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Capcom revealed a whole bunch of new details about Resident Evil 3 remake this morning. IGN was able to get a full hands-on preview from the event, as well as an interview with Capcom producer Peter Fabiano where we talked about the inspirations for Jill Valentine’s redesign, the changes in the remake from the original, and how to make Nemesis scary after Mr. X.

Resident Evil 3 remake reimagines and remixes the characters and events of the 1999 PlayStation survival-horror game. Jill Valentine, a protagonist from the first Resident Evil game, once again takes center stage as she tries to escape Raccoon City during a T-Virus outbreak. Like the Resident Evil 2 remake, Capcom has gone back to the drawing board to redesign Jill Valentine for 2020 and we asked Fabiano what that process was like.

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“So when you look at the original, right? [Jill Valentine] needed to kind of pop in the graphics of the day. So when we were looking at [the remake] and rebuilding Raccoon City and the world, overall, in Resident Evil 3, you’ll notice that we use photogrammetry and photo-real [graphics],” Fabiano said. “We wanted to make sure that Jill fit in that environment. So that’s why you’ll see that come to fruition in the design that we have with Jill and in the reimagining we have here. As well as the fact that you still see the Jill you know and love. That comes out a lot more in the performances and mocap.”

It wasn’t just Jill’s look that got a redesign either. Resident Evil 3 expands on the storytelling and dialogue, which means Jill’s character has been expanded upon through story and writing as well. Throughout the demo Carlos calls Jill ‘Supercop’ and she feels like an 80s action hero at times.

“The director really wanted to show that Jill is a character that has the wherewithal to get through all situations,” Fabiano explained. One of those situations, for example, is the Drain Deimos which makes an updated return in Resident Evil 3. When attacked by one of these, Jill risks getting infected with parasites which she must proceed to remove from herself by inducing vomiting. “At its core, it is survival horror, right? And we want to keep those elements in there and…[show] that Jill can get through these really hard situations.”

Resident Evil 3 has been in development for three years, and there was some concurrent development with Resident Evil 2. This allowed the developers to see what was being done in one remake and adapt and learn for Resident Evil 3. “So we were able to take a lot of what we built out for RE 2 with the RE engine and use that and then kind of adapt and actually bring that even more forward and develop in that sense… We saw what was being built out in RE2, and there were things that we took from that or things that we actually wanted to kind of bring even more forward,” Fabiano said.

As for specifics, Fabiano told IGN that there were “certain things that [Capcom] did with AI and certain things to kind of spruce up the way that the graphics look,” but declined to get too much further in-depth.

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While elements like the city and characters were expanded for the Resident Evil 3 remake, other functions like the multiple endings and live choices were removed. Fabiano says these features were sacrificed in favor of a more focused story. “The live selections were something that was included in the original RE 3. You know, they didn’t have much development time and there were challenges that they had to face. So one of the solutions they came up with to give the game some replayability was to add the live selections,” Fabiano says. “In this case, the director really just wanted to tell a consistent story. And so that’s why we decided to go with the one story with Resident Evil 3.”

While you can read IGN’s hands-on preview of Resident Evil 3 for more details and impressions about the upcoming survival horror game, we did ask Fabiano two final questions. Will there be more Resident Evil remakes in the future, and will Resident Evil go first-person again?

Sadly, our answers to both of those questions was a very vague, “Who knows?”

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

With Upgrade, Leigh Whannell demanded attention as an inventive writer/director with some serious action chops and an eye for the unusual and unexamined. In Universal’s newest take on the iconic Invisible Man, Whannell turns that eye to the terror of domestic abuse, making an impressive and delightfully dark return to the horror genre in which he made his name as a co-creator of the Saw franchise.

Though the character’s tenure as a Universal Monster made the Invisible Man a classic horror icon, the H.G. Wells story which inspired it is very much a science-fiction parable about the hubris of man and the danger of an unchecked ego. Without spoiling too much, Whannell is clearly invested in exploring those thematic threads with his electrifying reimagining which plays into the classic novel’s ideas of madness, murder, and mayhem with a very contemporary twist.

Set in modern-day San Francisco, The Invisible Man strays from other adaptations by following Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) as she absconds from her violent and cruel ex-boyfriend Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a Mark Zuckerberg-esque tech billionaire who made his fortune in “optics.” From the opening moments of the film where we see Cecilia sneaking out of the compound-like home she shared with Adrian, Whannell throws the audience into a nerve-wracking and chillingly realized ride through the absolute worst-case scenario of leaving an abusive partner.

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Moss is the beating heart of the movie here as the distressed and desperate Cecilia, who spends most of the movie struggling against the waves of trauma that her relationship with Adrian has left her drowning in. This is another no-holds-barred performance from The Handmaid’s Tale actress who offers up an almost uncomfortably raw turn as a woman wronged so badly that she almost has no concept of how to treat the people who are left in her life. Though he is barely on screen, Jackson-Cohen is a solid choice as the handsome and sociopathic billionaire who can’t bear to let go of the one thing that he can no longer control.

The small supporting cast is equally as engaging with Aldis Hodge as Cecilia’s old friend James who takes her in after she makes her escape. His sweet and thoughtful daughter Sydney is played by the ever-watchable Storm Reid, who gets some seriously dark material and handles it brilliantly. If anything, their roles could have been expanded as both are characters that you want to know more about, but this is Cecilia’s story and so ultimately their paths (and screen time) are guided by her journey.

There is an effective coldness and chill to The Invisible Man which is tangible, from the grey skies of San Francisco to the concrete walls of Adrian’s looming home. There’s a gritty grimness to it all that can’t quite be escaped, and that’s entirely the point. Nothing about The Invisible Man is meant to be comfortable; Whannell and cinematographer Stefan Duscio fill every moment with dread and anxiety that is entirely fitting for a horror film that takes one of the darkest aspects of human nature and wrings every ounce of terror out of it that it can. Another highlight that needs recognition is the production design by Alex Holmes, which plays into the inescapable nature of Adrian. This is especially noticeable in his open-plan home, with its glass-walled structure that makes you feel like you can do nothing without being watched.

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Of course, in any monster movie you want to know about the titular monster. Well, not wanting to give too much away, what I can say is that Whannell makes a decision that is both creatively daring and almost monstrously simple. Think of the thrill of watching Paranormal Activity for the first time and trying to spot all of the spiritual shenanigans and you’re halfway to what makes this iteration of The Invisible Man so utterly terrifying.

Alongside the atmospheric visual landscape that the creative team built, composer Benjamin Wallfisch crafts entertainingly engaging dueling scores for both Adrian and Cecilia. The former is an appropriately pulsating electronic landscape closer to drone music than a classical film score, whereas our heroine is scored by a more expected orchestral arrangement that often soars as we follow her on a most unexpected and grim iteration of the hero’s journey. The coherence and narrative of the score and film together give The Invisible Man an immersive quality that delights and unsettles in equal measure.

At just over two hours, The Invisible Man never drags, instead successfully building tension to a breaking point. But depending on your patience for a slow burn start leading to some breakneck twists and turns, you might get a little cinematic whiplash when it comes to the film’s brutal and action-packed latter half. That final act is where Whannell really shows his power, though, with some truly gasp-inducing moments and more of the stunningly imagined and choreographed action that made Upgrade such a cult hit amongst genre fans.

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The biggest issue that The Invisible Man faces is actually tied to how slick it is. There’s a rawness to Elisabeth Moss’ performance that hints at a deeper character study we don’t get, and whilst the clinical dissection of an abusive relationship and the horrors it has wrought are grimly effective, there is arguably a lack of depth to the conversation the film is trying to have. As a simple revenge story, The Invisible Man ends up delivering something truly satisfying. But the first two acts of the movie don’t always feel like they’re setting that up, and at times hint at an exploration of abuse that’s more nuanced and profound, yet it never materializes. Ironically, it’s the fact that Whannell is confident and experimental enough to try and utilize the nature of abuse as a structure for horror rather than a messaging opportunity that may lead some to ask: what is The Invisible Man really trying to say?

Whannell’s exploration of horror and abuse may not be for everyone. Not only is it deeply distressing in parts but it’s often brutal in its depiction of trauma — although something that feels radical is that we rarely see the violence that caused such trauma depicted on screen — and the fear of losing control. Seeing Cecilia seemingly lose her grip on reality and drive everyone around her away is tough, even though Whannell and company offer up an equally dark redemption. It’s that rawness and interest in shining a light on the most unappealing moments of being a survivor that makes The Invisible Man stand out, but it’s also miles away from the warmth and nostalgia that many viewers might be expecting when they walk into what is still a Universal Monsters movie.

If you’ve played Escape From Tarkov this past week, you’ve probably noticed particularly long queue times when waiting to load into a raid. These server issues have not gone unacknowledged by developer Battlestate Games. The team took to Twitter today to notify players of an update meant to reduce match loading times, but even after a series of technical updates and fixes, the frequent server outages persist.

Earlier today, Battlestate Games posted yet again that they are working on fixing the server issues. For updates on Escape From Tarkov’s server status, check back here for updates or consult Down Detector for moment-to-moment updates from the community.

Just a few weeks ago, Battlestate Games gave every player 1 million in-game roubles as an attempt to make up for lost time and gear resulting from server issues earlier in the month.

If you’re new to the game, check out our Escape From Tarkov controls guide for a primer on the most important hotkeys.

Rainbow Six Siege is a team-based game that is at its best when you’re playing with friends, but that won’t always be the case–often players will want to jump in alone, and when they do, there’s no option to solo queue. Solo queuing means being matched with other players who are also not in squads, so that you don’t end up facing an extremely communicative, well-prepared team.

This is a feature that players have wanted for a while, and it seems that the developers are taking notice. As reported by VG247, the official Rainbow Six Siege Twitter account recently responded to a tweet about a lack of a solo queue option to let the user know that the idea “had been passed up the chain to the devs”.

This is not confirmation that solo queue will actually be added, of course, but the team behind Rainbow Six Siege has been pretty open about things that are not coming to the game–respawns, for instance.

Rainbow Six Siege is in a good place right now, and recently broke its own record for the most concurrent players on Steam. The operator Tachanka is getting the game’s most significant ever overhaul, and the game is being planned for launch on next-gen systems. But there is, of course, always room for improvement.

Another Rainbow Six game, a three-player co-op tactical shooter called Rainbow Six: Quarantine, is also in development for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Square Enix has announced it is scaling back some of its plans for PAX East later this month due to ongoing concerns about the coronavirus. In a blog post, the publisher said the Final Fantasy XIV Online developers who planned to travel from the team’s HQ in Japan will now stay home.

“Sadly Square Enix has decided to cancel the PAX East attendance of staff who would be travelling from the Japan offices,” the company said in a statement. “This difficult decision was based on our desire to prevent any potential spread of the virus and to prioritize the health and safety of our team and our fans.”

Because the development team won’t be attending PAX East, Square Enix is scaling back its events surrounding Final Fantasy XIV. Specifically, Square Enix is cancelling the “A Look Behind the Screen” panel. But it’s not all bad news, as the team will conduct a livestream featuring the developers in place of this. The developer signings and photo opportunities will of course no longer go foward, while the fan gathering event slated for February 28 has also been scrapped.

While the Final Fantasy XIV events have been scaled back, Square Enix is still coming to PAX East with a lot to show and discuss. There will be a playable demo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, a panel discussion for the new third-person shooter Outriders from the developers of Gears of War Judgment, and more. Check out Square Enix’s blog post to see a full rundown of its PAX East plans.

In other news, Sony has dropped out over coronavirus concerns, meaning that the planned playable demo stations for The Last of Us Part II will not be there. The Mayor of Boston has urged Sony to come back to PAX, but with the show beginning this week, that seems very unlikely.

PAX East runs February 27-March 1 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Devolver Digital has announced Disc Room, a new game from the creators of Minit and High Hell. It’s Devolver’s latest challenging 2D affair, with an interesting art style and the promise of plenty of violence.

The game is set inside a deadly alien craft, a huge disc that appears in Jupiter’s orbit in 2089. You play as a scientist who must explore rooms filled with alien saw blades that are constantly trying to slice you up, figuring out the labyrinthine structure of the craft and gaining new abilities as you go.

You’ll unlock an invincibility dash, time-bending, and even a cloning mechanic as you go, and the press release promises that you’ll die plenty–“In Disc Room the only way out is through Death.”

The game has only been confirmed for Steam so far, and you can wishlist the game now. The game will release later this year in autumn 2020.

If you’re attending PAX East, the game will be playable there. It’s a good thing, because not every planned game is making its way to the expo–Sony has dropped out over coronavirus concerns, meaning that the planned playable demo stations for The Last of Us Part II will not be there.

It’s safe to say that Animal Crossing fans are hyped out of their minds for the newest mainline entry in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which releases March 20 on Nintendo Switch. The highly anticipated game takes players to a deserted island via the Nook Inc. charter plane, where you’ll begin to create your own island paradise by gathering natural resources, crafting items, and building a community from scratch.

Animal Crossing fans are so excited to start their New Horizons journey that people have started creating their own passports and boarding passes to celebrate their upcoming island adventures. First shared in a post on Reddit, this free Animal Crossing passport and boarding pass generator was created by user T0Rtur3 (with designs by user Celesmeh), and you can check out examples of what these look like below. When creating your passport, you can choose from a few stock character designs and stamps as well as input your name, friend code, and name of your island. There aren’t a ton of customization options yet, but this is still a really cute way of sharing your friend code with other players.

The boarding pass doesn’t include a place to list your friend code, but you can list your real-life city, airport code, and seat number to generate what your own ticket aboard the Nook, Inc. charter might look like. After creating your boarding pass and passport, you can download them directly or actually print out.

We’re now less than a month away from the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and there’s still time to secure your copy early to get its pre-order bonuses. If you’d rather get the game on sale, Walmart will have New Horizons (and Doom Eternal) for $10 off in stores on release day. In the meantime, there’s a ton of Animal Crossing merchandise releasing around the launch of New Horizons, and it’s all incredibly cute. Plus, be sure to catch up on everything we learned from the recent Animal Crossing Direct, including new characters, Amiibo functionality, and more.