Over the last few months, we’ve been sharing glimpses of Horizon Call of the Mountain, an upcoming PlayStation VR2 adventure launching on 22 February. Today, we wanted to spend some time getting to know Ryas, the character you will play, as you experience a new story in the world of Horizon.
The Carja Sundom is still reeling from the bloody Red Raids, a brutal campaign of attacks and ritual sacrifice inflicted by the Carja on their neighboring tribes. These raids, which devastated countless lives, were ended when the Mad Sun-King Jiran was overthrown by his son Avad.
The aftershocks of Jiran’s rule splintered the Carja tribe, with those grateful for an end to his rule remaining in the Sundom, and soldiers loyal to the slain leader forcing their way into the citadel at Sunfall, reforming as the Carja in Shadow.
The protagonist of Horizon Call of the Mountain, Ryas, was one such soldier. Having played a key role in the abduction of young Prince Itamen from his home in Meridian, Ryas seeks to atone and regain his honor.
After allowing himself to be captured and imprisoned by the Carja, Ryas was spared execution. Now, he has been recruited by Sun-King Avad and Blameless Marad. A master climber, archer, and hunter, Ryas must earn his freedom in exchange for investigating a new threat. Guerrilla’s Studio Narrative Director, Ben McCaw, offered us further insight: “Ryas ended up on the wrong side for the right reasons. His family was torn apart, and ultimately, he was incarcerated. This is the story of how he tries to come back from that.”
Ryas has a dangerous adventure ahead of him, and while he may be the only one who can do the job, he won’t do it alone. Along the way, players will meet new characters and be reunited with familiar ones, though his past has affected these relationships, explains Ben. “Having fought for the Shadow Carja, Ryas’ relationship with these characters is at best adversarial. He needs to make inroads and amends if he hopes to be accepted.”
Take Hami, for example, a stalwart soldier for the Carja Sundom who was spared the horrors of the Red Raids thanks to her posting as a Border Guard. Even she is unable to forgive or forget the atrocities caused by the Shadow Carja, having lost many friends and comrades to the conflict. Known for her sharp wits and quick temper, Hami resents the task of escorting Ryas. Her hatred for what Ryas represents is just one of the challenges he will face.
With Horizon Call of the Mountain, players will be able to experience the world of Horizon from a new perspective, through both Ryas as a compelling new protagonist and the PS VR2 headset. With haptic feedback, intelligent eye tracking, and an ultra-wide field of view, the player becomes incredibly immersed, and Call of the Mountain puts them right at the most thrilling peaks of the Sundom and beyond.
Says Ben McCaw, “We took the Horizon experience and built it from the ground up for VR. And for this, we felt we needed a new protagonist. As a master climber, hunter, and explorer, Ryas offers the perfect viewpoint of the sweeping vistas and dangerous wilds of Horizon.”For more information on Horizon Call of the Mountain, please visit here.
Since the launch of PlayStation 5 just over two years ago, we’ve introduced incredible games like God of War Ragnarök, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West and Returnal, which showcase the boundless creativity of our development community and the extraordinary experiences they’ve been able to build on our platform.
To all our fans: thank you for your patience as we navigated unprecedented demand for the PS5 console amid global challenges. If you’re looking to purchase a PS5 console, you should now have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally.
For players in the U.S., U.K, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, be sure to check direct.playstation.com to purchase a PS5 console, games, and accessories directly from PlayStation. PS5 products are also available at participating retailers globally.
“Live from PS5” highlights immersive game worlds
Today, we are celebrating our PS5 community and inviting more players to join the fun with our new spot, “Live from PS5.” The best games often make us feel as if we are being transported into amazing worlds filled with adventure, riveting action, and memorable moments. With PS5 features like high-fidelity 4K visuals, haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, 3D audio and lightning-fast loading, developers are creating game worlds that feel more immersive than ever. This new spot hints at the breadth of extraordinary experiences taking place in the PS5 universe through the style of a live news channel. See if you can spot all the game references:
Keep your eyes peeled on our social channels and this webpage for some fun celebrations of fan-favorite PS5 games over the coming weeks. You might even see content from popular creators on social media, breaking news from within PS5 game worlds.
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New PS5 games, accessories and platform features coming in 2023
We are humbled by the support for PS5 from our community and are passionate about growing the best lineup of PlayStation games we’ve ever delivered. Last week, players stepped into the world of Athia in Square Enix’s spellbinding new PS5 exclusive, Forspoken. With more anticipated games coming this year like Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4: Remake and Street Fighter 6, as well as upcoming expansions like Destiny 2: Lightfall and Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, 2023 is shaping up to be an amazing year for PS5 players.
Beyond new games, we’re delighted to continue expanding the PS5 console experience with all-new accessories like the recently-released DualSense Edge wireless controller. On February 22, we will celebrate the beginning of a new VR gaming generation with the launch of PlayStation VR2, featuring more than 30 games in the launch window such as Horizon Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village.*
Thanks to everyone in our community for your continued passion and support. We’re truly excited for what’s ahead this year and beyond.
*Final launch software lineup subject to change without notice. Gran Turismo 7 will be available on PS VR2 through a free upgrade for PS5 users who have already purchased the game.
Howdy! This week the team dives into the frights and delights of Dead Space, featuring an interview with Motive’s Roman Campos-Oriola (Creative Director) and Philippe Ducharme (Senior Producer).
Stuff We Talked About
DualSense Edge controller
Season: A Letter to the Future
PowerWash Simulator
Forspoken
Dead Space (interview begins at 19:32)
The Cast
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Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE
Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE
Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
With the release of God of War (2018), we were absolutely amazed by how many people wanted to cosplay characters from the game – even those we didn’t have the chance to make guides for.
With the God of War Ragnarök cosplay guides, we wanted to make as many as we could to help provide resources for all our fans who want to take on creating our characters.
We’re happy to share that we’ve added ten additional characters from Lúnda’s workshops notes to the God of War Ragnarök cosplay page: Freya, Thor, Angrboda, Brok & Sindri, Týr, Thrúd, Heimdall, Odin, and Gná.
Each guide contains character renders, close-ups of detailed pieces, and shots of their weapons/accessories. You’ll also find in the pages additional lore details handcrafted by our writers here at Santa Monica Studio and more sketches from B is for Boy artist Romina Tempest.
After you’ve taken a look at the new guides, make sure you check out the interview with Lead Character Artists Dela Longfish below on how the team approached creating the designs for Freya, Thor, and Angrboda.
Community cosplay partners
In addition to the new guides, we’ve once again partnered with members of our extremely talented cosplay community to provide resources and tips on creating three of the characters from the updated guides – Freya, Angrboda, and Thor.
Representing Freya is none other than Ibelinn Cosplay, who did an enchanting Witch of the Wilds back when God of War (2018) released. We’re thrilled to partner with her to create Freya’s updated design in God of War Ragnarök.
Ibelinn has put together an expert guide on how to plan a cosplay, along with her how-to videos on creating the former Valkyrie Queen – you can see them here.
Angrboda – Kizuki Cosplay
Cosplay Credit: Kizuki Cosplay
To embody the Giantess of Ironwood, we’ve partnered with the wonderful Kizuki Cosplay, who brings a wealth of experience crafting intricate and detailed designs.
Bringing her expert and versatile skills to the creation of her cosplay, Kizuki has created a guide on making a wig for Angrboda, as well as tips on how she approached the other pieces of the costume, which you can see here.
Thor – The Ronin Cosplay
Cosplay Credit: The Ronin Cosplay
To become the God of Thunder, we partnered with The Ronin Cosplay, who has been a longtime pillar of the God of War cosplay community. From Kratos to Sigrun, Ronin has taken on some of the most complex character designs in our games and made them look absolutely incredible.
Ronin has provided us with his expertise in creating the intricate leather pieces for Thor’s armor in his guide, as well as insights into his process with his tips video – check them out here.
Interview with Lead Character Artist Dela Longfish
To provide insights into the three characters we’ve partnered with community cosplayers to make, we’ve sat down with Dela Longfish, a lead character artist on God of War Ragnarök, to discuss how these designs came to be.
Freya
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Grace Orlady: At the end of the last game, Freya undergoes a traumatic event with the death of her son – changing her from friend to hunter, vowing vengeance on Kratos. How did the team want to go about changing Freya’s visual look to represent her emotional state at the start of God of War Ragnarök?
Dela Longfish: After the events of the last game, we knew we would be seeing a completely different side of Freya in God of War Ragnarök.
While we wanted to retain the iconic look of her design, we added a light armor under her clothing that is visible around her neck and shoulders. Not only did this show she’s ready for battle, but also using the armor in this way also allowed to make the costume darker to reflect the grief and rage she has because of the loss of her son.
Elements of her appearance were designed to look unkempt as we imagined she has spent sleepless days and nights in her endless pursuit of Kratos. Covered in a layer of dirt to show her rough living, we also smudged the kohl around her eyes intentionally made to resemble tears to show that behind all that anger there’s a layer of sadness she can’t escape from.
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When we first meet Freya again, she is living on Midgard in the heights of Fimbulwinter. Did the harsh climate influence any aspects of her design?
We always imagined Gods have a stronger resilience to the cold than the humans in Midgard. With her single motivation to kill Kratos she has neglected any other mortal needs. The flame of anger she feels towards Kratos is all she needs to keep her warm while on the hunt.
Freya Concept Art by Shan Qiao and Rafael Grassetti
Which elements of Freya’s original look as the Witch of the Wilds did the team feel were important to maintain across this next installment?
We wanted this version of her costume to be an evolution from when we had last seen her. That meant that we retained a lot of the elements from her God of War (2018) look while building on top and around them. Players will recognize elements like the gold disc around her waist which was always a nod back to her royal position in Vanaheim.
Smaller elements of her costume like the weaving and shawl also remain consistent in her God of War Ragnarök design.
We also know that Freya was once the Valkyrie Queen. With her ability to fight somewhat restored at the beginning of the game as she pursues Kratos and Atreus, are there any particular visual references to her past as a warrior incorporated into her updated look?
In the beginning of God of War Ragnarök, we see firsthand her skill in fighting that made her the Queen of the Valkyries. Her ability is quickly evident, wounding Kratos and proving immediately she is equal to him in every way. The increased armor and covering in her design reflects a practical choice for more combat-ready clothing while she pursues Kratos. Not only does she have the leather undershirt now guarding her torso, but she also has additional leathers on her waist to provide additional protection while keeping extremely nimble.
Even using her ability to shapeshift into a falcon to deliver cunning attacks from the air all hint back to her role as the winged queen. You can see the falcon feathers in her hair have been kept in God of War Ragnarök.
While her sword was always present in God of War (2018), it was always sheathed on her back. This is the first time we see her draw it and use it to deadly effect. Throughout the game we see more elements from her past as a Vanir leader and Valkyrie return to her design as she reclaims her power and agency back from Odin.
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Is there any aspect of Freya’s design that you especially want players to notice?
Some fans will notice elements from Baldur’s costume throughout her designs, such as the Twilight Pendant and the orange warps he wore around his legs that she now wears. These are mementos she carries with her to always remember her son.
Thor
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When Thor’s design was shown after the first God of War Ragnarök trailer, the internet exploded (just a bit) with discussions. Were you expecting our take on Thor to be such a hot topic among gamers?
It’s always interesting seeing what catches fire across the internet. With a character like Thor that has so many great depictions in pop-culture, people grow a special connection to them. So, in that way it’s understandable a discussion is prompted when a new take on that type of character comes out.
Our hope is to be able to build that same connection between our characters and gamers. For our interpretation, we wanted a design that fit within the visual language of the world we had established in God of War (2018), while also complimenting the story and gameplay the team had in mind.
We wanted to design a character that embodied a thunderstorm, the concept of pure power coupled with a degree of chaotic unpredictability. As the strongest god in the Norse pantheon, we took inspiration from real world strongmen and powerlifters which gave him a solid build while also reflecting the general time period we reference for the game.
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We’ve referenced Thor’s descriptions in the Eddas for a lot of inspiration in his design, was the teams’ visual interpretation of him from the myths pretty defined from the start or did it take a lot of iteration to settle on the final look?
We typically start any character design with a wide range of visual exploration. Thor was no different in this case. We had actually started concepts for him back on God of War (2018), but those early explorations were put on pause.
When the team began work on God of War Ragnarök, we started re-exploring what he would look like. The myths were a big inspiration and depicted the God of Thunder as a great warrior, but also someone who was less than heroic at times, even dangerous and reckless in his actions.
We wanted his look to reflect those aspects and multiple artists did work with that in mind. As the designs began to evolve and various elements began to resonate with the team our art director Rafael Grassetti did a pass and that is the final design of Thor seen in game.
Thor Concept Art by Rafael Grassetti
Mjölnir is not only an iconic weapon in modern pop culture, but also within the story of our game needs to be a worthy rival to the Leviathan Axe, which is now one of the most iconic God of War weapons. Could you take us through how the team created the Huldra Brothers’ (second) greatest creation?
There are so many good interpretations for Mjölnir already in pop culture. For us Thor’s hammer, which he always holds in his left hand, was inspired by the angled look of Norse artifacts and amulets of the time.
Artist Yefim Kligerman designed the hammer for the post credits scene in God of War (2018). Even back then to visually connect these two iconic weapons, Yefim included a runic skill tree etched into the face of the hammer in the same manner we find on the blade of the Leviathan Axe. This way we can see the signature craftmanship of Brok and Sindri in both weapons.
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Is there any aspect of Thor’s design that you especially want players to notice?
Along with making sure we get the overall look we want for any character we also enjoy layering in small hints and design details. Thor’s goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, make an appearance in the bottom gold carved cap of Thor’s hammer. Keen-eyed players and cosplayers will also notice there are other goat motifs reflected in his design.
God of War Ragnarök – Thor Cosplay Guide Pg. 7
Angrboda
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While we were able to visit Jötunheim at the end of the last game and saw parts of their culture represented through Faye’s art and the triptychs, Angrboda is the first Giant we meet that is actually from Jötunheim and currently calls it home. What were some of the key elements you wanted to include in her design to show visually how the Giants are unique from the Midgardians and Aesir?
The Giants were master artisans and craft folks. Even though Angrboda has been surviving on her own for so long, we wanted an elegance and beauty reflected in her design that we don’t find in the inhabitants of other Realms.
As one of the last living Giants, she represents that part of Atreus’s heritage which is something no one else can share with him. Not only does she carry with her the knowledge of her people, but she also physically carried individually carved marbles that contained the souls of the Giants.
Angrboda Concept Art by Rafael Grassetti
You mentioned Thor’s goats are referenced as motifs in his design, are there any nods to the Norse myths within Angrboda’s clothing?
Angrboda has a few serpent motifs recurring throughout her design, which was a nod to her being known as the mother of Jörmungandr in the myths. That theme can be seen most evidently in her gold hair accessory which is shaped like a snake, as well as in her brooches, necklace, and various patterns in her clothing.
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Angrboda has some of the most unique tattoos in the game in terms of color and design. Why did the team decide to go in this direction with her ink?
With each of the different mythical cultures in the game, the team will look for specific aspects unique to each that set them apart visually. Angroboda’s tattoos were an example of this in that they have a much more organic and natural feel to them than many of the other tattoos you see on other characters. We wanted all aspects of her design, including her tattoos, to reflect a unique aesthetic that is carried through their art and craftsmanship.
The yellow was a color that represented Faye and the Giants throughout God of War (2018). As one of the last of her people left, we wanted that shade to be present in her design.
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 5
When it comes to visual storytelling, what aspects of Angroboda’s character are the most important to convey through her design?
Unlike some of the more fantastic characters and creatures of the game, we took a more subtle approach to the details in Angrboda’s design.
For example, Atreus’ new look features a huge splash of yellow to honor his Giant heritage and connection to his mother. Angrboda, while being a Giant and living in Jötunheim, has clothing that features mostly shades of browns, teals, and grays. While her primary clothing pieces don’t have the same statement yellow piece that Atreus’ does, we still wanted to include smaller touches of the color to show her ties to the Giants and to Atreus.
Not only are her tattoos yellow as mentioned before, but you can also see other pops of yellow woven through her hair, in some of the stitching of her clothing, and in the bronze jewelry she wears. These were all layered throughout her design to give a consistent, but subtle, reference to the Giants.
God of War Ragnarök – Angrboda Cosplay Guide Pg. 6
If you decide to cosplay a character from God of War, make sure you tag Santa Monica Studio on social or use the hashtag #GodofWarRagnarok! We always love to see your work.
Today marks the apex of a long journey exploring the boundaries of what a strategy game can be. We are bringing our upcoming funky title Backbeat to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. When we started working on the first prototype in the spring of 2020, I knew there was a lot of potential in the project. It was our tiny indie studio’s second title, and we wanted to add some of the things that were cut from our first game, Hexagroove: Tactical DJ — an onboarding system to introduce our mechanics slowly over the course of the game, a story full of colorful characters, and an experience that feels as good as it sounds. Now refining our release candidate for launch this winter, I’m thrilled to have all those things possible on PlayStation.
When we started designing the foundation for Backbeat, we wanted to carry over some principles from Hexagroove and introduce new ones as well. The game fuses the spatial challenges of a sokoban-style game along with the squad-based resource management of a stealth strategy title. Your challenge is to move a band of four characters through a series of isometric maps within a limited number of turns. How you spend those turns and which paths you choose affect a number of shared resources which grow and shrink over the course of the level. Each of the characters’ timelines are controlled separately but are interdependent. Opening doors and deflecting enemies must be done for the benefit of all four or they will preclude your squad’s successful strut to the stage.
To contrast with the synth-fueled EDM soundtrack of Hexagroove, Backbeat is built on a vast pool of live music riffs, improvisations, and solos recorded from the finest funk masters in Stockholm. Changing direction in the map, interacting with doors, or blowing enemies away with a mighty saxophone all enqueue unique audio clips which are played back together in sequence upon completing a level. This gives your unique solution its own personalized victory song. Every strum, bang, and toot sounded so good I just had to find a way to help them shine extra bright. After experimenting with the dev kit, I realized the PlayStation 5’s DualSense wireless controller was the perfect instrument to back up our studio musicians.
I started by working with our composer Pete Fraser to bring a strong musical element to the most interactive parts of Backbeat: when you crash into something, warp through an oncoming car, manipulate time… I feel these brief moments of interaction, when you push a button and immediately something succeeds (or fails), these instants should all be gratifying… and musical! I copied bursts of chords, fanfares, strums, and drum hits all sampled from the studio musicians and fed them into the DualSense controller authoring tools to produce a haptic, musical harmony that reinforces the sound effects used at the same points in the game. Next, I adjust the vibrations using a stack of filters, amplifiers and equalizers to draw attention to the frequencies that we associate these kinds of flourishes with. After these small adjustments the DualSense controller plays a perfect chorus in time with the music and effects echoing from your hi-fi or headphones.
Great music is only part of the experience I wanted to deliver in Backbeat. The game takes place in 1995, paying homage to the great 32-bit arcade and console games I grew up with in smoky restaurant backrooms and our family den. We worked this in to not only the retro low poly style of our characters and environments, but the iconography and sound effects as well. Time manipulation is the key to understanding the core of Backbeat’s challenge, so we embraced analog technology and integrated sampled video cassette tape skeuomorphism into the UI and feedback. When you change characters, the game fast-forwards or rewinds to the point of time the active character has advanced to. This is accompanied with audio-visual tape distortion, and holding the rewind button in the game loops cassette samples including a speed up and slow down at every interaction. This is another fantastic place to use DualSense to increase the immersion and visceral nostalgia we’re going for in Backbeat. Hold down the circle button and commune with the soothing vibration of DualSense controller, built directly from those chunky, white, rotating spools.
Today we’re bringing you a small taste of the full experience that is soon to come to PlayStation. I hope you feel some good vibes from this short trip through some of the first levels of Backbeat, and follow along as we approach the crescendo of our studio’s sophomore title. Enjoy the show, you’re part of it.
Backbeat Demo Tape is available today on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
We’re now just one sleep away from the January 26 release of the first Marvel’s Midnight Sun’s DLC*. You’re likely already aware that “The Good, the Bad, and the Undead” adds Deadpool to the Midnight Suns roster of playable Marvel heroes**, but did you know that it also tells the story of how and why the Merc with a Mouth joined the team? Did you know that he employs a unique En Fuego resource on the battlefield, or that his food truck is parked right outside the Abbey? Read on for more details!
Deadpool has his own Story missions
Deadpool joins the Midnight Suns after crossing paths with the Hunter (and Hydra forces, and vampyres, and Red Skull’s granddaughter Sin) while attempting to stealthily liberate an artifact from the NYC Museum of Art. The story of this botched burglary and subsequent confrontations with vampiric enemies plays out across a series of new missions in which Deadpool, fully aware that he’s appearing in a video game, takes things considerably less seriously than his new allies.
“You should expect Deadpool to regularly break the fourth wall, both in and out of combat,” shares Creative Director Jake Solomon. “It’s like playing the game with a mouthy but lovable friend.”
It’s worth noting that while Deadpool’s storyline is separate from the main campaign, you can include him when assembling a team for any mission once he joins the hero roster. And you should, not only because his wisecracks are brilliantly voiced by Nolan North, but also because…
Deadpool can deal SO much damage!
Deadpool’s unique En Fuego resource has the potential to make him increasingly powerful as a mission progresses. Many of his ability cards incorporate the En Fuego keyword and, providing he has at least one stack of En Fuego, these cards are more powerful and/or have additional effects when played.
“If you can maximize Deadpool’s En Fuego bonus, he becomes a ‘one man Delete key’ for enemies,” says Jake. “Watch him draw an absurd amount of cards, shoot five enemies, and then absolutely destroy the biggest, baddest enemy on the map. All in one turn.”
Deadpool’s En Fuego meter is fueled by KOing enemies using his ability cards, granting him an additional stack of En Fuego after earning a number of KOs. However, Deadpool will lose a stack of En Fuego anytime he takes damage. So, while Deadpool’s innate ability to self-heal a percentage of his health each turn means he doesn’t require a babysitter, teaming up with a tanky hero like Captain Marvel or Captain America who can Taunt enemies away from him helps to maximize his damage output.
Eating at Deadpool’s food truck helps you stay Regular alive
When Deadpool joins the Midnight Suns, the team’s secret Abbey base is upgraded to accommodate his flashy Food Truck in a spot by the pool. Emblazoned with a colorful picture of the man himself astride a bearded unicorn, the truck advertises the “World’s Best Turduckens” but actually delivers something far more useful, if not quite as tasty.
“With Deadpool’s Food Truck upgrade you can discard a card from your hand once per encounter to gain a Move,” explains Jake. “This is a huge boon for positioning and using the environment during tactical missions, and Deadpool doesn’t need to be on the mission for your team to use it!”
Furthermore, if you upgrade the Food Truck you’ll gain a Shove as well as a Move when you discard a card, so you can push an enemy towards danger while backing your heroes away from it.
There’s more to Deadpool than violence and cooking
Like other Midnight Suns heroes, Deadpool can be found relaxing in and around the Abbey between missions, and if you’d like to pursue his friendship you can invite him to hang out. Just know that, because of his unstable and unpredictable nature, Deadpool doesn’t merely “like” any hangout activities; he either “loves” or “dislikes” any way that you spend time together!
Does Deadpool strike you as someone who’d enjoy playing video games, or do you think he’d prefer to lounge by the pool? Movie watching or bird watching? Invite him to activities that he enjoys and, once your friendship level with him maxes out, you can unlock his Legendary Midnight Suns ability and suit.
Deadpool’s arrival at the Abbey also affords an opportunity to conduct additional research with Tony Stark and Doctor Strange at the Abbey’s forge. Deadpool has pitched an idea for “basically an energy drink combined with a portable defibrillator” that, once researched, manifests as the new Effort Maximizer combat item that you can take into tactical missions. This Legendary-rarity item has the power to duplicate all of the cards in your hand for a selected hero while discarding all other heroes’ cards.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Undead” DLC for the PlayStation 5 version of Marvel’s Midnight Suns launches on January 26. It’s available for purchase separately and is the first of four DLC packs included in the Marvel’s Midnight Suns Season Pass.
* The Good, the Bad, and the Undead is included with the Legendary Edition of Marvel’s Midnight Suns and is included as part of the Marvel’s Midnight Suns Season Pass. Also available for individual purchase. Base game required.
**Characters may require unlocking through gameplay.
Hello Mayors! Henning Sundell and Leon Andersson from Fast Travel Games here with a site analysis for the upcoming launch of Cities: VR – Enhanced Edition. Get ready to plan, build, manage, and enjoy the city of your utopian and dystopian dreams as the all-seeing mayor both from on high and down amongst your citizens. We’re super excited to be able to provide the first ever city simulation experience coming to the PlayStation VR2.
We’ll have a wide selection of areas available for you to start your new city. Some of you might already be familiar with a couple of areas brought over from Cities: Skylines, but there’s been some new ones added to the market as well. And with the added power of the PS VR2 we’ve made sure you’ll be able to expand even further out from that initial area to build the metropolis of your dreams! As it stands each site will contain 25 possible tiles to use, and your city planning permit will allow you to purchase up to nine (9) of those to build on.
So choose a site and start building your city. We’ll start off small with some low-density zoning and simple roads but as things expand you’ll have to start providing more…
Services
Services will unlock as you progress through the city milestones – ensure your citizens have access to these new services to provide them the best opportunity to live and prosper in your city! Prevent fires with your fire brigades, keep your citizens safe through your law enforcement, and care for the sick with your superb healthcare.
Just make sure they can get to where they need to go using the…
Advanced road simulation
With a wide range of road types ranging from gravel filled country roads to six-lane highways, control traffic lights, junctions, and round-abouts to make the flow of traffic as smooth as possible, ensuring that you use the right road for the right job so everyone can get to where they need to go.
And when rush hour hits make sure you’ve provided plenty of…
Public transport
Bus lines, ferries, above- and underground metro, there’s a variety of options to transport your citizens to, from, and around your cities! Help lighten the congestion of traffic on your road network as more and more people move in to your new…
Zones
From low density suburbs to the towering skyscrapers of high density areas, zones will be your primary way of providing housing, workplaces, and commercial shops for your citizens to live, earn, and spend money in your city. Watch those smaller buildings grow larger and more extravagant as they level up from you providing them with multiple Services and sources of Education.
This means you’ll have to balance your economy to buy and maintain all of that through our…
Advanced budgeting
Keep track of your income and expenses, increase and decrease taxes for different sectors, budget your services as you see fit – and if you end up in a pinch take one of the multiple but definitively fair and favorable loans provided by our local banks.
And if you happen to have a bit left over, make your cities prettier with…
Decorations
Ranging from large playgrounds and busy plazas to placing individual trees, rocks and pedestrian pathways. You can be ensured to put your own personal touch to your cities as you watch your city grow and come alive down at…
Street View
Walk along your shoreside promenade, watch ambulances and police cars swoosh by to whatever emergencies they need to take care of, and watch as your cities skylines grow, all from the same height perspective of your citizens.
All this and more thanks to our…
Deep city simulation
Working under the hood to make every part, every decision, every taxation, every car, and every citizen part of the same whole, an interconnected simulation that feels like a living, breathing, realistic city.
We hope you’ve found this quick overview helpful and given you some inspiration to get into the game and become the best mayor this side of the VR world.
With the PlayStation 5’s DualSense wireless controller, we at Motive are able to immerse players deeper into Isaac’s thrilling journey aboard the USG Ishimura. Across various events such as weapon shooting, asteroids impacting the ship, and Necromorphs attacking, haptic feedback lets players feel the impact as Isaac would.
Our goal with weapons was to give each a unique feel and sensation to make the experience of fighting Necromorphs even more engaging. Read on for some immersive examples of DualSense controller gameplay:
Plasma Cutter
You steady your plasma cutter and aim at the legs of a lunging Slasher. You place your finger on the DualSense controller trigger and push it past the required threshold to fire the weapon, feeling the weapon’s vibration shortly after. The DualSense controller trigger then pushes back up, re-initializing for your next shot.
The same kind of trigger effect is found on the flamethrower, but with a slight difference as you can feel a low vibration on the trigger as the ejected gas turns into flame.
Pulse Rifle
A Swollen begins lumbering towards you as you pull out your pulse rifle. To survive, you give it all you got, emptying your remaining bullets to defeat the approaching threat. While you hold down the DualSense trigger, you feel it buck with each round fired from the rifle.
Movement and ability haptics
When entering certain zero-gravity areas, the player can activate Isaac’s magnetic boots. Through haptic vibrations on the controller, the player will feel the impact of each step as the mag boots engage with the floor.
When players use Isaac’s Kinesis and Stasis modules, they’ll get similar real-time feedback through the controller through rich haptic vibrations.
Controller speakers
To dial up the immersion, players receive valuable gameplay feedback through the controller’s speakers. Throughout the player’s journey, as they perform certain actions such as picking up items, refilling their stasis energy, and using their locator, they will hear those effects from Isaac’s RIG through audio.
You can dive deep into this iconic story yourself and experience the immersive DualSense controller haptics and adaptive trigger effects when Dead Space releases on January 27 on PlayStation 5.
Forspoken is finally available on PS5, and it’s time to show off your wicked cool magic-slinging combat skills to the world. You’ll learn a lot of different magic types during Frey’s journey, but Purple Magic will be with you from the beginning and remains a great tool throughout the game. To help you get a leg up on your journey, let’s take a closer look at Frey’s combat-focused Purple Magic and what it can do.
Frey will start with the following attack magics: Burst Shot, Shield Shot, and Scatter Shot (each at level 1), along with the support magic Bind. To learn more spells, you’ll need to spend the mana points you accumulate from leveling up and by finding mana pools scattered across the massive landscapes of Athea. The order you learn spells is up to you, but if you think you made a mistake, don’t worry–you can always unlearn a spell to get a mana refund to use elsewhere.
Now, let’s check out some Purple Magic spells and detail how to best use them:
Attack Magic
Burst Shot: A powerful and reliable way to attack, burst shot creates a huge rock explosion after you release its charge. The higher the spell’s rank and the longer the charge, the bigger the ka-boom that ensues. When enemy defenses are tough, give a charged Burst Shot a try–it can penetrate the defenses of enemies who flaunt shields at you with ease.
Shield Shot: Some enemies don’t respect Frey’s personal space. That’s where the shield shot comes in. If you’re charging Shield Shot and an enemy tries to attack you from the front, they’re in for a nasty surprise when you counter by blowing up the shield in their face. The shield grows bigger at higher levels and can also function to protect you from certain projectile attacks. Be careful, though, because you’re still vulnerable to side and back attacks and shield-breaking strikes.
Scatter Shot: Do you love powerful attacks but hate that whole “can’t attack while you’re charging” thing? Then you’ll appreciate the mechanics of Scatter Shot. Holding down the button will send out a rapid-fire spray of small magic blasts while you charge up to unleash a big finishing blow. The higher the spell level, the bigger the blast. Scatter Shot is excellent for long-range combat and especially effective on many flying enemies.
Support Magic
Bind: Some enemies aren’t going to sit still while you try to aim at them, but Bind is here to help. Bind will temporarily hold enemies within a wide radius still while you take your shots freely, or if you’re just not feeling up for a fight, you can hold them at bay while you skedaddle.
Tendril: If you’ve got an angry mob coming at you from all sides, Tendril is an amazing crowd-control spell. It can be used on the ground or in the air and sends a huge vine sweeping around Frey in a large circle. Not only can it knock down numerous enemies at once, but it also heals based on the damage you’ve dealt.
Implant: Implant might not seem to be doing much at first, but every time your attacks hit, you’ll also do a little bit of extra damage. It’s a nice spell to use when facing an opponent with a big health bar.
Prime: This spell is a little tricky but well worth it. Use Prime to lay a trap in the ground, then try to lure your foes into it by using yourself as bait. As soon as they step on the trap, a blast will lay nearby enemies on the ground. (Or, if you feel mischievous, your charged burst shot can also set the trap off.) The knockdown potential makes this one great for setting up killing moves.
Disperse: This spell lets Frey plant a massive flower in the ground, which quickly blossoms into a beautiful turret hell-bent on shooting any foe that comes into range. It works well in tandem with scatter shot for when you want to keep a distance, and it’s also great on flying enemies.
Leach: It cures you if you’re poisoned. Not much else to say here, but keep it close to mind whenever you find yourself at the precipice of death by slowly depleting health.
Screen: Want the guard functionality of the shield shot, but up against enemies that it doesn’t work well against? Screen provides a similar protective wall against a hit from the front. Careful, though: it takes quite a long time to recharge and can be broken through with guard-break attacks.
Surge Magic
Genesis: Genesis is a Surge Magic spell, a powerful attack you can use by pressing L2 and R2, preferably during sticky situations, as it has a long recharge time. The spell sends out rock vines hitting anything on the ground a short distance in front of Fray. By upgrading Surge and holding down L2 and R2 longer, the area of effect grows larger over a few seconds, causing even more damage. As devastating as this spell is, it doesn’t cover Frey’s back and sides and can leave Fray vulnerable to attacks, especially when holding down L2 and R2 for extended periods. Be mindful of your surroundings whenever you decide to unleash Genesis’s power.
That’s a lot of spells and plenty to develop fun combat strategies with. And if you think these spells are cool, just wait until you see what Red, Blue, and Green magic offers. Don’t forget to use the Spellcraft books to undertake combat and exploration challenges centered around each spell, as completing them offers some very beneficial combat boosts.
Sony Music artist The Kid Laroi, Australian rapper, singer, and songwriter has become a global force to be reckoned with since his ascent in 2019. His bangers and dramatic beats are coming to Fortnite starting January 27 at 3PM PT — in The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams. This immersive sonic experience will portray Laroi’s journey from humble beginnings to headlining sold-out performances, as well as becoming a worldwide superstar.
New music from Laroi will be featured in The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams, including his upcoming song “Love Again” being released on Friday, January 27. “Love Again” isn’t the only new song featured in the experience, as three unreleased songs will also play in both this experience and the Afterparty experience.
Dress harmoniously for The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams with The Kid Laroi and The Rogue Laroi Outfits, available before the experience goes live. Both Outfits will be available in the Fortnite Item Shop beginning January 26.
Additionally, on January 24, players can compete in The Kid Laroi Cup for an opportunity to unlock these Outfits early, plus a special Banner Icon and Emoticon
Take Part in The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams
The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams will have you venturing in the cybercity “Laroitown,” where you’ll ultimately attend a jam-packed Laroi concert featuring fan-favorite music and new music. After the performance, join Laroi in the Afterparty experience. Here, you can listen to the Wild Dreams mix on loop while getting a look inside the tour life, and beyond, of Laroi.
Complete The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams Quests (during both experiences!) to earn XP and special Laroi items, such as the Love Again and Thousand Miles Lobby Tracks, Laroi & The Rogue Loading Screen, and the Laroi Was Here and Laroi’s Tag Sprays. These Quests will be live from January 27 at 3 PM PT to 3PM PT on February 3, 2023.
To get to the experience, select The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams tile on the Discover screen, or input the island code 2601-0606-9081. Either option will take you to the island where the experience takes place, made by creators Alliance Studios, Team Atomic, and TheBoyDilly, and features a video directed by Adrien Wagner and produced by La Pac.
Also in an island made by Alliance Studios, Team Atomic, and TheBoyDilly, the Afterparty experience will be available from January 27 at 3 PM PT to April 27 at 3PM PT. Join by selecting the The Kid Laroi’s Wild Dreams Afterparty tile on the Discover screen or by inputting the island code 4294-0410-6136.
Choose Your Inner Laroi
Want to dress for the occasion? Starting January 26 at 4 PM PT, the Kid Laroi and The Rogue Laroi Outfits (plus more items) will be available in the Fortnite Item Shop.
The Kid Laroi Outfit and Back Bling
From dreamer to hitmaker.
Work your way to the top with The Kid Laroi Outfit. This Outfit has the Electrified Style in addition to its default Style. Included with the Outfit is the Get My Bag Back Bling, which has the blue default Style and pink Left Alone Style.
The Rogue Laroi Outfit, Back Bling/Pickaxe, and Wrap
From hitmaker to hunter.
Eliminate opponents on the battlefield with The Rogue Laroi Outfit, which has the Electrified Style in addition to its default Style. This Outfit comes with the Tragic Blade Back Bling. Unsheathe the Tragic BLADE as a Pickaxe! Also coming to the shop, the Laroi Free Style Wrap matches the Outfit too.
Emotes and Lobby Track
Keep the party going even after the Afterparty with these Item Shop items:
Stay Afloat Emote – Just relax and let it carry you away…
Heart of a King Emote – Take a Love(seat) Again.
Stay Lobby Track – Press play and feel the way I feel.
The Stay Afloat Emote, Heart of a King Emote, and Stay Lobby Track can be purchased individually or via the Laroi’s Party Starter Bundle, which additionally includes the Wild Dreams Loading Screen:
Keep your head in the clouds.
Battle to the Top in The Kid Laroi Cup
Be as fearless as Laroi in The Kid Laroi Cup. Compete in this Duos Zero Build tournament on January 24 for the opportunity to be among the top point-earning players in your region, unlocking The Kid Laroi Outfit (+ Get My Bag Back Bling) and The Rogue Laroi Outfit (+ Tragic Blade Back Bling/Pickaxe) early. Also, earn at least eight points to unlock a Laroi Banner Icon and the Laroi’s Smile Emoticon.
Competitors can play up to ten matches within their region’s approximately three-hour time window, and the specific event timing for each region can be found in the Compete tab in-game.
See you when the party starts in Fortnite on January 27.
