Monthly Archives: August 2019
Gears 5 Accessibility a Priority for The Coalition
Microsoft and The Coalition have touted Gears 5 as the series' "biggest" entry to date, but more quietly, it's also been working to make it the most accessible.
IGN spoke to The Coalition design director Ryan Cleven this week during Gamescom. During the interview, which you can watch in full above, Cleven addressed how the studio is working to make Gears 5 playable (and enjoyable) for "everybody."
"We’ve really invested in as many ways we can to bring people into Gears, because it really is about having everybody play," said Cleven. "It’s something that’s important to us as a studio, but also us as a company.”
In addition to fairly standard accessibility features, such subtitles and a narration mode for menus, Cleven mentioned a lock-on system in Gears 5 designed for beginners and players who can't physically control both sticks simultaneously.
GreedFall: An Unknown World That You Will Shape With Diplomacy
At Gamescom 2019, the CEO of Spiders Jehanne Rousseau discussed more details of GreedFall, the upcoming action-RPG that will be released on September 10, 2019, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Speaking to IGN's Brian Altano and Max Scoville, Rousseau talked about how a big part of GreedFall is about diplomacy, and revealed more about character customization, companions, factions, natives and the language created for them by Spiders, and so much more.
GreedFall is set in a world that is heavily inspired by 17th century Europe, but with a heavy influence of fantasy, magic and fantastical creatures. The Old World is plagued with a deadly, incurable disease called Malichor, but a remote and hidden island called Teer Fradee has been discovered that has been spared from it and may hold the key to curing the world of it.
Death Stranding: Geoff Keighely Discusses Mysterious Online Multiplayer
At Gamescom, Hideo Kojima gave us the best look at Death Stranding so far. Maybe too good a look. Now, Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley spoke about what players can expect from Death Stranding when it is released, including some details about the mysterious multiplayer.
Speaking with IGN at Gamescom, Keighley talked about the multiplayer portion of Death Stranding that Kojima hasn’t spoken too much about just yet. According to Keighley, the multiplayer portion really exemplifies the themes of “connection” that Kojima has talked about whenever discussing Death Stranding. Watch the interview in the video above.
“What he’s doing with the online aspects of it, I think people aren’t quite fully ready for what he’s doing.”
Empire of Sin: A Brilliant 1920’s Era Strategy Game
After playing the first half-hour or so of Empire of Sin, I could easily have stayed where I was and played the rest of the day. While it’s still in a pre-beta state, Empire of Sin feels polished, with deep systems that beg for more probing. After all, this is essentially Boardwalk Empire crossed with XCOM - what’s not to find completely intriguing?
Empire of Sin is set in prohibition-Era Chicago. As one of 14 bosses with different interests (speakeasies, union protection, or casinos), you’re tasked with building an empire built on Chicago’s most precious currency: alcohol. You can get your alcohol that’s produced in breweries, you can get if from your allies, or you can occasionally get it from missions. “So alcohol is the number one currency of Prohibition-era Chicago,” says Game Director Brenda Romero. “So we make it, we consume it in our rackets, without alcohol your businesses aren't going very far.”
Marvel’s Avengers Aims to Balance Comics History and Originality
With Marvel's Avengers, developer Crystal Dynamics had the difficult task of balancing the old with the new. Marvel Comics is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2019, giving the developer a rich history of character and story to draw from. But, according to Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos, the development team wasn't interested in simply retelling old tales: With encouragement from Marvel, Crystal is blending that history with original storylines, costumes, and abilities.
This week's Gamescom provided the closest look at Marvel's Avengers yet; Crystal allowed attendees to go hands on with the Marvel superhero game, in addition to releasing a 19-minute Avengers gameplay demo. During the show, IGN sat down with Amos to discuss the aforementioned balancing act, hero customization, games as a service, and more. You can watch the full interview above.
Need For Speed Heat: 16 New Details from Gamescom 2019
At Gamescom 2019, Need for Speed Heat's creative director Riley Cooper discussed some new details on the newest entry in the Need For Speed franchise that will be released on November 8, 2019, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
We've broken down 16 of those most interesting things we learned about Need For Speed Heat from IGN's Destin Legarie's discussion with Cooper from IGN Gamescom Now.
1 - Need For Speed Heat Studio is a companion app to Need For Speed Heat that will allow players to customize cars that they can then use in Heat. New cars will be released each week leading up to Heat's release and all cars featured in the game will be available in the app by launch on November 8, 2019.
Opinion: The MCU Will Survive the Loss of Spider-Man
Just when it seemed like Disney was on the verge of locking up almost every major Marvel franchise under the MCU umbrella, Peter Parker's infamous bad luck struck again. Ongoing negotiations between Disney and Sony over Spider-Man's cinematic future have broken down, meaning we've likely seen the last of Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU (although Sony is reportedly developing at least two more Spider-Man movies with Holland following Far From Home).
The New Skateboarding Game, Session Is All About Creativity
Crea-ture Studios revealed 4K gameplay for their upcoming skateboarding game, Session, which many originally called the "spiritual successor" to Skate 3.
The 4K gameplay in Session shows off the rider doing lines through a city environment, while hitting rails, grinding ledges, and throwing down 360-kick flips – among various other tricks.
Session, as described by Crea-ture, was inspired by the, "golden era of skateboarding." Its main focus is about creativity and culture, not competitions and having the gnarliest trick on a mega ramp – which players could experience in past skateboarding games like the Skate series.
Ryan Reynolds Responds to Fans Asking Him to Save Spider-Man
Spider-Man is going through a bit of a rough patch lately, and fans are turning to an unlikely hero to save him - Deadpool. Or rather, actor Ryan Reynolds.
In light of news that Marvel Studios will no longer co-produce new Spider-Man films, thus seemingly bringing a swift end to Peter Parker's time in the MCU, fans have reached out to Reynolds for comfort. As spotted by CNN, one fan asked if the situation opens the door for a team-up between Reynolds' Deadpool and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Here's how Reynolds responded:
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Is Also Getting a Crossover With Horizon Zero Dawn
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is once again teaming up with Aloy in a second Horizon Zero Dawn collaboration. This one is specifically centered around Aloy’s Frozen Wilds DLC, since both of them are ice themed.
Capcom released a new trailer for the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne x Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds collaboration today during Gamescom. The trailer shows Aloy wearing her Frozen Wilds armor, as she readies up to venture into icy new Monster Hunter area. You can watch the new trailer above.
When Monster Hunter: World was first released, Capcom and Guerrilla Games announced a limited-time Horizon Zero Dawn event where you could play as Aloy and user her bow and armor set. The Iceborne and The Frozen Wilds collaboration looks to be similar to the previous one, except players can probably expect to wear Aloy’s Frozen Wilds armor set, and instead of a bow you can user her bowgun as a weapon.