Author: Game Infliction

PUBG: Battlegrounds’ Director Discusses the Importance of the Game’s Community

PUBG: Battlegrounds celebrated its seventh anniversary this year, and it’s still going strong. The free-to-play battle royale shooter has welcomed millions of players from around the world during those seven years, and the development team has been focused on releasing new content and updates to keep that massive community engaged.

“The key thing that I’ve learned over the past seven years is how important fans are,” said Taehyun Kim, Production Director of PUBG: Battlegrounds. “Our game has been serviced globally and it has been played in many countries and by many people around the world. So we keep looking for ways to satisfy diverse countries and diverse fans.”

Kim has been a member of the PUBG team since its initial phase of development in 2016. He worked his way up to Production Director, where he is now responsible for guiding all aspects of the game’s progress. We got a chance to sit down and chat with him in Cologne, Germany, where he and his team were on hand for gamescom.

Throughout our discussion, Kim stressed how vital he thinks it is for developers to stay in contact with their player base. He’s even been going out of his comfort zone to engage with fans publicly in new ways.

“I had a livestream with Korean users, and it was really, really challenging,” Kim said. “I’m a developer, not a professional emcee, so I was afraid. ‘Oh, what if I make a mistake in front of this many people in real time?’ But I think, of course it is difficult, but I need to keep challenging myself and I have to continue this effort.”

That effort is one of the reasons he came to Cologne. He attended PUBG: Hot Drop Cologne, an in-person event that allowed fans to meet the game’s devs, partners, and other special guests. It was one of the first times Kim has had direct contact with Western players, which is something he wants to continue to improve at.

“I’m Korean, and I’m more comfortable speaking in Korean, so I have been communicating with Korean users using livestreaming,” he said. “But that was kind of my preparation to more effectively communicate with Western and English-speaking users. Currently we are looking forward and we are looking at different ways to more effectively communicate with our users around the world. So starting with this gamescom, we are going to keep continuing this effort to communicate with our fans.”

Of course, building a community relies on more than devs connecting with players. It’s also about allowing players to form connections with each other. August was Clan Month, which added weekly clan challenges and a new rewards system. It also allowed players to join the fan clans of eight popular esports teams. It all builds to a special tournament at the end of the month, when clan members get the chance to team up with professional players.

“For the clan system, what we want to offer to our players is to create an environment where they can create a new community and they can enjoy the game together, they can complete the missions together, and get the rewards together,” Kim said. “So doing this, they can enjoy the game with more fun with their squadmates and their clan members.”

Kim and his team also know that for a community to stay active, they need updates and new content. He stressed that he and the dev team have a clear design philosophy and are very careful about what actually gets incorporated into the game.

“Through our communication events in Korea, I’ve learned that what is more important is not to do something big, but to do something consistently,” he said. “Our theme is survival, so we do not want to undermine this core gameplay.”

With a player base as huge and diverse as PUBG’s, player feedback comes from every corner of the world. Different players want different things, some of which directly contradict each other. So Kim and his team have to always keep that design philosophy in mind.

“For us, community feedback is very important, but we are getting a lot of feedback from many countries and from many types of users,” he said. “Sometimes, feedback is very different, even for just one feature. So we think what is important is we need to incorporate the feedback which is more relevant to our game and also we need to set a benchmark that the incorporation process should not undermine our core gameplay.”

As always, PUBG: Battlegrounds has plenty for players to look forward to. A zombie mode is on the way, an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5 is in the works long-term, and Kim said there are plans for plenty of other things that he can’t reveal yet. If you want to get in on the action, you can download PUBG: Battlegrounds for free on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and a mobile version is available on iOS and Android.

Diablo 2’s Runewords are Being Resurrected in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred

During their livestream today, Blizzard announced a rather unexpected feature will be returning to Diablo 4 with Vessel of Hatred: Runewords.

Found exclusively in Diablo 2 up until this point, Runewords are an upgrade system that lets you imprint your equipment with special properties by combining specific runes to form words with potent effects. Though Diablo 4’s take on this mechanic has been overhauled, the fundamentals remain the same, and will offer an entirely new way for players to power up their heroes of Sanctuary.

In an interview with IGN, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred game director Brent Gibson explained, “The biggest change is that the requirement is sockets. The D2 system is great, but it’s also not super approachable for the larger audience. We wanted to have a really great system that made it easy for you to socket, basically an ‘IF’ statement, then a ‘THEN’ result. So as long as you have two sockets in your gear, you can place two different types of stones. You have the ritual stone, which is the condition, like ‘on potion,’ and then you have the invocation stone which is the power that’s cast, like ‘earthquake.’ So every time I use a potion, cast earthquake.”

Owing to Diablo 4’s socket limitations, Runewords will rely exclusively on this IF/THEN system and will do away with the much more complicated version found in Diablo 2 where Runewords could involve up to six runes on a single piece of equipment. However, the flipside is that there will be fewer limitations on what kinds of gear can have Runewords imprinted on them and there will now be different rarities of runes to chase, including legendary runes that will have a major impact on gameplay. One example of this is a invocation rune that can add the sorcerer’s teleport ability to any character whenever it’s triggered.

“The game has got a new level of crazy that I’m super excited about.”

“Teleport, for example: Here we have the Spiritborn. You spec Jaguar and Eagle — you’re already all over the place, plus you add teleport on top of basics? Like, holy s**t! Untouchable!” said Gibson with a smile. “The game has got a new level of crazy that I’m super excited about.”

But powerful runes won’t come flowing automatically, and Blizzard made clear that players will need to farm certain activities, including the upcoming Kurast Undercity in Vessel of Hatred, if they want to make the most of Runewords. Once obtained, the runes a player has already acquired will be found in other activities thereafter.

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred will be available in a little over a month, on October 8th. IGN has already taken the new Spiritborn class for a spin and were pretty impressed by the new character.

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn: The Three-Decade Journey of a Cult Classic and its Epic Remake, Out Now on Xbox

Summary

  • Epic co-op action with plenty of replayability.
  • Updated for 2024 by the original design team.
  • Jumping onto the Xbox for the first time ever.

The nimble ninjas Hayate and Kaede are finally back in Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn!

Katana? Check. Shuriken? Check. Grappling hook? Check. Ready to tackle Emperor Garuda’s army!

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is the brand new, unexpected remake of the cult classic Shadow of the Ninja (a.k.a. The Dark Operative: Kage, a.k.a. Blue Shadow, a.k.a. Yami no Shigotonin Kage), originally released in 1990 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was later ported a few times on various Nintendo consoles, before finally hitting Xbox Series X|S with this here remake.

After having earned widespread acclaim from action loving gamers and the wider gaming industry in the 90s, particularly for its co-op gameplay, Shadow of the Ninja is back and better than ever, remade by the original development team, Tengo Project. They might be slightly grayer (I mean, it’s been three decades!), but their passion and commitment for making good ole’ thrilling hack ‘n slash action games have not changed one bit!

SNR developers

Following the success of both Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors and Pocky & Rocky Reshrined, Inin is once more partnering with NatsumeAtari and Tengo Project to dish out another serving of unbridled ninja action to modern consoles.

Set in the far future of 2029 (look, the plot is from the 90s), Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn recounts the tales of Lord Hayate and Lady Kaede, two noble ninjas of the Iga clan on a quest to depose the evil Emperor Garuda and his army of robotic soldiers. A daunting task, but not impossible for ones as skilled and armed as they are.

The Tengo Project trio have worked together on many a Natsume 90s action game. In a recent interview, soon to be available online, they give us a thrilling behind-the-scenes glimpse into the triumphs and challenges of developing Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn, their fourth 16-bit remake and take us on an unforgettable journey through the history and background of this acclaimed development team. Snippets of this interview can be seen in the soon-to-drop Inin launch trailer.

As a love letter to the original game and to platformers of yore, Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is a full-sized remake that boasts gorgeous modern pixel art and new designs from the original artists, a reworked score based on the original from star composer Iku Mizutani, and an array of additional features that will keep fans busy for more than a couple of playthroughs.

For the real retro game and music aficionados amongst you, Inin will also release a Digital Deluxe Edition, that includes the electrifying digital soundtrack by legends Iku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, who helped create that iconic Natsume sound!

Pick your favorite character, maybe grab a friend along the way, and prepare to run, jump, climb and fight Garuda’s army across five stages (plus a sixth brand new stage), complete with bosses and mini-bosses!

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is available now on Xbox Series X|S.


Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn

United Games Entertainment

☆☆☆☆☆
5
★★★★★

$19.99
Get it now

It’s 2029. A vicious dystopian future. And it’s up to two warriors of the night to save the nation!

After 33 years in the shadows, prepare to see this legendary action adventure in a new light! Looking and playing better than ever before, Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is Tengo Project’s remake of a cult classic, that the fans have been waiting for.

In this thrilling action-adventure, you will use your striking katana along with a wide variety of weaponry that has greatly expanded from the NES original, as well as the acrobatic finesse of a ninja to face the onslaught of powerful enemies. Although, the challenge does not end here! 6 complex, expansive, and masterfully designed stages test your skills through devious traps and challenging platform puzzles.
Critically acclaimed as one of the best 2-player co-ops of its time, Shadow of the Ninja—Reborn lets you play together locally as the legendary ninjas Hayate and Kaede.

In addition to the contributions of Tengo Project, this remake also features Iku Mizutani, the star composer who helped create the iconic Natsume sound and renowned tracks for various NES games. Fans of Mr. Mizutani and retro gamers across the world will find delight in his renowned guitar riffs and fast-paced retro melodies!

Our fearless heroes, Hayate and Kaede have undergone a massive visual upgrade over their original 8-bit models. And the improvements don’t stop there: From the deadly foes to the no-less deadly stages, every part of this title has been faithfully recreated in stunning high-quality sprites.

So, cloak yourself in shadows and slash your way through a treacherous concrete jungle of the future in this dark action gem Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn!

The post Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn: The Three-Decade Journey of a Cult Classic and its Epic Remake, Out Now on Xbox appeared first on Xbox Wire.

The Top 5 Improvements in the Massive Update That Introduced Hunt: Showdown 1896

The extraction first-person shooter Hunt: Showdown has been going strong for five years and has gotten dozens of patches and updates, but none as big as the one that launched recently. It’s such a significant upgrade that the game itself got a new name — Hunt: Showdown 1896.

If you’re not familiar with Hunt: Showdown, it’s a multiplayer shooter on PC and console that mixes the supernatural with dark realism. It’s a PvPvE extraction shooter that puts you in the shoes of a bounty hunter. In order to claim your bounties, you need to venture across large maps, kill supernatural creatures, and fend off your fellow hunters to survive long enough to reach the extraction point.

The game’s recent update might have changed the name, but it’s not a sequel or standalone expansion. So if you purchased the original game, you already have access to Hunt: Showdown 1896 for no additional cost. All you have to do is download the update, and you’ll get upgrades to virtually every part of the gameplay experience. Let’s get into specifically what those improvements are.

A New Engine

It all starts with the game’s move to CryEngine 5.11. That makes all the rest of the upgrades possible, raising the level of what the dev team at Crytek can accomplish across the board. In addition to improving things like performance and visual fidelity, the new engine will also allow Crytek to make future updates and react to community feedback faster. The central gameplay loop won’t significantly change, but the upgrades will give players on all platforms a more immersive experience.

Improved Console Performance

Speaking of platforms, the update moves Hunt: Showdown 1896 into the current generation of consoles. It now runs natively on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and while that means it’s no longer playable on PS4 or Xbox One, it also isn’t held back by the technological limitations of those consoles. It now runs at 60 fps and in HDR on all consoles, with faster loading times and more responsive input, providing smoother gameplay.

Better Lighting and Visuals

On all platforms, the upgraded engine has allowed devs to improve visual fidelity, including textures, lighting, and animations. With richer blacks and higher quality lighting, interior locations look more realistic and added visibility means more details to spot. Character models have also been improved, while flowing water looks more crisp and realistic. These details may seem small on their own, but they add up to create a more immersive experience.

Audio Upgrade

The game’s audio mix in general has been fine tuned to provide more clarity and sound definition. The update also adds support for new spatial audio options, such as Dolby Atmos. If you like to play with headphones, you’ll also have access to 3D audio. PC and Xbox players will benefit from Microsoft Sonic for headphones, while PS5 players will get Tempest 3D audio compatibility.

New Content

While the previous improvements refined what was already there, a new era wouldn’t be complete without brand-new content that really mixes things up. Hunt: Showdown 1896 has that in spades. Up until now, the game has exclusively taken place in the swamps of Louisiana. But the new update features a one-year time skip and a shift in setting to the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

The new map, Mammon’s Gulch, focuses on verticality, with mountains stretching aboveground and mines burrowing below. It provides unique sight lines and attack angles, adding another strategic layer to gameplay. And if you’re a longtime player and fan of older maps, don’t worry, they’ll be returning in the coming months after getting revamps of their own.

Mammon Gulch isn’t the only addition. There’s also a new wild target called the Hellborn, as well as an event called Scorched Earth that sees new terrors spill out of fiery oil wells and underground mines.

The latest update is full of improvements and new content, but it’s just the start of a new era. Crytek will continue to update and fine tune the experience, as they have been for the past five years. Whether you’re a veteran or a newcomer, there’s never been a better time to dive in. Hunt: Showdown 1896 is available for download now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Happy hunting!

Control and Alan Wake TV and Movies on the Way Thanks to New Annapurna and Remedy Partnership

It’s a good day for fans of the Alan Wake and Control universes. Remedy Entertainment announced today it’s partnering with Annapurna Interactive to work on film, TV, and “other audiovisual formats” based on these franchises…as well as help fund the upcoming Control 2.

In a press release, Remedy and Annapurna revealed that Annapurna would serve as a co-production and co-financing partner on Control 2. Remedy will remain focused on developing that and other games, while Annapurna takes the lead on multimedia adaptations.

“This deal with Remedy isn’t just about adapting great games—-it’s about breaking new ground in how companies can collaborate,” said Hector Sanchez, former head of Unreal Engine games business at Epic and recently-named president of interactive and new media at Annapurna.

“By backing Remedy’s move toward self-publishing, we’re putting our faith in their vision. We know from experience that Remedy is a first-class games development partner, and we’re excited to share their work with an even wider audience by bringing the Control and Alan Wake universes to film, television and beyond.”

We gave Alan Wake 2 a 9/10 when it came out last year, calling it a “superb survival horror sequel that makes the cult-classic original seem like little more than a rough first draft by comparison.” Remedy recently released Alan Wake 2’s first DLC, Night Springs, with a second DLC planned for October. Meanwhile, Control 2 was recently announced to be in a “production readiness stage” at Remedy, while Max Payne 1 & 2 remake has entered full production. Control 2 is still expected to be several years away.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Bo: Path Of The Teal Lotus Lands Bug-Squishing Update On Switch, Here Are The Patch Notes

Lotus have a look.

We had a great time with Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus when it landed on Switch last month and now developer Squid Shock Studios has released the first console update to make things that bit smoother.

The main focus seems to be on pesky bugs and glitches this time around, with the studio reporting that all console versions are now in sync with what you’ll find on PC. Changes include making the map easier to read, more accurate attack animations, text tweaks and more.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Gori: Cuddly Carnage Kick Flips Onto Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Today

Hi there! I am John Kalderon of Angry Demon Studioand we are purr-sitively thrilled to announce that Gori: Cuddly Carnage, our action-packed hack ‘n’ slash adventure, is out now!

Set in a neon-drenched futuristic world where it’s up to Gori and F.R.A.N.K, his comical and deadly sentient hoverboard, with their deadpan A.I companion, CH1-P, to execute lethal combos to slay the evil Adorable Army.

To help you land those devastating combos, here are our top tips and tricks to help you throughout your epic battle to prevent the Adorable Army from conquering the galaxy!

Don’t Stop Moving

In Gori: Cuddly Carnage you will want to make sure you’re always on the move, putting your platforming skills to the limit as you rampage through twisted landscapes filled with dangerous foes! Power slide, grind, evade and make use of your boost – it’s the best way to dodge any and all oncoming attacks.

Gori Cuddly Carnage screenshot

Power Up F.R.A.N.K

As mentioned, F.R.A.N.K is a sentient hoverboard, who is both your means of transport and the ultimate weapon! Keep an eye on F.R.A.N.K’s energy to unleash powerful and devastating attacks. Be sure to utilize any rails or billboards you come across to power him up!

Gori Cuddly Carnage gleaming

Get the Ultimate Combo

Keep your combo going to hit PPP rank (Pawsitively Purrfect Points!) by switching between a range of different attacks, and grinding on billboards or grind rails. Cause maximum carnage and don’t get hit to secure the best combo score!

Gori Cuddly Carnage screenshot

Plan Your Attack

Saving the entire galaxy from the formidable and bloodthirsty Adorable Army is no easy feat, so when faced with a horde of enemies be sure to take out those ranged attacks first – after all, Gori is allergic to bullets!

Gori Cuddly Carnage grid

Slay In Style

Using your extreme hoverboard parkour skills, make sure to explore every single corner of each level to find collectables to unlock radical new filters, outfits and “fur” styles for Gori!

Gori Cuddly Carnage character styles

Meow

And finally, don’t forget to press the ‘Meow’ button (for good vibes).

Gori Cuddly Carnage screenshot

We are so proud to be releasing Gori: Cuddly Carnage, we hope that you have a great time skating and slashing through the twisted landscapes and meeting a host of unexpected allies in a script packed with heart and adult humor as razor-sharp as F.R.A.N.K’s blades!


Gori: Cuddly Carnage
Xbox Play Anywhere

Gori: Cuddly Carnage

Wired Productions Ltd

☆☆☆☆☆
15
★★★★★

$21.99
Get it now

Humanity has been destroyed – and it’s up to Gori, along with his deadly but wise-cracking sentient hoverboard, F.R.A.N.K, and morose A.I companion, CH1-P, to slay the evil Adorable Army with lethal combos.

Fuelled by insatiable demand, ‘Cool-Toyz Inc.’ created ‘Ultra Pets’. The ultimate companions that never hunger, never require bathroom breaks and are impervious to the ravages of time. Little did anyone expect the mutation that transformed these perfect pets into twisted toys straight from your nightmares, hell-bent on wiping out humanity.

Master explosive weaponry and devastating combos in an epic battle to prevent the Adorable Army from conquering the galaxy, and rescue Professor Y, their missing creator and only human who showed Gori and his friends love. Push your combat and platforming skills to the limits as you fight your way through twisted landscapes filled with environmental hazards, razor-sharp adult humour and a bone-crunching, pulse-pounding soundtrack.

These reluctant heroes must track down and obliterate the generals of the Adorable Army, and with the help of a wild cast of unlikely allies – discover the truth about Cool-Toyz Inc. and unravel the secrets of this thrilling, action-packed hack ‘n’ slash adventure. Get ready to unleash the cuddly carnage!

PLAY AS A BADASS CAT – One of the last prototype synthetic pets, smuggled out of Cool-Toyz Inc before destruction, Gori is cute, cuddly, yet extremely deadly.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE… – Save the galaxy with a team of the unlikeliest heroes, from F.R.A.N.K and CH1-P to a host of unexpected allies, with a script packed with heart and adult humour that’s as razor-sharp as F.R.A.N.K’s blades!

SLAY WITH STYLE – Battle the blood-thirsty hordes of the Adorable Army in fast-paced combat where your hoverboard is your weapon! Power slide, grind and spin to cause MAXIMUM carnage and high combo scores.

LEVEL UP – From neon-drenched city streets and toy factories awash with deadly toxins, to twisted carnivals and the insides of arcade machines – each level is filled with lethal environmental hazards and mutated toys to push your combat and platforming skills to their limits.

LOCK AND LOAD – This cat has claws… and a devastating arsenal of explosives, razor-sharp weaponry and unlockable moves to lay waste to the Adorable Army in the most brutal and stylish way possible.

HUNT FOR SECRETS – Use your extreme hoverboard parkour skills to explore every corner of the level for collectables that unlock radical new filters, outfits and fur-styles for Gori!

PACKED WITH GORE – Paint the town red with F.R.A.N.K’s blades as you slice and dice with gratuitous amounts of dismemberment – body horror and the most twisted toy designs you’ve ever seen!

EXPLOSIVE AND SOUNDTRACK – Skate and slay out to an original bone-crunching soundtrack bursting with energy across multiple genres.

The post Gori: Cuddly Carnage Kick Flips Onto Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Today appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6  — hands-on report

Activision recently declassified a trove of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 intel, including hands-on with Multiplayer, round-based Zombies, and Warzone. I blasted across six new Multiplayer maps, the undead-infested Liberty Falls, and a Nuketown-inspired Resurgence map. Each Black Ops 6 mode also touts Treyarch’s new Omnimovement mechanic, adding slick fluidity to the series’ signature gunplay.

Black Ops 6 launches on PS5 and PS4 on October 25, but if you want a head start on the action check out full details on the upcoming Beta starting August 30.

Now let’s dig into the hands-on details.

Multiplayer

Omnimovement – Black Ops 6’s new marque mechanic is crackling with potential. You can now sprint and hold the Circle button to dive in any direction while maintaining 360-degree aiming control. By the time I wrapped my mind around the possibilities, and was diving down staircases and doing mid-air 180s to take out pursuers. Another favorite technique is to dive into an enemy-occupied room and gun them down before they can react. Better yet, Omnimovement is globally featured across MP, Zombies, and Warzone.

Global weapon loadouts and progression – Two huge quality-of-life improvements for Black Ops 6 make managing your arsenal smoother. Global weapon progression means you’ll have access to all the weapons and attachments you earn across Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone. Additionally, any loadout or Gunsmith edits you make in one mode will be mirrored globally to the other modes.

Kill Order mode – This new mode has both teams protecting their own High-Value Target while hunting down the enemy’s HVT. Treyarch has found a slick balance between chaotic TDM-style action and a light layer of strategic, objective-based play. It’s definitely entering my regular rotation.

Body shields – Got the drop on an enemy? A new body shield mechanic lets players grab an unaware enemy for some extra protection. For a diabolical touch, Treyarch has activated proximity chat across teams to exchange words. Mind your sportsmanlike conduct! 
Best Play – Celebrate your team’s game-winning display or examine your downfall with the return of Best Play cams, which mark the end of the match with a third-person camera flourish.

Shoot doors to open them – A nice hands-free touch.

Treyarch’s MP design philosophy – Black Ops 6 marks a return to the studio’s MP bread and butter: small, fast, three-lane maps. The move away from large, expansive maps means you’ll always be around the corner from some combat. Prepare for 16 all-new maps at launch.

New Multiplayer Maps – I fought across six of the upcoming Core 6v6 maps during the hands-on event. 

  • Scud – A massive, downed radar dish acts as a map reference point. Deep winding trenches, underground passages, and explosive red barrels are scattered around the map for plenty of unpredictable action.
  • Rewind – Firefight through a U.S. city street, with the map’s namesake being a ‘90s-era video rental store within a strip mall. Close-quarters combat breaks out amidst piles of VHS tapes, with a fast-food restaurant across the road for more intense encounters.
  • Skyline – A ritzy condo atop a city skyscraper. A narrow upper-floor hallway became a central point of conflict, where plenty of ranged firefights broke out, complete with a swimming pool below to dive down into when things get heated. Watch out for the perilous elevator shafts at the map’s bottom.
  • Babylon – These crumbling, sandy ruins are a paradise for anyone craving intimate battles in tight spaces. Pack an SMG or shotgun to help clear corners.
  • Derelict – Abandoned train cars fill a shattered trainyard, creating jagged pathways through the map with unique lines of sight that will keep your head on a swivel.

Round-based Zombies

Round-based returns – Treyarch resurrects to the roots of Zombies mode with players surviving waves of progressively stronger monstrosities, demanding steady progress through the map and powering up weapons to survive. The two launch maps include the claustrophobic Terminus and colorful new Liberty Falls…

Liberty Falls map – This launch map is a slice of necrotic Americana. Blast through waves of undead while exploring the small town’s vehicle-cluttered streets, the lanes of a bowling alley, motel, comic book shop, otherworldly church, and more locations. Ziplines connect the rooftop destinations of the town, creating a layer of twisty-turny paths to learn.

Shared Door Buys – Players can now pool funds to open doors and progress through Zombies maps, which means more money for powering up your gear.

Exfil or die – Risk and reward reign in round-based Zombies. Exfil offers an opportunity to end your run on a high note, or you can go down fighting in new dramatic game over outros that change dynamically depending on where and how you die. I botched my exfil, failing to clear out the zombies swarming the landing zone in time. My resulting game over involved an armored zombie grabbing onto my escaping chopper and punching it to smithereens.

Melee Macchiato Perk – This new drink powers up your punch to send zombies flying across the map with a click of R3.

Wonder Weapons – Demolish the dead with the Ray Gun, Beamsmasher, and devastating Thrustodyne Model 23. The latter is a massive, repurposed jet engine that vacuums up zombie packs and shreds them to ribbons.

Directed Mode – Need a guide through the zombie hordes? Treyarch is releasing a new Directed Mode post-launch with Season 1, which will assist players in the Main Quest up through wave 15.

Warzone

Area 99 – The launch of Black Ops 6 is accompanied by a new Resurgence map. Area 99 is the birthplace of the iconic Black Ops map, Nuketown. An abandoned facility with a decrepit retro ‘60s vibe makes for a fresh Warzone addition.

New Points of Interest – Area 99 packs 10 tantalizing spots to land. Here are a few I fought through:

  • Pod Dormitory – These retro-futuristic multicolored dorms are made of offshoot pod-like capsule apartments. A great spot to land and possibly snag some loot, privacy, and a vantage point.
  • House Factory – A destination filled with half-constructed prefabricated houses, resulting in some interesting and unexpected sightlines. This point of interest even includes a tiny replica of the iconic Nuketown map. Cute!
  • Nuclear Reactor – Take it from me – do not jump into the glowing green irradiated coolant. 
  • Mannequin Assembly – Piles of damaged mannequins are scattered all around this facility, presumably destined for a weapons testing site somewhere.. Watch out for the hydraulic press above the conveyor belt, which is still active…
  • Other Points of Interest – Look forward to also looting Nuketown Shipping, Test Site, Bunker, Loading Bay, Cooling Towers, and Warehouse.

The weapon inspect animations are undeniably cool.

Treyarch and the rest of the COD devs have something special in store here for Black Ops fans especially, and Omnimovement is a gameplay innovation that makes the storied franchise player extra fresh once again.

But don’t just take my word for it. If you pre-ordered Black Ops 6, you’ll be able to dive into the early access beta starting tomorrow, August 30. The full game launches on October 25.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Will Seemingly Usurp Baldur’s Gate 3 as the Game With the Longest Script

Baldur’s Gate 3 currently holds the world record for the video game with the longest script, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will seemingly take that award for itself when it launches in 2025.

Dan Vávra, co founder and creative director at Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios, said on X/Twitter that the game script currently totals 2.2 million words. Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios said on Steam its game totalled “roughly 2,000,000 words” at launch, meaning Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 could be the new champ.

“Yesterday, we were counting with our lead designer Prokop Jirsa how much we actually wrote for KCD2,” Vávra said. “So guess how big the script is? 2,200,000 words! Or 11,000 typical screenwriting pages. That’s a 100 scripts for a typical two-hour movie, or about 25 average novels.”

Some further context sees Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 come in at almost four times the length of famously long novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, which sits at 587,287 words long, and all the A Song of Ice and Fire books combined, which total 1,736,054 words from A Game of Thrones to A Dance With Dragons.

All those words seemingly come at a cost, however, as Warhorse recently announced Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has been delayed from 2024 to February 11, 2025.

In IGN’s 8/10 review of the original, we said: “Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an RPG that does the medieval era right with a refreshingly small-scale story and strong realistic combat.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Has a New Feature Fans Are Saying Will Get People Banned or Make Them Go Viral — or Both

Amid the cacophony caused by Call of Duty Next, one new Black Ops 6 feature flew under the radar — but it could end up as the most impactful of all.

Black Ops 6, out October 25, 2024, has a new Body Shield feature in multiplayer that lets you grab an enemy and hold them in front of you to soak up bullets, while firing off a few rounds of your own.

We’ve seen a body shield feature in plenty of shooters over the years, but what developer Treyarch has done here is enabled voice chat between the attacker and the victim.

“Be nice…” the studio tweeted, perhaps in hope more than expectation.

As you’d expect from the notoriously toxic Call of Duty community, reaction is a mix of disbelief and excitement. Disbelief in that some can’t believe Treyarch actually added voice chat to the feature knowing full well the toxicity it will probably enable, excitement in that some are delighted Treyarch actually added voice chat to the feature knowing full well the toxicity it will probably enable.

And already there are fears that what’s said during Body Shield might end up getting you banned, if Activision’s AI-powered voice chat moderation picks up something it deems in breach of its rules. “What could go wrong?” wondered redditor Evisra over on the Black Ops 6 subreddit. A lot, most fans seem to predict.

Call of Duty sort of has this feature already in Warzone. In that game, The battle royale spin-off enables voice chat for deaths, so players can hear their opponent scream into the mic when they’re killed. This Body Shield feature for Black Ops 6, however, feels altogether more intimate.

Anyone who’s played Call of Duty multiplayer recently will know that there tends not to be much voice chat going on. Most play with their mic off, or are in a party chat with their friends. With this feature, Black Ops 6 might change that.

Check out everything announced at Call of Duty Next to find out what else is coming from the world of Call of Duty, including information about the return of Verdansk to Warzone. We also reported on the world first Black Ops 6 nuke, which one player managed to get before the beta even launched.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.