Author: Trafficblast

PC games storefront GOG regularly hosts excellent weekly sales, and if you’re a fan of zombie games, this week’s sale is right up your alley. The Zombie Gogalypse sale features 57 zombie games for up to 90% off. Every season of Telltale’s wonderful narrative adventure series The Walking Dead is discounted 25% off. The sale runs through May 17, so you have about a week to make your picks.

The Walking Dead: Season 1, Season 2, and Michonne, and A New Frontier are down to $11.24 each, while 400 Days (a special episode for the first season) is $3.74. The Walking Dead: The Final Season, which artfully brings beloved protagonist Clementine’s journey to a close, is discounted to $15.

For a more action-oriented zombie experience, Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition is just $18, which is a 70% savings. The Enhanced Edition comes with the base game, The Following expansion, and several additional pieces of DLC. Rumors have circulated recently claiming that Techland’s Dying Light 2 is having development issues, but the studio countered by announcing that the much-anticipated sequel will still release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Now’s a great time to check out the original, which earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Dying Light review (The Following expansion earned an 8/10).

Last week’s Inside Xbox stream revealed a bunch of cool games, including Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which will release on next-generation consoles, current consoles, and PC later this year. We wouldn’t blame you if you don’t remember the first Bloodlines game, as it released way back in 2004. If you want to catch up, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is 50% off at $10. You can also grab Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, which preceded Bloodlines, for only $3.

We’ve rounded up the best deals below, and you can see the full Zombie Gogalypse sale at GOG.

Best deals at GOG

Don’t expect details on The Elder Scrolls VI until “years from now”, according to Bethesda senior vice president Pete Hines.

Responding to a tweet asking for information about the next-gen game, Hines was unequivocal, making clear that news on the still fairly unknown Starfield is coming well before anything on Elder Scrolls:

It’s after Starfield, which you pretty much know nothing about. So if you’re coming at me for details now and not years from now, I’m failing to properly manage your expectations.

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) May 10, 2020

We already knew not to expect Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6 news this year so it’ll likely be some time before we hear anything about either game. Bethesda won’t be holding a digital replacement for E3 this year, but it does plan to deliver news on Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo in some form.

After being teased at E3 2018, neither Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6 have release windows as of yet, and a recent job listing for the latter could suggest that development on Elder Scrolls 6 has only recently begun in earnest.

We might not have been told too much about the follow-up to Skyrim, but here’s everything we can speculate on about its release date, gameplay and more.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.

One of the developers behind SteamDB has revealed that Valve is seemingly working on a loyalty system that could potentially reward users with game discounts and virtual items.

Pavel Djundik posted the news to Twitter, noting that the “loyalty awards” system would feature accruable points that can be redeemed for badge levels, and will allow reactions to user reviews.

According to Djundik, there will also be “reward items” and perhaps a system where players can receive discounts on games as a reward for their loyalty to Steam.

Valve is working on loyalty awards/rewards. It has a point system, and a system to add reactions to user reviews.

Also includes reward items, redeeming points for badge levels, and possiblity game discounts.

— Pavel Djundik (@thexpaw) May 9, 2020

Djundik followed up his post with a supposed screenshot of the reactions that players could be leaving on user reviews in the near future – “Deep Thoughts, Heartwarming, Hilarious, Hot Take, Poetry and xHelpful.” The last entry could mean Helpful or Not Helpful, depending on the use of the “x” as a prefix.

Djundik is a full-stack developer and data miner known for his work on SteamDB, a third-party database that often reveals games ahead of time. Just last week, we reported on a SteamDB listing for Yakuza: Like a Dragon which hinted at the game coming to PC and Steam. Sure enough, Like a Dragon’s Western PC release was unveiled after the May installment of Xbox 20/20.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

John Krasinski reunited some of his former co-stars from The Office to surprise a newly married couple on Episode 7 of his Some Good News web series.

Taking to Twitter, Krasinski shared the latest instalment of his feel-good newscast, which spotlights positive stories from around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In one segment, Krasinski spoke to a couple from Maryland who re-enacted the famous wedding proposal from The Office, in which Jim Halpert (Krasinski) gets down on one knee for Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) in front of a petrol station, for their own engagement.

Episode 7 is here! This one is filled with all kinds of LOVE — just the Good News we need! #SGNhttps://t.co/Q9QJ73TqOA

— Some Good News (@somegoodnews) May 11, 2020

“You guys have proved that proposal works 100 percent of the time,” Krasinski joked with the couple, before encouraging them to get married live on the show. He then surprised them with the news that he had been ordained as a minister for the virtual ceremony, to which he invited their parents, siblings and friends to join the Zoom video conference.

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Next up, he brought Jenna Fischer on to stand in as the couple’s maid of honour. “I didn’t know what your wedding colours were, but I went with pink and white,” she said, gesturing to a flower arrangement behind her. Country singer Zac Brown then appeared on the group chat to perform “The Man Who Loves You the Most” for the bride’s virtual walk down the aisle.

After officiating the ceremony, Krasinski was joined by Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper, Mindy Kaling, Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez and Phyllis Smith who recreated their respective dances from Jim and Pam’s wedding for a virtual after-party set to Chris Brown’s song “Forever.”

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For some even more good news, watch the moment that Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Broadway cast of Hamilton surprised a young fan with a performance of her favourite song and check out the very first episode of John Krasinski’s YouTube series featuring “entertainment correspondent” Steve Carell.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

A report suggests that the long-rumoured remaster of Diablo 2 may be coming this year.

French news outlet ActuGaming is reporting that the game, which it believes to be called Diablo 2 Resurrected, will launch in Q4 2020. The editor of ActuGaming has previously correctly predicted announcements for Overwatch 2, Diablo 4 and WoW: Shadowlands.

The article cites “sources close to the studio,” and suggests that Vicarious Visions is supporting Blizzard on the project. Vicarious Visions has been operating for decades now, but the studio most recently worked on the Crash Bandicoot revival, developing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled.

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It’s not known when this potential remaster will be revealed, but it’s thought that it should make headlines before its scheduled launch date at the end of the year, if the rumours turn out to be true.

We previously reported on a Blizzard job listing back in 2017 that suggested the studio was working on “restoring” both Warcraft III and Diablo II, which lends credence to this rumour.

Warcraft III: Reforged launched in February of this year, a game we called “an uninspiring refresh of a truly great game.” Hopefully, this rumoured Diablo II remaster will do its precursor more justice.

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The Stone of Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Dave Filoni has spoken of the significance of the Duel of the Fates scene in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, saying it is more than just a “cool lightsaber battle.”

Filoni identified the epic duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul as a pivotal moment in the Star Wars saga, as he shared some interesting insights into the deeper meaning of the fight during a roundtable discussion on the latest episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.

Dave Filoni on why Qui-Gon Jinn and Duel of the Fates is so important pic.twitter.com/aHKCF8H1rR

— 2x college graduate (@ariesanakin) May 9, 2020

“In Phantom Menace, you’re watching these two Jedi in their prime fight this evil villain,” Filoni explained. “Maul couldn’t be more obviously the villain. He’s designed to look evil, and he is evil, and he expresses that from his face, all the way out to the type of lightsaber he fights with. What’s at stake is really how Anakin is going to turn out. Because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi, and you get that in the movie.”

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Filoni went on to discuss the prominent theme of fathers and sons that runs throughout the Star Wars saga, pointing out that Qui-Gon Jinn serves as a father figure to Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace because he stands by the fact “Jedi are supposed to actually care and love” at their core.

“He’s fighting for Anakin, and that’s why it’s the Duel of the Fates,” Filoni said. “It’s the fate of this child. And depending on how this fight goes, his life is going to be dramatically different. So Qui-Gon loses, of course, so the father figure [is gone]. Because he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment, and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin, at first, out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. He’s a brother to Anakin, eventually, but he’s not a father figure. That’s a failing for Anakin. He doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails the promise to his mother, ‘I will come back and save you.’ So he’s left completely vulnerable, and Star Wars is ultimately about family.”

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Filoni concluded the in-depth discussion of the scene by highlighting how the Duel of the Fates ultimately reverberates throughout the entire Star Wars saga, right the way through to the final encounter between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor at the end of Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.

“So that moment in that movie, that I think a lot of people diminish into just this cool lightsaber fight, is everything that the entire three films of the prequels hangs on,” Filoni added. “It’s that one particular fight. And Maul serves his purpose, and at that point died — before George made me bring him back. But he died, and that’s showing you, again, how the Emperor is completely self-serving. He’s just a tool. He’s using people and now he’s going to use this child. That follows all the way through to the line, which terrified me as a kid, when the Emperor tells Luke, ‘You, like your father, are now mine.'”

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If you’re looking forward to seeing more epic Star Wars duels in the future, then you might be interested to learn that Disney has just announced a new Star Wars movie directed by Taika Waititi. Plus, Bob Iger has not ruled out Star Wars trilogies despite wanting to take “a bit of a hiatus” after the release of Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker last year.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

With theaters closed, Vertical Entertainment and Redbox Entertainment have teamed up to release Capone as a home premiere on VOD release on May 12th  with an on-demand 48-hour rental.

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In his first feature film since 2015’s Fantastic Four, director Josh Trank documents the sad, slow decline of a once mighty king in Capone. Anyone expecting this to be a Tommy Guns-blazing crime epic a la The Untouchables may be stunned to find a methodically paced character study that owes more to psychological and body horror than to pulpy gangster flicks. While the movie acknowledges the existence of that larger-than-life crime boss, this is about what happens to Al Capone long after his Prohibition glory days and subsequent incarceration, as the neurosyphilis he’s long had finally ravages him beyond any hope of recovery.

This is not an Al Capone we’ve ever seen on screen before, but it’s one that true crime aficionados like myself have been curious to see explored in a drama. For mob buffs and those who enjoy character studies, Capone offers an intimate, sometimes challenging look at one of America’s most notorious figures. But the film’s own narrow focus and drawing room play-style approach could turn off those general viewers who might normally check out a movie about the original “Scarface” and expect to find something less niche. While there are a few scenes here of Al Capone wielding a Tommy Gun, he’s dressed in adult diapers and lost in a mental fog while doing it.

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Instead, Capone repeatedly shows Al — or “Fonzo” as he’s called throughout (indeed, his wife Mae at one point says the name “Al” is not said in their home anymore) — in an eroding mental and physical state, whether it’s hallucinating seeing figures from his past or losing bladder control. Trank has expressed a fascination with radical changes in the human body and how people cope with them before in both Chronicle and Fantastic Four, so Capone seems a natural (and grounded) extension of that peculiar interest. But the film — which Trank also scripted and edited — doesn’t necessarily offer much new information with each sad spectacle of seeing the king of the underworld brought so low, and the plot itself is fairly thin.

Set almost entirely within the confines of his Florida compound during the last year of his life, Capone sees “Fonzo” struggling to recall where he hid $10 million in ill-gotten gains somewhere on the estate while figures from his literal and figurative past revisit him. Fonzo wants to know where the loot is, as do his family members – who will be left with nothing once he dies – and the Feds, who are still stalking him years after he was released from prison early due to illness. But the lost loot is just a McGuffin as the focus of the movie really is on watching a sick man grow increasingly sicker while those around him do what they can to either help or exploit him.

This is where things get tricky for the movie, though, as Capone is at its best and most involving when we’re lost in Al’s reveries with him. He literally hobbles along through the dark, unsure of what’s real and what isn’t, but the movie can also confuse the viewer by cutting back and forth between Al’s reality and the movie’s reality. It’s a fine line to walk between artsy obfuscation and unnecessary plot convolutions, and Capone doesn’t always strike the right balance. Still, it’s intriguing to see this fresh approach with a historical figure that’s been the subject of dozens of movies and TV shows over the years.

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As Capone, Tom Hardy gives one of his most Actor-y performances, one that ranges from scenery-chewing to incredibly nuanced, sometimes even within the same scene. It may take a bit for viewers to adjust to the makeup job and Hardy’s affected gravelly, mumbly speaking voice, both of which may call to mind a Dick Tracy villain (but seeing as how Capone inspired Dick Tracy villains like Big Boy Caprice, that may be strangely fitting). His Fonzo is pitiable, but there are flashes of the dangerous brute who once ruled Chicago like a king; the point of the movie and Hardy’s highly physical performance is to show how far the mighty have fallen. It’s far from subtle, and will likely prove divisive to viewers, but he’s the most magnetic element in the film whenever he’s onscreen. Co-stars Linda Cardellini and Matt Dillon lend able support, but this is definitely The Tom Hardy Show.

As much as Capone delves into the heretofore unfilmed twilight of its subject’s sordid life, one should obviously not expect complete historical accuracy. There’s a running subplot revolving around a young mystery character with ties to Al, but ultimately this invention is there to help connect Capone’s real life with his fugue state of imagined threats and interactions. Again, the movie walks a tricky line between the two, not always successfully, but Capone deserves kudos and a watch for daring to do something different with its subject.

Three-person developer KeelWorks has announced Cygni: All Guns Blazing, an old-school-arcade-style shoot-’em-up (aka shmup) that won an Epic MegaGrant. It is coming to PC with console versions likely to follow. A spokesperson for the game says PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions are also likely, but not officially confirmed as of now.

Cygni’s story is described as such by the developers: “Encamped within the remains of a long-lost civilization on the planet Cygni, Earth forces are decimated by a surprise attack from a powerful, biomechanical , alien race. As one of the last pilots on the last carrier in the fleet, you are the only line of defense against the unyielding alien bombardment.”

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One KeelWorks developer, Nareg Kalenderian, is an ex-Pixar artist, which might help explain Cygni’s high production value relative to how small its development team is. As for gameplay, “Cygni assaults the eyes, ears and mind to deliver an extraordinarily exhilarating video game experience,” say the developers. “Cygni does not seek to reinvent shoot’em ups but to elevate the genre to deliver the heightened sensations of a truly next-generation experience.”

Cygni: All Guns Blazing is due out in 2021.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

According to Master Chief’s creator, the towering figure we all know and love had a much skinnier, anime-influenced design at one point.

In this month’s IGN Unfiltered, Ryan McCaffrey sat down with Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto to discuss the origins of one of the most iconic figures in modern gaming, his advice for up-and-coming game designers, his new real-time tactical game, Disintegration, and much more.

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“When I first moved out and joined Bungie, and started working there, on-site, it was just Jason [Jones] and myself working on the very origins of it… the strategy game that was skinned with a sci-fi theme,” Lehto said. “Even at that time, there was a character that we called “The Super-Soldier” and that super soldier was, in all honestly, the very root of what became the Master Chief.

“It was an armored character. The very first iteration of that thing, I think it was all of 400 polygons. It was this teeny little thing that would stand next to this tank and would run alongside the tank.”

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“Then we built this vehicle that would ultimately become the Warthog, that the character could also jump into and drive around. These early versions of that universe, we were exploring some of the tech, of course… but I was responsible for looking at what this universe really was: how it was functioning, what it was made of, how it was going to be built.”

“The Master Chief, ultimately, was born from that very first model, as it evolved several times… We spent our time going back and forth, making sure we were exploring territory… something we thought would work cohesively together.”

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“…we all got excited about [the addition of physics to controlling the Warthog] and we decided… we’re going to change this to this third-person [camera] game and see how this action plays out. Through that time frame, of course, the Master Chief continued to turn from… this really, really simple block model to something that started to look more like this armored, true ‘Super Soldier,’ [which is what] we continued to call him at that time.”

“It wasn’t until we got closer to the Macworld demo that… [the first, Super Soldier version of Master Chief] had existed simultaneously with another version of the Chief. One of our concept artists at that time, whose name’s Shi Kai Wang, who is a fantastic, great, talented person… had worked on some early concepts that were more anime-inspired, for the Master Chief. We built that character, and it was much more slender and agile-looking, at that time. That’s the character that we showcased in the Macworld demo.”

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“It was shortly after that… I felt pretty strongly that the Master Chief, and who the Master Chief really is, needed to embody something that more physically connected with his character.”

“As we started writing the character… the actual story for Halo… and as we started writing who the Master Chief is… this empty vessel that the character would really take the reins with… that the slender character wasn’t the right kind of feel for the Master Chief. He needed to look like a tank that could take on an entire army. That’s when I had gone back to some of my original designs for it, and continued to iterate on the final designs for the Master Chief… as we would see in Halo: Combat Evolved.”

For more on the best, brightest, most interesting minds in the games industry, be sure to check out every episode of Unfiltered, which includes interviews with 343’s Bonnie Ross, Valve’s Robin Walker and Chris Remo, Respawn’s Stig Asmussen, and many, many more.

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Brian Barnett writes features, wiki guides, & more for IGN. Check out his Final Fantasy VII Remake walkthrough, and get your fix of Brian’s antics on Twitter and Instagram (@Ribnax).