Author: Game Infliction

After Us hands-on details—A free-flowing, tear-jerking platformer

When humanity meets its end what will be left of Earth? This is the question Piccolo Studio’s platforming adventure title, After Us, looks to answer. As Gaia, the Spirit of Life, you are tasked with sprinting, jumping, airdashing, and rail-grinding your way across the surreal and barren planet while freeing the souls of extinct animals. Along the way you’ll encounter the monstrous Devourers, countless tear-jerking moments, and a lot of somber, yet beautiful, scenery.

In our hands-on time with the game we were met with all this on top of a wonderfully unique and expressive gameplay core that proved After Us is a great addition to the pantheon of platformers.

A unique powerkit

Bring life back into the world: Gaia is the Spirit of Life, bestowed with the ability to bring beauty back into a world consumed by a dark void. Pressing L2 fires a boomerang-like orb of light, used to retrieve lost souls, attack enemies, and even make simple wires into green grindable rails. Holding L2 down instead charges her with light and upon release unleashes a blast of bright energy that replaces untraversable goop-covered land with safe grass and fauna to traverse.

Battle the dark with life: Not only is Gaia’s power used to return greenery into the world and unlock secrets, but it can be used to defeat dark hordes of enemies as well. The Devourers, oil-covered monstrosities that trap souls, wait beyond many corners. To free the trapped souls Gaia must use her boomerang-like spirit ball to fight back while using her superb movement options to avoid their attacks.

Platforming in a post-human world

Free, expressive platforming: Gaia can jump to various heights, double jump, dash through the air, float, wall run, and rail grind through the world. Putting all these together allows players to freely express themselves no matter the challenge encountered. Those that master these movement options never have to stop moving on the journey to free the animal spirits.

An open-world platformer journey: You don’t have to stick to one path when soul-searching in After Us. The world is crafted masterfully and encourages completing tasks in whichever way you want. Want to use your airdash to reach a floating car to skip over a dangerous street? Or maybe you saw a far-off island you’d rather detour towards? The direction you take exploring this platforming wasteland is up to you.

Challenges aplenty: Around every corner is a new trial to tackle and it’s up to you to triumph over each of them. This includes puzzle-platform challenges where you must put your platforming skills to the test in tandem with Gaia’s special life-force powers. 

Many require combining Gaia’s movement and attack options – such as jumping over a large gap while perfectly timing an energy burst to create a plant-covered path. Other challenges push players to react to their environment to create rail grinding and wall run opportunities. Just be ready for incoming plastic bags that seek to stop your momentum and impede on your progress.

An emotional journey

You can pet the dog, cat, raccoon, horse, and more: After Us is a game with a message that we are responsible for the innocent animals of the planet. Not only is Gaia’s job to free the trapped spirits of the extinct critters of the planet, but she can comfort them with a pet using the DualSense controller’s touchpad once they’re saved.

There will be tears: After Us presents players with a unique vision of a post-human Earth. You’ll find statues of humans that once were, presenting a visual of their last moments. This feature is shared by some animals, some that passed away due to simple loneliness and sadness. Freeing these souls not only gives a bittersweet ending to a sad tale, but it also gives you a vision of their memories before the end of the world. Yet another turn on the emotional rollercoaster.

A beautifully empty world: While thematically somber, the surreal world of After Us is filled with beautiful visuals that will have you taking a breather to enjoy. From floating roads to Babylon-like post-apocalyptic cities and crumbling buildings that signify a civilization that once was, the world around Gaia and her mission makes venturing this sad world a joy.

The journey to save the last spirits on Earth starts when After Us releases May 23, 2023 for PS5.

Microsoft put a time and date on their 2023 not-E3 Xbox Games Showcase

Microsoft had already announced their annual not-E3 Xbox Games Showcase, but now we know when exactly to tune in: June 11th at 10am PT/6pm BST/7pm CEST. Microsoft are promising “new surprises and first-looks” from both Xbox-owned studios and third-party teams, but I’m sure most people will be tuning in for the (also previously announced) Starfield Direct, which is airing immediately after the Xbox show.

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Is Getting a Prequel Comic

Upcoming PS5 game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is getting a prequel in the form of a comic, which will be available as part of Free Comic Book Day on May 6.

Insomniac Games announced the comic in a PlayStation Blog post today, with narrative director Jon Paquette sharing details of the story’s plot. The story is said to give fans an idea of what Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Mary Jane (MJ) have been doing since the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

“When we initially sat down with the team at Marvel, we explored a few different ideas about what kinds of stories we could tell in a prequel comic,” Paquette said. “But we kept coming back to the same core premise—What if Peter, Miles, and MJ had to team up against a new Super Villain whose powers they didn’t understand? Additionally, we wanted to make sure that we could get a peek into what this heroic trio has been doing since the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. What is Pete up to now that there are two Spider-Men in the city? How is Miles doing in school? And how is MJ’s journalism career going?”

The result is a story in which Peter, Miles, and MJ balance their responsibilities to New York City and each other while coming face to face with The Hood, a supervillain who possesses supernatural abilities that rival those of both Spider-Men. The comic is written by Christos Gage, who wrote the story for Marvel’s Spider-Man, and drawn by Ig Guara.

Starting on May 6, fans in the US can get the Spider-Man 2 prequel comic at any comic book store participating in Free Comic Book Day or download the comic digitally from the Marvel Unlimited App or Marvel.com. International fans will get the comic at a later date.

Insomniac also announced that Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered will receive a standalone release on the PS5, which will become available on the PlayStation Store later this month. If you own a physical or digital copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, you’ll be able to upgrade to the remastered version on PS5 for $10. Otherwise, you can get it for $50.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 releases on PS5 Fall 2023. Tony Todd, the voice actor for Venom in the game, has suggested it may drop in September.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.

RPS premium supporters get access to Park Beyond’s closed beta this week!

Any premium supporters who’re missing out on a good theme park sim may have cause to rejoice this week, as the good folks at Bandai Namco have given us a blast of codes to give away for fantastical theme park ’em up Park Beyond‘s upcoming closed beta test, starting this Friday, May 5th. Park Beyond is not just a complex theme park management sim, or a physics-ish coaster builder (although it is both of those), it’s also an anti-physics weird-ride expando-game, allowing you to unlock increasingly unrealistic upgrades for rides in a process the developers Limbic Entertainment call “impossification”. Deets on how to get your code for the closed beta below.

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Immortals of Aveum Is Out in July – Here Are the Preorder Bonuses

If you’re looking for a new first-person shooter to get your hands on this summer, Immortals of Aveum is here with a spin on the genre that replaces a trigger with magic at your fingertips. The new game from Ascendant Studios is out on July 20 of this year and is currently up for preorder. We’ve gathered all of the important details on it for you to know ahead of its release below – from where you can preorder the game to bonuses included with a preorder.

Preorder Immortals of Aveum

PS5

Xbox Series X|S

PC

Preordering the game comes with the game itself alongside a preorder bonus, which you can learn more about below.

Immortals of Aveum Preorder Bonus

When you preorder Immortals of Aveum, you’ll also receive the Purified Arclight Sigil. This is a weapon that boosts Shred on the main character, Jak’s, blue Strike spells along with increasing damage for his Shatter Fury spell. It’ll surely make for a fun addition to your combat arsenal when you dive into the game.

Immortals of Aveum Trailer

What is Immortals of Aveum?

Immortals of Aveum is a single-player first-person shooter that trades guns for magical spells to cast. You play as a character named Jak – a mage with the rare ability to control all three colors of magic, otherwise known as a Triarch – who joins up with an elite order of battlemages to stop the Everwar and save the realms.

Our preview of the game explains that the, “combat shares many ideas with the military shooters we know and love,” with the ability to “cast spells that act as long-range rifles, shotguns, grenades, and the like.” We came away with the impression that Immortals of Aveum “looks like a new FPS to keep an eye on.”

Other Preorder Guides

To see more preorder guides, from Armored Core VI to Final Fantasy XVI, click on one of the links below.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Bohemia’s new RTS FPS hybrid struggles to marry its two genres, but you do get to be a rad crab

RTS-FPS hybrids aren’t a new thing, but they also haven’t been the most historically successful ventures. Well, Arma 3 developers Bohemia Interactive are taking a punt at blending the two genres with Silica, in the hopes that you can both shoot and command things with equal levels of good. It’s the first project to hatch from Bohemia’s incubator program, which helps indie devs make cool games.

Silica is largely the work of one developer, Martin “Dram” Malicharek, who was previously the lead on Bohemia’s Take On Mars. Having given Silica a whirl for over an hour, I struggle to see whether the RTS, FPS hybrid can truly offer the best of both worlds. It does, however, make being a crab extremely good.

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PS1-Inspired Horror ‘The Tartarus Key’ Invites You To Escape A Mysterious Mansion

Hmm, puzzling.

Publisher Armor Games Studios has revealed a PS1-inspired horror game that ditches traditional survival horror combat systems for a more streamlined focus on puzzle-solving.

The Tartarus Key is developed by Vertical Reach and will launch for the Nintendo Switch on May 31st, 2023. It stars protagonist Alex who finds herself waking up in a mysterious mansion with cameras following her every move. It’s up to you to escape by solving a number of deadly puzzles and riddles as you explore the dark, creepy corridors of the mansion.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Double Dragon Gaiden: How Roguelite Elements Add to the Beat ‘Em Up Classic

Summary

  • Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is coming this summer to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
  • The game touts the core classic beat ‘em up gameplay that has become iconized in the gaming community’s collective memory.
  • Featuring fresh roguelite aspects new to the Double Dragon franchise; check out the announcement trailer above.

The iconic Double Dragon brothers return for some tag team, beat ‘em up action with a roguelite spin! The year is 199x in an alternate New York City. The city has been ravaged by nuclear destruction, leaving chaos and crime to take hold of the city. Unable to sit still and allow this havoc to be wreaked further, Billy and Jimmy Lee (with the help of some new and familiar faces, and you – of course) take it upon themselves to free their city from its four major criminal gangs.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons Asset

Dynamic Level Select

Once you’ve decided to take on the four major gangs, it’s up to you to decide in which order you’d like to take them on. Each gang takedown is a mission and the order itself in which you choose the missions will shape how you experience the levels. The first level will be the simplest in terms of the number of mission sectors, enemies, and overall difficulty. When a gang is defeated, all remaining gangs levels up, increasing the size of their hideout and recruiting stronger and tougher minions. This allows you to experience different sectors of the missions through multiple playthroughs.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons Asset

Purchasable Upgrades

Throughout the course of the game, you will have the ability to earn in-game cash. There are a couple of different ways to earn cash, including performing special KOs, completing bonus objectives, maintaining combo and special KO chains, and more.

This cash can be spent on randomized purchasable upgrades for your individual tag team fighters. For example, you can strengthen your duo by upgrading to increase the damage of melee attacks for one fighter and then upgrade the speed in which SP is auto regenerated for the other. Conversely, you can save up your cash to purchase revives or convert your remaining cash into tokens at the end of a playthrough.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons Asset

Token Shop

Tokens are in-game currency that allows you to buy additional unlockable items. They’re earned through exchanging your remaining cash at the end of a playthrough. Once you’ve raked in enough tokens to spend, head on over to the Token Shop where you can spend your hard-earned chips.

Purchase items such as unlockable playable characters (keep an eye out for some familiar faces), tips to help improve your gameplay from the developer themselves, art from the game (including the city map and character concept sketches), and music.

Game Modifier

Having trouble building up your token stash? It might be time to modify your gameplay experience then. When you start a new game, you’ll be given the option to tweak the game’s difficulty (including the ability to play in permadeath for an extra challenge or infinite continue). The harder you make a playthrough’s difficulty, the lower your cash to token exchange rate is, allowing you the possibility to earn more tokens at the end.

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is coming this summer to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. For more information on Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, visit DoubleDragonGaiden.com or follow @modusgames on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord.

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New Xbox Games Showcase Announced for June With Dedicated Starfield Direct

Microsoft has announced that a new Xbox Games Showcase will be livestreamed this June, and will once again include reveals of upcoming Xbox games from both first and third-party studios. In addition there will also be a Starfield Direct; a whole show dedicated to a deep-dive on Bethesda’s upcoming space-faring RPG.

As detailed on the Xbox Wire blog, the Xbox Games Showcase will be livestreamed on Sunday, June 11 at 10am PT (6pm UK, 5am AEST). No specific developers or games have been teased, but naturally whatever is shown will be our first look at what’s coming to Xbox, PC, and Game Pass in the future.

Starfield Direct, which will be aired immediately following the Xbox Games Showcase, will feature “tons of new gameplay, developer interviews, and behind-the-scenes insider information.”

Just a couple of days later, on June 13 at 10am PT, Microsoft will also be live streaming Xbox Games Showcase Extended. Much like last year, this will be a follow-up show that provides more context and interviews based on the reveals dropped during the main Xbox Games Showcase.

This summer Xbox Games Showcase is part of the games industry’s tradition of making announcements in the month of June. Historically that was always done as part of or adjacent to E3, the mammoth games event taking place in Los Angeles. But with E3 2023 now canceled, it will be up to individual companies to make their own announcements either independently or via new events like Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest or IGN’s own Summer of Gaming.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.