Sony has finally announced the release date for Death Stranding, the much-anticipated PS4 title from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. The game will launch on November 8, 2019. In addition, the company revealed an extensive look at gameplay for the first time–take a look at the trailer above.

Death Stranding is Kojima’s first game since leaving Konami and is something of a departure from what we’ve seen him and his team do in the past.

The trailer shows main character Sam exploring a strange open-world filled with mysterious creatures. We see him riding a motorbike and, separately, being attacked by some of the world’s monsters. Elsewhere he wields an assault rifle to retaliate.

As is typical for Kojima’s games, the actual story is unclear. The trailer begins with Mads Mikkelsen’s character singing to what seemingly is the artificial baby seen in previous trailers–he refers to it as BB. From there, we see a photograph of Sam and his wife–whose face is greyed out–and a woman that is presumably his mother. A sickly woman that seems to be the president of a company called Bridges says, “Together, you can help us reconnect. You can make America whole.” Sam replies, saying, “No, America is finished … We don’t need a country. Not anymore.”

There also seems to be an ongoing conflict with a militant separatist group that have special powers. They enter into towns and kill people. In terms of gameplay, we see Sam engaging with enemies in third-person melee combat, but there’s also elements of stealth, which will no doubt be appreciated by fans of Kojima’s previous titles.

Sam works for Bridges and we see him suiting up, to the sounds of Path by Apocalyptica. He goes out into a strand world, traversing terrains from snowy mountains to rocky cliffs, using tools such as a ladder and a Climbing Anchor to get around.

The release date was revealed in a peculiar Twitch stream in which footage was slowly uncovered by fading handprints. The stream eventually showed an extensive trailer that included gameplay footage.

Until now, little had been known about Death Stranding, with Kojima Productions and Sony remaining tight-lipped for much of the game’s development cycle. The cast includes a number of celebrities, such as The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus in the lead role, as well as Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, and Troy Baker.

A recent report said Death Stranding could come to PS5, but that has not yet been announced. For now, it will be coming to PS4 only on November 8.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4s-death-stranding-release-date-confirmed-gamepl/1100-6467221/

Square Enix has detailed when it plans to show off more of its Avengers game. As the name indicates, the game is based on the Marvel property and, it has been confirmed that we’ll learn more about it during Square Enix’s E3 2019 press conference on June 10 at 6PM PT. The tweet announcing the date indicates that the game may simply be called “Marvel’s Avengers.”

The Avengers Project was initially announced in January 2017, with Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics and Deus Ex studio Eidos Montreal attached to it. Although the announcement provided very little in detail–something that has remained unchanged thus far–it did lay some of the foundations for its narrative.

In the original teaser, a voice narrated, “They say the time of heroes is over. That if you’re ‘different,’ you’re dangerous. But I know the truth. The world will always need heroes. We just need to reassemble.”

Thor’s hammer, Captain America’s shield, and Iron Man’s hand were shown, but they had clearly been through many battles and looked damaged. The tagline “reassemble” suggests the Avengers may have gone their separate ways, for some reason, and in the game will be brought back together to save the planet.

“The Avengers project is being designed for gamers worldwide and will be packed with all the characters, environments, and iconic moments that have thrilled longtime fans of the franchise,” read a press release from Square Enix. “Featuring a completely original story, it will introduce a universe gamers can play in for years to come.”

In January 2018, a full year after it was first announced, Crystal Dynamics provided an update on development, after it was noticed that the team was staffing up with ex-Naughty Dog and Visceral Games developers.

“We’re committed to delivering an incredible, completely original Avengers experience to our gamers, and that means we are always looking to add amazing developers to our existing best in class studio talent,” Crystal Dynamics co-head Scot Amos said.

In August 2018, it was confirmed that a new Crystal Dynamics studio situated in Bellevue, Washington was focusing on technology development and work on The Avengers Project.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/avengers-game-reveal-confirmed-for-e3-2019/1100-6467224/

After launching a double discount sale last week in the US, Sony has now started a similar campaign in Europe and Australia. The promotion discounts hundreds of PS4 games by up to 30% for everyone, or up to 60% if you’re a PS Plus member.

Titles on offer include Assassin’s Creed Origins, which is down to £17 for PS Plus members, and Far Cry 5 for £20. If you’re after something a little cheaper, Battlefield 1 is £5.39, while Fallout 4 is just £6.

Hitman 2 is one of the newer games to be discounted, with its gold edition slashed from £80 to £32 for PS Plus subscribers. There’s plenty more on offer, too, and you can browse the full offering of deals at the PlayStation Store.

Those who pay for Sony’s premium service can still grab May’s free PS Plus games. The two games available this month are indie darling What Remains of Edith Finch and frenzied co-op game Overcooked.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/hundreds-of-ps4-games-going-cheap-in-new-playstati/1100-6467219/

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to PC, and it won’t be long until we learn more about Microsoft’s plans to release the compilation package on PC.

Developers from 343 Industries, including community director Brian Jarrard, design director Max Szlagor, and STE lead IK Grubb will appear on the 343 Social Stream on May 29 to provide an update on how the game is coming along.

The panelists will provide a “show-and-tell update on Halo: Reach and the journey to bring MCC on PC.” The event begins at 1:30 PM PT, and you can watch the event live on Mixer.

In addition to the livestream, 343 is planning a massive blog post that will dive deep into “many topics,” including Halo: Reach for Halo: MCC and MCC for PC in general. It will truly be a huge info dump, as 343 says the current draft is 22 pages and almost 6,000 words long.

Halo: MCC is coming to PC in stages, with each title in the package released and sold separately. This begins with Halo: Reach (which is also coming to Xbox One) and then continues on PC with Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4.

343 Industries originally planned to launch the first beta for Halo: Reach on PC in April, but it didn’t happen. Presumably the stream tomorrow will provide more answers on when people might be able to begin playing Halo: MCC on PC. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

You can sign up for the free Halo Insider program for a chance to get into the beta tests. The tests will start small before expanding to additional users over time.

In other Halo news, Microsoft is reportedly going to share more details on Halo Infinite at E3 2019 next month. For more, check out GameSpot’s breakdown of what we know about Halo Infinite so far and what we want to see at E3 2019.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-mcc-for-pc-news-coming-this-week/1100-6467216/