Author: Game Infliction

With the recent news that the Xbox 360 Store is shutting down, Jesse is joined by Emma and Mat to talk about their favorite memories of the 7th gen console. If you haven’t played The Saboteur, you should listen so you can find out why it’s an essential game to check out.

Have any meaningful Xbox 360 memories? Had any good snacks recently? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.
IGN UK Podcast 710: Goodbye Xbox 360

• IGN UK Podcast 709: More Baldur’s Gate 3 Because Why Not
• IGN UK Podcast 708: Baldur’s Great
• IGN UK Podcast 707: Barbie is Sublime
• IGN UK Podcast 706: Oppenheimer and Every Christopher Nolan Movie Ranked
• IGN UK Podcast 705: Blockbuster Season

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has new Open Combat Missions that Activision says offer players greater freedom than any Call of Duty has before. But exactly how do they work?

In an interview with Xbox, David Swenson, campaign creative director at lead developer Sledgehammer Games, said these Open Combat Missions, or OCMs, add an “incredible” level of choice to the player.

OCMs offer the player a raft of choices for mission completion. You can, for example, go for a stealthy approach and use night-vision goggles and suppressed weapons to complete the mission without alerting enemies to your presence. If you want to go all guns blazing, you can use extra armour plates and wade in.

It’s worth pointing out you won’t be given an OCM that’s a dedicated stealth op, with silenced weapons to choose from. Rather, if you want to take the mission on stealthily, you can do that by only using a knife and playing the OCM as a stealth mission. Conversely, for an all-guns blazing approach, you can use one of the vehicles available in the mission for an assault. According to Swenson, OCMs can be challenging and “often” lead to multiple attempts to work out a satisfying tactic.

Some of the OCMs contain what are called Armaments, Modern Warfare 3’s campaign name for Call of Duty’s famous killstreaks. If you search your surroundings and find an Armament, you’ll get a tactical item, for example calling in air support. We’re not sure if this means Call of Duty’s classic UAV or AC-130 Gunship, but we do know Armaments are in the single-player campaign.

Helpfully, you don’t need to actually kill any enemies to earn an Armament in an OCM, which means stealthy players can carry on being stealthy and still get one.

“If you want to sneak through the entire level, you can,” Swenson said. “There are also vehicles, cleverly hidden loot boxes, and weapon crates on these Open Combat Missions, some of which contain killstreaks which we are calling Armaments since you don’t need to streak any kills to earn them.”

The Call of Duty games are known for their cinematic, linear missions, and Modern Warfare 3 has these, with OCMs designed to “complement” the traditional campaign experience. It remains to be seen if these OCMs offer a truly sandbox experience, but it sounds like Modern Warfare 3 may get as close as any Call of Duty has so far.

Elsewhere, Modern Warfare 3 includes a Zombies mode set in an “all-new open world” in which players can team up to fight the Zombie hordes in the “largest Call of Duty zombies maps ever”. This is the first Modern Warfare game to include a Zombies mode.

On the multiplayer side, Modern Warfare 3 includes all 16 launch maps from the original Modern Warfare 2, and will see 12 new 6v6 maps come out post-launch. Activision will host an open beta across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with dates still to be announced (PlayStation owners get first access). Those who pre-order gain access to the campaign up to a week before release.

Modern Warfare 3 launches on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S on November 10.

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.

Starfield preload kicked off this week, which means players have already downloaded Bethesda’s hotly-anticipated sci-fi role-playing game. It also means the burgeoning Starfield community is bracing itself for leaks.

At the time of publication, Starfield leaks are limited, but some story spoilers are floating about online, as well as a datamined list of space magic powers (we see the main character using a magic power in Bethesda’s Starfield Direct video, below), and the Starfield main menu screen. Titles for the 79-track OST, if you consider track titles as a spoiler, are also online. Perhaps more spoilerific is the list of Starfield achievements, which are now online.

Bizarrely, the official Twitter account for fellow space game Everspace 2 issued its own Starfield spoiler warning to players, shining a light on a “bad actor” who is accused of mentioning Everspace to spoil a Starfield plot point.

Hey all. There’s a bad actor mentioning EVERSPACE who is using multiple accounts to spoil a Starfield plot point.

For folks wanting to avoid that we recommend muting the phrase “you battle Aliens who are”.

— EVERSPACE 2 (@everspace_game) August 17, 2023

Starfield’s highly anticipated launch is just around the corner, and reviews will be flying in hot on August 31. You can play Starfield early if you choose your preorder wisely. In case you didn’t catch the announcement during the Xbox Summer Showcase, those who opt for the Premium Edition of Starfield can play from September 1, with the official release date set for September 6.

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.

The Frog Detective series is coming to consoles as a single game called Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, developer Worm Club has announced.

Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery contains all three Frog Detective games, and is due out later in 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S, including Game Pass. The Entire Mystery also includes an exclusive new scooter minigame.

This new release marks the first time Frog Detective will be localised into multiple languages. The game will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Frog Detective is a first-person mystery series that enjoys a cult following of over half a million players. “I have spent countless hours learning many languages just to translate every word meticulously myself,” said Grace Bruxner from Worm Club. “Unfortunately I am not very good at learning languages so we had to hire help, but I feel like it’s only polite that everyone buys the console versions so that my time was not wasted. Now I know how to count to three in Portuguese. Actually, I don’t. Thank you for playing, everybody.”

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.

Starfield’s highly anticipated launch is just around the corner, poised for release in the upcoming weeks, and reviews will be flying in hot on August 31. Fans can’t wait to get their hands on the game, and the good news is: you can play Starfield early if you choose your preorder wisely. In case you didn’t catch the announcement during the Xbox Summer Showcase, those who opt for the Premium Edition of Starfield will enjoy the privilege of playing the game ahead of the official release by a remarkable five to six days.

How to Play Starfield Five Days Early

Preorders are now available for Starfield, and for those eager to dive into the game ahead of time by five to six days, the Starfield Premium Edition is the ideal choice. This edition not only grants you early access but also comes bundled with the Shattered Space Story Expansion (upon release).

Additionally, it features the Constellation Skin Pack, which includes the Equinox Laser Rifle, Spacesuit, Helmet, and Boost Pack, alongside access to the Starfield Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack, immersing you even further into the captivating world of Starfield.

This edition is also down to just $89.99 at Newegg right now with code SAVEXDPP – for more deal updates closer to release, ensure you’re following @IGNDeals on Twitter and join our IGN Deals Discord server here as well.

Xbox Series X|S

• Get it at Newegg – $89.99 with promo code SAVEXDPP
• Get it at Xbox Store – $99.99 / £99.99

PC

• Get it at Newegg (Steam code) – $89.99 with promo code SAVEXDPP
• Get it at GMG – $99.99 / £99.99
• Get it at Steam – $99.99 / £99.99

When Does Starfield Early Access Start?

Starfield early access starts at 5 PM PT, 7 PM CT, and 8 PM ET on August 31 for those in the US. For the UK, it’s 1 AM BST on September 1, and for players in Europe, Starfield early access begins at 2 AM CEST on September 1 as well.

Here’s the exact early access Starfield release date and time in other timezones:

• West US: August 31, 5 PM (PT)
• East US: August 31, 8 PM (ET)
• Central US: August 31, 7 PM (CT)
• UK: September 1, 1 AM (BST)
• Europe: September 1, 2 AM (CEST)
• Japan: September 1, 9 AM (JST)
• Australia: September 1, 10 AM (AEST)

How to Play Starfield Early for Just $35

If you’re not looking to spend upwards of $100 on playing Starfield early, then we’ve got some further good news to share. Those on Xbox Game Pass will also be able to play the game Day One on September 6, but if you opt to purchase the Premium Edition Upgrade, this will also grant you five to six days early access as well, unlocking the game for you on August 31/September 1 depending on your region.

To ensure you’re getting the most out of this, we’d suggest going for the Digital version so you can start playing on August 31 (in the US), but if you want the physical goodies like the Starfield Steelbook, then we’ve left links to those preorders as well.

Digital Version

• Get it at Xbox Store (digital) – $34.99

Game Pass members also get an additional discount on this purchase.

Physical Version

• Get it at Amazon – $34.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $34.99
• Get it at GameStop – $34.99
• Get it at Walmart – $34.99

The physical version comes with the following physical and digital items:

• Includes a Steelbook display case and a Constellation patch
• Shattered Space Story Expansion (upon release)
• 5 days early access
• Constellation Skin Pack: Equinox Laser Rifle, Spacesuit, Helmet and Boost Pack
• Access to Starfield Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.