Monthly Archives: April 2022
Is Doctor Strange Stronger Than Scarlet Witch? Multiverse of Madness Director Weighs In
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi has weighed in on whether Scarlet Witch is more powerful than the MCU's current Sorcerer Supreme or vice versa.
In an interview with Fandango, Raimi was quizzed on who he would consider to be the stronger of the two magic-wielders, Doctor Strange or Wanda Maximoff. He considered each character's skills and talents before admitting that there could be different scenarios where one would triumph over the other, depending on which version of themselves is present.
"That's a question I've been asking kids on the playground since third grade. Who is stronger, this character or that character?" he joked. "I think Wanda's magic, from Marvel lore, is more powerful than almost any of the other characters in this picture, but Doctor Strange has the knowledge of the mystic arts that Wanda doesn't have, and he's got the help of Kamar-Taj.
"If you were to pit them against each other, different altered versions of themselves..." Raimi said, contemplating his answer. "There could be a Doctor Strange out there that's more powerful than our Wanda. Or there could be a Wanda out there who is more powerful than our Wanda here. So, because of these altered versions, it's all a mixed bag of possibilities."
We may get to see one of these scenarios, or even both, play out on the big screen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the sequel's titular sorcerer is set to traverse the "mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary" and push the boundaries of the Multiverse further than ever before.
With the Multiverse cracked wide open, Strange is likely to encounter several villains throughout his multiversal travels but no one is quite sure who the main antagonist will be. When Raimi was asked who he considered to be the main villain in Multiverse of Madness' rogue roster, he admitted that multiple characters could fit into that category.
"There's iterations of our characters throughout the multiverse," Raimi explained before teasing some of the possibilities that could be seen in the sequel. "So, if I were to say Strange ... I'm not really supposed to answer this question, but I might be saying altered Strange. Same with Wanda and Mordo. But I would say, at different times, all of the above."
Fans have been speculating whether everyone from Deadpool to a Bruce Campbell cameo will appear in the movie, with the latter possibly playing an alternate version of Doctor Strange himself. This would certainly fit with the recent direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has seen both Spider-Man and Loki team up with variants from across the multiverse.
Doctor Strange 2 is out in theaters on May 6, which is when Xochitl Gomez will make her MCU debut as America Chavez. She'll be joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo, Rachel McAdams' Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olson's Wanda Maximoff, and Benedict Wong's Wong. There's also the small matter of Patrick Stewart appearing in the movie, seemingly as Professor X.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Rogue Legacy 2 Leaving Early Access, Gets Animated Release Date Trailer
Developer Cellar Door Games has announced that Rogue Legacy 2, the roguelite sequel to the original 2013 game, will be leaving Early Access and officially launching on April 28. To mark the occasion, the developer is making the original game available for free right now on the Epic Games Store.
"Our goal for Rogue Legacy 2 was always to make 'Rogue Legacy 3', because we didn’t want to settle for just more," Cellar Door said. "It had to stay true to the original, but also stand on its own as something new. After nearly four years of development, bringing it to the fans is the final step in this long journey, and we hope they find it as special as we do."
The sequel features a new 2.5D art style, weapons, classes, abilities, and biome options. You can also use the new Heirlooms to permanently earn new abilities. Additional accessibility options are also promised.
Don't miss IGN's glowing review of the original Rogue Legacy.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Rogue Legacy 2 Leaving Early Access, Gets Animated Release Date Trailer
Developer Cellar Door Games has announced that Rogue Legacy 2, the roguelite sequel to the original 2013 game, will be leaving Early Access and officially launching on April 28. To mark the occasion, the developer is making the original game available for free right now on the Epic Games Store.
"Our goal for Rogue Legacy 2 was always to make 'Rogue Legacy 3', because we didn’t want to settle for just more," Cellar Door said. "It had to stay true to the original, but also stand on its own as something new. After nearly four years of development, bringing it to the fans is the final step in this long journey, and we hope they find it as special as we do."
The sequel features a new 2.5D art style, weapons, classes, abilities, and biome options. You can also use the new Heirlooms to permanently earn new abilities. Additional accessibility options are also promised.
Don't miss IGN's glowing review of the original Rogue Legacy.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Overwatch Removes Russian Symbolism From Zarya Skins
Editor's Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.
Blizzard has quietly removed the Z symbol from skins in Overwatch following the icon's use during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Zarya, a Russian character, previously featured the letter Z on her Arctic and Siberian Front skins but these were removed in the latest Anniversary Remix update, as reported by Polygon.
The Z symbol has been used in Russian propaganda to show support for the country's invasion of Ukraine, appearing on tanks and other vehicles before entering mass media at the beginning of March.
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is being investigated by The International Gymnastics Federation for wearing a Z on his chest while competing in Qatar while a group of terminally ill children were encouraged to pose in the shape of a Z to show support for Russia's invasion.
The changes to Zarya's skins were not included in the latest patch notes for Overwatch but instead noticed by eagle-eyed fans on the game's subreddit.
Activision Blizzard has suspended sales of and within its games in Russia while the conflict continues, and is matching employee donations 2:1 to "organisations providing immediate relief in the region." When it made the announcement on March, the company had already raised $300,000 in support of Ukraine.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Overwatch Removes Russian Symbolism From Zarya Skins
Editor's Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.
Blizzard has quietly removed the Z symbol from skins in Overwatch following the icon's use during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Zarya, a Russian character, previously featured the letter Z on her Arctic and Siberian Front skins but these were removed in the latest Anniversary Remix update, as reported by Polygon.
The Z symbol has been used in Russian propaganda to show support for the country's invasion of Ukraine, appearing on tanks and other vehicles before entering mass media at the beginning of March.
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is being investigated by The International Gymnastics Federation for wearing a Z on his chest while competing in Qatar while a group of terminally ill children were encouraged to pose in the shape of a Z to show support for Russia's invasion.
The changes to Zarya's skins were not included in the latest patch notes for Overwatch but instead noticed by eagle-eyed fans on the game's subreddit.
Activision Blizzard has suspended sales of and within its games in Russia while the conflict continues, and is matching employee donations 2:1 to "organisations providing immediate relief in the region." When it made the announcement on March, the company had already raised $300,000 in support of Ukraine.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Ghost Recon Sequel Reportedly in Development
A new Ghost Recon game is reportedly in development at Ubisoft.
Sources told Kotaku that "codename OVER" will be the series' latest and could be released in fiscal year 2023, meaning sometime next year.
This is a separate project from Ghost Recon Frontline, a free to play battle royale that saw a delay within a week of being revealed last October.
Kotaku also reported that development on Frontline is expectedly shaky as the project is undergoing a full reset with no launch date anytime soon.
Mumblings of Ghost Recon "OVER" came soon after Ubisoft announced it was ending content support for its previous game, Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The codename Project OVER had also been previously spotted in a GeForce Now leak last year.
Having launched in October 2019, Breakpoint wasn't wonderfully received but had more than two years of continuous support from Ubisoft before its final piece of new content was released last November.
Ubisoft said on Twitter: "The last four months marked the release of our final piece of content: the brand new Operation Motherland mode, tons of new items including 20th-anniversary iconic outfits and Quartz items for Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
"We will continue to maintain servers for both Ghost Recon Wildlands and Ghost Recon Breakpoint and we truly hope you will continue to enjoy the game and have fun playing in solo or co-op with your friends."
In our 6/10 review of the latest Ghost Recon, IGN said: "Breakpoint offers initial fun following Ubisoft's open-world structure as gospel, but a lack of variety and conflicting pieces leave it devoid of personality."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Ghost Recon Sequel Reportedly in Development
A new Ghost Recon game is reportedly in development at Ubisoft.
Sources told Kotaku that "codename OVER" will be the series' latest and could be released in fiscal year 2023, meaning sometime next year.
This is a separate project from Ghost Recon Frontline, a free to play battle royale that saw a delay within a week of being revealed last October.
Kotaku also reported that development on Frontline is expectedly shaky as the project is undergoing a full reset with no launch date anytime soon.
Mumblings of Ghost Recon "OVER" came soon after Ubisoft announced it was ending content support for its previous game, Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The codename Project OVER had also been previously spotted in a GeForce Now leak last year.
Having launched in October 2019, Breakpoint wasn't wonderfully received but had more than two years of continuous support from Ubisoft before its final piece of new content was released last November.
Ubisoft said on Twitter: "The last four months marked the release of our final piece of content: the brand new Operation Motherland mode, tons of new items including 20th-anniversary iconic outfits and Quartz items for Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
"We will continue to maintain servers for both Ghost Recon Wildlands and Ghost Recon Breakpoint and we truly hope you will continue to enjoy the game and have fun playing in solo or co-op with your friends."
In our 6/10 review of the latest Ghost Recon, IGN said: "Breakpoint offers initial fun following Ubisoft's open-world structure as gospel, but a lack of variety and conflicting pieces leave it devoid of personality."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Resident Evil Village Reportedly Almost Had Mermaid Monsters
An earlier version of Resident Evil Village reportedly had mermaid-style monsters.
A series of tweets from known Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem claims that the swamp area of the game once featured mermaid-like enemies before it underwent a major rework.
Dusk Golem claimed that in this early version the player had to traverse through the swamp, choosing between walking on land or wading through water, while being stalked by "a slimy-sorta Tyrant-like creature" that was likely Moreau, the area's final boss.
(1/7) I was thinking about this, so going to talk about it. Moreau's area RE8 was trimmed a lot, I don't think I've actually sat down & fully explained what I knew about Moreau's swamp area pre it being trimmed, so I think I'll do so now.
— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) April 6, 2022
Moreau's section was cut a lot because pic.twitter.com/CVwAjMc4qm
The mermaids would hunt protagonist Ethan while he was in the water and stun him on land, leaving the player wide open for an attack from the stalker.
Dusk Golem also said this version of the sequence had "weird ritual type stuff" with Lycans and "Witches", though these were essentially clones of Dimitriscu's vampiric daughters that Ethan fights earlier in the game.
Plans were allegedly changed for this portion of the game as developer Capcom didn't have the time or budget to bring it up to a high standard, instead opting to cut a lot of content.
Some of these ideas are reflected in the final version of Resident Evil Village though. The player is chased through a portion of the swamp by Moreau and the final fight against him isn't just an open boss-arena but instead features separate lanes that sound somewhat like this early version.
In our 8/10 review, we said: "Resident Evil Village is a genuinely engrossing and increasingly combat-heavy continuation of the Ethan Winters story."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Resident Evil Village Reportedly Almost Had Mermaid Monsters
An earlier version of Resident Evil Village reportedly had mermaid-style monsters.
A series of tweets from known Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem claims that the swamp area of the game once featured mermaid-like enemies before it underwent a major rework.
Dusk Golem claimed that in this early version the player had to traverse through the swamp, choosing between walking on land or wading through water, while being stalked by "a slimy-sorta Tyrant-like creature" that was likely Moreau, the area's final boss.
(1/7) I was thinking about this, so going to talk about it. Moreau's area RE8 was trimmed a lot, I don't think I've actually sat down & fully explained what I knew about Moreau's swamp area pre it being trimmed, so I think I'll do so now.
— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) April 6, 2022
Moreau's section was cut a lot because pic.twitter.com/CVwAjMc4qm
The mermaids would hunt protagonist Ethan while he was in the water and stun him on land, leaving the player wide open for an attack from the stalker.
Dusk Golem also said this version of the sequence had "weird ritual type stuff" with Lycans and "Witches", though these were essentially clones of Dimitriscu's vampiric daughters that Ethan fights earlier in the game.
Plans were allegedly changed for this portion of the game as developer Capcom didn't have the time or budget to bring it up to a high standard, instead opting to cut a lot of content.
Some of these ideas are reflected in the final version of Resident Evil Village though. The player is chased through a portion of the swamp by Moreau and the final fight against him isn't just an open boss-arena but instead features separate lanes that sound somewhat like this early version.
In our 8/10 review, we said: "Resident Evil Village is a genuinely engrossing and increasingly combat-heavy continuation of the Ethan Winters story."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Epic Games and LEGO Are Working Together To Create a Child-Safe Metaverse Space
Epic Games and The LEGO Group have announced a new collaboration in which the two companies will work together to create a child-friendly space within the metaverse.
The announcement states that "the two companies will team up to build an immersive, creatively inspiring and engaging digital experience for kids of all ages to enjoy together."
The digital space will be governed by three principles agreed upon by LEGO and Epic Games:
- Protect children’s right to play by making safety and wellbeing a priority.
- Safeguard children’s privacy by putting their best interests first.
- Empower children and adults with tools that give them control over their digital experience.
Concrete details about what this "digital experience" will be are not yet available, but Epic promises that it will be family-friendly and provide children with tools that will provide "play opportunities in a safe and positive space."
“Kids enjoy playing in digital and physical worlds and move seamlessly between the two," said LEGO CEO Niels B Christiansen in a statement. "We believe there is huge potential for them to develop life-long skills such as creativity, collaboration and communication through digital experiences. But we have a responsibility to make them safe, inspiring and beneficial for all. Just as we’ve protected children’s rights to safe physical play for generations, we are committed to doing the same for digital play. We look forward to working with Epic Games to shape this exciting and playful future.”
While we don't yet know what form this digital experience will take, it is clear that Epic and LEGO are focused on something that will allow children to become creators. The suggestion seems to be that the end product will allow users to both create experiences and then play within them.
By that logic, we could perhaps be looking at something similar to Roblox, the incredibly popular create and play platform. Roblox itself has been heavily criticised for the way it handles its predominantly young audience, and so a safe alternative would likley be a welcome thing, should that be what LEGO and Epic are working on.
For more on what Epic is doing in its own metaverse, take a look at what's happening to Fortnite's Zero Build mode as well the Doctor Strange-themed crossover. As for what Lego is doing in the digital space, take a look at the upcoming LEGO Bricktales.
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.