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Publisher: AtariDeveloper: Terminal RealityRelease: June 16, 2009Rating: TeenPlatform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, WiiHave you or your family actually seen a spook, specter, or ghost? If so, perhaps playing the upcoming remaster of Ghostbusters: The Video Game will calm you down. The game, an update of the Terminal Reality title from 2009 is out sometime in 2019 on the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC (via the Epic Games store).
The remaster features cutscenes and in-game video and 4K as well as improved textures and lighting. This augments a story that takes place after the second movie written by Dan Akyroyd and the late Harold Ramis, who – along with fellow co-stars Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson – have lent their voices and likenesses to great effect.
For more on the title, read Reeves' enthusiastic review of the original version.
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Hello Lambehh,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Lambehh joined on the 05/30/2019.
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Hello MoonUnit,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
MoonUnit joined on the 05/29/2019.
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Publisher: Paradox InteractiveDeveloper: Hardsuit LabsRelease: 2020Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Seattle has seen many industrial booms, and in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, the Ventrue have been present to take advantage of it. With immortality on their side, they have had the chance to grow their fortunes and build relationships with the biggest businesses of the 21st century. They are no stranger to doing anything that needs to be done in order to keep and grow their clan's prosperous future.
When it comes to the vampire society in Bloodlines 2, the Ventrue clan is known for their untouchable statuses all throughout history. With their members being in positions such as high priests, emperers, investment bankers, and even chairman of the board, going against the Ventrue would be foolish.
The strength of the Ventrue lies in their status and wisdom on how to keep it. Power is the name of the game and players that choose this clan gain access to their disciplines, secrets, and "Thinblood Powers".
For more on other clans in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, check out associate editor Javy Gwaltney's look into the Brujah clan.
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Publisher: Sony Interactive EntertainmentDeveloper: Kojima ProductionsRelease: November 8, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: PlayStation 4
We've been eagerly awaiting more information and gameplay details about Kojima's Death Stranding, and thanks to a Twitch reveal, we finally have some answers.
Earlier today, a Death Stranding trailer was looping on PlayStation's Twitch channel, but much of the action was obscured by black hands that spread across the video. The more people watched, the more hands appeared, adding to the frustration and intrigue. The video has over 23 million views, and at one point more than 100,000 people were watching at the same time.
All the hands have now finally disappeared and the trailer has been published in its entirety on YouTube. In it, we see protagonist Sam Bridges (played by Norman Reedus) exploring beautiful environments like snowy mountains, derelict buildings that are reduced to debris, and more. Throughout his journey, he's got large crates strapped to his back and wears a protective suit as if he's transporting something important and potentially dangerous.
Several new characters are introduced as well, including a sickly woman with her head wrapped in a scarf and another lady dressed in black played by Léa Seydoux. By the end of the trailer, a slew of names appear showing off part of the main cast which includes the aforementioned Norman Reedus and Troy Baker as well as Mads Mikkelsen, Margaret Qualley, Tommie Earl Jenkins, Guillermo Del Toro, and Lindsay Wagner.
Sam rides a motorcycle during a portion of the video, but we don't know yet if that's controllable by the player or cinematic-only. As for gameplay, we see gunplay with an assault rifle, climbing tools being equipped and used like climbing equipment and ladders, and more.
Check out the full trailer below for yourself.
Click here to watch embedded mediaThe biggest news of all is that Death Stranding is arriving for PlayStation 4 later this year, on November 8.
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Publisher: Hi-Bit StudiosDeveloper: Hi-Bit StudiosRelease: June 20, 2019Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Hi-Bit Studios is releasing a game based on the arcade feel of the '80s. You've probably heard that one before, but this one mashes up just about every '80s genre you can think of.
The trailer for 198X shows off several distinct playstyles. It's part brawler, part RPG, part racing game, part action game, and part shoot-'em-up, and it looks to have a consistent storyling through all of these styles, telling a story that highlights its '80s inspiration.
If this looks like something you're into, you won't have to wait long; the game is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on June 20, with Switch and PC versions "coming soon."
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Hello altenbach,
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Valve has been knee-deep in VR for years now through its SteamVR and software initiatives, but when it comes to the hardware that makes it all possible, it’s relied on electronics giant HTC. With its new Index headset, Valve wants to remove that middleman once and for all and more finely tune to experience.
I spent a few hours the Index recently and had a pretty good time with it, especially now that there’s a bevy of interesting (if not always outright “good”) VR titles to tinker with, but I'm entirely sure it's worth its asking price just yet. Here are my five biggest takeaways from diving back into VR.
The Index headset looks better, but it’s not the leap you might be looking for
The Index’s biggest stride forward is in fidelity. Its dual 1440x1600-resolution displays match the Vive Pro, but the biggest difference is how consistent that image is. The Index can run with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz (though it’s more comfortable at 120Hz), making games look and feel smoother. I felt this most while playing Beat Saber, which relies on objects constantly moving at a high speed, making the difference in refresh rates more noticeable.
I also found I didn’t have to angle my head around as much to find the perfect, least-blurry angle. That said, that blurriness isn’t entirely gone; you still get a screen-door effect when peaking around at the edges of certain objects, which makes some smaller text hard to read.
The new Index controllers feel great
The Index controllers Valve is shipping with its new headset sport one major new feature, and it shows some promise. Along with an analog stick and two buttons apiece, the Index controllers have a responsive panel where your fingers land on them, and can read which fingers are touching it. The controllers’ adjustable grip allows you to hold the controller with your palms extended, which lets games be designed around moving your fingers around.
The best showcase of this technology comes, unsurprisingly, from Valve itself. In the Aperture Hand Lab demo (which is expertly written, genuinely funny for its 10-minute runtime, and shows why Valve should make single-player games again), you’re asked by various personality cores from the Portal series to wave, give high-fives, play rock-paper-scissors, and make other gestures with your hands.
The controllers occasionally found it hard to distinguish between my middle and ring finger, but I never had an issue doing what the game asked of me, and it felt kind of magical. I also gave those robots some middle fingers, and it felt good.
Whether you’re just now diving in or upgrading, the Index is pricey
If this is your first VR headset, or simply your first SteamVR headset, you’ll have to shell out for the headset, the new Valve Index controllers, and a new set of base stations (a pair of cameras you need to mount in your play space in order to get the full VR experience to work), which total $999. If you already have a Vive or Vive Pro, you can shell out for the Index headset ($499) or controllers ($279) individually or as a bundle ($749), as both are compatible with the older base stations. The new ones work better than the older ones, though, so if your current arrangement had issues detecting the controllers or headset in some spots, the new stations may fix that issue.
You’re also going to need a solid PC to match. Valve recommends 8GB of RAM, a GTX 970/RX480 or higher, and a dual-core computer. In my play sessions, I rolled with a GTX 980 and an Intel i7 5930K running at 3.50GHz. When running Beat Saber at 100-percent resolution at 144Hz, everything went smoothly until I tried to restart a song midway; the screen cut to a “waiting for application to respond” screen, but the song had started up again, causing me to fail it since I couldn’t play notes.
Luckily, the default setting on the Index adjusts all the resolutions based on your GPU, and when I switched back to this option but kept the high refresh rate the issue went away. You likely won’t run into this issue depending on your rig, but it does highlight the need for a strong PC in order to get the most out of this high-end headset.
The new audio setup is fantastic
It isn’t a defining feature of the hardware, but the new headphones in the Index are maybe my favorite part of the setup. Initially, I was curious about why the headset couldn’t be adjusted to reach my ears. Then I realized that’s the point. The short distance between your ears and the headphones allows you to hear sounds around you better, which makes it easier for someone or something to get your attention while you play. If there’s an emergency or you’re just waiting for pizza to arrive, you can play at a decent enough volume without feeling completely cut off from the outside world.
I didn’t miss having more snug headphones while I played, either. The speakers are more than powerful enough to deliver great sound at higher volumes, and I didn’t have to worry adjusting anything (or keeping track of an earbud wire) while I played. While not every feature of Index may end up being compatible as VR headsets continue to improve, I hope this audio setup becomes the standard.
The headset is pretty comfortable
When it comes to form factor, the Index feels most like the Vive headsets, but there are some steps forward. The padding around the display and back feel better than ever, and I was even able to fit my glasses in with my head with a little finagling. If you have a smaller head, the box even comes with a rubber pad you can slap on the back of the unit to make it fit more snugly. The adjustable strap feels unobtrusive, and I didn’t have too many issues adjusting the headset as I played. It feels great.
Of course, it’s hard not to notice the presence of the wire dangling out of the back of your head, especially after playing around with the wireless Oculus Quest. That is the still the big question with the Index; do people want the extra horsepower of fidelity the Index offers, or will VR move toward convenience to entice more people?
The Index looks to be the strongest headset around and may be worth it for those willing to invest $1,000 and who own a decent PC, but should those hurdles still be an impediment? Valve is banking on those hurdles being worth it for curious consumers. We’ll find out when the Index Launches on June 28. -
Publisher: Humble BundleDeveloper: Blue ManchuRelease: May 29, 2019Rating: MatureReviewed on: PCAlso on: Xbox One
Strip away the thematic concepts and storytelling, and a game like BioShock focuses on creative problem-solving. How do I confront and control a space through the use of unusual tools, stealth, and outright assault, and come out the other end better for the exchange? Void Bastards explores that core dynamic with a procedural loop, focusing on opportunities for strategy and improvement, and eschewing characters and story with an almost nihilistic abandon. The result is a relatively pure flow of discovery and mastery for many hours, diminished only by an eventual sense of rote.
Mirroring the darkest corners of Douglas Adams’ sci-fi vision of outer space overwhelmed by bureaucracy, you play a smattering of mostly minor criminals who have been “dehydrated” into snack-sized bags of powder. When a hazardous nebula turns a transport’s crew feral, a mindless computer rehydrates you to get the ship out of danger. The relatively simple task is complicated by inane jobs set by the ship, like the need to laminate an ID card to authorize shipboard control, so it’s off to explore the wrecks of nearby ships (and their mutated crews) to find the requisite supplies.
Borrowing elements from the roguelite genre, each prisoner rockets off with the same crafted weapons, armor, and tools left behind by your last unfortunate expired protagonist. You manage food, fuel, and wandering spaceborne threats like pirates to avoid certain death in the void. Instead, you face certain death onboard the ships on which you’re gathering supplies. If you’re lucky, you return with the parts, only to face another bureaucratic hurdle. The dark absurdist humor shines through, even as the repeated deaths mostly lose their sting, since you’re still consistently progressing broader goals regardless of who you are controlling.
Each ship you visit is a strategic challenge, filled with perverse enemies, helpful supplies, and stations you can work to solve the puzzle. The helm has a map of supply locations, but you need to turn on the power generator in a different room first. The drill you need is in the Hab unit, but you need to deactivate the gun turret in the security room to reach it. Everything is interconnected, and I enjoyed learning the many ways to manipulate the varied ship configurations encountered through the smart procedural generation.
Along the way, the insane and mutated ship crews stand in your way at nearly every turn, each spouting incoherent ramblings that not-so-subtly jab at modern-day society. Matronly supervisors berate you for being late to your shift. Scrambling short-statured “Juves” gleefully scream profanities to see if they can shock you. Spooks sneak up behind you and disappear from view as you begin to attack.
Click here to watch embedded mediaEnemies each offer their own challenges to avoid or defeat, and further complicate the riddle of navigating any given ship. Environmental factors like radiation, fire, and oil slicks add yet another layer of complexity. On top of it all, just as you master one enemy type or ship setup, you progress to more potent challenges. On that front, I appreciate the adjustable difficulty; roguelites can sometimes feel calibrated to only welcome hardcore players, but Void Bastards can be customized to welcome anyone from casual to veteran.
A thoughtfully imagined crafting system provides minor player-set goals in the midst of the set tasks that push the adventure forward. With enough recycled materials, you can create different weapons, protective armors, and other helpful equipment. From the shotgun-like stapler to the clusterflak gun, the weapons and explosives are silly and fun to use, even if it’s frustrating to be low on ammo for the weapon you currently need the most.
Void Bastards’ biggest dilemma is in the sense of repetition that emerges after several hours. Even with smart procedural generation, ship layouts eventually begin to feel too similar, and enemy configurations feel like frustrating road blocks rather than meaningful encounters. And while the storytelling does its job of reinforcing a sort of anarchic and cynical view of how meaningless life can seem, that theme doesn’t do any favors to helping a player feel invested over time.
Even so, there is an ending of sorts, and Void Bastards seems to recognize that it’s running out of steam within a few hours after the tedium kicks in. Even in those final hours, I was still impressed by the consistent tone, smart mix of stealth and action, and the tension of managing your characters’ lean chances of survival. Void Bastards is funny, misanthropic, and yet still fun to play, and even after arising from some pretty clear inspirations, manages to feel like its own mutated beast.
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Score: 8
Summary: Inspired by System Shock 2 and BioShock, Blue Manchu's hybrid of action, shooting, stealth and strategy offers a darkly comedic adventure worth exploring.
Concept: Scrounge and scavenge derelict spaceships while employing stealth, strategy, and shooting
Graphics: Colorful comic-book aesthetics are juxtaposed with grotesque mutant designs to create a memorable visual style
Sound: The ambient voices and sound effects stand out, helping to inform the way you approach an encounter
Playability: Controls feel tight and responsive, and the wide variety of weapons and tools are intuitive to use
Entertainment: Void Bastards provides a clever twist on the gameplay model popularized by System Shock 2 and BioShock, now with a procedural element to aid in long-term engagement
Replay: Moderate
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Hello Grayiam,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Grayiam joined on the 05/28/2019.
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Publisher: Squanch GamesDeveloper: Squanch GamesRelease: May 31, 2019Reviewed on: PlayStation 4Also on: PlayStation VR, Rift, Vive, PC
Trover Saves the Universe comes from the undeniably strange mind of Justin Roiland, known as the co-creator of Rick and Morty. You won’t find those two animated characters anywhere in Trover Saves the Universe, but the sensibility and humor of that show (including the moments when it goes too far and gets gross) are on full display. The dialogue, story, and jokes are all well done, but the by-the-numbers gameplay delivers a familiar action/platforming experience, even in VR.
In this universe, you are an alien confined to a chair called a Chairorpian. Your two dogs are stolen by an all-powerful Abstainer, which he uses to give himself godlike powers. With your dogs in jeopardy, Trover is sent to help you recover them, which will also save the universe. The premise starts insane and maintains a high level of compelling ridiculousness.
Click here to watch embedded mediaYou are the Chairorpian, but you control Trover from the comfort of your chair as you work together to track down upgrades like double jumps and better attacks. You make your way through the universe by solving puzzles and beating up bad guys. The combat is straightforward and rarely requires more than simply mashing the attack button, and the puzzles and platforming rarely challenge, but controlling Trover feels good. Those elements feel like they’re only in place to move you through the bizarre story, and as a facilitator of that goal, the combat, platforming, and puzzle solving get the job done.
Trover Saves the Universe never takes itself seriously while telling its story, but maintains a cohesive narrative. Trover grows as a person, the antagonist has surprisingly sympathetic motivations, and it all ends in a satisfying way that is well-punctuated by Trover running around and yelling about the best ending ever. But while all that is happening, Trover and others constantly break the fourth wall, referring to the adventure as “the game” or complaining about the budget. Some line readings even feature the actors erupting into fits of legitimate laughter as they clearly struggle to not break. It gives everything about the experience a casual, improvisational feel and I laughed alongside the cast during many moments. I’m impressed with how the game incorporates absurdity while still telling a compelling story.
Sometimes the humor goes too far and delves into gross subject matter, but it always made me laugh by catching me off-guard. Its best jokes are the ones that play into the relationship between the player and video games. It pokes fun at how players do what they’re told regardless of consequence and openly complains about puzzles until Trover just bypasses them with brute force, as a few examples. Interacting with the assorted characters is also well done as they react realistically to you hitting them with your sword or walking away in the middle of a conversation. I particularly like choosing the obviously wrong answers when given the chance to respond yes or no to questions, as it always leads to interesting and funny dialogue.
Much like the rest of Roiland’s work, Trover Saves the Universe probably won’t be for everyone. The narrative and cast of characters are weird, but this is a game made by a team of people who clearly love the medium of video games, embracing its shortcomings for well-executed jokes and delivering satisfying and often hilarious moments throughout.
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With Or Without VR?
Playing in VR is optional and I didn’t find one mode necessarily better than the other. I liked controlling the camera and aiming a special ability unlocked later in the story with my head in VR, but using the right control stick for those actions is a perfectly viable alternative if you don’t own PSVR or don’t like wearing the headset. The important elements, like the humor and story, come across with or without the aid of VR.
Score: 7.75
Summary: The dialogue, story, and jokes are all well done, but the by-the-numbers gameplay delivers a familiar action/platforming experience, even in VR.
Concept: Justin Roiland, co-creator of Rick and Morty, takes you on a bizarre world-hopping action/platforming adventure to save your dogs and coincidentally, the universe
Graphics: Simple and imaginative, the worlds, and the characters who inhabit them, are colorful and downright weird
Sound: Justin Roiland’s great improvisational performance style is on full display, and the rest of the cast delivers an equally hilarious range of memorable voices and characters
Playability: Controlling Trover and swinging his sword feels good, but the camera perspective in or out of VR sometimes makes him a little hard to track
Entertainment: Combat, puzzles, and exploration feel familiar and unspectacular, but the bizarre story and hilarious dialogue set it apart
Replay: Moderately low
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Publisher: Electronic ArtsDeveloper: Jo-Mei GamesRelease: July 5, 2019Rating: TeenPlatform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Sea of Solitude – an EA Originals title from Berlin developer Jo-Mei Games – now has a release date of July 5 (digital download, $19.99) on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin. The game's latest trailer celebrating the announcement shows a little more gameplay and the world Kay navigates as she tries to defeat her demons and move towards the light.
Kay's journey through a flooded cityscape mirrors her own history of loneliness and struggle to overcome it and reclaim herself. The game world has an in-game weather system tied to Kay's emotions, and as she progresses more color is restored to environments.
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: NintendoRelease: June 28, 2019Platform: Switch
Super Mario Maker quickly became a fan-favorite for Wii U when it launched in 2015. The ability to easily create stages within some of Mario's most classic adventures resonated with longtime players, inspiring them to design and share some of their most creative, ingenious, and twisted course ideas. The flexibility of these tools encouraged players to stretch the definition of what a Mario level can deliver, and in the process, created one of the ultimate proving grounds for longtime platform players. With Wii U firmly in Nintendo's rear-view mirror, Super Mario Maker 2 is bringing that same experience to Switch. I went hands-on with the impressive suite of additions in this follow up to one of the Wii U's biggest surprises.
Over the course of my hands-on time with Super Mario Maker 2, I got a fuller picture of exactly how this one works. While the series' core tenets of creating, playing, and sharing are still very much intact, Super Mario Maker 2 improves and adds to every part of the package in meaningful ways, beginning with the very core of the series: the creation toolset. Not only can you create within the all-new and distinct style of Super Mario 3D World, but the four game styles from the first Mario Maker are vastly improved with new elements, an easy-to-navigate radial menu system, and a customizable hotbar at the top of the screen.
I was initially worried about how Super Mario Maker 2 would fare without the use of a touchscreen, but after just ten minutes, I was navigating the radial menus with ease. I didn't have much longer to experiment with the toolset, but after a few more minutes, I fell back into my creative mindset from the first Super Mario Maker and I made a crude first draft of a stage from a built-in template. What I created was far from brilliant, but I made a fun level that could easily be iterated upon and shared all without prior experience, which is exciting.
When forest stages are turned to night, the water changes to dangerous poison
During my time with the creation tools, I was sure to mess around with some of the newer elements. After creating a stage with an Angry Sun in the Super Mario World style, I switched it to nighttime to not only swap the backdrop but also change the mechanics. In night stages, each stage type has different rules. For instance, underground stages are played upside-down, while sky stages feature reduced gravity. In addition, the Angry Sun is replaced by a moon that clears the screen of enemies when you touch it instead of dealing damage to Mario.
After playing a bit with the styles from the original Mario Maker, I swap over to Super Mario 3D World. Unlike when I jump between Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, selecting 3D World gives me a warning that all progress on my current stage will be lost. This is due to the stage elements in 3D World being so different from the other game styles. After agreeing to that condition, I'm given access to an expanded suite of elements to create with, including the cat bell power-up, new enemies like Skipsqueak, and my personal favorite Super Mario 3D World element to this point: the Koopa Troopa Car. When you encounter this revved-up turtle, you can stomp on him to take his car, then embark on a joyride across the level, plowing through enemies and riding over small gaps, until you run into enough walls to smash it. I can't wait to create a Koopa Troopa Car obstacle course.
On the gameplay side of things, you can still play through the online pool of courses created by Super Mario Maker 2 players across the globe, but if you'd rather enjoy a curated collection of levels from the experts at Nintendo, the story mode will be right up your alley. Princess Peach's castle has been destroyed and it's your job to work with the Toads to rebuild it. Interacting with them is fun, as all my encounters resulted in witty and charming dialogue. Talking with the Toads allows you to accept jobs in the form of Nintendo-created levels. Over the course of the story mode, you can choose from over 100 all-new stages where Nintendo employees flex their creation muscles using the Super Mario Maker 2 building tools. Beating stages rewards you with coins, and when you combine that with any coins you collect in the stages themselves, you fund the reconstruction effort.
After playing through the first level and gathering my reward of 100 coins, I can afford the foundation. The Toads get to work rebuilding, but two hammer symbols appear over the project, signaling that it won't be done until I complete two more stages. I go to the Toad I spoke with before about the first stage, and he has another handful of stages to choose from. As the mode opens up, you encounter more quest givers and can opt to play the available stages in whatever order you want.
The Koopa Troopa Car is fast and fun, but be careful not to crash it
If you're looking to enjoy Super Mario Maker 2 with others, you have multiple ways to do so. By handing a Joy-Con half to your friend on the other side of the couch, you can cooperatively create stages. If you prefer to create alone, you can also enjoy four-player simultaneous multiplayer on any stage you've downloaded to your Switch; don't worry, if you're playing, you can use whatever Switch controller you want. You can also create a local lobby if you have multiple friends nearby with their own copies of Super Mario Maker 2 to connect up to four Switches. Meanwhile, the online offerings allow for cooperative play with strangers, as well as ranked competitive play. After playing some local co-op, it became apparent to me that not every level is designed with multiplayer in mind, so Nintendo encourages multiplayer hopefuls to seek out stages tagged for multiplayer.
If you just want to find some new stages to download and play through for yourself, Nintendo has made that easier as well. Thanks to the tag system as well as various feeds to scroll and search through, finding the right course for you is simple. The courses still use a code system, but you can search based on detailed parameters and even follow specific creators to develop your own feed of new stages within the game.
With its easy-to-use creation tools and multiple improvements and additions, Super Mario Maker 2 looks like a surefire hit for those who enjoyed the first one. Just from the short time I had with the game, my creative juices have already started flowing and I'm getting more excited to have the new and improved toolset on my Switch.
Super Mario Maker 2 releases June 28.
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Hello vero94773,
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Publisher: Gun MediaDeveloper: Bloober TeamRelease: May 28, 2019Rating: MatureReviewed on: PCAlso on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
In horror, mystery and uncertainty are useful tools. However, when properly deployed, knowledge and context have even more power to transform simple scares into pure terror. Imagine you’re walking through a haunted house. Doors spring open every few steps, each one hiding a faceless corpse, and in the background you can vaguely hear the singing of a creepy voice. That’s pretty scary. Now imagine that all of those faceless corpses are replaced by the bodies of your friends and family, and the creepy singing is the voice of your first-grade teacher. Suddenly, your personal investment makes predictable horror elements compelling and chilling. This is a lesson Layers of Fear 2 never learns. It may excel at jolting you with quick scares, but the narrative and stakes are so obscure that real horror can’t take root.
This first-person experience sends players through a linear series of corridors and rooms that are ostensibly in a luxury ocean liner – but the aesthetic doesn’t hold its form for long. That’s not a bad thing; like the original Layers of Fear, a big highlight of this sequel is how it toys with your perception of your surroundings. Sometimes you’re in a forest, sometimes you’re in a house, and sometimes you’re in a dreamscape. Doors slam behind you, and when you turn around to check, new hallways appear where blank walls were before. This instability is exciting and the visuals can be striking, producing a few well-designed moments that I won’t spoil here, along with plenty of jump scares.
Click here to watch embedded mediaIf you’re content with the shallow thrills that come from unexpected loud noises and quick flashes of disturbing images, then Layers of Fear 2 might be satisfying. If you want an oppressive atmosphere and creeping dread, those things never quite develop. You control an actor aboard the ship to star in a film, but your unraveling sanity blurs the line between reality and imagination. This setup raises questions I was eager to have answered, but the answers don’t enrich the tension. Instead, you scour the environment for collectibles like drawings and notes, and use those to assemble a fuzzy outline of a narrative – a process that doesn’t arm you with the relevant information at the right times.
Stories don’t always need to be explicitly communicated. Some games benefit from an ambiguous delivery, but Layers of Fear 2 isn’t one of them. It feels like a six-hour trailer for a real game, teasing significance with vague foreshadowing and ominous dialogue like, “There shall be a vast shout. And then, a vaster silence.” But those threads don’t converge in a compelling way, so at moments that seemed important, I was often left wondering what was happening and why. Players can eventually find those answers through new game+ and thorough exploration, but nothing kills a scary moment like relying on after-the-fact clarification to explain why the moment should have felt scarier than it did.
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Beyond that narrative disconnect, Layers of Fear 2 also has some gameplay issues that are far more aggravating than fun. While you’re usually walking and poking around, a half-formed monster chases you at multiple points. These sequences are exercises in learning through failure; you can expect to die several times as you flee, and when you finally escape, it’s with a sense of resignation rather than victory. I was also frustrated by the conclusion, which factors in your actions to determine which of three endings you get. However, when you are making significant choices (or what you are even choosing) is poorly communicated, so the final scenes feel arbitrary – not like the end of a path you’ve decided to travel.
Watching people react to fright can be funny, and the original Layers of Fear found an audience among streamers because of its abundance of jump scares. This sequel has many similar moments, and they are more interesting and paced less aggressively, so players aren’t desensitized so quickly. At the same time, Layers of Fear 2 shares its predecessor’s narrative shortcomings; it drops multiple clues that hint at a unifying story, but the bungled delivery and atmosphere prevented me from connecting to anything beyond the surface scares.
Score: 6
Summary: Layers of Fear 2 may excel at jolting you with quick scares, but the narrative and stakes are so obscure that real horror can’t take root.
Concept: The past and present converge as an actor explores a ship that isn’t bound by the rules of reality
Graphics: Though many rooms and hallways look similar, several areas are gorgeously foreboding
Sound: Creepy effects help the jump-scares land, and the few key voice performers (including "Candyman" star Tony Todd) do good work
Playability: Navigating the world is simple, but environmental interactions (like opening doors) can be inconsistent – which is a problem if you’re being chased by a monster
Entertainment: Surprising moments succeed at sending occasional shivers down your spine, but the game doesn’t bring you deep enough into its world to inspire fear
Replay: Moderate
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Publisher: Motion TwinDeveloper: Motion TwinRelease: August 7, 2018Rating: TeenPlatform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
There aren't enough animated game trailers out there and I genuinely appreciate that Dead Cells provides them at weirdly regular junctures that are pretty fun. This one is to celebrate the release of the Rise of the Giant DLC, a free semi-expansion that has been available on PC for some time. It's now on PlayStation 4 and Switch, so players can enjoy the new bosses and new areas it provides.
You can check out the animated trailer below.
Click here to watch embedded mediaIn addition to the trailer and the DLC, Motion Twin has confirmed that Dead Cells has sold two million copies across all systems. This is a pretty unqualified success for Motion Twin, which functions somewhat experimentally as a developer with a flat structure in terms of hierarchy. In absolute terms, two million in the indie market is huge, and speaks to how a critically successful idea can take off.
Dead Cells is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and soon mobile platforms. Rise of the Giant will also be coming to Xbox One, but a last minute bug in the certification process delayed the release on that platform, which Motion Twin says will "come a bit later."
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
You might have noticed that we have Marvel fever this month at Game Informer thanks to our cover story of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, the upcoming Nintendo-published Switch exclusive. We've already had a bunch of exclusive features, footage, and discussion of the game, but Nintendo's also supplying some new trailers, like this one focusing on the X-Men.
You can check out the latest Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 trailer below.
Click here to watch embedded mediaWhile we've known Wolverine is in the game since its initial reveal trailer at The Game Awards last year, but Marvel's recent attempts in the last few years to tap down on publicizing the other X-Men made their appearance in Ultimate Alliance 3 somewhat dicey. Thankfully, this trailer confirms that a number of the mutants are making it in, including Nightcrawler and Psylocke.
You can check out our coverage hub of all things Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 right here, which has the roster so far and a few exclusive character reveals like Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye, not to mention our gameplay impressions.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 releases exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on July 19.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Announced
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Activision has had their ups and downs in recent years with Call of Duty as a series, hitting declinations and reclamations with different eras and places ranging from World War II to the far-flung future. With this year’s game returning to Infinity Ward, the studio that truly put the series on the mainstream map with 2007’s Modern Warfare, it seems appropriate for Call of Duty to go back to its roots. Now 12 years after its original namesake, a new Modern Warfare is being built on all the foundations of the original in a contemporary context.
Activision has announced 2019’s Call of Duty title today, significantly later than usual, as a reimagining of the Modern Warfare series that started over a decade ago. While borrowing the same name, Infinity Ward is very careful to insist the new title is not a reboot, but rather a reimagining borrowing the same concepts and characters but combining them with headlines today. That means characters like Captain Price will be making a return, but it will not be the same story or levels that you remember.
The new Modern Warfare wants to exemplify the gray area between different sides of war by providing playable perspectives on different camps, with militarized task forces called Tier 1 Operators on one side and rebel freedom fighters on the other. The operators are better funded and thus have more technologically advanced weapons, while the freedom fighters rely primarily on guerrilla warfare and improvised weaponry. The campaign will bounce between the two different versions, putting players in the role of counter-terrorism operations and fighting against an oppressive invading force through different times in the story.
The tech for Call of Duty is also being reimagined, with Joel Emslie returning from Respawn as Infinity Ward’s art director and raising the bar with his arrival. With a stated interest in ensuring Call of Duty is not just “the brown game,” multiple aspects of the game’s graphics have been highly tuned to give everything the most realistic look they have attempted before. Every scene in the game is filled with particulates in the air, from dust to ash to the vague remains of cobwebs attached to your night vision goggles as you stalk through an old apartment building in the dark.
The lighting system is also completely revamped from previous titles. Those night vision goggles I mentioned aren’t just a matter of brightness settings or a filter over the existing image, they upend the lighting to make it visible at all. Infrared is similar, with the new lighting system actually showing you the heat signatures of people and objects in realtime. That means you can see the difference in heat between different people or the disparity between a truck that is starting up and getting ready to move or one that is idling and ready to drive off.
While Infinity Ward has yet to talk about the multiplayer yet, they did note that this game would have no season pass, unlike previous Call of Duty games. The stated goal for this is to keep from fragmenting the player base with future free maps. In addition, this year's game is also getting crossplay for the first time between PC and consoles.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC through Battle.net on October 25.
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