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Virtual tabletop system Roll20 has added a free, halloween-y DnD adventure to its platform, which you can claim until the end of October using the new Roll20 integration in Discord. 'Journey into Discord' sees a party of three to six low-level adventurers attempt to restore the wards to a mysterious demiplane, before its vampire residents wake up and devour them all. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: All DnD races and species explained DnD 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide review - fun, but not flaw-free DnD's new DM Guide destroys a classic broken character build View the full article

This week, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 publisher Focus Entertainment released a new trailer, below, showing the DLC coming to the game as part of its first year of post-launch updates. It confirmed the imminent arrival of the Tyranid Hierophant Bio-Titan ****** type, the new Neo-Volkite *******, and the hotly anticipated Dark Angels chapter cosmetic pack. But, it seems, that is not all it confirmed. Eagle-eyed fans have also spotted a number of pieces of DLC neither Focus nor developer Saber Interactive have announced, although some of it has been strongly hinted at via datamining. First up, we see what looks like confirmation that the Ravenwing chapter of Space Marines is set to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels get theirs. In the video, we see the menu screen for the Dark Angles cosmetics, and at the top of the screen we can see the Raven Guard symbol next in-line. This tallies with datamined assets of the Mark 6 Corvus and Mark 7 Aquila Astartes helmets, which strongly suggests Saber plans to expand the game’s Space Marine customization beyond variations of the latest Mark 10 Tacticus power armor. Space Marine 2, which is set in Warhammer 40,000’s current and ongoing Indomitus Era, features Primaris (*******, stronger, better) marines and thus focuses on the latest armor sets in the tabletop. However, this datamine suggests old favorites are potentially on the way, and it’s the “beaky” helmet popularized by the Raven Guard chapter of Space Marines that’s got Warhammer 40,000 fans most excited. Mark 7 has also been datamined along with Mark 6. We are about to be eating brothers! byu/MuiminaKumo inSpacemarine .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } What we don’t know at this point is which Space Marine 2 class is set to receive the Raven Guard skin. The Heavy already has one, and, soon enough, the Bulwark will have its Dark Angels skin. That leaves the ********, *******, Tactical, and Vanguard up for grabs. The expectation is the Raven Guard skin won’t be released before 2025, with Season 2 set to kick off very soon and run until the end of the year. Season 3 sounds like a decent bet. Meanwhile, fans have spotted additional Space Marine 2 successor chapters in the trailer. Redditor R97R compiled a helpful list, below: Angels of AbsolutionAngels of RedemptionAngels of VengeanceThe UnnamedBlades of VengeanceCowled WardensBringers of JudgementAngels of Defiance (potentially) Now here’s where things get really interesting, and credit to Warhammer 40,000 YouTuber Chapter Master Valrak for spotting this. At one point in the trailer, where we see a Space Marine battling a Thousand Sons Chaos Marine, we see what very much looks like a Tzaangor Shaman (the ****** mounted atop a flying Disc of Tzeentch). Check the out of focus Tzaangor Shaman in the top left of the screenshot below: The addition of new enemies is on the Space Marine 2 roadmap, and indeed Focus has said Seasons 3 and 4 will add new Tyranid and Thousand Sons enemies. A Tzaangor Shaman would fit the bill, perhaps throwing magic bolts around in a new PvE Operations map. Here's an image of the Tzaangor Shaman model from Games Workshop itself: Saber recently released Space Marine 2’s game-changing patch 3.0, which made a seemingly innocuous change to the ending that got Warhammer 40,000 fans excited. Fans have also unearthed interesting and unannounced Space Marine 2 cosmetics by datamining the game. Meanwhile, IGN interviewed Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits about Space Marine 2’s record-breaking success. He revealed the boost he expects the PS5 Pro will give Space Marine 2, discussed how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the studio, and how protective Games Workshop is over the Warhammer 40,000 brand. 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

Like the joy you feel when a gauss rifle shell slams into an ****** mech’s cockpit, MechWarrior 5: Clans hits hard - but it can also frustrate like fighting an Atlas while missing an arm. On the one hand, it’s an engaging, mechanically excellent mech combat sim that nails all the customization and intricacy you’d expect from this walking tank series. Few things are more satisfying than coring an opponent’s mech with a single volley from a pair of gauss rifles at range, or tweaking your own mech until you get the perfect combination of weight, armor, and weapons to match your playstyle. Clans’s campaign story (which can be played solo or with up to five players in cross-platform co-op) also lands some haymakers that explore big ideas and tackle tough subject matter. On the other hand, it's a game beset by bugs that stand in the way of total victory. But when I rolled credits after my 25-hour playthrough, one of my first thoughts was “Man, I want to play this again.” Clans sees you take up the role of Jayden Smoke Jaguar, a young MechWarrior who longs to make a name for himself in both the Smoke Jaguar Clan and his squad, Cobalt Star. Shortly after taking command, your team is suddenly thrown into the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere. Your ultimate goal? Achieve glory for the Smoke Jaguar Clan and reclaim Terra, the birthplace of humanity. It’s your destiny, and the destiny of Smoke Jaguar, the greatest of the Clans. (Well, according to your superiors in the Smoke Jaguar Clan, anyway.) It’s an interesting group of characters, and while the plot does take a minute to hit its stride, it ******** compelling even in that early going. You don’t need to have played any other MechWarrior games to get the gist of Clans’s story – not even MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – but general familiarity with the BattleTech universe will go a long way toward helping you follow why contractions are a no-no and “freebirth” is a slur rather than a new Final Fantasy 7 game. I won’t (sorry, I mean I will not) go into great detail here because I think Clans’s story about an ambitious young mech pilot’s ethically perilous crusade to reclaim Earth for its eugenics-happy overlords is worth experiencing fresh, especially if you’re not already familiar with this chunk of The Lore™, but it’s not afraid to ask some big questions about the nature of ***********, war, morality, honor, sacrifice, the responsibility soldiers bear for carrying out orders they know to be wrong, and the human cost of conflict on a galactic scale. This is a war game, and to its credit, developer Piranha Games doesn't shy away from the subject matter that comes with that. Clans does an effective job of immersing us in its dystopian sci-fi society’s ***********. You're told, through briefings, mid-mission dialogue, and some of the most visually stunning, well-animated cutscenes I’ve ever seen in a video game, that Smoke Jaguar is the greatest of the Clans, that reclaiming Terra will free the people living there from the yoke of tyranny, that what you are doing is right and good and proper, and that conducting yourself honorably in battle matters above all. But is it true, or is Smoke Jaguar blowing smoke? Are you heroes, or are you the baddies? You can probably see where this is going from the jump, but watching these characters go on this journey and grapple with the nature of full-scale conflict is still compelling. Some missions meld story and gameplay so intricately it made me sit forward in my chair. There were missions where story and gameplay melded so intricately that they made me sit forward in my chair. I have rarely had such a visceral reaction to missions I’ve played in a video game, and Piranha has done a great job of nailing what makes the MechWarrior universe tick by not shying away from the realities of what war, especially wars of conquest, are. To paraphrase a great quote from Apocalypse Now: “We train young men to drop ***** on people, but we won’t allow them to use contractions while they're piloting their mechs because it’s obscene.” And with the exception of a couple of weak (but by no means bad) links, the voice cast does an exceptional job of capturing the emotion and, oftentimes, awkwardness (remember, they’re essentially a bunch of homeschooled kids born and bred for war) underlying these characters. Jayden and Galaxy Commander Cordara Perez, in particular, stand out because of how well the actors playing them deliver their lines. If I have one complaint here, it’s that I wish we got to spend more time with these characters between missions. Most of their arcs are clearly defined, but there are a couple of major events that just kind of… happen off-screen, and I would have liked to see them explored more deeply. It’s also true that Clans takes a minute to get going (there’s a lot of setup here), but once it does, it’s genuinely compelling and the payoff is excellent. There’s even a major decision near the end that drastically changes what happens during the last few missions, which greatly contributed to my ******* to jump back in for another run. Of course, you can replay any mission without starting a new game if you’d prefer, but I’m interested in experiencing the whole story again. The actual mechs-and-potatoes of this series is the missions you deploy on and achieve your objectives within, heading back to your ship afterwards to customize or swap out your mech, research upgrades, and train up your pilots. There’s a ton of variety here, whether you’re defending a captured base from *******, trying to sneak past enemies on a stealth recon mission, fighting a knockdown, drag-out brawl with squads of other mechs, or trying to capture an entrenched position. What’s more impressive is how many missions Piranha manages to fit into Clans’s runtime without any of them feeling dull or repetitive unless they're supposed to for story reasons. Like I said, my playthrough took me about 25 hours; there’s a lot to do. More importantly, almost all of it is memorable and unique. This is a long game, but you won’t be bored, and you can always replay your favorite missions later on and try to complete additional challenges, whether that’s finishing them in a certain amount of time, or while your mech is under a certain weight limit. It plays wonderfully, whether you’re using a controller, like me, or you’ve been a fan long enough to be married to a mouse and keyboard, and there are classic and modern control styles to choose from. The former emphasizes throttle control and moving your mech’s legs and torso independently, while the latter resembles a more traditional shooter. Both work well, and there’s no right or wrong answer. Controlling these metal beasts takes some practice, though, because even the lightest mechs take time to slow down, reverse, and turn, so positional awareness is key. How you play will likely be determined by your loadout. If you’re rocking a ton of small to medium lasers, autocannons, or short-range missiles, you’ll probably want to be in the thick of things, but if you’re using a gauss rifle, long-range missiles, or larger lasers, you might want to sit in the back and wage your war at range. All of the weapons in Clans feel amazing. All of the weapons in Clans feel amazing: whether you’re watching your heavy mech lurch backwards from the recoil of a gauss rifle, trying to time your autocannon shots so you’re maximizing your ***** rate and avoiding jams, managing the heat generated by your lasers, or just determining which ****** is going to bear the brunt of your missiles, you’re always making interesting choices in combat. When you land a particularly difficult or well-placed shot, it looks, sounds, and, if you’re on a controller, feels spectacular. You’ve also got to manage your ammo (provided the weapons you’re using require it) and your mech’s durability. Lose too much armor, and you’ll start taking structural damage. Take too much of that, and you might lose an arm and the weapons mounted to it, crippling your ability to ******. Or maybe you lose a leg, and your mobility goes down. And if the ****** manages to break through the armor defending your core and land a good hit or two? Say goodnight, Gracie. Missions will occasionally have mech repair bays that you can use to patch up your (and your squad’s) armor after tough fights, but you can’t count on them. Some missions just don't have them, and when they do appear, they’re a limited resource. That means your best approach is always to mitigate the amount of damage you’re taking, and avoid exposing weak parts of your mech to the ******. It’s a cool system that encourages strategic play. It’s always heartbreaking to lose a *******, but I felt like a true Star Commander when I managed to ****** my way to a repair bay without losing anything while at low health. Of course, these systems don’t just apply to you. If you know how the mechs you’re fighting are built, you can target the appropriate parts of their “bodies” and eliminate their biggest strengths. A Catapult’s shoulder-mounted missile launchers can tear you to shreds if you’re not careful, but it’s a lot less scary when you ***** both of its arms off from a distance. Meanwhile, if one of your squadmate’s mechs loses a leg, it’s going to have trouble keeping up with you and you’ll have to strategize accordingly to avoid fighting at reduced strength. Making the right calls in the moment matters, and I love that I was rewarded for picking my spots and recognizing where the threats were at any given moment. Fortunately, Clans gives you all kinds of tools to adjust your tactics on the fly. You can use the BattleGrid, a top-down map of the area showing terrain and any enemies you’ve spotted, to issue more complex marching orders to your squad, making sure your injured mechs hang back while your healthy ones take the front line. When you can’t risk entering a full-screen menu mid-combat (the action doesn’t pause), there’s also a radial menu (or a series of options bound to the function keys on a keyboard) to command units individually, which gets the job done in a pinch when you want to target things in your direct line of sight. You can even switch to directly controlling the other members of your squad if you get bored of Jayden or if he goes down. Even more options await under the hood. Want increased cooling speed? You can overcharge your mech and get it, but it means you’ll damage yourself (and even explode) if you overheat. That risk can be well worth taking if the alternative is getting beaten up anyway because you couldn’t take out ****** targets fast enough. Having so many ways to customize how you want to play rules – it ensures you’re always in control of your squad and making important, on-the-fly choices, even if you’re playing solo. You’re always in control of your squad and making important, on-the-fly choices. Speaking of choices, let’s talk mech customization. There are 16 types of mechs in Clans, divided into light, medium, heavy, and ******** categories. The Viper, which I started with (and is still one of my favorites), is a 40-ton mech; She’s fast for a medium-weight and has access to a large amount of firepower if you build her right, but she’s not the most durable thing on the battlefield. When I need a heavier hitter, the **** Dog is my go-to for 60 tons of missile and ballistic fury. The iconic Timber Wolf, on the other hand, is a 75-ton heavy mech with firepower for days and the ability to go toe-to-toe with a much larger chassis if you play her right – to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson, it’s my choice for when I absolutely, positively, have to ***** every mechaf___er in the room. She’s endlessly customizable – I put two shoulder-mounted missile launchers on it, a gauss rifle, several lasers, and still had enough slots left over for ammo and some extra armor to pad my arms. Nice. But you won’t see that level of customization on the Shadow Cat, which only has three prebuilt Omnipod Loadouts and fewer options overall as a result – but in exchange it’s reasonably fast, can use its jump jets to go quite high, and carries a large load for a medium mech, which means it can equip heavy weaponry like my beloved gauss rifle. And then there’s the Dire Wolf, a 100-ton monster that is essentially just a heavier Timber Wolf that will dogwalk just about everything in her way, albeit slowly. By the end of Clans’s campaign, my squad was running five of these monsters. That’s a nice army you have there, freeborn – it’d be a shame if five Dire Wolves happened to it. Clans doesn’t give you the freedom of something like Armored Core, but you can still build a lot of cool things. One of my co-op partners built a mech that ran 12 lasers and overheated as soon as it fired… unless it was standing in water to lower its heat buildup, in which case it ******* basically everything we ran into in a single shot. Big Chungus, my Dire Wolf, ran two gauss rifles, an ultra autocannon, two heavy lasers, and a missile launcher. She was good at every range, and her gauss rifles could core smaller mechs in a single volley. My other buddy’s ************, RIP in Peace, was essentially a ******* that fired three pulse lasers for long-range engagements, but could fall back on four lasers to cover the mid-range and a couple machine guns for close encounters. But wait, MechWarrior! There’s also a ton of pilot skill upgrades, mech chassis improvements, and stat-boosting research options to save for and acquire between missions. You'll even have to manage your repair technicians to ensure your mechs are in good shape, recruit scientists to speed your research, and choose which types of mechs you'd like your pilots to specialize in, which grants bonuses if they then use them in the field. This might sound like a lot (and it is), but it’s also fairly easy to manage. You may have to make some tough choices — what affinity do I upgrade for this pilot? Whose mech is going into combat without being fully repaired because we don’t have enough technicians? What upgrades should the scientists prioritize? — but that’s part of the fun. You’re going to spend as much time tinkering in menus as you do stomping around on the battlefield, and that’s good. MechWarrior is about customization, right down to the paint job, and I love how many things I could tweak. You can also play the entire campaign in up to five-player, cross-platform co-op. That’s awesome, and my favorite parts of Clans were when I played it with my friends. Unfortunately, co-op play also comes with a lot of problems at the moment. First, your friends can’t manually choose which pilots they’re using when they join you, which is bad because they’re all good at different things, and that can affect what you build around. Sometimes, the first person to join me would get Mia, who specializes in ballistic weapons. Sometimes, it was Ezra, who mostly focuses on lasers. My guess is that this is a bug, but we never entirely figured out how the system worked. After about 10 hours of playing together, my friends were (understandably) attached to their pilots because they’d built their playstyles and mechs around them, so that’s an issue. We had to leave and reform our co-op group several times to get everyone in the right place, and that feels almost as bad as taking a shot from four PPCs. (Real ones know.) Worse, If we ever had to restart a mission, everyone but me would often find themselves playing a different pilot and piloting a different mech than on the first run. Co-op is the best way to play, but it also has a lot of bugs at the moment. Co-op play also has desync issues. On one mission, we were supposed to be fighting a gunship that was circling the area we were trying to defend. It worked fine for me, but for my friends it was either floating completely still in the air or hovering miles away. To them, it looked like I was ********* nothing, and the mission was much, much ******* as a result. Because I was the party leader, I could switch to another mech at any time if I *****, but they couldn’t. If I *****, no biggie, I’d just swap to another mech and we’ll finish the mission. If they *****, it meant they were sitting there waiting for us to finish, so when that happened we generally just restarted the level instead (which meant backing out, reforming the party, etc). Don’t get me wrong; I really do love Clans’s co-op. I’m so happy it's here, and it’s the best way to play. But these issues *****. Piranha has announced plans for a patch that will address co-op bugs at some unspecified time “in the coming days” after launch – but without being able to test those fixes, it becomes much ******* to recommend diving in right now if you’re planning to play with friends because those were incredibly frustrating road blocks. A solo run would be a good warmup while you wait, but I also ran into a few bugs when playing alone. Sometimes, my laser effects wouldn’t appear when I fired them, even though they were doing damage. Another time, in a very long, very late-game mission, Clans didn’t recognize that I was destroying an objective, so I couldn’t progress and had to do the entire mission again. It’s a good thing I enjoy this game enough to want to replay it from the start, or that would have really been a drag. View the full article

John Lewis, a *** department store that sells pretty much everything, prematurely listed the Kindle e-readers along with their specs. Read Entire Article View the full article

The seven across clue for the New York Times Mini Crossword puzzle on Oct. 16 can very easily be a confusing one. This clue is especially confounding if you’re not from the person in question’s city, don’t pay attention to regional news, or simply aren’t surprised to see a politician described as “embattled” for one reason or another. “Embattled mayor Adams” is all we have to go by. View the full article

Twitch have temporarily banned an account run by streamer Asmongold, otherwise known as Zack Hoyt, after he expressed genocidal sentiments about *******'s ******** of ************ people in Gaza. According to the eSports journalist Rod Breslau, he's been sent to the naughty step for a grand total of two weeks, which I'm sure will be a huge inconvenience and will really teach him the error of his ways. Assuming Breslau's sources are accurate, it's a great demonstration of Twitch's tolerance for streamers with big audiences, the kind of slap on the wrist you'd expect from a platform that recently reinstated Donald Trump's account after banning him in 2021 for the charge of inciting an insurrection. Read more View the full article

It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about prefixes and suffixes, and if it has been for you, solving one of today’s NYT Mini Crossword hints might be tough. The “Suffix with steward or host” clue challenges you to recall a specific suffix. Even if you’re decently familiar with how suffixes work, this can still be pretty tricky to solve. Here are some hints and the answer for the “Suffix with steward or host” clue on the Oct. 16 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. View the full article

No matter the MMO, be it WoW, FF14, or Guild Wars 2, botting is always going to be an ongoing issue, but the Throne and Liberty **** problem is already being addressed. Players create bots to automate tasks like mundane fishing and mining or even actual combat, but the use of bots contravenes MMOs' terms of service. Now, the makers of Throne and Liberty have started the crackdown. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Throne and Liberty server status and maintenance times Throne and Liberty Twitch drops and how to claim Throne and Liberty guilds are ruining the game on some servers, but here's a fix View the full article

Exploring is incredibly rewarding in Throne and Liberty, especially if you’re trying to level up your character quickly and pick up some gear in the process. If you have Mystic Keys in your inventory, you need to keep an eye out for Mystic Globes as you explore. Here’s how to find Mystic Portals in Throne and Liberty, looking at the differences between Mystic Globes and Portals, and how you can spot them on the in-game map. View the full article

A set of new Genshin Impact 5.2 leaks indicate that the patch will feature a QoL (quality-of-life) update that players didnt know they needed but is still welcome in the long run as the title continues to expand. The action RPG by developer HoYoverse has just entered Version 5.1, meaning the leaks about Version 5.2 are still a few weeks away from being officially revealed, but a large number of them are being shared as the beta tests for the updates are underway. Leaks have highlighted Chasca and Ororons gameplay kits in Genshin Impact 5.2, for instance. View the full article

Back in September, open world publisher Ubisoft put out a 3-days-weekly return to office mandate for their entire staff worldwide - a decision that French Video Game Workers Union (STJV) said was "made without any tangible justification or any consultation with the workers’ representatives". In response, the STJV called on staff in France to hold a three-day strike beginning yesterday, which the union reports to be underway with the participation of more than 700 workers, via Le Monde. "This decision is announced immediately after the ******** of the profit-sharing negotiations," STJV wrote at the time. “Exactly like previous salary negociations: management’s proposals were inacceptable, the negotiations’ timetable was appalling, and management was deaf to the proposals of the various Employee representatives." Read more View the full article

Of all Metaphor: ReFantazio bosses, Heismay proves one of the toughest to beat. Equipped with the ability to create and control clones on the battlefield, not only is it difficult to distinguish the real opponent from the fakes, but, to make matters worse, attacking clones will also prolong the ******. Luckily, the flighty bat has one simple tell that gives his position away. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Wizards of the Coast has released details on 2025's Magic: The Gathering's Regional Championship Qualifiers, and it looks like Standard is going to be the main competitive format for next year. Three of the next four RCQs are Standard Constructed, with the only outlier being a bout of Modern as the first round of the 2025-2026 season. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MtG creator Richard Garfield opens up about his wholesome new party board game MTG card that blocks the best deck in Modern sees 200% price spike The best MTG planeswalker cards View the full article

Have you ever noticed the small details that make a big difference in art or films? Today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue, “Tiny dot,” tests your knowledge of reflecting on these small but significant elements that often go unnoticed. Did you hit a wall while solving today’s NYT Mini Crossword? Let our hints and answers make the puzzle a walk in the park. View the full article

The “Capital city on the Nile River” clue on today’s NYT Mini Crossword tests how well you know your capitals. This was tricky for me to solve, so if you’re stumped, we’ve got you covered. Here are some hints and the official answer for the “Capital city on the Nile River” clue on the Oct. 16 NYT Mini Crosswords puzzle. View the full article

A post-launch roadmap video for Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2, released on Tuesday, reveals that the boss monster for the first new co-op Operation mission will be a colossal Tyranid Hierophant bio-titan. It's the biggest Xenos ****** in the game to date - here's what you can expect from this massive, mission-ending monster. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Painting miniatures - the complete beginners guide Warhammer 40k fan creates a Ronald McDonald Aeldari space clown Warhammer 40k: Why are the wackiest new models always for Necromunda? View the full article

IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak has shared some fresh details about Project 007, the shadowy new project from the developers of Hitman that will feature a "James Bond origin story," saying that production is going "amazingly well" and that the studio will have more details to share soon. Speaking with IGN in a wide-ranging interview as part of today's MindsEye publishing deal, Abrak said that Project 007 is being fully developed, published, and funded by IO Interactive, and that there's "a lot of cool stuff coming up." "We absolutely feel like 20 plus years of training for the agent fantasy, creating an agent that travels the world and globetrotting whatnot, has given us some know-how on that. But obviously James Bond is a different IP. It's a huge IP. It's not our IP. It's actually the first IP that is not our original IP from ground up," Abrak says. "But what's exciting about that project is that we actually got to do an original story. So it's not a gamification of a movie. It's completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future. And equally important and exciting, it's a new Bond. It's a Bond we built from ground up for gamers. It's extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is there together to work on this together with the family of creating a young Bond for gamers; a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with." It's completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future IO Interactive has become famous for stealth games thanks to its work with the Hitman series, which is notable for its open-ended design and wry sense of humor (you get to ************ Sean Bean!). The owners of the James Bond IP were apparently leery of another game based on 007 given the franchise's mixed track record outside of Goldeneye, but IO Interactive was able to convince them otherwise. At the moment, the Hitman franchise is on hiatus while the studio focuses on other projects, but IO Interactive did release a compilation of the Hitman trilogy called World of ************** in 2023. The James Bond franchise ******** "extremely powerful" Since IO Interactive announced that it was working on a Bond game back in 2020, MGM has released No Time to ****, which was a generally well-received sendoff to Daniel Craig. Craig's departure means that the Bond franchise is currently between Bonds, but Abrak says that the license is still very powerful. "When we look at the movies, it's one of the top three IPs out there, it's extremely powerful also because it's been, what, almost 15 years since the last game. So it's been a long time. It definitely is something that is not overexposed in gaming. We actually see that as a strength that we can do something very special and hopefully... There's a lot of people out there who think about GoldenEye as the classic. And I love that game as well myself," Abrak says. "I don't want to speak too big about it, but I just hope we'll do a thing that will define James Bond in gaming for years to come. And that is not only one game, but that we create a universe for gamers to own for many years to come that we can grow with that next to the Bond on the movies." Abrak praised the producers of the films for being able to "reinvent Bond throughout the years and keep that IP relevant" and said that IO Interactive have "big, big shoes to fill." Like the legendary secret agent himself, a Project 007 reveal ******** frustratingly elusive, but Abrak says that IO Interactive will share more in "due time." "I don't have an update today, but believe me, it's itching here as well to be talking about it soon. So we are following our plans. The production's going amazingly well and we will soon be talking more about it. I know it was a little teaser, not a lot of information, but there's a lot of cool stuff coming up," Abrak says. "We are also very excited and when we are ready with that, we'll be opening up." Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Two hours isn't enough time to see all the branching stories, admire all the beautiful graphics, and discover all the secrets within the world of STALKER 2. But it is enough to be left impressed. When I wasn't taking stock of my paltry ammunition levels and hunger gauge, I was looking out at beautiful fields of red poppy flowers. When I wasn’t getting distracted by an interesting side quest I was doing my best to lure the mutants into an anomaly trap. And while it was over just when it felt like it was getting extra good, it had still left its impression. The impression that the team at GSC Game World has created something special with STALKER 2. I will preface all this by admitting that I am not a STALKER exper meaning I have not played the 2009 hits. But I probably should be, because I am a huge fan of games that offer us various options for dealing with a story scenario – especially those where one seemingly small decision can have effects that ripple through the rest of your playthrough. That’s what this series (which began with 2007’s Shadow of Chernobyl and was built on in Call of Pripyat in 2009) is best known for, and it’s what stuck with me the most from my handful of hours with STALKER 2. I kept thinking about the decisions I had made and wondering if I had made a mistake by choosing a violent, guns-blazing approach and wondering if I should have tried a stealthy or even fully peaceful one, but STALKER 2 takes it several steps further. There are times you’ll have NPCs abruptly end a quest without rewarding you because you’ve looted the body of their ***** friend, for example. Have that happen a couple of times and it’ll give you pause even when you’re doing the kind of routine task that you normally wouldn’t even think about. You’ll have NPCs abruptly end a quest without rewarding you because you’ve looted the body of their ***** friend. Our demo began with an Enter the Zone trailer cinematic before we were unleashed into a small field area covered by the darkness of night where we were hunting for anomalies. These are dangerous areas that have been ********** in the irradiated area and can reveal powerful artifacts with special attributes on them. And on the graphics front, for both PC and Xbox, these areas look stunning on both platforms. This introductory sequence has us meet Skif. We still don’t know much about Skif, but we did learn that he seems to be well-versed with the new technology of STALKER 2, such as the Gilka-1 detector that you can flip open and use to search for artifacts as it beeps louder and louder when approaching the correct area. STALKER 2 artifacts are basically small objects that give you benefits like a faster stamina recharge. While attempting to plant and charge a separate larger Topaz Scanner at three such anomaly locations, I’ll yadda-yadda-yadda over some spoilers here but after a dramatic moment, we wind up in the open-world section of STALKER 2 where our journey really begins – with a main quest that we quickly find which sent us on a search for an individual named Squint. But before discovering the Squint questline I was surprised by just how much could happen in the open world. One example was an encounter with some unsavory folks trying to ******* a character bunkered down in their home. Once I took them out by sneaking around behind them and making quick work of them with a sidearm shot to the noggin I was introduced to a new NPC character. No matter who you meet in STALKER 2, the character models express emotion, and the somber mood is on full display as you sit around campfires on a brief break. This particular new character sent me on a quest to check on his friend, and a chain of other small quests unlocked because I opted to help this one individual who I could have simply walked past had I been mainlining the story missions. I found it interesting because it was an early example of how one small side-quest could begin branching out into a larger, and more involved story beat that I could have easily missed. Not only are there human enemies to worry about which will usually have your standard arsenal, but there are also the larger more unpredictable Flesh Mutants, and Bloodsuckers who are extra deadly and can make short work of you if you’re not careful. As well as fields of poppy flowers to navigate (the latter of which sounds quite nice but will put you to sleep forever if you wander too far off the main pathways). Not only does this keep combat and the wastelands of the exclusion zone interesting, but it also offers moments of awe as you look out at the beautiful red sea of poppy flowers knowing you'll need to go in there and carefully navigate it to complete your objective. When I finally did find Squint, I was given two options: Confront him with ********* and head back to base, or help him survive and be sent on a completely different story branch with him. At first, I took the violent approach, but when I realized it felt a bit anticlimactic to end the journey with a gunfight, so I loaded up a save just before the encounter and went the other way. I couldn’t help but remember the hundreds of hours I played Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas – some of my favorite games ever – and experienced that same lingering doubt as to whether or not I made the right decision in a given situation. It may not be special, and a lot of games have used this before, but I hadn’t realized how much I missed this level of nuance. While games like Cyberpunk offered interesting beats to explore, a lot of the stories wound up at the same place. I’m left hopeful that the branching paths can result in some wildly different results in STALKER 2’s case. This brief session with STALKER 2, which seemed to start us at the very beginning of the game reminded me just how great a branching style of storytelling can be from a gameplay perspective. Specifically when it’s interwoven as it has been here with STALKER 2. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the full experience and am able to discover just how far things can unravel. I couldn’t help but remember the hundreds of hours I played Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas – some of my favorite games ever – and experienced that same lingering doubt as to whether or not I made the right decision in a given situation. Beyond the branches of storytelling you can explore, and the pretty graphics, I also found it really refreshing to be challenged with managing resources like ammunition and food to ensure survival. If you don’t eat enough you’ll fatigue easier and that means worse aim or less stamina with which to run away from a conflict. If you run out of bullets your ****** probably won’t cut it in many situations, but you can try to instead use the environment to your advantage by luring opponents into an anomaly or simply convincing them to let you “help” them from a better vantage point. This kind of resource management lends nicely to the overall feeling this oppressive world is trying to convey and it reminds you that every ****** should be considered a calculated risk. Do I unload with my AK ammo, or do I try to use a bit of stealth here? Can I get away with using a ******* or do I need to get extra aggressive with an ******** rifle for the ******* enemies? Do I tackle this during the night when I can use darkness to my advantage, or would I rather use the sunlight to my advantage for clearer sight? The fact that the designers at GSC Gameworld have struck a balance with how much they give you, at least early on, with the scenarios you’re put in feels like it’s in a great spot right now. Hopefully, that sticks for the rest of STALKER 2 and you don’t become overpowered by the end of the campaign, because this feeling of desperation is what it’s all about. I’m left with an eagerness to get back into the world and see what other trouble Skif gets into. Even though November 20 is now less than two months away, STALKER 2 can’t come soon enough. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

IO Interactive is teaming up with Build a Rocket Boy, the studio founded by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies, to publish MindsEye — his upcoming AAA action-adventure game billed as a proof of concept for the studio's Everywhere platform. IO Interactive, which is best-known for the Hitman series and is currently working on a James Bond game, will handle the distribution and marketing for MindsEye. IO Interactive Hakan Abrak says that Mindseye is "pretty far" along in development, and that the studio is currently working on plans to communicate a release date. "It was easy to fall in love with [MindsEye] because there were a lot of the parts were there and we were playing it. So they're still polishing and building things, but it's going to be a great game," Abrak tells IGN. MindsEye was first announced in February 2023 as a proof-of-concept for Everywhere, an Unreal Engine 5 MMO that Benzies touts as a game creation system. This is MindsEye's official description: "MindsEye is a story-driven, action-adventure thriller, set in a fictional near future Americana. Featuring best-in-class cinematics, high octane driving, and explosive combat from legendary game director, Leslie Benzies. Play as Jacob Diaz, a former soldier with a mysterious neural implant who is suffering from memory loss and flashbacks." It was easy to fall in love with [MindsEye] because there were a lot of the parts were there and we were playing it Everywhere is conspicuously absent from the official publishing announcement, but Abrak says that it's still being made on "the same technology, in the same engine." "The publishing deal we have is on MindsEye," Abrak says. "They are still working on the Everywhere product, but that's something that is with Build a Rocket Boy. So there will be more communication about the synergies and connections to that. But our deal and our publishing deal collaboration is on MindsEye, which is a full AAA universe in itself." Abrak says that Benzies' studio approached IO Interactive with the publishing deal, and that the "first talks were very sympathetic and very aligned." Notably, Build a Rocket Boy underwent a round of layoffs in February shortly after raising $110 million, with a spokesperson saying in a statement, "While we have made great progress developing our products, we are now in a position where we need to make changes to the way we work across our business in order to become a more agile studio and to meet the requirements that our projects demand." Asked about how the layoffs have impacted development, Abrak told IGN, "Honestly, we haven't talked about that. I mean, we have had our talks with them and our due diligence and test and play-to-build, and they seem to have extremely talented people helming the different disciplines in different areas from cinematics to gameplay... some really, really heavy hitters in the industry. And I honestly actually don't know about the layoffs and who and what, but the team that is working on it now that we've been talking to the last couple of months is an absolute stellar team and we are looking forward to work even closer with those people." Abrak is uncertain whether IO Interactive will pick up more publishing deals after MindsEye, saying that any future game needs to be "special." "It needs to be something that we see ourselves in, not only logically but also emotionally. So I cannot rule out that we don't do something else. It's very likely or possible that we can do another publishing deal with a different partner, but I wouldn't be able to say, we have to release these amount of games and whatnot. That's not how we think. It's not that corporate thinking we have. So it's something that if it feels really right, then it's likely or it's possible that we might partner with other people in the future," he says. While MindsEye doesn't have a release date yet, it sounds like we'll be learning more soon. In the meantime, check out our first hands-on preview with Everywhere from 2023. Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Inside the Rosymorn Monastery in BG3, you’ll find a room with a beautifully detailed dial on the floor and stained glass windows. This room contains a challenging conundrum. Here’s our guide on solving the stained glass puzzle and obtaining the Dawnmaster’s Crest in Baldur’s Gate 3. Where to Find the Stained Glass puzzle in Baldur’s Gate 3 The stained glass puzzle room and all four pedestals are located in the northernmost section of the Rosymorn Monastery. To reach it, begin by traversing the Mountain Pass and follow the road. You and your party will have to do a lot of jumping and climbing on the terrain to navigate the exterior areas of the Rosymorn Monastery. View the full article

The Logitech Blue Yeti range has long been a favorite microphone for gamers and content creators alike, thanks to its tank-like build quality, excellent sound quality, and ability to record in multiple different pickup patterns. Always decent value, you can now grab the top-tier Logitech Blue Yeti X for its lowest price ever, thanks to this gaming microphone deal. With the Blue Yeti X's sibling, the Blue Yeti, being our choice of best gaming microphone for streamers, you can be assured it's a quality unit. Yeti X builds on the foundation of the older Yeti design, adding extra condenser capsules (the bit that actually converts the sound to an electric signal), a higher bit-rate output, and slightly higher efficiency. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Save $110 on Logitech G29 (G920) racing wheels in its Amazon Prime Day ***** Best gaming mouse in 2024 Save up to $100 on the superb Logitech G915 low-profile gaming keyboard View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Amazon Games' New World has been making waves thanks to a colossal update that nudged the MMO towards the ARPG genre and rebranded the game to New World: Aeternum. Now, the developer is offering several free rewards for those just starting out, but you've only got a limited time to earn them. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Best New World Aeternum class and top weapons for all archetypes New World Aeternum revamp thrusts the MMO to its best playercount of the year Best New World Aeternum builds View the full article

Nvidia is contemplating a significant change in its design approach for the upcoming GB300 AI chips. The company is exploring the possibility of adopting a socketed design for these next-generation products, a departure from its current practice of mounting GPUs directly onto motherboards, according to reports from MoneyDJ and the... Read Entire Article View the full article

XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin acknowledges the current state of the game and addresses the current shutdown rumors by denying that there are plans to pull the plug after season 4 and offering players some good news. After multiple delays and launching likely later than the team at Ubisoft San Francisco would have liked, XDefiant quickly became a major hit during the initial beta tests and upon its release back in May. View the full article

Shiny Meloetta is finally making its debut nearly 14 years after Pokémon ****** and White released on the Nintendo DS, and trainers will have to work hard to get it. Since the DS game release, trainers have been unable to legitimately get the shiny version of Meloetta, forcing them to use glitches and cheats to see what it looks like. Thanks to a new challenge from Pokémon HOME, trainers can finally secure one for themselves, albeit with one big catch. View the full article