Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Release: August 30, 2024

While visiting Massive Entertainment to be among the first to get my hands on Star Wars Outlaws, I enjoyed playing through stealth sequences, shootouts, conversations, and open-world speeder gameplay. However, one piece of the Star Wars Outlaws puzzle I did not get a chance to experience firsthand is the space gameplay. Thankfully, in addition to playing a chunk of Star Wars Outlaws during my time in Malmö, Sweden, I also had a chance to ask the developers how the game works once you jump into your ship and leave the planet or moon.

In Star Wars Outlaws, you play Kay Vess and her companion Nix as they travel around the galaxy to locales both familiar and new. Players can land on and explore planets and moons like Tatooine, Kijimi, Akiva, and Toshara, but when Kay enters her ship, the Trailblazer, she can enter orbit and explore. The Trailblazer was created in close collaboration with Lucasfilm Games to ensure it feels like it fits into the Star Wars galaxy. Elements like silhouettes, realism, and personality were all considered to make something believable within the galaxy.

For the Star Wars Outlaws team, having the basis of the game be about crafting a scoundrel adventure meant that space gameplay was a must to complement the on-world element. "What we were trying to work out is, 'How do we create a gameplay experience with a multitude of different possibilities?' because we always knew we wanted to do a huge open-world game and have space travel, hyperdriving, several planets, several locations to explore," creative director Julian Gerighty says. "I think that's the play of fancy for the outlaw. It really is when you think of, 'What would I like to do as an outlaw in Star Wars?' It is stealth. It is combat. It is fisticuffs. It is hanging out at the cantina and having choices – meaningful choices – as a scoundrel, as an outlaw. It is flying. It is jumping on your speeder and going from one settlement to another. It's all of those things. So, it was important for us to have that ambition and push not just the technology but also the design team to have all of those things at the highest possible quality level."

Much of my gameplay session was spent exploring the underworld of Toshara within the city walls of Mirogana in particular. However, near the end, I had the opportunity to venture outside the walls on Kay's speeder. "There is a huge element of exploration – the openness, the vibrancy, the boldness of landscapes, visuals, and all these elements that you get from it just going with your speeder outside to find locations and exploring bits of the world," art and world director Benedikt Podlesnigg says. "And from this, you also have among the stars. We take our ship flying to space, which is vast but also very risky. It's wondrous, it's lucrative, but also there's a lot of unknown about it."

Though I don't get to see it, Podlesnigg describes how one of his recent gameplay sessions went. After exploring Toshara, he jumps into the Trailblazer and takes it out into orbit because he heard some intel that somebody in a space station was looking for an item he had in his possession. As Gerighty explains to me, planets and moons have an orbit around them that serves as an explorable area for Kay while aboard the Trailblazer. Once you reach the edge of the explorable area surrounding the planet or moon, you hyperdrive into the orbit of your destination. 

"This is problem-solving for video games, basically," Gerighty says. "We wanted to have an orbit around it with lots of different points of interest, things to do, battles to get in, places to explore. So, the orbits for each one of the moons or planets that we created had to be populated with lots of different things, and we didn't want to create endless space, so you hyperdrive from the orbit of a planet to the orbit of a planet. So, all of the space areas that we have are full of things to do."

As Podlesnigg arrived in space during his playthrough, he received an emergency signal that a freighter was being attacked, so he hurried to their location to help them fight off the attackers. Finally, he landed on a space station. While he can't go too deep into how big these space stations are, there are things to do, including vendors for trades and potentially some side-quests.

I don't get to touch a controller while Kay is piloting the Trailblazer, but the team hopes to appeal to a wide range of players by creating approachable gameplay for spaceflight. "We wanted to make spaceflight as accessible, fun, and action-packed as possible," Gerighty says. "The controls are extremely easy to get into. There's always something to do. It's fast to travel; you can hyperdrive at any moment, and there's combat, of course, both on an intimate dogfight scale but also on an epic scale too. And there's exploration. There's a lot of things to do in space."

I assume we'll eventually get our hands on the space gameplay before the release of Star Wars Outlaws, and outside of the intricate Reputation System, this element is one of my most intriguing parts of the game right now. Star Wars Outlaws arrives on August 30 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. For more exclusive information on Massive Entertainment's upcoming scoundrel adventure, visit our coverage hub at the banner below!

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After The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time reinvented the series in 3D and became its new gold standard, Nintendo followed up with a surreal sequel in Majora's Mask. Set two months after the events of Ocarina, Link finds himself transported to an alternate version of Hyrule called Termina and must prevent a very angry moon from crashing into the Earth over the course of three constantly repeating days. Majora's Mask's unique structure and bizarre tone have earned it legions of passionate defenders and detractors, and one long-time Zelda fan is going to experience it for the first time to see where he lands on that spectrum.

Join Marcus Stewart and Kyle Hilliard today and each Friday on Twitch at 2 p.m. CT as they gradually work their way through the entire game until Termina is saved. Archived episodes will be uploaded each Saturday on our second YouTube channel Game Informer Shows, which you can watch both above and by clicking the links below. 

Part 1 - Plenty of Time
Part 2 - The Bear
Part 3 - Deku Ball Z
Part 4 - Pig Out
Part 5 - The Was a Bad Choice!
Part 6 - Ray Darmani
Part 7 - Curl and Pound
Part 8 - Almost a Flamethrower
Part 9 - Take Me Higher
Part 10 - Time Juice
Part 11 - The One About Joey

Watch on Twitch!

If you enjoy our livestreams but haven’t subscribed to our Twitch channel, know that doing so not only gives you notifications and access to special emotes. You’ll also be granted entry to the official Game Informer Discord channel, where our welcoming community members, moderators, and staff gather to talk games, entertainment, food, and organize hangouts! Be sure to also follow our second YouTube channel, Game Informer Shows, to watch other Replay episodes as well as Twitch archives of GI Live and more. 

The Fabletown gang will be back, developer Telltale Games has promised in a new development update for The Wolf Among Us 2, its sequel to The Wolf Among Us it announced in 2019. This update, which reveals the studio is still hard at work on the game, arrives after an unspecified number of layoffs hit Telltale Games last October. 

"We've been quiet because we've been heads down, focusing on the promise of [The Wolf Among Us 2]," the update reads. "While we can't give a big update yet, here's a little something for you: in-progress shots from the current build. The work continues. The Fabletown gang will be back. Thanks for being fans." 

The four in-progress shots from the current build of The Wolf Among Us 2 can be viewed below: 

 

The Wolf Among Us 2 was originally due out last year but was delayed out of 2023 in a March update from the studio. 

For more about the game, watch The Wolf Among Us 2's official trailer, and then read about how the game's first episode will catch you up on what happened in the first game. 

Are you still excited for The Wolf Among Us 2? Let us know in the comments below!

PlayStation and K-Pop singer NakedBibi, or Bibi for short, have teamed up to create a new song and music video inspired by Stellar Blade, the upcoming action game from developer ShiftUp. Stellar Blade hits PlayStation 5 exclusively next week on April 26 so this new track, appropriately titled "Eve," is coming at a perfect time to keep excitement for the game going. 

The song itself is pretty great, too, and the music video visuals are very reminiscent of Stellar Blade itself. If you're excited about the game, or a fan of NakedBibi, it's definitely worth your time. 

Check out the "Eve" Stellar Blade music video by NakedBibi for yourself below: 

If you haven't yet checked it out, there's a free Stellar Blade demo available right now on PS5 to give you a taste of what's in the final release. For more about the game, read Game Informer's exclusive interview with Stellar Blade's director for behind-the-scene details and more. After that, read about how Stellar Blade will have no microtransactions, with one exception. 

Stellar Blade hits PS5 on April 26, 2024. 

What do you think of this song? Let us know in the comments below!

Amazon Prime Video has renewed its Fallout television show for another season, confirming that Season 2 is in the works following an earlier report. This news arrives just over a week after the series' release on April 10, which premiered two days earlier than expected to rave reviews from both fans and critics. 

We loved Fallout Season 1, and you can read about why in Game Informer's Fallout review, so we're excited to revisit the wasteland with Lucy, Ghoul, Maximus, and others. As for when to expect Season 2 of Fallout, that remains unknown. The announcement simply confirms another season is coming with no details on Season 2's production. 

Wouldn't want to keep you on the edge of your seat, now, would we?

See you back in the Wasteland for SEASON 2. pic.twitter.com/ULs6DEPHDW

— FALLOUT⚡️ (@falloutonprime) April 18, 2024

Fallout joins a string of other hit Amazon Prime Video series currently airing on the streamer service, like The Boys (with a new season dropping June 13) and Invincible, which just had its second season wrap up. It also joins a string of other successful video game adaptations, like HBO's The Last of Us, which is getting a Season 2 next year, Peacock's Twisted Metal, Netflix's Arcane, and Netflix's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. 

Fallout Season 1 is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. 

Did you enjoy Season 1 of Fallout? Let us know in the comments below!

In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, the crew looks ahead at the current slate of publisher showcases happening around Summer Game Fest and subsequent announcements we'd like to see. We chat about Amazon's Fallout show, rewatching the original X-Men animated series, and A24's Civil War before remembering this is a video game podcast. Afterward, Alex shares his very early impressions of World of Warcraft: The War Within's first alpha test, and Charles discusses his time playing Dragon's Dogma 2. 

Episode 703 - The Countdown To Summer Game Fest Begins:

Follow us on social media: Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), Charles Harte (@ChuckDuck365)

The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join host Alex Van Aken every Thursday to chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Matt Storm, the freelance audio editor for The Game Informer Show, edited this episode. Matt is an experienced podcast host and producer who's been speaking into a microphone for over a decade. You should listen to Matt's shows like the "Fun" And Games Podcast and Reignite, a BioWare-focused podcast.  The Game Informer Show – Podcast Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:58 - Amazon's Fallout, X-Men, and A24's Civil War

00:17:57 - Summer Game Fest Countdown

00:50:39 - World of Warcraft: The War Within Alpha

01:06:46 - Dragon's Dogma 2

01:20:34 - Housekeeping and Listener Questions

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Release: 2024

Kingdom Come: Deliverance faced a rocky launch in 2018, with outlets (including Game Informer) criticizing its widespread bugs and general lack of polish, but it found success regardless, going on to sell two million copies and release a slate of DLC and updates. Six years later, Warhorse Studios is getting ready to launch a sequel and invited Game Informer to take a look at some early footage and trailers. While it's too early to speak to any performance issues, it's clear Warhorse has greatly expanded its work on the first game, and fans of the medieval ages may be in for a treat.

The Kingdom Come series is an action RPG set in the early thirteenth century, and while its plot is fictional, the games strive for historical accuracy wherever possible. The sequel follows the continued journey of Henry of Skalitz, a man who set out on a quest for revenge after his village was raided and destroyed. Squire to the carefree Sir Hans, he aims to take down Sigismund the Red Fox, the king of Hungary. With five hours of cutscenes (compared to the prior title's three), this story is a big focus for the game. While the narrative is a direct continuation of the events of the first entry, Warhorse Studios says newcomers should feel free to hop in at the newest entry.

The series plans to expand on more than just its story. For one, the world map is double the size of its predecessor. This includes the massive medieval city of Kuttenberg ("Too big," says creative director Daniel Vávra), which Warhorse claims to be its greatest challenge during the game's development. The urban area is contrasted by the natural wilderness of an area called Bohemian Paradise, a lush green space full of unique rock formations. This diversity of environment and color was particularly important for the game's visuals, according to art director Viktor Höschl, who wants to express that the era wasn't all mud and famine. Lead character artist Anna Pačesová adds to this sentiment, saying, "It was really colorful. It wasn't dark at all."

In addition to the world, gameplay has been expanded in several ways. The series offers first-person swordplay, but the sequel adds new ranged options as well. In addition to the inclusion of crossbows, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II features early firearms, which look like short-range handheld fireworks. The developers also emphasize the series' focus on player freedom and choice, adding new ways for the player to interact with the world’s many characters and new ways for those NPCs to respond. If the player wanders around drunk and naked, for example, townsfolk will verbalize their discomfort, and the player is free to apologize or taunt right back at them.

Our preview ends with a performance of a song from the game's soundtrack. Composer Jan Valta returns with a period-appropriate score, conducting an ensemble of instruments and a choir performing a piece that harkens back to the religious compositions of the 1400s. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II will be released sometime later this year, and it simply looks better than its predecessor in every significant way. When Warhorse was founded 10 years ago, it was only 11 members strong; now, it's up to 250. It's no surprise, then, when creative director Daniel Vávra, seated in a dramatically lit Kuttenberg cathedral for the video presentation, says, "What we are making now is what it was supposed to be in the beginning, but we were not able to do it because we didn't have enough resources and experience and all that stuff. We've proven that the concept works, and now we can take it to another level."

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Jack Black seems to have more or less confirmed his rumored role as Steve in the upcoming Minecraft movie. 

The actor took to Instagram on Tuesday to post a short video of himself on a film lot observing a rainbow before entering a trailer labeled “Steve, Minecraft.” The interior features promotional art of Steve as the actor smiles at the camera. 

A report in January stated Black would be voicing Minecraft’s mascot but had not been officially confirmed by the film’s production companies, Warner Bros. and Legendary. Although this technically isn’t an official announcement either, I'd say there's roughly a 99.99 percent chance that Black is involved.

The Minecraft movie, which has been in development in some form or another since 2014, is directed by Nacho Libre director Jared Hess. The cast includes Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus, American Pie), and Emma Myers (Wednesday). Minecraft is scheduled to hit theaters on April 4, 2025. 

Jack Black is obviously no stranger to video game movies. He voiced Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and portrays Claptrap in the upcoming Borderlands. 

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Release: August 30, 2024

As Kay Vess, the main protagonist in Star Wars Outlaws, you must work within the thriving underworld to accomplish your goals. Because Kay's adventure takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the underworld is thriving. The Empire is focusing its efforts on finishing off the retreating Rebel Alliance. While many of the moons and planets are under Imperial occupation, its primary focus is finding Rebels. Kay must take advantage of the criminal underworld, which led developer Massive Entertainment to create the Reputation System, a reflection of her standing with the criminal organizations she interacts with.

After Sliro of Zerek Besh puts a bounty on her, Kay must work towards the goal of pulling off the ultimate heist to attain freedom for her and her companion Nix. Navigating the Star Wars underworld, Kay interacts with four syndicates, each with its own leader. Jabba the Hutt is the most iconic as the leader of the Hutt Cartel, but Kay also crosses paths with Lady Qi'ra (who many know from Emilia Clarke's portrayal in Solo: A Star Wars Story) of Crimson Dawn, Queen Ashiga of the Ashiga Clan (a new syndicate created in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games), and Gorak of the Pyke Syndicate.

Massive Entertainment wanted to create a game in which you must navigate an underworld where, as a scoundrel, you live and die by your reputation. You can improve your standing with the syndicates by taking on jobs, performing tasks, and making choices in favor of the various criminal organizations. If you have a good relationship with one syndicate, your life will be easier when interacting with them or when you're in their territory. 

"Very early on, we knew that we wanted to do a scoundrel story and we knew we wanted the game to be about choice and consequences," lead systems designer Matthieu Delisle says. "So pretty naturally, reputation came as the medium for the player to interact with the game. That's the foundation for the game and then we built the game around that. So, all the features in the game are, one way or another, connected to reputation."

Through having a good relationship with a syndicate, you get access to more jobs to take on, better deals and special stock at shops, high-stakes Sabacc tables, intel, rumors, and more access to that syndicate's territory. Not only that but if you get into trouble with another syndicate and find yourself in a chase, a syndicate with whom you have a good relationship might jump in and help you get away. But it's never so simple; Massive assures me that as a scoundrel, you will get into trouble.

While I don't get a sense of just how challenging the balancing act is, an example that emerged during my hands-on demo demonstrated that sometimes your choices will force you to take sides. During my demo, I found a sensitive video file that showed a member of the Pyke Syndicate looking to overthrow Gorak. Kay's original plan was to take it to the Pyke Syndicate leader to fetch a pretty penny and improve her standing, but when she turns in the job she was doing when she uncovered the evidence, the client is revealed as a member of Crimson Dawn. Kay thinks that they might have a keen interest in that sensitive data, so the player is given a choice of who they want to hand the video file over to, with Kay's reputation with that syndicate getting a bump with Crimson Dawn. Because of this newfound standing with Crimson Dawn, my next mission is a bit easier as the Crimson Dawn guards let me walk right into their territory.

"It's really about choosing whichever syndicate benefits her in the moment," senior systems designer Alice Rendell says. "It's really up to the player to decide how they want to balance their reputations throughout the game. You can go all in with one syndicate, but obviously at the risk of displeasing others, or you can try and play the underworld a bit more and try to find something a bit more balanced."

But reputations are designed to ebb and flow. Your reputation with a syndicate can take a hit from making a decision against the syndicate or through your actions. For example, if I go into a part of a syndicate's territory where I'm not supposed to be and get spotted, Kay's reputation will take a hit. Similarly, if you're spotted on a security camera or you raise an alarm, your reputation takes a hit. In one sequence, I alerted the Pyke Syndicate to my presence and began piling up bodies; I didn't get to experiment too much more with my reputation with the Pyke Syndicate, but I imagine I'd have some work to do to repair that relationship.

Still, even with that transgression against the Pyke Syndicate in their own territory, you're never entirely cut off from any of the factions. After all, you're dealing with criminal organizations who are primarily concerned with how you can benefit them. If they think you're the right person for the job, they'll still let you do work for them. 

"The way that people in the world react to Kay will vary depending on the reputation, but it is very transactional," Rendell says. "These aren't friendships, so it's still very, 'Okay, can Kay help you out in this moment?'"

But Kay doesn't just have to manage her reputation with the Hutt Cartel, the Pyke Syndicate, Crimson Dawn, and the Ashiga Clan. While they're all key players in the criminal underworld, in this period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Galactic Empire is arguably at the peak of its power. While they are largely distracted in their relentless hunt for members of the Rebel Alliance, if you get in the way or break their rules, they won't ignore you for long.

Because the Empire holds such power, you don't have a reputation meter with them. Instead, the Empire reacts to you based on your wanted level. If you break enough rules, your wanted level rises. The more wanted you are, the worse the Empire makes your life. 

More imperial troops join the hunt for you as your wanted level goes up, with the maximum level summoning elite enemies to hunt you down. You can try to hide to decrease your wanted level, but the higher your wanted level, the longer it takes the Empire to call off the search. You can also meet with corrupt Imperial officers who might take a bribe or, in the worst-case scenario, participate in a challenging in-world event at the maximum wanted level to get the Empire off your back. 

I didn't get a chance to experiment with the Wanted System at all, nor did I get a chance to truly push the Reputation System beyond the standard interactions and botched stealth sequences of my demo, but I did get a feel for it in action. I'm excited to see how the system reacts to player choices, particularly since when I ask creative director Julian Gerighty if there's a way to max out all syndicates' reputation meters, he says, "Not that I've been able to find." 

The Reputation System feels like an essential piece of the scoundrel video game puzzle, and if it can deliver in all the ways Massive touts it to, it's the element of Star Wars Outlaws I'm most excited to play around with. If it can, indeed, provide the level of player agency and systems flexibility an adventure like this all but necessitates, we should be in for an incredible adventure when Star Wars Outlaws arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on August 30.

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Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PC
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: René Rother
Release: April 9, 2024

Children of the Sun is hellbent on occupying your mind. During the six hours it took me to hit credits, I was engrossed in mastering its simple, yet wonderfully executed central mechanic. At first, taking down dozens of cultists with just one bullet was a fun gimmick to tinker with. As time passed, I became obsessed with pushing the tools at my disposal to their limits, repeatedly using people as target practice until I had concocted a satisfactory murder plan.

Introduced as a puzzle shooter, Children of the Sun has you incarnating a young woman who lost her family after getting involved with the eerie namesake cult. Using just one bullet of your sniper rifle, you plunge through over 20 levels by connecting kills until you take everybody down in one swift sequence. As you make progress, the foundation gains complexity with special foes that require different strategies, as well as a handful of abilities around the bullet itself.

It's easy to see the influences from the likes of Killer7, Sniper Elite, and the latter Hitman games. But there are echoes of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective as well, infusing inanimate objects with a paranormal force to interact with the environment, and people's bodies, to your advantage.

At the start of a level, you only get a narrow view of the whole map, so to speak. Ideally, you want to tag every single cultist before pulling the trigger, so you can plan ahead of time – similar to scanning a room in Hotline Miami before kicking down the door. More often than not, you first need to kill a few of them just to tag others or get a better view at the far end of an area. It makes for a compelling exploratory phase that doesn't frustrate but rather encourages you to fail until you've gathered all the visual information you need.

Time slows down when you're moving the bullet. It also completely stops once you hit a target. This gives you some breathing room, and a chance to gain a different perspective. You can shoot birds to gain altitude or gas tanks to find an angle that allows you to continue chaining down targets, for example. Yet, you're rewarded via a scoring system for executing a killing with style and aggressiveness. It works as the perfect contrast to the exploratory phase, forcing you to see whether your plan can be executed swiftly or if you need another strategy. There's a leaderboard at the end of each level that incentivizes you to push for this cruel finesse, as well as vague clues for challenges to uncover.

 

The macabre tone of Children of the Sun pairs well with its human gamification. Shooting an arm gives you 25 points. Shooting a groin rewards 50 points instead. The over-the-top violence turns gratuitous after seeing the words "I Just Killed a Man, Now I'm Horny" before playing a Pac-Man-style minigame during a special level. The abrasive tone never comes off as mere window dressing for the sake of shock value but rather thrives in its repulsiveness.

Both the visual and sound design work make for a haunting sensorial stimulation. There were times when I felt underwater, zip-zapping from one corner of an ocean to the next as the bullet pierced head after head, like waves colliding against each other. The effect of a late-game ability, which allows you to increase the speed of a shot, sounds like an electric guitar distorted to the brim with effect pedals.

Children of the Sun is a prime example of an experience born from a straightforward premise and then iterated for the right amount of time before it loses its charm. On occasion, the central mechanic can't keep up with itself – I missed more than a few finicky shots that should have landed, forcing a retry. But once you successfully execute a strategy and finish a level, the satisfaction is unmatched. You then seek to replicate the feeling during subsequent hunts, completely alienated from the messiness of your actions as you chase a higher score.

Score: 9

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Today's Nintendo Indie World featured 20 minutes of new indie game reveals and updates to anticipated titles. If you missed the event, we've gathered each announcement here for a cursory glance at what showed up. 

Little Kitty, Big City - May 9 

As the title suggests, you control a small cat in a mini-open world set within a bustling, Japanese-inspired metropolis. Your goal is to find a way home, but plenty of distractions and opportunities to help fellow animal friends or cause chaos will likely delay your departure. 

Yars Rising - Late 2024

Wayforward and Atari are teaming up for a 2D Metroidvania spin-off of the 1982 classic Yars’ Revenge. This side-scrolling platformer stars Emi Kimura, a young hacker (using the handle of Yar) who gets embroiled in an intergalactic conspiracy centered around a corrupt corporation. Yar can blast robots, climb platforms, sneak through vents, hide in doorways, and more. 

Refind Self: The Personality Test Game - Summer 2024 

This 2023 choice-driven adventure stars an android whose creator has passed away. Unaware of its purpose, you’ll piece together your past by interacting with characters and making decisions to determine what the doctor had in mind for you. Decisions mold the android into one of 23 personality types. Are you a hero, researcher, artisan, or gambler? Whichever the case, Refind Self encourages multiple playthroughs, and you can share results and compare choices and personality results with other players. 

Sticky Business - Today

First arriving last summer, this cozy shop simulator is now available on Switch. Players run a sticker shop where you’ll use over 400 elements and effects, such as sparkles and glitter, to fulfill specific customer requests. Giving customers their desired stickers causes them to open up to players and share their individual stories. The Plan with Me DLC adds new sticker elements and customer stories, and a bundle containing the DLC and the base game is also available. 

Antonblast - November 12

As Dynamite Anton or Annie, smash through levels to reach Satan himself, who stole your prized spirit collection. Levels begin by setting bombs, then use your powerful hammer to smash enemies through destructible environments Reaching the end triggers a timer where you must race back to the start before the entire level detonates. A demo will be available later today, and Antonblast will launch as a timed console exclusive when it releases. 

Valley Peaks - 2024

As a mountain-climbing frog, use your tongue to swing across mountain peaks to place radio towers and reestablish communications with fellow climbers. Each mountain presents its own platforming puzzle, challenging players to find the correct path. Along the way you’ll find equipment to ease climbing, play minigames, and take on side quests from other froggy climbers

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - May 16

This Annapurna-published non-linear puzzle game finally hits next month. Created by the team behind Sayonara Wild Hearts, players control a woman invited to take part in a project set in an old European hotel. Her journey becomes a nightmarish and surreal adventure sporting over 100 puzzles with shifting mechanics and perspectives. 

Europa - 2024

This vibrant sci-fi fantasy game could be mistaken for a Studio Ghibli joint. Players control an android boy with a jetpack-like device who explores a picturesque alien moon. Soar through levels to uncover the secrets of a lost civilization. A free demo is available later today. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate - July 2024

Originally an Apple Arcade exclusive, this roguelike adventure sees the Turtles traveling through reality-bending portals to find a kidnapped Master Splinter. Each turtle has their own abilities to take down the Foot Clan and other familiar foes, with every room granting new powers and upgrades. Spending earned currency at the sewer base unlocks permanent upgrades, and you can play alongside three other players in drop-in/drop-out co-op. TMNT: Splinter Fate is launching on Switch as a timed console exclusive. 

Cat Quest III - August 8

Sail the seven seas as an adorable feline pirate to engage in navel combat alone or with a friend in co-op. When you’re not sailing the waves, you're blasting enemies in dungeons using a refined combat system with tighter combos and new weapon swapping. 

Stitch - Today

Embroidery fans rejoice! Apply those skills (sort of) to complete over 180 Picross-esque puzzles, called Hoops, to bring embroidery patterns to life. Completed hoops can be replayed endlessly in free play mode where you can recolor them as you wish. Limited daily puzzles offer tougher challenges, and weekly hoops are themed after holidays and other real events. First released on Apple Arcade, Stich is a console exclusive on Switch. 

SteamWorld Heist II - August 8

The sequel to SteamWorld’s 2015 turn-based strategy game takes to the seas. New features include the ability to perform trick shots to ricochet enemies off each other, a revamped job system, and an interactive world map with real-time naval combat. You can befriend new steambots to join your crew and your actions impact their lives. 

Quick Release Date Updates

Bzzzt - Summer 2024

Schim - July 18

Animal Well - May 9

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami - May 23

Another Crab’s Treasure - April 25

Which announcement interested you the most? Let us know in the comments!

With 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac Games began building one of the richest video game interpretations of the Marvel Universe that we've seen to date. The studio nailed the tone of Peter, Miles, and their supporting cast, but it was the care put into the rest of the universe that makes Insomniac's universe stand apart. Yes, the Easter eggs and references to heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Black Panther, and more make this feel like an established universe full of superheroes, but Insomniac took things to the next level with its rogues' gallery. 

As a longtime Spider-Man and Marvel fan, I've delighted in watching my favorite villains – and those I rarely think of – pop up throughout the multi-game journey. Check out all the villains in Insomniac's Spider-Man universe below, and let us know which ones you got most excited to see appear in the game.

Warning: This list contains spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Which villains are your favorites in Insomniac's Marvel Universe? Which villains do you hope show up in future games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section! 

April’s second batch of new Xbox Game Pass titles has been revealed. The headliner is the long-awaited Suikoden-inspired Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes, which hits the library on launch day. Other anticipated indies include the Soulslike Another Crab’s Treasure and the hotly anticipated strategy city-builder Manor Lords, which enters Xbox Game Preview.

Check out what’s joining and leaving Xbox Game Pass as well as our reviews for applicable titles. You can also see the games that arrived during the first half of April here. 

What’s Coming 

Harold Halibut (Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud) - Today

Orcs Must Die! 3 (Console, PC) - April 17

EA Sports NHL 24 via EA Play (Console) - April 18

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Console, PC, Cloud) - April 23

Another Crab’s Treasure (Cloud, Console, and PC) - April 25

Manor Lords (Game Preview) (PC) - April 26

Have a Nice Death (Console, PC, Cloud) - April 30

What’s Leaving on April 30

7 Days to Die (Console, PC, Cloud0

Besiege (Console, PC, Cloud)

EA Sports NHL 22 (Console) | Our Review

Loot River (Console, PC, Cloud) | Our Review

Pikuniku (Console, PC, Cloud)

Ravenlok (Console, PC, Cloud)

With huge winter game releases behind us and huge summer announcements right around the corner, the games industry is set for a relatively quiet month or two. Luckily, Nintendo plans to briefly step in to fill that void. Today, it announced the next Indie World Showcase, a live stream event focused on the latest indie titles to come to the Switch, for tomorrow, April 17. The showcase will air at 7 AM PT/10 AM ET and last for around 20 minutes.

New #IndieWorld Showcase incoming! 💡

Tune in tomorrow, 4/17 at 7am PT for roughly 20 minutes of announcements and updates on indie games headed to #NintendoSwitch in 2024.

Watch live here: https://t.co/jGiccyBhME pic.twitter.com/V31Dfuxs0N

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 16, 2024

It's in the name so it might be obvious to some, but don't expect any first-party games or hardware announcements out of this event. An Indie World Showcase is also not the same thing as a Nintendo Partner Showcase, which is just a show about third party games. This can include indie titles (the last one had a trailer for Another Crab's Treasure, for example) but also includes larger developers, like Sega or Atlus.

If that's confusing, you can get a sense of the games that have been showcased in this type of presentation in the past by visiting the official Indie World site. Fans will most likely be clamoring for a trailer or release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong, the sequel to the 2017 bug-themed Metroidvania. But while it's (hopefully) right around the corner, there's no specific reason to believe it will appear at this event other than the fact that it's an indie game coming to the Switch.

We won't know until the Indie World Showcase properly airs tomorrow. When it does, you can watch it right here.

Keanu Reeves is joining the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter (and first broken by The John Campea Show). The outlet’s sources report that the John Wick and Matrix star is voicing Shadow the Hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is set to premiere on December 20 and will pit Shadow alongside a returning Dr. Robotnik (played by Jim Carrey) against Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The returning cast includes Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba, James Marsden, and Colleen O'Shaughnessey. The film's first trailer premiered in front of a select audience at Cinemacon in Las Vegas last week and it provided the first real look at Shadow. Unfortunately, the trailer has yet to be publically released. 

Paramount has yet to officially confirm Reeves' casting, but if this is true, he will join fellow new cast members, including Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone. Shadow's debut was teased at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but his voice performer has been a tantalizing mystery since the third film was announced in August 2022. 

Meanwhile, the standalone Knuckles series premieres on Paramount Plus on April 26. You can watch the first full-length trailer for that here.

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion, Dawntrail, arrives this summer alongside the game’s first graphical update. As such, Square Enix has released a new benchmark software to let PC players test how well their machines will handle these new bells and whistles while getting a small head start on Dawntrail.

Available as a free download for Windows, the benchmark software uses playable characters and actual maps to assign a performance score to your PC. This will provide a peek at the new graphical update, which spruces up the game with enhanced textures, shadows, material qualities, and other elements. You can download the benchmark here. 

The benchmark includes a character creator for players to craft a fresh hero ahead of Dawntrail’s launch. It also includes access to the new female Hrothgar race. Existing characters can also be imported into the benchmark, and the appearance data from these characters can be imported into the full release of Dawntrail on Windows. 

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail launches on July 2. You can learn more about the expansion here. The game currently has a crossover event with Final Fantasy XVI that runs until May 8

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Release: August 30, 2024

As you navigate the galaxy in Star Wars Outlaws, you do so as Kay Vess, a pickpocket-turned-thief who gets in over her head and winds up with a bounty on her head. Early in conversations, Lucasfilm Games and developer Massive Entertainment agreed that telling a scoundrel story was the way to go. Through these discussions, Massive decided it wanted to portray a "resourceful underdog" for its main character rather than the trained soldiers that star in The Division.

In the various meetings with Lucasfilm Games, Massive Entertainment looked at the various archetypes available to players in the Star Wars tabletop RPGs, including Jedi, spies, operatives, and more. Massive wanted to create a game with a unique perspective within that universe. Several games put you in the shoes of lightsaber-wielding Jedi or the Empire-fighting Rebel, but fewer let you play as the archetype that stuck out to Massive: the scoundrel.

In the Star Wars galaxy, the scoundrel is personified by Han Solo, but even though this story takes place during the Original Trilogy, Massive didn't want to retread that ground by making a Han Solo game. "Not once did that come up," creative director Julian Gerighty says. "We wanted to tell different stories with different main actors, as well."

"We felt that one of the venues in Star Wars that, especially recently, hasn't been explored as much is that of the scoundrel character," associate narrative director John Björling says. "A relatable character, a rookie kind of taking their first steps into the galaxy, exploring the world, and really getting involved with the people and factions that make up the fabric of the galaxy. That was something that we knew very early on we wanted to pursue: to have that personal story and really make the galaxy come to life."

Once Massive set its sights on a scoundrel experience set during the beloved Original Trilogy between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it needed to create the right character for the adventure. "A scrappy underdog is going to use every trick in the book to get out of a tricky situation," Gerighty says. "Sometimes, a scoundrel should avoid getting into combat, so stealth became incredibly important for us as well."

To that end, Kay Vess started out as a mere pickpocket growing up in the worker's district of Canto Bight, the planet most known for the casino scene in The Last Jedi, but after graduating to full-on thief and getting in with the wrong crowd and having a bounty placed on her head, she has to pull off the ultimate heist to attain freedom. Because of her resourcefulness, cunning, and scrappiness, she can approach situations through both stealth and gunslinging; the choice is often up to the player.

Her rough and tumble upbringing equips her well for her adventures, and the team reflects that background in her visual design. "We put a lot of care into her design and what she's wearing and how she looks to tell her story," associate art director Marthe Jonkers says. "She has a lot of elements in her design that tell a bit of her story. For example, she has a broken nose. She's been through a lot; you can see that she has scars and stuff. She also has a hairpin; I love that element because she uses that to lockpick doors, and you can use that from the beginning to do some thieving."

The team clicked particularly well with Kay because she's neither a Jedi with superhuman reflexes nor one of the greatest fighters or pilots in the galaxy. "I think it's very relatable as a human being on planet Earth that this character doesn't have any magical powers or properties beyond her daring, her skills, her tools, and her buddy Nix," game director Mathias Karlson says. "The personality type is also perfectly suited for going on a swashbuckling adventure. I think that's something I really resonated with thinking about this character in terms of building a game and gameplay around it."

"I think she's a much more modern protagonist than we usually see in games," Gerighty says. "She's somebody who is very much a street thief who gets thrown into things that are beyond her control, and that she kind of has to think her way out of, and that makes it a little bit more relatable than somebody who has all the confidence and sarcasm and just comes off as somebody who is not believable. So having her be relatable in that way was something extremely important for us."

But Kay is not the only protagonist in Star Wars Outlaws. Massive looks at Kay and Nix as dual protagonists. As such, players are always in control of Nix as well, since Kay has the ability to send him off to perform tasks like pressing buttons, retrieving items, and distracting enemies. "Nix comes from a real gameplay need, which is to give the scoundrel character a little bit more reach, a little bit more possibilities while going through the environments while sneaking and while fighting," Gerighty says. "We really considered them as a scoundrel/thief duo. And Nix is absolutely adorable towards Kay, but very fierce and protective as well, so he has two sides to his personality, and we're very proud of what we created."

Nix is a merqaal, a new species created by Massive in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. Nix comes from an unknown rainforest planet, but at a certain point, Kay and Nix meet and become partners. When creating Nix's design, Massive looked toward the various pets that members of the team have in their households. "Basically, he has something of all our pets in there," Jonkers says. "Everybody had a bit of an influence on that, I would say. But also real-world animals, for example. We really wanted him to be very helpful to Kay, so he could pick up things so we looked at lemurs or monkeys. But the other side we wanted him to also have a bit of a tough side, so he has some skills, and is more reptile-inspired."

Another crucial part of Nix's design is his ears, which help him express his emotions and mood. "When Kay's sneaking around, you will see that he'll put them onto his body and make a smaller silhouette," Jonkers says. "When he's alert, he will put them up, and I think that's also a unique element to Nix that really gives him a lot of personality."

When I ask if the relationship between Kay and Nix is similar to that of Han Solo and Chewbacca, Jonkers quips, "I always say, 'Kay's not a Solo, Kay's a duo.'" 

"We have Kay as the main character, but it's actually Kay and Nix," Jonkers continues. "They are the main character. We really wanted to bring this unique duo as the main character to the Star Wars galaxy. They work together a lot, and Nix helps you, but he's really her buddy. [...] That relationship and having this duo is what makes Kay a very unique character, like a unique scoundrel. She's not on her own. She's not doing this all by herself. She actually has her partner in crime. That brings a unique take on the scoundrel archetype."

For more on how the gameplay between Kay and Nix works, be sure to check out our hands-on preview here. Star Wars Outlaws arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on August 30. For more, be sure to visit our exclusive coverage hub through the banner below!

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Despite currently being in the midst of a crossover event with Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fortnite is teasing an upcoming event with a returning collaborator: Star Wars. The details have yet to be disclosed, but attentive fans of the science fiction juggernaut will notice something about the start date right away. The event is set to take place on Friday, May 3. The following day, May 4th, is known to many as Star Wars Day.

We have a good feeling about this...Star Wars is returning to #Fortnite. pic.twitter.com/6MCkDkolNb

— Star Wars (@starwars) April 15, 2024

The most newsworthy piece of info here, however, is the fact that the teaser indicates collaborations across several of Fortnite's new modes. This includes the classic battle Royale mode, the survival/crafting Lego mode, and the rhythm Festival mode, though Rocket Racing was notably excluded. Crossovers between Fortnite and other IPs usually just include cosmetic bundles, but this seems to imply that it will provide content for three different areas of the game.

The current Elements event pass technically includes a Lego variant skin as well as a guitar for Festival mode, so this Star Wars event could be as simple as that, but it's not unreasonable to speculate that Star Wars is a big enough property to warrant a larger scale crossover event. That said, this is just speculation.

Previous Star Wars crossovers included a Darth Vader boss battle, lightsabers, blasters, and force abilities, as well as a huge roster of skins spanning the movies and shows. Most recently, Ahsoka joined the fray as a part of the Chapter 4 Season 4 battle pass. 

If you're interested in more Star Wars video games, you're in luck – we just launched our latest cover story, which features an exclusive look at Star Wars Outlaws. We've also got a hands-on preview, a video interview with the developers, and an entire hub devoted to this month's coverage of the game.

What are you hoping to see from the upcoming Fortnite x Star Wars crossover? Let us know in the comments!

The 2017 low-gravity hero shooter LawBreakers is coming back from the dead. However, this isn’t an official revival but rather due to the work of a dedicated group of fans.

LawBreakers was created by Boss Key Productions, a team led by Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski. Upon launching for PlayStation 4 and PC in August 2017, it garnered a generally positive critical impression (read our review here). However, it failed to find its place in the competitive multiplayer shooter market of the time, resulting in poor sales and low player engagement that eventually led to its early demise in September 2018. 

Now, a team of passionate fans has worked to bring LawBreakers back. Dubbed The RELB Project, the project has been in the works since at least 2020. Its FAQ states that “This is a project to bring back the game LawBreakers, it's done by creating 'fake' servers that the original game client uses. You can join by downloading the launcher, patching your game and playing like normal.”

RELB’s website allows you to download the launcher. Despite this revival being an unofficial project, Cliff Bleszinki (who has been vocal about wanting to see LawBreakers come back) has given it his blessing and enthusiastically shared RELB’s Discord on Saturday. 

Somehow LawBreakers is coming back, see below!!!
---
If you're interested in this weekend's public test or future tests, join the RELB discord server to learn how to get set up and keep up with the current news! https://t.co/1COV57FZQ5

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) April 13, 2024

The RELB Project is still very much a work in progress, but the team held its first series of public playtests this past weekend. Although several modes and features from the game were disabled, these sessions appear to have been largely successful. The next playtest has not been scheduled, and the team is currently seeking more developers.

What did you think of LawBreakers and are you excited to see it playable again? Let us know in the comments!

The rogue-lite and roguelike genres have been growing in popularity over the years They’re challenging games where players attempt runs with different abilities and random elements that generally force the player to restart from zero or near-zero for each attempt. They are born from the 1980 game Rogue which established many of the mechanics now considered staples of the genre.

But the difference between rogue-lite and -like has always been confusing, so we asked an expert from Evil Empire, the co-developer of Dead Cells, to explain it to us. Lucie Dewagnier is the game director of the upcoming The Rogue: Prince of Persia (a rogue-lite) and defines the subgenres like this.

Dead Cells (2018)

“Roguelike is – like the game Rogue – a game where you play, you die, you hit replay, but nothing is kept between your attempts. You will always replay the game from a blank slate.

Rogue-lite may add some things like permanent upgrades and enhancements that make your future runs – your future tries – easier and has progression systems that do not exist in roguelikes.”

Returnal (2021)

My hope, and I presented this plan to Dewagnier, is we drop the -lite and -like suffixes from the genre name and just refer to all games as existing within the Rogue genre. Dead Cells, Hades, Undermine, Returnal, etc. are no longer variations of rogue-lites and roguelikes – they’re all Rogue games.

“Yeah, even now there are games like Spelunky that are part of Rogulikes, but they have progression systems with new content you can get, so maybe it’s rogue-lite? Maybe it’s Roguelike? They’re Rogues.”

To read more about Evil Empire and Dewagnier’s next game, The Rogue: Prince of Persia (which is a rogue-lite, “With a ‘T’,” Dewagnier says), head here.