark Souls, but we find our claws fuller than usual, with a definite need to communicate for survival. This isn’t like the strafe-tastic, third-person shooter stylings of Skywalker Saga—Aloy’s need to root in place to ******* means a divebombing Longhorn can headbutt a damage-greedy player into the dirt. This ain’t no Dark Souls, but we find our claws fuller than usual. Worse, stumbling into the searchlight of a pack of raptor-esque Watchers means you have to contend with their homing energy ******, which track you for ages. Scrappers, meanwhile, harass us with arc wave attacks that must be deftly hurdled (without a basic double-jump). And brigades of minifig cultists can literally drop down from the sky at any time to overwhelm you with sheer numbers and spinning spear attacks. Worser than worse, when you’re hurt, replacement hearts don’t just pop out of ******* foes for an insta-guzzle heal. LHA uses a system of Health Bushes, which are strategically planted about the level. Sometimes they’re present in the arena showdowns. Oftentimes not, and you'll have to try reviving a downed pal via a lengthy fixing animation. In short, our veteran abilities are tested, and we love it. Though, admittedly, some of the challenge stems from how screen real estate is handled—LHA doesn’t use a dynamic split when players wander out of each other's orbit. Instead, the second player gets a small warning icon plus a timer of sorts, and then they’re harmlessly rubber banded to P1’s side. That sounds annoying on paper, but in practice it’s kind of awesome for quicker exploration. These levels feature a number of branching, albeit *****-end, paths that lead to extra riches or buildable tick-off elements. Many times, my son would scale these roads not taken, achieve their purpose, and then I’d screen-sling him back to my position. Weirdly satisfying stuff. I’d screen-sling him back to my position. Weirdly satisfying stuff. Looking back at my notes, I have a decent list of other cool details—you know, little extras that betray a superior level of care from a dev. Audiowise, I dug the impressive degree of contextual commentary. Wander into an incidental body of water, and a line about bath time will bubble up organically. Stepping off a low cliff to earn yourself faceplant (but no fall damage) will make Aloy wryly thank gravity for doing its job. Basically, this mostly standard platforming is elevated by being uncommonly quip-smart. I also dig that auto-mantling up ledges is baked in as creature comfort. This finer attention to detail extends to the visuals, too. Not only are these Lego-ified countrysides sumptuous—particularly when the sun hits those babbling stop-motion animated brooks just right—they also have incidental flairs. Plowing through snow causes flurries of white “one blocks” in your wake. You can expect similar blue block splashes from creeks. I also love that the ruined old world scenery is basically dilapidated Lego City sets one could probably buy off the shelf at one time or another. Oh, speaking of, we spent way too much time in a generously stocked skins shop brimming with legacy minifigs. My zoomer son was stoked with the Ninjago and City themed threads he grew up with. My crusty self gravitated to the Robin Hood and Lion Knight kits from the time before the space shuttle exploded. We also lose time to gussying up key buildings in the village of Mother’s Heart—I switch out the base of one hut, add an outdoor banquet table, and we reno a roof with the decapitated head of a Tallneck. It's a little dark, looking back. We reno a roof with the decapitated head of a Tallneck. It's a little dark... Last but not least, Aloy and Rost (or whoever your secondary character is) can be perked up aplenty. I splash out on a three-tier XP booster, but I also see ones that add elemental damage to certain combat techniques or protection against specific incoming ******. There’s a decent amount of room to grow here. Which, ultimately, feels like my overall take on my time with Lego Horizon Adventures. As far as first showings go, what's here seems as solid-built as a Duplo brick outhouse. Guerilla Games and Studio Gobo are doing a great job balancing familiar TT-esque elements and expected HZD fan service while also snapping in worthy new ideas of their own. Being that we only saw 60 minutes of this—barely the tip of an override spear—a lot of elements remain shrouded in mystery. Will we get rideable mounts? How closely will the narrative stick to Zero Dawn and will it inch into the events of its expansion (The Frozen Wilds) or the sequel (Forbidden West) at all? Either way, my young tormentor and I both concur: Guerilla and Gobo are cooking something special in this Cauldron. We can’t wait to co-op drop in again come November 14. Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Vampire Survivors was our best game of 2022 and one of the best roguelikes, *******. And over the years it's received a slew of updates that make it a bit ******* and a bit better, but nothing that's been mega substantial. That is, until today's announcement that it's getting an Ode To Castlevania expansion, classed by developers Poncle as the game's biggest DLC yet. More characters, more weapons, a ******* selector, an enormous stage. I simply can't wait to devour more packets of crisps as I play this. Read more View the full article

A limited-time gaming mouse deal has just gone live on Amazon, allowing you to get your hands on a stunning lightweight pink Sakura gaming mouse. The Cooler Master MM712 Sakura edition currently has 19% off, meaning it can be yours for just $40.70, but only a limited number of units are available, so you'll need to be quick. The best gaming mice don't always have to be boring old white or ****** designs. The Cooler Master M712 brings a bit of ****** to proceedings, and it does so for a very reasonable price too. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: You're gonna need a ******* desk for Cooler Master's new shark PC Cooler Master's new MasterHub lets you build your perfect stream deck Grab this Cooler Master AIO cooler with RGB lighting for just $59.99 View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Are you familiar with different flower types and what do they signify? I love gardening but I have to admit today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue “Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love” really made me think about the flower that stands for first love and it is not the iconic rose flower which is usually associated with love. If today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue has you scratching your head, our hints and solutions are here to help you breeze through the puzzle. View the full article

Vault 13, a fan-made Fallout 1 remake built from the ground up within Fallout 4, announced earlier today that the project had been cancelled due to "burnout" and "difficulty in recruiting". View the full article

Sonic X Shadow Generations requires a bit of explaining. Sure, if you’re a series fan that’s been following the marketing beats, you may already know - but something I’ve realized over the last few weeks is that a lot of people are blissfully unaware as to what this actual package is. Is it a new game? A remaster? Well, the answer is something in between. Read more View the full article

The first time Sonic Generations was released, the Sonic franchise was in a very different state to the one it’s currently in. Having just started to emerge from a lengthy funk with numerous low-scoring games, Sonic Generations was the second critically-acclaimed Sonic title in a short ******* (following a year after the Wii-exclusive Sonic Colours). Instead of trying to throw in all manner of distracting new gimmicks like talking swords, motion controls and werehog transformations, Sonic Team decided that the best way to take Sonic forward was to look back, resulting in a wonderful mis-mash of nostalgia and novelty. Read More... View the full article

Yeah, we get it, Mary's *****. Whatever. You wanna know who's really *****? James Sunderland, baby. We can prove it too, thanks to a brilliant ***** Rush Cyberfunk mod that places the survival horror legend from the Silent Hill 2 Remake in a town full of tricks and skating rather than pricks in waiting. Read more View the full article

The spooky season is just around the corner in Brawl Stars, and the developers have added a mysterious chained book with confusing “Do Not Enter” and “Don’t Tap” messages. If the forbidden book has intrigued you during the Brawl-O-Ween, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about the ‘Do Not Enter’ and ‘Don’t Tap’ pages in Brawl Stars. View the full article

Stepping outside of Vault 13 in the original Fallout ******** one of the medium's greatest moments - finding the decomposing corpse of Ed ("Ed's *****") and realising that the erstwhile explorer didn't get more than few feet from the Vault door is such a chilling moment. Fallout: Vault 13 is - was - a total conversion mod that would remake the 1997 original using the engine for Fallout 4; another fan game, like Fallout London, the New Vegas rebuild project, and Nuevo Mexico that would have been ideal as we wait on Fallout 5. The bad news is that Vault 13's development has now officially been suspended. But you can still kind if play it. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: These classic Fallout games are free to keep, if you're speedy New Fallout 1 remake built by modders is available to try right now Fallout creator shares frightening theory on the mystery of the Vaults View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

It's October 2024, and Baldur's Gate 3 is still winning awards around the world. This time, Larian Studios has won multiple achievements in the Belgian Game Awards, including Best Narrative and Game of the Year. It makes sense that Baldur's Gate 3 is highly featured during this particular ceremony as the studio that made it is based in Ghent, Belgium. View the full article

Bloober Team has admitted it knew it had to "evolve" after releasing The Medium, a decision which led to the development of ******* games such as the Silent Hill 2 remake and the upcoming Cronos: The New Dawn. Cronos director and producer Jacek Zieba told IGN that The Medium, which arrived in 2021 as a psychological horror adventure game alongside a Metascore of 71 on Metacritic, became a turning point for the studio as it looked to make ******* and better games. "I think after The Medium it was very clear to us that we needed to evolve," Zieba said. "It was like, 'let's end the chapter of the adventure games.' Layers of *****, Observer, and The Medium, [games that were] strange, experimental, with fixed camera tools. 'Okay, let's finish with that.' "We also want to evolve, so let's go into survival horror, let's create something of our own, something different than other games in the genre in terms of world, story, and also gameplay. Let's create another game of our dreams." The Silent Hill 2 remake was somewhat of a coming out party for Bloober Team to show it could make a big budget survival horror adventure. It arrived October 8 to glowing critical reception and strong sales, and Bloober Team is open to making more Silent Hill games too, either remakes or something completely fresh. But the "game of our dreams" mentioned by Zieba is Cronos, a sci-fi survival horror set in an unforgiving post-apocalyptic future in 1980s Poland. This will be the true test for Bloober Team as it looks to solidify itself as a developer capable of mainstream releases without having the framework of Silent Hill 2, one of the most beloved horror games of all time, to build upon. In our 8/10 review of the Silent Hill 2 remake, IGN said: "Silent Hill 2 is a great way to visit – or revisit – one of the most dread-inducing destinations in the history of survival horror." Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

Ahead of the launch of ****** Ops 6, Activision has said it’s using AI in its ongoing battle against Call of Duty cheaters, and hopes to kick cheaters out of the game within one hour of them being in their first match. Call of Duty has had a cheating problem for years, with free-to-download battle royale Warzone on PC suffering in particular. Activision has spent millions of dollars developing its anti-cheat technology as well as pursuing cheat makers in the courts, with a number of recent high-profile successes stemming the tide. But video game publishers face an uphill battle in the war against the increasingly sophisticated cheat makers, so Activision has announced plans to draft in AI to help. “Fighting cheats today – on the client where illicit programs are activated – is a little like battling on a bad guy’s home turf: it is their machine and their code,” Activision said in a blog post. “Kernel-level drivers on PC have enhanced anti-cheat’s reach, but cheaters are already offering cheats that go beyond the kernel, even going as far to utilize special PC hardware that is designed entirely for attacking games and enabling cheating. “What our team has been working on for the future is a suite of tools that use AI to find and ****** cheaters.” So, what does this mean in practice? Activision said that “cheaters can run and hide but a trail exists,” but what if that trail disappears? That’s where AI-powered behavioral models come into play. “Cheat developers can’t hide player behavior. How people play – the legit, the phony, the good, and the bad – gives us information and we use that to build ways to pick those bad folks out of a lineup,” Activision explained. “We already have data from cheaters but to help build out profiles for those ****-tier players we examine the data from the Call of Duty League – where every match is recorded, and every stat is preserved. “There’s more in progress around what we’re doing with AI beyond behavioral models and as work continues, we’ll share what we can.” As we near ****** Ops 6’s release on October 25, Activision has made an ambitious commitment to players: it's targeting booting cheaters out of Call of Duty within one hour. “A lot has been put into ****** Ops 6 to upgrade security, but here is the goal we’re targeting: we want to catch and remove cheaters within one hour of them being in their first match,” Activision said. Activision calls this metric ‘Time to Action,’ which it saw (eventually) make a positive impact during ****** Ops 6’s beta weekends. It saw that cheaters were able to complete just five matches before being booted out of the game, with 25% of all Weekend Two bans happening during the first match a cheater ever played. Meanwhile, 12,000 confirmed cheating accounts were stopped before they “ever saw the inside of a match” in the beta, Activision said. Cheat developers are flawed (clearly – they have to pretend to be good at video games). With this in mind, ****** Ops 6 launches with an updated version of the kernel-level driver (this also applies to Warzone), with new machine-learning behavioral systems focused on speed of detection and the analysis of gameplay to combat aim bots in place. Upgrades are set to launch alongside Ranked Play. "The people behind cheats are organized, ******** groups that pick apart every piece of data within our games to look for some way to make cheating possible," Activision said. "These bad guys are not just some script kiddies poking around with code they found online. They are a collective who profit from exploiting the hard work of game developers across the industry. But cheat developers are flawed (clearly – they have to pretend to be good at video games). Every time they cheat, they leave breadcrumbs behind. “We’re always looking for those breadcrumbs to find the bad actors and get them out of the game." For more, we've got confirmation of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6's launch Multiplayer maps, modes, and Operators, and Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6's preload and global launch times. 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

Bloober Team has released the first major update for the Silent Hill 2 remake in Patch 1.04, addressing myriad gameplay issues as well as improving the survival horror game's technical performance. The patch notes were released on Steam and outline dozens of changes made to Silent Hill 2. Some address funnier bugs like protagonist James teleporting through a peephole and getting stuck in a window near Neely's Bar. On the technical front, Bloober Team has reduced visual glitches when using the latest version of Nvidia DLSS, added an option to enable DLSS frame generation in the menu when using DLSS for supersampling, and added support for AMD FSR 3.1.1. The full patch notes are available below. Bloober Team and publisher Konami released the Silent Hill 2 remake on October 8 to glowing critical reception and strong sales, leaving many fans of the previously dormant horror franchise eager for more. Bloober has said it's open to making other Silent Hill games, though at the moment is focused on its sci-fi survival horror game Cronos: The New Dawn. In our 8/10 review of the Silent Hill 2 remake, IGN said: "Silent Hill 2 is a great way to visit – or revisit – one of the most dread-inducing destinations in the history of survival horror." Silent Hill 2 Remake Patch 1.04 Notes Technical - Reduced visual glitches when using the latest version of NVIDIA DLSS. - Added an option to enable DLSS frame generation in the menu when using DLSS for supersampling. - NVIDIA Reflex is now active when DLSS frame generation is enabled. - Added support for AMD FSR 3.1.1. - Added an option to enable AMD Fluid Motion Frames in the menu when using FSR 3.1 for supersampling. - Updated Intel Nanites to support upcoming driver updates. - Improved performance and optimization for Steam Deck. - Fixed stuttering issues related to sky map generation. - Added an option to enable/disable HZB culling to fix stuttering on some AMD/Intel GPUs. - All graphic settings should be saved locally. Gameplay - Fixed an issue with translation for UI “High” preset not being translated and displayed correctly - Fixed an issue with Wooden Plank appearing during James’ ****** animation - Fixed streaming issue where staring at the walls inside the Grand Market caused problems with loading all of the environment around James - Fixed an issue where interacting with the wrong side of the peephole in Brookhaven Hospital teleported James to the other side - Fixed an issue where breaking windows near Neely’s Bar got James stuck in the window frame - Fixed an issue that allowed James to access the inaccessible balcony in Blue Creek Apartments - Fixed an issue with Abstract Daddy’s behavior during boss ****** where the ****** was not hitting James properly - Fixed multiple issues with Abstract Daddy’s 3rd TV – it should now have the correct audio, and the wall won’t interfere with its position - Fixed an issue with a question mark from the Conference Room not disappearing after obtaining Cinderella figurine in Lakeview Hotel - Fixed an issue with collision detection with the Dayroom walls in Brookhaven Hospital - Fixed an issue where James was falling under the map when approaching Laura entering Brookhaven Hospital from the bushes on the left - Removed debug numbers displayed behind wallpapers in Blue Creek Apartments' Clock Room - Resolved an issue with James not being able to leave the 3F corridor in the Lakeview Hotel - Fixed an issue with the lightbulb on the 3rd floor of Blue Creek Apartments constantly switching on and being impervious to destruction - Resolved an issue with the small coffee table blocking James in the corner of the room located in Woodside Apartments - Fixed an issue where after completing the Disgust Path in Labyrinth, the player was forced to do it all over again - Fixed an issue with Spider Mannequins getting stuck when attacking James while he is going through squeeze traversal - Fixed an issue with James getting stuck in the window frame while attacking Lying Figures located outside of the window - Added more natural movement for James when switching weapons while aiming - Fixed an issue with triggering Spider Mannequin event on ***** Path in the Labyrinth multiple times - Improved the ability to pick up items during the final boss ****** - Fixed an issue with picture frames overlapping in the Moth Room - Improved the deformation of Nurses’ skirts - Fixed an issue occurring when displaying the information about unlocking NewGame+ which didn’t appear in the player’s chosen language - Fixed visible unloading of the door of an abandoned garage in the west side of South Vale - Fixed question mark on the map during Chute Puzzle in Woodside Apartments Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

Atari Recharged Retro Revival Humble Bundle is live and it includes the nice big Atari 50 Anniversary Collection, along with a bunch of their modernized Recharged series games. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Valve's not planning on doing yearly updates to its Steam Deck, the handheld's developers have reiterated. Instead, they're planning on waiting for a proper "generational leap" in teach to arrive before putting out what'll be the next generation of Deck. Read more View the full article

After you've spent hours and weeks building up to go blast a rocket off into space, Factorio: Space Age will have you continue across multiple new worlds in this DLC for the massively popular building and automation sim. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

RailGods Of Hysterra is one of those games that, as it were, shovels a bunch of relatively dried-up concepts into the squirming furnaces of something appealingly ghastly. On the one hand, it's burdened by talk of "crafting", "base-building" and "survival" - all things I have enjoyed but am currently weary of, and which together make the game sound interchangeable with half of Steam. But it's elevated, on the other hand, by talk of living helltrains that eat crocodiles for breakfast. Without further ado, here's a trailer. Read more View the full article

Vampire Survivors is getting DLC based on Castlevania. The pack, which will be called Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania, is set to release on October 31 on PC, Switch, Xbox, PS5, PS4 and mobile, and will cost $3.99 / €3.99 / £2.99. According to developer Poncle, Ode to Castlevania will be the biggest Vampire Survivors DLC pack yet, and will feature “an absolutely stupidly gigantic amount of content”. Read More... View the full article

Fans of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will need to accept that Insomniac Games isn't planning to release any more content for the popular open-world game. After the first entry in Insomniac's take on the Web-Slinger received a trio of middling story-focused expansions, the community hoped the studio would build upon the sequel having learned from the mistakes of the past. As it turns out, that won't be the case but there is good news for PC players who have yet to experience the game on PlayStation 5. View the full article

Insomniac Games made the shock announcement last week that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 won’t get any additional story content, putting to bed fan hopes for DLC. The announcement came in the same breath that Sony announced a PC version of Spider-Man 2 launches in January — one of the quickest turnarounds from single-player PS5 exclusive to PC from the company so far. Since Spider-Man 2 came out in September 2023, Insomniac has released a number of updates for the game, adding New Game+, mission replay, new suits, and more. But fans had hoped that story DLC would give them more of a reason to return to Insomniac's wonderful recreation of New York that the addition of new features. Now, those hopes have been dashed. But fans hadn’t just hoped for Spider-Man 2 story DLC, they expected it after the game itself left a number of threads that Insomniac might have pulled on for additional content, including the introduction of Carnage. Beyond that, though, the devastating Insomniac data breach of December 2023, which revealed the studio’s upcoming slate of releases, and the accidental release of Spider-Man 2’s development game menu earlier this year, all pointed to planned DLC. Indeed, the development game menu included what looked like the entire arc of a DLC called the ‘Beetle Villain Arc.’ Throughout the turbulence caused by the Insomniac data breach, Sony made a significant round of layoffs affecting around 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce. Insomniac was one of a number of PlayStation studios hit by the cuts. Alongside the layoffs, a number of in-development games were canceled, Sony said at the time. Now, a year after Spider-Man 2’s release and over 11 million sales, fans are waving goodbye to the game, issuing their verdict now they know there’s no more story content to come. IGN’s Spider-Man 2 review returned an 8/10. We said: “Marvel's Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip.” The forced hate for this game is coming back now that the DLC got "canceled" even tho they have never officially announced it No matter what anyone says Spider Man 2 will always be a Outstanding game. [Hidden Content] — James ️ (@YoshinoLover08) October 19, 2024 Today, one year ago, we join Peter and Miles on their journey to be greater together. Happy one year to Marvel's Spider-Man 2! My personal GOTY 2023. Congrats @insomniacgames and thank you very much for this series ! Screenshots I took in the game: [Hidden Content] — Ali Talibov (@Ali20011908) October 20, 2024 Insomniac was reportedly planning to release Marvel's Venom in 2025, Marvel's Wolverine in 2026, Marvel's Spider-Man 3 in 2028, a new Ratchet & Clank in 2029, Marvel's X-Men in 2030, and an untitled new IP in 2031/2032, but those plans may have changed significantly. So, what’s next? While Insomniac has a Wolverine game in the works, fans are hoping the developer will also release a Marvel’s Spider-Man spinoff similar in scope to the hugely successful Miles Morales standalone, with Venom the potential focus. To find out how Insomniac has set up its next sequel, check out IGN’s Spider-Man 2 ending explained. In the meantime, the PC release of Spider-Man 2 will inevitably spark a modding scene that may see fan creations extend the life of the game beyond its first year. Perhaps PC modders will get Venom fully playable, as PS5 players found a way to do last year before Insomniac patched the exploit out. Let us know in the comments what you thought of Spider-Man 2, now we know there’s no more story DLC, and tell us what you hope to see from the potential Venom standalone game and Spider-Man 3 next. 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

It was just the other day that I told PCG writer Ted Litchfield that I want a whole game—Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking-style—that lets me walk through the ruins of all the doomed fan attempts to remake old games in a modern engine. KOTOR's Apeiron, that Resident Evil 2 redo, innumerable attempts to remake GoldenEye without attracting Nintendo's baleful gaze: They all went the way of the Dodo, lost to time... Read more.View the full article