Category: Games

20 years ago, The Matrix debuted and was a cultural phenomenon, and after two sequels, the story of Neo, Trinity, and the war between humans and robots was all wrapped up. At least, that’s what we thought, until it was announced that Matrix 4 is underway.

Lana Wachowski is set to return to write and direct the film in the franchise, and Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss will reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity respectively, according to Variety. That’s a bit puzzling because at the end of the third movie, The Matrix Revolutions, Neo sacrificed himself in order to save the world. Regardless, it’s science fiction, so there will undoubtedly be a way to bring him back from the dead..

Joining Wachowski on writing duties will be Aleksander Hemon (Love Island) and David Mitchell (Peep Show). The movie should go into production in early 2020.

“We could not be more excited to be re-entering the Matrix with Lana,” Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich said. “Lana is a true visionary–a singular and original creative filmmaker–and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing and producing this new chapter in The Matrix universe.”

The first reports of a new Matrix movie began in 2017, with Ready Player One’s Zak Penn writing the script. Penn said the movie would expand the Matrix universe and not reboot it. Michael B. Jordan was also in talks to star. However, it’s been completely silent since then, even though there were conflicting reports that the relaunch was cancelled back in May 2019. Both Penn was not mentioned for Matrix 4. Also not mentioned was Lilly Wachowski, who wrote and directed the original Matrixs movies alongside her sister.

The first Matrix movie brought in $463,517,383 worldwide, and it spawned two sequels: 2003’s Matrix Reloaded–grossing $742,128,461 worldwide–and Matrix Revolutions–taking in $427,343,298 worldwide. The franchise has earned more than $1.6 billion in total.

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of The Matrix, and while the first movie still holds up, the sequels are still as problematic as you remember. Check out The Matrix Sequels’ 34 Dumbest Moments to relive the weirdness.

Developer Robot Entertainment, creating the cute and colorful party game ReadySet Heroes, is bringing the PlayStation title to the Epic Games Store–with Sony Interactive Entertainment as its publisher.

ReadySet Heroes’ Epic Games Store page was spotted on Twitter. It retails for $20 USD / $29 AUD / £16 GBP and is available to pre-order now, with an expected September 30 release. Pre-ordering on the PlayStation Store–which reports the same price and release date–nets you an exclusive theme, 10 avatars, a PlayStation crown and player skin, and the digital soundtrack. It’s unclear if the Epic Games Store will offer any bonuses to those who pre-order.

This isn’t the first time Sony has published a game for a non-PlayStation platform. Sony Online Entertainment, now known as Daybreak Game Company and no longer a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, published the EverQuest series, the PlanetSide franchise, and DC Universe Online–all largely PC titles, with DCUO being an exception. Sony was also responsible for free-to play, puzzle-platformer Uncharted: Fortune Hunter, which is available to download on Android and iOS.

Revealed during Sony’s State of Play in May, ReadySet Heroes is an isometric dungeon crawler with four-player multiplayer. Two teams race through a monster-filled dungeon, with the first to reach the end facing off in a winner-takes-all showdown.

Over on the Epic Games Store side, the company announced two excellent games are free on the platform. Both Hyper Light Drifter and Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden will be free on the Epic Games Store until Thursday, August 22, when they’ll be replaced by Epic’s next free title, Gomez. Oddworld: Soulstorm, expected to launch on PS4 and Xbox One sometime in 2020, will be an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC, with the developers tweeting out that Epic’s funding helped tremendously.

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is undoubtably the game we are going to keep hearing about until its April 16, 2020 release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. With Gamescom 2019 underway, there has been quite a bit of Cyberpunk news, including a brand-new gameplay trailer from Nvidia.

Nvidia tweeted out the teaser trailer, calling it “a sneak peak” of some footage from a new gameplay demo. It’s short, at just 40 seconds, but it’s incredibly sweet, showcasing the breadth of Cyberpunk’s Night City. There’s hacking, motor cycle riding, fighting, and plenty of neon-drenched cybernetics. It’s unclear if this footage is from the same gameplay demo expected to release during PAX West, and CD Projekt Red has not specified when that video will go live.

Nvidia also tweeted some ray-traced screenshots from Cyberpunk 2077, a PC-specific feature supported by just a few video cards like the company’s latest RTX line and the newest GeForce GTX line.

Google held its Stadia Connect presentation at the start of Gamescom, where the company announced the upcoming first-person RPG will launch on Google Stadia. No release date was provided, but Cyberpunk 2077 is “coming soon” for the cloud gaming platform.

While expected to have a new game plus mode, Cyberpunk 2077 will feature a harder difficulty that turns off the game’s UI. In the realm of additional modes, CD Projekt Red says it is looking into multiplayer. Producer Richard Borzymowski told GameSpot that while nothing could be confirmed, the team will “think [about expansions” after game development is done.

Viz Media has announced the third and final title that’s being made in partnership with Rose City Games. Called Garden Story, the upcoming game is a pixel graphic adventure that stars a sentient grape who’s also an aspiring knight. It looks so cute.

The announcement of Garden Story was accompanied by the release of a new trailer that showed some of the gameplay and quirky characters. From a top-down perspective, you explore a variety of environments, such as quiet towns and dangerous-looking caves. In combat, you have a wooden pick that acts like a sword. You also have access to a backpack full of the items you collect, such as a dowsing rod. You’re able to break certain items in the environment to gather resources as well, and it appears that Garden Story will have at least a few dungeon puzzles to solve too.

“In Garden Story, players take on the role of Concord, the newly appointed village guardian,” Viz Media wrote in a press release. “There’s lots to keep this helpful adventurer busy; not only do your neighbors need assistance, but a mysterious Rot has also seeped into the foundations of the once flourishing island. Fortunately, Concord won’t be working at this alone. Help your friends with their struggles, and they’ll help you through yours. Balance caring for the environment, exploring new regions, and fostering new friendships as you solve puzzles and help restore the Grove to glory.”

Viz Media has had a long history of existing on the fringes of the games industry, publishing well-received manga about popular video game series like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon. In February 2018, Viz Media announced a partnership with Rose City Games to create three manga-styled games. The first, visual-novel-meet-puzzle-battle-game The World Next Door, released in March 2019 while the second, dungeon crawler Cat Lady, is scheduled to release later this year. Currently, Garden Story has a planned release of Spring 2020 for PC.

In GameSpot’s The World Next Door review, I wrote, “The cast of characters is genuinely funny at times, and getting to know them has its benefits, but the story ends before most have a chance to really grow and mature. Worse, an interesting plot point that Liza introduces into the story near the game’s end is never satisfyingly resolved. The combat portion has similar shortcomings. Though the puzzle battles are frantic bouts of fast-paced fun, the most interesting enemies and bosses are introduced in the latter half of the game, leaving combat in the first two dungeons too simple. Ultimately, there’s enjoyment to be had with The World Next Door, but the game takes too long to start leaning into its strengths.”

Apple unveiled its gaming subscription service, Apple Arcade, back in March 2019. While it’s expected to roll out sometime this fall, reports are now circulating that Apple Arcade could cost just $5 USD / $7 AUD / £4 GBP per month.

9t05 Mac uncovered the alleged pricing, which includes a one-month free trial, in a promotional message hidden within an App Store API. Apple has yet to comment on the matter, but 9to5 Mac reports that Apple Arcade will feature Family Sharing as well. With the supposed price unconfirmed, there’s a possibility it could change ahead of Apple’s September 10 event, where the company is expected to announce new iPhones.

Apple has been testing its Arcade service on company employees, offering the subscription for just $0.49 USD per month. The extremely cheap price is only for Apple employees and will reportedly last until iOS 13 becomes available for everyone.

Apple Arcade will be accessible on Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac computers. With Apple’s various continuity features, you’ll be able to transfer between devices. The new gaming subscription service is said to launch with 100+ games, including Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, Team Sonic Racing, Where Cards Fall, and more.

Since Pokemon Black and White on the DS, competitive Pokemon players have been able to take part in online competitions and view their rankings via the Pokemon Global Link. While the website has served as the online battling hub for all subsequent Pokemon games, The Pokemon Company has confirmed the upcoming Sword and Shield for Switch will not be utilizing it.

According to a statement posted during Gamescom 2019, Sword and Shield will not support the Pokemon Global Link website. This is because most of Global Link’s functionality is being folded into the games’ themselves via the Battle Stadium, which will allow players to participate in regular online competitions and take part in Ranked battles.

“For Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, services equivalent to the current Rating Battle and Online Competitions are planned to be supported. However, PGL will not support Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield,” the statement reads. “These battles and Online Competitions can be enjoyed in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield using just the connectivity features of Nintendo Switch.”

Other Global Link functions, like the ability to view your ranking, will also be implemented in Pokemon Home, an upcoming cloud storage service that will allow players to store monsters from Pokemon Bank, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Let’s Go, and Pokemon Sword and Shield. Pokemon Home is expected to launch for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices in early 2020.

Pokemon Sword and Shield, meanwhile, release for the hybrid console on November 15. Players will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to make use of the aforementioned online features. The Pokemon Home service will presumably also require a subscription, although it hasn’t yet been announced if this will be included as part of NSO or will be offered separately.

In addition to the Global Link news, The Pokemon Company shared a new gameplay clip of Pokemon Sword and Shield. The video shows off one of the quaint towns players will visit on their adventure across the Galar region. We also recently learned about some new Pokemon Abilities and held items being introduced in the titles.

Creature in the Well is an upcoming top-down hack-and-slash dungeon crawler with pinball-inspired mechanics. The game is scheduled to release for Xbox One, PC, and Switch on September 6.

In the video above, GameSpot associate news editor Jordan Ramée plays through the first three dungeons of Creature in the Well with the game’s creative director, Adam Volker. The two talk through Creature in the Well’s creation, including how the game uses The Legend of Zelda-styled dungeons to unify the mechanics of the two different types of games it pulls from. Volker also shows off several of the game’s earliest secrets and hidden weapons, including a fan tool that can be equipped to create a tank-like healer build.

You play as BOT-C, the last robotic engineer that knows how to fix the massive weather machine that keeps the town of Mirage safe from constant sandstorms. Unfortunately, the machine has been destroyed by the Creature, a monstrous entity that lives in the town’s well. In order to save Mirage, you must journey into the caverns of the nearby mountain where the weather machine is held and fix its damaged components.

In order to stop you, the Creature builds traps throughout each cavern. They can only be overcome by flipping balls of light into the nodes that power them. The nodes themselves act like bumpers in a pinball machine. As Volker describes it, Creature in the Well is a “pinbrawler” where you need to master the fast-paced action of a dungeon brawler with the frantic but tactical awareness that’s needed for playing a pinball machine.