Category: Games

Bowser’s Fury, the open-world portion of the recent Super Mario 3D World Switch port, is a lot more dangerous thanks to a clever mod. The mod turns most of the ground into lava for a much more treacherous gaming experience.

Modder Amethyst-szs (via Polygon) produced the mod and created a video of it in action. The mod turns most of the sand and other ground into lava, with only some narrow pathways and fencing remaining safe to stand on. That makes getting around a lot tougher, especially when Fury Bowser pops up to add his own fireballs to the mix. You can download the mod and try it for yourself at GameBanana.

While most of the game is able to be completed this way, Amethyst-szs says only 86 of the 100 Cat Shines appear to be possible. That leaves 14 unclaimed, so you can’t get the 100% ending. That said, Amethyst says it may be possible to get more and would like to see how if anyone manages it.

Bowser’s Fury is an entirely separate game packaged together with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. While Super Mario 3D World is a port of a Wii U game, Bowser’s Fury is an entirely new, open-world Mario game. It takes place on an island setting, and a massive kaiju-style Bowser pops up regularly to breathe fire at you while you solve its platforming challenges.

“Put together, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a spectacular package,” concluded GameSpot’s review. “Super Mario 3D World is an absolute joy of classic platforming excellence, and this is the best version of it thanks to some well-calibrated improvements. Bowser’s Fury is peculiar and less polished, but it dares to poke fun at its own oddities and it has a wild creative streak. The two share thematic similarities, but more importantly, they work hand-in-hand to show the full extent of versatility in what a Mario game can be.”

Call of Duty: Warzone appears to be getting a zombie invasion. Following a teaser last week that implied the undead hordes might overtake Verdansk, a package appears to be going out to streamers with yet another clue.

Streamer PrestigeIsKey tweeted about a package he received to mark the one-year anniversary of Warzone. It includes what appears to be an orange prison jumpsuit with “Captured” printed on it, and a small card with the Warzone logo. The card reads: “There are no second chances after losing a battle here. The outer prison is a hostile-rich environment. You’re safer in the ghoul-ag.”

The “ghoul-ag” is a wordplay on the Gulag, an special environment in Warzone matches that lets you fight your way back into the main match. But the “ghoul” part gives it a notably horror feel. The note also implies that zombies will be overrunning the outer territory, and that it could even impact the gulag second-chance mechanic itself.

This follows a teaser showing a news report regarding zombies invading Verdansk. Players have speculated that the zombie incursion could grow more and more out of control until eventually, Verdansk will get nuked to solve the undead problem. That could bring a big change to the Warzone map to shake up the game as it turns one year old.

Leakers recently have suggested the rumored “nuke event” could be coming on March 11. If that’s the case, enjoy Verdansk while you can.

In today’s developer stream for Marvel’s Avengers, Crystal Dynamics announced that players will be able to replay the game’s campaign when the Hawkeye update goes live on March 18. The update is set to be a big one, with Hawkeye and his related content being added, as well as the game’s PS5 and Xbox Series X/S launch.

On the stream, community manager Andy Wong acknowledged that a replayable campaign has been one of the most-requested features from fans. “This is something we’ve been seeing over and over again on Twitter and socials and everything: ‘Can we replay the campaign? Can we replay the campaign?,'” Wong said, as reported by Game Informer. “You can on the 18th! You will keep everything you have. You keep XP, your gear, and everything, but you can replay the campaign from start to finish.”

Players will have to completely reset their campaign progress in order to replay it, but they will retain all character progress and inventory items.

The next update is a big one, with the next-gen upgrade bringing a number of changes including a total slowdown of the XP system. The update also brings new content, including the conclusion to the Hawkeye story and his addition as a playable hero, a new villain and biome, and the introduction of customizable H.A.R.M. Rooms.

The update drops on March 18, and players will be able to upgrade to the next-gen game for free if they’re lucky enough to own a next-gen console.

Microsoft Flight Simulator‘s third sim update is out now, bringing with it a handful of new features as well as a huge list of tweaks, fixes and changes. Unlike the game’s world updates, which finesse the geography of certain countries, the sim updates focus entirely on the aircraft, cockpits, and how they fly.

In terms of new content, the third sim update has added FSX legacy liveries for fans of 2006’s Flight Simulator X. These liveries are available on select planes including the Kenmore, Emerald Gold, Global Freightways, Orbit, Pacifica, and World Travel. The new update also adds a nice little visual bump in the form of aircraft contrails, though these aren’t compatible with AI or multiplayer mode yet.

A new customization feature is designed for people who want to simulate real-world aircraft as accurately as possible. The new menu will allow players to “perfectly match specific real world aircraft,” with the ability to change factors such as empty center of gravity position, fuselage wear, and maximum angle limits.

The rest of the changes in the 1.14.5.0 update are tweaks, balances, and fixes, designed to make sure all the aircraft in the game perform as close as possible to their real-life counterparts. A number of VR-related fixes are also included in the update, after global VR compatibility was introduced to the flight sim at the end of last year.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is due to release on the Xbox Series X/S in summer this year, though a specific release date still hasn’t been announced. Players who are already enjoying the sim on PC can look forward to more updates improving both the flying mechanics and the details in the world.

Here’s the full list of patch notes for the 1.14.5.0 update:

NEW CONTENT

• FSX legacy liveries available on appropriate planes : Kenmore, Emerald Gold, Global Freightways, Orbit, Pacifica and World Travel
• Contrails are now displayed on the player’s aircraft (MP and AI are not supported yet)
• New customization menu in the World map to further adjust the aircraft to perfectly match specific real world aircraft. The changes only affects the next flight and they are not persistent.
  • Empty CG position: We can now have a different empty CG position, just like real world aircraft that all may have slightly different empty balance.
  • Wear: We can now increase the wear of the fuselage to get a slightly higher parasitic drag and simulate older aircraft.
  • Control surface limits: We can now adjust the maximum angle limits for elevator, rudder and aileron control surfaces to simulate the slight difference that may exist between different real aircraft. Check Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) Information for real world aircraft control surface angle limit variation tolerance.

PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY

• Fixed various crashes across the title
• Fixed a specific crash while using the manual cache

NAVIGATION

• Latest AIRAC cycle has been integrated and is now available

PLANES

AUTOPILOT / FMS:

• Corrected an issue which prevented the VS Wheel from working in FLC mode on the Cessna Citation Longitude
• Disabled the autopilot which was incorrectly set as available on the JMB VL-3
• Corrected an issue preventing the use of the VS Wheel to control the pitch on some planes
• Corrected an issue with the VS Knob not properly responding to commands on the Airbus A320neo
• Prevented the autopilot from being polluted by incorrect data when exiting slew mode
• VOR/ADF Feature implemented
• VOR/ADF – Airbus A320neo FMA Adaptability
• Fixed General Aviation planes displaying FMS instead of GPS
• G3000 – Fixed FlightPhase & NavSource display not showing properly
• Fix roll hold mode behaving like wing leveler
• Removing auto alignment of localizers with the runway when the heading given by the localizer and the heading of the runway are too different
• Add TRK/FPA features to Airbus A320neo
• Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental : LNAV and VNAV does no longer engage automatically when activating the Autopilot.

DISPLAYS:

• Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner – Enhanced HUD Projection
• Airliners – Speed Trend arrow is now more reactive and accurate
• Fixed some bearings indicated outside of the 0-360 range in Garmin instruments
• Fixed a bug in GNS430 and GNS530 where the cursor did no automatically jump to “Activate” in Direct-to page on validation of the entered ident when there is no ident duplicate
• Added airport ident and ILS runway name in GNS530 when tuning nav radio to a localizer
• Fixed flight director roll not working when autopilot is not activated
• Added wind display in G3X Touch in PFD or Splitted mode
• Added possibility to adjust brightness level in G3X Touch
• Added possibility to adjust brightness level in G3000
• Fixed issue in FLT files that lead to flight plan not being loaded in instruments
• Fixing the display of LDA approaches which were wrongly aligned to the runway at the end of their path

ENGINES:

• Fixed Beechcraft Baron G58 incorrectly having automixture enabled
• Corrected an issue causing the AutoStart sequence of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental to activate the batteries later than expected
• Re-enabled the STARTERX SET keys which used to throw an error and toggle the starter. They now correctly set the starter to ON or OFF
• Corrected an issue causing the starter to affect the plane’s rpm excessively when the piston_power_scalar of the plane is >1
• Corrected an issue which would prevent the engine from ever shutting down while in unlimited fuel mode.
• Beechcraft Baron G58 engines adjustment
• Beechcraft Bonanza G36 engine idle RPM adjustment

COCKPIT INTERACTION:

• Corrected a number of minor XML errors
• Improved the behavior of knobs that repeatedly send an action to prevent it from sending multiple events at once
• Corrected the fact that the Avionics switch of the Pipistrel Virus SW121 was off when starting in cruise
• Enabled the THRT Knob on the ATC Panel of the Airbus A320neo
• Enabled the option to push the backup baro knob of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental to set it in Standard Altitude mode
• Made the copilot’s HUD interactable on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
• Enabled the clock’s buttons on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner
• JMB VL-3 Propeller Instrument Fix
• Fixed Mouse Events not handled correctly on Tactile Screens
• AS3X Touch – Removed com active ident display
• Cessna Citation CJ4 – Fixed default VT Speed
• Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner – Fixed ND interaction Model
• Fixed the “COM RECEIVE ALL” simvar always returning false on planes without a configured COM 3, leading to problems with some third party content
• Beechcraft King Air 350i – Baro knobs have been added

CONTROL SURFACE:

• Corrected Flaperon animation on Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner which was incorrect in the air.
• Corrected an issue preventing the autobrakes of the Airbus A320neo from enabling on the Fungal mission.
• Fixed Beechcraft Baron G58 inoperative rudder trim

LIGHTING:

• Corrected some emissive elements staying active when they should be off on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
• Corrected some emissive elements staying active when they should be off on the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental.
• Corrected some emissive elements staying active when they should be off on the Airbus A320neo.

CHECKLIST:

• “Mixture: Lean for Altitude” checkpoint can now be auto completed without issues
• Added a Brake Release checkpoint to the Aviat Pitts Special S2S checklist
• The Checklist entry “Mixture : Rich below 3000 feet” is now correctly displayed as such instead of “300 feet”
• Engine should now start without struggle and auto completion of the “Starting procedure” on the Aviat Pitts Special S2S should now work
• Corrected issue on the Cessna 172 Skyhawk’s checklist which prevented the copilot from correctly executing the “Set Transponder to Alt” step
• Corrected Issue on piston planes checklists which prevent the steps relating to setting the right mixture from correctly executing
• Corrected issue on the Beechcraft Baron G58 which caused the copilot to not keep the starter active long enough to reach a combustion when auto-completing the checklist
• Corrected issue on the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental’s checklist which caused the step to activate all fuel pumps to not properly validate on some airports

MISC:

• External HUD – Fixed AP Ref speed/altitude not always displayed
• 3rd View HUD – Fixed HSI not showing approach course if approach is armed
• 3rd View HUD – Fixed Trim & Flaps display
• Fixed crash when using a plane with an incorrectly setup FuelSystem.
• Fuel pressure gauges should now display correct pressure level indications
• Fix crash when teleporting to approach
• Fixed external HUD not updating at correct framerate

VIRTUAL REALITY

• A ‘No binding’ icon is displayed when no control is assigned to a VR action
• If there are no controls assigned to the camera re-center, then the player cannot switch to VR and they are asked to assign a command to this action
• Players can now access to the controls menu directly from the VR Mode page
• HOTAS are now specified in the VR bindings (VR Mode page)
• VR is now functional when HDR is enabled
• The panel reset feature is now functional in VR
• A dark background is displayed when opening a menu in the cockpit
• When a toolbar menu is opaque, it will now hide properly menus that are positioned behind it
• Labels are now properly displayed in the VFR map
• Various fixes on the toolbar and the panels display
• The mouse cursor is now properly positioned in VR on the Cub Crafter X Cub instrument panel
• Cockpit handles should not teleport anymore when clicked and dragged
• It is now possible to switch the throttle to CutOff position in the Daher TBM 930
• The Flap control in the Cessna 172 Skyhawk G1000 doesn’t return to fully retracted position when interacting with it with the mouse

ATC

• In case there is an ASOS/ATIS and Center/Departure/Approach agent on the same frequency in the same area, the ATIS/ASOS will not air its message if the player has been handed off to the Center/Departure/Approach agent to prevent the ATC flow from being stuck
• Add leading zero for runway numbers in ATC communications when necessary
• Fix ATC agent pronouncing letter by letter airports names during communication with the player
• Fix ATC agent attributing cruise altitude instead of proper approach altitude when the first waypoint of the approach do not hold altitude information

WEATHER

• Wind panel UI update for wind and gusts settings

WORLD MAP

• Properly set runway when setting approach in the World Map
• Changing behavior of Precision Marking field in Scenery Editor to allow for the marking to be displayed in case of short runways
• Displaying all waypoints from data on the World Map and changing zoom scores to compensate for the amount of new points
• Fixing behavior of World Map which was attributing closed runway over opened runway under certain conditions

WORLD

• Fix outline against clouds and object in game introduced in the previous update
• Lights should no longer be too dark under mountain shadow with low quality setting
• Taxi sign lights size has been tweaked

SDK/DEVMODE

DOCUMENTATION:

• Revamped documentation website now live on https://docs.flightsimulator.com
• Added Sample for AirtportServices
• The left gauge in the MouseAircraft sample has been reworked to provide clearer information.

SCENERY EDITOR:

• Trimmed leading spaces in package title
• Fixed a bug that would not update the Scene list when adding an object while having no object selected
• Fixed an issue to avoid unwanted airport modification
• Fixed a crash when hiding all TaxiwayPoints of an Airport

WEBASSEMBLY:

• Fixed GDI+ StringFormat conversion to NanoVG alignment
• Fixed potential vulnerabilities in the WASI layer
• Tweaked our system to avoid hampering module debugging with recurring exceptions.

SIMCONNECT:

• Load and Save Flight using the FlowFlightManager.

KNOWN ISSUES

• Throttle mapping reversed for the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog
• Beechcraft King Air 350i does not change pitch with VS wheel when Autopilot is enabled
• in rare occasions, Aircraft screens might not initialize correctly upon loading a flight. Please restart the flight to fix the issue.
• The plane continually loses altitude causing it to crash after loading into the Attitudes & Instruments Training Flight

We Were Here Forever, the next co-op puzzle game in the We Were Here series, has been announced for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Set for an end of 2021 release, We Were Here Forever continues the series of puzzle games set in the Antarctic in which players must cooperate while being separated. Using a walkie talkie, you must describe what you see to your partner, and together work out how to solve asymmetrical puzzles that each person can only see half of. By combining the information each player can access, duos will be able to discover the solution to these puzzles.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/10/we-were-here-forever-official-reveal-trailer”]

In this fourth instalment in the series, players will be able to explore previously unseen areas of the series’ Castle Rock setting, as well as dig up mysteries in a graveyard and find a way out of the King’s Keep. There’s also a promise of improved “next level” interface and gameplay in addition to the new puzzles.

“Our goal for We Were Here Forever is to further refine the cooperative gameplay people love so much from the series, designed for a new generation of hardware with a more immersive, darker, livelier Castle Rock,” said Lucia de Visser, managing director of developer Total Mayhem Games.

For more co-op puzzle solving that’s coming very soon, take a look at our final preview of It Takes Two.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

The We Were Here franchise will continue this year with a new sequel called We Were Here Forever scheduled to launch in Q4 on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The sequel promises a co-op adventure with new challenges and puzzles, and a “thrilling” story. Like its predecessors, players will need to work together in co-op to solve a series of new puzzles.

The largest We Were Here game to date, Forever delivers a “big step up,” according to managing director Lucia de Visser from developer Total Mayhem.

“Our goal for We Were Here Forever is to further refine the cooperative gameplay people love so much from the series, designed for a new generation of hardware with a more immersive, darker, livelier Castle Rock. We Were Here Forever is a big step up for the series. Furthermore, this game will bring some new insights on the mystery of Castle Rock. One cannot help but wonder what happened to those explorers who got left behind,” the developer said.

For those new to the series, you play as an Antarctic explorer who gets mixed up in the wild world of Castle Rock. You’re separated from your co-op partner most of the time, so you need to communicate by walkie-talkie to solve the asymmetric puzzles.

The series debuted in 2017 with the free release of We Were Here which tallied 1.5 million downloads. We Were Here Too followed in 2018 as a paid game, with We Were Here Together following after it. In total, the games have collectively reached 5 million players.

A new game called To The Rescue! is mixing adorable puppies with management simulation, tasking players with taking care of rescued dogs as well as keeping the shelter afloat. The game is being developed by studio Little Rock Games and published by Freedom Games, who have announced that To The Rescue! will release on Steam and Nintendo Switch in fall this year.

The game will include a lot of features common to management sims, tasking players with designing and building the shelter, running its finances, and hiring staff. However it’ll also include the day-to-day care of the animals, including feeding, playing with, and medicating the dogs. Players will also be tasked with getting to know the personalities of both the puppies in their care and the potential adopters, making sure to suggest the right match for both parties.

“The challenges dog shelters and their volunteers face every day truly inspire us,” said Olivia Dunlap, co-founder of Little Rock Games. “It’s a setting we felt was ripe for exploration in games and we look forward to bringing this world to Nintendo Switch and Steam later this year.”

To The Rescue! will release on PC and Mac via Steam, as well as on the Nintendo Switch. The game will launch at $19.99, with the studio pledging to share 20% of its profits with pet shelters in the real world.