Resident Evil 4. Feeling that the classic top-down formula that had seen the series thrive during the 90s had grown stale, this follow-up was to be a total reinvention of survival horror as a concept. Something fresh. Dynamic. Exciting. The slate was wiped completely clean, and from that blank canvas, something exceptional was created. A game that not only redefined the franchise, but third-person action games as a whole.
For eighteen tumultuous years, Capcom has tried to surpass the success of Resident Evil 4. The fifth and sixth entries doubled down on the action to mixed results, while seven and eight focused on scares as seen from a first-person viewpoint. Meanwhile, 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake looked to the past for its inspiration, delivering a masterful retread that blended responsive third-person combat with the exquisite production values of the series’ more modern titles. But with the release of Resident Evil 4 remake, Resident Evil has finally come full circle. Whereas the original release was a rejection of the games that came before, this remake is instead a celebration of where the series went next. Action-focused combat. Photo-realistic environments. Gooey monsters, hammy characters, ridiculous storylines. What better way to remake the highest peak of the series, than to build it upon the foundations of the very games it went on to inspire? Resident Evil 4 is a rambunctious thrill ride that is as good – if not, dare I say it, a bit better – than the original game.
Bethesda’s upcoming RPG Starfield has received a Restricted rating due to its depiction of “interactive drug use,” the Australian Classification Board has announced. It is Australia’s strongest classification, meaning sales of Bethesda’s new RPG will be restricted to adults over 18 in Australia.
Violence was classified as having a “Strong Impact,” while nudity and sex received very low ratings. Drug use did the most to drive Starfield’s ratings, which its depiction being classified as “High Impact.” Starfield’s rating is stronger than Fallout 4, which received an MA-15 rating for its violence when it was released back in 2015.
Bethesda’s RPGs have long been known for their explicit content, including featuring a fictional drug called “Jet” that your character can get addicted to in-game. This is the strongest rating to date, though, offering a hint of what to expect when it’s eventually released later this year.
A little more insight into Starfield
While Bethesda has delved into some of Starfield’s systems and gameplay, there’s still a good deal we don’t known. Back in 2022 we interviewed director Todd Howard, where he talked about how it would mix handcrafted content with a procedurally-generated galaxy, among other features.
Starfield was originally supposed in late 2022, but was subsequently delayed into 2023. Xbox boss Phil Spencer supported the delay and said “the decision to give the team the time to build the game that they feel they should be building is just the right thing to do.”
Starfield is currently slated to release September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, and has been confirmed to be available Day 1 on Xbox Game Pass.
After a delay in December last year, Disney Speedstorm is finally back on track with a release date. This new licensed racer will now be launching in “early access” on the Switch on 18th April.
If you would like to join in on the fun early, you can pre-order the standard founder’s pack for $29.99 USD or you can get the deluxe or ultimate packages for $49.99 / $69.99. This game will also be released as a free-to-play title at a later date.
Earlier this week, we heard how Nintendo’s upcoming release The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be skipping PAX East 2023. In a statement, a Nintendo spokesperson mentioned how the company’s presence at the show would be dedicated to competitive play.
Hyperkin, the company that makes retro-inspired gaming accessories for modern-day consoles, is at it again. Instead of making an original Xbox controller this time, the company has decided to jump a generation and create an Xbox 360-style controller for the Xbox Series X|S called the Xenon.
The Xenon is set to come out on June 6 and will be priced at USD 49.99. You’ll be able to buy the controller in black, white, pink, or red.
Additionally, the 360-inspired controller will come with precision analog impulse triggers, a view and share button allowing you to take screenshots and record gameplay, vibration feedback, a 3.5 mm headset jack, and a detachable Type-C cable so you can charge/update your controller.
The controller was announced last November and is named after the original codename given to the Xbox 360’s first console iteration.
This isn’t the first time Hyperkin has decided to pay homage older Xbox consoles. On its website, you can purchase a Duke wired controller that works on the Xbox Series X|S and even the iconic single-ear-piece headset used in the 360 era.
You can play a pre-order for the Xenon controller on the Hyperkin Website on May 5.
Hi Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been confusing global officials for over a year. What’s even more confusing is a reference to PlayStation’s Superman in a case underway in the U.K.
The legal team representing Microsoft referenced a PlayStation Superman game in a document responding to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) provisional findings regarding concerns the company’s nearly $70 billion acquisition of the publisher may render Activision Blizzard games exclusive to Xbox should the merger go through… but that reference was most likely a typo.
In Section 2.20, where it discusses the impact the merger will have on PlayStation exclusive titles on Xbox console sales, it wrote, “This applies for ‘big titles’ like God of War and Superman. There has never been evidence that exclusivity of one single franchise can drive console sales.”
The problem is, a Superman game hasn’t been made for the PS5 or PS4. In fact, the last time a Superman game was made for a PlayStation console was Superman Returns, the video game adaptation of the 2006 movie of the same name starring Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, for PS2.
The superhero game Microsoft’s attorneys probably meant to write in that section is Marvel’s Spider-Man, as it was mentioned three times throughout the document. Insomniac Games made that game and Spider-Man: Miles Morales exclusively for PS4 and PS5. Although, both games aren’t necessarily PlayStation-exclusive titles anymore since they got ported over to PC last fall, especially the remastered version of the former.
If you tried looking for a Superman game on the PlayStation Store because of the typo, you’re out of luck. But don’t worry, you’ll get to see him in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which reportedly got delayed to later this year because of the backlash directed at the gameplay shown off during Sony’s recent State of Play live stream. The game also generated controversy over Rocksteady Games making it online-only, even in single player mode.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
I’m not exactly sure why a developer best known for quiet, choice-filled games that border on interactive movies is so interested in turning them into arcade-style rail shooters, but Supermassive Games is taking another crack at exactly that – this time with the help of the new PlayStation VR2 headset. Like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood before it, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR focuses less on storytelling and more on action to mixed results. While it’s fun to blast through ghouls and bats in my path, this spinoff is plagued by many of the same issues as its predecessor, including a disappointingly short runtime.
Switchback VR’s story feels like an afterthought, putting you in the role of an unnamed protagonist on a hellish rollercoaster ride across ten different stages. Most are locations featured in the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, but you’re never really told much about why the protagonist is visiting them or any of the few supporting characters they meet. That’s partially because Switchback VR is very short, only taking me about four hours to complete, but it’s disappointing all the same, given how good of a job Supermassive usually does providing backstory and depth to its characters.
But what it lacks in story, Switchback VR mostly makes up for in gameplay. While the on-rails nature of its action naturally limits where you can go, you are able to move your head to look around in any direction in VR. It was fun to quickly turn each time I heard eerie screams or enemies creeping up on me in the background or occasionally having to physically duck to avoid falling beams and leaning pillars. That situational awareness is key as enemies will sometimes sneakily appear to the left and right of your peripheral vision.
You will always have two guns to fend off enemies, each independently controlled with the PS VR2’s Sense controllers. While you start every level with the default pistols, you can grab ammo-limited alternatives like a revolver or a machine gun by shooting red crates that appear in convenient sections of each stage. It’s annoying that these special weapons are locked into the hand you initially shot the crate with, but you can still have some fun switching up your strategy for a bit when you find them. For example, you could use a machine gun to swiftly remove enemies close to your cart and conserve ammo by firing the pistol at enemies further away. Other weapons like a flare gun are required to solve certain puzzles and progress further – they do not require a lot of thought to solve, as you just need to shoot at certain objects to keep the track moving forward, but it is a nice change of pace from just shooting hordes of enemies.
Shooting feels responsive and the motion-controlled aiming is very accurate.
The shooting mechanics themselves have been simplified for VR, with firing and reloading both mapped to two buttons on each Sense controller since so few are needed overall. That’s not a bad thing as on-rail shooters focus more on throwing as many enemies at you as possible in a short period of time than nuanced gunplay. Still, shooting in Switchback VR feels responsive and the motion-controlled aiming is very accurate, which made headshots extremely rewarding each time I pulled one off.
The heads you’ll be popping vary depending on the stage you’re on, ranging from standard zombies to flying vampires. Most of these enemies will be familiar to those that played any of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, each a faithful recreation of the monsters from those games. Killing enemies or destroying inanimate objects such as bottles, empty crates, and skulls will increase your score for a level, which is a nice incentive to deal as much damage as you can. There are even local and online leaderboards for you to compare scores with other players, but it feels like a shallow exercise when they don’t measure important factors like accuracy.
Switchback VR nails the creepy atmosphere and tension of each stage – from the dark and abandoned World War 2 freighter seen in Man of Medan to the sandy underground ruins of the ancient empire featured in House of Ashes. Unfortunately, the frequent overuse of cheap jump scares quickly overshadows any building suspense provided by a given location. While the first two enjoyably caught me by surprise, it doesn’t take long for them to become more annoying than alarming.
But while the jumpscares did little to keep me on the edge of my seat, the handful of sections where Switchback VR took advantage of the PS VR2’s eye-tracking were actually impressively unsettling. These areas have enemies that move closer and closer to you each time you blink, which is an incredibly novel experience for any game that left me wanting to see more. It’s a shame that only a few moments of Switchback VR make use of this concept, but the parts that do are a great showcase of the potential of this new tech in future horror games made for the headset.
The little bit of variety alternate routes offer isn’t very memorable.
Although Supermassive has done a good job of including some of the PS VR2’s new technology, Switchback VR still feels a bit technologically unpolished in a few places. I noticed a few performance issues while playing: Some background textures, like tree branches, would randomly appear as the cart moved closer to them, and I had three instances where the screen froze for a few seconds. These issues were relatively minor and didn’t totally throw my ride off the rails, but they were still noticeable and annoying on such a brief trip.
Despite its short length, Switchback VR does offer some replayability by letting you go down different routes that help shake up each run. Most of these decisions are made by shooting at specific gates that allow you to change your cart’s course, which is a nice way to blend that choice into the action. You even get a complete view of your route at the end of each stage, along with a tease of the alternate paths you could have taken, encouraging me to go back in and see what I missed. That said, the little bit of variety those routes offer isn’t very memorable when you can still see everything Switchback VR has to offer in two or three playthroughs.
In addition to changing your route, some stages give you an option to save, kill, or abandon survivors that appear in some stages. Each survivor is tied to an optional puzzle that gives you amount of time to at objects in a specific order. However, like most of Supermassive’s games, the majority of these small decision points have little or no impact on the overall story.
Boss fights are also included at the end of some stages, but their execution leaves a lot to be desired. These battles pit you against antagonists from their respective Dark Pictures entries, such as the final form of the Sailor Girl in Man of Medan, whose boss battle consists of her levitating and throwing projectiles at you. Most of the boss fights end up boring and unremarkable, like busy work to slow you down rather than an epic obstacle you must overcome to finish the stage.
Dwarf Fortress has long had babies, but if you’re using the recent Steam release and its sprite art, they look like adults. That’s going to change soon in what Kitfox call their “cutest update ever”, which will add baby sprites for every creature in-game, from aarvarks to dwarves to troglodytes.
We’ve assembled some starter tips to help during the early phases of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.
From scouting early and often to clearing out those pesky barbarian camps, this guide will help establish your footing within this epic turn-based strategy game.
Now that Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is available with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Cloud, many of you may be diving into this grand strategy game for the first time, while others may be returning after some time away from their conquering days. Either way, we thought we’d lend a hand to give some starter tips to help get your civilizations established during your first 50 Turns or so.
Some Core Starting Tips
Ocean Front Views: It’s helpful to establish your city near waterways or the coast. It opens more options (trade, food, etc.) for your civilization as you start out. For example, establishing a city on the coast immediately gives you a Sailing research bonus that can come in handy later as you embark upon the waves.
Robots Are Your Friend: Use Automate Exploration on your Warriors/Scouts early on so you can concentrate on getting your core strategy in place. Their pathfinding ability is pretty good and can give you early insight into future desirable city state locations and Barbarian camps (more on that later).
Set and Forget: Use the Queue system early and often in both research and unit creation. This too allows you to think about the rest of your layout and exploration while the Turns quickly roll by (and it will go by faster than you think!). Ideally, your first Units should be some combination of Scout, Warrior, Slinger/Archer, and Builder in whatever order you choose.
Pick a Route to Victory and Work Towards It
There are five Victory Conditions (Science, Culture, Religion, Domination, and Score – Diplomacy is available in the Gathering Storm DLC) and each Civilization Leader has a core strength that you should lean into and not away from. For example, Cleopatra (Egypt) gives you Gold and Food bonuses for trade routes, so look to establish those early to help your civilization grow to take advantage of this.
A lot of this information and strategy can be mapped out for you early on from the in-game Technology Tree. It will also give you a rough approximation of how many turns it will take for you to unlock some of these skills. You can even add numerous technologies to a build queue so you can “set and forget” as you work on other aspects of your world domination plan. Or, to make it even easier, if you have a victory condition in mind, simply scroll to the right and select that desired Technology and the game will map out the ideal tech to unlock to achieve it, automatically add it to your queue, and you’ll be on your way.
Seeing as how we’re trying to get up to speed in 50 turns today, we’d recommend you unlock the “Core 3” as soon as you can which are Pottery, Animal Husbandry, and Mining. In less than 30 turns, all of those should be unlocked which opens several other paths for you to start progressing towards and tiles for you to extract resources from. They’re key to you finding early success in the game since they feed into just about everything.
Scout Early, Find Your Neighbors, Discover Resources
Knowledge is key to success and that comes in revealing the “fog of war” on the world map in Civilization VI. Sending Scouts into the world can yield resource locations, other civilizations, villages, and those pesky Barbarian Camps (more on those in a minute). Scouts can also stumble upon National Wonders which can give a boost to Astrology.
And while a Scout is the obvious unit to use here, Warriors can also be used as an alternate early on. Your odds of another civilization invading your just-established settlement are relatively low early on and sending your Warrior out as a “cheap Scout” can yield early round benefits before you can build a dedicated Scout (which takes about 5 turns). Once you do have your Scout in place, you should pull your Warrior back close to home because the Barbarians can put a serious wrinkle in your plans for early expansion. Speaking of…
Clear Out Barbarians ASAP
Despite your best laid plans, all of it can come quickly crushing down by just a couple of unwelcome raids via the local Barbarian population. It’s advisable you don’t ignore this thorn in your side and look to counter their raids by building some Warriors and Slingers/Archers to seek out their camps and wipe them out entirely.
Before that happens, you should start to plan this offensive. Your Warriors can gain XP by taking out Barbarian Scouts, who are relatively weak. If you can level them up, it will tilt these one-on-one battles more in your favour. Personally, we’ve found that a good combo of 2 Slinger/Archer units with 1 Warrior unit is the best approach during the early game phase. Once you can upgrade Slingers to Archers (by researching Archery after Animal Husbandry), their line of sight allows you to start picking off the Barbarian raiders much further away, allowing you to weaken them for your Warriors to clean up.
Taking care of these Barbarian encampments are key for your success early on so you can start to build ideal units that can bring your expansion plans to fruition, like Settlers, Builders, and Traders that are free from raiders.
Build Builders
By about Turn 30 you should be close to unlocking Pottery, Animal Husbandry, and Mining which will allow you to take advantage of the resources near your starting location (located on adjacent tiles). Builders will be your key unit at this next early phase of the game as you want to get your local economy up and running as fast as you can, which can then open Trading, and feed into your expansion plans.
Builders can only be used three times before they’re expired, but they have the power to Build Improvements instantly – no waiting around for your Farm to take shape. So, if you happen to start out in a very feature rich area, it may be wise to queue two of them up during this phase of the game if you can afford it. They can also be used to repair damaged titles (for free!) that may get raided by Barbarians or other hostile civilizations.
The other unique thing about Builders in Civilization VI is that they can also Harvest Resources to yield a lump sum to the parent city if you’re in immediate need of resources, like food for example. Later, as you unlock bronze working, you can also use a Builder to remove features to help with further expansions, like placements of campuses. Just be mindful you’re not stripping something that you intend to build later. For example, a Wonder such as Stonehenge needs to be built next to Stone.
We hope these starter tips help you in your quest for domination in Civilization VI. As you’ll no doubt discover (or become reacquainted with), there are dozens upon dozens of different ways to approach the game and much more in-depth strategies to consider as you get into the deeper levels of the game around turns 100 though 200. For now, we hope you enjoy playing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI today with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Cloud. Happy conquering!
Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Explore a new land, research technology, conquer your enemies, and go head-to-head with history’s most renowned leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.
Civilization VI for Xbox One includes the latest game updates and improvements and four pieces of additional content which adds four new civilizations, leaders, and scenarios:
•PLAY YOUR WAY: The path to victory is the one you determine. Become the most scientifically advanced civilization, dominate through sheer military power, or become the foremost destination for the cultural arts.
•THE WORLD’S GREATEST LEADERS: Play as one of 24 different leaders from various countries around the world and throughout history. Build an empire of lucrative trade routes with Cleopatra of Egypt, flex the military might of your legions with Trajan of Rome, or develop a powerhouse of culture with Hojo Tokimune of Japan. Each of the leaders can be played any way you prefer, with unique abilities, units, and infrastructure in their quest for victory.
•EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map. Settle in uncharted lands, improve your surroundings, build new districts, and see your cities – and your civilization – prosper.
•ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.
•DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.
•EXCITING AND UNIQUE SCENARIOS: Civilization VI on Xbox One includes four playable scenarios, each with a different setting and style of gameplay inspired by history. Be part of the colonization of Australia in “Outback Tycoon,” defend Poland from invaders in “Jadwiga’s Legacy,” choose a Viking leader to conquer Europe in “Vikings, Raiders, and Traders!”, or conquer the known world in the “Conquests of Alexander.”
•COOPERATIVE AND COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER: Up to 4 players can cooperate or compete for supremacy via online multiplayer.
Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.
Key Features:
EXPANSIVE EMPIRES
• See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each district, wonder, and improvement is built on its own hex, allowing you to customize your city to your heart’s content.
• From the Commercial Hub to the Spaceport, every district provides unique and powerful bonuses. Pick and choose which districts to build to fit your needs!
• Build better than your opponents, place yourself strategically for your allies, and become the best civilization
ACTIVE RESEARCH
• Boost your civilization’s progress through history to unlock powerful bonuses before anyone else! To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.
• Research isn’t just limited to science. Explore the Civics tree to unlock powerful new governments and cultural policies
• Cultivate the civilization that fits your playstyle, or switch it up every time you play!
DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY
• As the game progresses, so do your diplomatic relationships. From primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.
• Carry influence with nearby city states to gain its diplomatic allegiance and earn game-changing city-state bonuses
• Enlist spies to gather crucial intel on rival civilizations, steal precious resources, and even topple governments.
Resident Evil 4. Feeling that the classic top-down formula that had seen the series thrive during the 90s had grown stale, this follow-up was to be a total reinvention of survival horror as a concept. Something fresh. Dynamic. Exciting. The slate was wiped completely clean, and from that blank canvas, something exceptional was created. A game that not only redefined the franchise, but third-person action games as a whole.
Dwarf Fortress has long had babies, but if you’re using the recent Steam release and its sprite art, they look like adults. That’s going to change soon in what Kitfox call their “cutest update ever”, which will add baby sprites for every creature in-game, from aarvarks to dwarves to troglodytes.
