Tarsier Studios, creators of the first two Little Nightmaresgames, is back with another creepy adventure — and its “partially disemboweled talking pig” teaser video looks like it set the proper tone. Announced at Gamescom Opening Night, Reanimal takes two children on an adventure across land and sea as they work together to rescue their missing friends on an island filled with horrifying creatures.
The developer helmed the first two Little Nightmares installments before Supermassive Games took over for part III. The new game promises to up the ante with “a more terrifying journey than ever before.”
The horror-adventure game stars a brother and sister in an “unsettling tale” who “go through hell to rescue their missing friends.” The protagonists are described as broken but resilient, facing fragments of their troubled past in the guise of gruesome beasts. It will somehow explore themes of hope and redemption as they navigate the chilling environment.
Tarsier Studios / THQ Nordic
The game lets you play single-player or co-op (local and online). In an illustration of the creators’ understanding of the horror genre, it uses a shared, directed camera “to maximize claustrophobia and tension.”
Reanimal doesn’t yet have a launch date other than “coming soon,” but we know it will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. You can check out the announcement trailer below.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/reanimal-promises-a-more-terrifying-journey-than-little-nightmares-200457474.html?src=rss
We've got our first big announcement of Gamescom: Borderlands is back. Borderlands 4 is the next entry in the franchise from Gearbox Software and 2K Games. It's due to arrive in 2025.
There's no gameplay in the announcement video released today. While that's a touch disappointing, it isn't much of a surprise for a teaser trailer or for a release that is still likely at least a year away. (And that's assuming no delays.) But the Borderlands games are known for their polished first-person shooter experience, particularly in co-op, and for their sharp sense of humor. Hopefully both of those traits will be returning in full force with the new game.
What doesn't seem to be returning is the cartoony art style that was a hallmark of the previous three titles. The teaser looks more like it's advertising a prestige television science fiction series rather than the zany Borderlands world. But it's early days yet and the studio will surely be sharing more updates as the game progresses through development.
Gearbox was likely hoping to springboard this announcement off a wave of renewed interest in the series after the blockbuster movie adaptation this summer. But since that project was a disastrousdisappointment, hopefully a new game will give fans of the series something fresh to be excited about.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/borderlands-4-is-coming-in-2025-194227938.html?src=rss
Black Myth: Wukong, considered China’s first true AAA game, has broken Steam’s concurrent players record for a single-player title, passing Cyberpunk 2077 for the single-player record. In addition, it’s now the game with the second-most all-time concurrent players to date (including multiplayer), moving past Palworld. Based on the 16th-century novel Journey to the West, the souls-like action-adventure epic peaked at 2,223,179 players.
Industry analyst Simon Carless of GameDiscoverCo posted on X (Twitter) early on Tuesday an estimate that Black Myth: Wukong’s regional breakdown heavily favored its home country. The agency’s pie graph showed China claiming 88 percent of the game’s players. (In second place was the US at a mere three percent.) Although some interpreted that as potentially showing inflated numbers, the game launched in the middle of the night in the western hemisphere, and Carless’ stats were posted around 5AM ET.
The title’s records come against a backdrop of misogyny and censorship accusations aimed at developer Game Science. Streamers who were granted early access keys were given a (non-legally-binding) document that raised some eyebrows.
Game Science / Sony
The document included a list of banned topics the streamers were to avoid discussing while broadcasting gameplay. The New York Timesreported that the off-limits subjects included politics, “feminist propaganda,” COVID-19, China’s gaming industry, and anything else that “instigates negative discourse.” (While streamers were given the list, reviewers weren’t.)
As for the “feminist propaganda” restriction for Black Myth: Wukong’s streamers, you can easily draw a straight line from widespread accusations of misogyny from developer Game Science and individuals working there, including some of its cofounders. Among the many instances (summarized in a 2023 IGN story) were Game Science recruitment posters from 2015, one of which implied friends with benefits were an office perk and another featuring a dumbbell with the text (translated) “fatties should fuck off.” (Yikes.) The accusations go on from there.
Game Science / Valve
Game Science has ties to the Chinese government, which is no stranger to accusations of misogyny and censorship. To cite only a few examples, the #MeToo hashtag was censored or blocked on Chinese social platforms during the height of the movement, posts from feminist and LGBTQ+ groups and voices are routinely blocked or deleted on the country’s social media, feminist perspectives are frequently restricted or censored in China’s academic institutions and activists are no strangers to harassment, surveillance or arrests.
Tencent Holdings, a five-percent stakeholder according to The NY Times, has direct ties to Xi’s government. Meanwhile, the game’s publisher, Zhejiang Publishing & Media, is majority-owned by the Zhejiang provincial government. Finally, Hero Games, the company that sent out the streamer keys on Game Science’s behalf, has financial ties to “several state-owned enterprises,” according to The NYT. Hero Games owns around 20 percent of Game Science.
Some streamers supplied with keys (and the attached red tape) decided not to cover the game. “I have never seen anything that shameful in my 15 years doing this job. This is very clearly a document which explains that we must censor ourselves,” the prominent French streamer Benoit Reinier said (translated) in a YouTube video.
In Engadget’s preview of Black Myth: Wukong from earlier this summer (which didn’t include provisions about censored topics like streamers received), Mat Smith found the game visually stunning. We found the demo “elevated by how good the environment looks, the bizarre monster design and the quiet, unsettling soundtrack.” The game is available now on PC and PS5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/black-myth-wukong-breaks-steams-concurrent-single-player-record-within-hours-of-launch-184559634.html?src=rss
What do you get when you make a game influenced by movies like The Running Man and Labyrinth, toss in a bit of flair from professional wrestling (the kind with squared rings, not circular mats) and then throw all that on top of a co-op 3D platformer with user-generated dungeon building? To be honest, I’m not quite sure, but that’s sort of what Amazon Games and developer Glowmade are going for with its next title: King of Meat.
Trying to balance elements from that many properties seems like an impossible task. But after I got a chance to play an early build prior to Gamescom, King of Meat’s world and presentation might be the best thing about it. The game is centered around the Komstruck Koliseum, which is a Battle Royale-esque arena that also serves as the stage for an in-world TV show. Your job is to fight through various stages while helping out your friends and keeping the audience entertained.
Amazon/Glowmade
This is where the WWE inspiration factors in because the audience isn’t simply there for the ambiance, it’s an actual game mechanic. Grabbing gems and beating up foes increases your multiplier, allowing you to earn more points and get higher ranks (like bronze, silver and gold). The better you do and the more bounties you complete (like killing a certain number of specific enemies), the more currency you get, which you can then spend on new weapons, costumes and special attacks called Glory Moves. There’s even an in-game announcer to help keep the hype up.
Stylistically, King of Meat feels like a mix between Fortnite and Castle Crashers (another inspiration for the title), but with a more outlandish and sinister bent. Weapon skins include Cthulhu-like tentacle swords or jagged 8-bit facsimiles while Glory Moves range from silly to shocking, like calling down a giant hoof from the sky or birthing a massive belch to blow enemies away. And behind this over-the-top, energy-drink-fueled facade, there’s a bit of evil lurking in the corners, hinting that the fictional megacorps such as KOMSTRUCT may not be what they seem.
Amazon/Glowmade
As for the gameplay itself, it’s a pretty typical hack-and-slash platformer. You have basic melee attacks using weapons like swords and hammers, a heavier charge-up move, specials and a handy long-ranged sidearm (I used a crossbow, but there’s much more to choose from). You also get a double jump and while there’s some light comboing between moves, from what I saw the game stops short of letting you do more complex things like air juggles. Sadly, this is one of my concerns with the game, because while I only had a chance to play a handful of early levels, it feels like the game’s combat and pacing underdelivers, at least when compared to its over-the-top presentation and visual design.
When playing co-op with four people, there were several times when I just had to stand around while waiting for more enemies to arrive. Jumping across platforms also didn’t feel as tight or responsive compared to a lot of other 3D platformers. And even in the heat of battle, I didn’t get the sense that switching between attacks was much more effective than simply mashing buttons. I also ran into a few bugs where I got stuck in a wall or an enemy disappeared, which prevented our squad from moving on to the next section. That said, this was far from a final build, so hopefully Glowmade can polish things up before release.
Amazon/Glowmade
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try out any dungeon building, which was a bummer since that’s meant to be a huge draw of the game. Out of the box, there will be a number of pre-made stages and a story campaign. But, similar to titles like Super Mario Maker, Glowmade is counting on users to create even more levels, with some of the lead developers saying “We want to reward players for being interesting.” Glowmade says first-party dungeons are built using the same tools players will get access to. This sort of reminds me of the Trackmania community, where even if you’re not the best racer, you can still make major contributions by creating fun courses, or in this case, dungeons. Cross-platform gameplay and dungeon building will also be supported, so you’ll have plenty of options for co-op.
Amazon/Glowmade
I still haven’t fully decided how I feel about King of Meat. It’s got an interesting premise and during my preview session, there were certainly moments where it felt like it was delivering on the spectacle while also scratching the grab-and-smash itch you tend to search for in hack-and-slash platformers. But at the same time, I wasn’t totally hooked either, possibly due to not being able to experience dungeon-building myself or not having a bigger arsenal of weapons and attacks to play around with. That said, since Glowmade’s founders previously worked at studios including Lionhead and Media Molecule and franchises like Fable and Little Big Planet, it feels like they should have the pedigree needed to properly bring King of Meat into the spotlight.
King of Meat will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox X/S and the Nintendo Switch, though Amazon and Glowmade have yet to set an official release date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/king-of-meat-preview-a-monstrous-mash-up-of-a-co-op-platformer-183015893.html?src=rss
A game developer called Amazing Seasun Games is demonstrating NVIDIA's Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology through its upcoming multiplayer mecha game Mecha BREAK at Gamescom this year. NVIDIA unveiled ACE at Computer 2023, presenting it as a "custom AI model foundry service" that developers can use to make their games more interactive. Specifically, it will allow players to interact with NPCs without the constraints of pre-programmed conversations and will be able to give them appropriate responses.
When NVIDIA launched the technology, it showed a player talking to an NPC called Jin at a ramen shop. The player asked how the character was, and Jin was able to respond naturally to tell them about his worries about his city's rising crime rates. NVIDIA said the developer will use its technology to bring Mecha BREAK's "characters to life and provide a more dynamic and immersive gameplay experience on GeForce RTX AI PCs."
The chipmaker also said that more developers are incorporating ACE into their creations. Perfect World Games, a Chinese developer, is using the technology to power its demo for Legends. In that game, or at least the demo of it, a character is able to identify people and objects in the real world through the computer's camera, thanks to ChatGPT-4o.
In addition to the ACE demo in Mecha BREAK, NVIDIA has also announced that PC Game Pass access on GeForce NOW will become seamless starting on August 22. Players will only have to link their Xbox profile once to be able to easily stream Game Pass titles in the future.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nvidias-ace-virtual-human-tech-is-making-its-way-into-an-actual-game-130055827.html?src=rss
Gamescom 2024 is almost here. Exhibitors from over 60 countries will descend on Cologne, Germany, for what is now the industry’s biggest gaming event following E3’s demise. An opening night presentation will kick off the festivities with new game announcements, trailers, footage and other surprises (like the obligatory awkward celebrity cameos). You can watch the showcase right here on Tuesday, August 20.
As usual, industry stalwart Geoff Keighley will host the Opening Night Live festivities, which begin at 2PM ET on Tuesday. E-sports MC Eefje “sjokz” Depoortere will join as co-host.
Keighley has confirmed the showcase will include the following:
The castle construction game Tiny Glade that’s got the Internet uttering a collective “Awwwww, ain’t that cuuuute?” has a release date. Wholesome Games announced today in a new trailer that Tiny Glade will be released on September 23 on Steam. If you can’t wait that long or just wanna get a head start on your virtual village, a demo is available right now on the game’s Steam page.
Tiny Glade is a sandbox building game that seems to go against the competitive grain of most construction games. City building and construction games are fun, but maintaining a huge, virtual metropolis can get harrowing sometimes. You’re just trying to relax at the end of a hard day by playing a game and before you know it, you’re stressing over things like sewer taxes, industrial zones and giant monster attacks.
Tiny Glade is carving out its own space in the building game genre by eliminating all those annoying municipal obstacles and just letting you build something simply for the joy of building it. You can construct huge towering castles or just an adorable little British hamlet that would look like the perfect setting for an Elizabethan-era love story.
The level of detail that you can control is stunning as well. As you move your cursor to build a brick wall or tiled roof, you can see every individual piece pop out of thin air and gradually pile up into your imaginative creations. Everything you can click in your model village can be altered, added or decorated. There are tools to alter the terrain so you can create hills or smooth out the land and add a pristine pond with lily pads, trees and even wildlife like ducks.
Best of all, you don’t have to worry if your hours of creation are in danger of being sacked and torn down by invading hordes or warring factions. Based on this trailer, it looks like Tiny Glade is the relaxing gaming equivalent of taking a long, warm bath.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-adorable-building-game-tiny-glade-is-coming-to-steam-on-september-23-165958935.html?src=rss
The ThermoWorks Thermapen One instant-read food thermometer is on sale for $79, which is $30 off and nearly a record-low price. This is an Engadget exclusive so act quickly if you wanna snag one before the sale goes up in smoke on August 22. The typical price, after all, is a whopping $109.
Amazon and other retail outlets are filled with meat thermometers so what makes this one so special? It’s incredibly fast, offering precise temperature calculations in under a second. The display is bright and easy to read, and it rotates depending on how you’re holding the gadget so the temp will always be in view.
There are some other reasons why this thermometer made our list of the best grilling gear. There’s a sleep/auto-wake feature to help preserve battery life and this thing even boasts an IP67 rating to protect against spills. That last one is important, as food tends to splatter.
The Thermapen One also made our list of the best small kitchen gadgets, for similar reasons. We called it “the best your money can buy.” The only major downside to this thermometer is the price, especially when compared to some of its rivals. This deal helps alleviate some of that sticker shock, but only until August 22.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/our-favorite-thermoworks-instant-read-thermometer-is-on-sale-for-79-right-now-130028874.html?src=rss
It’s only been seven years since the “Fred” started to rise up in the VR zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine, but a remake is already lumbering your way and will land on VR headsets on October 17. Vertigo Games announced the upcoming release of Arizona Sunshine Remake at the first VR Games Showcase. It's slated to come to the Meta Quest 2 and 3, PS VR2 and Steam.
The Arizona Sunshine Remake will feature the same central story and multiplayer modes but with a noticeable graphics update. The zombies look more defined and real in the trailer, with an advanced mutilation system that looks bloody great (pun intended). The remake also comes with all five of the game’s DLC storylines and gameplay modes.
The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed survivor who treats the presence of zombies the way you’d treat a noisy upstairs neighbor who can’t take a hint. The protagonist calls the shambling ghouls “Fred” as a way to mentally normalize the madness and mayhem unfolding around him as he treks across the titular state, following a radio signal in the hopes of finding other human survivors.
Arizona Sunshine was one of the first big breakout titles in VR that didn’t have a connection to another pop culture property like Marvel Comics or the Batman Arkham games. It came out the same year as other big VR hits like Superhot VR, the first I Expect You to Diepuzzle game and Job Simulator. It’s part of a boom time of sorts for VR gaming when the medium was able to find its footing.
Arizona Sunshine is not just a mindless zombie killing machine even if it has multiplayer and endless swarming modes if that’s all you want to do. It’s got a great mix of VR gaming elements with puzzles to solve, strategies to plan as you prepare for a big wave of “Fred” and some genuine tense, immersive moments. It’s everything I always wanted from a zombie apocalypse and the remake sounds like a fun way to play with “Fred” all over again.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/arizona-sunshine-remake-brings-the-undead-back-to-vr-with-enhanced-graphics-194535362.html?src=rss
The Plucky Squire has been one of my most anticipated games ever since it started popping up in showcases a couple of years ago. It was delayed out of 2023 and into this year, unfortunately, but the long wait to play it is almost over. Publisher Devolver Digital and developer All Possible Futures have revealed that The Plucky Squire is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch on September 17. It'll be available in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for Extra and Premium members at no additional cost on day one.
The action centers around a storybook. After the evil Humgrump realizes he's the villain of his own tale, he removes the titular squire (aka Jot) from the pages to try and change the narrative. Jot has to navigate 3D and 2D environments as he leaps between planes on his journey to save his friends and make sure there's a happy ending to the saga.
The visuals look absolutely adorable in both 2D and 3D formats. It looks like a mashup of top-down Zelda games, modern Mario and LittleBigPlanet. The first project from All Possible Futures (one of the heads of which is a former Pokémon artist) is an absurdly promising one. I can't wait to check it out next month.
Meanwhile, Sony has unveiled some new details about a couple of other indie games. A new version of the first point-and-click Broken Sword game, The Shadow of the Templars, is coming to PS5 on September 19, 28 years after the original incarnation debuted. Revolution Software has reanimated the game in 4K with over 50 times the resolution of the original PlayStation version.
Last but not least, Sulfur is a stylized first-person shooter with a lot of playstyle flexibility. There are said to be more than 35 million weapon and modification combos available. The next project from developer Perfect Random is coming to to PS4 and PS5 in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cute-adventure-game-the-plucky-squire-arrives-on-september-17-163651349.html?src=rss