Survival horror reboot Alone In The Dark is coming out on October 25th, publisher THQ announced last night. This new game reimagines the haunted Derceto Manor from the 1992 original, this time with a fancier coat of paint, a third-person camera view, and some famous faces. And if you’d like an early teaser of what’s in store, there’s a free prologue chapter available now, letting you explore a slice of the Southern Gothic mansion.
Visit the “Land of the East” for the first time ever.
One of the highlights of the Marvelous showcase earlier today was the official reveal of the new tentatively titled game Rune Factory: Project Dragon. Rune Factory 6 has also been announced alongside it.
This new spin-off in the fantasy lifestyle series is set in the “Eastern lands with a Japanese-style aesthetic” – completely new to the series. Project Dragon’s general producer is Tsukuda Kenichiro, the producer is Fujii Hisashi and the director is Maekawa Shiro. Here’s a bit about it from the series director:
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Returning to the origin of survival horror with Alone in the Dark meant creating a faithful love letter for long-term fans, but also an accessible entry point for new players. Crafting a reimagining that modern gamers will love while staying true to the original experience takes time, and we’re happy to reveal that the wait is almost over – Alone in the Dark will release on PlayStation 5 on October 25.
The team at Pieces Interactive are die-hard Alone in the Dark fans, and knew exactly where to turn when it came to reimagining the game that gave birth to a genre. Creatively led by Mikael Hedberg, writer of horror classics Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA, with creature designs from legendary Guillermo Del Toro collaborator Guy Davis, their vision for Alone in the Dark was a dream (or is that nightmare?) come true for us.
As with any good survival horror game, we of course have mind-bending puzzles and clues you’ll need to explore to find, with a twist. If you want to really flex your investigative muscles, choose our difficulty that offers less assistance, or you can select an option which provides more tips, hints, and overall guidance.
Today, we fully unveiled this new, nightmarish vision to the world in our Alone in the Dark Spotlight stream. Across 11 nerve-jangling minutes, we revealed our starring talent of David Harbour as Detective Edward Carnby and Jodie Comer as Emily Hartwood, gave you a look at all-new gameplay and cutscenes, and dove into how the haunting Doom Jazz soundscape of Derceto Manor was brought to life. We also launched our playable Prologue, where you can get a short glimpse of the horrors that await you in the full game, today.
A new generation of classic horror
The power of modern hardware has unlocked new possibilities, especially when it comes to our lead character performances. Being able to capture more emotion in faces meant we could bring our dual protagonists Detective Edward Carnby (David Harbour) and Emily Hartwood (Jodie Comer) to life like never before. Whoever you choose to play as, you’ll experience the entire adventure through a performance from one of Hollywood’s most talented actors in their first ever videogame role.
While Edward and Emily may go through the same overall events in Alone in the Dark, both characters will interpret their journey differently through their reactions to their environments – and a few unique story moments. They each have their own strong personalities and backstories, and the residents of Derceto will treat them in their own way.
A-list in the Dark
Edward and Emily are brought together by the same quest – finding out what happened to Jeremy Hartwood, Emily’s uncle. Be it the promise of work and professional curiosity, or finding a dear relative and shaking the family curse, both characters have complex motivations for coming to Derceto, and their actions are tainted by individual past traumas.
David Harbour brings his trademark intensity to his role as Edward, but also his playfulness. When thrust into unimaginable situations, our natural reaction is terror, even questioning our own sanity, which David captures perfectly. Sometimes, however, we try to steel ourselves against our worst fears with humor. The dry wit that David has brought to some of his most famous characters shines through in Edward, ever the inquisitive, slightly world-weary investigator.
Jodie Comer is no stranger to disappearing into a role, having recently earned a well-deserved Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play, on top of her BAFTA and Emmy awards. Jodie portrays Emily with expert nuance, at once showing concern for her missing uncle and dread for the fate which may befall her as a result of the Hartwood curse. Whether interacting with Derceto’s strange inhabitants or fending off otherworldly creatures, Jodie gives a world-class performance.
No matter who you choose at the beginning of our game, you will experience the performance that Alone in the Dark players deserve. The game begs to be replayed through both characters’ eyes, and we can’t wait to hear what you think of our two incredible leads.
The sound of trauma
Our game is set in 1920s Louisiana, in a period of unease and excess, caught between two World Wars. Realizing this thick atmosphere of “Interbellum Horror” called for a unique sound that reflected the turmoil of the time, as well as the music that emerged from it.
Doom Jazz legend Jason Köhnen (Bong-Ra) lent his talents to capturing Alone in the Dark’s otherworldly chaos, contributing songs that feel at once nostalgic, modern… and from somewhere else, not of this world. Based on these songs, Sound Designer & Composer Árni Bergur Zoëga has crafted an eerie, mysterious soundscape that will have you looking over your shoulder for days – especially if you’re a headphones user.
A taste of the terror to come
While the team at Pieces are still working hard on putting the finishing touches on Alone in the Dark, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at the world they have constructed. Right now, you can download the playable Prologue for free and start your descent into our warped world today.
The Prologue follows eleven-year-old Grace Saunders, who eagle-eyed fans may recognize from Alone in the Dark 2 and its own playable prequel, Jack in the Dark. Tasked with delivering the letter that will bring Emily to Derceto, you’ll get a first look inside the manor and the forces preying on its residents’ sanity. Simply visit the store to download.
We still have some surprises in store between now and release – in the meantime, you can watch the Spotlight, play our Prologue, and pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition for access to bonus content. We’ll see you on October 25!
Survival Horror is a genre we take for granted, but back in 1992 a little game called Alone in the Dark really kickstarted the whole idea, giving us a taste of limited resources and investigative adventure against the odds. Now Pieces Interactive is remaking that classic in a star-studded, atmospheric take that promises to deliver the classic horror plot to modern audiences. Heading that up is Mikael Hedberg, writer and director of Amnesia and Soma, and between his answers and answers from publisher THQ Nordic at a press Q&A things are looking pretty promising as we gear up to return to the deeply haunted Louisiana Bayou around Derceto.
The big reveal is that Stranger Things actor David Harbour will be playing the role of detective Edward Carnby, a hard boiled scenery-chewing role that’s a perfect cast for Harbour and one that he seems genuinely excited to undertake. Meanwhile Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer will take over as Emily Hartwood, the woman who has hired Carnby to investigate the fate of her uncle while she pries deeper into her family secret, the mystery-shrouded “Hartwood Curse.”
Pieces looks to be keeping many key elements of the early Alone in the Dark games in their remake, especially the series’ classic melee combat: While getting stuck in with a monster was a death sentence in later Survival Horror, carving up Ghouls with a sword was always a much better choice than wasting precious bullets on them.
The original Alone in the Dark is a pretty big deal. It’s one of those things where, when looking at it, nothing seems special only because so many games since have done everything exactly like Alone in the Dark did them. That fixed camera for a 3D space? The way the mystery is investigated? All Alone in the Dark’s creations. It all showed up again later in a little game called Resident Evil, which you might have heard of. That makes it all the cooler to see where the new Alone in the Dark is drawing from design work done in the Resident Evil remakes while still staying unique to what it is. An over the shoulder camera should be a real improvement to both navigating and appreciating the locales, not to mention fighting monsters.
Being Southern myself, one of the most important bits of Alone in the Dark is the setting. The Louisiana Bayou is iconic for a reason, and the Southern Gothic is a genre far older than Survival Horror. Mikael Hedberg gave me a pretty satisfying answer to whether Alone in the Dark will explore those roots, noting that expanding the story in the remake gave Pieces space to expand on the local historic traditions and connect the story more deeply to Voudou, among other things. He also referenced the oppressive atmosphere of the 1986 movie Angel Heart, a psychological thriller that I think will set him on the right path to some good old down-home horror.
While the setting is certainly home-grown for me, I’m even more pleased to hear the musical choices that Pieces has made. Jazz is a Louisiana staple, but the Alone in the Dark directors have pulled in a modern European twist: The metal-infused ambience of Doom Jazz. Most horror games aren’t willing to risk a heavy soundtrack, but it looks like Pieces knows you can’t have noir—even horror noir—without a good saxophone. The involvement of Doom Jazz legend Jason Köhnen is a really powerful choice for the aesthetic direction of Alone in the Dark: There’s just not much like the power that these strange ambient pluckings and pressurized drum rolls can achieve.
In all, the team and motivation seem right to deliver an exciting take on a classic of horror gaming. I’m looking forward to learning more about Alone in the Dark as we get closer to release, and you can bet I’m downloading the free prologue Grace in the Dark right now.
Developer Blackbird Interactive and publisher Gearbox have announced that Homeworld 3 has been delayed to February 2024. It was originally planned to launch during the first half of 2023.
“Our primary goal is to deliver a Homeworld experience that lives up to the standards set by its predecessors and is worthy of this series’ incredible legacy,” Blackbird and Gearbox explained in a statement on Twitter.
They continued, saying, “Homeworld 3 is shaping up to be exactly that, but in order to fully realize that vision we need more time to refine and polish the game.”
We are moving the launch of Homeworld 3 from the first half of 2023 to February 2024 so that we deliver the quality experience that fans deserve. pic.twitter.com/DaCX4eFMm4
— Homeworld (@HomeworldGame) May 25, 2023
Homeworld 3 was first announced all the way back in 2019 for PC. The game was initially scheduled to release in Q4 2022 but then was delayed into 2023 in order to protect the health of the developers. The game will also feature simplified controls. Now, fans will have to wait at least another year.
In the meantime, fans can play Homeworld: The Remastered Collection, which has the first two games included. In IGN’s Homeworld: The Remastered Collection review, we said, “Gearbox gives Homeworld the respect it deserves in this impressive refitting of Relic’s classic RTS games.”
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
Both Nvidia and AMD’s latest graphics card releases, the RTX 7600 and RTX 4060 Ti, have crashed and burned – so who’s going to actually make a well-priced GPU? If you had Intel on your bingo cards, congrulations – their Arc A750 8GB graphics card is down to £230.98 on Amazon UK, marking a £20 price drop that brings this option way below the £300 RTX 3060 that it comprehensively beats.
Look, we don’t want to tell you how you should play Tears of the Kingdom. Go out, make a mess, explore the world, do whatever you want. But there are certain things in this game that if you don’t do early, you might find yourself later wishing you had chosen differently. And one of those is the order in which you tackle the Regional Phenomena quests, which lead to Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons.
Once you pass the tutorial of Tears of the Kingdom, you’ll be handed a main quest called Regional Phenomena, which sends you to complete the game’s four major dungeons in any order you like by visiting the Rito, the Zorah, the Gerudo, and the Goron cities and people. You can put these quests off as long as you want, do them in a random order, or go wherever your heart takes you, but there is a recommended order to do these in, and it’s for pretty good reason: some of the rewards are much, much better than others, and can make the rest of the game significantly easier.
Put simply: we recommend doing Regional Phenomena – To Rito Village first. It’s the one the game pushes you toward first, so if you’re feeling contrarian, consider saving that for other areas of the game and just go to Rito Village immediately. Make sure you grab some warm clothes on the way.
Spoiler Alert: Below the video, we explain exactly why Rito Village is the best way to go. Read on at your own risk!
Rito Village partners you with the new Rito champion, Tulin, who comes with a truly awesome ability. He can create wind gusts that will blow you forward quickly in a direction when you’re on your paraglider. It’s a massive gamechanger, making it much easier to get around the world, especially in the sky. Trust me – you’re going to use this ability a lot, and once you have it, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to get it.
By contrast, the other Regional Phenomena quest abilities aren’t quite as impressive. The Goron ability, used by Yunobo, is a close second: he can use it to bust through breakable rocks, meaning you don’t have to keep grinding through rocks on sticks to mine your way through caves. We recommend heading to Goron City second for this reason.
But the remaining two abilities, used by Riju and Sidon, are more combat-oriented and less useful for traversal. Riju’s power, which zaps foes with lighting from a distance, is great when fighting mobs – especially Gloom Hands. Prince Sidon’s ability is a shield that can send out a magical orb when released, but is a little more situational in its use. It’s good to have, but probably the lowest priority of the four.
Along with heading to Rito Village first, we also recommend players track down an important quality of life feature, Autobuild, before getting too far into the meat of the game. Again, trust us, you really want this. And we have a detailed guide on how to get it.
Once you have visited Rito Village, gotten Tulin’s power, and collected Autobuild, there’s tons more to do. We have it all catalogued in our full guides to Tears of the Kingdom.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Fistfighting has been around since the beginning of time, and boxing (or some form of martial pugilism) has been around basically as long.
Celebrate the ancient tradition (as well as the modern advancements in boxing) by taking fighters under your wing, coaching them, and leading them to victory (or defeat) in World Championship Boxing Manager, which you can claim right now as part of IGN Plus.
Plus members – get your key for World Championship Boxing Manager 2 here on its IGN Rewards page. Not a Plus member? Sign up now. You can also follow the devs on Twitter.
I sat down with Andrew Marsh, the Creative Director for WCBM2, to discuss the development of the game, its goals, and what players can expect when they jump into this retro (but approachable) management sim.
Boxing games have been around since very early in gaming history, and the team at MegaCat was interested in creating a boxing management game for several reasons. One major draw was to tell a wide range of stories, from stories about up-and-coming boxers, to underground club fighters and huge prize fighters, and depicting the seedy underbelly, the massive spotlight, and everything in between.
The team also found the style of the original World Championship Boxing Manager (WCBM) appealing, so the idea of creating a sequel that built off the (beloved) original was enticing to the retro-enthusiast team, who took this opportunity to iterate and improve upon the original, adding new quality-of-life improvements and even entirely new phases of the game.
Nothing was off the table for the development team, who want to bring a classic experience for older players, while making it easy for new players to jump in, particularly those who are new to management sims, new to boxing, or new to retro-style games. Playing the original game, they started by streamlining and modernizing it, then looked for new elements they could bring in to make it more fun for players.
Just like the original, players take on the role of a boxing manager who is trying to find up-and-coming boxers and make a career for them both, but unlike the original, there is more interaction when it comes to the real fights, and not solely an adventure-game focus.
In the original game, announcers would simply tell players how the boxing match was going, but in WCBM2, players will see the fights play out, watching as the fighters land hits and expend their energy. Between rounds, the player will be able to restore either their boxer’s health or endurance a bit, then tell them whether to stick with their current strategy, or switch it up. This is all unique to WCMB2, and it creates an engaging rhythm of strategizing during the week, and seeing if the training paid off when it comes time to fight on Friday night.
I enjoyed the strategic rhythm of planning training sessions for boxers, then picking tournaments to enter and managing the ‘big picture’ strategy for the boxer as they fought, round to round, and the team at MegaCat saw that puzzle-solving and strategizing as a key part of the sport.
Another addition was the Knowledge section, which has a ton of interesting information on boxing, including techniques, equipment, and other things. Beautiful, detailed art pieces depicting different styles of boxing gloves are there, and a whole lot more, which is great for someone like me, who doesn’t know much about the more intricate aspects of the sport.
The dev team also talked to classic boxers (and their estates) to get first-hand knowledge about the sport to bring a higher level of realism, and to craft their stories, which players can enjoy in WCBM2. In story modes, you can play as more than a random boxer. You can certainly do that, but you can also manage Sugar Ray Robinson, from before his career even began. Even if you aren’t into simulation games, give it a chance, and you may find something new (and old) to enjoy.
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Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on Twitter (@Ribnax), Backloggd (Ribnax) & Twitch (Ribnax) or check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Twitch & Apple Podcasts.
2023 has seen the closure of more big multiplayer games than, well, any time I can recall in recent memory. One after the other, developers’ dreams of making the next big Destiny-like have gradually collapsed in on themselves. Like a deflated concertina, their last honks of life have been crushed down to desperate, fizzling squeals as servers lie empty and the cost of maintaining them spirals out of control. Some are still hanging in there, sure, but the genre as a whole feels like it’s at a tipping point – and I couldn’t help but sigh as five more multiplayer shooters joined the fray last night as part of Sony’s PlayStation Showcase.
Shield with it.
It was back in Eiji Aonuma’s 10-minute gameplay demonstration for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that we first got a glimpse at the possibilities of shield fusing. The series producer took a Puffshroom, stuck it to Link’s shield, and faced a Construct head on, sending up a cloud of smoke around them both.
At the time, this was hardly a game-changing revelation. “Great,” we thought, “we can make some weird-looking shields and take on foes with various mushroom abilities”. Then the game came out and we discovered that shield fusing had the potential to be so much more than just some fungal fun.
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