Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author behind the Metro books, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
As reported by the Associated Press, on August 7, Glukhovsky was found guilty of intentionally spreading misinformation about Russia’s armed forces by the Moscow court. Glukhovsky revealed over a year ago that he was placed on a Russian federal watchlist after being accused of discrediting Russia’s army in a post on his Instagram account. While Glukhovsky does not live in Russia, he was tried in absentia, according to the Associated Press.
Glukhovsky is a Russian journalist and author best known for his post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel Metro and its subsequent sequels. In addition to a list of successful novels, the franchise has spawned a video game adaption developed by 4A games, with the most recent installment, Metro Exodus, released back in 2019.
Glukhovsky has been vocal about his support for Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in February 2022. His sentence is one of many as Russia has cracked down on those who speak out against the government due to the ongoing war. Shortly after invading Ukraine, the Russian parliament passed a bill imposing up to 15 years in jail for anyone spreading “fake news” about the war in Ukraine.
Image Credit: ANDRE PAIN / Getty Images
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
The original Lords of the Fallen holds the distinction as being one of the first non-From Software developed Soulslikes to put its own unique stamp on the genre. It’s a stamp that, nearly ten years later, is very faint and hard to make out, and also has itself been stamped over many times. That said, this new Lords of the Fallen, developed by the newly formed Hexworks studio, is looking to put a new stamp on the genre as the first truly “next-gen” soulslike, thanks to visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, an ambitious parallel realm mechanic, and a release that leaves previous gen consoles in the dust. I got to play through about two hours, and based on those early impressions, Lords of the Fallen is certainly shaping up to leave quite a mark.
My memories of the original Lords of the Fallen have largely faded away, with the exception of one sticking point: I remember the movement and combat feeling very slow and lumbering, even when using the class that’s supposed to be the quick one among the three starting choices. This new Lords of the Fallen corrects that right out of the gate. I started with the Exiled Stalker, an agility focused class who fights with twin daggers and employs a playstyle of very fast and rapid strikes and found him to be just as quick and responsive as I would have hoped.
There’s a great fluidity to Lords of the Fallen’s combat.
There’s a great fluidity to Lords of the Fallen’s combat too. You can seamlessly flow from light attacks to heavy attacks, and can even change weapon stance in the middle of a combo as well. I could start with two light attacks, press the stance switch button, and do another light attack, I’d get a unique attack in which my character seamlessly goes from a dual-wielded slash, into a two-handed thrust. This is even better when you add magic to the equation, as you’re able to easily swap between melee and magic attacks even mid-combo. It opens the door for a lot of freedom of expression through combat, which is something you don’t see all too often in the Soulslike genre.
I did have some issues with the camera making sudden, jerky corrections when I was locked on to an enemy, which threw me off occasionally, and the sound effects felt a little off, but outside of those minor nags, I had a great time with Lords of the Fallen’s combat. It is a bit more forgiving than most other Soulslikes I’ve played, with very generous parry windows, lots of invulnerability frames on your dodge roll, and enemy attacks that feel very deliberately timed to allow you to just get out of the way if you dodge right after you attack. But that said, there’s a lot of challenge that comes from the level design and the situations you’re put in.
One area, Pilgrim’s Perch, is built entirely along the side of a mountain, with instant-kill falls being a threat at literally every turn. Add to that the fact that enemies have a nasty habit of hiding behind boxes and then lunging out at just the right moment to try and shove you off the edge. But fortunately, you can also turn this to your advantage thanks to both a strong kick that can be executed by pressing in both bumpers at the same time, and a technique called Soul Flay, which allows you to rip the soul out of an enemy and yank it in a direction, causing the body to follow along with it, leading to a very Looney Tunes esque-fall to their death.
I also got to try a handful of boss fights that ranged from the imposing holy knight Pieta, to the absolutely disgusting beast known as the Boglord. Every boss I encountered was a multiphased battle, with the boss becoming substantially tougher as the fight progressed. After taking enough damage, Pieta for example would suddenly sprout wings, giving her access to a devastating dashing attack that left a downpour of heavenly swords in her wake. It was a fun fight and struck a great balance between being tough, but also having very clear tells and easily discernible attacks with intuitive ways to avoid taking damage.
The Boglord fight I was much less of a fan of, though I only reached him at the end of my demo and only got a couple of attempts in before I had to put down the controller. When things moved to the corners of the arena, the camera felt like it was actively working against me and I had a hard time telling what attack was coming my way.
That was the most underwhelming part of the demo, but by far the most exciting and unique element in Lords of the Fallen is the relationship between the two parallel realms: Axiom and Umbral. Axiom is the world of the living, and is bathed in a warm, comforting glow, while Umbral is oppressively dark and depraved. There are gross flesh-like tendrils that spread all over the place, eyeballs that constantly watch you, bodies all plastered against the wall. It’s very unsettling stuff.
To bridge the gap between the two realms, you have a lantern that lets you peer into Umbral and see the differences between the two realms, sometimes revealing a path that only exists in Umbral, such as a bridge or a gap in the wall. Sometimes though you’ll need more than just the lantern – you’ll need to cross realms and fully enter Umbral in order to interact with certain objects in order to clear a path. Doing so is dangerous though, because dying in Axiom is fine – you’ll respawn right where you are a few seconds later, only in Umbral. If you die while in Umbral, though, it’s back to the last checkpoint for you as you do the usual Soulslike song and dance of having to fight your way back to the spot you died in order to reclaim your lost currency.
We have a full deep dive going into the Axiom/Umbral mechanic, so I won’t go into it in too much more detail here, but what stood out to me was that even though the idea of having two parallel but thematically different realms is not a new idea in games, here in Lords of the Fallen it never feels like a gimmick. Instead, just about every element of the game is enhanced by it. Exploration is more exciting when you have to make that call of whether or not you should make the jump into the Umbral realm, combat is much trickier when you must also consider having to use your lamp in Axiom to try and burn away the hidden Umbral parasites that make enemies stronger, and discovering gear and items is far more rewarding when you’re able to spot a chest or item pick up that exists in one realm and not the other.
It’s clear that a lot of lessons were learned from the first Lords of the Fallen, to the point where this new version feels like it’s entirely its own thing, and from my early impressions, so far it seems like it’s heading in the right direction.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
EA has announced EA Sports FC Mobile, a mobile football game launching on September 26.
FC Mobile is a free update for those who already have FIFA Mobile so there’s no need to redownload, but new players will of course need to download the FC Mobile app to play. Real Madrid and Brazil star Vini Jr. is the FC Mobile cover star.
FC Mobile has authentic running styles, penalty kick stances and celebrations for certain players (Vini Jr. is a given), a “mobile-first and tactile” game speed, a revamped shooting system, a power shot, a knock on dribble, and a hard tackle move.
EA said its mobile community has over 100 million active users, which gives you an idea of just how big FIFA is on mobile.
Meanwhile, EA Sports FC Online, which is aimed at the free-to-play PC Asia market, has over 53 million players across Korea, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. EA Sports FC Online is also an official medaled discipline at the XIX Asian Games, set to be held in Hangzhou later this year.
2023 is a big year for EA Sports. Without the FIFA licence, EA FC is EA Sports’ first non-FIFA football video game. Although, as IGN discovered during a recent hands-on preview event, EA Sports FC is FIFA 24 in all but name.
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.
SNK shared the big news at EVO 2023 that Fatal Fury will be returning for the first time since 1999 in the form of a new game called Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
We also were given a glimpse of some of the locations we’ll be fighting in whenever Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is released, and they were Geese Tower, National Park, South Town Airport, ??? [Abandoned Dojo], Live House “Old Line,” and Factory.
Various voices can be heard during the introduction of these locations, and some fans online, including @FGAnniversaries, believe some of those voices belong to Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui, B. Jenet, Billy Kane, Marco (possibly Ryo), Hotaru Futaba, Tizoc, and Kain R. Heinlein.
We were given a teaser image at EVO 2022 that featured two silhouetted characters believed to be Billy Kane and Kain R. Heinlein, so this could be further confirmation that they will be part of this new entry.
Also known as the Garou series, the Fatal Fury franchise began all the way back in 1991 with Fatal Fury: King of Fighters on the Neo Geo. The last entry was 1999’s Garou: Mark of the Wolves, but many of the franchise’s characters have appeared in SNK’s King of Fighters series, including Terry and Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi.
In 2013 I had the opportunity to fly to Japan and talk to Final Fantasy 14 Game Director Yoshi-P. There was one question I wanted to know – when would Final Fantasy 14 come to the Xbox? It’s a question that I, and every Final Fantasy 14 fan, wouldn’t know the answer to for another decade.
Final Fantasy 14 coming to Xbox marks the end that a long-lingering question. In 2013 Yoshi-P answered saying a Microsoft cross-play policy – that meant Xbox users would require their own server and therefore couldn’t play with the wider community – ended the hopes of Xbox players enjoying the game. “Community is very important for an MMO, and as Xbox Live is a closed network it means those playing on Xbox 360 or Xbox One can’t play with others on different platforms,” “I don’t think this is ideal for an MMO, and that’s the biggest reason we haven’t brought the game to Xbox platforms.”
Years later, Xbox fans like myself will soon be able to experience the game on their preferred console for ths first time. Xbox Wire clarifies it’ll bring Final Fantasy 14 to the console with an expanded free trial allowing you to play the first three expansions (A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood) up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime. That’s at least 100+ hours of content to sink your teeth into as a new player. It’ll be amazing to see it come to one more platform.
Enjoyed being onstage with Yoshi-P and Kiryu-san to announce Final Fantasy XIV coming to Xbox. We’re thrilled that the Xbox community will join the Warriors of Light and we look forward to partnering closely with Square Enix on future games. pic.twitter.com/zq0ETkDFq1
Back in 2013, the fact a game of this scale worked across PS3, PS4, and PC was a core reason it had one of the best communities in the history of gaming. I used to play it with Greg, myself on PC while he was on PS3, and while we were on different platforms, we found an incredibly welcoming playerbase that helped us along the way, and many of them hoped Xbox players could someday get in on the fun.
The lack of Xbox support was a topic that continued to gather momentum and in 2015, when we asked Phil Spencer for an update, he chalked the lack of Final Fantasy goodness up to “business” and platform exclusivity: “As I’ve grown in this role, and I’ve tried to learn the third-party exclusivity thing – and you see us doing less of it now – [I’ve found] it’s not something I’m a huge fan of.
At E3 2016, it looked like Xbox had a change of heart about crossplay, promising that anyone willing to let their games be played across platforms could do so
“Different kinds of deals happen, and I know that’s part of this business – and maybe it’ll be my failing in the end – but it’s not something I specifically embrace with any deal that’s out there.”
A year later, at E3 2016, it looked like Xbox had a change of heart about crossplay, promising that anyone willing to let their games be played across platforms could do so. This begged the question once again – would Final Fantasy 14 finally make it to Xbox? In an interview with Polygon, Yoshida gave the faintest glimmer of hope: “Microsoft actually approached the Final Fantasy 14 team about the cross-platform opportunity When our team reviewed the regulations that are associated with that, we realized that Microsoft may not have the experience or understanding of running an MMORPG as an online game genre just yet. The Final Fantasy 14 team has fed back to Microsoft that there are certain elements of its regulations that we would have to consider waived. We’re waiting on Microsoft’s response for that, but we are having discussions.”
The following year, Yoshida again teased a possible release on Xbox (and Nintendo Switch), saying, “Conversations have been had with Mr. Phil Spencer of Microsoft, and the upper management teams of Nintendo.”, but similar issues with cross-play kept cropping up. For Yoshida, community – no matter how big or small – was everything and needed to be looked after, and closed-platforms prevented the team from making the best experience possible.
In 2019, all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ became a solid promise – that Final Fantasy 14 would come to Xbox… someday. “The astute people out there might have noticed there’s one Final Fantasy that’s missing in our list: number 14,” Phil Spencer told Eurogamer. “14 is one I’ve been dedicated to, working with [director] Yoshida-san to find a solution to bring that game to Xbox. And while it’s not in the news today, I wanted you to know, rest assured, that we will be bringing that game to Xbox.”
A few months later, Yoshi-P explained why things were taking so long: “If we had made an FPS game, then we would already have crossplay. One of the regulations is that players with different platforms cannot chat with each other in-game. Then how do you play an MMO? The other regulation is you cannot make a community with players on a different platform. You can’t form a guild. So I would like to have Microsoft change their regulations.”
Right now Square Enix is happy, Phil is happy, and more importantly fans are happy, and a beloved MMO just got a bunch of new players to join in.
After another update in 2020, in which Yoshi-P commended Xbox’s persistence (“Phil is very dedicated in his support for FFXIV, and I truly appreciate his efforts”), the game director said that, finally, Final Fantasy 14 was coming to Xbox. “There are no obstacles for developing the Xbox version”, he said in an interview with VG247. “We were able to undertake development and provide our service thanks to the immense efforts that Phil has invested.” That said, he admitted it wouldn’t happen immediately, and that the development team was working on the PS5 version of Endwalker and that the focus would switch to Xbox afterwards.
Now, after a 10 year wait, it’s happening. And judging by the reaction from communities across the globe, people are hyped!
For me, there’s another important takeaway here. While I was on the sidelines watching this story unfold for the last decade, Phil Spencer and Yoshi-P were regularly working behind the scenes to make it a reality. It’s a huge victory for Spencer to see this thing through, and likely a massive undertaking on the Microsoft side to adapt their policies to allow it. Maybe someday Xbox will give us a peek behind the curtain and let us know what it took to make that happen. But right now Square Enix is happy, Phil is happy, and more importantly fans are happy, and a beloved MMO just got a bunch of new players to join in.
In hindsight, I wonder if any of the hold-up was to do with recently revealed documents shared during the Activision hearing, where we discovered that Microsoft was in talks to purchase Square Enix, which were then put on hold. But this week’s FF14 reveal did have a promising footnote that I’m sure all Xbox fans will be excited by, when Square CEO Takashi Kiryu confirmed, “Wherever possible we’re planning to bring our games to Xbox for players around the world to enjoy.” Here’s hoping that means Final Fantasy 7: Remake and Final Fantasy 16 don’t take 10 years to come to Xbox.
Destin Legarie is a Director of Content Strategy at IGN. He is really bad at Baldur’s Gate 3 combat but can’t stop playing it anyway. You can follow him on Twitter if you want.
Preorders for the Spider-Man 2 PS5 bundle,DualSense controller are now available in the US, with stock still available at the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. All retailers have sold out of the incredibly popular Spider-Man 2 PS5 console covers, with Insomniac also suggesting that it’s unlikely there will be no further stock allocations made available before release. Stay tuned for more developments, and make sure you’re following @IGNDeals for immediate updates.
Preorder at Amazon
Preorder at Walmart
Preorder at Best Buy
Preorder at Target
Preorder at PS Direct
Preorder at GameStop
Where to Preorder Spider-Man 2 Bundle and Accessories in the UK
Trust us, we’ve gone through this kind of thing before. With stock being limited, you’re going to want to be prepared as possible going into this preorder. For starters, make sure you’re logged into PS Direct or any other retailers you might need to utilize (i.e. Amazon, Best Buy, etc).
Make sure you have your payment information and shipping details updated and readily available right now, do not wait until you are at checkout. Furthermore, ensure you have a stable internet connection to avoid any technical glitches during the process, and set a reminder for the time the preorders are live (10 AM local, or 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET in the US).
It goes without saying that you should be on the respective websites well in advance of these times. Remember, demand is expected to be incredibly high, so act swiftly to secure your Spider-Man 2 PS5 bundle and accessories before they sell out. And finally, make sure you’re following @IGNDeals / @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for immediate updates throughout the day.
Where Can I Preorder the Spider-Man 2 PS5 Bundle?
That’s an easy one. PS Direct (UK, US, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Portugal) will definitely have the bundle, DualSense Controller, and console covers available to preorder on July 28 (with all three officially launching on September 1).
Otherwise, Sony has also confirmed that other retailers will be holding the items for preorder as well. In the US, this is Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and Target. We’ll be updating this page on July 28 with quick links to the preorder page, so bookmark it ASAP to stay in the know (or follow @IGNDeals on Twitter).
When Can I Preorder the Spider-Man 2 PS5 Bundle?
Today, Friday July 28, is the confirmed preorder start date at PS Direct and other retailers for the Spider-Man 2 PS5 bundle, controller, and faceplates. It is also now confirmed that it will be the same start time as the recent Spider-Man 2 preorders: 10 AM local time or 7 AM PT in the US.
Can I Just Preorder the Spider-Man 2 DualSense or Faceplates?
Yes! Good news if you don’t want to buy an entirely new PS5, as the console covers (both for the regular PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition) and the DualSense will be sold separately. A great consumer-friendly move from Sony here, as there’s plenty of different options for gamers to choose from.
How Much Does the Spider-Man 2 PS5 Bundle Cost?
Sony hasn’t confirmed a price for the console bundle nor the Spidey-themed accessories in the US. But, it shouldn’t be hard to figure it out by look at the UK listings. We’re expecting the DualSense to be around $80/£70, the faceplates $65/£55, and the console bundle to be around $600/£560.
Spider-Man 2 PS5 bundle and accessories preorders have started for those in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with the US next in line to begin placing orders. Preorder stock has been limited in other regions, with the popular Spider-Man 2 DualSense controllers and PS5 console covers now unavailable in the UK at the time of writing.
Keep an eye on @IGNDeals or @IGNUKDeals on Twitter where we’ll be immediately notifying you when preorders go live. Stock is also expected to be quite limited, so it’s essential to act quickly if you want to secure your preorder. PSA: PS5 consoles are also on sale today in the UK.
As some of you may know, IGN was founded in 1996 and we began handing out our Game of the Year awards in 2001, leaving years of top games uncrowned. We decided to remedy this as part of ’90s Week, and this week’s Game Scoop decided to go year-by-year through the decade to crown a Game of the Year for each year, starting with 1990.
Since IGN wasn’t around at the beginning of the 1990s, we had to be a bit freeform with the science behind our judgment. Some games were awarded based on their historical importance, while others were simply our favorite games to come out that year. Some games, as you’ll see later on, qualified because of both. And while Game Scoop won’t pretend to speak for the entire IGN team, here are our picks for GOTY 90s edition.
1990 – TIE – Final Fantasy and Secret of Monkey Island
The year saw the beginnings of one of the most beloved and important RPG franchises of all time, but also one of the crowning achievements of the narrative-based, point-and-click genre. As such, we gave our Game of the Year in 1990 to both the first Final Fantasy and LucasArts’ Secret of Monkey Island.
1991 – Super Mario World
Was there ever any doubt that Game of the Year 1991 would go to one of the best Mario games of all time, one of the best SNES games of all time, and maybe even one of the best games of all time? Super Mario World was the home console game of 1991 and remains a joy to play decades later. That said, we did have a hard time choosing it over other iconic games such as Sonic the Hedghehog and more importantly Street Fighter 2, which would change the fighting game genre forever.
1992 – The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
A seminal moment for 2D Zelda games, Link to the Past beat out games like Mortal Kombat and Wolfenstein 3D for the timeless qualities that define all the best Zelda games. You’ll find our early 90s picks to be dominated by Nintendo thanks to their classic games like Link to the Past.
1993 – DOOM
Not only did DOOM revolutionize the shooter genre, it defined a generation and changed the popular perception of video games at large. While the panic among parents seems quaint by today’s standards, DOOM codified and distilled Generation X into its most primal, satisfying id with this iconic shooter.
1994 – Super Metroid
If you hear me praise a 90s Nintendo game for being timeless, it’s because the era saw many games that continue on today thanks to their lasting influence and pure fun. Super Metroid is a visually gorgeous game that still holds up today thanks to its sophisticated gameplay and deep exploration. It remains a speedrunner’s favorite as one of the main events of the annual Games Done Quick, and is replayed annually by Game Scoop panelist Justin Davis. Super Metroid isn’t just the best game of 1994, but maybe the most enduring from the ’90s.
1995 – Warcraft 2
Remember when game studios would follow up a game with an even better sequel a year later? Blizzard released Warcraft 2 a year after the first Warcraft, cementing the series’ status as a foundational pillar for one of the most beloved gaming companies of all time. Warcraft 2 improved everything over its predecessor, and set the stage for an even better Warcraft game in the early 2000s, before the series changed gaming forever with the MMORPG, World of Warcraft.
1996 – TIE – Super Mario 64 and Quake
Both Super Mario 64 and Quake revolutionized 3D gaming, dragging the medium from its 2D form into the polygon era. Super Mario 64 was unlike anything else before it and showcased how 3D could transform what was previously a 2D genre. But while Mario’s influence is undisputed, it’s the Quake revolution that we’re still feeling today thanks to the game’s real-time 3D rendering on one of the medium’s most popular genres: the first-person shooter.
1997 – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Runner-Up: Diablo
Our Game Scoop panel chose Symphony of the Night for one very simple reason: it is still an amazing game. While 1997 saw the release of some very good games, including Final Fantasy 7, with the hindsight of time and numerous new games in the series, only one stands the test of time in terms of quality and fun, and it’s not Square Enix’s 3D masterpiece but Konami’s side-scrolling gothic adventure.
1998 – TIE – Half-Life and Metal Gear Solid
It’s hard to overstate just how important Half-Life’s blend of epic sci-fi storytelling and state-of-the-art physics was to games, but also just how mind-blowing it all was when it was first released in 1998. However, go back and play Metal Gear Solid (or play it for the first time) and you’ll be surprised just how modern Hideo Kojima’s 3D opus is in 2023. Not only is the first Metal Gear Solid still fun to play, but the themes it discusses, such as nuclear proliferation and genetic enhancements, are still relevant over two decades later.
1999 – Soulcalibur
Rounding out the ’90s might be a surprise for some, but remains a personal favorite of the Omega Cops. Bandai Namco’s Soulcalibur wasn’t just an excellent fighting game, but a breath of fresh air compared to the relatively serious fighting game offerings like Street Fighter and Tekken. Getting a ring out remains hugely satisfying when playing against friends, and there’s still no character selection as wild and varied as the ones in Soulcalibur.
These are Game Scoop’s picks for the Game of the Year for each year of the ’90s! Let us know in the comments how you feel about our picks or let us know which you’d choose in their place.
Plankton joins the likes of Squidward Tentacles and Jimmy Neutron as new fighters alongside a slew of characters returning from the 2021 original, including SpongeBob Squarepants, April O’Neil from the Ninja Turtles, and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Plankton’s reveal trailer features Mr. Krabs’ rival piloting a mech suit before putting a beating on his opponents using ketchup-based attacks, his wife Karen (who also happens to be a computer), and lasers. You can still see — and hear — the aquatic microorganism as he barks threats and steers his mech using its antennae. Plankton’s inclusion in the game lends further cadence to a supposed leak that predicted his inclusion in the game as one of its new combatants.
Set to release sometime later this year, this sequel promises to fix some of the original’s biggest issues, like the game’s lack of voice acting and relatively shallow mechanics compared to other titans of the genre like Super Smash Bros., Rivals of Aether, and Multiversus.
As part of EVO’s Industry Showcase, publisher Game Mill Entertainment and developers Ludosity and Fairplay Labs also teamed up with Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma to break down some of the new mechanics that are being added to the upcoming platform fighter. The breakdown revealed some groundbreaking new mechanics, including overhauls to All-Star Brawl’s shielding and dodging mechanics, as well as the new Slime meter.
Hearkening back to Nickelodeon’s iconic green goo, characters are able to build up their slime meter by attacking their opponents or taking damage before using it to augment any number of moves. Players can use Slime to extend dodges, escape combos, strengthen special attacks, or unleash a super move.
While the game doesn’t currently have a firm release date, we’re likely to hear more about it in the coming weeks, since it’s supposed to come out later this year.
Nearly three years since Hades was released, crowned IGN’s own Game of the Year in 2020, and after thousands of hours played by individual members of its hardcore community, no one had beaten the toughest challenge the game had to offer: a “Max Heat Run.”
Many Hades players are unlikely to ever interact with its Pact of Punishment system at all, which only becomes available after the player’s first successful run. It allows players to self-impose additional difficulty to an already challenging roguelite by selecting things like giving all enemies more health and removing reward choices found at the end of most encounters. And by electing to turn up the system’s “Heat Gauge” in specific ways, additional rewards can be unlocked, extending the longevity for those who are looking for excuses to continue hanging out with Zagreus and friends.
A “Max Heat Run,” with the Heat Gauge turned up as high as it will go, was quite literally never designed to be beaten, and considered unthinkable by even the most seasoned veterans. Unthinkable, that is, until this week, when expert Hades player and content creator AngeL1C decided to give it a try and had unfathomably good luck (combined with some truly unbelievable skills).
“Is It Reasonable? Absolutely Not”
AngeL1C, who’s largely considered one of the best Hades players in the world, explained to IGN exactly why her feat seemed so far fetched until just recently:
“Hades’ pact system allows you to personalize the way you want the game to become harder. Pairing certain ones together can lead to extremely difficult runs even at low difficulty totals, so naturally when you turn everything up you’re asking for a bad time.”
By “turn everything up,” AngeL1C is referring to runs where the player turns on every single one of the Pact of Punishment’s disadvantages to a maximum of 64 Heat. Given that players can earn more than enough rewards to collect everything Hades has to offer without ever approaching anywhere close to maximum Heat, players have no incentive to put themselves through that kind of pain. But that hasn’t stopped the small, but passionate “High Heat” community from sharing tips and swapping war stories in their Discord server.
“The developers never balanced this system past heat 40. You are absolutely not supposed to be able to come close to beating this, EVER,” AngeL1C explained. “Everything from more challenging bosses, there being different forms and new phases entirely, to your entire ability to heal (aside from max health hearts) being removed entirely. Other examples such as the mirror of night being disabled (where you spend darkness points to become stronger) and 100% more damage afflicted to you meant that the window for success is extremely small.”
In fact, that window was so small that many in the community assumed it could never be done. A little over a week ago, a popular Hades content creator called Haelian posted a 15-minute video titled “Why No One Has Beaten the Max Heat in Hades or Probably Ever Will.” In the video, Haelian breaks down in excruciating detail, precisely why that accomplishment is so darn difficult.
It largely comes down to math. Because a max Heat run throws so much difficulty at you, a very specific loadout is required to even stand a chance at overcoming it, and because several of the Heat disadvantages relate to limited your reward options, you basically have to get extremely lucky.
Haelian provides the exact numbers in his video, saying, “With only some of the factors calculated in, the odds of getting a run that is even plausible is about 0.0147% or 1-in-6,802 attempts. Even if you only use the 45 seconds to reset in chamber one, as an example, that’s one plausible run every 85 hours worth of attempts. Is it possible? Yes. Is it reasonable? Absolutely not.”
For precisely this reason, most of the High Heat community has turned to mods that control against some of the random variables, including AngeL1C.
“The main effort of modding was to remove so-called “toxic RNG” in order to make skill expression more prevalent,” she explained. “First boon blessing and hammer are fixed, minibosses are standardized (the worst options taken out, like the barge of death, Asterius in elysium, and the tiny vermin). You have a visual indication of where the fountain room is on exits, and getting the satyr sack is guaranteed in 2 chambers. With all that, it still took me a huge amount of time to clear even with those.”
Obviously, if skilled players can control against random variables and save themselves countless lost hours hoping the stars will align, there’s little reason to even try to achieve an unmodded, unseeded Max Heat Run, which made the feat seem all the more unlikely. That is, until just eight days after Haelian posted his video, when AngeL1C, who had herself contributed footage and helped gather information for that video, decided to try her hand at it.
More Like Max Beat
After only 20 minutes of trying to get the perfect series of drops, Angel1C’s “God run” came together. Astonishingly, she beat it just 30 minutes later. The video documenting that most unlikely of runs was posted on her YouTube channel, which at the time of this writing is approaching 300K views in the one day since it was published, and contains some insane nail biting moments where it looked like she would fall prey to the many, many ways such a demanding run could fail.
“I had the timer encroaching, no acorn charges (your 5-hit shield for boss fights), low health (essentially anything kills you in one hit). I got hit down to less than 30 health before barely managing to clear,” AngeL1C explained. “My only regret is turning off my microphone in the recording software. You have no idea how hard I popped off.”
Shortly after AngeL1C’s video went live, Haelian posted a reaction to her unbelievable feat in utter shock.
“Of course, it had to be exactly one week after I made a video saying no one would ever do it,” Haelian said with a laugh. “I honestly thought this would never happen, cause I didn’t think you’d have someone out there with the known capability to be able to do it who was going to even bother to attempt it.”
For AngeL1C’s part, she seemed giddy when she told IGN about her future Hades plans. “This feels like completion to me. I have other goals, but they are all far minor and I really doubt I’ll have the motivation to grind them out.”
Instead, it seems like she’ll focus on some of her other speedrunning passions like Metal Gear Rising and Furi, the latter of which she recently snagged the 25th spot on the leaderboard for.
But Hades will always have a place in her heart, especially as she awaits the upcoming sequel that she’s eager to check out. “Honestly, my love for this game knows no bounds. I really just appreciate almost everything about it.”
We’ve known for years that former United States president Barack Obama is the closest thing we’ve had thus far to a gamer in the White House. But recently, we got a critical piece of information about his gamer profile: Obama is a Captain Falcon main in Super Smash Bros.
This news comes thanks to Smash Bros. community organizer Cody Daniels, who met Obama in 2015 through the Make-a-Wish foundation. The two played some friendly rounds of Super Smash Bros. 64, Daniels’ game of choice, and Obama signed a Smash Bros. 64 cartridge for him and took a photo.
For larger context, @CodyDaniels88 had the opportunity to play with Obama at the White House as part of a Make-A-Wish opportunity. Part of his experiences included meeting the former President, playing some friendly 64 matches, and getting a signed copy of a N64 cartridge and a… pic.twitter.com/oo7NVhIkly
Then last week, Daniels appeared on Hustler Casino’s Max Pain Monday poker stream alongside competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee player Daniel ‘Tafokints’ Lee to raise money for Make-a-Wish. The two bantered about Smash several times during the stream, and at one point, Daniels was asked about his rounds of Smash Bros. with the former president. The section where Daniels explains his Smash Bros. bout with the former president starts at the timestamp linked here.
Daniels explains that while he “took it easy” on Obama and played as Ness (Daniels typically plays Fox and Pikachu), Obama “wasn’t as bad as you would think” at the game. He invited the others at the table to guess who Obama played as, and eventually revealed that Obama picked F-Zero’s Captain Falcon.
Okay, sure, I buy that. Captain Falcon kind of gives off patriotic, superhero vibes.
We’ve reached out to PR for the former president to ask if he has played Tears of the Kingdom yet, but did not receive a reply in time for publication.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
