Month: August 2020

Popular strategy game Auto Chess is coming to the PS4 later this year. During Sony’s latest State of Play, Auto Chess’s release date was revealed to be October 31, 2020. The strategy game will come with PlayStation-exclusive items and new game versions that will be detailed later on.

Auto Chess’s State of Play trailer didn’t reveal much past the release date, though we did see some gameplay. Players can expect the console versions to be similar to their PC and mobile counterparts. Auto Chess has quite a few modes, including Casual, Ranked, and various others. Players place their chess pieces in strategic configurations to try to outwit and out-muscle their seven opponents.

Pieces in Auto Chess all feature different statistics, including three different star levels that designate their power. Additionally, each piece has race and class synergies that players need to pay attention to in order to create the most powerful setup.

Auto Chess spawned from a Dota 2 mod and is currently on PC as an exclusive to the Epic Games Store. It’s currently in Early Access on Epic’s storefront, but we don’t yet know if it’ll launch in full on the same day as the PS4 version. Auto Chess was previously announced for Nintendo Switch as well, though it’s currently unclear if it will launch on Nintendo’s platform the same day. It’s also available on both iOS and Android mobile devices.

During Sony’s August State of Play stream, the company announced a release date for Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series on PSVR. Vader Immortal was previously released episodically on Oculus and is a short-form story following a smuggler working for Darth Vader; the PSVR release will include all three episodes and is launching August 25, 2020 for $30 USD.

Vader Immortal is a canon story within the Star Wars universe and was written by David S. Goyer, who was the screenwriter on Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. It was designed by ILMxLAB, an immersive experience studio founded in 2015. While Vader is the focal point of the plot, you actually play as a smuggler recruited by the Sith Lord to find an artifact. The game features hand-to-hand lightsaber combat and force abilities.

Vader Immortal was first announced for PSVR in May 2020 as part of the Star Wars Day festivities.

There are even more creative assassination possibilities coming to Hitman III when it hits PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 next year. In addition to wandering through the game’s various locales in a third-person perspective, figuring out how to kill your targets with everything from an explosive rubber ducky to a carefully placed poison drink, you’ll also be able to play the entire game in virtual reality, as revealed in a new trailer for the upcoming third game in IO Interactive’s rebooted Hitman series.

As Sony revealed during its latest State of Play presentation, Hitman III will have PSVR support that puts you in the first-person perspective of protagonist Agent 47. We already knew that Hitman III would also include all the missions from the first two games if you already own them–as the new trailer notes, you’ll also get VR support for Hitman and Hitman 2’s missions, too.

IO Interactive previously discussed the ways the PS5’s increased power and speedier loading is going to allow it to increase the complexity of the levels in Hitman III; the series is known for its large stages that are kind of like big clockwork systems, where players are rewarded for learning all the nooks and crannies and studying characters’ movements to find the best, most efficient, and most hilarious ways to eliminate them. VR’s new perspective could offer even more ways to engage with that complexity, and provide new solutions to Hitman’s complex assassination puzzles.

The VR perspective won’t just be about how you look at the world, though–it’ll change how you interact with it as well. Here’s how the action is described in a post on the PlayStation Blog:

“You’ll stand face-to-face with your targets and look them in the eyes, blend-in to a busy crowd and hear the chatter and conversations happening around you and interact with items using your hands. For example, you can swing a frying pan in whatever angle you want to knock out a guard – and then use it to deflect any bullets that are fired at you as you make your escape!”

Hitman III is set to release in January 2021 on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Stadia.

Spelunky 2, the sequel to the groundbreaking platformer, is finally launching next month on September 15 for both PS4 and Steam. Development on the game had gone quiet for months after Yu announced that it would be delayed from its original 2019 release window.

“We wanted to try to not change the things that made the first so great,” Yu said in Sony’s State of Play stream. He added that Spelunky 2 would have cooperative and competitive online multiplayer, branching paths, and a more expansive shopping experience.

Yu explained that he wanted to expand the concept of the original Spelunky universe. While he didn’t confirm exact details, Yu did say that players would be building a “community and family” as they complete various runs. He also announced the ability to ride turkeys and encounter characters that can help or harm you. The sequel will also include more story than its predecessor.

“The time it takes to complete a successful run, however, hasn’t increased that much,” Yu wrote on the official Playstation blog. “Instead, the journey has become much more dense and varied, with lots more to do and try with each time you venture into the caves.”

The original Spelunky emerged from its obscure indie roots to become one of the most celebrated games of its era in its HD incarnation, with some even hailing it as the game of the decade. In our review, Tom McShea said that Spelunky “makes excellent use of its random nature to keep you hooked as you strive to dive ever deeper into the mysterious depths.”

Braid Anniversary Edition was announced during PlayStation’s State of Play event with a trailer showing off the remastered artwork and brand-new animations. The Anniversary Edition is an overhaul of Braid, the 2008 time-bending puzzle-platformer.

The game will also have enhanced sound with new mixes and variants on the original soundtrack, plus an extremely detailed developer commentary track. The commentary track is aiming to be incredibly thorough and, according to the trailer, “If you want to learn how video games are made, Braid anniversary edition will be a really good resource.” You will be able to switch between the old art and the new art at any point during the game.

In GameSpot’s Braid Review, critic Tom Mc Shea wrote, “The captivating ending sequence, which makes use of your rewind ability in a jaw-dropping new way, provides the exclamation point on this remarkable game, but the adventure is consistently engaging throughout the entire ride. The clever puzzles alone are enough to make this an adventure worth taking. Braid’s deep and mesmerizing tale is evergreen: it is outside of and beyond time. It will never get old.”

The game is set to release in early 2021 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

During Sony’s State of Play livestream, developer Toys for Bob unveiled new gameplay details about Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

Toys for Bob talked about new elements coming to the game when it launches this October for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This includes new game modes, the return of Dingodile as a playable character, and more.

The new game mode, N. Verted Mode (a collaboration with developer Beenox), functions like Mario Kart‘s Mirror Mode. In Crash 4, the game gets inverted to feature all manners of weird art styles, from a more stylized aesthetic to an old-timey black-and-white movie filter and more. It’s meant to provide more replayability to the game, giving players alternative perspectives, sound effects, music, and more.

“This is the first new game in the Crash Bandicoot series in more than a decade, so we felt it was important to introduce a brand-new style of play,” Toys for Bob’s co-studio head Paul Yan said in a press release. “We teamed up with our good friends at Beenox to help us develop N. Verted mode, and they brought all of the same passion and expertise that went into the amazing Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.”

In addition to N. Verted Mode, Toys for Bob confirmed several characters will be playable throughout the entire game. Alongside Crash’s sister Coco, It’s About Time will feature Dingodile and Doctor Neo Cortex as playable characters. There will also be multiple skins you can unlock without microtransactions (such as space suits), new abilities (like wall-running) you can experiment with, more masks you can pick up, and more.

Crash Bandicoot 4 drops on October 2 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. You can check out our Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time pre-order guide to learn about the available bonuses.

Another Max Raid event has begun in Pokemon Sword and Shield. This one only runs through this weekend, and it revolves around the series’ adorable mascot, Pikachu.

From now until August 9, Pikachu, Pichu, Raichu, and Alolan Raichu will all appear more frequently in Max Raid dens across both Sword and Shield. On top of that, you’ll have a chance to find a Shiny Pikachu in five-star Raids, and it seems Mimikyu has snuck into some dens as well as part of this event.

The Pikachu Mass Appearance event runs until 4:59 PM PT on August 9, so you only have a limited time to take part in it. Before the Pikachu will begin appearing in your game, you’ll need to refresh your Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting online via the Y-Comm or going into Mystery Gift from the menu screen and selecting Get the Wild Area News.

That’s not the only Max Raid event happening in Sword and Shield this month. Until August 31, Water- and Ground-type Pokemon like Gastrodon, Milotic, and Hippowdon are appearing more frequently in Max Raids, as are the Gigantamax forms of Drednaw and Sandaconda. You can also earn some valuable items like Pearls and Stardust for completing the event Raids.

Pokemon Sword and Shield launched for Switch back in November 2019 and have been huge hits for Nintendo. The games have sold more than 18 million copies combined as of June 30, making them the third-best-selling generation in the series behind Red and Blue and Gold and Silver. Their second DLC expansion, The Crown Tundra, is slated to release sometime this fall.