In this video, Persia talks about the latest news in gaming for August 31st.
Gunner Wright returns in the Dead Space remake as the voice of Isaac Clarke after voicing the character in Dead Space 2 and 3. Developer Motive Studios made the announcement during the Dead Space early gameplay reveal stream this morning. We also got our first look at the game in a very early build, graphics, enemies, and damage effects.
She also talks about Windows 11 launching this October and Respawn’s decision to remove Tap Strafing from Apex Legends – a technique used by mouse and keyboard players to change the trajectory of their air strafe that is inaccessible to controller players.
Lastly, she goes over some brand-new details revealed about NBA2K22’s gameplay mechanics as we approach its September 10th release date which includes a major revamp on shooting, defense, and more.
Be sure to like, subscribe, and visit GameSpot.com to stay up to date on all of the latest gaming news.
Zombies have been a staple of video games for decades now, almost becoming an annoying cliche. If you need an easy monster, throw in a few shambling undead bullet sponges and call it a day. But while zombies can be a dull addition to a game in the wrong hands, in the right ones, they can be terrifying, funny, fascinating, or intelligent, creating harrowing stories or leading to brilliant game mechanics.
We’ve compiled a list of zombie games that are next-level–titles that use the monsters to create intense tension, or look at the idea of a zombie apocalypse in new and interesting ways. From real-time strategy titles to horror shooters, these are the itchy, tasty zombie games that you should absolutely check out.
For years now, Call of Duty games have packed in a “Zombies” mode, and that mode and its various iterations have turned out to be fun, fascinating additions to the Call of Duty repertoire. While the Zombies mode of Black Ops – Cold War is the latest, each has offered its own unique spin on the inventive mode. It requires players to fend off waves of increasingly tough zombies, earning money from their kills to buy better weapons. But that’s only the surface level–your actual goal is to accumulate cash to spend removing barriers that expose more and more of each Zombies map, where you fight to solve puzzles and figure out how to advance further. The entire mode is predicated on figuring things out through repetition and exploration, with no waypoints and few hints to tell you what to do. Add to that Zombies’ penchant for bringing in famous actors and big names in horror and Hollywood–like Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero–and you’ve got something that’s wholly different from every other zombie game out there.
Beginning its life as a mod, DayZ really tapped into the “survival” side of survival-horror. The game drops you on an island overrun with zombies, tasking you with finding everything you need to survive when you get there. While the computer-controlled undead are a major problem, your real worry is the fact that you might run into other player-controlled survivors. They might choose to help you, or they might try to kill you and take everything you’ve got. Never knowing what you might face is part of DayZ’s appeal, and it left such a strong impression that it helped give rise to the survival genre of games, and later, battle royales.
The Dead Rising games take the opposite approach to titles like The Last of Us, Resident Evil 2, and The Walking Dead. These titles put you in places overrun by zombies, but the atmosphere is a little campier and there are quite a few more ridiculous costumes at play. Navigating through the hordes is less about terror and more about creatively overcoming a big, mindless obstacle–and you get some ludicrously fun ways to do that. Dead Rising 2 lets you craft ridiculous weapons to shred, cook, electrocute, explode, and otherwise dismantle zombies, while also offering a big world with lots of other characters to find and rescue. It’s a funny, overwrought take on the end of the world, and if you like killing zombies in ridiculous ways, this one’s for you.
In video games, it seems that there are quite a few places overrun by zombies. Dying Light drops you onto an island swarming with the undead and tasks you with making your way through its open world by running and parkouring across its half-destroyed buildings and deserted vehicles. There are all sorts of missions to complete as you run around the game’s island, working with different factions and trying to save survivors and procuring weapons to help you stay alive. But the best part of the game is undoubtedly its movement system, and the terror you face as night falls and the really frightening monsters come out.
The Last of Us is about a world overrun by “infected,” and while they’re not actually zombies–the mindless humans have fungus growing in their brains and that’s what turns them into killing machines–the game is basically set in a zombie apocalypse. What makes The Last of Us work is its well-drawn characters and the realism and intensity it brings to its setting and premise. It’s hard to separate the two games in the series, since their narrative and mechanics are so essentially intertwined. In both The Last of Us games, developer Naughty Dog has created a story that feels populated by real human beings stuck in an impossible situation. Both games are incredibly emotional and often raw, while also putting you into frightening, violent fights for your life.
When you think of quintessential zombie game experiences, it’s impossible not to come up with the Left 4 Dead series. Developer Turtle Rock Studios used a zombie apocalypse to define a whole subset of multiplayer games, placing you both in the role of a group of survivors fighting their way through the horde, and in that of some vicious special zombie creatures that can ravage those poor humans. The essential part of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is teamwork, whether you’re the human crew blasting your way through hordes of infected enemies, or you’re the monsters themselves, trying to lure the humans away from one another to pick them off. The zombie apocalypse is a perfect setting for a cooperative game, and Left 4 Dead created some phenomenal gaming moments by leveraging it.
Zombies make for solid opponents in the tower defense genre. Their insatiable hunger and one-track minds make them great cannon fodder, and Plants vs. Zombies allowed players to use a variety of fun, goofy plants as weapons to fend off brain-munching foes. With Garden Warfare 2, developer Popcap mixes tower defense with a third-person class-based shooter, allowing you to take on the roles of a bunch of different plants and zombies in a huge battle for the neighborhood. There’s a whole lot of content here, with lots of multiplayer shooter options, giving a whole other spin to the idea of fighting zombies–and that of having a green thumb.
With Project Zomboid, the zombie apocalypse gets a sandbox survival approach. You’re a survivor of the zombie apocalypse, as usual, but here the work of staying alive requires a whole lot more effort. You not only have to deal with hordes of the undead, you also have to construct buildings and defenses to protect yourself, craft items so you can make food, and stave off other problems, like depression or infections. Project Zomboid brings a whole lot of additional depth to the usual tasks of scoring headshots on zombies, and while it’s still not a “complete” game, it’s constantly being updated with new features as it goes through the development process.
In no small part, the popularity and straight-up terrifying nature of the Resident Evil games is responsible for the zombie trend that has lasted for more than two decades. Several of the games in the franchise capture the best and most frightening parts of the horror subgenre and are worthy of your attention–including Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 3–and others aren’t quite “zombie” games but are still excellent riffs on the genre. But the remake of Resident Evil 2 might just stand above the rest. It puts you in the midst of a city tearing itself apart as it’s ravaged by a horde of zombies, and while there are plenty of other creatures vying to scare the hell out of you, there’s nothing quite like the realization that the entirety of Raccoon City is shuffling toward you, arms outstretched and hungry.
The bigger the world, the more frightening the zombie apocalypse that annihilates it, which is what makes State of Decay work. It puts you in a huge open world that’s filled with zombies, in which you have to think seriously about risk and reward if you want to survive. Fighting the horde is never advisable, so what’s the best path to your next objective? How can you avoid the undead to keep yourself safe? You can address your problems in different ways, especially as you meet more characters and add them to your group of survivors–and control them as you see fit. Each character has their own stats and capabilities, requiring you to harden them through combat and allowing you to use them to their strengths to help your entire group survive. Having access to lots of characters fighting for survival gives State of Decay a different strategic spin on surviving the undead.
Lots of games let you fight zombies, but few let you be one. Stubbs the Zombie was the imaginative tale of one such member of the undead just trying to get by in a society that hates him. In order to keep from being killed, uh…more, you have to use Stubbs’ various powers to snack on the living and create your own zombie horde, while fighting off police and the military and slowly taking over a 1950s town on a quest for revenge. Stubbs is a goofy game with a lot of fun ideas and some interesting spins on the comedic elements of the zombie genre, and does a great job of making you feel like patient zero, creating your very own zombie apocalypse.
Before The Walking Dead had quite become a full-on television phenomenon, there was Telltale’s take on the iconic comics. Another story of the zombie apocalypse as it unfolded all over the country, the point-and-click, narrative heavy adventure game followed Lee, a former convict, as he worked to care for and protect Clementine, a young girl who’d lost her parents. The bond created between Lee and Clementine, as well as the often terrible choices the game would put to players as they fought to stay alive at the end of the world, turned The Walking Dead into a classic, and one that works to make the zombie apocalypse something frightening to play through.
Zombies are useful to a lot of genres of video games. In They Are Billions, zombies are the antagonists of a real-time strategy game in which you’re tasked with protecting the colonies of the last surviving humans. As the title suggests, however, the zombie hordes are enormous and overwhelming. You’ve got steampunk technology at your disposal, though, allowing you to fight back the enemy with some unconventional approaches. And while They Are Billions is a real-time strategy game and thus requires you to act on the fly to use tactics to stop the zombie advance, it also allows you to pause so you can think about your actions before you commit to something that might get you and your colonists turned.
While it originally showcased the Wii-U in some cool ways, Zombi (or ZombiU as it was previously titled) eventually made it out to other platforms, where it revealed that it wasn’t just the Wii-U’s singular controller that made the game cool. The first-person title sends you into a zombie-infested London where you fight to survive, but each time you die, the character you were controlling is lost for good–along with all their stuff. While all the progress you previously made remains, you’ll have to find your past character’s corpses to recover your old gear–and you might have to fight them as a zombie as well.
Way back in 1993, Zombies Ate My Neighbors pitted players against all sorts of brain-crunching undead as they worked to save their suburban neighborhood. What makes the top-down action-adventure game is its sprawling levels that are all themed after classic horror movies like Night of the Living Dead, Them!, Tremors, Dracula, and a whole bunch more. With some inventive kid-themed weapons, fun level design, and a whole lot of movie Easter eggs and callbacks, Zombies Ate My Neighbors became a classic for anybody who loves old horror and sci-fi movies. It recently received an update to bring it to modern consoles, so you can enjoy the old-school shooter on just about any machine.
EA is bringing back its college football franchise with a new release at some point in the future, but ahead of that, Madden NFL 22 is offering a glimpse at college football gameplay through a new mode in the professional sports game.
10 college football teams are now in Madden NFL 22 through the Campus Legends limited-time event for the game’s Superstar KO mode. Of note, this is the first time since EA’s NCAA Football 14 that a college football experience is fully playable in an EA title. Madden NFL 22’s story mode does include some college football elements, but it’s limited in nature. The Campus Legends event, meanwhile, lets you play real games against teams of your choosing and against other people.
College football comes to Madden NFL 22
Gallery
To promote the launch of Campus Legends, iconic college football players that went on to NFL careers, Vince Young (University of Texas) and Reggie Bush (USC), will compete in the mode at Rose Bowl Stadium inside Madden NFL 22. You can watch it live at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET through the NFL YouTube Channel and Madden NFL Twitch.
The 10 teams in Campus Legends are:
Clemson University
University of Miami
Louisiana State University
University of Florida
University of Oklahoma
University of Texas
University of Southern California
University of Oregon
University of Nebraska
Michigan State University
Not only are these teams in Madden NFL 22, but their squads are made up of a roster of alumni, including the aforementioned Young and Bush, as well as Tim Tebow (Florida), JuJu Smith-Schuster (USC), Odell Beckham Jr (LSU), Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma), and Patrick Chung (Oregon), among many others. You can see the rosters for all 10 teams on EA’s Campus Legends site.
The Campus Legends event runs until September 27.
As for EA’s upcoming college football game, it might not launch until 2023. A big point of contention and uncertainty around it is regarding player names and likenesses. The NCAA recently approved legislation allowing college athletes to earn profits from their name, image, and likeness, and EA said it is taking this into consideration for its new game.
The game will feature over 100 teams and replicate their logos, stadiums, uniforms, and gameday traditions; however, EA is not working with the NCAA at all on the new game due to various ongoing lawsuits and these legal proceedings. This is also why the company is doing away with the “NCAA Football” branding moving forward.
Apex Legends has a different character for every playstyle. The squad-based battle royale offers 18 different Legends, each with their own set of abilities and lore. Respawn has also added a new Legend every single season, so the game is always evolving. Below is a complete guide, offering lore details for each Legend and a description of all their abilities.
Both of Apex Legends’ modes–battle royale and arenas–are traditionally played in squads of three, although there is a duos playlist for battle royales. Each Squad can only have one of each Legend, so players will need to figure out the best combination of three Legends for their own playstyle.
Anita Williams, also known as Bangalore, is from a military family where she, along with her four brothers, served in the IMC. Anita, along with her brother Jackson, were aboard the IMS Hestia when it was attacked. Jackson died saving Anita, who was stranded on a Syndicate planet. Now, she fights in the Apex Games in an attempt to raise enough money to pay a pilot to take her home to her family.
Bangalore is an attacker focused on dispersing large groups of enemies.
Passive Ability: Double Time
Bangalore runs faster for a short period of time after being shot while sprinting.
Tactical Ability: Smoke Launcher
Fires a smoke canister that explodes into a smoke wall on impact, used for obscuring enemies’ line-of-sight.
Ultimate Ability: Rolling Thunder
Calls in an airstrike that drops an airstrike across an area. Missiles sit on the ground for a short period before exploding.
Bloodhound
Bloodhound is known in the Outlands as one of the best game hunters ever seen. The child of two engineers at the New Dawn industrial plant on Talos, they were raised by their uncle Artur after their parents were killed in a meltdown. Bloodhound was raised to believe in the Old Ways, a system that rejects technology and focuses on nature. However, they always had an interest in technology and ended up combining their knowledge of nature with technology to save their village from a goliath.
Bloodhound is a recon Legend, with skills focused on locating and following enemy squads.
Passive Ability: Tracker
Bloodhound can see tracks recently left behind by opponents and how long they have been there. Bloodhound can also use Survey Beacons to reveal the next circle’s location.
Tactical Ability: Eye of the Allfather
Bloodhound can briefly reveal enemies, traps, and clues directly in front of them.
Ultimate Ability: Beast of the Hunt
Beast of the Hunt enhances Bloodhound’s abilities, allowing them to run faster and highlight enemies in the environment. It turns the environment black-and-white and highlights enemies in red.
Caustic
Andrew “Caustic” Nox is a brilliant scientist employed by Humbert Labs, where he works on pesticide gases. Nox attempted to create better pesticides to protect the crops of the Outlands but eventually grew tired of only testing on tissue, moving to live subjects. He became obsessed with the beauty in his destructive gas, eventually leading to conflict with other scientists, destroying the lab in the process. Now he competes in the Apex Games as Caustic, employing his deadly gases.
Caustic is a defender focused on fortifying his squad’s position.
Passive Ability: Nox Vision
Allows Caustic to see enemies through his gas. Caustic is also fortified, taking 15% less damage and not being slowed by bullets.
Tactical Ability: Nox Gas Trap
Drop canisters that release gas whenever players get near them or they are shot. The gas deals damage over time, ignoring shields.
Ultimate Ability: Nox Gas Grenade
Caustic throws a gas grenade, which covers a large area in deadly gas.
Crypto
Tae Joon Park, also known as Crypto, is a brilliant hacker and an expert in drone technology. While he uses his drone to find hidden enemies in the Apex Games, his real purpose there is to find the people who framed him for murder. Park, along with his foster sister Mila Alexander, worked as computer engineers for the Mercenary Syndicate. They discovered an algorithm that could predict the result of any Apex Games match. This caught the attention of the wrong people and Alexander disappeared and Park was blamed for her murder.
Crypto is a recon Legend, focused on revealing enemy locations with his drone.
Passive Ability: Neurolink
Enemies scanned by Crypto’s drone within 30 meters of your position are visible to you and your teammates. Crypto can also use Survey Beacons to reveal the next circle’s location.
Tactical Ability: Surveillance Drone
Crypto can deploy a controllable drone that can scan enemies in the surrounding areas. Enemies within range are scanned and visible. The drone can be left unmanned and will still scan enemies that come into range. If destroyed, the drone has a 40-second cooldown. The drone can also recover dead teammates’ respawn banners.
Ultimate Ability: Drone EMP
Crypto’s drone sets off an EMP, which damages shields, disables traps, and slows enemies.
Fuse
Walter “Fuse” Fitzroy is a demolitions expert with a knack for bombastic showmanship. Fitzroy grew up on Salvo, a planet ruled by a rotation of mercenaries and warlords. There Fitzroy was a mercenary alongside his friend Maggie. While Fitzroy felt the call of the Apex Games arena, Maggie felt the drive to become the next powerful warlord. Salvo eventually lost its independence, becoming part of the Syndicate, giving Fitzroy his chance to join the arena, but Maggie was not willing to let him go without a fight.
Fuse is an attacker focused on displacing enemies using explosives.
Passive Ability: Grenadier
Fuse can stack one extra grenade per inventory slot. Fuse can also throw grenades farther, faster, and with more accuracy.
Tactical Ability: Knuckle Cluster
Fuse can launch a cluster bomb from his arm that continuously fires off airburst explosives after landing, damaging enemies.
Ultimate Ability: The Motherlode
Fuse launches a bombardment, which creates a circle of fire that damages any enemies that try to move through its walls.
Gibraltar
Makoa Gibraltar is the son of two Search and Rescue Association of Solace volunteers, raised to understand the importance of protecting others. Gibraltar still has a wild side though. When he was younger, he and his boyfriend stole his father’s motorcycle for a joyride and ended up in a dangerous landslide. His father was able to save them but lost his arm in the process, causing Gibraltar to dedicate his life to helping people. He joined the Apex Games for a reason different than all the others: to protect his friends and squadmates from harm.
Gibraltar is a defender focused on shielding his teammates from harm.
Passive Ability: Gun Shield
Gibraltar has a gun shield that deploys when he aims down sights. The shield can absorb some incoming fire. Gibraltar is also fortified, taking 15% less damage and not being slowed by bullets.
Tactical Ability: Dome of Protection
Gibraltar can throw down a dome shield that blocks incoming and outgoing attacks. All allies and enemies can walk through the shield, but it cannot be destroyed.
Ultimate Ability: Defensive Bombardment
The defensive bombardment calls in a concentrated mortar strike on a position. This disorients enemies and damages them. It can also damage Gibraltar.
Horizon
Dr. Mary “Horizon” Somers is an eccentric astrophysicist and is over 100 years old, technically. With the help of her assistant Dr. Reid, Somers discovered Branthium, which she believed to be the key to limitless energy. However, Branthium can only be found within a black hole, so Somers and Reid set out on a dangerous mission.
Reid betrayed Somers during the mission, stealing the Branthium and sending Somers’ shuttle into the black hole. While she managed to escape, 87 years had passed. Now Somers competes in the Apex Games to raise money for her research into time travel, so she may go back and spend time with her son.
Horizon is an attacker focused on using her abilities to rush enemies and displace them.
Passive Ability: Spacewalk
Horizon has increased movement control in the air and recovers faster after hitting the ground, due to her custom suit.
Tactical Ability: Gravity Lift
Horizon throws a device that creates a gravity lift. It propels both teammates and enemies straight up, boosting movement when exiting the lift.
Ultimate Ability: Black Hole
Horizon can throw the N.E.W.T. device, which creates a temporary mini black hole that pulls in enemies and holds them there. It does not deal damage.
Lifeline
A combat medic, Ajay “Lifeline” Che is different from the rest of the competitors in the Apex Games. Che is the child of wealthy war profiteers, who left home after learning of the damage her family’s business caused. She joined the Frontier Corps, a humanitarian organization that helps those in the Frontier community in need of aid. She joined the Apex Games to raise money for the Frontier Corps and has no problem taking down anyone else in the games to do so.
Lifeline is a support Legend focused on healing and reviving teammates.
Passive Ability: Combat Medic
Lifeline uses her healing drone to revive teammates, leaving her free to move around and defend them. Lifeline can also open an extra compartment on blue supply bins.
Tactical Ability: D.O.C. Heal Drone
Lifeline can deploy a healing drone that will heal herself and her teammates over time, as long as they stand next to it.
Ultimate Ability: Care Package
Lifeline can call in a Care Package, which will fall from the sky. The package contains an assortment of healing items, gear, or weapon attachments of high quality.
Loba
At the age of 9, Loba Andrade’s parents were killed by the hitman Revenant in front of her. Left with nothing, Andrade survived by pickpockets. After developing her thieving skills, she stole the Jump Drive bracelet, which allowed her to take her heists to another level. However, when she learned that Revenant joined the Apex Games, she began to plot her revenge, putting thieving on the back burner.
She sabotaged a factory producing Revenant bodies, destroying Skull Town and Thunderdome in the process. However, this wasn’t the only hidden factory producing these, so Andrade joined the Apex Games to find a way to permanently end Revenant.
Loba is a support Legend focused on finding high-quality loot for her squad.
Passive Ability: Eye for Quality
Loba can see Epic and Legendary rarity loot through walls, with the same range as her ultimate ability.
Tactical Ability: Burglar’s Best Friend
Loba can throw her jump drive bracelet, which will teleport her wherever it lands. It can also be retriggered mid-flight to drop straight down, allowing Loba direct control over where she ends up.
Ultimate Ability: Black Market Boutique
Loba can set up the Black Market anywhere, which will allow herself and any other legends to pick up two items within its range. Players can also pick up ammo without it counting as one of the items. Loba can manually close the shop at any time by interacting with it, to prevent enemies from using it.
Mirage
Elliot “Mirage” Witt likes to stand out from the crowd. The youngest of four brothers, Witt only ever took one thing seriously: Holo-Pilot technology. Introduced to it by his mother, Witt learned everything he could about the technology, allowing him to create and control holograms of himself. His brother went missing during the Frontier War, driving Witt and his mother closer.
Mirage worked as a bartender, hearing amazing stories about the Apex Games. The riches and glory interested him, but he didn’t want to risk leaving his mother childless. However, his mother gave him a custom-made set of holo devices and told him to chase his dreams, leading Witt to become the life of the party in the Apex Games.
Mirage is an attacker focused on distracting and confusing enemies with his decoys.
Passive Ability: Now You See Me
Mirage automatically cloaks when reviving teammates or using a respawn beacon.
Tactical Ability: Psyche Out
Mirage can deploy a holographic decoy to confuse enemies. The decoy can either run to a marker or mimic Mirage’s movements.
Ultimate Ability: Life of the Party
Mirage deploys multiple decoys at once, all mimicking his movement while running in different directions. Mirage briefly cloaks upon use, before reappearing.
Octane
Octavio “Octane” Silva is a natural-born daredevil. The son of the busy CEO of Silva Pharmaceuticals, Silva has always had everything he ever asked for. This led to Silva being bored, which resulted in Silva becoming a daredevil, performing stunts and posting holovids of them. Silva decided to beat the record for a nearby gauntlet by propelling himself across the finish line with a grenade. This stunt cost him his legs and the doctors told Silva his daredevil days were over. Silva didn’t like this and guilted his friend Ajay Che into forging an order to give him bionic legs. With the ability to repair his legs, Silva set his sights on the ultimate adrenaline rush, The Apex Games.
Octane is an attacker focused on quickly entering or leaving fights.
Passive Ability: Swift Mend
Octane automatically restores health over time when not in combat. Octane does not restore shields over time.
Tactical Ability: Stim
Octane moves 30% faster for 6 seconds upon use. Costs a chunk of health to use. Octane is slowed less by enemy attacks while active.
Ultimate Ability: Launch Pad
Octane can deploy a jump pad that propels Legends into the air. Legends can perform a second jump while in the air.
Pathfinder
Pathfinder is an optimistic and upbeat MRVN (Mobile Robotic Versatile eNtity) modified for location scouting and surveying. He booted up decades ago in an abandoned warehouse with no knowledge of his creator or why he was there. Pathfinder has spent his time searching for his creator but has not found any information. He joined the Apex Games in hopes to draw the attention of his creator and to make a few new friends along the way.
Pathfinder is a recon Legend focused on getting teammates and himself from one location to the next.
Passive Ability: Insider Knowledge
Scanning a survey beacon reduces the cooldown of Pathfinder’s ultimate ability. Pathfinder can also use Survey Beacons to reveal the next circle’s location.
Tactical Ability: Grappling Hook
Pathfinder can fire a grappling hook, which will propel him towards his destination.
Ultimate Ability: Zipline Gun
Pathfinder can set up a zipline for everyone to use.
Rampart
Ramya Parekh, or Rampart for short, is a blue-collar, small business owner who runs a popular modding shop on Gaea. Parekh made a name for herself in the underground gauntlet circuit, using her custom-modded gear. She took jobs from smugglers, Syndicate members, and anyone else willing to pay.
Parekh never had an issue telling people exactly what she thought of them, which may have led to a group of assailants burning her shop down. Left with nothing but an invitation to Apex Games, Parekh joined the games.
Rampart is a defender focused on setting up shields and a minigun, allowing her squad to deal high amounts of damage from a stationary position.
Passive Ability: Modded Loader
Rampart has increased magazine capacity and faster reloads when using LMGs and the minigun.
Tactical Ability: Amped Cover
Rampart can deploy a cover wall, which provides a crouch-height cover. The wall has a shield that goes up, which amps outgoing shots to do more damage and blocks a limited amount of incoming fire.
Ultimate Ability: Emplaced Minigun “Sheila”
Rampart deploys a mounted machine gun that anyone can use. It has a high ammo capacity but a long reload time. Rampart can only have three miniguns active at once.
Revenant
Revenant was once a man, one with flesh. He also used to be the greatest hitman the Mercenary Syndicate had ever seen. But after his programming failed, Revenant realized that he was no longer human. Hammond Robotics and the Mercenary Syndicate turned him into a simulacrum, a robotic form imbued with his personality. They had been making him forget every time he “died” and was put into a new body.
Revenant swore to destroy everyone who did this to him but two decades have passed since then. He thought they were all gone, but Hammond Robotics has reemerged, giving Revenant new targets to enact revenge upon. He joined the Apex Games to continue his quest for revenge and doesn’t mind taking down a few Legends along the way.
Revenant is an attacker focused on disabling enemies’ abilities and rushing their position.
Passive Ability: Stalker
Revenant can crouch-walk faster and climb higher than all other Legends.
Tactical Ability: Silence
Revenant can throw a grenade that silences enemies, leaving them unable to use their abilities. The grenade leaves behind an area of effect that will silence any enemies that walk near it.
Ultimate Ability: Death Totem
Revenant can place a totem that protects Legends when they use it for a limited time or until the totem is destroyed. Legends who use the totem take health damage instead of shields and are returned to the totem when they run out of health. Legends returned to the totem will have 50% health if they had 50% health or higher when the totem was activated. Legends below 50% health when the totem was activated will be returned with the same amount of health, (a Legend with 30% health would return with 30% health, but a Legend with 80% health would return with 50%).
Seer
Obi “Seer” Edolasim was cursed before he was even born. It was foretold that he would bring pain and suffering to the world, and the night he was born a meteor struck his world’s moon. The moment the community saw his pale blue eyes, they declared the child cursed and shunned him. Edolasim’s parents loved him unconditionally, seeing the empathic and creative child instead of the curse.
Edolasim began fighting in the arenas and the crowd was unsure of him at first. As his success in the arenas continued, members of the crowd that also felt like outsiders began to see themselves in Edolasim. Now, he has joined the Apex Games, as a Legend instead of a curse.
Seer is a recon Legend focused on finding and revealing enemy positions nearby.
Passive Ability: Heart Seeker
Seer can hear and see a visual representation of nearby enemies’ heartbeats when aiming down sights. The heartbeats are shown by a yellow indicator that points towards the heartbeats and creates a full circle when aiming directly at enemies. Seer can also use Survey Beacons to reveal the next circle’s location.
Tactical Ability: Focus of Attention
Seer fires off a cylinder blast of micro-drones that marks and interrupts enemies. The blast shows an indicator of where enemies are and shows their health bars to Seer and his teammates.
Ultimate Ability: Exhibit
Seer throws a drone, which creates a large sphere of micro-drones around it. Enemies within the sphere who move quickly or shoot are highlighted for Seer and his teammates. The sphere stays active for a limited time but can also be destroyed by shooting the drone in the center.
Valkyrie
Kairi “Valkyrie” Imahara has always been brash and hard-headed. She even stole a Titan when she was a child. It was her father’s, callsign Viper. She wanted to be just like her father, but one day he left on a mission and never returned. For awhile, Imahara had her own ship, smuggling goods for money, while searching for the man who put her father in harm’s way: his captain, Kuben Blisk. She tracked Blisk, but he spoke about her father with nothing but respect and challenged Imahara to be better.
Imahara took this to heart, shooting him non-lethally and stealing his Apex Games invitation. Equipped with a jetpack made from her father’s Titan’s flight core, she joined the Apex Games to establish her own legacy.
Valkyrie is a recon Legend, focused on finding enemies from an elevated position.
Passive Ability: VTOL Jets
Valkyrie can use her jetpack to fly. It has limited fuel, which refills over time. Valkyrie cannot shoot while the jetpack is active. Valkyrie can also use Survey Beacons to reveal the next circle’s location.
Tactical Ability: Missile Swarm
Valkyrie can fire a barrage of missiles that damage and disorient enemies.
Ultimate Ability: Skyward Dive
Valkyrie can launch herself and her teammates into the air, allowing them to skydive back into the map. Nearby enemies are marked during the ultimate, giving Valkyrie and her teammates knowledge of enemy positioning.
Wattson
Natalie “Wattson” Paquette might be one of the youngest competitors in the Apex Games, but she has been around the games the longest. The daughter of the Apex Games’ lead electrical engineer, Paquette studied her father’s manuals to become closer to him, finding her calling in the process. She became such a talented engineer that she was commissioned to build the Apex Games Modified Containment Ring. The day the ring was revealed, her father passed away, leaving Parquette alone. Her friends invited her to return to the Apex Games, assuring her she always has a home there.
Wattson is a defender, focused on protecting teammates from incoming attackers.
Passive Ability: Spark of Genius
Ultimate Accelerants fully charges Wattson’s ultimate ability. Wattson also gradually regenerates shields over time.
Tactical Ability: Perimeter Security
Wattson can place electrical nodes that create a fence of electricity when connected. Enemies take damage and slow down when moving through the electrical field.
Ultimate Ability: Interception Pylon
Wattson can place an electrified pylon that destroys incoming ordnance, like grenades and airstrikes. It also repairs the shields of anyone standing within range. The pylon can be destroyed by enemies or will break automatically after a set amount of time. Wattson can only have three pylons active at once.
Wraith
Wraith used to be senior science pilot Renee Blasey. She once volunteered to be the guinea pig for her own experiments, who was betrayed and locked away by her partner. But the experiment that gave her the ability to phaseshift also took her memory. All that was left was a scared woman, imprisoned and haunted by the voices in her head. Eventually, another voice convinced her to listen to them, allowing her to escape that prison and reality.
Wraith joined the Apex Games to explore the old IMC bases that the games take place near. Wraith competes for a chance to find out more information about what happened to her.
Wraith is an attacker focused on being able to quickly and safely escape firefights.
Passive Ability: Voice from the Void
Wraith is alerted when someone is aiming at her. Wraith is prompted to make a call out to her teammates when this occurs.
Tactical Ability: Into the Void
Wraith can shift into the void, allowing her to move through the world without taking damage. Wraith cannot see enemies while shifting and is only visible as a stream of light to other Legends.
Ultimate Ability: Dimensional Rift
Wraith can set up two portals that any Legend can travel between. Wraith begins the ability by placing one end and running to the location where she wants to place the other. Wraith cannot shoot while setting up the portals.
Konami is phasing out online support for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Online on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 beginning today.
A post on Konami’s website says that Metal Gear Solid V’s purchase system on PS3 and 360 are shutting down. All DLC for Metal Gear Online will no longer be available for purchase beginning on November 30.
The full shutdown of online play won’t happen until May 31, 2022. Konami does confirm, of course, that the main game will still be playable offline on the impacted systems.
Metal Gear Solid V includes two multiplayer modes. One is Metal Gear Online, a PvP mode that supports up to 16 players hunting each other down with the game’s stealth and espionage mechanics across three game modes. The other is an online version of the game’s base-building feature, which can be used to get items and money for the main game.
The Phantom Pain released back in 2015. At the time, IGN called it a masterpiece in our Metal Gear Solid 5 review, saying, “The Phantom Pain doesn’t just respect my intelligence as a player, it expects it of me, putting it in a league that few others occupy.”
A number of Twitch channels will go dark on Wednesday, September 1, as a form of protest against the platform. This comes after many streamers claimed Twitch has not taken sufficient action against hate raids, which have plagued marginalized streamers for the last several weeks.
As reported by The Verge, the #ADayOffTwitch blackout was planned by ShineyPen, Lucia Everblack, and RekItRaven as a follow-up to the Twitter campaign, #TwitchDoBetter. The Twitter campaign was led by RekItRaven as a way to pressure Twitch into providing better tools and protections for streamers on its platform. The issue first came up a few weeks ago when “hate raids” began happening regularly, where a flood of bots would come into a streamer’s chat, all spamming the same racist or bigoted comments.
While Twitch did release a statement on Twitter about the #TwitchDoBetter campaign, however, it did not provide any specifics about what it was doing. It released a second statement a week and a half later to address the fact that it did not take any action against hate raids. However, all it said was that it’s working on it and does not what to let the people organizing these raids know its plans.
The #ADayOffTwitch blackout was organized as an attempt to force Twitch to take immediate action to protect streamers against hateful actions.
“A Day Off [Twitch] is largely about coming together in solidarity. The one day off is a step in the many steps we have to take towards change,” ShineyPen told The Verge.
RekItRaven also said that the blackout was more about smaller streamers banding together than actively hurting Twitch’s profits. The response among the community has been varied, with some streamers feeling like the blackout is pointless and others unable to take time off due to contractual obligations.
A note about #ADayOffTwitch from the cast & crew of our streamed show. Please read & remember not everyone is free to take tomorrow off, no matter the level of support they have for the event. pic.twitter.com/Pu6lE8CucQ
— Mother LandsRPG: Season 3! (@MotherlandsRPG) August 31, 2021
Some larger streamers have had negative reactions to the movement. Asmongold, a large World of Warcraft streamer who recently transitioned to Final Fantasy XIV, said on a stream, “Nobody gives a f*** if you take the day off. Nobody knows who you are.”
Asmongold went on to say that he believes in the power of numbers and would participate if a big streamer got involved, despite being a large streamer himself, having 2.4 million followers on Twitch.
A representative for Twitch told The Verge that they are aware of the blackout and are supportive of the content creators participating. According to Lucia Everblack, the discussion around #ADayOffTwitch shows that it has already been successful in shaping the conversation and pushing Twitch to make significant changes.
“We don’t just want solutions to current problems,” Everblack told The Verge. “We want policies in place so that these kinds of problems never happen again or at least never get this severe.”
Next to Halo and Minecraft, Forza is arguably one of Microsoft’s most famous and recognizable franchises. The series debuted in 2005 with the original Forza Motorsport, and the racing series has released more than a dozen titles since then. With Forza Horizon 5 debuting in November, we’re looking back at the Forza series and ranking the entries in the main series, along with the Horizon sub-brand that debuted in 2012. We also included some other entries, like the mobile game Forza Street.
Forza Street has a very different vibe than the rest of the series
A free-to-play spinoff, Forza Street was released in 2019 from developer Electric Square. As the franchise’s first game developed specifically for mobile, it features a very distinct and unique setup from the rest of the main series, focusing more on fast-paced races. In a big shakeup from the main series, the cars automatically drive themselves, with players only responsible for braking and accelerating–the game takes control of the steering. Forza Street is also available on PC, but it doesn’t exactly compare to the rest of the series when it comes to presentation, gameplay, features, and support.
12. Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious
A partnership between Microsoft and Universal for Fast & Furious felt inevitable, and it finally happened in 2015 when Forza and Fast & Furious crossed over for a standalone expansion themed around the Vin Diesel movie series. The standalone racing game features about a dozen cars from the Fast & Furious franchises, including some that debuted in Furious 7, which was the latest entry at the time. The game also featured familiar characters like Tej Parker, with Ludacris returning to voice the expert mechanic. As for the gameplay, it involves taking part in over-the-top race challenges set in France, just like the movie.
Something about family
A partnership between Microsoft and Universal for Fast & Furious felt inevitable, and it finally happened in 2015 when Forza and Fast & Furious crossed over for a standalone expansion themed around the Vin Diesel movie series. The standalone racing game features about a dozen cars from the Fast & Furious franchises, including some that debuted in Furious 7, which was the latest entry at the time. The game also featured familiar characters like Tej Parker, with Ludacris returning to voice the expert mechanic. As for the gameplay, it involves taking part in over-the-top race challenges set in France, just like the movie.
11. Forza Motorsport 2
One of the 300+ cars in Forza Motorsport 2
Three years after the original Forza Motorsport, Microsoft launched Forza Motorsport 2 in 2008 to great success and acclaim. Featuring more than 300 cars from 50 major manufacturers and a dozen tracks, Forza Motorsport 2 offers many different ways to play to suit your style and its assists were a welcome addition for players just learning the ropes. The game was praised for its innovations at the time like menus that told you where your car is damaged and the temperature of the tires, to simulate the real driving experience. At the time, we said in our review that Forza Motorsport 2 reaches the “precise brand of evolution you’d want from a sequel to the original Forza,” featuring a better driving model and an overall offering so deep that you could spend countless hours zooming around the tracks.
2009’s Forza Motorsport 3 was a visual spectacle at the time
Released back in 2009, Forza Motorsport 3 was celebrated for being a step up from its predecessor in almost every way. Among its many new features and elements was a Rewind button that allows players to skip back in time after they crash or make a wrong move. The racing game was also praised for its online modes, which delivered new ways to play both with friends in a private match and against the community at large. There were new Drag and Drift events, along with team-based Cat and Mouse tournaments that afforded new ways to play. Here at GameSpot, we also enjoyed the game’s excellent soundtrack, featuring songs from artists like Alkaline Trio, Fall From Grace, and The Fratellis, among others.
2011’s Forza Motorsport 4 is perhaps best remembered for releasing around the time that Microsoft was pushing its camera-based Kinect technology. The camera could track players’ heads so they could look around, or it could actually control the car. Microsoft would go on to discontinue Kinect, but Forza Motorsport 4 showcased how such a setup could have worked, even if it didn’t offer the type of precise controls fans have come to expect from the series. Outside of the Kinect integration, Forza Motorsport 4 changed things up with its World Tour mode and made changes to how players unlock cars. And once again, the game was praised for its ability to cater to players of all different types of skill levels.
2005’s Forza Motorsport was the game that started it all
The very first Forza Motorsport game was released in 2005, meaning the franchise is celebrating its 16th anniversary this year. The game introduced Xbox fans to the simulation-style racing series that would go on to spawn numerous sequels and spinoffs. The original game was generally praised by critics. Here at GameSpot, we scored it a 9.2, with praise directed towards the game’s ability to mesh advanced sim elements into a package that was generally approachable to newcomers. It’s a design philosophy that has carried forward throughout the years across its numerous installments. The game certainly looks dated by today’s standards, but it proved to be a big success that became one of Microsoft’s most celebrated franchises overall.
2012’s Forza Horizon kicked off the spinoff series
The fifth installment in the Forza series, Forza Horizon was released for Xbox 360 in 2012 as the first spinoff of the racing franchise. Microsoft tapped Playground Games to develop the game, and the company would go on to acquire the UK outfit in 2018 after the sub-brand exploded in popularity. The big change from the main Forza Motorsport series is that Horizon is focused on non-track races and off-road competition in a big open world. The game is set in Colorado and sees players taking part in various races and competitions to make their way to the Horizon festival, which is where the game gets its name. It would go on to spawn multiple sequels and help elevate and differentiate the Forza series overall.
2013’s Forza Motorsport 5 from series developer Turn 10 was the first entry released on the new-at-the-time Xbox One console. It was actually a launch title for the Xbox One, and Microsoft went all-out, recruiting Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond for voice roles in the game’s campaign. The game boasted gorgeous graphics (for the time) showing off what the Xbox One was capable of. The racing game also pushed the franchise forward with a clever use of the Xbox One triggers to provide haptic feedback about traction and stability, while the game was known to be welcoming enough for newcomers with its collection of assist features. “This is a game built on the romantic thrill of motorsport in all its forms, and that love for its subject matter is all but impossible to resist,” GameSpot’s Forza Motorsport 5 review said at the time.
2014’s Forza Horizon 2 was the second entry in the spinoff series, also developed by Playground Games and released as the first entry in the offshoot series on Xbox One. Set in picturesque locations across France and Italy, Forza Horizon 2 took some of the action off-road with races across fields and dirt, giving players a new type of driving experience. Similar in structure to the first game, Forza Horizon 2 has players taking part in various events across a campaign that unlocks more and more cars and settings as the game progresses. The game also welcomed a Fast & Furious crossover expansion, and we’ll talk more about that as its own entry later.
2015’s Forza Motorsport 6, featuring the new Ford GT on the cover, introduced a seemingly small but important element to the series: wet weather. Not only did the rain make for some unique artistic flair in the overall look of the game, but wet weather changed driving conditions and this made an impact on how the game played and what you needed to do and know to succeed on the track during a downpour. Night races were added to Forza Motorsport 6 as well, again mixing things up with the way the game looks and handled after the sun goes down. The game’s initial launch was followed up with a standalone free-to-play game called Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, which brought the series to PC with a different, experimental business model prior to Microsoft’s more inclusive releases.
Forza Motorsport 7 is another verrrrry good-looking Forza game
The Forza Motorsport series continued in 2017 with Forza Motorsport 7 on Xbox One, at the time boasting to be the “most comprehensive, beautiful, and authentic racing game ever made.” The game was indeed a nice visual step up, boasting a 4K/60fps experience. The game added new environmental and weather effects, and the rain in particular glistened in stunning detail. There were an overwhelming 700+ cars in the game and 30 famous real-world tracks to race on. Similar to past games in the series, Forza Motorsport 7 was also praised for its feature-set that offered enough for seasoned fans to enjoy and was approachable enough for newcomers. It was also praised for its great diversity of driving experiences, letting people have the type of driving experience they want.
Forza Horizon 3 iterated and improved upon the first two releases in a number of ways. Released in 2016 and set in the sprawling and gorgeous environments of Australia, Forza Horizon 3 introduced stunning skyboxes that were based on real photographs and video, so when you looked up to the sky, it was actually the real Australian sky and clouds. Forza Horizon 3 has more than 350 cars and is set on what was the biggest Forza Horizon map at the time. The game featured new ways to race and drive, and in traditional Horizon fashion, there were special “showcase” events featuring races against speed boats and airships. Another notable aspect of Forza Horizon 3 was its online co-op that allowed up to four people to play cooperative or competitively at the same time.
Forza Horizon 4 is set in the idyllic British countryside
Released in 2018, Forza Horizon 4 was seemingly a special one for developer Playground Games, being a “home” game of sort with its setting in Great Britain. In addition to its stunning environments and sweeping landscapes, Forza Horizon 4 is known for introducing changing seasons to the franchise, letting fans experience winter, spring, summer, and fall, complete with gameplay-relevant changes to the environment.. The game also featured more of an online focus, with dozens of players on a single server together. After launch, the game welcomed numerous expansion packs, including those themed around Hot Wheels and James Bond. The game also leaned into the battle royale trend with its Eliminator mode.
South Korea’s National Assembly passed a bill today challenging Apple and Google’s current app store policies, with implications potentially impacting both companies on a global scale.
As spotted first by The Wall Street Journal, the law is an amendment to South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act. The new piece of legislation prevents major platforms like Apple and Google from banning app developers from using built-in payment systems, meaning app developers have the freedom to use their own payment systems.
The new law also forbids store owners from reprimanding developers that use alternative payment systems than the ones available on their app storefront. Failure to comply with the new law will result in fines of up to 3% of a mobile app store owner’s revenue in the country.
While this legislation only impacts South Korea, the legislation could have a massive impact on the tech giants across the globe. Both tech giants have been subject to criticism for their app store policies, with countries looking to crack down on both. Earlier this month, the US Senate introduced the Open App Markets Act, which would also developers to use their own payment systems if passed and sign into law.
Apple and Google have also been subjected to various lawsuits here in the United States. Last year, Fortnite developer Epic Games filed a lawsuit that challenged the app store policies. The case Epic Games v. Apple was argued last May, with a federal judge currently reviewing the case with a ruling anticipated to come before the end of the year.
Recently, Apple settled a completely different class-action lawsuit with US app developers, but the trade-offs have been minimal on Apple’s end and is pending approval from the court. At the same time, Google is currently being sued by 36 states plus the District of Columbia for its app store model.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Xbox has had some excellent console exclusives over the past few years, a number that’s likely going to grow during the Xbox Series X|S’s lifecycle given Microsoft’s string of studio acquisitions. But that’s the future–we don’t know for sure what will and what won’t be dope. All we can do is look at what’s currently out, and decide which games are our favorites.
Our top 20 Xbox console exclusives are detailed below. We’ve listed them in alphabetical order. For the purposes of this list, we’ve only included one game from each franchise so that no one franchise can dominate the list. We’ll be sure to come back and update this list as new Xbox games launch or if one of the exclusives listed below also releases for additional console platforms.
Developer Mischief’s Adios is a cinematic first-person game that sees you coming to terms with an intriguingly nuanced dilemma. You play as a farmer who disposes of dead bodies for the mob by feeding them to your pigs–that is, until one day you’ve had enough. You tell your friend, a hitman for the mob, that you want out, knowing that he’ll have to kill you if you stand by your decision. Adios’ story grapples with themes of morality and grief but grounds them in a relatable tale about two people trying to come to terms with their lives. The game handles player agency so well, gifting it and stealing it away during select moments to mirror the concept of knowing what you want to say or do but not always being able to. Adios is available for Xbox One and PC.
Developer Mighty Yell’s first game, The Big Con, is fantastic. In terms of story, visuals, and music, this adventure game is oozing with the style of ’90s animated TV shows and culture. In The Big Con, you play as Ali, a teenager roped into a partnership with a con artist after finding out her mother owes almost $100k to loan sharks. You go on a cross-country trip to swindle every dime you can. The challenge of planning your own cons is pretty fun, as The Big Con encourages you to be strategic in piecing together how to maximize your profits. The story is no slouch either–seeing Ali come into her own as a talented con artist as she grapples with her mom’s expectations of her and the blossoming queer feelings she has for her best friend keep you invested. The Big Con is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Developer Acid Nerve’s Death’s Door is an action-adventure game that deals with themes around death, grief, and mortality. It’s not all doom and gloom though–sure, Death’s Door has a melancholy vibe, but its story features plenty of charming characters and jokes too. In Death’s Door, you play as a young crow whose job is to kill creatures when it’s their time to die and collect their souls. However, you hit a bit of a snag when an elderly crow steals the soul you were tasked with retrieving, forcing you to journey across a land devoid of death in search of a means to reacquiring the soul you lost. Death’s Door is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Developer Ghost Ship Games’ Deep Rock Galactic is a four player cooperative first-person shooter. The game is less Left 4 Dead and more Rainbow Six Extraction, putting emphasis on individual classes that have specific roles during missions that are crafted around main and secondary objectives. Depending on your team’s performance, you earn a select amount of currency, which can be used to improve the equipment and weapons for your chosen class. It’s a solid co-op experience that makes all of its classes viable options–not a bad first game for Ghost Ship Games. Deep Rock Galactic is available for Xbox One and PC.
Developer Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 4 has an incredible opening showcase moment, and the thrills really just don’t stop–this studio knows what it’s doing when it comes to crafting a racing game that is as approachable as it is engaging. You don’t have to know all that much about cars to enjoy Forza Horizon 4; you just need to be someone who appreciates really pretty racing games. This latest entry in the series stands out for the introduction of seasons, each of which provides unique experiences to the same tracks–a course that’s easy to drive in the summer may be much trickier when there’s ice on the ground in winter, for example. Forza Horizon 4 is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
The Coalition’s Gears 5 expands on the scope of the series, incorporating open areas that afford you agency to pursue optional objectives. This addition adds a nice freshness to the tried-and-true Gears formula. This is still an engaging third-person shooter that rewards quick reflexes with satisfyingly brutal depictions of carnage, but there are now more opportunities to tackle the same challenges in different ways depending on how you approach an enemy base and what weapons you’ve chosen to bring with you. The story isn’t phenomenal–you primarily play as Kait Diaz, who goes out in search of the origins of the Locust in hopes of uncovering the mystery surrounding her family’s history–but the gameplay more than makes up for that. Gears 5 is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Developer Obsidian Entertainment’s Grounded is a survival game where you play as someone who’s been shrunk down and must now find their way in a suburban backyard filled with insects and arachnids that pose a danger to you. It’s basically Honey, I Shrunk The Kids meets Minecraft–which is a fairly fun set-up, especially if you have friends to party up with. As you strive to build a base and weapons to protect yourself from the critters that want to eat you, you must uncover the strange remnants of a secret lab and technology that may hold the key to how you shrunk in the first place, as well as the means for returning to your normal size. It also includes a neat assortment of accessibility features, including an arachnophobia mode that makes spiders seem less scary. Grounded is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Okay, admittedly, this is cheating. 343 Industries’ Halo: The Master Chief Collection isn’t one game, it’s six–Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4. But if you’re looking for a story-driven, sci-fi military drama with excellent first-person arena shooter mechanics, Halo is king. Few shooter franchises have had the impact that Halo has, and The Master Chief Collection is the ideal way of experiencing that story from the beginning, regardless of whether you want to play from the series’ start of Halo: Combat Evolved or the chronological start of Halo: Reach. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
First developed by Double Helix Games (now part of Amazon) before being handled by Iron Galaxy and Rare, Killer Instinct is the third main entry and a reboot of the fighting game series. If you’ve played a fighting game before, like Injustice 2 or Guilty Gear Strive, then you already have an idea of what Killer Instinct is. The game is great–fighters are diverse and combat is mechanically rewarding, with many combos to learn and satisfyingly pull off. And the game’s initial problems at launch–lack of fighters and content–have been addressed with three seasons of post-launch expansions. Killer Instinct is available for Xbox One and PC.
Bloober Team’s The Medium just squeaks onto this list. It’s a great Xbox console exclusive that deserves to be listed here, but it’s also scheduled to release for PS5 in September so it won’t be an exclusive for much longer. Starring Marianne, a medium, this psychological horror game sees you simultaneously exploring a decrepit resort and the trauma of those who stayed there, as Marianne’s literal body and consciousness can exist side by side in the real and spiritual plane. This structure delivers some stellar cinematic shots, as well as a way to explore an intriguing story through both a literal and figurative lens. The soundtrack is incredible, too. The Medium is available for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Developer Asobo Studio’s Microsoft Flight Simulator is such an incredible feat. The game uses real-world data pulled from Bing Maps to inform the in-game AI to generate a fully realized 3D Earth. Flight Simulator looks at our Earth and then somehow, some way (we’re convinced it’s magic) updates its in-game Earth to reflect an accurate depiction of what’s going on, including changing weather patterns like massive storms or hurricanes. And then it just lets you loose to fly anywhere you want in that world–so yeah, again, an incredible feat. Microsoft Flight Simulator is available for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Developer Cyan’s Myst is a reimagining of the original 1993 Myst. This remake incorporates new art and sound assets, includes more interactions, and adds an option to randomize the game’s puzzles. In Myst, you’re sucked into a strange book and transported to an island where you begin to uncover clues surrounding a family that’s been mysteriously trapped. The original Myst is fantastic, but it’s pretty old at this point. This remake does for it what the remakes for Resident Evil 2, Final Fantasy VII, and Demon’s Souls did for them–it modernizes an excellent experience to current day standards. Myst is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Oculus Quest.
Developer Glumberland’s Ooblets is a bizarre but charming blend of farming simulator and creature collecting RPG. Think “Stardew Valley meets Pokemon.” You play as the newest resident of Badgetown, where you’re given a worn-down farm and the choice of your starting ooblet, a little creature grown from seeds. As you fix up the farm, you’ll be able to plant crops to sell and ooblets to grow. You can also set out on a journey across the region of Oob and challenge other trainers, which play out as card-based dance battles. With the funds you earn, you can buy improvements to your farm, furniture for your house, and gifts for your neighbors–the latter of which improves your overall relationship with them. Ooblets is available for Xbox One and PC.
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is an updated and separate “shared universe” version of the original Phantasy Star Online 2–you can use the same character across both games but you’ll have to level them separately across the two. New Genesis is a more streamlined PSO2. It features a new story that gets you into the action more quickly, a faster and more intuitive combat system, and new exploration mechanics–Photon Dash and Photon Glide–that help you get around the world. As a relatively new MMORPG, New Genesis is still a bit bare bones when it comes to endgame content, but what’s currently there is already pretty fun. Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Rare Replay is one of the rare (heh) games to truly be an Xbox exclusive. You can buy these games individually for other platforms but Rare Replay is an Xbox exclusive–there’s no PC version and no plans to ever make one. Developer Rare’s collection includes 30 games from the studio’s history, from the era of the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360. That’s a huge variety of titles, from beat-’em-up Battletoads and 3D platformer Banjo-Kazooie to first-person shooter Perfect Dark and life simulator Viva Piñata. So even if you’re not a fan of every type of game, there’s likely at least one title included in Rare Replay that will tickle your fancy. Rare Replay is available for Xbox One.
Developer Rare’s Sea of Thieves is an action-adventure game in which you can live out your fantasies of being a pirate. The game takes place in a shared world, allowing you to both set sail with your friends and encounter other players–it’s your choice as to whether you want to help them, ignore them, steal from them, or just outright kill them. Sea of Thieves’ ship combat is a great time with friends, and its vast open world is quite the sight to behold. One of the game’s biggest criticisms at launch–its lack of content–has been addressed with several substantial updates and expansions. Most notably, Sea of Thieves has a major Pirates of the Caribbean crossover expansion that adds hours of fun story-driven content to the game. Sea of Thieves is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
If you’re tired of playing Left 4 Dead style games where you’re going up against zombies, may we direct your attention to developer Systemic Reaction’s Second Extinction, a cooperative first-person shooter where you and your squad go up against dinosaurs? In Second Extinction, humanity has retreated to space stations when mutated dinosaurs take over the Earth. Your squad’s job is to orbital drop onto the planet in a series of missions to find a way to fight back and ultimately deal with the dino threat. The game utilizes a threat level system so engaging in missions in the same parts of the world will lower the threat level and make subsequent drops in those areas easier, but ignoring other areas will allow the dinosaur presence to spike out of control there and make future missions in those areas more difficult. Second Extinction is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Developer Undead Labs’ State of Decay 2 has come a long way since its launch, expanding on its zombie survival open world formula with graphical overhauls, new maps and modes, and more story missions. It’s now a solid game for those looking for that Walking Dead experience, where you’re building bases, recruiting allies, managing resources, maintaining relationships, scavenging for resources, and creatively fighting hordes of the undead. There’s a cooperative element to the game as well, so you can tackle State of Decay 2’s challenge with friends if you want. State of Decay 2 is available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
In a lot of ways, Insomniac Games’ Sunset Overdrive is an early precursor to the developer’s follow-up project, Marvel’s Spider-Man. An open-world action-adventure game, Sunset Overdrive makes you the superhero-like guardian of Sunset City, which is in the midst of a quarantine following an energy drink turning most humans into mutant monsters. Like Marvel’s Spider-Man, Sunset Overdrive mixes combat and movement–you’re rewarded with incredible bonuses for shooting your arsenal of guns while wallrunning, grinding across phone lines, or bouncing on top of cars. Your character also brings plenty of hilarious wisecracks to every fight, and the game’s continued references to other games and movies is pretty funny. Sunset Overdrive is available for Xbox One and PC.
Developer Falling Squirrel’s The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is a fascinating take on an action-RPG as you play as a princess who is blind. Since you can’t see anything, you have to do all the stuff traditionally associated with RPGs–fighting enemies, stealthily sneaking past guards, firing a bow, and walking through markets–all via sound. You have to listen to enemies shuffling around you and exhaling as they swing a sword to know where and when to parry and attack, or pick out the clanging of a blacksmith’s hammer amidst a busy market to figure out where to go to shop for new armor. It’s an incredibly unique experience. The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is available for Xbox One and PC.
Armor sets inspired by warriors of ages past are coming to Halo 3 and Halo: Reach in Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s next season, and they are unlike anything ever before seen in Halo.
Revealed in a new Canon Fodder blog post on Halo Waypoint, the new sets draw inspiration from the armor worn by the Spartan warriors of ancient Greece, the knights of medieval Europe, and the Viking warriors of Scandinavia. The sets will be available as part of Halo: MCC Season 8, titled Mythic, along with new nameplates and weapon and vehicle skins.
Gallery
Halo publishing team art director Horia Dociu dove into some of the thinking that went into the new skins in the blog post, saying the new season served as a cool way to bring themes present throughout the Halo series to life in a visual way.
“Mjolnir and a few other mythological Norse names in our canon inspired an Asgard warrior concept, which came along with the horned helmets and all the other Viking associations history and pop culture have highlighted,” Dociu says. “While monikers like Wraith, Banshee, and Ghost felt like a stoic, dark-gothic lens through which to approach a classical knight armor take on our Spartans. Halo is all about the mythical warriors of the future, so what better way to reinforce the fantasy than to imbue the armors with the legendary visuals that have echoed for centuries in our own history of legendary warriors?”
The sets are similar in spirit to the “Fractures” that will be seen in Halo Infinite, which are non-canon skins with more unconventional themes, like the Yoroi Samurai Spartan armor that has been seen in various images and screenshots promoting the game. That’s something future issues of Canon Fodder will dive into “further down the road.”
Halo franchise and narrative writer Jeff Easterling writes in the blog post he personally loves it when a franchise can be viewed through a new lens, as will be the case for MCC’s new season.
“Whether it’s a samurai take on Star Wars or a steampunk take on Batman, seeing familiar elements given a wild and far-out twist can simultaneously give you a fun new thing to enjoy while also helping you appreciate the core reasons of why you love the original thing in the first place,” Easterling writes.
Easterling teases that these new armor sets will also set the stage “for more fun experimental themes to come in the future in this and other venues.”
Halo: MCC’s next season will also see the addition of a new Halo 3 map in the form of Icebox, a reimagining of the Halo 2 map Turf.
