Monthly Archives: August 2017
I Barely Beat The Easiest Level of Cuphead
Listen, it could have even been the tutorial, I’m not sure. But whatever it was, it was an early level, and it was absolutely brutal. I’d never played Cuphead before - in fact I think I’m the only person I know who hasn’t - and as I began my journey through a simple forest area it felt pretty natural and intuitive. It is a platformer steeped in history, after all.
But then the enemies started flying at me from all angles, many of them spitting rocks and other deadly projectiles. I kept forgetting you can’t jump on them to kill them, it’s a run and gun action platformer, so I had to spin right and left constantly, then shoot up, then shoot down, then jump to avoid an oncoming leapy guy. My health bar was at four, then three, then two, then one. I died. I died again. I died again.
14 of Gaming’s Best and Worst Crossover Events
Crossovers happen in media all the time. The Jetsons meet the Flintstones. Supergirl shows up in The Flash. But in games, melding the characters and gameplay mechanics from divergent worlds can be a tall order. How do you remain true to the unique vision of each game while still create something more than the sum of its parts?
With the recent announcement of Resident Evil 2's Leon & Claire coming to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the best (and worst) crossover events in gaming history.
Everything I Killed In Monster Hunter World (and How I Killed It)
I could tell you a lot about Monster Hunter World from the hours I played in its Ancient Forest map (the name of the area we first saw upon the game’s E3 reveal). I could tell you how it’s adhering to Monster Hunter’s excellent template, laying the foundations for an even more satisfying feedback loop of combat and crafting. But we’ve done that already. I could tell you about each of its 14 returning weapons in extreme detail. But Capcom’s done that already.
20 Photos of Minecraft, Project Scorpio Xbox One Consoles
At Gamescom today, Microsoft showed off the newest Xbox hardware: the limited edition Minecraft Xbox One S and Project Scorpio edition Xbox One X.
You can check out 20 photos of the new consoles below, including a limited edition Minecraft pig controller complete with a curly tail on the back, a Creeper controller including a TNT box on the back, and the red sandstone on the bottom of the console itself.
SNES Classic Hands-On: I Hope I Can Buy One
Assuming you can actually purchase one when it launches this September 29th, the Super Nintendo Classic is a faithful, tiny tribute to Nintendo’s early ‘90s 16-bit gaming console. Sure, it’s mostly just a little plastic grey box with purple buttons (or not, depending on the part of the world you grew up in) but the magic it has inside of it will bring back a million magical gaming memories.
While the form factor of the console itself is adorable, it’s the games lineup that you’re obviously here for, and the SNES Classic comes with an impeccably strong roster of masterpieces. From Super Mario World to Contra III and Donkey Kong Country, there legitimately isn’t a weak game in the entire collection. The NES Classic may have had nine more games, but it also had stuff like Ice Climbers - a game about jumping where the characters are bad at jumping - so I’ll gladly take quality over quantity here. Legends like A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III and Earthbound will take you dozens of hours to complete in their entirety and all of them still hold up today. This is a fantastic collection of games and seeing them all together in one place will make you truly appreciate how special the Super Nintendo was.
Stalking in Memphis in Assassin’s Creed Origins
Usually when I think of Memphis as a place of worship I picture jumpsuited Elvis fans singing Love Me Tender outside of his Graceland estate in Tennessee, but just over two thousand years ago the city of Memphis, Egypt was home to god worship of a decidedly more ancient variety. It’s in this lush setting on the west bank of the Nile river that I take my first steps into Assassin’s Creed Origins during an hour long hands-on demo at Gamescom 2017.
“For us, Memphis was like touching true ancient Egypt,” explains game director, Ashraf Ismail. “This city is 3000 years old
. So for us it was an opportunity to show a location with a lot of
who still believe in the old religions and the old gods.”
How Fairy Pokemon Ruled the World Championships
We knew Fairy-type Pokemon would be powerful at the 2017 Pokemon World Championships this past weekend, but we had no idea they would seize such key roles in the finals matches in both the Video Game Championship (VGC) and Trading Card Game (TCG). Here’s a recap of the huge tournament and how the exciting matches played out.
Unlike the 2016 season of the competitive Pokemon VGC, this season’s rules restricted “uber” Legendary Pokemon, like Lunala and Solgaleo. This increased the viability of more Pokemon, letting players choose more freely without the fear of being taken out if they chose Pokemon other than super-powerful legends.
Game of Thrones: “Beyond the Wall” – Dragons on the Wall
Full spoilers for Game of Thrones: Season 7's "Beyond the Wall" continue below. Read on at your own risk!
Dragons on the Wall, IGN's weekly Game of Thrones show, finally got to see its namesake come true in this week's episode of Game of Thrones, "Beyond the Wall." With trouble brewing to the North, trouble brewing in Winterfell and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea investing in some very speedy ravens, there was a lot to discuss this week about an episode we were a bit divided on.
Terri Schwartz hosts this week from IGN's San Francisco office, and is joined by Editor-in-Chief Steve Butts. Make sure to also read our review of "Beyond the Wall!"
Fear Effect Remake Coming in 2018
A remade version of the fan favorite PlayStation action adventure title Fear Effect is coming to Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC in 2018.
Square Enix Collective has announced that French developer Sushee, who is also behind the crowdfunded sequel Fear Effect Sedna, is taking the reins on the upcoming remake, titled Fear Effect Reinvented.
The game will remain loyal to its roots by maintaining the soul of the original title, and as such, will have fixed camera angles. That said, Fear Effect Reinvented will feature improved controls and visuals, as well as a few new secrets along the way.
According to Sushee founder Benjamin Anseaume, fan support for the Fear Effect Sedna Kickstarter campaign helped spark the notion of recreating the first game so that new fans would be able to experience what started the craze.
Which Guardians Vol. 2 Blu-Ray Should You Buy?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is coming to home entertainment Tuesday, August 22, and as is the case with all blockbuster Blu-ray releases, there are tons of options available for anyone looking to just watch the movie, see it in 4K, or go all-out with a cool collector's edition. We've gone ahead and put together a list of available editions so you can be better informed with your choices.
The good old Blu-ray combo pack never fails to deliver the goods. Three times, to be specific. You get the movie, bonus content, a DVD, and the digital code. This is the base model for those who just want to watch the movie and maybe check out the bonus features sometime down the road. No biggie: we aren't here to judge.