Monthly Archives: May 2016
Explore Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’s Map on Your Browser
EA has released the Mirror's Edge Catalyst map as a 3D interactive browser tool.
Available on the Mirror's Edge website, the huge map will be gradually updated with labels that expand on the locations and backstory featured in the upcoming game.
So far, the only district annotated is Anchor, one of the first areas you'll travel through as Faith.
Catalyst was recently delayed once again, this time marking the release as June 7 in North America and June 9 in Europe.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he wants some of Faith's weird shoes. Parkour towards him on Twitter.
Gears of War Creator on How Multiplayer Almost Got Cut
Despite becoming one of Xbox 360's most popular and influential multiplayer games, the original Gears of War nearly launched without a competitive multiplayer component.
In the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered (airing next Tuesday), series creator Cliff Bleszinski explained why, noting they "were under intense pressure from Microsoft to get the game out for holiday" and the company "didn't really think the cover-based gameplay would be any fun."
The team initially created "maps that felt like a lot like Counter-Strike," but discovered the game's "slow clunkiness and slow turning speed" made for an experience that "was kind of frustrating" when other players managed to get behind you. It wasn't until the map Gridlock was created that things began to fall into place, as the "half-donut" design fostered the "hide and go kill" gameplay that fans have come to love.
Someone’s Made a Pokémon Game for the ‘Adult Fan’
Swearing, abandonment, strategic difficulty - not necessarily things you associate with a Pokémon game. And yet here's Pokémon Apex, a fan game aiming to keep the core PokéTemplate intact, but make everything that surrounds it a little more mature.
As Kotaku points out, that doesn't mean we're getting into, er, Rule 34 territory - Nathan Gunzenhauser's project is about a child of divorce who escapes into video games, before making that escape a little too literal and landing smack-bang in a world of demons... that just happen to be named Pokémon.
Pokemon Apex in action.
Rumor: New Overwatch Character to be Revealed on Monday
Rumours are swirling that a new Overwatch animated short could see the reveal of an upcoming new playable character for Blizzard's shooter.
A French cinema chain - which will be screening Overwatch's next animated short on Monday, May 23 - included a reference to the "discovery of new heroes". It has since said that this was a typo.
The French cinema advert in question.
NeoGAF user Nirolak subsequently put together an intriguing set of pointers towards an unannounced character seemingly called Sombra, who could be the new hero in question.
Homefront: The Revolution Dev to Fix Frame Rate Issues
Homefront: The Revolution developer Dambuster Studios is working to fix performance problems, community manager Craig Turner wrote on the game's forum.
"It has been a long road for us," Turner wrote, "and we're only getting started." The team is working to address frame rate issues and "more." Patch notes will be available on the community forums and on Steam when they do go live. An expected date has not been announced.
While working on the fix, Dambuster Studios is releasing Homefront: The Revolution's first free content from its "post-launch Resistance Mode road map." The new DLC should be unlocked today for all players. New customization pieces—including "two new punk and anarchist outfits"—can be found in the gear and clothing menus.
Civil War Spidey Coming to LEGO Marvel’s Avengers
Captain America: Civil War Spider-Man—played by Tom Holland—will be making his way to LEGO Marvel's Avengers.
Civil War Spidey Will "Soon" Be Playable in LEGO Marvel's Avengers
Developer TT Games will add a new Spider-Man character pack "soon" on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Steam, according to USA Today.
IGN UK Podcast #332 – Review Scores, Judged
This week, we were joined by a new member of Team IGN UK, Alysia Judge. As is traditional, we had a long and semi-furious rant about the problems of review scores in the modern games industry as a result. Classic hazing.
Also there's, you know, horror films, going on a stag do from the men from Catherine, and the real definition of male full frontal nudity. Enjoy!
IGN UK Podcast #332: Review Scores, Judged
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It Took Someone 6 Minutes to Kill Hitman’s First Elusive Target
Io Interactive has released some details on how you completed, or perhaps did not complete, the first Elusive Target mission in Hitman.
The one-time-only mode was added last week, and asked you to eliminate Sergei Larin, The Forger. In Elusive Target mode, if you die, you don't get to attempt it again, and the target in question will never be seen again once the timer runs out.
Impressively, someone managed to complete the mission within six minutes of it going live. Plus, it only took someone 34 minutes until the first Silent Assassin rating was achieved. Overall, 9.9 percent of you managed a Silent Assassin rating.
GT Sport Hopes eSport Focus Keeps it on Track
It's no secret that the Gran Turismo series fails to conjure up the same sensations of peerless digital racing and vehicle appreciation that it used to during the first half of its near-19 year history. What has been achieved by the likes of Forza Motorsport, iRacing and Project Cars has worked to numb some of that previously invincible sheen that PlayStation's flagship racer once enjoyed, the series now having to work harder than ever to convince us of its comparative value. No longer is merely leaving the pit lane to take to the track enough to gain and retain fans.
The big new direction for Gran Turismo is, as the new GT Sport branding suggests, to blur the line between real and virtual motorsports. As far as gaming buzzwords go there is none more prevalent than eSports and developer Polyphony Digital is embracing the concept full throttle in the hopes that it will set it apart from its self-assured peers.
Storm Actress Interested in New Mutants Role
During an IGN interview with Alexandra Shipp, who plays Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse, the actress responded to recent rumors that her character will appear in Fox’s New Mutants movie.
“I can't say very much about New Mutants, but it would be awesome to do a little cameo, a little Where's Waldo?, Where's Ororo? in the background,” Shipp said. “I love Storm as a character. I'd love to reprise her in many different movies and be able to show people different sides of her because she is so multidimensional and I think that the people who love Storm at least as much as I do, really want to see that. We want to see Storm killin' it and kickin' ass. That's the best thing about her, how amazing and powerful she is.”