Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Multiplayer has been out in the world for a couple weeks, and we are thrilled to see that it has come with a great sentiment from the Call of Duty community, who have responded particularly well to the more fluid movement system and the modernized return of the 16 fan-favorite maps from Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Back on October 5, at the Call of Duty: Next broadcast, Sledgehammer Games developers took the stage to share all the innovations and details about what players could expect from Multiplayer at launch.

Shortly after, the Beta kicked off and allowed players to get hands on experience with MP, which provided the opportunity for them to give feedback on the mode before its official launch on November 10. Fast forward to now, and Xbox players around the globe have been jumping into Modern Warfare III to experience this fan-favorite mode for themselves.

First and foremost, the great reaction to Modern Warfare III MP has been something Sledgehammer Games has been proud to see. As Zach Hodson, Design Director at the Studio puts it, “We’re incredibly inspired from the reactions so far. The positivity makes the effort worth it, and we use the negatives as motivation to get solid fixes and improvements out as fast as we can. Keep the feedback coming!”

On the feedback front, between Beta and launch, the studio has taken several key learnings to make some of the adjustments and improvements that you’ve already seen at launch. So far, spawns have been one of the most notable adjustments. From Zach Hodson: “Spawns were a big one. We heard from players that the spawns lacked directionality and it was making it impossible to know which direction the fights would be coming from. In between Beta and Launch our QA, Analysts, Designers, and Engineers worked together on all aspects of spawns to improve on the issues players were seeing. We think the work really paid off, but there are still more improvements coming.”

From an art direction standpoint, the Beta confirmed a lot of the hopes from the Sledgehammer team with the direction they had taken in modernizing these classic maps. From Matt Abbott, Art Director at the studio: “The Beta gave us so much data to trust our instincts and deliver to the players what we wanted to see as fans of Call of Duty.  We have to walk a fine line of balancing realism, grittiness, and natural palettes.  The perception of saturated colors can be polarizing because it potentially deprives a level of grittiness that has come to define Modern Warfare.  In the Beta, it became clear that we didn’t need to dial back our instincts and we could let the natural, physically based materials shine in their full glory while maintaining the realism the franchise is known for.”

There were a few adjustments made, though: “After the Beta, we made a subtle shift that pushed saturation and contrast to take full advantage of Xbox Series X, HDR, and modern monitors/TVs.  Because of the data from the Beta, we were able to make adjustments that made maps not only look better but play better as well.  The idea that people are stopping to smell the roses and look at all the care, tuning, and polishing that goes into the visuals of a Call of Duty game is something that warms a developer’s heart.” 

Other fan favorite updates that have come with Modern Warfare III Multiplayer include slide and reload canceling, updates to recoil, and new ways to set your loadout. While loadouts can be entirely subjective, Hodson recommends “playing around with the collapsed-stockless MCW with Stalker Boots and seeing how aggressively you can build it, while still keeping its accuracy.” Beyond that, there are many opportunities to create the loadout that works best for your playstyle, so if you haven’t yet, be sure to jump in and try it out for yourself.

Overall, Modern Warfare III Multiplayer has delivered an intense, fluid, and fun player experience. We look forward to seeing how the game continues to evolve based on community feedback. We can’t wait to see you in the lobbies!

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III – Vault Edition

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
560

★★★★★

$99.99

Get it now

The Vault Edition includes:

– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
– Available in Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II and Call of Duty®: Warzone:
— Soap Operator Pack*
— Zombie Ghost Operator Skin*
— Soul Harvester Tracer Weapon Blueprint*
– Nemesis Operator Pack
— 4 Operators Skins: Makarov, Warden, Price and Ghost
– 2 Weapon Vaults**
– BlackCell (1 Season) + 30 additional Tier Skips***
— BlackCell Includes: Battle Pass, 20 Tier Skips, 1,100 CP and more

ADAPT OR DIE IN A FIGHT AGAINST THE ULTIMATE THREAT

In the direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II, Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against the ultimate threat. The ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov is extending his grasp across the world causing Task Force 141 to fight like never before.

IT’S TIME TO SETTLE OLD SCORES AND START NEW ONES

Modern Warfare® III celebrates the 20th anniversary of Call of Duty® with one of the greatest collections of Multiplayer maps ever assembled – both fan favorites and all new ones. All 16 launch maps from the original Modern Warfare® 2 (2009) have been modernized with new modes and gameplay features and will be available at launch to get everyone started, while over 12 all-new core 6v6 maps will fuel post-launch live seasons.

ALL NEW OPEN WORLD ZOMBIES

For the first time, team up with other squads to survive and fight massive hordes of the undead in the largest Call of Duty® Zombies map ever. Modern Warfare® Zombies (MWZ) tells a new Treyarch Zombies story with missions, core Zombies features, and secrets to discover.

*Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II or Call of Duty®: Warzone on Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S required to redeem. Sold / downloaded separately. Must be redeemed by November 10th, 2024.

**Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch.

***Battle Pass, Call of Duty® points, and Tier Skips will be accessible in Modern Warfare® III once the Season 1 Battle Pass is made available in game. Battle Pass redemption applies to one Season of Modern Warfare® III Battle Pass only.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

© 2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, CALL OF DUTY WARZONE, and MODERN WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2023 Id Software, Inc.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III – Cross-Gen Bundle

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
532

★★★★★

$69.99

Get it now

Includes:

– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
– Available in Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II and Call of Duty®: Warzone:
— Soap Operator Pack*
— Zombie Ghost Operator Skin*

ADAPT OR DIE IN A FIGHT AGAINST THE ULTIMATE THREAT

In the direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II, Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against the ultimate threat. The ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov is extending his grasp across the world causing Task Force 141 to fight like never before.

IT’S TIME TO SETTLE OLD SCORES AND START NEW ONES

Modern Warfare® III celebrates the 20th anniversary of Call of Duty® with one of the greatest collections of Multiplayer maps ever assembled – both fan favorites and all new ones. All 16 launch maps from the original Modern Warfare® 2 (2009) have been modernized with new modes and gameplay features and will be available at launch to get everyone started, while over 12 all-new core 6v6 maps will fuel post-launch live seasons.

ALL NEW OPEN WORLD ZOMBIES

For the first time, team up with other squads to survive and fight massive hordes of the undead in the largest Call of Duty® Zombies map ever. Modern Warfare® Zombies (MWZ) tells a new Treyarch Zombies story with missions, core Zombies features, and secrets to discover.

*Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II or Call of Duty®: Warzone on Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S required to redeem. Sold / downloaded separately. Must be redeemed by November 10th, 2024.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

© 2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, CALL OF DUTY WARZONE, and MODERN WARFARE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2023 Id Software, Inc.

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Multiplayer – The Community’s Response So Far and Updates Since Beta appeared first on Xbox Wire.

The year might be coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fit one more crossover into Dying Light 2 Stay Human before we see 2023 out. As we mentioned in our Sneak Peek, our last crossover event of the year will be with For Honor. So, Pilgrims, it’s time to sharpen your longswords, axes and katanas, because to fight off these noble warriors, you’re gonna need every advantage you can get!

Ubisoft’s medieval-inspired brawler pits some of the Middle Ages’ toughest factions against each other in up to 4v4 combat and seemed like a natural collaboration for us. First, we’re both about action, with a little sprinkling of dismemberment and decapitation. Secondly, and most importantly, we both have diehard communities who love to be creative when it comes to combat. So, get ready to practice your warcry for when you head into battle. And if Japanese, Icelandic or Latin isn’t one of your spoken tongues, don’t worry, we’ll forgive the pronunciation. It’s time to scream “Jinjyo ni shoubu” (or “Let’s have an honorable showdown”) as we head into talking about the event!

Those familiar with the lore of For Honor will know that these factions are entangled in a bitter war while fighting for supremacy of the map. With three of the game’s factions hearing that the city of Villedor would provide them a tactical advantage over their foes, they believed that the last bastion of humanity would see them be ultimately victorious. These warriors have seen thousands of battlefields, but nothing could prepare them for what lay ahead: hordes of zombies and one hard-to-kill hero, you!

As these warriors invade The City, you’ll see a cloud of fog appear from which they will emerge. These warriors can be friendly and will attack zombies or rival factions, but that’s the minority; most of them will see you as just another body to add to their tally. Not only will you need to put up a fight to survive, you’ll be rewarded for killing the Wardens, Kensei and Berserkers that find themselves in Villedor. Each of these factions will have different levels of attacking threat, HP and damage, so each will pose a different challenge. And make sure to watch out for their taunts as they will recover vital HP that might put you on the backfoot!

For defeating 15 For Honor warriors in duels, you’ll earn the legendary Berserker’s Hand Axe (and blueprint), which heals you when you decapitate an enemy and inflicts a bleeding effect on those who are caught by the blade. Additionally, the ultimate reward will require you to personally kill a total of 30 For Honor warriors; for doing so, you’ll get the Berserker outfit and paraglider. And finally, for banding together as a community of warriors and killing 5,000,000 of these foes, everyone will get the Warlord’s Shield Charm, which will allow you perform actions without consuming stamina immediately after decapitating an enemy.

For those who complete all the goals, they will earn everything that’s available in the Berserker Bundle for absolutely free. However, if you wish to represent another faction, we have prepared two special bundles: the Kensei Bundle and the Warden Bundle. Both feature a unique appearance, deadly weapon (with blueprint), charm and paraglider, so make sure to check them out in the in-game store, accessible via the main menu!

So, Pilgrims, it’s time to train your parrying skills, swordsmanship and creative combat ideas as you’ll be getting up close and personal with these fierce warriors. And one last bit of advice: “Nulla misericordia!”

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human

Techland

☆☆☆☆☆
1005

★★★★★

$59.99

Get it now

Upgrade your experience with Smart Delivery. Buy the game once to both play it on Xbox One and get its optimized version for Xbox Series X | S

It’s been 20 years since the events of the original game. The virus won, and humanity is slowly dying. You play as Aiden Caldwell, a wandering Pilgrim who delivers goods, brings news, and connects the few remaining survivor settlements in barren lands devastated by the zombie virus. However, your true goal is to find your little sister Mia, who you left behind as a kid to escape Dr. Waltz’s torturous experiments. Haunted by the past, you eventually make the decision to confront it when you learn that Mia may still be alive in Villedor — the last city standing on Earth.

You quickly find yourself in a settlement torn by conflict. You’ll need to engage in creative and gory combat, so hone your skills to defeat hordes of zombies and make allies. Roam the city, free run across Villedor’s buildings and rooftops in search of loot in remote areas, and be wary of the night. With every sunset, monsters take control of the streets.

A WORLD AFTER THE APOCALYPSE
Fifteen years ago, humanity was devastated by the Fall — a catastrophic event that would change the world forever. With the Harran virus spreading around the globe, people quickly found out that all hope for tomorrow is lost. By 2036, only a few settlements remain, and humanity is slowly dying, making way for the new species out there — a horde of relentless zombies.

DAY’S FOR THE LIVING, NIGHT’S FOR THE DEAD
Welcome to Villedor, one of the last bastions of humanity. During the day, survivors still try to have a life here and find a false sense of normalcy. Relationships are formed, dreams are dreamed, and life carries on. On the surface, everything seems… fine. Until sunset, that is. With the last ray of light dying out, other, more dreadful, dwellers of The City crawl out of their gloomy interiors, taking over the streets. If you are not vigilant and stay out too long in the dark, you may never return.

YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO SURVIVE
Not all fights can be won. Sometimes it’s best to run and, thankfully, you have the skills for it. Parkour lets you escape when odds are not in your favor. Jump from rooftop to rooftop, swing across the cityscape, ride ziplines, and much more. Whatever you do, experience a unique sense of freedom as you free run across Villedor’s buildings and rooftops in search of loot or while running away from the dangers of the night.

GET BRUTAL AND BE CREATIVE ABOUT IT
In a world as dangerous as this one, only the strongest survive. Whether you prefer to smash, slice or dismember those who stand in your way, you have to be creative about it to make it through. And who says you need weapons? Utilize the entirety of your parkour moveset to get the jump on your enemies. Learn the ways of combat and parkour to feel the crunch of skulls and slices of flesh as you swing weapons or use your moves to fend off any forms of danger. And let’s not forget that Villedor has weapons that put the most advanced post-apocalyptic armories to shame.

FOUR PILGRIMS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Surviving in Villedor is easier with friends. Team up with up to 3 other players and increase your chances out there. Unravel the story together, take on Pilgrim Outpost challenges, or simply wreak havoc on the city streets.

The post Get Ready for a Fight with the For Honor Crossover in Dying Light 2 Stay Human appeared first on Xbox Wire.

• Accessible on-rails arcade fun just in time for the holidays
• Blast countless zombie hordes, either alone or with a friend
• Preorder Railbreak today

Hello Survivors! I’m Evan Wolbach, co-founder of Dead Drop Studios. We’re excited to share explosive details about our upcoming on-rails arcade shooter, Railbreak!  This is our first ever game built in Unreal Engine 5, and it’s taking aim at Xbox Series X|S just in time for the Holidays. Get ready for zombie-blasting carnage that’s as gorgeous as it is frenzied.

An Arcade Shooter for the Modern Age

Although we’re traditionally known for Outbreak, our survival horror thriller series, Railbreak marks our first entry in the under-represented on-rails arcade shooter genre. We’re huge fans of classic arcade games like The House of the Dead and Time Crisis, and Railbreak is built to channel the spirit of those titles and infuse it with modern technology and new, unexpected twists.

Unreal Engine 5 Delivers the Visual Flair and Allows for Shrapnel-Spewing New Gameplay Twists

As this is our first game utilizing Unreal Engine 5, the graphical leap over our previous titles is astronomical. Featuring next-generation garnishes like ray tracing, lumen, and volumetric lighting, Railbreak is a visual feast for the eyes; that is, if you have time to appreciate it while mowing down hordes of zombies! The new tools at our disposal also allow for advances in gameplay; our dismemberment physics allow players to strategically minimize zombie attacks, and the improvements in processing power also massively scale up the enemy count, making this game more frenetic than anything we’ve made before.

Spread the Lead Alone or with a Friend in Three Distinct Game Modes

One important similarity to our previous games is support for optional two-player co-op in all modes. You and a friend can play through the very cheesy and fully voiced Story, test your skills in Score Attack complete with rankings, and take on an endless challenge in Onslaught. All modes can be played across a variety of difficulty settings, so regardless of if it’s your first time playing an on-rails shooter or if you’re an arcade veteran, you experience the game the way you want to.

Strapped with More Action Than You Can Shake a Boomstick at

Railbreak is jam packed with content: we have seven unique scenarios, tons of zombies and enemy variations, multiple weapons, and a bevy of unlockable characters each with their own loadouts. The game is maximized for replayability; whether you want to try achieving a higher rank on an individual level or you want to relax and pass some time with a friend, Railbreak has the action you crave.

Show the undead swarms you mean business when Railbreak launches for Xbox Series X|S on December 22^nd. You can equip yourself for battle early when pre-orders begin on November 17th. Can you rise up to the retro challenge, or will the savage specters bite you to bits?

Railbreak

Dead Drop Studios LLC

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

Pre-order

It’s Saturday night in Cypress Ridge which means the city is in ruins, hordes of flesh eating undead are on the prowl, and you have the arcade all to yourself! Grab your controller, select your survivor, and blast your way to safety as the city burns around you in this on-rails survival horror shooter. Oh, and don’t forget to bring a friend for zombie fodder, er, we mean multiplayer experience!

Railbreak melds a classic on-rails arcade experience with the cutting edge Unreal Engine 5. In this prelude to Outbreak: Shades of Horror, you’ll get an opportunity to see the sights and sounds of Cypress Ridge and get chomped on by a zombie or four! Face the city alone, or bring a friend along with optional 2-player co-op supported across the entire game

Featuring a wide cast of survivors each with their own loadouts and traits, you’ll find plenty of replayability in this absurd take of a survival horror game in a survival horror game. A full story mode experience awaits across six scenarios. Bonus modes include Score Attack, and the endless Onslaught Mode that keeps ratcheting up the difficulty until the undead finally seal your fate.

Crack open your piggy bank, snag a fizzy soda, and take a trip back to the 1990’s arcade.

The post Pre-orders for Bombastic On-Rails Arcade Shooter Railbreak Begin Today appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Greetings from sunny South America…

Tourist Trap is a 2D hand drawn point & click adventure game with a strong focus on narrative and light puzzle solving. It´s a surrealist comedy with a dark secret at the core of the story. In a fictional South American tourist town called Santa Ballena, we play as a young tour guide, Lucas, who uncovers a conspiracy involving local abductions and an menacing corporation controlling the town.

Developed by TragicoMedia, a two-man studio composed of myself and Manuel González Larrauri, the game tells a very personal story and has many layers but mainly revolves around the two sides of its plot.

On one hand, the main text of the story about a tourist colony ruled by a foreign corporation and the lives of the many exploited locals that try to survive within it, is very much inspired by Manuel’s experience growing up in a working-class family in Punta del Este, Uruguay. As a coastal tourist town it suffers from most of the game’s fictional ills, such as no real economy beyond service to wealthy foreigners, no interest from the government to care for its population or infrastructure beyond the summer months and an ever rising sense of despair and wish to escape.

On the other hand, the game also addresses the issue of touristification, which is not unlike the situation of cultural industries in the global south. Drawing parallels between working as an artist, developer or creative of any kind and living in the Global South. Meaning that one must choose to either entertain the tourists (i.e., Global North audiences) by serving to their tastes, culture and language (i.e., developing game in English based around a gaming culture developed by and for the Global North), or cannibalizing their own culture for profit (i.e., making games in English but featuring highly marketable elements of one’s culture).

It’s naive to believe that the games industry should be safe from colonization or the Global North cultural influence, but as artists we are tackling the issue with the tools we have.

Tourist Trap has something of value to add to that objective.

We hope you enjoy Tourist Trap on Xbox!

Tourist Trap

TragicoMedia

☆☆☆☆☆
1

★★★★★

$9.99

$8.99

Get it now

Welcome to Santa Ballena…
A sunny paradise where you can free y̵o̶u̶r̸ ̶m̷i̴n̵d̴,̸ ̴r̸e̷l̵a̷x̶ ̶a̶n̶d̸ ̸e̴n̵j̷o̴y̷ l̴͖̈ḭ̴̈́f̶̣̚ë̵͎ ̶͙̇a̴͍̓s̴̳͑ ̴̺̈ȁ̸̢ ̸̡̆t̷̗͑ṛ̵͌ư̷̤e̸̩̚ ̵̡̓l̶̠͒ǫ̸̍c̵̞̎a̸̹͑l̶̺̂.̴͌ͅ

Tourist Trap is a surrealist dark comedy point & click adventure set in Santa Ballena, a South American town affected by tourism gentrification.
Introducing Lucas, a young tourist guide, who finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy involving local abductions, political rebels and Pharos, the shady foreign corporation controlling the town.

The post Tourist Trap: a Surrealist Dark Comedy Adventure appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Hey, Washers! Jess from FuturLab here to give you the low-down on PowerWash Simulator’s heaviest collaboration yet — the Back to the Future Special Pack! We’ve teamed up with the folks at Universal Games and Digital Platforms to transport you back in time onto various sets from the iconic “Back to the Future” trilogy from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

And, when given the chance to visit the past, you do what any person with a superior knowledge of future technology would do… powerwash! Well, introducing the world to rock ‘n’ roll was already taken!

As well as saving the Hill Valley Clocktower (from muck, this time), you will also get to spray down Doc Brown’s Van, the Time Machine, the Holomax Theater and Doc’s Time Train. Plus, you can collect 10 electrifying new achievements.

This Special Pack features some of our coolest animations to date, so to learn more about how we brought the timelessness of “Back to the Future” to life, I was joined by FuturLab Junior Animator Alannah Meek to share some of her secrets here with you all.

Bringing the Back to the Future Special Pack to Life

Environmental storytelling has always been a core aspect of PowerWash Simulator. From early on, clues were scattered like breadcrumbs throughout each map, adding to the narrative and breathing life into the setting.

The Back to the Future Special Pack represents the next evolution of animation in PowerWash Simulator. Fittingly, alongside this celebration of cinema, we’re bringing you our most cinematic animations yet. From ticking cogs to flying trains, this Special Pack has it all.  

“The Back to the Future Special Pack has more animation than its predecessors,” explains Meek. “Being able to interact with and wash all these moving parts brings so much more life and interactivity to the pack, allowing you to experience the world of Back to the Future to a greater extent and appreciate the finer details from the films,”

Creating the Hill Valley Clocktower

The Hill Valley Clocktower played a pivotal role in the first “Back to the Future” movie. You’ll find it nestled in a fully explorable Hill Valley Town Square. Although 30 years has passed since the place was struck by lightning, it sure looks like it still needs some major TLC!

“Animating the clock mechanism involved a lot of research into how clock towers work and finding reference videos of the moving parts as the room in the film is only shown for a short time and dimly lit,” says Meek. “I also had to work closely with the artist to make sure the models would be functional and understand how all the individual pieces interact with one another. We made sure that the clock tower mechanism is broken as the clock tower has been struck by lightning, so eagle-eyed players will notice the cogs attached to the hands on the clock are failing to interact properly.”

Building The Holomax Theater

In “Back to the Future Part II,” the Holomax Theater captured the imaginations of viewers as a futuristic way to sink your teeth into a movie. Players can put themselves in Marty McFly’s sneakers to get up close and really personal with the holographic shark from the fictional “Jaws 19!” If you are looking for how to trigger this interaction, we’ll leave you with this timeless clue: X marks the spot.

“It was a unique challenge to imitate CGI from the 1980s with pixelated textures and interesting quirks in the animation! I studied the clip from the film and partnered with the team at Universal Games and Digital Platforms very closely to try to get the model and animation of the shark to feel as close as possible to the film,” recalls Meek.

Constructing Doc’s Time Train

Who can forget Doc Brown’s explosive entrance on a time travelling train in “Back to the Future Part III?” Players can experience the epic take-off of Doc’s Time Train in the new Special Pack, just remember: the future is what you make it, so make it a clean one!

“My personal favourite animation in this special pack is the animation on the Doc’s Time Train,” Meek remarks, “Working out how all the parts of the train work from film footage was a real challenge, but I love the end result and being able to wash the train while all the parts are moving and watching it fly away is a great end to the level.”

You might be wondering: “Why aren’t they talking about the Time Machine?!” Well, we wanted you to experience that magical moment for yourselves! Once you reach 100% on the Time Machine level, you’ll see some serious…ly cool animation!

“I hope everyone enjoys the Back to the Future Special Pack and look out for the shark!” Meek says.

We hope you’ll love all the wit and wonder of the Back to the Future Special Pack! Xbox Game Pass members can play the original PowerWash Simulator as part of their membership. The Back to the Future Special Pack is available now for a separate purchase on the Xbox Store (a copy of PowerWash Simulator is required to play).

PowerWash Simulator Back to the Future Special Pack

Square Enix Ltd.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$7.99

Get it now

Great Scott! Crank that water pressure to 88 miles per hour and travel back in time to hose down iconic movie sets from the Back to the Future trilogy!

The future may be ‘heavy’, but the past sure is dirty. You’ve arrived on set in the nick of time to make every legendary location sparkle and every prop ‘pop’, even if it takes a whole 1.21 gigawatts of pressure washing power!

With filming schedules running tight, you’re in for one electrifying ride to spray down everything from the Time Machine to the Holomax Theater before you’re “OUTATIME”.

Make power wash history by blasting every spec of dirt and grime from heavy use, debris from explosive scenes and temporal ice from… well, we’re not actually sure where that came from.

Wash and explore five new levels:
– Doc Brown’s Van
– Time Machine
– Hill Valley Clocktower
– Holomax Theater
– Doc’s Time Train

Well, better get to it! There’s no time like the present! Or the past, or the future for that matter.

PowerWash Simulator

Square Enix Ltd.

☆☆☆☆☆
423

★★★★★

$24.99

$19.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Release the Pressure with PowerWash Simulator! Wash away your worries with the soothing sounds of high-pressure water. Fire up your power washer and blast away every speck of dirt and grime you can find. Build your own power-washing business and unlock new tools, upgrades and more – all with the simple satisfaction of power-washing to a sparkling finish.
TIME TO CLEAN UP THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Build up your business in Career Mode and complete a variety of dirty jobs across the dusty town of Muckingham. There’s no right or wrong; no time pressure or final score, just you and the tools you need to soak away your stress. Want a clean start? Chill out and replay your favourite jobs in Free Play.
POWERWASH AND CHILL
Relax, unwind, and play with friends in Online Co-Op! Lend a helping hand to your closest pal in Career Mode, or up to 6 friends can splash around in Free Play, tackling any job the host has already completed.
KEEP IT CLEAN
For those looking for a little more pressure, beat your best scores in Challenge Mode! Fight grime in different scenarios; wash against the clock in Time Challenge or test your accuracy by using as little water as possible in Water Challenge.
GOOD CLEAN FUN
Graffiti, grime, moss, and mould, no dirt is too tough for your range of washers, nozzles, cleaners, and extensions. Different dirt types have different levels of toughness, so make sure you’re getting tactical with your equipment. Feeling fancy? Then customise your look with washer skins and gloves!
RELAXATION, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
From casual, clean freaks to players looking to get into the nitty-gritty, everyone can pick up and play to feel immersed. Absorb the relaxing atmosphere and stress-free pace as you strip dirt from patios, pavements, vehicles, and public parks. Stress gets to us all, so sit back, relax, and wash your worries down the drain.
THE WORLD IS YOUR CANVAS
Create art by cleaning the way you want. Your nozzles are your brushes; the neighbourhood is your canvas. Unleash your creative talents and transform ordinary dirt into exceptional artwork. Share your techniques and showcase your power-washing prowess and mud-caked masterpieces!

The post A Sneak Peek at the Cool Animations of the Back to the Future Special Pack for PowerWash Simulator appeared first on Xbox Wire.

SteamWorld isn’t like other series. Where most game franchises take a single core idea and iterate on it over multiple installments, the creators of SteamWorld decided early on that it could be anything. It’s been a tower defense title, a Metroidvania mining game, a 2D strategy shooter, and a card battling adventure – all set within the same universe of down-home steam-powered robots. For fans of SteamWorld, it’s always a delight to see what it could be next – and now, with SteamWorld Build, it’s a brand new take on the city building genre. It’s a typically unexpected leap.

But, clearly never content with staying the same for too long, Build brings another first for the series – it’s the first SteamWorld game not to be built by its creators, Thunderful Games (previously known as Image & Form). After being acquired by Thunderful, The Station have stepped in to create Build. Oh, and for good measure, they also made it the first SteamWorld game to use a 3D perspective, and the series’ first voice-acted game, too.

It’s a fascinating next step for the franchise – and I caught up with Game Director Andreas Persson, Art Director Sofie Wikström and head of the SteamWorld franchise Brjann Sigurgeirsson to discuss how they sent SteamWorld on what might be its biggest leap yet.

“We knew The Station well,” says Sigurgeirsson of how the collaboration came about. “We knew that they were very solid studio that had done a lot of work on the LittleBigPlanet franchise. We also knew that they had been working on their own things. And then when the opportunity materialised to acquire them, we sort of jumped on it. One of the one of the first things we said was, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you guys could pitch us something that could fit in the SteamWorld universe?’”

“Since this was our first SteamWorld game, we looked at a lot of what [Thunderful] had done previously,” continues Persson. “And what we settled on was that they are really good at taking something familiar, and then mixing it with something else and creating something unique… With that, we then saw that there is a real nice city builder that could be made in this universe by taking the city part and marrying it with mining gameplay. I would say it’s like a city builder meets Dungeon Keeper.”

It’s a unique proposition, and one Sigurgeirsson says proves the point of using a new developer – SteamWorld is a series that never stays still, and it can grow in even less expected directions by employing whole new groups of developers, with fresh perspectives and different expertise.

The Station had worked on ideas for a city builder for some time, but SteamWorld offered them a unique opportunity – to work on two layers. Above ground, you put together a Wild West-inflected railway town, piecing together housing, factories, and amenities for a growing population of Steambots. But below the sand and dirt, the action changes entirely, asking you to dig your own mines to find the resources needed above ground, with dungeon crawling and tower defense elements thrown in. The way these two layers link is the unique selling point, forcing you to manage two types of game at once, and always giving you something meaningful to achieve.

It can sound daunting, but The Station has also taken another key part of SteamWorld into account – the fact that the whole series acts like a smörgåsbord of game genres, and aims to introduce its fans to new ones in accessible ways.

“We then saw that there is a real nice city builder that could be made in this universe by taking the city part and marrying it with mining gameplay. I would say it’s like a city builder meets Dungeon Keeper.”

Andreas Persson, Game Director

“It’s something we’ve worked on from the very start of development,” says Persson, “since we knew we would get a lot of new players that were familiar with the world, but not necessarily with resource management games. So we had to think, ‘How do we communicate information and where do we put the complexity in the game?’ We deliberately decided early on to keep the city pretty streamlined. We didn’t want fires to erupt in the city and destroy everything.”

The idea is that there are demands on the player to build efficiently, but not major punishments if you don’t. Equally, while you’re mining, things will tick along above ground, reducing the need to constantly shift levels and micromanage. But, as Persson says, it’s not that there’s a lack of complexity:

“I remember we had some testers that didn’t realise how complex the game was until they learned everything,” Persson continues. “Because when you get to the first mine floor, there is not a ton of complexity. But as you go deeper, you learn each step, and each step builds on the previous one. So we said we want it to be ‘complex, but not complicated.’”

Another new consideration for both The Station and Thunderful was about transforming a genre best known on PC into a console-friendly experience. SteamWorld has always had a home on console, and it wouldn’t feel right to limit Build.

“We’d played a few [city builder] games [on console] and we really never felt that they worked,” says Wikström. “So we knew that going forward, we would have to adapt the UI and the gameplay with console in mind.” Unlike other games, this wasn’t a case of just working out button inputs – entire features were created with a controller at the forefront. “If we came up with anything, we always had to look at it from a controller perspective… I know that there were features that turned out in specific ways because of this. Rather than, you know, trying to shoehorn everything in on the console.”

The Station put limits on themselves to make sure playing with a controller always felt good – it’s been playable on console since the very first version of the game, and any time an update was prepared, it needed to be tested on console before it was approved.

Again, this feels like very ‘SteamWorld’ thinking – the series has always prized being unique and accessible, and The Station applied that thinking even to elements of game development that Thunderful had never had to think about before.

And, beyond the game itself, that’s the beauty of SteamWorld Build – it’s opening new doors for this already wide-open series. The Station isn’t just introducing SteamWorld fans to new ideas, and new ways of thinking about the series, but even Thunderful.

“I think The Station has proved that we can we can take SteamWorld in in any direction. There’s this internal joke that the next one should be a dating sim. And it’s a joke until we… make that game,” laughs Sigurgeirsson. “I think that The Station really proves that point. They’ve been brave, and very competent – they gathered enough understanding and then they just ran with it. And it’s turned out really, really great.”

SteamWorld Build comes to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on December 1. It will be available for Xbox Game Pass on day one.

The post SteamWorld Build Is the Series’ Most Impressively Wild Experiment Yet appeared first on Xbox Wire.