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Resident Evil 4 Fans Keep Drawing Ashley as a Tiny Mouse, and It’s Adorable

If you’re a Resident Evil 4 fan or are at all following the game online, you might have noticed some goofy art over the last month involving the character Ashley looking strangely rodent-like. Turns out, it’s a fantastic and hilarious trend that caught on upon the release of Resident Evil 4’s recent remake, where fans are drawing Ashley from Resident Evil 4 as a little tiny mouse obsessed with cheese. And it rules.

It all started with this tweet:

The artist, @Agrimmora on Twitter, followed up by explaining that “I saw a joke drawing that depicted ashley with big ears and this came to my mind, i never got past the boulder chase scene as a kid.”

This is pretty cute and funny, but it gets better: the Resident Evil 4 community has fallen in love with her. It’s been almost three weeks since the initial tweet, and Twitter is still awash in mouse Ashley art…or “Moushley” art, as she’s come to be called.

Moushley has even bled into real life:

The joke has gone so far that there’s now even a mod that lets you put Moushley on Leon’s head and control him like Remy in Ratatouille:

The best part of all this is that even the official Resident Evil 4 Twitter account seems to have gotten in on the joke:

Moushley is an absolute delight, and there’s seemingly no end of adorable interpretations of her as a little rodent under Leon’s protection. Bring on the Moushley memes. And if you haven’t yet experienced the recent Resident Evil 4 remake, it’s none too shabby even without Ashley sporting a notable love of cheese. We gave it a coveted 10/10 in our review, calling it “the most relentlessly exciting Resident Evil adventure of all time that’s been rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full limits of its enormous potential.”

Our Resident Experts ™ are hard at work uncovering Resident Evil 4 Remake’s secrets in our Resident Evil 4 Remake Strategy Guide. Here are some of the most helpful links:

How to Make Money Fast in Resident Evil 4 Remake:https://www.ign.com/wikis/resident-evil-4-remake/How_to_Make_Money_Fast_in_RE4_Remake


Tips to Save Ammo in Resident Evil 4 Remake: https://www.ign.com/wikis/resident-evil-4-remake/Tips_to_Save_Ammo_in_RE4_Remake


Resident Evil 4 Remake Cheats, Secrets, and Unlockables: https://www.ign.com/wikis/resident-evil-4-remake/Remake_Cheats_and_Secrets

All Clockwork Castellan Locations and Checklist: https://www.ign.com/wikis/resident-evil-4-remake/All_Clockwork_Castellan_Locations

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

AEW Fight Forever: Developers Say Game Isn’t Finished Yet, Despite AEW Head’s Comments

AEW Fight Forever, the officially licensed All Elite Wrestling game developed by Yuke’s and published by THQ Nordic, is supposed to be out this year. But a series of comments from AEW leadership and the game’s developers have left fans confused as to the game’s actual development status.

The confusion can be traced back to February when AEW wrestler and executive vice president Kenny Omega said on the Swerve City Podcast (via WrestleZone) that “the game has been done,” but was currently in limbo trying to get an ESRB rating finalized. This was then reiterated by AEW president Tony Khan during a media scrum following pay-per-view event AEW Revolution:

“I can’t say the exact release date,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that go into that, and I don’t want to step on anybody with that. It is coming very soon. The game is finished.”

All of this sounds pretty definitive, but THQ Nordic senior community manager Per Hollenbro has recently taken to Twitch and Twitter to debunk this. On Twitter, he wrote that AEW Fight Forever is “doing really well” but is “not 100% yet,” and called discussion that it was done “just another rumour on Twitter.”

On Twitch (via Wrestle Zone), Hollenbro went into a bit more detail as to why there was so much discrepancy between THQ Nordic and AEW leadership’sperspectives, saying the problem is that the two groups “see it very differently.” He explained that as a publisher, THQ Nordic doesn’t consider a game done until it’s ready to go out the door, including elements such as platform certification, retail distribution, and a lot more. He also said that AEW Fight Forever is “in a good state.”

“I do not believe anybody lied,” he said. “I do not believe there’s any kind of miscommunication in any shape or form. I believe that simply some people look at it differently because they don’t look at it through the eyes of a publisher. A lot goes into it. And for me, as somebody who is part of the publishing house, it’s very different for me what completes a game and what doesn’t.”

Speaking to Kotaku, Hollenbro clarified even further, offering a list of elements AEW Fight Forever still needs to finalize before it can be considered finished, including passing QA tests, localization in seven languages, “polish,” retail and shipping deals, certification, platform optimization, marketing plans, and yes, that elusive ESRB rating. An additional THQ Nordic spokesperson told the outlet that “AEW: Fight Forever will be released when it’s done.”

It’s also worth pointing out that AEW Fight Forever is also in the midst of a trademark dispute with Game Changer Wrestling, which has disputed AEW’s trademark of “Fight Forever” given its own use of the phrase for a 2021 charity event. GCW was granted an extension until May 31, 2023 to dispute the claim, and it’s unclear how this will impact AEW Fight Forever’s title or release date. But needless to say, this dispute is likely not speeding things along.

We’ve already had a number of opportunities to look at what AEW Fight Forever has in store, including a hands-on preview at last year’s Gamescom and a chat with several AEW wrestlers at IGN Fan Fest. For now, AEW Fight Forever is still scheduled for release sometime in 2023.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

PlayStation Plus Games Catalogue Additions for April 2023 Revealed

Sony has announced its PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue additions for April 2023, bringing a mixture of first-person shooters, sports, and horror with titles like Doom Eternal, Riders Republic, and The Evil Within.

According to the PlayStation Blog, over a dozen games join the April offerings for Plus Extra and Premium members on Tuesday, April 18. On May 15, Game Catalog will remove a handful of other titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Resident Evil, and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2.

Among some of this month’s standout games are first-person shooters Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein 2. IGN gave both titles 9/10 review scores, calling Doom a “modernized reboot a breath of fresh air for the genre” and Wolfenstein 2 a “fantastically written and acted story.”

Sporty PVP sandbox Riders Republic and Shinji Mikami’s survival horror nightmare The Evil Within add a little more variety into the mix, plus the ultra-vibrant murder mystery Paradise Killer is always worth a spin. Check out the full list below.

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium: Game Catalogue

  • Bassmaster Fishing (PS4/PS5)
  • Doom Eternal (PS4/PS5)
  • Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4/PS5)
  • Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4/PS5)
  • Paradise Killer (PS4/PS5)
  • Riders Republic (PS4/PS5)
  • Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS4/PS5)
  • Slay the Spire (PS4)
  • The Evil Within (PS4)
  • Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (PS4)
  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4)

PlayStation Premium: Classics

  • Doom (PS4)
  • Doom 2 (PS4)
  • Doom 64 (PS4)
  • Dishonored: Definitive Edition (PS4)

To score access to most of the latest in Sony’s library, you’ll need PlayStation Plus Extra at a minimum. To download the Classics like Doom and Dishonored, you’ll have to sign up for PlayStation’s Premium tier.

As for other Sony services, the platform holder announced its collection of PlayStation 5 PS Plus titles would be removed on May 9. The bundle includes games like Bloodborne, God of War, and Resident Evil 7, and members that redeem the offer can still download the collection even after it’s gone.

If Sony’s latest update isn’t of any interest, keep your eyes peeled for more PS5 news soon, as the company announced its plans for a new Final Fantasy 16 State of Play tomorrow.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She’s worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today’s FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.

Deal Alert: The Xbox Core Controller in Electric Volt Is Down to $39.99

Today both Amazon and Walmart are offering the official Xbox Series X|S Core wireless controller in Electric Volt for only $39.99 with free shipping. That’s almost 40% off the original $65 MSRP. Only the Electric Volt color has been discounted down to this price, the rest of the colors are more expensive. Aside from the difference in color scheme, this is the same controller as the one that’s included with your Xbox Series X or S console.

Xbox Core Controller in Electric Volt for $39.99

This controller is based on the Xbox Series X|S controller design, but it will also work on Xbox One. It features textured triggers, bumpers, and back case, making it easier to hold. It also features the disc-like D-pad for more precise input in all eight directions, and the Share button to send your screenshots and video out into the world.

Electric Volt is one of the brightest colors available, and probably the best one to get if you misplace your controllers often. This one features a high-vis yellow top case and analog sticks, with a black hybrid D-pad and face buttons. The bumpers and triggers are also black, but the back case is white.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Is Getting Its Final Pre-Launch Trailer Tomorrow

Today marks exactly one month until the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on May 12. To celebrate, Nintendo is giving us a brand new trailer for the game.

The final pre-launch trailer for Tears of the Kingdom will debut tomorrow, Nintendo has announced. The next look at the highly anticipated Breath of the Wild sequel will air Thursday, April 13, at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. in the UK. Nintendo said the trailer will be roughly three minutes long.

This marks the third official trailer for Tears of the Kingdom since Nintendo announced the game’s name last year. Teasers for the sequel date back to E3 2019, when Nintendo officially unveiled the project for the first time. So far, the trailers haven’t detailed much at all about the story, instead teasing Link’s new traversal mechanics that series producer Eiji Aonuma fully revealed in last month’s gameplay demonstration.

Tomorrow’s new Tears of the Kingdom trailer has a lot to live up to. Many Breath of the Wild fans remember the iconic January 2017 Nintendo Switch Presentation Zelda trailer, which served as the most cinematic look at the game yet leading up to release. The trailer’s musical score was so epic it even made the cut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s soundtrack. Fans have been clamoring for Tears of the Kingdom to get a similarly memorable trailer, and it seems like tomorrow is our best shot yet.

Tears of the Kingdom is easily Nintendo’s biggest game of 2023. The next Zelda is Nintendo’s first $70 title, and it also has the largest file size of any first-party Switch game. Nintendo has been very secretive with Tears of the Kingdom overall, and is currently tracking down the leaker who posted images of the Collector’s Edition art book.

For more, check out 10 awesome details from the Tears of the Kingdom gameplay, or watch our early Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom map comparison.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The RE4 Merchant Exemplifies Everything Great About the Game

The Resident Evil 4 merchant is one of the most absurd parts of a game that’s already jam-packed with completely ridiculous over-the-top stuff — but he also exemplifies everything that makes that game so great.

This guy first pops up in a random window like a sock puppet and then coaxes Leon to meet him around a corner with all the subtle salesmanship of a crack dealer in a 1980s anti-drug PSA. He’s vaguely menacing at first but you quickly realize how goofy he is — and that’s like so much of the resident evil series: it’s scary at first, and then it’s silly.

So many games bend over backward to explain around their own ‘video-gaminess.’

The merchant’s design also distills RE4 visual sensibilities into one guy: his clothes and mask and knapsack almost make him look like he stepped out of a fantasy RPG, but then he opens his coat, and it’s clear his area of expertise is the OTHER kind of RPG — And that’s really the game’s whole aesthetic, this incongruous mix of creepy old fairy tale stuff like villages and castles but also slick futuristic stuff like scientific laboratories and submachine guns with thermal scopes.

In what universe would someone trade an antique goblet covered in hand-inlaid gemstones for an automatic rifle and a spraycan of bactine? Well, in the Resident Evil universe — it doesn’t make any sense, but it works, because video games! You’ll guide Leon through the most arduous, death-defying obstacle course, fighting off unthinkable horrors, and then walk around the corner, and this chucklehead has folded out his little table and put up his spooky lantern he got from Spirit Halloween, ready to buy your dead fish and chicken eggs and sell you a laser sight for your gun.

How did he get there? It doesn’t matter, you’re always happy to see him, and he’s always happy to see you.

I’ve seen theories that maybe this merchant isn’t one man, but a bunch of different guys who dress up the same and spout the same one-liners, but if anything that makes him even more ridiculous, like… what, he’s a scary mall Santa who sells firearms?

So many games bend over backward to explain around their own “video-gaminess,” adding as much context as possible to try to quell any ludo-narrative dissonance that the player might feel when one of the systems that make the game fun to play shatters any sense of realism or immersion. Resident Evil 4 not only doesn’t try to hide its video gaminess, it flaunts it, and whether you’re suplexing a little old lady, stealing an antique jewel off the corpse of a genetically engineered monster, or rearranging all the crap in your purse so you have room for a crossbow that shoots landmines.

What is the merchant doing with all these valuable antiques? Who is supplying him with guns? Do any of the game’s many horrible enemies try to kill him, or is he cool with them? Do THEY buy stuff from him? Most importantly, if his back is killing him, why doesn’t he take his pack off and sit down? Also, he’s apparently friends with The Duke from Resident Evil Village… what do they do for fun?

As far as completely nonsensical things in video games that we take for granted go, the merchant is right up there with finding an entire roast chicken in a castle wall or fitting a rocket launcher in your back pocket – and really, RE4 wouldn’t be the same without him

The Art of Octopath Traveler Revealed by Dark Horse Books

As far as JRPGs go, it’s hard to top the charming visual style of Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler. So of course the series is a natural choice to join Dark Horse’s ever-growing lineup of video game-themed art books.

The Art of Octopath Traveler is adapted from the Japanese art book Octopath 2016-2020. This English translation features a mix of behind-the-scenes creator commentary and hundreds of gorgeous illustrations and pieces of concept art.

IGN can exclusively debut the unfinalized cover of The Art of Octopath Traveler below:

The Art of Octopath Traveler covers the original game and its prequel mobile game, Octopath Traveler: Campions of the Continent. Here’s Dark Horse’s official description of the book:

Discover what lies beyond the horizon! Join the travelers in their journey through Orsterra and discover each of their unique origins. Delve into a fantasy landscape full of amazing creatures and scenery. Ponder the inspired design and artistic passion through hundreds of pieces of incredible art from the creation of the critically acclaimed Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent.

The Art of Octopath Traveler is a 224-page hardcover priced at $49.99. The book is scheduled for release in bookstores on Tuesday, December 12 and in comic shops on Wednesday, December 13.

Octopath Traveler 2 was one of IGN’s 44 games to keep an eye on in 2023. IGN’s Seth Macy recently gave the sequel a 7, writing, “Once again, I am smitten by Octopath Traveler and its style – but five years after the original, it doesn’t hit quite as hard. So little has changed about its battles, and this sequel sticks a little too closely to the original systems without expanding on them too much. Especially now that the 2D/3D art style is an established look, the still lovely visuals just don’t stand out as much anymore. That said, the combat system is still quite fun, and figuring out the best course of action to exploit weak points, knock an enemy unconscious, and then unload on them with as much power as you can remains satisfying.”

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Review

While 2021’s Sherlock Holmes Chapter One had the world’s most iconic detective confronting the ghosts from his past, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened has him dusting off his deerstalker cap in order to investigate a cult worshiping a cosmic, Cthulu-like presence. However, despite the clear influence of HP Lovecraft, The Awakened presents a mystery that’s surprisingly light on scares, with the majority of its attempts to unsettle coming across as more silly than genuinely spine-chilling. Although there was still a solid amount of investigations and crime scene recreations to sink my teeth into over the course of its 10 hours, it was hard to fully buy into Sherlock’s supposed battles with his own sanity at the center of the story when I struggled to find anything to fear in his surroundings.

A remake of the 2007 adventure of the same name, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened has been rebuilt using the same engine that powered Chapter One, and its plot has been retooled slightly in order to make it fit in as a direct sequel to that 2021 origin story. The friendship between Holmes and Dr. John Watson is presented as being in its infancy, with Watson regularly pressing Holmes for information about what went down on the island of Cordona in Chapter One in an effort to peel back the layers and find out exactly what makes the detail-obsessed detective tick. While the writing and performances are of a reasonable standard, the dialogue scenes between the two crime-busting BFFs would probably have been a lot more engrossing were I not so regularly distracted by the extremely loose lip syncing, which makes it seem like each character is delivering their lines directly into the hot end of a hair dryer.

The extremely loose lip syncing makes it seem like each character is delivering their lines directly into the hot end of a hair dryer.  

Unlike Chapter One, which populates its open-world island setting with a variety of cases and side stories to uncover, The Awakened is a far more linear affair that sends Holmes and Watson globe-trotting from the streets of London to an asylum in the Swiss Alps to the swampland of New Orleans and back again. The bulk of these settings present a substantial space to explore, but there’s almost no incentive to do so since I found little of consequence to uncover off the main story path. In fact, it wasn’t until I had reached the final hours of the journey that I finally managed to stumble into a side case in London involving a dead spy, but it was jarringly snuffed out by Mycroft Holmes before it could develop into anything of substance. So the only real mystery surrounding it was trying to determine why it was included at all.

CSI: Old Blighty

For the most part, Sherlock’s crime scene investigations are conducted in much the same manner as they are in Chapter One: Presented with the often-grisly aftermath of some wrongdoing, you must first pixel-hunt your away around the scene to gather evidence like bloodstains and footprints, interview potential witnesses or known acquaintances of the victim, and then determine the sequence of events by shuffling through possible scenarios and the order in which they took place via a visual representation of Sherlock’s imagination. While it can still be rewarding to piece it all together, there’s no question that the cases in The Awakened are far more straightforward than they were in Chapter One. Whereas the previous adventure had Sherlock investigating evidence of vampires in a graveyard and determining the whereabouts of an escaped elephant, The Awakened sticks mostly to more generic kidnappings and murder, and is all the more forgettable for it.

Not only are the crimes less imaginative, but there’s also very little risk of failure in solving them this time around. Whereas in Chapter One it’s possible to accidentally send innocent people to jail if you aren’t methodical enough in your casework, in The Awakened there’s only ever one possible perpetrator to accuse. That means it can be tempting to just brute-force your way through to the right conclusion, seeing as the only potential penalty for making mistakes along the way is fewer rewards unlocked in the bonus character art menu.

This isn’t the only area that the system has been streamlined, either: Chapter One’s disguise system is ignored for the most part, and its archive research is now confined to paging through the pause menu rather than actually visiting a local newspaper office. It all results in casework that feels somewhat superficial compared to that of the previous game, and in spite of its multiple locations, it’s considerably smaller in scope, too.

Casework that feels somewhat superficial compared to that of the previous game.

On the plus side, the ill-conceived combat sections of Chapter One were apparently tossed overboard on the ship ride home from Cordona, keeping the emphasis on the brainpower of Sherlock rather than the firepower of his flintlock. That seems more appropriate for the character.

Scarcity of Scares

Instead of breaking up the casework with combat, The Awakened occasionally drags Sherlock into a craggy, Lovecraftian otherworld and forces you to complete a series of environmental puzzles in order to return him to reality. However, the solutions to these puzzles are either painfully obvious – typically following audible drones to locate floor panel switches and the like – or unintentionally hilarious, at times requiring you to repeatedly throw Sherlock off ledges or into spikey traps like he’s Bill Murray desperately trying to escape the cycle of Groundhog Day. As a result, these dreamlike diversions are about as psychologically scarring as a stubbed toe, and don’t do a particularly good job of conveying Sherlock’s apparently fraying mental state.

Occasionally, hallucinations and other encounters intended to disturb will bleed into the real world too, but these are arguably even more goofy. Retrieving a doll for a patient in the bowels of the archaic Edelweiss mental hospital culminates in an act of ventriloquism that’s more hokey than horrific, while the mutterings of an animated corpse in a crypt beneath the Port of London sound like the gargling of a caveman discovering mouthwash for the first time. Even the climax of the story, a showdown between Sherlock and the main antagonist surrounded by whispering hordes of hooded disciples, fails to stick the landing by tripping itself up with a series of clumsy quick-time events that sap the sequence of any real suspense.

It is worth pointing out the somewhat extreme circumstances surrounding the creation of The Awakened. Developer Frogwares is based in Ukraine, and a disclaimer that greets you ahead of the title screen states that development of this remake commenced only a couple of months after Russia began its invasion of the country in early 2022. Game development is an incredibly challenging business at the best of times, and I can’t imagine the levels of stress that the threat of war would inflict on all personnel involved. Unfortunately, that adversity is evident in The Awakened, which suffers numerous cut corners, from the abrupt transitions between several late-game sequences, to the recycling of character models and other assets throughout the adventure. I wasn’t alive in 1882 so I can’t be certain that newsstands in London weren’t identical to those in New Orleans, but I doubt it.

10 Games Like Fortnite Worth Playing Right Now

You would be hard-pressed to find a massive-multiplayer game as accessible as Fortnite. We aren’t just talking about its attention to accessibility features like Visual Sound Effects. Since its original days of Save the World PVE and classic action-building Battle Royale, Fortnite’s game modes like Zero Build and Creative have taken off in a tremendous way. The range of gameplay Fortnite has to offer truly makes it the perfect game for casuals and competitive gamers alike.

Whether you are in the mood to squad up for some chill games or to get your blood pumping with some haywire shooting gameplay, here are ten games a fan of Fortnite like yourself might enjoy.

Roblox

The beauty of Roblox is that it can be literally anything you want it to be. Much like Fortnite Creative, it has its own sandbox game creation system which allows players to craft unique gaming modes of their own. Or even just games on their own as well. People have recreated popular games like Modern Warfare just inside Roblox, so it’s really a game within a game.

Looking for a quirky simulation game? There are tons of tycoon and roleplaying experiences to be had. More interested in trying out a new fast-paced shooter? Roblox has battle royales and survival games aplenty. How about golf? Anything a player could possibly dream up, you can discover somewhere within Roblox.

Realm Royale Reforged

Okay, but what if instead of being downed in a Battle Royale… you turned into a chicken? Realm Royale Reforged is the fantasy Battle Royale you didn’t know you needed. With five fantasy classes to choose between, customizable loadouts, and tons of special skills to loot, this game really shakes up the classic Battle Royale formula.

Explore a vast map of colorful fantasy landscapes, and duke it out with other medieval combatants. Survive as a downed “chicken” long enough, and you might just revive to make a victorious comeback.

Overwatch 2

If cooperative teamplay and breakneck combat is what you enjoy most about Fortnite, then it’s about time you gave Overwatch 2 a fair shot. It’s also got a similar arcadey look and feel that Fortnite players may find familiar.

Overwatch 2 is a team-based action brawler made up of fast-paced PVP game modes like Escort, Control, or even Capture the Flag. Between the Tank, Damage, and Support classes there are dozens of playable characters to choose between. Each Overwatch Hero has their own set of unique abilities to master, and forming teams of different Hero combinations is only half the fun.

Read our review of Overwatch 2.

Super Animal Royale

Imagine a safari park, but if you gave all the exhibit animals heavy ammunition. The animals have overtaken humankind in Super Animal Royale, a colorful, top-down shooter. Now you will have to fight to claim your spot on top of the animal kingdom.

What’s fun about Super Animal Royale is that while it might be top-down, it uses a restrictive field-of-view. Duck behind pillars or walls to take shelter in the shadows, outside of the enemy player’s line-of-sight. When you are never sure who might be just around a corner, strategy becomes key.

Rogue Company

In this team-based, third-person shooter, it’s all about peeking corners and looking attractive while you do so. Plus, Rogue Company has music from Run The Jewels to back up all of your cool trickshots while you play!

Join the Rogues, a band of incredibly pleasant-looking operatives with a passion for gunplay and getting paid. Choose between over twenty-five Rogues to play as, with incredible skill sets that range from explosive knives, briefcases of infinite ammo, or literal napalm launchers.

Read our review of Rogue Company.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt

A vampire battle royale, sprawling through the grimdark streets of Prague. What more could you want? The Bloodhunt is on, and it’s time to fight not only to be the last immortal standing, but to win back the city for your faction.

When you are an eternal, blood-sucking creature, there are dozens of ways to kill or be killed. Feed on the unsuspecting humans of Prague to grow your supernatural powers, so you can outdo your enemies not only with precise aim but by executing brutal feats.

PUBG: Battlegrounds

You cannot go wrong with the Battle Royale classic, PUBG: Battlegrounds. Drop into vast war torn landscapes with one hundred other enemy players, and prepare to loot-and-shoot your way to victory.

Well-known to have kicked off the Battle Royale genre in a major way, if you enjoy the strategic team-based combat of games like Call of Duty Warzone 2.0, this might be the Battle Royale for you.

Read our review of PUBG: Battlegrounds.

Totally Accurate Battlegrounds

You know what you have been missing from your Battle Royale games? Goofy, physics-based parkour. In Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, you can skydive face-first into a bright, blocky map with sixty other little stick men and wobble your way to victory.

If your parkour skills are not quite up to snuff, luckily for you, this game gives you a second lease on life. Downed players are launched into “Limbo”, a vast liminal space filled with rapidly dropping debris. Dodge all three levels of quick-moving obstacles as you soar through Limbo to not only re-enter the Battle Royale, but to potentially return to the battleground with a “blessing”.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

Life is tough out there for a little jelly bean. Stumble, dodge, and leap your way through this high-stakes, fast-paced platformer and race against up to sixty other players. Survive through every round of mini-games, and be the first bean to cross the finish line to score your very own Crown.

What makes Fall Guys stand apart from other games in its genre is that in this Battle Royale, you aren’t trying to outrun a rapidly shrinking “ring”. Instead, the danger comes from increasingly more difficult mini-games and their obstacles. Not to mention your savage jelly bean competition, looking for the perfect opportunity to sabotage you.

Read our review of Fall Guys.

Apex Legends

With so many Legends to choose between, Apex Legends is hands-down one of the most versatile action-shooter gameplay experiences out there. This is the perfect Battle Royale for anyone who loves the looting and high-octane pace of Fortnite, but might be longing to fill a more distinct role in your squad.

Do you enjoy drawing enemy player’s aggression and diving into the fray? Maybe you prefer to stay on the fringes, scouting for enemies or preparing your defenses? Or perhaps you just want to prove useful to your teammates, providing loot, health, or protection. With over twenty Legends already in this ever-growing roster, each with their own unique skill set, chances are there is at least one Legend you are bound to click with.

Read our review of Apex Legends.

Looking to improve your skills in Fortnite? Check out our guide to Fornite Batle Royale Tips and Strategies.

How Classified Pentagon Documents Spread Through a Minecraft Discord Server

The United States military is facing a massive information crisis after top secret U.S. documents regarding the war in Ukraine were leaked through multiple Discord servers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the documents reportedly contain details about the war in Ukraine, U.S. allies, American penetration of Russian military plans, and more. Dozens of documents have surfaced so far with many bearing “Top Secret” or “Secret” labels, according to the report.

What’s even more surprising is the path the information took across the internet. The documents apparently first appeared in a small Discord server with mostly American users. The information eventually passed through a Minecraft Discord server, with screenshots obtained by BBC dating the posts to early March. The classified information continued to spread, making its way through 4chan, Twitter, and Russian social network Telegram, before U.S. officials launched an investigation last week.

According to investigative news site Bellingcat, the leak may have started on a Discord server called WowMao, which is run by the YouTuber of the same name. A member of the server posted over 30 documents across March 1 and March 2, predating their appearance in the Minecraft server by a couple of days. It wasn’t until April 7 that the documents were removed from the Discord server.

However, Bellingcat’s report notes that the leak also may have originated as early as January in a now-deleted Discord server known as Thug Shaker Central. However, the report noted that it’s impossible to verify the authenticity of these claims given that the server no longer exists.

The Minecraft server in question is called Minecraft Earth Map. On March 4, two users were apparently arguing over Minecraft maps and the war in Ukraine, prompting one user to write, “here, have some leaked documents” while posting 10 documents about Ukraine. It seems the documents sat in this server unnoticed by government officials for over a month.

WSJ’s report says the U.S. is assessing the damage of the leak, calling it “one of the most significant leaks of highly classified U.S. documents in recent history”. Defense officials have said some of the documents appear authentic, but others may have been altered. The original source of the leak is currently unknown.

Now, Discord is working with law enforcement to investigate the leaks. In a statement to Kotaku, a Discord spokesperson said in part, “It is Discord’s highest priority to ensure a safe experience for our users. When we are made aware of content that violates our policies, our Safety team investigates and takes the appropriate action, including banning users, shutting down servers, and engaging with law enforcement.”

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.