Witcher 3 Steam Current Players Spike Following Netflix Show Premiere

/0 Comments/in /by

The Witcher series premiered on Netflix last week, and it appears to have put Steam users in a witching mood. The player count of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt spiked sharply, even overtaking the recently released Red Dead Redemption 2.

According to the Steam Stats page, The Witcher 3 is holding steady at roughly 46,000 players at the time of writing, to RDR2’s 45,000. Red Dead 2 still overtook it at the peak for the day with 50,000, but it’s still an impressive feat for a game that’s nearly five years old to keep a dead heat with a more recent and very critically acclaimed game.

The Witcher 3 was GameSpot’s Game of the Year in 2015, and one of the only games to have received a 10/10 score in the site’s history. It also recently released as an included game on Xbox Game Pass for consoles, right alongside the Netflix premiere, so that may have helped it regain word-of-mouth as well.

Unfortunately for Netflix, the series is less than a smash-hit. It has received mixed reviews on GameSpot sister site Metacritic, and GameSpot’s review gave it a 4/10. Editor Michael Rougeau said that while the acting and production values are on-point, the story is delivered in a way that’s unnecessarily confusing.

“But in the end, Netflix’s The Witcher is simply broken. Like the original stories, it begins in media res for Geralt of Rivia, so game fans hoping to learn more about the witcher himself won’t find an origin story here,” Rougeau wrote. “And by trying and utterly failing to cram new and remixed backstories for Yennefer and Ciri in without making any attempts to place each plotline within the larger story, The Witcher completely falls apart. Game fans who haven’t read the books will be totally befuddled, and book readers will be scratching their heads just as frequently. If you’re utterly devoted to the world of The Witcher, you’ll certainly enjoy the familiar aesthetic and characters, but beyond that, this series is hard to recommend.”

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/witcher-3-steam-current-players-spike-following-ne/1100-6472421/

Henry Cavill Got So Ripped For The Witcher That He Broke His Costumes

/0 Comments/in /by

Superman actor Henry Cavill spent a lot of the time at the gym to prepare for his starring role as Geralt in Netflix‘s new Witcher TV show. It’s now been reported that Cavill got so jacked that it caused a problem with the show’s costume department. In short, he kept Hulk-ing through his outfits.

Polygon spoke with the show’s costume designer, Tim Aslam, and the site reported: “Not only was the actor particular about his outfit, but that during shooting, his muscles wore down the leather at such an alarming rate that replacements were constantly produced to meet the production’s needs.”

In the lead-up to The Witcher’s release, Cavill said he was so committed to getting buff to play the monster-slayer that he trekked up the hill and through the snow to get to the gym. It was leg day, and Cavill wasn’t willing to skip it.

The Witcher premiered on Netflix earlier this month. The show generally fell flat with critics–here at GameSpot we scored Season 1 a 4/10–but the audience response was far more positive.

Read next: The Witcher’s Confusing Timelines, Explained

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/henry-cavill-got-so-ripped-for-the-witcher-that-he/1100-6472420/

Google Stadia Now Has Achievements, But Mobile Users Need To Wait

/0 Comments/in /by

Google Stadia has finally added achievements to its games. You can now earn achievements in Stadia titles, and they’ll be retroactively awarded to players who have completed the tasks that achievements ask of them, meaning you won’t need to restart games to earn them.

There’s a catch, though–achievements are only live for users on Chrome browser or Chromecast. Mobile app users do not yet have access to achievements; they are coming in 2020, according to the latest Stadia Community round-up.

Players with access to achievements can view their three most recently earned achievements for the last game played on their profiles, or can examine individual games for more detailed pages and descriptions of the achievements they’ve earned, or their progress towards earning them. You can also view other player’s achievements if they have been made visible to you.

Not all games on Stadia are required to include achievements, and there are not associated points or values for each achievement as there are on Xbox. It’s a system more akin to Steam’s achievements.

Achievements are available now across Stadia’s launch line-up. They’re also available in the newly released Stadia versions of Borderlands 3, Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2, and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/google-stadia-now-has-achievements-but-mobile-user/1100-6472419/

Resident Evil 3 Remake Will Be “More Action-Packed” Than 2, And Will Feature Major Changes

/0 Comments/in /by

The recently announced remake of Resident Evil 3 is releasing for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on April 3, 2020. The title’s reveal, alongside its trailer, came as something of a surprise, but it makes sense–the Resident Evil 2 remake was a game of the year contender, and sold extremely well.

Now, thanks to one fan who got their hands on the latest issue of the Japanese games magazine Famitsu and helpfully translated an interview (as noticed by USGamer,) we’ve got some more details about Resident Evil 3. The magazine features an interview with producers Peter Fabiano and Masachika Kawata, who share some details about the game.

The game was codenamed “Escape” during development, and has come about due to high demand from fans, according to the Twitter thread. The game will follow the original, as the Resident Evil 2 remake did, but with changes and rearrangements “so that those familiar with the original could also enjoy it.” The game is reportedly 90% complete, so a delay is not expected.

Despite part of the trailer being in first-person, the game will be played from the over-the-shoulder perspective that RE2 also used. Jill’s outfit has been redesigned so that it “wouldn’t look uncomfortable” during action, as this game is “a lot more action-packed” than Resident Evil 2.

Carlos’ look has changed for this remake, but apparently his demeanor has as well, and he’s now more mature. Brad Vickers has apparently changed more substantially, and will have a different role in the remake, but the producers are not ready to talk about that yet.

The interview also promises that there will be plenty of maps for Resident Evil Resistance, the new multiplayer mode also included with Resident Evil 3.

For more on Resident Evil 3, see why it’s Mat Paget’s most anticipated game of 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/resident-evil-3-remake-will-be-more-action-packed-/1100-6472418/

Halo: TV Show Production Has Begun, And New Infinite Concept Art Released

/0 Comments/in /by

Halo is gearing up for a big year in 2020, with the Halo Master Chief Collection continuing to release for PC and the planned launch of Halo Infinite alongside the Xbox Series X. In a new update on Halo Waypoint, developer 343 Industries has dropped some information about everything on the Halo slate, including the upcoming 2021 Showtime TV series.

First up, The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5 are both offering double XP from now until the end of 2019. You’ll also be able to unlock the Ugly Sweater nameplate in The Master Chief Collection by completing one of these two objectives by January 6, 2020:

  • Complete (without quitting) 10 matchmaking (Multiplayer and/or Firefight) matches on snowy maps
  • Beat the par score on any two snowy campaign missions

Updates are also coming to improve performance across the PC and Xbox One versions of the game.

343 Industries provides an update on Showtime’s upcoming Halo show, which will star Pablo Schreiber (Orange is the New Black’s “Pornstache”) as Master Chief. Production on the show has begun, and a behind-the-scenes shot makes it clear that Halsey will feature in it.

No Caption Provided

The show will be directed, at least in part, by Black Mirror’s Otto Bathurst.

An update is also given on Halo Infinite, alongside some new concept art (below). The team currently has split-screen running internally, according to the post, and the game is confirmed as taking place after Halo 5. Forge will also return, and for the first time it will feature undo and redo buttons, making it easier to edit together levels.

No Caption Provided

Halo Infinite is coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC. It will support LAN play and will feature extensive armor customization options.

No Caption Provided

The next major Halo release will be the Anniversary edition of the original Halo for PC. It will enter beta in early 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-tv-show-production-has-begun-and-new-infinite/1100-6472417/

Half-Life: Alyx Off-Screen Gameplay Footage Shows How VR Gunfights Work

/0 Comments/in /by

Half-Life: Alyx, which was surprise announced back in November, is coming in March 2020. We’ve dug up plenty of details about the game so far, but one thing we haven’t seen much of is actual gameplay footage. Now, thanks to Adam Savage’s Tested, we’ve got a much better sense of what playing the game will look like.

In the video below, recorded at Valve’s offices, we see how Half-Life: Alyx plays across eight different VR kits, including the Valve Index. Beyond showing off the various benefits and downsides of these kits, though, this video also gives us a few looks at how the game actually looks when a regular person is playing it.

In this video, we see how warp movement works in the game, and an few glimpses at how the guns work. We can see the player steadying the gun in their right hand using their left hand a few times, and interacting with elements of the environment. Thus far, all we’ve had to go on is the game’s trailer.

The off-screen gameplay footage is spread out over the video, but we get some interesting looks at a variety of actions, like gripping a doorway with both hands to pull it open and navigating UI elements with your hands. The video will also give you some insight into how the game will handle on your VR set of choice.

Half-Life: Alyx is being developed by much of the team that was originally working on In the Valley of Gods. It will only be playable in VR.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/half-life-alyx-off-screen-gameplay-footage-shows-h/1100-6472415/

Silent Hills Hacker Finds Their Way Into The Town In The P.T. Demo

/0 Comments/in /by

Silent Hills, despite having been cancelled back in 2015, continues to serve up new mysteries and reveals years later thanks to the work of one enterprising YouTuber. The town of Silent Hill appears briefly in the final cutscene of the game’s demo, P.T. (short for playable teaser,) and game hacker Lance McDonald has found a way to walk through director Hideo Kojima’s version of it.

McDonald, who previously revealed that Lisa follows you throughout the game and that you’re playing as Norman Reedus the whole time, was able to connect the map for the town to a doorway from early in the demo, but there was an initial problem–because the town was not designed for the player to walk through, there’s no collision, and you fall through the ground immediately.

Incredibly, Lisa pops up and grabs you if this happens, allowing the game to reset any player who manages to clip through the environment (which also gives the video below a proper jump scare.)

To counteract this, McDonald had to patch the game to make the player float slightly above the ground, which allows him to explore the town without issue.

If you’ve finished P.T., you’ll recognize the trail of blood on the ground–McDonald follows it, but it doesn’t lead anywhere too exciting. In fact, Silent Hill, quite eerily, feels like a regular town in many ways. There are a lot of low-poly assets, but also lots of attention to detail–the air conditioners and staircases have been hand-placed on each building to avoid repetition, for instance, and potted plants are placed realistically.

As McDonald notes, the town feels simultaneously under construction and abandoned, which is a hallmark of the Silent Hill series. It also stretches back quite far, and features a mysterious bridge that you can walk under right in the middle of the street at the edge of the map.

There are no major revelations or reveals here, but it’s a very interesting look at how Silent Hill itself might have looked if the game was ever completed. Instead, Kojima and Norman Reedus went on to create Death Stranding.

Kojima has recently hinted at a return to horror, and while we won’t be seeing him work on the Silent Hill franchise any time soon, it’s possible that he’ll return to some of his ideas for the game in the future.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/silent-hills-hacker-finds-their-way-into-the-town-/1100-6472413/

Little Nightmares 2 – Jenae Sitzes’ Most Anticipated Game Of 2020

/0 Comments/in /by

2020 is almost here, so we’ve asked GameSpot’s staff to share which games they’re looking forward to most in the new year. New consoles are going to dominate the headlines, but at the end of the day it’s all about the games, and there are a ton of exciting ones to look forward to. When you’re done reading this entry, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2019 hub and our Most Anticipated of 2020 hub.

Announced at Gamescom 2019, Little Nightmares 2 was a sequel I never saw coming, but I’m absolutely delighted that it’s happening. The upcoming horror puzzle-platformer from Tarsier Studios is confirmed to be released in 2020, although no exact date has been revealed.

I still remember the exact moment I first caught a glimpse of Little Nightmares at a convention in late 2016–the cute-but-creepy, Tim Burton-esque style immediately grabbed my attention. If you’re a fan of horror, Little Nightmares does not disappoint. The game follows Six, a hungry little girl in a yellow raincoat, as she makes her escape from a terrifying vessel known as the Maw. Six encounters a host of gruesome residents aboard the vessel, including a dreadful long-armed Janitor, the grotesque Twin Chefs, and blood-sucking leeches.

Little Nightmares is similar to games like Limbo or Journey in that the story is communicated through the environment and silent encounters rather than dialogue. Even without her speaking or even revealing her face, you grow attached to Six and emotionally invested in her escape as she makes her way through the dangerous Maw. And while the end may leave you with questions, Little Nightmares offers up a unique and unforgettable world that sets the stage perfectly for a sequel.

We know that Little Nightmares 2 will introduce a new character, a little boy named Mono, who teams up with Six after her escape from the Maw. In the sequel, you’ll play as Mono, and Six will be your guide as you set out to explore a mysterious humming transmission from a distant Signal Tower. Of course, there will be new monstrous residents after them, including a sadistic Teacher, and stealth and puzzle-solving will be a major aspect of the gameplay. The trailer even shows some light combat, a new addition to the series.

I’m incredibly excited to see how the sequel expands on the story started in Little Nightmares and its mobile prequel, Very Little Nightmares. In the first game, we caught a glimpse of the monstrous Guests boarding the Maw, and now we’ll finally learn what horrors lie in the world outside. We know Little Nightmares 2 will mostly take place outside of the Maw, introducing new settings like a creepy forest and an ominous cabin occupied by the bloodthirsty Hunter.

Even more intriguing are the retro-style TVs that appear to be scattered throughout the game, which are likely connected to the Signal Tower and seem to hold hypnotic powers over the residents. There’s also the question of that shadowy figure on the cover, who also appears in the TV at the end of the trailer. Is he our big bad in Little Nightmares 2?

It’s a testament to the first game’s incredible worldbuilding that there’s so much ground to cover in the sequel. The world of Little Nightmares is about to get a lot bigger in 2020, and I can’t wait to be absolutely terrified by it.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/little-nightmares-2-jenae-sitzes-most-anticipated-/1100-6472331/

Psychonauts 2 – Tony Wilson’s Most Anticipated Game Of 2020

/0 Comments/in /by

2020 is almost here, so we’ve asked GameSpot’s staff to share which games they’re looking forward to most in the new year. New consoles are going to dominate the headlines, but at the end of the day it’s all about the games, and there are a ton of exciting ones to look forward to. When you’re done reading this entry, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2019 hub and our Most Anticipated of 2020 hub.

When the original Psychonauts launched in 2005, the platformer’s heyday was already fizzling out–contemporary action games like God of War, Resident Evil 4, and Gears of War saw to that. Fortunately, platformers are far more common again these days thanks to indie developers, which has once again saturated the genre. Still, I look to Psychonauts 2 to remind me why I love the platformers, but in new ways.

In Psychonauts 2, I am most excited about the level design. The original game’s stages were created around the psyche of various characters whom our hero Raz is trying to help. Physical education teacher Coach Oleander sees the world as a Normandy-esque battlefield; conspiracy-theory loving security guard Boyd Cooper is plagued with anxieties of undercover milkmen secretly spying on suburban households. This reflexive level design is the embodiment of “show, don’t tell,” a narrative concept that lets the player discover more about characters without overlong cutscenes or expository text boxes. And the ideas are ridiculous enough that you can laugh at each stage you’re leaping through–there’s a circus made of meat in there for Crueller’s sake.

I’m excited to see what level design concepts the sequel explores, especially since we’ll be meeting a whole new cast of characters. The adventure picks up right where VR spin-off Rhombus of Ruin left off, with Raz and company arriving at Psychonauts HQ. Apparently, the organization has been up to no good, and at least one agent has been dabbling in necromancy. I can’t even imagine what mental gymnastics they did to justify that–or what literal gymnastics I’ll do in the level based on this necromancer’s mind.

It’s been a long journey for Psychonauts 2, one that started with a super successful Kickstarter campaign in January 2016. We didn’t end up seeing an official first trailer until The Game Awards 2018. Despite the surprise reveal, the sequel was later pushed back until at least 2019–the first of two delays. The second came after Microsoft acquired developer Double Fine, who, despite announcing it’ll be publishing Psychonauts 2, will still be releasing the game on PS4 and PC as well. However, just a few weeks after that announcement, the game was delayed again, this time into 2020. I genuinely hope that’s the last one because I want to get my telekinetic hands around Psychonauts 2 soon.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psychonauts-2-tony-wilsons-most-anticipated-game-o/1100-6472379/

Psychonauts 2 – Tony Wilson’s Most Anticipated Game Of 2020

/0 Comments/in /by

2020 is almost here, so we’ve asked GameSpot’s staff to share which games they’re looking forward to most in the new year. New consoles are going to dominate the headlines, but at the end of the day it’s all about the games, and there are a ton of exciting ones to look forward to. When you’re done reading this entry, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2019 hub and our Most Anticipated of 2020 hub.

When the original Psychonauts launched in 2005, the platformer’s heyday was already fizzling out–contemporary action games like God of War, Resident Evil 4, and Gears of War saw to that. Fortunately, platformers are far more common again these days thanks to indie developers, which has once again saturated the genre. Still, I look to Psychonauts 2 to remind me why I love the platformers, but in new ways.

In Psychonauts 2, I am most excited about the level design. The original game’s stages were created around the psyche of various characters whom our hero Raz is trying to help. Physical education teacher Coach Oleander sees the world as a Normandy-esque battlefield; conspiracy-theory loving security guard Boyd Cooper is plagued with anxieties of undercover milkmen secretly spying on suburban households. This reflexive level design is the embodiment of “show, don’t tell,” a narrative concept that lets the player discover more about characters without overlong cutscenes or expository text boxes. And the ideas are ridiculous enough that you can laugh at each stage you’re leaping through–there’s a circus made of meat in there for Crueller’s sake.

I’m excited to see what level design concepts the sequel explores, especially since we’ll be meeting a whole new cast of characters. The adventure picks up right where VR spin-off Rhombus of Ruin left off, with Raz and company arriving at Psychonauts HQ. Apparently, the organization has been up to no good, and at least one agent has been dabbling in necromancy. I can’t even imagine what mental gymnastics they did to justify that–or what literal gymnastics I’ll do in the level based on this necromancer’s mind.

It’s been a long journey for Psychonauts 2, one that started with a super successful Kickstarter campaign in January 2016. We didn’t end up seeing an official first trailer until The Game Awards 2018. Despite the surprise reveal, the sequel was later pushed back until at least 2019–the first of two delays. The second came after Microsoft acquired developer Double Fine, who, despite announcing it’ll be publishing Psychonauts 2, will still be releasing the game on PS4 and PC as well. However, just a few weeks after that announcement, the game was delayed again, this time into 2020. I genuinely hope that’s the last one because I want to get my telekinetic hands around Psychonauts 2 soon.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psychonauts-2-tony-wilsons-most-anticipated-game-o/1100-6472379/