Monthly Archives: November 2019
Will Metal Gear Solid Fans Like Death Stranding?
As Hideo Kojima’s first game since his much-publicized departure from Konami, expectations have been high for Death Stranding, especially among Metal Gear Solid fans. While Death Stranding is a brand new game set in a brand new universe that’s attempting to launch a brand new genre, it’s not entirely fair to compare it to the franchise Kojima left behind, but the question remains: will Metal Gear Solid fans enjoy Death Stranding?
Well, that depends on which Metal Gear Solid game it’s being compared to. The core Metal Gear experience is tactical espionage action and/or operations, but each entry in the series has its own unique mechanics, systems, style, and quirks. Death Stranding is definitely more reminiscent of some Metal Gear games more than others. So, without spoiling anything from Kojima’s latest, we decided to break down which bits and pieces of the Metal Gear series we were reminded of while playing.
Death Stranding: Here’s How Long It Takes To Beat The Story
Death Stranding is a journey, but how long does it last? And is the real Death Stranding the friends we make along the way? If you want a detailed accounting of one man's trek across post-apocalypse America, check out our full Death Stranding review. But if you simply want to know how long Death Stranding's story will keep you going, here are the story completion times of four separate playthroughs.
Tristan Ogilvie, Reviewer
By the time the final end credits had finished rolling on my Death Stranding playthrough, I had been playing for just over 42 hours. After that, I returned to the post-credits section to take on a number of optional orders I’d missed the first time out of curiosity, which I invested a further 10 hours into to bring my total time up to 52 hours. I get the sense that if you really wanted to unlock all of the tool upgrades and sunglasses for Sam and so on, there are probably dozens more hours of deliveries to go on top of that, but I have no real interest in any of that now that the pull of the story is no longer there to keep me on the hook.
WarCraft-Like RTS A Year of Rain Enters Early Access
A Year of Rain, a new RTS that calls back memories of old-school RTS games like WarCraft 3, is now available on PC in early access.
A fantasy RTS with base building, cinematic cut-scenes, and a “strong focus” on hero units, A Year of Rain seems to be building on the elements that PC gamers of a certain age will fondly remember from WarCraft 3 and its expansion, The Frozen Throne. While other games such as StarCraft II and the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series have used these elements, this style of RTS seems to have been largely dormant for several years. As such, A Year of Rain feels a bit like a dose of nostalgia.
Alongside these old-school elements and the multi-faction campaign are more modern-day ideas such as a fully cooperative story and 2v2 multiplayer modes, including the upcoming asymmetric “Against All Odds” mode which pits two heroes against two entire armies.
Stranger Things: Title Revealed for Fourth Season’s First Episode
While we still don't have a date for the fourth season of Stranger Things, we now know the first episode will be titled "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club."
Stranger Things on Instagram revealed the title via an image of the script for the first episode.
Alongside the title "Chapter One: The Hellfire Club," the post also said "We're starting a club. Wanna join? #StrangerThings4 #StrangerThingsDay"
According to Wikipedia, Hellfire Club was "a name for several exclusive clubs for high society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century... Such clubs were rumored to be the meeting places of 'persons of quality' who wished to take part in socially perceived immoral acts, and the members were often involved in politics."
Overwatch: The Story So Far
Since it launched back in 2016, Overwatch has been incrementally expanding its universe, adding new characters and locations over the years, expanding the lore with each update. Blizzard refers to these past events as the Overwatch Archives.
Periodically, Blizzard drops new cinematics and comics, focusing on one (or a few) characters, adding context to who they are and what they’re fighting for in Blizzard’s unique world of heroes and villains. That said, while Overwatch 2 will feature story missions to tie things together, Blizzard has never outright given players a proper timeline of events. Sure, they might have released a short “previously on” trailer when OW2 was announced at BlizzCon 2019, but that glossed over a lot. To give you the fullest picture possible, here’s a look at the story of Overwatch (so far) prior to the events of the upcoming Overwatch 2.
Rick and Morty Season 4 Won’t Air in the UK Until 2020
Despite a November 2019 release date in North America, Rick and Morty Season 4 won't come to the UK until January 2020. Since the new season is airing exclusively on Channel 4, those in the UK will have to wait two months longer than those in North America to see the first five episodes of Rick and Morty's fourth season.
Rick and Morty Season 4 will be split into two parts, with the first half of the season premiering in the UK in early 2020 and the second half coming a few months later. It has been more than 2 years since Season 3 came to a close, which is a long enough wait for Rick and Morty fans.
Did Joker Kill His Neighbor Sophie? Director Todd Phillips Answers
As Joker continues to break box office records, one of the biggest unresolved mysteries of the movie left viewers unsure of a certain characters fate.
Possible spoilers ahead for Joker.
As many of weighed whether Joker killed his neighbor Sophie, several creatives behind the film have spoken up. Lawrence Sher, cinematographer, for The Joker confirmed to IGN last month that Sophie was still alive. Todd Phillips, the film's director, however, has spoken on the fate of Sophie. And according to him, no, the Arthur did not kill Sophie.
Horizon Zero Dawn 2: What We Want From a Horizon Sequel
On this week's episode of IGN's weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Lucy O'Brien and Brian Altano to discuss what we would like to see from a Horizon Zero Dawn 2. With job listings that suggest Guerrilla Games is working on a Horizon sequel, the cast hypothesizes on what we might see, what we hope changes and stays the same, and factors in some of your suggestions.
Plus, the cast also discusses some of the latest PlayStation news, like Nioh 2's beta, the PlayStation Plus games for November, and much more before taking a look back at the launch of the PS4 in a new recurring segment.
Yooka-Laylee Devs Deny Rumors They’re Working on a New Banjo-Kazooie Game
Yooka-Laylee developers Playtonic Games issued a statement today that flat-out denied that the company was acquired by Microsoft, or that it’s working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game. The statement was issued following a day of online rumors suggesting such.
“Hey everyone! We wanted to address the speculation currently swarming our mentions. We hate to be the bearers of news that isn’t what you want to hear, but we thought it best to come out and say – we aren’t working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game and we remain an independent studio,” Playtonic wrote on Twitter.
A statement from us! pic.twitter.com/nZHqI5GaYe
Shocking X-Men “Death” Puts Mutantkind’s Immortality to the Test
The X-Force franchise has always explored the darker side of mutant life in the Marvel Universe. This is the team that gets its hands dirty so the X-Men don't have to. And that much remains true even as Marvel's Dawn of X relaunch ushers in a very different version of X-Force.
Read on to find out how the first issues of the new series challenges the very notion of death in a world where Charles Xavier has managed to make the X-Men immortal. Beware of full spoilers for X-Force #1 ahead!
