Category: Xbox

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When All Elite Wrestling (AEW) burst onto the wrestling scene in 2019, Ladder Match competitions were instantly a major draw inside the ring. Why? Because Ladder Matches require amazing acrobatic feats and a desire to not only win but win while delivering a performance that is nothing short of spectacular. A performance that, simply put, defies gravity.

It didn’t hurt that the AEW talent roster was, and still is, brimming with young athletes whose desire to “one-up” one another’s performances has translated to countless in-ring moments that leave entire stadiums in awe. Cue Darby Allin any time he scales the ladder with his skateboard in-hand. Arguably the most epic AEW Ladder Match of all time: Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky at AEW Dynamite in April 2022. Fans have watched and rewatched this match over and over for more than a year!

Starting June 29, you will finally get a chance to come as close as you’ll ever get to reliving that match as Sammy Guevara OR Scorpio Sky in AEW: Fight Forever for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One! Prepare to ascend those fateful rungs as Sammy or Scorpio – or choose another of your favorite AEW wrestlers from an in-game roster of 50, including Darby Allin and his skateboard. You can even play as controversial referee Aubrey Edwards!

For the uninitiated, the Ladder Match is an AEW title challenge like no other. Not only do you have to fend off your opponent, but you have to do so while scaling a ladder inside the ring. Ladder Match mode in AEW: Fight Forever delivers the same level of intensity. Your biggest, high-flying moves can only happen in Ladders! Players will reach their highest point in the game, and attempt to perform back-flips, big-drops, perhaps even the Jeff Hardy leg-drop on their opponent. Landing those acrobatic moves just right requires impeccable timing and athleticism… and a ladder that doesn’t break on your way up (or down)! Every Ladder Match is a race to the top to see who can grab the Champions Belt first!

It’s important to know that ladders aren’t just for climbing and launching acrobatic attack moves, including your very own Swanton Dive. In AEW: Fight Forever, ladders are also part of your arsenal of weapons, especially when they’re wrapped in barbed wire. And yes, in true AEW fashion, ladders can and do draw blood.

In the words of the legendary Ladder Match champion Sammy Guevara, “When I get up there, I’m like, you know what sounds cooler than winning? Doing some crazy stuff!”

AEW: Fight Forever launches in two short weeks. Pre-order AEW: Fight Forever for Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One now to add Matt Hardy and Broken Matt Hardy to your in-game wrestler roster!

AEW: Fight Forever Elite Edition – Pre-Order

THQ Nordic

☆☆☆☆☆
25

★★★★★

$79.99

$71.99

Pre-order

Pre-order AEW: Fight Forever Elite Edition NOW and receive Matt Hardy, FTR: Revival Pack, Limitless Bunny Bundle & Hookhausen, Very Handsome, Very Evil Pack!

“The AEW: Fight Forever Elite Edition includes access to even more AEW wrestlers and over-the-top minigames including:

– The AEW: Fight Forever FTR: Revival Pack which features AEW wrestlers Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler PLUS minigames JoinUs and Deth Race-X
– The AEW: Fight Forever Limitless Bunny Bundle which features AEW wrestlers The Bunny and Keith Lee PLUS minigames MJF Car Thrash and Sloth Sling
– The AEW: Fight Forever Hookhausen Very Handsome, Very Evil Pack which features AEW wrestlers HOOK and Danhausen”

AEW: Fight Forever – Pre-Order

THQ Nordic

☆☆☆☆☆
40

★★★★★

$59.99

Pre-order

Pre-order AEW: Fight Forever NOW and receive Matt Hardy as playable character with two costumes!

Developed by YUKE’S Co., Ltd., creators of numerous, multi-million unit selling wrestling games, AEW: Fight Forever combines arcade-wrestling game feel with innovative All Elite Wrestling finishers and tandem offensive moves. The All Elite Wrestling promotion is currently taking TNT and TBS networks by storm every week with their Rampage and Dynamite shows, featuring some of the biggest legends to enter the ring plus a stable of brand new, high-flying, AEW talent. AEW: Fight Forever brings more than 50 of the best of the best from that talent roster together in one game! Online co-op wrestling is going completely next level in Fight Forever with Tag Team matches that feature sequences of team maneuvers performed with simple commands. More than 10 different game modes, including Unsanctioned Lights Out and Falls Count Anywhere PLUS more than 40 weapons, deep customization, career mode, and mini-games all await in AEW: Fight Forever!

Related:
Halo Infinite: Infection Mode Returns, Here’s How It Was Made
For Porsche’s 75th Anniversary, Xbox Reimagines Automaker’s Iconic Motorsport Liveries 
Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon Brings Mech Remixing to a New Level of Scale

Season 4 of Halo Infinite delivers a host of new features and content, among them the fan-favorite Infection mode that’s been a part of the multiplayer suite since the days of Halo 2. We sat down with the development team to get the scoop on what’s coming and why fans should be excited to slip back into their (potentially contaminated) armor.

Patient Zero

Infection has been around almost as long as Halo, first appearing as a custom game in Halo 2 before joining official playlists in Halo 3. It’s been a staple of every mainline Halo game since, even getting a Flood (the parasitic enemies who threaten to wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy)-flavored version in Halo 4. But what exactly is Infection? 343 Industries Modes Product Owner Joe McDonagh lays it out as, “A classic Zombies-versus-survivors set up. Everyone starts on one side, as a survivor. Everyone but the single Alpha Infected, that is. If you get killed by the Alpha Infected, you switch sides and become an Infected. It boils down to this: can the survivors survive until the end of the round, as they get whittled down by the Infected? It leads to some awesome, last man standing ‘Get to the chopper’ style moments.”

The gameplay of Infection is designed for in-your-face, up-close-and-personal skirmishing, as the Alpha Infected is armed with energy swords that allow for one-hit kills, alongside Season 3’s Shroud Screen, which creates opportunities for traps and ambushes. Others who are Infected along the way get energy swords and the new Quantum Translocator equipment, letting them run in for a quick slay, then teleport away before enemies arrive. Survivors tote Bulldog Shotguns and Commando Rifles, but they’ll have to get uncomfortably close to the Infected to take them down. The net result is a lot of frantic running and yelling as survivors try to locate and kill the Infected while the other side isolates and hunts Survivors. It’s mayhem in all the best ways.

Honoring a Legacy

McDonagh and the team knew that it was important to do right by the community when creating the Halo Infinite iteration of Infection, given it is held in incredibly high regard both inside and outside the studio.

“A lot of folks here at 343 cut their teeth on this mode when they were part of the community, before they got into the industry,” says McDonagh. “Some of them, like Zach (Boyce – designer) got into the industry becauseof Infection. So it’s their origin story as Halo fans. We might be working on the franchise, but we’re conscious of the fact that we’re lucky enough to be its guardians, not its owners. And Infection is where a lot of that began.

“But back to crushing your enemies. Infection gives something you don’t get elsewhere in Halo Infinite. It’s a social experience, like Fiesta. It offers a more forgiving and casual experience than the occasionally Darwinian battles of Arena. Also, because the sides are dynamic, you get to backstab your friends, which, in my experience, always deepens gaming bonds.”

A New Strain of Infection

In this iteration of Infection there’s a narrative reason why the Spartans are turning on each other. The Season 3 story left off with the Banished AI Iratus infiltrating the Spartan training simulation and exerting his will to take control. This will be reflected in the appearance of Infected players, as well as new VO reflecting the altered reality.

There are new gameplay touches as well, McDonagh tells us that weapons spawn on the bodies of dead Spartans around the map, so thematically players are looting the unfortunate souls who have fallen in battle in the hopes of staying alive a bit longer. These weapon spawns are randomized each match though, so Survivors can’t map out a route to the best gear, and Infected players can’t lie in wait in ambush. Scoring in the mode is also tied to how long you survive, so the longer you stave off the inevitable end the more points you’ll rack up.

Lastly, the maps all have unique touches and themes to fit the Infection narrative. Level Designer Cliff Schuldt shares some details: “We made special versions of 9 maps to support the theme and the gameplay for the mode, and make it feel like something unique to Infection: Aquarius, Bazaar, Behemoth, Chasm, Cliffhanger, Forest, Launch Site, Recharge and Streets have all been reworked to fit the theme. We created barricades to change the gameplay flow to familiar maps. We also added new sections, for example Behemoth has new tunnels underneath and you can access the back alleys in Streets.”

“We made special versions of 9 maps to support the theme and the gameplay for the mode, and make it feel like something unique to Infection.”

Tips for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (Or Not)

So what are you to do when the odds are stacked against you and zombified Spartans with energy swords lurk around every corner? UI Designer Branden League has some tips. “As a Spartan, stay close to your team. Staying alive is not just a priority, it’s a responsibility. A responsibility to your teammates. That being said, using a fallen buddy for more ammo doesn’t make you a lesser Spartan.” A slightly harsh opinion, but fair in the context of a zombie Armageddon, I suppose.

And what if you’re the one hunting? How do you get your fill of Spartan snacks? “As the Alpha Infected, go slow to take full advantage of your camouflage. Use the Shroud screen to protect your brother zombies by blocking off sight lines. Master the Quantum Translocator, because once you understand it, you can use it to sprint slingshot yourself into a room which, by anyone’s standard, is a pretty special way to make an entrance.”

Sprinting, slingshotting zombies, what’s not to love?

Building for the Future

With Infection growing from a player-made mod to a fully-fledged feature mode we can’t help but wonder, what might be next? Could another created mode make the leap to official status? Forge Lead Designer Michael Schorr thinks there are tons of opportunities, some of which are already on the way.

“Repul Soccer has always been a strong contender to follow in the footsteps of Grifball, another legacy mode (like Infection) that has community origins,” said Schorr. “Phase Shift, a Slayer mode where players can ‘phase’ between two slightly different versions of the same map, is quite good and has been a favorite for many 343 devs. Players will see Husky Raid, another community favorite, make its debut in a Halo Infinite playlist this summer. Further down the line we’ll be introducing the Forge AI Toolkit, which allows players to spawn and manage campaign AI in Forge. I think a lot of interesting experiences are going to spring out of that functionality – all with the potential to become a staple mode in Halo Infinite.”

A Vision of Things to Come

The biggest struggle Halo Infinite faced in its first year as a live service game was offering a consistent pipeline of new content for players. Lengthy seasons were the norm, but since the launch of the Winter Update last December the cadence of content has demonstrably improved, a trend which Head of Live Service Sean Baron believes will become the norm going forward.

“Season 4 is very exciting for me because it’ll mark the third straight on-time release for the Halo Infinite Live Service team,” says Baron. “You know the saying — ‘Once is chance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern.’ I think that’s where we are now — we’re seeing the outcome of the focus on consistency. And I couldn’t be more excited for the team getting there.  We still have plenty of room to improve — we’ll always be working to find new ways of improving and ensuring the predictability of the service. But I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made there and looking forward to making it four in a row with Season 5 later this year.”

But Baron and team know that it’s not just about the volume of content, quality plays a key role as well. He sees that as one of the key pillars to continuing to push the game forward. “When I think generally about the trajectory of Halo Infinite, it all comes back to our Player Experience Goals of Consistency, Satisfaction, and Quality. We’ll maintain that focus on Consistency. Like I said, I think there is clear evidence of improvement there. Same with Satisfaction—we’ll continue layering on the features and experiences players want.

With Infection growing from a player-made mod to a fully-fledged feature mode we can’t help but wonder, what might be next? Could another created mode make the leap to official status?

“Where we need to start showing more noteworthy improvements is with Quality. Both technical and experiential Quality. My hope is that over the next few releases and updates we’ll start seeing Quality make the same types of jumps that we’ve seen with Consistency and Satisfaction.”

Season 4 delivers not just the launch of Infection but includes the introduction of a new Career Rank system, new maps, new equipment and more. All that, coupled with the additions to the game over the past six months and the exciting future content, improvements and experiences in the pipeline all go to show that now is the perfect time to jump back into Halo Infinite if you’ve been away. And if you get to stab your friends with an energy sword and turn them into a zombie well, that’s just a bonus.

Find out more about Infection and Halo Infinite Season 4 on Halo Waypoint.

Halo Infinite

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
1092

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Season 3 Available Now!
Halo Infinite’s largest multiplayer update yet is available now! Season 3: Echoes Within offers players a new 100-tier Battle Pass, new maps, a new mode and, for the first time, a new weapon and equipment item.
Free-to-Play Multiplayer:
Halo’s celebrated multiplayer returns, reimagined and free-to-play! Seasonal updates evolve the experience over time with unique events, new modes and maps, and community-focused content.
Forge Beta:
Halo’s legendary content creation tool is back and more powerful than ever with advanced features like a new visual scripting engine, object scaling, lighting and audio tools as well as marked improvements in fidelity and object budget limits. Whether it’s remaking iconic experiences from previous Halo entries or creating something entirely unique, the possibilities for thrilling custom maps and game modes are infinite.

Cross-Generation and Cross-Platform Gaming:
Halo Infinite provides an amazing experience across the Xbox One and newer family of consoles as well as PC with stunning 4k graphics and world-class cross-platform play. And, on Xbox Series X as well as supported PCs, enjoy enhanced features like up to 120FPS and greatly reduced load times creating seamless gameplay that usher in the next generation of gaming.*
*Up to 120FPS and 4K Ultra HD available on Xbox Series X consoles and compatible PCs only across supported maps and modes; compatible TV or monitor required.

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For Porsche’s 75th Anniversary, Xbox Reimagines Automaker’s Iconic Motorsport Liveries 
Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon Brings Mech Remixing to a New Level of Scale

Porsche – legendary automaker, and a familiar name to real-world and virtual racing fans alike – marks its 75^th anniversary this year, and Xbox is joining the celebrations. We are excited to release a limited collection of custom Xbox Series X consoles and matching Xbox Wireless Controllers in vibrant colorways based on six historic Porsche motorsport liveries. While not for retail, over the next four months, fans can enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a console and controller from our collaboration with Porsche, finding inspiration in the brand’s storied motorsports history. Xbox is a platform for gamers to power their dreams and turn aspirations into reality, and it is this same drive for greatness that has pushed Porsche’s motorsports performance to new heights and carried drivers across the finish line to over 30,000 motorsport victories to date. 

“Xbox and its fanbase are no stranger to Porsche and the incredible capabilities of its high-performance vehicles in our beloved racing and driving games like Forza Horizon 5,” said Marcos Waltenberg, Director of Global Partnerships at Xbox. “That’s why we’re excited to team up with the renowned sports car brand to create special edition Xbox hardware that celebrates their milestone anniversary given our shared vision and goal of reaching global audiences who love cars, gaming and self-expression.”

For decades, Porsche has consistently created some of the most recognized and vibrant liveries ever to take to track. As racing games have developed new levels of immersion over the years, Xbox has worked closely with Porsche to bring its iconic design to the platform through hits like the Forza franchise. These liveries are now a part of racing lore, and the Xbox 75^th Anniversary collection pays homage to six of Porsche’s most unforgettable looks by reimagining them for the Xbox Series X console and accompanying controllers. We will unveil the following six limited-edition console designs at major auto and gaming events around the globe this summer:

• 75^th Anniversary / Porsche 963
• Salzburg (1970)
• “Hippie” (1970)
• “Pink Pig” (1971)
• Porsche Racing Edition (1978)
• 911 GT1 (1998)

Fans in the US, UK, and Germany can enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win the Porsche-inspired Xbox Series X consoles with matching Xbox Wireless Controllers by visiting www.porschexboxsweepstakes.com from June 8 to October 1. Each Porsche-inspired console will have a corresponding video shared on Porsche and Xbox social channels, beginning with the Porsche 963 / 75^th Anniversary console.  

“To mark our 75^th anniversary, Porsche is thrilled to team up with Xbox to design custom, limited-edition gaming consoles to continue inspiring gamers to dream – both virtually and in the real world,” said Ayesha Coker, Vice President of Marketing of Porsche Cars North America, Inc. “With over 30,000 motorsport victories to date, it wasn’t easy to select only six liveries, but we’ve chosen some of the most iconic ones that our fans will recognize from notable victories over the years.”  

Since 2005, Porsche and Microsoft’s Turn 10 Studios have collaborated on co-branded elements for Porsche and the Forza franchise. Beginning with the original Forza Motorsport and continuing through the franchise, including the latest Forza Horizon 5, Porsche vehicles have been a part of the racing lineup available to players. This partnership has consistently created new ways for fans to get behind the wheel of a Porsche, and has further established the automaker as an innovator in motorsport. 

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In many ways, Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon is a reintroduction to a series, more than a reboot of it. In the 11 years since Armored Core V, developer FromSoftware has moved from a niche proposition to one of the focal points of gaming culture, and its latest game feels like an attempt to proudly steer its newer fans towards one of the series that started its journey. As such, if you’re already a fans of From’s high-complexity mech combat games, much of what it has to offer will feel familiar – albeit much, much shinier than before.

The focus is still on taking your personally customized war machine through enemy-packed arenas, dominating a mixture of smaller, robotic enemies, bosses, and equally kitted-out mechs, collecting the funds and materials you need to graft on new weaponry, limbs, and internals to become more efficient as you go on.

But the first thing I notice in a hands-off look at gameplay isn’t the industrial-chic mech being launched from a high speed elevator – hard as it is to miss – but the world around it. The real change, at least for me, is a sense of scale. It may not have a truly open world in the vein of Elden Ring, but AC6 doesn’t lack for that game’s sense of wonder.

The mission I see has the player attempting to infiltrate the base of an enemy faction called RaD, who have taken over a vast industrial facility called Grid 086. It’s a marvel to look at, an enormous factory built over tens of storeys, without an invisible wall apparent to stop you exploring. It doesn’t appear to be a one-off – a montage of other levels shows me scorched deserts, ice caves, and entire cities. The focus here seems to be on turning standalone levels into truly enormous spaces to dole out mechanical justice within.

This should have a knock-on effect on gameplay too – where Armored Core missions of the past were more focused on getting you from objective to objective, there’s an element of choice involved here. Grid 086 doesn’t have a single entrance; instead, you’re given a choice of how to proceed. You could head to the front gate and take on its swarming, robotic guards, but you could equally use your thrusters to reach a much higher hidden entrance. These are the examples we’re given, but I’m positive there are more means of ingress to find.

That addition of choice broadens the level of strategy as a whole. The core of, well, Armored Core has always been in building a mech that meets your specifications – nimble, melee focused pursuers, walking artillery batteries, missile launcher-encrusted monsters, and more. That ability to approach levels in your own way only deepens the potential for choice, and allows for your particular brand of mech to shine.

But customization cuts both ways. Where From’s Souls games are often built on a relentless search for perfection, challenging you to build a character and then get better at using their specific strengths over the course of a whole game, Armored Core VI looks to ask for a little more flexibility. We see a stronger enemy make light work of the player guiding our demo, taking down their shorter range sword-and-rifle combo with a variety of quick melee attacks. Instead of simply reloading the checkpoint and heading back into the fray, our demoist instead heads to the Assembly menu and puts together a whole new machine. Among other changes, they swap out the legs for a more efficient dash attack, and replace a shoulder-mounted missile launcher with a full-on cannon, designed to more efficiently stagger enemies.

Heading back in, they cripple the once-victorious enemy by preventing it from moving as much as possible, and avoiding those dangerous, close-range attacks with dashes when they can’t immobilize it. It’s a little bit of design philosophy made tangible – in Armored Core VI, it’s not a case of “try, try again”, it’s more like a chemistry experiment, asking you to keep tinkering with the ingredients until you find the right mixture to take down your opponent.

I’m left very hopeful for what we have to come from Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon – as a fan of the series, this is already feeling like a deft mix of the Armored Core fundamentals I’ve been missing, and new ideas to flesh them out for modern machines.

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon will be released for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on August 25.

ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ – Deluxe Edition

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
28

★★★★★

$69.99

Pre-order

Pre-order now to receive the following bonus content:
MELANDER C3 G13 Special Customization “TENDERFOOT”
• MELANDER C3 parts set (early unlock)*
• Emblem (early unlock)*
• Exclusive AC Decal
* Early Unlock: The parts set and the emblem can also be obtained by progressing through the game.

The Deluxe Edition includes:
• Full game
• Exclusive Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
Allows players to view concept art and listen to in-game music.

Combining FromSoftware’s longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay, ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON brings a brand-new action experience to the series.

Dynamic, Omni-directional Battles
Players will pilot their mech in fast-paced, omni-directional battles, taking advantage of massive stages and their mech’s mobility on land and in the air to ensure victory.

Customized Parts for Individual Battle Styles
Customize Armored Core parts to suit a large variety of playstyles. Selecting different parts not only changes the mech’s attacks, but also directly affects its movement and battle style, so each mission can be approached with a unique mech strategy.

Thrilling Boss Battles
Deploy a wide variety of offensive and defensive tactics at close and long range to take down powerful enemy bosses.

ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
28

★★★★★

$59.99

Pre-order

Pre-order now to receive the following bonus content:
MELANDER C3 G13 Special Customization “TENDERFOOT”
• MELANDER C3 parts set (early unlock)*
• Emblem (early unlock)*
• Exclusive AC Decal
* Early Unlock: The parts set and the emblem can also be obtained by progressing through the game.

Combining FromSoftware’s longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay, ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON brings a brand-new action experience to the series.

Dynamic, Omni-directional Battles
Players will pilot their mech in fast-paced, omni-directional battles, taking advantage of massive stages and their mech’s mobility on land and in the air to ensure victory.

Customized Parts for Individual Battle Styles
Customize Armored Core parts to suit a large variety of playstyles. Selecting different parts not only changes the mech’s attacks, but also directly affects its movement and battle style, so each mission can be approached with a unique mech strategy.

Thrilling Boss Battles
Deploy a wide variety of offensive and defensive tactics at close and long range to take down powerful enemy bosses.

Related:
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Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Premiers Trailers for Two Like A Dragon Games