After Chelsea Krause revealed earlier that she was the one providing voice work for Laurie Strode in the game’s single-player and multiplayer modes, it turns out that The Dead Meat Podcast’s own Chelsea Rebecca did some voice acting herself for the game.

Amongst the various citizens of Haddonfield, Rebecca also voiced the ill-fated Judith Myers.

Chelsea spilled the beans yesterday after Halloween: The Game launched for PC and consoles, taking to Instagram with the news.

“THRILLED to finally say I voice horror’s most iconic big sister (and lots of hapless victims) in Halloween: The Game, out today,” says Rebecca. “Thank you to the best session directors ever, [Halloween: The Game writers] Elyse Willems and James Willems, the team at IllFonic, and Sandy Johnson for making Judith so legendary in the first place. Let me know if you somehow fail the “Kill Judith” mission like I did the first time, something I did not even realize was possible.”

Dead Meat Podcast co-host James A. Janisse chimed in via a YouTube Short, stating how they had been sitting on this news for “so long.” And as a bonus, over on Dead Meat Games, James, Chelsea and the crew livestreamed a session playing Halloween: The Game, which you can check out here.

 

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According to the SteamDB stats, Halloween: The Game currently sits at a 24-hour peak of just over 33,000 players. Again, this is still just after one day, but that’s still good enough for landing the game among the more popular titles this week on Steam.

[Related] ‘Halloween: The Game’ Day One Patch Notes – Here’s the Full List

Furthermore, it’s also among the top new releases in terms of player count behind last week’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword and The Blood of Dawnwalker.

That’s not all. Drilling down into the debuts of other asymmetrical multiplayer horror titles, Halloween: The Game comes out on top in terms of debut player counts on Steam. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre debuted to 17k players, Friday The 13th: The Game launched with 16k players, and Dead by Daylight garnered 18k players on its launch.

Halloween: The Game beat all of them with over 22,000 players at launch.

Admittedly, 500,000 players isn’t quite the same as Onimusha: Way of the Sword selling one million units on launch day, but it’s a different genre, and a different audience. The real test will be a month from now, when the physical release launches on October 6 for those who are holding out for a disc. We’ll see if IllFonic is able to retain and grow the player base.

As the devteam states, the game’s launch is only the beginning of the Boogeyman’s journey…

In addition to Steam, Halloween: The Game is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, as well as the Epic Games Store. The disc version will be available for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.

[Related] Chelsea Krause Voices Laurie Strode in ‘Halloween: The Game’

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Gets Over Half a Million Players at Launch; Most Popular Asym Horror Launch Ever on Steam appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Free for current owners of The Outlast Trials, reagents can also take on two new MK-Challenges, unlock rewards through the new Chemical Leak Limited-Time Catalog, and experience a new round of improvements, balancing updates, and quality-of-life additions across Invasion, Escalation, and the wider therapy experience.

In the new Limited-Time Event “Chemical Leak”, a chemical leak is filling the Trials with toxic gas. Reagents must locate valves throughout the environment and shut them off to clear the air from each area. In addition, a brand-new Catalog is available for the duration of the Chemical Leak Limited-Time Event. Spend your Event Tokens before the air clears.

As for the two new MK-Challenges, players have Change the Program, where you are the crier who knows that news does not have to be journalism; it only has to be new. Spread our truth, change the program, and you’ll be set free. There’a also Fund the Campaign, where you are the hammer in the hands of a child, to shatter the fragile swine who would separate success from the government it created. Money is the future of speech. Fund the campaign, and you’ll be let you out.

Season 7.1 also brings a fresh round of bug fixes, balancing updates, and improvements across The Outlast Trials, with particular attention to Invasion, Escalation, online stability, and player settings.

Speaking of Invasion and Escalation, both modes have been given updates, with Season 7.1 further improving the experience for players. Invasion receives several updates designed to improve fairness, readability, and flow during high-pressure encounters. Reagents remain focused on the hunting and the escaping; Murkoff takes care of the rest.  For Escalation, community feedback helped improve stability, and players’ progress is saved in the event of a lost connection.

Season 7.1 also introduces broader improvements across the game. Check out the patch notes to read the full list of upgrades.

The Outlast Trials is available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox.

The post Catch Your Breath in Season 7.1 of ‘The Outlast Trials’ on Now [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That might not seem like a lot, but you have to consider the last major title in the series was Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, which was released back in 2006 for the PlayStation 2.

In the press release, Capcom credits their marketing initiatives prior to the launch of Way of the Sword, which included multiple demo releases and hands-on exhibitions, which no doubt helped to push the one million units on the day of its release.

And once again, much like what happened after the release of 2024’s Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, Capcom is reiterating its goal of “re-activating IPs” that have been dormant for some time. “The company is working to further maximize corporate value by leveraging its rich library of content, including [Onimusha].”

Does this mean that long-suffering Dino Crisis fans will finally get their moment in the sun? One hopes that will be the case.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword transports players to a twisted vision of Kyoto. Set during Japan’s Edo period, the game features real-life locations, local myths, and historical figures within a dark fantasy world. Among the cast of characters is protagonist Miyamoto Musashi, a fierce and striking young samurai, who today we now know as one of the most legendary figures in Japanese history.

In the game, Musashi’s path takes an unexpected turn after a run in with the demonic Genma. He soon finds himself armed with an Oni Gauntlet, a mystical artifact that grants abilities beyond human limits. While this power allows Musashi to slay these monsters from the underworld, he desires to fight with his strength alone. In his quest, he’ll face many gritty, blood-soaked brawls.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is available now on PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, the Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

And check out Aaron’s review of the game and its “exhilarating” combat.

The post ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ Sells One Million Units on Launch Day; Capcom Reiterates Commitment to Dormant Franchises appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s Halloween night, 1978, and while unsuspecting families in the quiet suburbs of Haddonfield enjoy trick-or-treating, evil has made its way home.

Become immersed in the single-player story mode through six haunting chapters narrated by Dr. Sam Loomis to uncover how Michael Myers acquired his iconic blue jumpsuit, mask, and kitchen knife. Recreate the notorious babysitter encounter with a sandbox approach rewarding patient, brutal, and methodical playstyles alike.

Join 1v4 matches as either the Boogeyman himself or a Civilian trying to save the day. As Michael, stalk innocent residents using a nightmarish array of abilities, leveraging shadows and stealth to paint the town red. As a citizen of Haddonfield, alert other residents to the danger lurking in the dark and help them escape by calling the police, arming themselves with everyday household items, and overpowering the unkillable monster until everyone can escape.

Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Halloween: The Game aims to deliver the ultimate horror sandbox experience with an expansive array of dynamic map features, distinct gameplay systems, life-like NPC interactions, hauntingly realistic visuals, and endless scares just in time for Halloween.

“Everyone at Compass is thrilled to see this game get to longtime fans of the Michael Myers universe. It’s also been extremely exciting to see a whole new generation of fans find their way into Haddonfield. I cannot wait to see you all in the game,” says Malek Akkad, President of Compass International Pictures, Inc.

“Seeing Halloween: The Game finally in the community’s hands is the payoff of years of work honoring Moustapha Akkad and John Carpenter’s legacies,” said Jared Gerritzen, Chief Creative Officer at IllFonic. “For anyone who wants Michael Myers on their shelf as well as their consoles, the physical edition will be out just in time for Halloween. We hope fans have as much fun this October as we had recreating the terrifying events of 1978!”

And in case you missed it, here’s Harrison’s review of the game.

The post Stalk The Streets of Haddonfield Today in ‘Halloween: The Game’ on PC and Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword transports players to a twisted vision of Kyoto. Set during Japan’s Edo period, the game features real-life locations, local myths, and historical figures within a dark fantasy world. Among the cast of characters is protagonist Miyamoto Musashi, a fierce and striking young samurai, who today we now know as one of the most legendary figures in Japanese history.

In the game, Musashi’s path takes an unexpected turn after a run in with the demonic Genma. He soon finds himself armed with an Oni Gauntlet, a mystical artifact that grants abilities beyond human limits. While this power allows Musashi to slay these monsters from the underworld, he desires to fight with his strength alone. In his quest, he’ll face many gritty, blood-soaked brawls.

The gameplay revolves around satisfying sword-to-sword clashes with a deep arsenal of combat techniques. These maneuvers include parrying, deflecting, dodging, and more. The series’ signature gameplay features, Issen counterattacks and Soul Absorption, also return and add layers of decision making for players in the heat of battle.

Throughout the game, Musashi will also gain Oni Armaments that offer unique tools to turn the tide in his favor, and Oni Abilities that empower him to perform supernatural feats both in and out of battle. These powers also provide ways to explore previously unreachable areas and take on new challenges that await there, such as duels with formidable bosses. Together, these action elements deliver supreme swordplay combat and a gameplay experience that is uniquely Onimusha.

And for those “try before you buy” types, there’s a free public demo for Onimusha: Way of the Sword is also out now, where players can experience the game’s satisfying action while exploring an early slice of the story. The game’s demo is currently available via the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, Steam, and Epic Games Store.

If you need further convincing, check out Aaron’s review.

The post ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ Slashes Onto Consoles and PC Today [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Maneater 2 takes place during an invite-only preview event for Neptune’s Kingdom, an ultra-luxury private island theme park. Described by the park’s CEO Victor Reardon as “your exclusive gateway to the grandeur of Ancient Rome”—and attractively branded as such—the park combines the excess of Las Vegas with the whimsy of Anaheim, aiming to be the type of gargantuan venture that’s the first of its kind.

Obviously, that leaves plenty of opportunity for you to chow down.

Maneater fans will be pleased to know that Trip Westhaven is back (once again voiced by Chris Parnell) as your go-to source for color commentary and one-sided conversations. And as before, you’ll earn experience and evolve your shark as you complete objectives and gain experience.

The post ‘Maneater 2’ Announced, Taking a Bite in 2027 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The developers’ take on this pioneering slasher is more or less what you’d expect given their track record, utilizing a lot of the same mechanics, balancing systems, and item types that we’ve seen in their previous works (hello, trusty firecrackers!). However, Halloween: The Game is crucially more than a copy-and-paste job that merely relocates the action from Camp Crystal Lake to Haddonfield, Illinois and calls it a day. Instead, it finds a number of exciting ways to innovate and be uniquely Halloween.

The end result is by no means perfect, and is in dire need of refinement when it comes to the technical aspects (more on that later). Nevertheless, the core foundations are strong. With fresh twists on the tired killer-vs-survivor dynamic and a welcome emphasis on methodical stealth, it truly immerses you in “the night he came home” and feels like an authentic representation of its source material.

That’s what’ll hopefully give it an edge over its competitors and ensure it has legs beyond the coming spooky season.

Death Has Come to Haddonfield

Disregarding the knotted continuity and baggage of the wider franchise, Halloween: The Game is set on October 31, 1978, thus only dealing with the events of the very first movie. That means no Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, no Jamie Lloyd, no familial connection between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, and no sign of whatever that white horse was supposed to be in Rob Zombie’s version.

With it being just original recipe Halloween, and therefore a much cleaner canon, the game’s narrative framing couldn’t be simpler. Michael has broken out of Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and, compelled by sheer instinct, is drawn inexorably back to his hometown. There, he will attempt to satiate a (seemingly insatiable) biological imperative of his by prowling the suburbs and killing as many people as he can. There’s no greater motive at play. No detailed plan formulating behind his black, soulless eyes. No hint whatsoever of remorse. Only a single-minded compulsion to snuff out more lives.

If you’re the one roleplaying as the boogeyman in this scenario, then your objective is accordingly very straightforward. All you’ve got to do is rack up the largest possible body count and avoid getting detained by the authorities.

Conversely, if you’ve been cast as one of the four “civilian” players in the match, then you’ll be focused on preventing this senseless bloodshed and minimizing further casualties. That might sound like business as usual for this sort of thing, but — in a clever subversion that helps distinguish the experience from other asymmetrical titles out there — you’re discouraged from looking out for number one and number one only.

You see, while you’ll need to prioritize self-preservation to at least a certain extent, you’re also expected to protect the blissfully ignorant residents of Haddonfield and stop them from waltzing right into the pointy end of Michael’s kitchen knife, which is where things get a little more interesting.

Protecting Haddonfield Instead of Just Escaping

In addition to the four player-controlled survivors, each match here is populated by NPC fodder just going about their lives without a care in the world. They’re the babysitters nattering away on landlines, the minimum wage staff closing up shops, the athletes pumping iron in their garage-gyms, and the recluses who elect to spend Halloween night alone watching scary movies in the dark.

From Michael’s perspective, these sitting ducks won’t put up much of a fight and, when it comes to selecting his targets, he’s not going to discriminate between them and the wilier players who are likely to give him hassle. So, it’s your responsibility to increase the herd’s chances of survival and prepare everyone for what’s coming.

Doing so will require you to take on the mantle of de facto town crier and go from house to house alerting these oblivious members of the public to the terrible evil that is heading their way. Pending a successful QTE minigame, which determines how cogent your warnings are, they should eventually accept the dire situation, at which point they’ll put their fates entirely in your hands.

From there, you’ll be able to boss the NPCs around however you see fit. For instance, it might be prudent to arm them with weapons and have them join your immediate posse. Alternatively, you could urge them to call the police and help amplify your message, instruct them to secure their homes and wait until the cavalry arrives, or advise them to hide somewhere until you’ve managed to unlock an emergency exit.

On that note, getting everyone safely out of dodge is going to be your primary goal, and so you’ll need to hatch some kind of escape plan, be it unlocking a storm shelter, prising open a padlocked gate or repairing a getaway vehicle. Veterans of Killer Klowns and Friday the 13th: The Game will immediately recognize what’s being asked of them here and ought to be familiar with many of the basic steps involved.

Like in those games, it’s on civilians to agree upon a mutual extraction strategy, to scavenge for the requisite items needed to facilitate it, to nail the skill checks associated with said objects, and to slip away before the killer notices anything is awry. Even the specific interactions you’ll be performing are liable to induce a sense of déjà vu, with you filling up car gas tanks and replacing fuses to power up doors. It’s all stuff you’ve done a million times before, and it doesn’t take very long to get back into the swing of it.

Where it’s complicated somewhat in this instance, though, is that you’ve got to juggle these maintenance tasks with escorting the NPC lemmings to safety. Because even if every player-controlled character manages to elude Michael’s clutches, it won’t matter if he’s still able to slaughter the rest of the neighborhood unimpeded. As long as more corpses are tallied during the end-of-match census than living, breathing people, he still wins.

It’s a smart twist on the asymmetrical premise that fundamentally changes how you approach civilian gameplay. After all, you could have an easy getaway opportunity staring you right in the face but, if no fellow citizens are making it out with you, then it’s going to be a hollow victory. You’ll only find yourself spectating afterwards as your more diligent companions try to pick up the slack (or worse, as Michael takes out defenseless bots without any resistance).

Should you fall in the line of duty, on the other hand, your rescue efforts aren’t necessarily going to be in vain, and you can still be invested in witnessing the outcome of the match. Indeed, it can be kind of thrilling to hang around after death and watch rounds unfold from beyond the grave; curious to know if your contributions will posthumously cinch it for the good guys.

In short, Halloween: The Game is more of a team game than your typical asymmetrical horror, with you being incentivized to actually play the objective for once. There’s a true endorphin rush, as well as a generous XP allowance, that comes whenever you aid a large group in escaping. Meanwhile, you’ll be rewarded vanishingly little for hightailing it out of the danger zone early on and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves.

Becoming the Boogeyman

Incorporating this PvPvE system is perhaps the shrewdest decision IllFonic made here, as it allows them to organically encourage behavior that is conducive to better, livelier matches for everybody. Civilians, for example, have to constantly put themselves in peril and can’t just cower from the sidelines. Likewise, it’s not advantageous for the killer to incessantly grief his opponents, and he has to give them a break every now and then to go pick off a few NPCs. It helps ensure that the cat-and-mouse dynamic has a natural ebb and flow.

On the topic of Myers and his nefarious goals, the developers give you ample chance to learn the ropes of his playstyle via a 2-hour story campaign. It’s technically an optional part of the package, but you are prompted to do it upon loading for the very first time, and it’s recommended as the ideal test environment to get up to speed with all the various mechanics before you then graduate to public matches.

Functioning as a blend of prequel for, retelling of, and eventual epilogue to Carpenter’s film, this solo mode charts Michael’s transformation from anonymous mental patient, whose face is slyly obscured by camera blur, to inhuman shape. It does this over the course of six missions, with each nudging you closer to the events of the game’s centerpiece multiplayer.

Its propulsive opening has you busting out of the asylum — snapping the necks of unwitting orderlies as you go — before then taking you to the outskirts of Haddonfield, where you can get some practice stabs in and eventually procure Michael’s iconic coveralls and mask. From there, we then segue into the narrative beats of Halloween proper, experiencing them afresh from the antagonist’s standpoint.

There are inevitably some great fan service moments to be appreciated along the way, and we’re reticent to spoil any of those. Suffice it to say, you’re often at the scene of the crime and get to enact atrocities that we’re only implied to have happened off-screen in the OG movie.

Not to mention, there are meticulous recreations of famous scenes to admire, with the developers nailing shot compositions, character animations, musical stings and the textured feel of Dean Cundy’s cinematography. One bit, wherein the camera suddenly switches to a different POV, is an especially cool tribute to the original, and a nice surprise that Carpenter devotees will be pleased to discover for themselves.

A Campaign That Doubles as a Tutorial

Aside from offering a new perspective on the classic story, Halloween’s campaign mainly serves as a quasi-tutorial to better acquaint you with the boogeyman’s skillset. Those craving a meatier single-player experience might be disappointed to learn that it amounts to little more than a training ground for the multiplayer headline attraction. Yet this can still be enjoyed on its own terms, as you do get a more controlled and directed scenario than you would in a standard public match.

Owing to an ingenious conceit that has Michael gradually recovering from the effects of a Thorazine injection, administered to him at Smith’s Grove, the mechanics are introduced to you one at a time. As such, you get a dedicated period to experiment with each of them, figuring out their various uses and limitations, so that you can learn to slice and dice with the utmost precision.

Of these unique abilities, the one that you’ll come to rely on most is “Shape Jump”. A traversal power that allows you to literally disappear into the shadows (as long as you’re not in an illuminated area or somebody’s line of sight), this has you shifting into a kind of spectral wraith form that can move faster, remain completely invisible, and even phase through locked doors. It’s a clever in-universe explanation for Michael’s ability to seemingly teleport at will, and also compensates for the fact that the best he can otherwise muster is an unhurried stride at roughly the same pace of continental drift. You’ll be using it all the time to get from A to B, to keep up with fleeing victims and to orchestrate your own devious jump scares.

In addition to this, there’s “Detection Pulse” (a radial ping that highlights people in the immediate vicinity), “Blackout” (a kind of EMP that interferes with light sources and disables other nearby electronics), and “Killer Sense”. The latter is another absolutely vital ability that you’ll want to get to grips with as soon as possible. In a nutshell, it takes you into a first-person view and enables the “stalking” of targets from afar. Maintaining this creepy glare for long enough will build up a meter that, in turn, sees the object of your surveillance getting progressively easier to locate, more susceptible to ambushes, and vulnerable to incoming attacks.

Again, as with “Shape Jump”, it’s an elegant feature that makes you feel like you’re truly embodying the calm, patient adversary that lurked in the background of Carpenter’s frame. You know, as opposed to just some random blunt-force slasher.

Elsewhere, the story mode also gives you a comprehensive rundown of other important mechanics like executions, body disposals, and the game’s escalation system (which can bring heat down on Michael if he’s not suitably discreet). As you can probably tell, there’s an awful lot to wrap your head around, and this review isn’t the appropriate place to cover it all.

The point is that the tutorial does an excellent job of conveying all this information in digestible chunks, making you feel adequately prepared for your big debut online. In fact, we found ourselves wishing that there was an equivalent dress rehearsal for the civilian side of things. As it stands, you’re just thrown into the deep end when you cluelessly step into that survivor role for the first time, leading to all sorts of confusion and frustration arising amongst newbie teammates.

Playing as The Shape is a Satisfying Dream

The addition of extra objectives — similar to those featured in this year’s 007 First Light — gives you an excuse to play through the game’s story multiple times as well, so that you can explore all the different possibilities for terrorizing Haddonfield.

Some of these optional feats will have you coming back to unlock hidden kill animations, while others might challenge you to get through sections undetected or to fastidiously reenact scenes exactly as they occurred in the 1978 flick, rewarding both your cinephile knowledge and your stealth capabilities. For what it’s worth, it makes the campaign seem more like a collection of mini-sandboxes and less like a dry onboarding exercise for the multiplayer component. With that said, we certainly intend to revisit it at a later date and see what else we missed.

Of course, the solo campaign is only meant to be an appetizer for the main course that is Halloween’s online matchmaking. That’s where IllFonic expects you to put the real hours in, and we’re glad to report that it should be well worth your time once the kinks are ironed out (more on that in a moment).

Playing as Michael is every bit the intoxicating power trip you dream it will be. You feel like a legitimately menacing presence whenever you come face to face with another player, and sadistically toying with the NPCs is as enjoyable as in any traditional open-world title.

Staging your own little horror vignettes by exploiting all the game’s systems is an improvisational joy too. If you’re anything like us, you’ll squeal with uncontainable glee (make sure to turn off that proximity chat in such an eventuality) as you build anticipation for the kill: first cutting the power, then dispassionately watching your mark through a blackened window, leisurely pacing around the house, and finally closing the gap on them as they dial 911 in a flustered panic.

On one occasion, we used Shape Jump to startle another player with a jolt so well-choreographed that an outside observer might assume it was scripted. Relishing our victim’s subsequent freak out, we then decided to let them go so that we could savor the chase a while longer. Don’t judge us, it’d be out of character for Mikey to simply get the bloodshed over and done with!

On that note, we really appreciated how differently the shape is portrayed when compared to his most obvious IllFonic counterpart: Jason Voorhees. While the latter was an impulsive wrecking ball fuelled by white-hot rage, the developers understand that Michael requires a more measured and intentional approach. He’s not merely Jason with the hockey mask swapped out for a William Shatner cosplay. He’s more deliberate than that. His playstyle is all about biding your time, drawing out the hunt, silently loitering in the distance, and the illicit thrill of breathing down your victim’s neck without them ever knowing you were there.

Just because he’s a more sophisticated slasher doesn’t mean that there’s no room for Grand Guignol violence, though. On the contrary, there’s excessive brutality to dish out, with some kills that are tied to specific weapons and others that are more context-dependent. We’ve drowned people in toilets, throttled them with phone cords, pressed their faces up against kitchen stoves, dropped jack-lifted vehicles on their heads, and roasted them alive on cozy fireplaces. All in the name of good clean fun.

Killer Tokens Solve a Familiar Multiplayer Problem

We’ve been on the receiving end of our fair share of barbarism as well, getting humbled whenever it’s our turn to adopt the role of prey. Speaking of which, these asymmetrical titles can only run smoothly if people are willing to pay their dues as survivors.

To encourage this in Halloween: The Game, IllFonic has introduced a novel “Killer Tokens” system. In short, Killer Tokens are a resource that can be spent to advance in matchmaking queues whenever you’re itching to play as Michael. Think of them sort of like theme park fast passes, only instead of skipping the line for The Haunted Mansion, you’re skipping the line to commit murder.

The catch is that, in order to accrue this currency in the first place, you must complete several matches as a civilian; thereby guaranteeing that there’s a reasonable rotation of people taking on both roles at any given time. It’s a savvy concept that should hopefully prevent unsportsmanlike conduct from occurring (after all, it would always suck when cry-babies left the lobby in F13 as soon as they realized they weren’t gonna be Jason).

Honestly, we don’t predict that’ll be too much of an issue here, given that survivor gameplay is exhilarating in its own right. In our short time with the game, we’ve had many unbearably narrow escapes, nail-biting stealth situations, and desperate, scrappy showdowns after becoming the effective final girl of the match.

Yet the encounters that linger in our mind most are the quieter ones. There’s nothing comparable in Dead by Daylight or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to the eerie sensation you get here when you’re quivering under a streetlamp, tormented by the knowledge that Michael is hiding somewhere nearby and watching you. There’s utter silence, save for the sound of raspy, muffled breathing that you can’t quite pinpoint. It’s enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

In emergent moments like these, Halloween: The Game conjures a subtle creepiness that you don’t get from the more chaotic asymmetrical horror releases on the market. It’s befitting of the source material.

Buggy Tricks Among the Treats

When firing on all cylinders, then, Halloween: The Game is an addictive blast and one of the most promising Dead by Daylight rivals we’ve had in quite some time. Alas, attentive readers may have noticed a rather big qualifier in that last sentence that is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

You see, Halloween is rarely “firing on all cylinders”. If we were to be uncharitable, we’d query if half its cylinders have even been installed yet! Plagued by softlocks, hardlocks and all manner of infuriating bugs that can unduly influence the outcome of matches, it’s an experience that invites unfavourable comparisons to the turbulent launch of Friday the 13th: The Game.

Rarely can the whole lobby get through a game without hitting some kind of snag. Visual blips like teenage characters who appear to have been stricken with premature baldness, residents gliding vampirically around as they perform domestic chores, and items hovering several feet in front of their respective users are forgivable while the title is still in its infancy. However, that same grace period won’t apply to the other malfunctions that impact play here in more direct and tangible ways.

Survivors getting stuck in looping animations is a rather common occurrence for a start. Almost as common as them getting caught in walls and beneath the map itself! They similarly have a bizarre tendency to start channeling Gabriel from Malignant and will insist on running backwards in a way that leaves them unable to interact with any objects that aren’t accessible from a 360-degree plane. Worse still, we’ve had instances where we haven’t been able to move at all (either in the conventional or reverse directions) and resorted to feebly propelling ourselves forward using the shove attack.

If it sounds like these glitches will give the Michael player the upper hand, rest assured that they don’t emerge unscathed either. One time we successfully opened every escape route and rescued all NPCs as a civilian (feeling pretty good about ourselves) only to discover that said flawless victory was achieved by our opponent having spawned in without any of their basic abilities working.

It cannot be overstated how regular these occurrences are. Bots become totally unresponsive, perk cards don’t activate when they’re supposed to, and gun wielders will suddenly become conscientious objectors and refuse to fire at the kill-crazed psychopath barrelling right towards them. Perhaps the idea is that they’re supposed to be paralyzed with fear, but somehow we doubt that’s the intention.

The jankiness even spreads to the game’s single player mode, where characters often don’t follow through on their scripted behaviors, rendering it impossible for you to complete all the optional challenges. In what felt like a philosophical question worthy of Plutarch, we found ourselves wondering aloud: “How can one kill Annie Brackett in the car if she never gets into the cockadoodie car to begin with?”

Admittedly, the developers have supplied a long list of fixes set to be implemented in a day-one patch that wasn’t available to us reviewers. But unless that download file is going to be the equivalent size of Microsoft Flight Simulator, it’s not going to have Halloween: The Game in anything close to resembling a finished state.

Final Verdict: Incredible Potential In Need of Polish

That gets to the heart of the problem: this is just not a product that’s ready to ship. Were it in a more reliable condition, we’d be complaining about balancing niggles that could do with tweaking and the fact that you can’t customize your loadout while waiting for lobbies to populate. Yet those feel like such small-fry issues when viewed in light of the essential maintenance this fundamentally needs in order to become a working game.

Releasing in early September, the title is pre-empting its namesake holiday by well over a month, and you have to wonder if maybe that launch could have been delayed a tad. Granted, a few more weeks of QA testing wouldn’t be enough to catch and address every technical hiccup, but it’d make some difference.

Teething issues can be excused with online titles like this. Yet, to put it bluntly, if Halloween doesn’t get its act together soon, we fear it could end up going the same way as many forgotten asymmetrical releases that have been abandoned in the past.

That would be a crying shame, because this one has real potential. When we could get a stable match running, it’s some of the most fun we’ve had all year, and we genuinely believe that it has the makings of a hit. The ideas are strong, it understands its source material, and it’s perfectly calibrated to generate those memorable watercooler moments that will have you geeking out with friends.

However, we can’t in good conscience overlook serious issues that are dampening our enthusiasm for it right now. Let’s hope they can sort it all out in time for October, because we’re rooting for this to be the definitive game of the Fall. 

Review code provided by publisher. Halloween: The Game releases digitally on September 8 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. A physical version will launch for the PS5 and Xbox Series next month on October 6.

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Review – Stealth, Stalking, and Michael Myers Shine In An Uneven Horror Experience appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Retrieval Mode opens up new ways to play for everyone: pick a map, collect relics, and reach an extraction point before hordes of zombies catch up to you. But move fast, or you’ll draw the attention of the Sludge, who wants you dead. The new mode is currently playable on four maps: Church of the Damned, High Octane, Impasse, and Demon Bait.

Alongside the new mode, the Retrieval Update includes several gameplay additions:

• New zombies to fight – Goblins: These small enemies come in groups, attack the same target, and can revive each other as long as one of the three remains alive.
• Four new ways to purge the zombie invasion: New weapons and tools include the Le Clairon assault rifle, the Flamethrower, the Thunderstick, and the Saw Trap, which tears the infected apart.
• A batch of upgrades for day-to-day missions: New fixes and updates have been implemented, including the ability to dash, Trials Season 2, PC local servers, plus vehicle and bot improvements.

And for those cosmetic collectors, launching alongside the free update is the Cosmetic Pack 2 DLC, which is included in the Bloody Season Pass. Players can unlock unique skins and headgear for each character, as well as weapon and vehicle skins, all inspired by the almighty Sludge God. New profile titles and icons are also available to scare the infected away. Or perhaps you can convince them to join your side?

If the new update wasn’t enough, Toxic Commando will be doing a little crossover with Fortnite! Walter Irons will be dropping into Fortnite for all owners of John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando on the Epic Games Store, starting on September 5 at 8 p.m. EDT / 5 p.m. PDT / 2 a.m. CEST.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando’ Unleashes New Free “Retrieval” Update [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Similar to the game’s currency system, players earn experience points by completing matches or progressing in the story mode. This experience will apply to one of four level categories: profile, killer, civilian, and weapon. Profile level encompasses all gained XP. Killer level is centered around playing as Michael, much like civilian level is tied to playing as civilians. Lastly, weapon level is tied to players using specific equipable weapons to dispatch their victims.

Increasing your progression levels will unlock new playable civilians, additional abilities for Michael, starting items, cosmetics, new challenge tiers, new executions, and more.

Along with the progression system, there are passive and progressive challenges for those who play as Michael, or as one of the civilians. Passive challenges encompass killer and civilian, while progressive challenges are directly tied to which character you select. Completing challenges will unlock further cosmetics and alternate skins.

Halloween: The Game launches digitally on September 8 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. A physical version will launch for the PS5 and Xbox Series next month on October 6.

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Details Progression, Unlocks, and Michael Myers Customization Ahead of Launch [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Compared to neighborhoods like Orange Grove Estates and Haddonfield Town Center, East Haddonfield is a rustic change of scenery. Described as a rural agricultural hub, East Haddonfield serves as the headquarters for Midwest Feed Company, and is home to other notable landmarks, such as The Rabbit in Red Lounge and Phelps Garage.

Following his escape from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, Michael begins his journey home in East Haddonfield. Some residents and commuters avoid making pit stops here, as East Haddonfield attracts unsavory individuals like the biker gang, the Castle Hill Rooks. The Rabbit in Red Lounge offers the gang a rowdy, leather-clad biker bar that’s seen its fair share of broken beer bottles and bareknuckle brawls, while Phelps Garage offers excellent automotive services and the best gas prices around, not that you have many options out there.

Halloween: The Game launches digitally on September 8 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. A physical version will launch for the PS5 and Xbox Series next month on October 6.

The post Get a Glimpse of East Haddonfield in New Map Reveal Trailer for ‘Halloween: The Game’ [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Getting Crimson Moon to this moment has been an incredible journey, and we want to thank every one of you who has wishlisted the game, joined our community, shared your feedback, played at events, or simply followed us along the way,” reads the message from the devteam. They’ve already begun working on post-launch content, as well as a post-launch patch to address any issues that players may encounter.

Crimson Moon is a gothic high renaissance action-adventure RPG built around intense, replayable missions. Players take on the role of the Nephilim, ruthless human-angel hybrids forged to defend humanity. They’re immersed in a blood-soaked power fantasy as they battle their way through the besieged city of Gildenarch using combat that blends brutal precision with deep character progression.

Built for either solo or co-op play, with solo slayers getting a satisfying single-player experience, and co-op turning every encounter into a “shared onslaught of power and resilience.” Players who are strong and skilled enough to fight through three districts of Gildenarch in a row will face a world boss. These epic foes will test players’ mastery of their abilities. Only by defeating the three world bosses can players face the hellish final boss.

The post Dark Fantasy Roguelike ‘Crimson Moon’ Slashes Onto PC, Consoles Today [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After finally regaining the rights, development resumed at Panache Digital Games, known for Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, with it launching in Early Access last week after several years of development from their relatively small team.

It’s an admittedly ambitious project, trying to deliver a AAA level experience with a story that spans several time periods separated by hundreds of years. The beginning introduces you to the three protagonists: Clio, who lives in the present day, her father Aaron, who we see in 1999, and Noa, a Collector of the Zaindaris coven in the year 1666. Clio’s story is the framing story, showing her going through Aaron’s documents describing his strange relationship with Noa that transcends time itself.

Through a strange ritual performed by Clio’s mother in 1999, Aaron’s consciousness is sent back in time to 1666 where he inhabits the feline familiar of Noa, helping her on her quest to deal with Originals, people who made pacts for power and became corrupted by it.

Investigation Over Combat

Admittedly, it’s a lot going on, but there’s a boldness to it that I appreciate. You can definitely see echoes of Assassin’s Creed, with multiple timelines and secret societies of power hungry individuals, but the setting and witchy focus set it apart. While Clio and Aaron’s timelines don’t have quite as much going on, they provide backstory and setup to make the main focus, Noa’s story, richer and more well-rounded.

As a Collector, she only has access to her powers during a full moon, and she uses that day to investigate the Original assigned to her by the Zaindaris, sneaking around to find their seal and discover their true name before being able to confront them to strip them of their powers, and their lives.

This setup allows for a more interesting gameplay premise than I was anticipating. A lot of the game is spent trying to gather information, talking to people or rifling through offices, to give yourself all the tools to confront your foe. You have access to your witch powers, but doing them in public will alert the authorities, so you need to use them wisely. Much like Hitman, you also need to be careful entering restricted areas, but you can control Aaron’s cat form to help you sneak through places that humans wouldn’t be able to reach.

Additionally, he can also possess people who are afraid of cats by hissing at them and clawing their faces, adding another layer of options to your arsenal.

There’s a lot to love with this structure, but in the state this Early Access release is in, you might have trouble getting to the good parts. Right off the bat, there are pretty huge technical issues with this game. While I don’t have the most beefy gaming PC, I haven’t had trouble running recent releases like Mortal Shell II or Star Wars: Zero Company, but 1666: Amsterdam had several performance issues. Even dropping the game down to low graphics setting, I was seeing substantial frame rate drops, notably any time I went onto a city street full of people. The world of Amsterdam is lovingly recreated, but it was hard for me to appreciate the detail given all the stuttering I was experiencing.

The AI Controversy Still Looms

One pretty big disappointing element of 1666: Amsterdam came out when they released a prologue demo earlier this summer. Despite not disclosing it on their Steam page, they later admitted that they used generative AI art assets in the demo, but they promised they would be removed by the time the game was released. This statement was further confused with a later interview where Désilets said they were using so much AI art in the game that things slipped past them because they had forgotten what was AI and what wasn’t.

It’s hard to say whether they actually removed all the AI like they promised, but based on what I played, I would say that some of the voice performances sound a bit like AI text-to-speech, which put a damper on the delivery of a lot of narrative. Obviously, different people have different thoughts on the use of gen AI in the games space, and this will bother some people more than others. Frankly, I hope they stick to their promise and wish they never used generative AI in the first place.

Even aside from the technical issues, it seems like there are a lot of design problems that will still need to be worked out throughout the year they plan to be in Early Access. The investigation portion of the game felt the strongest to me, but there was plenty of friction that got in the way of my fun there. Once an investigation begins, you’re not given any direction for where to start, forcing you to explore in order to even figure out a single clue.

The portion of the city you have access to isn’t overly large, so I was initially excited by the openness of it, but I found myself hoping for a little more guidance. It felt like I was stumbling on information rather than actually working for it, making it feel unearned and disappointing. Even when I did find clues, they sometimes weren’t really enough to helpfully point me in the right direction, often confusing me more.

Strong Ideas Hampered by Frustrating Design

Navigating these spaces isn’t as exciting as it can be either. The level design of interior spaces isn’t super compelling, often becoming confusing to get around due to the sameness of many rooms. The idea of getting around in cat form is neat, but I was having a lot of issues lining myself up to jump from place to place like you’re supposed to. When you look at a surface you can leap to, a button prompt comes up, but there was a bug causing it to not appear when it should have, making me waste tons of time trying to jump to surfaces I couldn’t.

Most of the time, the trick with the cat gameplay is you just find a window, climb to the other side of a door, and unlock it to let Noa through, but I got stuck in one place for a long time because I saw an open window that looked like I could get to, but I couldn’t actually reach. I ended up giving up and found a much easier way to get to the other side of the door, which was a pretty frustrating experience overall that could have been easily remedied by making sure the environment didn’t have any false positives for that type of access. Or maybe I was supposed to get up there, but technical issues were preventing me from jumping properly. Based on my time with the game, either seem plausible.

Combat could also use another pass. It’s currently very melee-focused, with Noa using the same three-hit broom combo over and over again. You do have access to some witch abilities, but for the most part I didn’t run into any that really changed the way I fought. The most useful one was a skill that destroyed items in the environment, which when timed well could also take out enemies, but for the most part it was just swinging your broom over and over.

When a fight starts after you get spotted, there’s a zoom-in on the enemy that gives you information about the threat they provide. It also surrounds them with various words like “surrender” or “blaggard” in order to emphasize how that enemy feels towards you, but it ends up feeling out of place. I also had trouble figuring out how exactly I was supposed to get out of combat situations, as enemies just kept coming wave after wave until I got overwhelmed and arrested.

It’s very possible that I didn’t see all the combat options, because there’s a roguelike element to the game that could be interesting if developed further. Each time you take a contract, you’ll choose between three artifacts that give you modifiers or abilities, which reset each cycle. As you explore, you’ll find more of these along the way, theoretically allowing for a power curve to emerge. I’m always interested when developers find ways to incorporate roguelike elements into more mainstream games, like Deathloop or Saros, so hopefully they figure out a way to make this an impactful system, because at the moment it didn’t really seem to do much for me.

Creative Presentation Amid Uneven Polish

Graphics issues aside, there were some neat presentation flourishes that elevated the game from your standard AAA fare. My favorite was the way they handled the voiceover narration that Aaron and Noa deliver as you explore. Instead of just working off of an invisible trigger like most games, you actually see the words they are going to speak floating in the air in your path, and they break around you as they start reading them aloud. There’s also some neat editing, with lots of jump cuts and flash frames to make you feel off-kilter as you dive into the strange world they’re presenting.

But the nice presentation also comes with other polish issues. Some parts of the game just feel woefully underbaked, with weird shortcuts that hamper the feeling. In Clio’s opening, there’s a part where she’s talking to a professor at a library, and when he joins you to walk beside you, his character model snaps right to yours, glued to your side at a fixed distance as you move. If you walk the optimal path, it looks fine, but any time you take a turn, it looks extremely awkward, and ends up looking hilarious if you spin in place. I also came across several collision issues in the game where I would get stuck on objects that I shouldn’t have, making exploration occasionally irritating.

At a certain point in the game, you flash back to Aaron’s timeline for an investigative scene in a hotel. He leaves his room to try to find a statue, navigating through the halls and using a cat to help unlock doors. But the scene is made stranger by the fact that he’s in his underwear the whole time, and no one is commenting on it. On top of that, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird” is playing as you do it, which absolutely does not feel like it fits. There’s not really much you do here aside from get a tutorial about possessing people, so I can’t for the life of me figure out why they decided to put the song in there, which must have cost them a pretty penny.

This sequence encapsulated the experience of 1666: Amsterdam for me. It’s clear they are trying to make something bold and interesting, but don’t seem to fully know what stylistic choices to make to get there. There’s definitely something here. The core idea of the game is great, even if it might have one too many time periods that it’s juggling, but it’s going to take a lot of technical and design polish to get it to reach its full potential.

Looking at their Steam page, they’ve got a roadmap of content planned out, with new missions being released over the next year, but I think they need to focus on their core design and technical issues before working on any new content.

Early Access code provided by publisher. 1666: Amsterdam is currently available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘1666: Amsterdam’ Early Access Preview: A Creative Blend of Investigation and Witchcraft That Needs More Polish appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Five years ago, Cold Iron Studios released Aliens: Fireteam Elite, a three-player, third-person, co-op shooter that took you on an adventure in the iconic setting. It was a solid effort, but aside from the Aliens coat of paint, it didn’t seem to have a unique hook that set it apart from other competitors in the genre. I only ran a few missions of it with some friends, and we all agreed that it felt like a good start and hoped that Cold Iron would get a chance to improve with a sequel.

After some time with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, which came out last week, I think the follow-up lands more in the more-of-the-same camp, as it manages to still be solid fun without breaking the mold in any meaningful way. There’s still a lot to like here for fans of either co-op shooters or the Alien franchise, but I wish it was more ambitious with the formula of both.

The biggest change the game gives you is more options for your character creation. Everyone plays a unique Colonial Marine, allowing you to customize your cosmetics, loadout, and build how you see fit. The class system has been reworked, with new options that fit into standard archetypes. Each has its own special ability that can range from buffing other teammates to placing a powerful turret. None of the five primary classes feel like they are the “right” option, and each player ends up with an important skill to bring to the squad.

The coolest innovation is the inclusion of an extra class called the Specialist, which is a completely customizable class that can draw from any perks that you’ve unlocked across all classes. It’s clear that this is meant for players that have invested more time into the game, as you have to rank up two classes to a specific level in order to access the Specialist, but it’s a nice inclusion that can add variety to subsequent playthroughs.

The Pulse Rifles Feel Great But The Enemies Don’t

Returning from the first game is the clever grid-based perk system that adds an extra dimension to leveling up. As you level up your specific class, you’ll unlock new perks that are placed on a board. More spaces are added to the board as you level up, and each perk you place takes up a certain number of spaces. Some of these perks also need to be connected to another perk they are modifying, so it gives you a fun little spatial puzzle that you need to optimize in order to arrive at the build you’re looking for.

In general, each has access to a primary weapon, which is from a shared pool that all classes can choose from, a secondary weapon, which has a smaller pool specific to your class, and a sidearm, which has infinite ammo for when you find yourself in a bind. More guns are unlocked as you level up your account overall, and others are made available to purchase via currency earned within missions. The look and feel of the guns is strong, capturing the signature sounds of Aliens perfectly. Wielding the iconic pulse rifle while seeing your teammate mowing down xenomorphs with the smart rifle truly makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of a cinematic bug hunt.

Stats on these guns can be modified by purchasing various gun parts that have their own pros and cons, but I found this to be a bit more fiddly than satisfying. Categories of gun parts are slowly unlocked as you progress, which felt like an odd decision that prevented me from getting too invested in this subsystem. They do have a tangible effect when used properly and add to your overall combat rating, but looking through options for gun barrels and magazines wasn’t the most compelling use of my time between missions.

While the tactile feeling of the guns is there, the enemies felt spongy in a way that robs shooting of some of its impact. There’s a decent variety of enemies, from neat Xenomorph variants to synthetic soldiers to more Prometheus-influenced creatures, but there are too many of them that take way too much firepower to take down. Watching a teammate get picked up by one of the larger Xenos is initially shocking, but when I can unload an entire clip into it without it reacting to my gunfire in any visible way, it becomes more tedious than tense.

The different enemy types give the game much needed variety in its encounters, even if it probably could have used a bit more. I like that there are different types of Xenomorphs, but for the most part they all act pretty similarly, differentiated by weak points or minor tactile changes. They feel perfect for holdouts, as their vicious hunting behavior seen in the movies translates well to fighting mobs of them, but there’s not enough tactical variation to make encounters feel distinct.

It’s the introduction of the synths that helps change things up a bit, making it more like a traditional cover shooter where you’re caught in gunfights with other soldiers as they attempt to flank you or flush you out. Even better is when you run into both of them at the same time, occasionally coming across them while the two camps are battling it out among themselves.

The Best Aliens Locations in the Series

Even if the encounters feel pretty similar, the thing that makes missions feel distinct from each other is the variety of locations that you visit throughout the game’s fifteen missions. These are classic Aliens fare, dropping you in an abandoned colony, a Weyland-Yutani spaceship, and an underground mine. There’s even a series of missions that let you explore an Engineer ship, with some of the most striking visuals in the game. Obviously these are all stylistically borrowed from other Aliens media, but the recreations of the spaces are impressive and always a joy to explore.

The wonderful score of the game doubles down on the Aliens vibes, evoking the classic 1986 film with its music. It brings the locations to life, creating a moody atmosphere for exploration and a thrilling tone to the encounters. The game’s biggest advantage is being able to believably place you into this beloved setting, and the music is the cherry on top that brings it all together.

What really drags the game down for me is that you don’t really do much in missions. You go from place to place, usually interacting with a terminal that moves the story forward a little, but only after you fend off wave after wave of enemies. It’s definitely a horde shooter at its heart, but I want more than just a series of holdouts in neat locations. Reflecting on other co-op shooters I’ve enjoyed, the most exciting missions require you to do some other piece of business during these sections to give you variety and keep you moving around the space.

There’s a memorable mission in Back 4 Blood where you’re defending a bar, and you need to keep the jukebox active throughout the mission, giving you something else to focus on while you mow down zombies. GTFO has great examples of this, requiring you to shout out passwords to someone manning a computer while creatures bear down on you. As much as it can be fun in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 to prep an area with turrets and mines, I spent too much time standing in one place blasting a shooting gallery of enemies that pop up around me.

While you each have specific roles on the team, the game rarely felt like it required a level of coordination that made the co-op feel collaborative and satisfying.

Four Players, But Not Four Jobs

One mission gave me the coordination I was looking for, but it only made me wish for the complexity to show up more. At one point, you’re trying to break into a place that’s full of synths, and there’s a series of turrets that are raining bullets down on you. In order to disable them, you need to fight your way up to terminals that turn them off. It’s the most tactical encounter in the game, requiring you to cover your teammates as they make their way to the terminals before the team can collectively proceed. Cold Iron showed with this mission that they were capable of executing more complicated ideas, but nothing else in the game gave me the collaborative spirit that I wanted from the game.

Another significant change Cold Iron made was adding a fourth player to the squad. One of the things I ran into with the first game was that my co-op shooter friend group was four people, so it felt a little awkward to figure out who didn’t get to play. The extra player is a move that will likely satisfy more people who were in the same situation, but I don’t know if the design of the game actually calls for the fourth person.

Since you don’t really have tasks to split up during missions, it’s mostly just about having another marine in play to deal damage, and the spaces don’t really feel like they are laid out to accommodate the extra character. Most of my time was spent playing with random players online, and we were constantly stumbling over each other and getting in each other’s way. Maybe once I get together my crew to try this out, that will change, but it felt like they just added a fourth player but didn’t try to think of any ways that they could use the higher player count to make it more dynamic.

An Aliens Story That Gets the Job Done

Throughout the ten-hour campaign, the game tells a decent little Aliens story, but nothing we haven’t heard before. There’s a mad scientist at the center of the narrative, and her plot involves elements from both Aliens and Prometheus, weaving together strong parts of the franchise into one cohesive tale. Unfortunately, the delivery of the plot can be a bit of a drag. Between missions, you need to chat with a series of NPCs who have dull or annoying dialogue, and the amount of talking really drags. You’ll get some audiologs during missions that feel a little better delivered, but they usually stop everything for you to listen, which messes with the pacing.

On top of that, the quips your characters say are incredibly dumb and repetitive, often just blatant references to the movie without any appropriate content. I know references can sometimes be a nice little burst of nostalgia, but hearing my character say “I am the ultimate badass” multiple times during one mission gets old fast.

I felt satisfied with my playthrough of the campaign, but it’s clear that the game is built for you to replay it. I focused almost entirely on the Machinist class, who was able to use drones and turrets, and I didn’t even fully unlock everything for them. To get through all five classes fully, you’ll have to go through these missions over and over, and their mechanical simplicity doesn’t provide the variety that would make me want to revisit them.

Final Verdict: Fun With Friends, Forgettable Next to the Genre’s Best

Obviously there are a few difficulty levels, and they will definitely provide a different experience, but I don’t think it’s really in a way that meaningfully changes how you play. Fireteam Elite 2 introduces the idea of Challenge Cards, which can be selected at the beginning of any mission, and these provide the most compelling way to mix things up. These alter the game in different ways, either making things more or less challenging for you, or providing different levels of rewards.

These can range from more ammo to less health, but others are a little more interesting. My favorite one that I ran across was one that made both the player and the enemies do 75 percent more damage, which alleviated some of my issues with the enemy sponginess and made things feel faster and more lethal. I don’t think they are a reason to replay the game, but they certainly will make it more interesting if you choose to do so.

The problem with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 isn’t that it’s a bad game. It’s pretty fun when you’ve got a solid team that’s effectively synced up. However, the game doesn’t stand out from the pack in a meaningful way.

There are definitely more interesting co-op games that add more mechanical complexity to the missions, and there are also better Aliens that capture the spirit of the franchise more accurately. Much like using the classic pulse rifle, confronting Xenomorphs always works best in short, controlled bursts, and games like Alien: Isolation or Aliens: Dark Descent have figured that out more effectively.

If you know three other Aliens fans that you can convince to play with you, you’ll definitely be able to get several nights of fun out of it; just know that it doesn’t have the depth required to make it the forever game it wants to be.

Review code provided by publisher. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. A Nintendo Switch 2 version will launch later this fall.

The post ‘Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2’ Review – More Marines, More Xenomorphs, Not Enough Innovation appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

IllFonic relayed the news to fans via X, stating that while the game will release digitally as scheduled next week for the Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in Japan, the PlayStation release has been cancelled “due to our inability to obtain a domestic rating from CERO (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization) for the title’s visceral violence and nudity.”

IllFonic stated that in order for the Halloween PS5 version to be released in Japan in compliance with CERO, they would need to “significantly compromise the worldview of the original film, and would also prevent us from providing the gameplay experience that players expect.”

Those Japanese fans who pre-ordered the PS5 version will be eligible for refunds, though they’ll need to go through the PlayStation Store. It’s not clear as to why the PC and Xbox versions are allowed to release.

Halloween: The Game will launch digitally on September 8 (September 9 in Japan). The physical release will launch on October 6.

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Denied CERO Rating, Will Not Launch on PlayStation in Japan appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I remember playing Onimusha, but given that I haven’t replayed it since release, I couldn’t tell you much about it. For me, it’s most notable for the fact that a bug during the development of the game gave them the idea for Dante’s signature air juggle in Devil May Cry. To me, it was another in the long line of games that tried to do the Resident Evil-style gameplay in a different setting, though it shifted the focus to action.

So while I was excited to see them revisit the franchise, it’s not one that I hold in the same regard as other dormant franchises like Dino Crisis or Viewtiful Joe. Even so, initial trailers showed extremely well, letting the hype build for this new release.

Fortunately, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not a direct sequel to any of the previous games, requiring no knowledge of other entries to understand what’s going on. You play as samurai Miyamoto Musashi, visually modeled after the likeness of legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, who ends up being killed and sent to Hell where he’s given a gauntlet that grants him the power of the Oni, which he absolutely does not want.

This gets him caught up in a war against the demonic Genma forces that are menacing Edo period Kyoto, which he reluctantly agrees to help out with as a means to remove the gauntlet from his arm and his life. Matters are further complicated when his rival ends up with a gauntlet as well, adding to his list of troubles.

Combat That Demands Precision

While this setup is all well and good, the real thing that brings you to the game is the combat. Not only is it incredible to look at, but it feels great in the hands, providing encounters that are both sufficiently challenging and extremely satisfying. Enemies have both a life and a stamina bar, and attacks will deplete either or both depending on if the enemy is blocking. If you drain their stamina bar, you’ll be able to use a Break Issen move, which dismembers and kills standard creatures. To defend yourself from enemy attacks, you have a dodge and a block, which becomes a stamina-damaging parry when timed just right.

None of this is new, in fact Sekiro made its name doing the same combat mode so elegantly, but the presentation of everything in Onimusha makes it feel incredible. A successful parry is accompanied by a satisfying animation of Musashi twirling his sword to push the enemy away, sparks flying as time slows down to put an exclamation mark on the moment. Attacks are expertly telegraphed with crisp animations that are easy to read, but still require precise timing to pull off.

When you do it feels like magic. During most encounters, button mashing will get you nowhere, requiring you to take a beat and carefully watch enemies as they attack you to time your parry perfectly.

Not everything in the game can be parried, so you have to be careful in how you react to attacks. In general, unarmed attacks and grabs need to be dodged for maximum effect, with a Reflex Dodge that slows time for a moment when you get the timing perfect. It creates an interesting rhythm to combat, never allowing you to spam block or dodge to feel untouchable. While I did often have trouble getting the timing of the grab attack animations, it’s another piece of the puzzle to its amazing combat.

Because stamina will start to recharge after a certain amount of time without being hit or parried, you need to stay on top of enemies if you want to hit them with an Issen attack. This creates a drive to be aggressively defensive, constantly pushing toward the enemy, if only to bait them into attacking so you can parry their strikes. It gives fights the feel of a real duel, playing right into the samurai fantasy perfectly.

As you battle enemies, various colors of souls will pop out of them, and these need to be absorbed into your gauntlet to gain their power. For most of the game, this action cannot be done while attacking, forcing you to find a specific lull in the fight where you can take a beat to stop. Red souls act as a currency, while yellow souls heal you a bit. Blue and purple souls fill different meters that power stronger attacks, so absorbing any of these at the right time can help swing the battle in your favor, meaning it’s always worth the time.

In addition to your standard healing item, which can be replenished by picking up a plant as you explore, you’ll have access to various items that can aid you in the heat of the moment. These didn’t end up being as integral to my strategy, as it took me a while to remember which ones were which in the moment. While the game does slow down time as you open up the wheel to select them, I had trouble parsing the information and figuring out if it was better to enhance my attack or defense or fire resistance at any given moment. The most useful item to me released a burst of various souls for me to absorb, which was helpful in filling up the last bit of my meters or giving me a few more HP when I was out of healing items. It was nice to have them there, but thinking about stat buffs and resistances wasn’t always top of mind in the middle of a sword barrage.

Mastering Musashi’s Moves

This might have been a me problem, but it did take me a while to get used to the controls for Onimusha when starting it. There are two control options in the game, and both of which put your attack standard attack buttons on the face buttons, which was a shift from most games that put your attacks on the shoulder buttons. I definitely found my rhythm pretty quickly, but there were times when muscle memory would take over and I would unleash a poorly timed special move because I mistook it for the attack button. Your mileage may vary on if it gets in your way, but for a game that’s so dependent on quick reflexes, it did trip me up at a few key moments, causing frustration.

Another thing I noticed that was a slight hang up for combat was that recovery animations seemed to take a little bit longer than I thought they should, which often got in the way of me healing. After taking a huge hit, I would try to hit the heal button as soon as possible, but occasionally it wouldn’t activate when it felt like it should based on the animation I was looking at. Every moment counts in a boss fight, so having that timing be a little too long or unclear was something that caused more deaths than I would like to admit.

As the game goes on, you’ll upgrade Musashi’s abilities using souls and items, but it’s more along the lines of linearly unlocking new skills and perks rather than actually crafting any sort of specific build. This gives you a satisfying power curve, allowing for that moment of excitement when you see a boss drop the right material that you’ve been waiting for. The most meaningful choice you’ll make when fighting is which of the Oni Weapons you want to equip. These are one of the elements of your arsenal that’s fueled by souls, and they allow you to do powerful attacks that have different effects. For example, one does massive damage and releases healing yellow souls, while another does huge stamina damage. These can be changed in the moment, and knowing which one is the most useful when your meter is filled will be crucial to surviving encounters.

Throughout the narrative, you unlock various abilities that are given to you from people that you’ve helped out, and these add some much needed variety to getting around. This makes navigation a little more dynamic, adding in little twists that make traversal more fun. One of my favorite abilities is a starter one, Oni Vision, which allows you to see the invisible threads that are attached to walls blocking your way. In order to get the wall to come down, you need to follow these threads and kill the spider hanging on the end of each of them. It’s a fun way to lead you through areas, and it builds nicely in complexity as your abilities unlock.

Boss Fights Worth Dying For

While normal fights with enemies are still fun, the real highlight of the game is the boss fights. Not only are they the most creative visually, presenting some horrific demonic creatures that tower over you, but they’re also intricate challenges that require keen pattern recognition and quick reflexes. They can almost feel like rhythm games, requiring you to know which attacks you need to parry and which to dodge, mixing it up within the same combo. These can be massive skill checks that can block progress for a while, but are the most exciting and satisfying encounters in the game. It’s such a treat any time you run into a new one, as they often are introduced with an epic cutscene that shows off their massive scale and clever design.

Unfortunately, the game reuses bosses a few too many times throughout in a way that robs the later act of the novelty. As far as I could tell, most fights remained pretty similar to their original iteration, with maybe an extra combo or an increase in stats. There’s a stretch at the end of the game that’s all repeated bosses, and that felt like a slog instead of a climactic test of my skills.

Bosses also have attacks where if they land, they can power up the boss and make them stronger, which feels like a bad feedback loop that overly punishes you for mistakes. If I got hit by one of these strikes within the first 30 seconds of the fight, I would just let them kill me because I knew I was going to be at a disadvantage for the rest of the battle. It’s a smart way to encourage the type of perfection the game’s parry system demands, but it often felt a little too punishing.

I loved that the boss fights felt epic, but occasionally they went on for too long, which became exhausting due to the precision required. Most fights took over five minutes, with many bosses having two phases, each with their own health bar. It’s really fun when it goes your way, making it feel like the type of encounter between great warriors that the game is going for, but failing at the last moment always feels like such a time sink.

Near the end of the game, one boss took me over twelve minutes to defeat, and the multiple attempts it took me to achieve that victory added up to hours of time. This is definitely a game for boss fight sickos, and even the Story Mode difficulty level doesn’t completely make them a walk in the park.

The irritation from some of the boss fights was enhanced by the game’s extremely chatty companion Shizuka, the woman who resides in your gauntlet. She acts as the game hint system, constantly reminding you of your attack options during fights. If you miss a dodge, she’ll remind you that you need to evade attacks. If a character is vulnerable to a shot from your bow at this moment, she’ll be sure to let you know, even if you’re already in the process of drawing an arrow. Musashi himself will also give the player reminders of what they need to do, saying quotes along the lines of “that’s right, if I keep parrying your attacks it will eventually drain your stamina, then we’ll see who’s laughing.”

For a game that is very demanding of you, it feels strangely like it’s holding your hand, in a way that felt like it was taunting me when I wasn’t doing things correctly, even though I know that wasn’t the intent.

When The Story Loses Its Edge

In addition to making the action look incredible while you’re playing, Onimusha’s cutscenes also feature expertly choreographed violence. Right off the bat, you’re treated to a breathtaking escape sequence where Musashi is running from a swarm of fighters all trying to kill him as he slashes his way to his retreat. Not only is the animation amazing, but the overall level of graphic fidelity is in line with other Capcom games that use the RE Engine, which are some of the best in the business.

One part that didn’t sit with me super well was the fact that the character of Musashi used the likeness of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, who was known for his work in films like Seven Samurai and Hidden Fortress. While he’s obviously recognizable for his contributions to samurai fiction, it felt a little weird to me having him be put into the game so long after his death. It wasn’t something that got in the way of my enjoyment of the game, but I don’t think the game would have lost anything if they hadn’t used his face, since they obviously had a different voice actor playing the part.

The quality of the cutscenes, from acting to choreography to overall graphics, was phenomenal, but I wish the narrative was strong enough to match its heights. After Musashi gets the gauntlet, a lot of the story of the game is him talking to people who send him to various places to close rifts that are allowing the Genma to break into our world. About half the time, this would lead to an interesting little short story, with my favorite being an excursion into a horrific laboratory that has a tragic yet beautiful ending, but for the most part it’s just “go to this place and close the rift.”

It takes a while for the game to give you recurring antagonists that drive the overarching plot forward, and it takes even longer for their plans to become concrete enough to feel like they matter. It eventually leads to an epic showdown that acts as a strong climax for the game, but the 25+ hour runtime makes it feel like it takes a bit too long to get there.

Given Musashi’s desire to get rid of the gauntlet and be free of this quest, a lot of the story feels lackluster as he’s complaining about what he has to do. While he has a goofy demeanor that brings charm to his performance, it felt like his surrounding cast of characters had more of a story arc than he did. This makes the story lack a strong driving force outside of how fun it is to get into fights, giving more of the emotional moments to NPCs.

This aimless structure to the narrative bled into the quest design, which featured a hub area that felt like a mini-open world, littered with things to collect and side quests to complete. The side quests were rarely satisfying, often just involving someone asking you to do something that ends up being either clearing out some monsters or closing a rift, and the collectibles were rarely well-hidden, making acquiring them just an exercise in going to a marked location on a map. Many of the more traditional levels you go to had interesting layouts and light puzzle solving that showed some of its Resident Evil-inspired roots, but going through the open world was never quite as compelling.

A Worthy Return For Onimusha

Even with complaints about the narrative, the massive level of polish applied to every part of the presentation makes it hard not to get drawn in by the end. The sweeping adventure music brings so much life to sequences, making boss fights and cutscenes more exciting. The great voice acting brings fairly stereotypical characters to life with loads of personality. It all looks sharp and runs buttery smooth, even on a base PS5.

The best of all is the polish on combat, which is brought to life by amazing visual and sound effects that make every sword clash and perfect dodge feel rewarding. After 25 hours, I would triumphantly whisper “hell yeah” to myself under my breath when I nailed a parry as the scrape of the swords blasted out of my speakers, sparks flying everywhere.

At one point in the game, a character tells Musashi that “detours are part of any journey,” and that’s a bit how I felt during my time with Onimusha. As much as the story took turns that felt uninteresting or uninspired, getting there still felt satisfying thanks to the precise and exhilarating combat. The game would have benefited from trimming some fat, cutting out some of the repeated boss fights and rift cleansing busy work, but if you enjoy the moment-to-moment samurai swordplay as much as I do, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a journey that’s well worth the detours.

Code provided by publisher. Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches September 4 for PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, the Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ Review: Capcom Revives a Samurai Classic With Satisfying Swordplay Action appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Developer Diary introduces the artists behind the sound of 1666: Amsterdam, and the process behind its musical identity, including why Jorane became a natural choice for the project. The episode also explores how music and sound change across characters, time periods and districts of Amsterdam. Protagonists Noa and Aaron each have their own musical theme, reflecting their different perspectives within the game.

The video also looks at the instruments and audio techniques used throughout production, and how the city of Amsterdam itself influenced the game’s music and sound design. Lastly, the episode features footage from the 1666: Amsterdam Preview Event in July, where Jorane performed music from the game live.

1666: Amsterdam is now available in Early Access on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The game will continue to evolve throughout Early Access, with player feedback helping the team refine and expand the experience as development continues.

The post Final ‘1666: Amsterdam’ Dev Diary Explores The Game’s Sound and Music [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Released a few weeks back for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, The Sinking City 2 is set in a Lovecraftian vision of 1920s America. Taking place in the infamous city of Arkham, a supernatural flood has driven out all but the most deranged residents, leaving decay and eldritch horrors that roam the streets. Players step into the role of Calvin Rafferty (voiced by Andrew Wheildon-Dennis), an occult adventurer whose cavalier actions have led to devastating consequences.

After a dreaming ritual goes wrong, his girlfriend, the gutsy Faye Bennett (voiced by Gemma Elizabeth Whelan), is left trapped in a mysterious sleep. Now Calvin must navigate the drowned streets of a derelict city in a desperate attempt to bring her back. On his quest, he’ll come face-to-face with a plague of otherworldly creatures, the Slither, who possess and twist the dead into lethal, walking puppets.

In case you missed it, check out Luiz’s review of The Sinking City 2, which he describes as “a horrific love-letter to all-things Lovecraft.”

The post ‘The Sinking City 2’ Creeps to the Nintendo Switch 2 Next Year [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Halloween: The Game uses a role-based matchmaking system, which allows players to queue as either killer (aka Michael) or civilian. Ahead of matchmaking, players will choose their desired role, and enter a dedicated queues. If your role doesn’t matter, to you,  you can also choose “no preference” when entering the queue.

The game will also make use of an in-game currency referred to as Killer Tokens that allows players to advance in the queues to play as Myers. These can be earned by playing and completing matches. The tokens can then be spent to enter a priority matchmaking pool that reduces your wait time.

For those who prefer to match up with friends, you can also host private matches, where the roles can be specified or randomized amongst friends.

In addition, remember the “surprises” that the team were teasing if you ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition or the Limited Collector’s Edition of Halloween: The Game? Well, one of them is the ability to unlock Advance Access to the ‘Final Girl’ Laurie Strode cosmetic!

Halloween: The Game will launch digitally on September 8 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Physical releases will launch on October 6.

The post New Video Delves Into ‘Halloween: The Game’ Matchmaking [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Rebuilt and refined for a new generation, this edition introduces players to the world of Fabletown, while welcoming longtime fans back to where it all began: Bigby’s first case, where a grisly murder reveals that something far darker is lurking beneath the surface of the city. Across five episodes—“Episode 1: Faith,” “Episode 2: Smoke and Mirrors,” “Episode 3: A Crooked Mile,” “Episode 4: In Sheep’s Clothing,” and “Episode 5: Cry Wolf”—players investigate crimes, question suspects, and make difficult choices that shape the course of the story in a mature noir thriller where every decision matters.

To honor the original story experience, Telltale has brought Fabletown to life again through enhanced visuals, refined character and environment presentation, an updated user interface, improved accessibility features, and technical enhancements including upgraded animation, audio, resolution and framerate improvements. In addition, players will have access to more than an hour of bonus content featuring behind-the-scenes videos, cast interviews, image galleries, and deleted scenes exploring the creation of the noir classic.

Meanwhile, the next entry in the series, The Wolf Among Us 2, is currently in development for release next year.

The post ‘The Wolf Among Us Remastered’ Launches October 29 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

For the first time, the public will also be able to play Control Resonant at Gamescom, with a playable demo available at the Level Infinite booth in Hall 6.

In addition, Remedy Entertainment has teamed up with ZA/UM Atelier to create a five-piece, made-to-order collection of apparel inspired by Control Resonant. The full collection will be on display at Gamescom from August 26–30, with pre-orders available now via ZA/UM Atelier.

In Control Resonant, players take on the role of Dylan Faden (voiced by Sean Durrie), who will explore multiple areas of Manhattan in an expansive, unfamiliar world as an invading cosmic force reshapes the environment, defiles natural law and distorts gravity, reordering reality into a geophysical nightmare. Players will traverse perception-bending locations and journey beyond the material world into a mysterious metaphysical space reflecting Faden’s troubled psyche.

You must tap into power that Dylan must learn to master and make choices to shape abilities that manifest and grow while exploring a deep progression system. Face ever-changing threats head-on, utilizing the environment, unleashing elemental abilities and wielding the raw force Dylan’s shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant.

Control Resonant arrives September 24 digitally for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, while physical editions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series will be available from October 15. Pre-orders are now open, with players getting the Pickpocket’s Tool Artifact and Hiss Corruption Outfit for Dylan as part of pre-ordering before launch. Also available for pre-order is the Deluxe Edition.

The post Remedy Unleashes “Altered State” Trailer for ‘Control Resonant’ Coinciding With First Public Hands-on [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Players can experience the entire epic adventure with upgraded visuals, enhanced combat, improved traversal and movement, new witcher signs effects, revamped mount handling, enhanced monster behaviors, a skill tree revamp, transmogrification, expanded photo mode, new finishers, and much more.

In addition, the devs also released a teaser trailer for the previously-announced DLC for The Witcher 3 in “Songs of the Past”. The teaser reveals the brand new region of Letten, an idyllic land rich in rural tradition and folklore, and its people enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals. But a dark secret lurks just beneath the surface, and Geralt must overcome never-before-seen foes as he fights to overcome its long-dormant evil.

Songs of the Past will launch later this year as a paid expansion on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2. It is available to wishlist now across select platforms.

The post ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered’ Announced For September 29 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition to the gameplay trailer, Deep Silver also dropped details on the METRO 2039 Collector’s Edition, which will be available to pre-order later this year. For the first time in the series’ history, the Collector’s Edition will allow you to become a tangible part of the world with an authentic, beautifully crafted replica of the mysterious Stranger’s battle-scared Spartan helmet.

The Metro has been transformed by a powerful new regime and its leader, the fanatical Spartan leader known as Hunter.  METRO 2039’s protagonist, The Stranger, is consumed with anger and hatred, chastising the Fuhrer for his lies and hypocrisy.  As part of the Spartan Order, Hunter was a legend, a high-ranking, experienced Ranger, who swore to protect the Metro.  What’s left of the Spartan Order as he knew it lies in ruins, and where the Spartans were once considered selfless protectors, The Stranger believes Hunter has become the very enemy the Spartans used to fight.

METRO 2039 aims for a February 2027 launch on the Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post New ‘METRO 2039’ Trailer Delves Into The Title’s New Protagonist [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Panache Digital Games will continue developing the game throughout Early Access, with player feedback helping the team identify what works, what needs improvement, and where the experience should go next. Players are encouraged to share their experiences, feedback, and discoveries directly with the development team through the official Panache Discord channel.

Amsterdam is a city built on wealth, power, and sheer will, but beneath its streets lies a force it did not forge. Entities known as The Originals have lived for centuries, granted time, power, and the freedom to abuse both. Now, that power is owed.

In 1666: Amsterdam, players step into the role of Noa Brooklyn, born the Collector and raised by the Zaindaris for a purpose she did not choose: taking that power back. By day, players investigate a handcrafted Amsterdam, searching for the Originals hidden behind human faces. Identify them. Track them. Mark them.

When night falls and the Esbat begins, the hunt changes. The Originals reveal their true forms, and Noa must use witchcraft, spellcasting, strategy, and everything she has learned to confront them and collect what is owed.

Noa does not investigate Amsterdam alone. Aaron, summoned from 1999, now experiences the world through the eyes of a cat. Players can switch between Noa and Aaron, using two radically different playstyles to investigate the city, uncover hidden paths, and approach their targets in different ways.

1666: Amsterdam is currently available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘1666: Amsterdam’ Now Available in Early Access [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Simon Ordell, who is called back to the island of St. Amelia in Scotland to ‘put things right’. What he encounters is a town lying quiet beneath a heavy fog, seemingly abandoned but not at rest. All he has on him besides his clothes are an IV bag and a medical wristband with his name on it. He heads to the town with no leads but the voices from the CRTV he picked up along the way. Venturing deeper and driven to understand his connection to the place and its inhabitants, Simon begins to discover fragments of a past rising to the surface.

Played entirely in first person, Townfall has players exploring, evading, and ultimately trying to survive using a limited set of weapons and tools, including the CRTV, a pocket television used to tune into unstable signals. Evasion is tense; combat is frenetic, while narrative driven puzzles reveal a truth that refuses to stay submerged.

Developed by Screen Burn and co-published by Annapurna Interactive and Konami, Silent Hill: Townfall will launch September 25 for PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ English Voice Cast Revealed [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

First released in 1998 on PC and earning several awards from multiple publications (including Computer Gaming World’s Best Adventure Game for 1999), Sanitarium Enhanced adds modern features to this visually striking title, including full controller support for consoles and Steam Deck, never-before-seen bonus material, widescreen presentation, and other quality-of-life improvements.

For those who haven’t played the original Sanitarium (which you can still grab on Steam and GOG), you awaken disfigured in a decaying asylum, with no memory of who you are or how you got there. Eventually, you learn that your first name is Max. After escaping your cell and delving into the asylum, Max is transported through a chain of nightmare worlds—a village of deformed children, a town of insectoid mutations, a circus of the grotesque—as you piece together the fractured truth of your own identity.

The post Classic Adventure Horror Title ‘Sanitarium’ Returns in New Enhanced Edition [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Not to be confused with that other Alien franchise (though heavily inspired by it), Alien Breed started out way back in 1991 on the Amiga computer, featuring top-down game play reminiscent of Gauntlet. Players would have to make their way through the level in order to find the lift down, occasionally having to blow up the level above them in the process. Along the way, you’d collect various weapons and enhancements in order to deal with the alien menace that you’ll encounter throughout the levels.

For the 35th Anniversary Collection, Antstream has collected the six titles from the series’ first era, including multiple versions for a couple of titles. Each title can be played solo, or you and a friend can team up in either couch co-op or online play.

• Alien Breed
• Alien Breed Special Edition ’92
• Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues (OCS and AGA versions)
• Alien Breed: Tower Assault (Amiga 1200 and CD32 versions)
• Alien Breed 3D (including Demo 1 and 2)
• Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds

In addition to the six titles, there is also the new Horde Mode and Rush Mode, which see you tackle the relentless swarm in solo or as a team across all supported platforms with no saves and no continues. There’s also a treasure trove of information in The Vault, which offers a deep dive into the concept art and original retail launches, as well as exclusive developer interviews and retrospective videos from the original team.

All of the games sport upgraded hardware interface, including full twin-stick support for both 2D and 3D titles, and classic Mouse and Keyboard support for 3D. The framerates have also been improved, and save states allow you to pause and continue different runs. The games can also be played in either a classic 4:3 aspect ratio or modern 16:9 formats, with a variety of filters and in-game bezels.

The post ‘Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection’ Announced for September Release on PC, Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The first community-driven chapter for the asymmetrical multiplayer title is now available in the Steam Public Test Build, introducing an otherworldly Killer, The Judgement, and post-apocalyptic Survivor, Aurora Stardotter. Both characters have been forged by the community through hundreds of thousands of votes spanning over a year and a half.

Through a series of votes, blog posts, and community streams, the Dead by Daylight community voted on a variety of different topics, with the outcomes determining elements of the Chapter’s development. For their Killer, they chose an otherworldly being with divine themes – a first among the game’s villainous roster. For their Survivor, they chose a spiritual scientist from a world destroyed by The Judgment itself, adding a post-apocalyptic tilt to this Chapter’s lore.

With Divine Light, The Judgment summons a pillar of divine light that injures Survivors and marks them with Heresy. When downed, marked Survivors may be sent into Exile: a realm of eternal punishment where they must avoid hazards or risk speeding up their own demise.

The Judgment is blessed with three character-specific perks:

Celestial Witness briefly reveals your Obsession’s aura when they are a great distance away. Hex: Under Your Thumb ignites a Dull Totem that limits Survivors’ Haste after the first time they gain a Hook State. Finally, whenever you damage a Generator, Lay Waste will make it regress faster the further it has been repaired.

Meanwhile, Survivor Aurora Stardotter arrives with three character-specific Perks. Fruits of Your Labor lets you stack up tokens as you complete Generators. When you finish your repairs, you’ll gain Haste and increased healing progress for each token you possess. While being chased by the Killer, Salvation’s Cry briefly reveals both of your auras to fellow Survivors. Your teammates’ auras will become visible to you in turn. Finally, Boon: Steadfast creates a Boon Totem that causes Generators in range to regress more slowly and be repaired faster.

Dead by Daylight: Chorus of Sin and officially releases on August 25 for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Xbox Series, and the Nintendo Switch.

The post Dive Into the Story for ‘Dead by Daylight: Chorus of Sin’ with the New Trailer [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Blending stealth, environmental puzzles and tense platforming, Kumarn is created for fans of the genre popularised by Little Nightmares and Reanimal, but with a more “sinister” edge. Kumarn, a young child spirit, and his loyal companion Zeb were once guardians of their village, where humans and spirits co-existed in harmony to bring luck, prosperity and protection to those who lived there.

However, when a forbidden ritual tears them from their shrine, they are cast into a nightmarish world of whispering forests, forsaken villages and forgotten temples where haunting ancient folklore has awakened into a terrifying reality. Relentlessly stalked by twisted creatures and restless ghosts born from Thai tales that mourn, hunger and hunt them, they must brave a land consumed by ancient darkness to find their way home.

“With Kumarn: The Wandering Spirit, our goal has always been to introduce Thai horror to the world,” said Wyn Panichpakdee, Managing Director at WereBuff Studio. “We want to share the unique stories, beliefs, and folklore of Thailand in a way that can be experienced by players everywhere. We’re thrilled to have Wired Productions as a partner who believes in both the game and our creative direction, and we look forward to bringing Thai horror to a global audience together.”

The post Wired Productions Inks Deal to Publish Thai Horror Adventure Title ‘Kumarn: The Wandering Spirit’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Set in a near-future dystopian world, SiN: Reloaded puts players in control of security consultant Colonel John R. Blade as players take on his nemesis Doctor Elexis Sinclaire. When Elexis, CEO of SinTEK Industries, begins injecting the streets with a DNA-altering drug, it’s time to reassess the laws of morality by facing off against Elexis’ unholy army of genetically-engineered mutants.

The original SiN was lauded for introducing a groundbreaking level of interactivity, as well as pushing the Quake II engine to its limits. Players can hack their way into computer terminals using DOS-style code, use elevators and security cameras to wreak havoc, and traverse levels using a variety of vehicles, including a forklift, a patrol boat, and a helicopter. Players’ actions also have consequences, resulting in branching paths as the game progresses.

SiN: Reloaded includes the Wages of SiN mission pack, where players go up against a mafia boss with a new army of dangerous henchmen. Both games have been optimized using Nightdive’s proprietary KEX Engine to play on modern systems, and graphics have been beautifully remastered with new textures. Players can enjoy the remastered graphics with HD textures and models (up to) 4K resolution at 144 FPS, anti-aliasing, and upgraded 2D screens and menu art.

Additionally, control schemes have been modernized, maps have been improved, and the original Zak Belika soundtrack has been given a high quality boost by Chris Mock.

The post ‘SiN: Reloaded’ Comes to PC and Consoles on September 24 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Silent Hill: Townfall centers around Simon Ordell, who is called back to the island of St. Amelia in Scotland to ‘put things right’. What he encounters is a town lying quiet beneath a heavy fog, seemingly abandoned but not at rest. All he has on him besides his clothes are an IV bag and a medical wristband with his name on it. He heads to the town with no leads but the voices from the CRTV he picked up along the way. Venturing deeper and driven to understand his connection to the place and its inhabitants, Simon begins to discover fragments of a past rising to the surface.

Played entirely in first person, Townfall has players exploring, evading, and ultimately trying to survive using a limited set of weapons and tools, including the CRTV, a pocket television used to tune into unstable signals. Evasion is tense; combat is frenetic, while narrative driven puzzles reveal a truth that refuses to stay submerged.

Silent Hill: Townfall will launches September 24 for PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post Extended Gameplay Trailer for ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ Welcomes You Home [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Remedy made the announcement via their official X account, which included a shot of the devteam at the Remedy office (did you guys fix those blinds?). “Get ready to unleash Dylan Faden’s paranatural abilities in warped Manhattan on September 24,” reads the message from the team.

Included in the message is the slight delay facing the physical version of Control Resonant, which needs a little more time to cook. Instead of arriving the day of the digital release, players will be able to get the physical version on October 15th.

“We need just a little more time to deliver the physical version to you, but rest assured – nothing stays contained forever.”

In Control Resonant, players take on the role of Dylan Faden (voiced by Sean Durrie), who will explore multiple areas of Manhattan in an expansive, unfamiliar world as an invading cosmic force reshapes the environment, defiles natural law and distorts gravity, reordering reality into a geophysical nightmare. Players will traverse perception-bending locations and journey beyond the material world into a mysterious metaphysical space reflecting Faden’s troubled psyche.

You must tap into power that Dylan must learn to master and make choices to shape abilities that manifest and grow while exploring a deep progression system. Face ever-changing threats head-on, utilizing the environment, unleashing elemental abilities and wielding the raw force Dylan’s shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant.

Control Resonant will launch for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

https://www.twitter.com/remedygames/status/2089729278548021391

The post ‘Control Resonant’ Goes Gold, Physical Release Delayed to October 15 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In this third entry in the Remothered series, players will enter a world where nothing is quite as it seems. When a mysterious recording rekindles the hope that her daughter might still be alive, Susan, against all reason, decides to go to the place where everything seems to have begun: a decaying noble residence isolated on the slopes of Mount Etna and once owned by the Ashmann family.

What starts as a desperate search soon becomes a journey into terror, where family secrets, memory, and obsession intertwine. Susan finds herself drawn into a labyrinth of relentless stalkers, hidden symbols, and supernatural phenomena. As reality fractures and dark powers rise, every step brings her closer to the truth… and to a terror older than herself.

Created to captivate both newcomers and longtime fans of the Remothered saga, Red Nun’s Legacy blends classic survival horror, stealth, and psychological horror. Challenge your survival instinct to get away from murderous enemies, hide and evade the deadly stalkers hunting you down, and fight back in critical moments. Using hypnosis, read objects to reveal forgotten memories, expose concealed passages, and reshape your understanding of the environment.

The post ‘Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy’ Comes Home October 27 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

For starters, Update 2.0 overhauls the Zone’s lighting and visuals. Players can expect a more natural and immersive look with more realistic shadows and reflections across the environment, both inside buildings and in underground locations. The landscapes and foliage have also been reworked to give a “more organic” feel to the Zone.

Players will also find more contested points of interest, including campfires, bus stops, and other locations where stalkers and mutants can cross paths. There are also several under-the-hood fixes address issues such as enemies shooting or throwing objects through walls and unexpected overpopulation in certain areas.

Update 2.0 introduces Custom Rules, allowing players to tailor the difficulty to their preferred playstyle. Adjust individual settings to create anything from a more forgiving survival experience to a truly hardcore challenge. Those looking for an even tougher experience can also try Master difficulty and the optional Expedition mode, previously introduced in earlier updates.

Three types of binoculars are now available to help stalkers scout the Zone, identify targets, and plan their next move. Each model features different technology and functionality. You’ll find them throughout the Zone or purchase them from certain traders.

Along with binoculars, the update also introduces four new weapons, with a unique variant of one of these weapons able to be discovered somewhere in the Zone:

• Arev — assault rifle.
• GP3A — designated marksman rifle.
• SKP — designated marksman rifle.
• Fora-230 — submachine gun.

Fog is now more than a weather effect — it is a gameplay mechanic. Both stalkers and their enemies have reduced visibility and hearing. The Light Rainy weather scenario has also received a visual overhaul to complement the updated environmental presentation.

And finally, for those wanting to get a summary of their activities in the game, there’s now a new Statistics page that has been added to the PDA, allowing stalkers to track their activity across the Zone.

As mentioned, Update 2.0 will launch for free alongside the “Cost of Hope” expansion on August 20. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is available for PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.com, the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5.

The post ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl’ Update 2.0 Detailed Ahead of Launch [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now, IllFonic has released a statement regarding New Zealand, stating that Halloween: The Game will be available digitally for New Zealand, but not physically.

“When we partnered with physical distributors (as we do not handle) to sell packaged goods in Australia and New Zealand, we learned that the ACB rating (used for physical) took precedence over the [International Age Rating Coalition] rating (used for digital). When ACB refused us a rating, it meant the removal of both physical and digital versions in those territories.”

In fact, when IllFonic had announced the rating refusal, IGN decided to do some detective work on the matter, revealing that IllFonic had used the automated, free-to-use online rating tool maintained by the IARC to secure an R18+ rating for the game’s pre-order content, which would be published automatically on Australia’s National Classification Database.

However, the IARC tool can only be used to classify games that are exclusively digitally distributed in Australia. If the game was going to be released physically in Australia, it would need to be submitted to the Classification Board for human rating, not the IARC tool.

Nevertheless, as many readers have pointed out, those Aussies and Kiwis looking to get a physical copy of the game can simply go the import route.

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Cleared for Release in New Zealand appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Revealed during the VR Games Showcase, this newly tailored edition will bring the survival horror experience uncomfortably close to the player. The VR Edition has been thoughtfully adapted around virtual-reality play, rather than simply transferring the original experience into a headset. Item locations and resource distribution have been reworked, while select sections have been altered and rebalanced to suit VR interaction and pacing. The result preserves the oppressive atmosphere, brutal combat, and psychological horror of Total Chaos while offering returning players a fresh journey through Fort Oasis.

Originally created as an award-winning total conversion mod for DOOM II, Total Chaos evolved into a fully standalone survival horror title defined by its oppressive atmosphere and relentless tension. Players are pulled into the abyss of Fort Oasis, a desolate island once considered a prosperous home by its coal-mining community. Now, a suffocating presence hangs over its ruins, creating the inescapable sensation that something is always watching.

Monstrosities stalk the island’s darkest corners, trapping anyone daring enough to enter its depths. To survive, players must scavenge materials, craft weapons, carefully manage limited resources, and piece together remnants of forgotten lives. Each discovery brings them closer to the truth behind the downfall of Fort Oasis, and their own connection to it before their sanity runs dry.

Total Chaos is also available on GOG and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and the Nintendo Switch 2.

The post VR Edition of ‘Total Chaos’ Revealed for SteamVR, Meta Quest [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The trailer also takes the opportunity to dive into the game’s core gameplay, showing how tense survival horror and investigation come together as players explore Arkham, uncover its mysteries, and fight to stay alive.  We also get a deeper look at combat, with an understanding that resources are scarce and ammo is precious.

Set in a Lovecraftian vision of 1920s America, The Sinking City 2 takes place in the infamous city of Arkham. A supernatural flood has driven out all but the most deranged residents, leaving decay and eldritch horrors that roam the streets. Players step into the role of Calvin Rafferty (voiced by Andrew Wheildon-Dennis), an occult adventurer whose cavalier actions have led to devastating consequences.

After a dreaming ritual goes wrong, his girlfriend, the gutsy Faye Bennett (voiced by Gemma Elizabeth Whelan), is left trapped in a mysterious sleep. Now Calvin must navigate the drowned streets of a derelict city in a desperate attempt to bring her back. On his quest, he’ll come face-to-face with a plague of otherworldly creatures, the Slither, who possess and twist the dead into lethal, walking puppets.

The Sinking City 2 launches August 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post Explore the Lovecraftian World of ‘The Sinking City 2’ in the New Trailer [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Per Remedy’s half-year financial report, the long-awaited sequel to the 2010 original reached the three million mark “at an expected pace.” The other titles in the franchise, including 2021’s Alan Wake Remastered, also sold at a normal rate.

“In the second quarter, royalties from both titles were generated entirely by consumer sales and there were no platform deal accruals. Alan Wake 2‘s lifetime sales exceeded 3 million copies during Q2.”

The blemish for Remedy was a decline in game sales and royalties mainly caused by FBC: Firebreak’s launch. In the second quarter, most of FBC: Firebreak’s sales were “revenue accruals from subscription service agreements.”

Obviously, Remedy is currently working towards the September release of Control Resonant, which the company believes will be one of the major releases this year.

“As of August 11th, 2026, we have over 1.5 million wishlists across platforms. Pre-orders opened with healthy momentum, and our data indicates the game is tracking well against comparable titles in its launch window. We are seeing positive traction both in our traditional and growth markets. During the campaign window after the pre-order announcement, on PlayStation, our analytics show Control Resonant ranking among the top three pre-ordered games in the US, Germany and Brazil. It has been encouraging to see Remedy’s voice resonate broadly with players as we advance in our self-publishing strategy.”

Control Resonant launches September 24 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Alan Wake II is available now on PC via the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series.

The post ‘Alan Wake II’ Has Now Sold Over 3 Million Units appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition to the Early Access announcement, the devteam has released a new gameplay feature video, showcasing the core gameplay systems players will master throughout their journey as Noa and Aaron.

The video offers an in-depth look at the game’s investigation mechanics as players hunt the mysterious Originals across Amsterdam. It also showcases combat, the day and night cycle, Noa’s mystical abilities, Aaron’s feline gameplay, and how both characters combine their unique skills to uncover hidden truths and restore the balance of the world.

1666: Amsterdam centres around the eponymous city that was built on wealth, power, and sheer will, but now fuelled by a sinister force it did not forge. Entities known as The Originals have lived for centuries, granted time, granted power, and the freedom to abuse both. That power is now owed. Noa Brooklyn was born The Collector, raised by the Zaindaris for a purpose she did not choose: taking that power back.

The post ‘1666: Amsterdam’ Launches into Early Access on August 25; New Gameplay Feature Video Released [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Anchored by No More Room in Hell 2’s Armageddon Update, 1.0 delivers an intense 8-player co-op experience where high-stakes permadeath ensures every encounter with the undead is a fight for survival – and every victory is another step back from the brink of apocalypse. Shaped directly by two years of continuous community feedback, Version 1.0 drastically expands the sequel through never-before-seen maps, brand-new game modes, and sweeping gameplay refinements built to deliver an unrelenting tactical horror experience where death has consequences.

Designed for total feature parity, the title’s console debut means that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series players will experience the exact same deep survival systems, content updates, and achievements as PC players. Cross-play functions connect every Responder worldwide, delivering faster matchmaking and allowing squads to team up across any device to hold back the endless horde together.

Backed by a Day 1 global progress reset, the 1.0 release brings veterans and new recruits together on equal footing from launch day. For players stepping into the quarantine zone for the first time, 1.0 eliminates the sink-or-swim frustration of traditional hardcore survival games, adding new interactive tutorials and a smoother Beginner difficulty featuring timed respawns. Absolute newcomers can also take advantage of the newly introduced Solo Mode, where permadeath is turned off and main progression is paused to let players master combat, resource management, and map layouts risk-free.

This onboarding comes without softening the nightmare for seasoned players, as higher difficulty tiers have been retuned to be significantly more brutal.

“Bringing No More Room In Hell 2 to 1.0 has been the culmination of unyielding passion and teamwork between our studio and our community,” says Steve Piggott, CEO & Creative Director at Torn Banner Studios. “Working side-by-side with our Early Access community has allowed us to refine this sequel into a modern co-op horror nightmare, preserving its hardcore DNA while opening the doors to a brand-new generation of Responders. With Armageddon upon us, we can’t wait to watch our player base grow as veterans and first-time recruits join forces to survive the relentless undead.”

The post ‘No More Room in Hell 2’ Unleashes 8-Player Co-op Zombie Survival Today [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Over on X, the official account for the game was doing some promoting of the game ahead of its September 8 release, to which one Australian fan responded, stating that they were unable to pre-order the game on PlayStation 5.

The social media team responded with the unfortunate news, stating that despite the developer’s best efforts, Halloween: The Game was denied a rating. The reason behind the refusal was not for Michael Myers carving people up, but rather for the presence of a controlled substance.

Sadly, this means that IllFonic can’t sell the game physically or digitally in both Australia and New Zealand.

Australians are unfortunately no stranger to this sort of “thinking” by the Classification Board, as titles like We Happy Few have been denied a rating because of their use of drugs. Fortunately for We Happy Few, the refusal was later overturned, but sadly, that doesn’t appear to be the case for Halloween: The Game. The fact that smoking weed in the game gives players the advantage of knowing where Michael is on the map probably didn’t help matters.

It probably also doesn’t help that you can drink in the game, too. But that adds a detriment to your movement, which would evens things out, don’t you think?

Halloween: The Game will launch digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. The game will also launch physically on October 6 in two editions.

The post ‘Halloween: The Game’ Denied Rating in Australia appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 drops up to four players into the boots of Colonial Marines deployed to the most hostile corners of the Alien universe. This is not a rescue mission – it’s a fight for survival. Xenomorphs stalk the corridors, ambush from the shadows, and swarm in overwhelming numbers. Every room could be your last.

You must coordinate with your fireteam, utilizing each class’s unique abilities, and adapt on the fly as encounters escalate from tense standoffs to all-out war. Fireteam Elite 2 will feature deeper squad mechanics, smarter enemies, and a “fully customizable Specialist class” that lets players mix and match major and minor abilities from every available class into one Marine. Build a loadout tailored to your exact playstyle and fill whatever role your squad needs.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 with the announcement that the game will launch on August 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The game will be available in two editions: the Digital Standard Edition, and the 40th Anniversary Premium Edition.

The post Nintendo Switch 2 Version of ‘Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2’ Coming This Fall; New Co-op Trailer Released [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Titled “Severing Fates”, the trailer explores Yasui Konpiragu Shrine, a sacred place known for granting wishes, but not always in the ways you might hope. In the game, a Genma called Rasho-gan preys on pilgrims, twisting visitors’ desires to take their body parts for himself. Players can look forward to dueling this multi-armed monster as protagonist Miyamoto Mushashi, wielding the samurai’s Oni Gauntlet and deep arsenal of combat abilities in an intense boss battle.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword returns to a dark fantasy feudal Japan where samurai clash with the supernatural in cutting-edge combat. The game takes place in Kyoto during the early Edo period. Fusing history and myth, the story follows the journey of Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai armed with a mystical Oni Gauntlet, as he battles demons invading Edo-period Kyoto.

Look for Onimusha: Way of the Sword when it launches on September 4 for PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, the Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Pre-orders are available now. Players who pre-order the Standard, Deluxe, or Premium Deluxe editions before the game’s release will receive Early Adopter Bonuses, including the “Sealed Curse” sword skin and “Lion Dog” charm. You can also check out the demo on all platforms (save for the Switch 2).

The post Capcom Debuts “Severing Fates” Trailer for ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Those looking for something extra can also spring for the newly-revealed Deluxe Edition of Crimson Moon, which will offer players access to the Ceremonial Armor Set and the Axe of the Gods weapon cosmetic, along with an upcoming expansion for Crimson Moon that will be released at a later date.

“We’ve made Crimson Moon an intense action-adventure RPG that’s approachable to players. We want as many people as possible to enjoy it, and we priced it with that in mind,” explains David Lesperance, ProbablyMonsters General Manager and Game Director. “With our gothic-inspired art design, co-op support, and epic metal soundtrack, we’ve made something truly unique for gamers to experience this September.”

Crimson Moon is a gothic high renaissance action-adventure RPG built around intense, replayable missions. Players take on the role of the Nephilim, ruthless human-angel hybrids forged to defend humanity. They’re immersed in a blood-soaked power fantasy as they battle their way through the besieged city of Gildenarch using combat that blends brutal precision with deep character progression.

The game is built for either solo or co-op play, with solo slayers getting a satisfying single-player experience, and co-op turning every encounter into a “shared onslaught of power and resilience.” Players who are strong and skilled enough to fight through three districts of Gildenarch in a row will face a world boss. These epic foes will test players’ mastery of their abilities. Only by defeating the three world bosses can players face the hellish final boss.

The post Gothic Action-RPG ‘Crimson Moon’ Launches September 1 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Through a series of votes, blog posts, and community streams, the Dead by Daylight community voted on a variety of different topics, with the outcomes determining elements of the Chapter’s development. For their Killer, they chose an otherworldly being with divine themes – a first among the game’s villainous roster. For their Survivor, they chose a spiritual scientist from a world destroyed by The Judgment itself, adding a post-apocalyptic tilt to this Chapter’s lore.

With Divine Light, The Judgment summons a pillar of divine light that injures Survivors and marks them with Heresy. When downed, marked Survivors may be sent into Exile: a realm of eternal punishment where they must avoid hazards or risk speeding up their own demise.

The Judgment is blessed with three character-specific perks:

Celestial Witness briefly reveals your Obsession’s aura when they are a great distance away. Hex: Under Your Thumb ignites a Dull Totem that limits Survivors’ Haste after the first time they gain a Hook State. Finally, whenever you damage a Generator, Lay Waste will make it regress faster the further it has been repaired.

Meanwhile, Survivor Aurora Stardotter arrives with three character-specific Perks. Fruits of Your Labor lets you stack up tokens as you complete Generators. When you finish your repairs, you’ll gain Haste and increased healing progress for each token you possess. While being chased by the Killer, Salvation’s Cry briefly reveals both of your auras to fellow Survivors. Your teammates’ auras will become visible to you in turn. Finally, Boon: Steadfast creates a Boon Totem that causes Generators in range to regress more slowly and be repaired faster.

Dead by Daylight: Chorus of Sin and officially releases on PC and consoles on August 25.

The post ‘Dead by Daylight: Chorus of Sin’ Now Available in PTB on Steam appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In 1666: Amsterdam, Noa Brooklyn is the heir to an ancient lineage of Zaindaris tasked with hunting down The Originals. Meanwhile, Aaron is mysteriously summoned 300 years into the past and trapped inside the body of a cat. Bound together across centuries, the two must work as one to uncover hidden truths and confront an ancient force threatening the balance of the world.

Set to launch into Early Access on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, 1666: Amsterdam centres around the eponymous city that was built on wealth, power, and sheer will, but now fuelled by a sinister force it did not forge. Entities known as The Originals have lived for centuries, granted time, granted power, and the freedom to abuse both. That power is now owed. Noa Brooklyn was born The Collector, raised by the Zaindaris for a purpose she did not choose: taking that power back.

The post New Gameplay Feature Video for ‘1666: Amsterdam’ Introduces the Protagonists [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In Mimic, players must escape the crumbling Icarus spacecraft while rooting out who amongst them is secretly a mimic: an alien creature that can disguise itself as a fellow human survivor. Players must solve various objectives to create their escape route while surviving against two sinister threats pursuing them. Meanwhile, as the titular Mimic, you’ll hunt from the shadows, hiding beneath the flesh of a friend. With five players in online matchmaking and up to ten in customizable private lobbies, Mimic aims to blend tense survival, social deduction, and dynamic mechanics into a highly replayable multiplayer experience.

Unlike other asymmetrical multiplayer horror games that pit survivors against a sole antagonist, players in Mimic are assigned secret roles that dictate their win conditions. Crew members must repair the ship’s vital systems and identify the alien threat before it’s too late. Meanwhile, the player assigned the agent role has ulterior motives of the corporate kind unbeknownst to the rest of the crew that doesn’t prioritize their survival. Lastly, the sole purpose of the mimic, is to blend in, gain trust, and strike when survivors are most vulnerable. But the mimic isn’t the only threat at play: an NPC android roams the halls of the Icarus, indiscriminately hunting all organic lifeforms who could be the mimic in disguise.

Making things even more interesting is the fact that players do not have weapons, and must rely on their wits and survival instincts. Whether with pure intent or selfish gain in mind, players have the power to influence the android’s pursuit, sabotage escape efforts, and sow chaos amongst the ranks.

In addition to PC, Mimic will also launch for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series once the game exits Early Access next year.

The post Social-Deduction Horror Game ‘Mimic’ Terrorizes PC Gamers on October 27 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In even bigger news, Resident Evil 5, which has sold just over 19 million across various incarnations, is no longer the best selling entry in the series. That title now belongs to 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake, which has now moved 19.75 million copies across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

It gets only more crowded when you look at the numbers of other entries: Resident Evil 7: biohazard currently sits at 18.41 million, while Resident Evil 6 has hit 17.60 million units. 2023’s Resident Evil 4 remake isn’t far behind with 16.04 million, while Resident Evil Village is at 15.86 million units. And while it’s considered a “miss” compared to the other remakes, 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake is still at a respectable 14.52 million units.

Devil May Cry V, which was already the highest-selling entry in the franchise, has apparently seen a boost in sales thanks to the second season of the Netflix series and last month’s launch on the Switch 2, having now hit 14. 24 million units.

Meanwhile, we can look forward to Zach Cregger‘s violent take on the franchise with his Resident Evil film, which is set for a September 16 release.

The post ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Surpasses 8 Million Units Sold; ‘Resident Evil 2’ Remake Now Highest-Selling in Franchise appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Original Tormented Souls protagonist Caroline Walker returns after her ordeal at Wildberger Hospital. Yearning for a normal life, Caroline is dealt another bad hand when her sister Anna falls victim to a mysterious affliction. When conventional remedies prove ineffective, Caroline looks to the supernatural and an ancient, forbidden ritual for a cure, leading her to the remote South-American community of Puerto Miller.

Founded centuries ago by the secretive Ismuit tribe, Puerto Miller is home to the aforementioned minor religious order that spurned connection with the outside world. As these things go, beneath the town’s crumbling façade lies an ancient, unspeakable horror.

Fortunately, Caroline will have a greatly expanded range of weapons at her disposal. Caroline can also take advantage of the new quick select feature that allows her to switch weapons in the heat of battle, as well as new upgrade components to further strengthen her arsenal.

The post ‘Tormented Souls II’ Launches Physically and Digitally for the Nintendo Switch 2 on October 15 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The footage revolves around never-before-seen gameplay captured in the Arkham Fish Market, once a bustling waterfront hub alive with merchants, dockworkers, fishermen, and travelers. Today, it stands as a decaying monument to the evacuated city. Rusting ships sit abandoned in the harbor, empty storefronts line the flooded halls, and the workshops that once supported the local fleets have long since fallen silent. Eldritch monstrosities now stalk the market’s walkways, while only the most unhinged survivors remain, as the flood seeps further and further into their minds.

The footage also offers a closer look at protagonist Calvin Rafferty in combat, showcasing more advanced weapons and the tougher encounters awaiting players as they face larger, deadlier, and increasingly unpredictable horrors.

Frogwares has also confirmed that The Sinking City 2 will include a fully featured New Game+ mode at launch, giving players even more reasons to return to Arkham after completing the main story. As one would expect, New Game+ lets players carry over all their perk points, perks and items to the start of the game to better take on a range of challenges to unlock certain achievements as well as unlock various cosmetic and gameplay rewards.

Alongside the announcement, the team confirmed that its planned HDR patch is now part of the game’s free post-launch support. As development enters its final stretch, the studio has prioritized completing the core game and launch features, with the HDR update following shortly afterward.

The Sinking City 2 launches August 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Pre-orders are now open.

The post Frogwares Unleashes New Gameplay Footage for ‘The Sinking City 2’ [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.