Inspired by SCP-3008 and The Backrooms, Storebound sees 1-3 players trapped in an endless store. By day, lights flicker across deserted halls, inviting exploration. By night, employees roam the aisles looking to “assist” you. Silence, teamwork, and quick thinking are your only tools for survival.

Across a 6-episode campaign lasting 5 to 7 hours, squads must explore different eras across the store’s sprawling departments, solve twisted logic puzzles, and evade horrific “employees” who stalk the aisles for shoppers needing “after-hours assistance.”

Plan your next move using proximity voice chat and walkie-talkies. Piece together environmental clues and decode cryptic notes to find your next destination. Split up and look for whatever may help you escape. Along the way, search the mall for tools and items. But be wary of the employees. Do you cling to the shadows, letting madness creep in, or stay in the light where they’re already watching you?

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“October has arrived, which means Halloween is right around the corner, and nobody loves this haunting holiday quite like the people of Haddonfield,” says the team’s post on X. “We have big plans to celebrate the season of scares with this community, and can’t wait to share more details about the costumes, content, and more headed to Halloween: The Game.”

And as mentioned, the physical release for Halloween: The Game will launch for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series on October 6. Teaming up with Nighthawk Interactive, there will be two editions for the physical edition: the Standard Edition will be available for MSRP $39.99, while the Limited Collector’s Edition will be available for MSRP $149.99.

The Standard Edition of Halloween: The Game will include a copy of the game for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, an exclusive poster, and advance access to the Michael Myers Clown skin and two civilian cosmetics.

Meanwhile, the Limited Collector’s Edition will include a copy of the game, plus an exclusive Trick or Treat Studios Shape Jump variant action figure, exclusive lenticular art, an exclusive poster, advance access to the Michael Myers Samhain and Clown skins, advance access to the two civilian cosmetics from the Standard edition and two additional civilian cosmetics, and more.

Halloween: The Game is now available digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Check out our review if you haven’t done so.

The post IllFonic Teases “Big Plans” for the Season for ‘Halloween: The Game’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I assumed the game would involve some light puzzle solving as I moved between set pieces with horrific creatures in a strange but beautiful world. What I got instead was a challenging cross between Dead Space, Super Metroid, and Resident Evil, with a unique vibe that immediately set it apart. While there are many stylistic choices that resemble Tarsier Studio’s work on Little Nightmares, this was its own beast, and all the better for it.

End of Abyss casts you as Cel, a technician who is part of a team exploring a strange underground compound in the aftermath of an unspecified incident. You’re escorted in by a team of soldiers, but after a brief introduction, you’re largely tasked with exploring the facility on your own, fending off the warped creatures that roam its halls. For most of the game, there isn’t much more to the premise than that.

There may be things you glean from the environments or notes around the level, but the few cutscenes in the game never really fully explain what’s going on. The setup feels like just enough to send you on your journey through this harsh and compelling world, though I was hoping for a little more narrative punch to pay off all the intrigue.

An Oppressive Sci-Fi World Built on Atmosphere

What it lacks in narrative, it makes up for in pure vibes, which is something that often works best for games of this type. From the first screen, the washed out blue color palette immediately sets a bleak and eerie tone, matched by the minimal but atmospheric soundtrack that accompanies the action. The preset camera angle captures things from an isometric perspective that shifts in and out when needed, giving the devs another tool in their toolbox for setting mood. Each room feels like a little diorama, showing off a decaying and broken down facility with weird biomass growing on the walls like something out of Annihilation.

It’s clear that it takes inspiration from retrofuturistic settings like Alien, but there’s enough to the design of the technology that makes it feel like its own thing. I particularly loved the suits that the soldiers wear as they tower over Cel with weirdly geometric helmets that hide their humanity.

The strong mood is key to making the environment enticing, which is important for a game so based on exploration. The first areas feel compact and dense, tightly designed with shortcuts like Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion, but after the second boss the game opens up dramatically, revealing a more open and sprawling game than I anticipated. Like a Metroid game, you’ll gain access to tools or abilities that will allow you to open up previously unavailable areas, building a great network of paths to cross the facility’s various sectors. After a more linear beginning, I was really surprised at how little the game held your hand, asking you to truly explore the area to find the way to your goal.

Exploration Rewards Curiosity—and Patience

For the most part, it’s incredibly successful. Save points, which bring you back to full health and restore your healing items, are scattered around at just the right distance from each other, making it feel like a well-earned relief when you stumble upon one for the first time. Each sector has a map terminal hidden within, and finding that always feels like a huge victory. Opening up your in-game map and trying to see which areas you haven’t checked out yet, then puzzling out your route to get there is one of my all-time favorite things to do in a video game, and End of Abyss captured this feeling perfectly.

To make it feel even more active, you have a scanner tool that can be used to analyze objects in the environment. This will often be the best way to figure out what’s blocking you from getting through a door, whether it’s a specific key or it’s locked from the other side. Information about doors isn’t added to your map until you do the scan, making it part of the satisfying core loop of completing your map of the world. While some people may want a smoother experience that automates this process, the friction of having to do it myself was what made it more captivating, making me feel like I’m exploring and charting this world on my own.

As with many games of this type, this open structure can lead to frustration. There were points later in the game where I swore I had explored every single option on the map, but still had areas that remained inaccessible to me. It was a laborious process to retrace all my steps, room by room, trying to figure out what I had missed. In this specific instance, I had simply not noticed a switch to extend a bridge in an area that I had passed through many times. Due to the lighting and perspective, it was hard for me to see, only spotting it when I was randomly swinging around the scanner to look for something hidden.

You’re definitely intended to feel some friction as you’re exploring, as getting lost definitely feels like the experience the developers intended, but it’s a tricky tightrope to walk to make sure that’s balanced. It feels so rewarding when you take another look at the map and realize that you finally have the right item for an area, though frustration can definitely start to build if you’re not able to spot it. I definitely have more patience for this type of game, as exploration is one of the most rewarding parts of gaming to me, but if that’s something that can grind your enjoyment to a halt, go in knowing that End of Abyss may frustrate you in certain areas. It’s challenging to explore, but that challenge comes with satisfaction when you finally find your way.

Strong Creature Design, Uneven Enemy Balance

While exploring the many sectors of the game, you’ll be fighting the mutated creatures that roam the facility. Combat takes the form of twin stick shooting, with the right stick used to aim your various weapons. The starter pistol has unlimited ammo and will be your primary weapon throughout the game, but you’ll pick up other firearms that pack a bit more of a punch. The alternate weapons have a much more limited ammo supply, so choosing when to use your precious shotgun shells is key to survival. You’ll also find other items that either have exploration utility, like flares or placed explosives, or combat uses, like grenades. A well-timed grenade definitely turned the tide of battle a few times, which meant I was sure to keep myself well stocked.

Defeating enemies will yield a currency called Fragments, which can be used in save rooms to either craft ammo and consumables or upgrade your weapons. Grenades and ammo won’t be frequently found while exploring, so crafting them is the only way you can keep yourself armed for more dangerous encounters. Weapon upgrades, which require more limited resources in addition to Fragments, help your guns pack more punch, sometimes adding new fire modes or modifications in addition to a general stat bump. Most of my upgrade materials went into my pistol, since it was the most used gun by far, which often made me less likely to try to find use cases for other weapons, but they still made their way into my rotation when things got hairy.

Enemy design is strong throughout, if a little derivative. Most of them fall into the category of shambling humanoid, often given body horror flair by The Thing or Resident Evil-style mutations. While they might not be the most unique designs, they are well-rendered in the game’s gorgeous art style, brought to life by expressive animations that make them feel strange, inhuman, and dangerous.

Boss Battles Shine Despite an Inconsistent Difficulty Curve

I appreciate the way they break up exploration, but the fact that they respawn any time you stop and save can slowly turn them from menacing to tedious over the course of the game. By the tenth time you’re crossing the same area, they no longer feel like a threat, just something you need to navigate around. This is compounded by the fact that they are a bit more tanky than they should be, meaning you sometimes have to put a couple full clips of your pistol into a standard monster to take them down.

Robotic enemies in particular were guilty of this, which was exacerbated by the fact that they were the most common enemy in many of the game’s locked room encounters that required you to kill waves of enemies to progress. The tanky enemies do make the weapon upgrades feel more meaningful, but I feel like I would have enjoyed combat more if they had fewer hit points and more variety in attack behaviors.

Boss encounters featured not only the most grotesque creature designs but also the most interesting mechanically, but the difficulty curve of them didn’t feel quite right. The second boss of the game, a massive centipede made of bodies, ended up being the most challenging to me, taking way more tries than even the game’s final boss. There were late game bosses that I was beating in one try that felt way easier than the first few, so it feels like there could have been another pass done at slowly ramping up the boss difficulty in a smoother manner.

A Rewarding Horror Adventure for Players Who Love Exploration

Another big surprise with the game was the large amount of optional content. There is a weapon you get late in the game that allows you to progress into new areas you couldn’t, and exploring these areas will lead to collectibles that will get you the game’s alternate ending. I was a little disappointed with the vagueness of the standard narrative conclusion, so having both more sectors and narrative to explore after finishing is an enticing prospect, even if I didn’t have time to get to it in the review period.

For all the praise I’ve had for the general structure and gameplay, almost every aspect was, at one point or another, marred by technical issues. I had several instances where the map wasn’t updating properly, causing me to backtrack to areas that were marked as locked but I had already opened. One room I entered was completely black and did not properly show the room until I blindly walked into the exact right spot. I got soft locked when locked doors wouldn’t open after defeating the waves of enemies, and I had several hard crashes.

When trying to beat the final boss, it would occasionally not spawn after the intro cutscene, forcing me to turn the game off and on before it would load properly. One of the most frustrating bugs involved a fan that was supposed to be blocking me from climbing a ladder, but the fan wasn’t animating, so I was just hitting an invisible wall with no indication of what was stopping me. There were multiple patches during the review period, so hopefully things will be ironed out soon after release, but technical issues definitely got in the way of my enjoyment of the game several times throughout the 12 hours I spent with it.

End of Abyss is an uncompromised take on the Metroidvania genre that will probably frustrate many players, but if you get joy out of slowly filling out a map and puzzling out your next place to explore, you’ll feel right at home in its bleak and eerie world. While the combat could use a bit of a balance pass, both in its boss progression and enemy health, Section 9 clearly achieved what they were setting out to do.

The mood created through traversing its derelict world helped make up for the lack of concrete narrative, telling its tale through immaculately eerie vibes and atmosphere. My hope is that the bugs that hampered much of my playtime will get ironed out in the near future, because End of Abyss’ brand of demanding exploration was incredibly rewarding.

Review code provided by publisher. End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

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In a press release, Stormind Games CEO and co-founder Antonio Cannata stated that the community has played a fundamental role in the history of Remothered. “Those who purchased and supported the first two games directly contributed to the growth of the series. We therefore want to give them access to the Remastered editions at no additional cost. The free upgrade is meant as a concrete thank you for the support we’ve received over time.”

Both remasters have been upgraded to Unreal Engine 5, featuring upgraded lighting, character models and assets, redesigned UI and more.

In Remothered: Tormented Fathers, Rosemary Reed is a sharp and determined 35-year-old woman who arrives at the isolated home of Richard Felton under false pretenses. She is there to uncover the truth about Celeste, a young girl who simply vanished. The nurse Gloria watches over the aging, ailing Felton. But the moment Dr. Felton realizes why Rosemary is really there, the hunt begins. What follows is a web of obsession, buried secrets, and psychological horror where the line between victim and monster is never where you expect it.

In the second entry, Remothered: Broken Porcelain Remastered, the truths buried in the Ashmann Inn will not be discovered easily: its many mysteries are intertwined and guarded by the looming threat of the stalkers, powerful hunters trapped in time and the confines of its walls. Survival will take more than just quick reactions as a strategic and resourceful approach will quickly become critical in this haunting adventure. Be smart, as knowing the best time to sneak, flee or fight imminent dangers can quickly make the hunters become the hunted.

The third entry in the series, Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy, will launch on October 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.

The post Remasters of First Two ‘Remothered’ Entries Arriving Q1 2027 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Those players who played through the May demo will find plenty has changed in Pantheon. The former three-stage structure has been streamlined into a single, more immersive session, with clear, approachable missions replacing complex puzzles. Each run now features randomized terrain and in-game element spawn locations, while fallen players can return as “MiRO” to assist teammates and be revived through interaction. S.O.M.A. also now begins offline, awakening only when it detects nearby noise or movement, keeping players on their toes with an unpredictable threat.

CODE EXIT puts players in the role of investigators sent into Pantheon, which has been overrun by the rogue AI known as Minerva, an integrated artificial intelligence that has turned the city into a locked-down machine nightmare. As players explore dark, isolated facilities, they’ll have to contend with Minerva roaming the city, observing their behavior in real time, and adapting its tactics. Restore systems, recover hidden data, and work together to uncover the truth behind the collapse of Pantheon before Minerva closes in.

Look for the full version of CODE EXIT on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store in 2027.

The post Playtest Is Now Live for Sci-Fi Co-Op Survival Horror Game ‘CODE EXIT’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The 1998 SiN pushed traditional shooter formulas further, introducing systemic features rare for its time, including area-specific hit detection, reactive enemy responses and interactive level elements ranging from functional computers to pilotable aircraft. SiN: Reloaded maintains the full scope of these mechanics, bringing the game’s reactive combat and adaptable mission structure to current platforms without compromising its core design.

“SiN has always been one of those games that deserved another chance,” said Stephen Kick, Studio Head at Nightdive Studios. “It was ambitious, interactive, funny, and willing to experiment with ideas that were years ahead of their time. There’s an incredible amount of personality in this game, and that’s something we never wanted to lose. With SiN: Reloaded, our goal was to preserve everything that made the original special while finally giving it the presentation and performance it deserves. More than anything, I’m excited that a new generation of players will finally get to discover why so many of us fell in love with SiN in the first place.”

Enter a near-future dystopian world as security consultant Colonel John R. Blade as you take on the seductively evil Doctor Elexis Sinclaire. When Elexis, the CEO of SinTEK Industries, begins injecting the streets with a DNA-altering drug, it’s time to reassess the laws of morality. As Blade, you’ve made a religion out of fighting crime. Now you’re going to make Elexis pay for her sins by taking on her unholy army of genetically-engineered mutants.

The post Nightdive Studios’ Long-Awaited ‘SiN: Reloaded’ Now Available On Consoles and PC [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Players take on the role of Dylan Faden as he battles a paranatural crisis engulfing a reality-warped Manhattan, unleashing his powers and mastering the different forms of his shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant, to face dangerous enemies and monumental bosses.

“Control Resonant is the result of nearly seven years of true team effort and collaboration that pushes our paranatural action RPG series into an expansive, reality-warping playground of choice, power, and consequence,” said Mikael Kasurinen, Creative Director of Control Resonant. “For our new players, you don’t have to know the first game to jump into this sequel. We’ve made this easy to pick up and hard to put down. For our returning fans, we’ve pushed the scale beyond anything we’ve done before, elevating combat, exploration, and storytelling into a bigger, more memorable experience. It’s ambitious, a little wild, thought-provoking and was never easy to create, but easy was never the goal! Now that Control Resonant is here, we can’t wait for our players, both old and new, to get lost in it.”

And for those interested in extra goodies, Remedy is teaming up with iam8bit for a new merchandise collection. Inspired by the game, the collection includes Corrupted Metro apparel, a Billboard Bumper Stickers Pack, an Atlantis Café Espresso Cup Set, three Federal Bureau of Control propaganda posters, and an FBC Magnet Set. The posters are 1:1 recreations of their in-game counterparts, printed on 16.5″ x 23.3″ poster stock.

The full iam8bit x Control Resonant collection is available for pre-order now through October 26, with shipping expected in Q1 2027. Hit up iam8bit.com to explore the collection.

And if you need further convincing to grab the game, check out Aaron’s review.

The post ‘Control Resonant’ Out Today; New iam8bit Merchandise Collection up for Pre-Order [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Townfall centers on 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.

And if you haven’t already, check out Harrison’s review of the game, which continues the scares you expect while offering up a few new tricks.

The post ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ Available Now on PC, PlayStation [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition, Section 9 is teaming up with Epic Games for an all-new End of Abyss cosmetic in Fortnite to celebrate the upcoming launch of the former. And coincidentally, the cosmetic is hitting the same time as the upcoming annual Fortnitemares event.

In the depths of a mysterious underground compound, a mission to investigate disturbances of unknown origin has descended into a harrowing descent through a broken and abandoned world. Players take on the role of a young combat technician, Cel, as she uncovers the truth behind the facility’s derelict areas and confronts the monstrous creatures that roam them.

Players descend into the halls of a sprawling complex, where broken machines whisper to you from the depths, and nothing you encounter is fully human. Outmatched by the twisted horrors you face, you must upgrade your gear and adapt, pushing your limits just to stay alive against the crushing pressure of the facility you’re trapped within.

Navigate branching paths and uncover hidden areas using your Scanner and the tools you unlock along the way. Pathways open as you grow stronger, allowing you to return to forgotten corridors and secrets once sealed away.

End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post Third Behind-The-Scenes Video for ‘End of Abyss’ Explores Its Sound Design [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Alongside the physical release dates, Stormind Games also confirmed that both the Standard Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.com on October 27.

The Digital Deluxe Edition of Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy includes:

• The full game
• Digital artbook
• Full digital soundtrack, composed by Akira Yamaoka and Aram Shahbazians

Meanwhile, the Physical Deluxe Edition includes the same digital artbook and soundtrack, alongside the full game and an exclusive reversible coversheet.

In this third entry in the Remothered series, players will enter a world where nothing is quite as it seems. Exploring an abandoned villa, you’ll need to use your wits to overcome disturbing revelations, secrets, and a twisted reality to learn the truth behind the Red Nun—all while surviving the relentless Stalkers preying upon you.

Red Nun’s Legacy introduces more ways than ever to fight back against the terror and expand your exploration. Utilize limited melee weapons to keep the Stalkers at bay, and conjure unique psychic powers to uncover new hidden pathways and secrets in the villa.

Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy features a star-studded roster of talent including the voices of Cissy Jones (Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, BAFTA winner for Firewatch) and Maggie Robertson (Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village).

The post ‘Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy’ Deluxe Edition Announced for PC and Consoles appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Building on what players loved about the gameplay for Cronos: The New Dawn, the Lazarus expansion takes it even further, aiming to deliver a “more visceral and intense style”. That includes the new abilities available to Pathfinder, including:

• Teleportation: Allows players to instantly teleport across a designated area, helping them outmaneuver groups of enemies. It can also be used during exploration to navigate distorted environments and reach otherwise inaccessible areas to discover hidden resources.
• Decoy: Allows the Pathfinder to leave a ghostly copy of himself behind while moving to a new position as an invisible to enemies.
• Gladius (new weapon): A new and much more powerful weapon wielded by the Pathfinder, featuring a higher fire rate and piercing bullets that deal increased damage.

Cronos: Lazarus sees players return to the wastelands of New Dawn as the once-loyal Pathfinder in the process of transforming into the Warden from the base game. Isolated in the Terminal and severed from the Collective, he devotes every waking moment to awakening a lost Essence that he refuses to let fade. His sanctuary has unfortunately been compromised, as a new kind of hunter has been deployed with one directive: to find and eliminate The Warden.

The expansion is scheduled for release in Fall 2026 for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series,  and the Nintendo Switch 2.

The post Experience The More Visceral Gameplay of ‘Cronos: Lazarus’ With The New Trailer [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As a warm-up for the real festivities to celebrate the anniversary, Techland has launched a Double XP Event, giving both existing and new players an extra reason to jump into the game before the main anniversary celebrations begin.

The Call of the Beast: Anniversary Edition will run for three weeks, featuring global community goals and weekend boons that players can vote for. Reaching each weekly goal will unlock special anniversary rewards, including the unique outfit and stylish weapon inspired by Castor Woods.

Players can also look forward to daily Crane’s Anniversary Drops, with a new surprise waiting each day just for logging in. The rewards will include a mix of in-game items and digital anniversary goodies to celebrate the occasion. And every Friday, players can claim an exclusive weapon to use during Call of The Beast.

As for the new physical PS5 edition of the game, all three physical editions will include the Definitive Edition of Dying Light: The Beast, which includes all post-launch updates.

The Retail Version includes the game on PlayStation 5  and a game manual. This version will be available with an unlimited pre-order quantity.

Meanwhile, the Super Rare Games Edition includes the game and manual, plus an SRG sticker, an exclusive metallic slipcover and a numbered SRG release. This version will be available in a limited pre-order quantity.

Finally, the Anniversary Edition is designed for the ultimate Dying Light: The Beast fans. It includes the game together with a collection of physical items inspired by Castor Woods and will also be available in limited quantities.

All physical editions will be available to pre-order now from Super Rare Games. Additionally, The Super Rare Games Edition and Anniversary Edition will be available as limited pre-orders until October 16th, with final quantities announced once the ordering window closes.

Dying Light: The Beast is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post Techland Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of ‘Dying Light: The Beast’ With New Physical Edition and More appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

You see, ever since the original creative force at Team Silent disbanded — resulting in the property being passed around between hack developers who undoubtedly loved, but didn’t quite get, it — Silent Hill had been in a state of gradual decline. From the mid-2000s onwards, it seemed as though every new instalment in the series was destined to be a disappointment. Some were admirable (Shattered Memories), some were abominable (Homecoming), but they were failures all the same. As if to add insult to injury, the tantalizing Silent Hills collab between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro was bafflingly killed in its crib, and the less said about that pachinko machine debacle, the better. For a while there, it truly felt like putrefaction had set in and that SH was now well past its sell-by date.

Enter the awkwardly titled f, which — in a feat comparable to how Resident Evil 7 saved its respective franchise from atrophy — showed that there was still some gas left in the tank after all. Breathing fresh life into Silent Hill, it took bold risks by daring to leave behind the familiar US setting; shaking up the gameplay in ballsy ways; and shedding much of the narrative baggage associated with its predecessors. Not everyone appreciated these changes but, for those of us who could get on board with the radical vision, it made for a galvanising experience. One that still adhered to the spirit, if not the minutiae, of the classic games.

All of which is to say that f was always going to be a tough act to follow. Not only was it brilliant in its own right, but it seemed to widen the scope for what an SH title could be and got us excited about the series’ future again. We’re pleased to report, then, that its immediate successor more than lives up to that promise and keeps the hot streak going.

Silent Hill: Townfall might be less iconoclastic when it comes to tearing up the series rulebook — indulging in more traditional “Silent Hill” tropes — but it still has ideas to spare and a unique vibe that’s entirely its own. From excellent storytelling to outstanding puzzles, an evocative sense of place, and supremely effective scares, it’s one of the franchise’s best outings to date. And proof positive that f wasn’t a fluke.

St. Amelia Provides A Welcome Change of Scenery

Of the many liberties that f took with the Silent Hill formula, the most striking was surely its decision to relocate the action from provincial Maine to rural Japan. It set a freeing precedent that Silent Hill games needn’t have anything to do with the titular municipality itself (SH4: The Room at least took place in the neighbouring Ashfield, which has plenty of lore connections).

Having now developed a taste for jet-setting, it seems that the franchise is overcome with wanderlust and wants to see the rest of the world. Because Townfall whisks us away to yet another time zone!

Fair warning, though, this latest excursion is a tad less exotic, as you’ll be trading in the picturesque backdrop of Asia for the chilly temperatures, bracing winds and choppy waters of the Scottish North Sea. Specifically, you’ll be exploring the fictional island of St. Amelia; a tight-knit fishing community that was once sustained by a bustling angling trade but that now appears to have been utterly deserted.

It’s not immediately clear what could have befallen such a quaint, isolated spot to make it a strict no-go zone. Yet there are a few clues scattered around the place. Notices from the district council reference disruptions caused by some recent incident; there’s evidence of both picket lines and vigils being held in the town square; and we gather that all of the public services were stretched to their absolute limits in the town’s final days (even the healthcare providers put up signs begging patients not to turn up).

So, other than the fact that you’ll be seeing pound signs instead of dollar signs, and that all the post boxes are coloured red, it’s got an awful lot in common with the bleakness of Silent Hill. If the civic leaders of the two towns were ever to reach out to one another, you could easily envision them establishing some kind of sister city arrangement. After all, they’re both enveloped by eerie fog, they both have the same normal world/otherworld dichotomy, and they both do that thing where they lure in doomed souls to torment them with their innermost fears and anxieties.

The target in this instance is one Simon Ordell, an American who has supposedly been to St. Amelia before yet appears to have no recollection of what went so horribly wrong there. He’s been summoned by an apparent acquaintance from the past, named Richard, who is under the impression that, together, they will be able to make things right. Whatever that means.

Washing up on the shore, with a mysterious intravenous drip hooked to his veins and a patient ID tag fastened around his wrist, Simon embarks on a mission to find Richard and reclaim his memories. Of course, that’ll be easier said than done, as navigating St. Amelia will also mean contending with its hellish weather, its illogical geography, the aggressive, vaguely humanoid creatures that prowl its streets, and the unshakeable feeling that the place itself wishes you ill will. Oh, and in addition to being a typical British town, it’s also got some freaky supernatural stuff going on!

Intelligent Writing and Mature Themes Make for One of Silent Hill’s Best Ever Stories

We’re reticent to give away any more than that, as the storytelling is often a bright spot in these Silent Hill games.

Townfall is no exception in that regard, with writer-director Jon McKellan crafting an enthralling and incredibly sad mystery that unfolds at a deliberate pace. Instead of saving everything for one big showstopping twist at the end, he and his team at Screen Burn Interactive sprinkle in clever misdirects and subversions throughout that keep you guessing as to the nature of Simon’s hidden shame, and how exactly it relates to Richard (as well as to an enigmatic third character: Zoe).

In many ways, the narrative does take its lead from SH2, with a protagonist once again being dragged on a metaphorical guilt trip through their own psyche. Yet there are some crucial differences too.

For a start, there’s a sense of political rage bubbling beneath the surface that we haven’t seen before in the franchise. McKellan brings a uniquely British perspective and righteous anger to proceedings that’s no doubt been inflected by recent events in the nation’s news cycle. Without going into spoilers, it’s not a coincidence that the first game in the series to be set in the UK focuses on a strained health service being brought to its knees, the impact of privatisation on communities, public inquiries into corporate negligence, a place that’s cut itself off from the rest of the world, and people generally feeling like they’ve been let down by the system. It’s probably not intentional, given the actual context in the story, but there’s even some stuff that cuts quite close to the bone revolving around protests happening near a local hotel.

There’s no question, then, that contemporary British issues were swirling around in the developers’ minds when they made this (either consciously or unconsciously). Yet even if you don’t quite understand the cultural relevance of certain images or references, it’s still a narrative that should resonate with just about anyone. Because the themes and emotions are universal. Not to mention, it’s fundamentally well told, with a keen understanding of the principle of “show, don’t tell”, a neat nonlinear structure that’s refreshing for Silent Hill, and layered characterisation.

It also puts an interesting spin on what the point of Silent Hill is. We won’t divulge any spoilers, except to say that it’s less about punishment and guilt here, and more about taking accountability and coming to terms with the immutable fact that what’s done can never be undone. Granted, it’s a subtle distinction, but one that makes quite a big impact when you get to the revelatory third act.

Stealth Encounters Get the Heart Racing

The experimentation doesn’t stop with the story either. Screen Burn also reimagines the franchise’s established gameplay by shifting the action into a first-person perspective and prioritising stealth over combat mechanics.

Indeed, while Silent Hill f was effectively a brawler — complete with parrying, perfect dodges, and upgrade trees — Townfall goes in the polar opposite direction. Fighting is treated as an absolute last resort, and the best strategy is invariably to run, hide and do your best to stay out of trouble.

This emphasis on evasion is so strong that, within the first two hours of our playthrough, we only killed a single enemy. That tally increased to about ten once we crossed the halfway mark, and then admittedly shot up to 87 by the time we rolled credits (the later acquisition of a shotgun emboldened us somewhat). Yet it might be feasible to get through most, if not all, of the 13-hour campaign pacifistically. Every area has one or two hiding spots for you to cower in, the levels are designed in a way that allows you to lure enemies away from the critical path, and it rarely feels like you’re being compelled to bloody your hands (which may have greater thematic significance when you eventually realise what the tragic, surgical-themed monsters are supposed to represent).

Another thing that helps you avoid conflict here is the portable CRT monitor that Simon carries. Utterly indispensable when planning your route through hostile territory, this device can be tuned into specific frequencies, enabling you to perceive the world in different wavelengths and look right through solid objects.

Sometimes, this is necessary for solving puzzles and accessing collectables, but it has great utility in stealth too. You see, the CRT can also lock onto the signals emitted by St. Amelia’s resident beasties, thereby allowing you to keep tabs on them even when there’s something blocking your line of sight.

It’s a very handy ability that functions similarly to Batman’s detective vision. However, there is a trade-off in that you can only monitor one channel at a time here. So, while you might be able to pinpoint the exact whereabouts of a foe when actively tracking them, you’ll also be putting on blinders to everything else around you and could be oblivious to threats approaching from the sides.

In a few scripted sequences, you do get access to an alternative tool that has the inverse problem. Using the medical pager, you can tell what direction assailants are coming from by consulting radial markers along the edge of the screen (a la Alien: Isolation’s motion tracker) and successfully track multiple blips at once. Alas, the readouts here are quite imprecise and give you no indication whatsoever of distance. This leads to agonising situations in which you’re hiding in a closet, painfully aware that there’s a fleshy abomination at your 12 o’clock, but not sure if it’s hundreds of meters away or standing right outside the door.

Other than the inclusion of those gizmos, the stealth is pretty basic. You’ve got a crouch button, throwable distractions, hiding places, and a few weapons for if things get hairy. Still, just because the mechanics are familiar doesn’t mean they’re bad. On the contrary, encounters can be downright electrifying in Townfall.

For example, there’s one bit where you are introduced to a new antagonist (resembling a figure covered in a suffocating hospital cast) that’s amongst the tensest set-pieces we’ve experienced in years. Trapping you in a small, four-room cottage, it gives you barely any space to manoeuvre and tasks you with somehow tiptoeing around your pursuer so that you can acquire a key and leave the building undetected.

However, when you finally escape those intimate confines (and recover from the associated panic attack), the reprieve is short-lived. For you soon realise that the whole neighbourhood has been overtaken with duplicates of the same mummified ghoul. What follows is an extended gauntlet that instils more palpable dread and anxiety than most horror games manage to conjure over the course of their runtimes.

Puzzles That Meaningfully Test the Old Grey Matter

In general, Townfall is a deeply frightening game. Enemy encounters can be pulse-pounding, the atmosphere is consistently oppressive, the environments are foreboding, the story goes to uncomfortable places, and there are a lot of those classic Silent Hill mind games to immerse you in the tortured headspace of your avatar.

Even the puzzles afford vanishingly little opportunity to decompress or calm your nerves. On the contrary, they often twist the knife in further by forcing you to commit grotesque atrocities and by imposing extremely stressful conditions when you’re trying to solve them.

Said headscratchers deserve special mention across the board, as they are all very well-themed, inventive and challenging. We got stumped for a while on this one that made us simultaneously account for dozens of initials, the workings of a dial mechanism and the compatibility of multiple different blood types. There was so much information to process that we resorted to busting out a notebook and drawing a quick chart to sense-check our conclusions. Meatier riddles like these, that actually make you pause and think for a bit, are the most rewarding to crack, and Townfall has a pleasing abundance of them.

Crucially, though, Screen Burn never pushes it too far or makes any of their brainteasers plain obtuse. More often than not, if you’re getting stuck it’ll be because you’ve overcomplicated things or misconstrued an obvious hint that’s staring you right in the face. That happened to us on a couple of occasions and, when we eventually cottoned on to what we were meant to be doing, our reaction was one of embarrassment, rather than frustration (case in point, there’s a moment where the code to a door is literally spelt out for you on a whiteboard, but we interpreted it to be something way more convoluted and ended up doing some Beautiful Mind shit for 20 minutes).

St. Amelia Feels Like A Real British Town

Other puzzle highlights include an escape-room scenario that has you jumping around to different points in history (with a fiendishly clever interaction), as well as a multi-layered problem that’ll demand you don a pair of scrubs and take on a gruelling night shift at St. Amelia’s hospital. A hospital that, unlike Silent Hill’s Brookhaven, is unmistakably British.

Which brings us to the exceptionally realised setting. Townfall does a phenomenal job of making you feel like you’re on a Scottish island. If you’re a UK resident or have ever visited one of the nation’s coastal resorts, you’re likely to spend hours marvelling at all the inconsequential details here. Everything from the road signs to the mini roundabout markings, the guide dog donation statues, the 20p tattoo machines, the signs advertising Sunday carveries, and the seagull-shit-stained benches feels truly authentic.

Without wanting to turn the rest of this review into a prosaic list of things I recognised as a British native, it got to the point where I was happily scrutinising the furnishings of council houses and examining the items displayed in the windows of unenterable mini markets. And when I discovered that, in order to restore power to a home, I didn’t have to replace fuses (as in every other horror title ever) but rather fetch a pre-paid utility card from the local newsagents and transfer the credit to a meter under the stairs, I was practically euphoric. I couldn’t believe that it was something I was doing in a Silent Hill game.

It Does Falter At the End

Between the nail-biting stealth, exemplary riddles, engrossing narrative and characterful setting, Townfall comes very close to brilliance. Alas, it’s not quite perfect.

Most notably, it starts to run out of steam in the final stretch. As Simon gets closer and closer to uncovering the truth he has long been repressing, the writing gets a little on the nose and starts making explicit what — up until then — had been artfully suggested. The ensuing exposition dump robs the narrative of some of its mystique and makes the prospect of repeat playthroughs feel less enticing (given that everything has been verbalised and wrapped up in a neat little bow). I particularly didn’t like how they bluntly explain what one of the monsters is supposed to symbolize, when everyone knows that part of the fun of a new Silent Hill release is coming up with your own interpretations for what the creatures mean.

On the subject of your adversaries, it’s also towards the end of the game that the lack of enemy variety really starts to hit you. You’re essentially dealing with the same three or four monsters over and over again and, after a while, you grow numb to them. That fleshy nightmare I described earlier is frightening when you first bump into him in a small cottage (unarmed and unprepared), but he’s nowhere near as intimidating when you’ve got a double-barrel and have vanquished him 50+ times.

The developers do at least try to mix things up by introducing an invulnerable stalker in the second half but, honestly, we just found them to be kind of irritating. They’re constantly harassing you during riddle sections and often stand around idly blocking passageways that you need to get down (only moving when you bait them into a chase). It doesn’t help either that this relentless pursuer drags out what is, by some measure, the game’s weakest level: an underground network of corridors that has no discernible personality, a confusing layout and the only dud puzzle in the whole game.

Nerveless, those iffy closing hours aren’t enough to negate all of Townfall’s considerable strengths. Even with the flaws, this remains a gripping experience that delivers everything you could want from a good Silent Hill title, while also pushing the envelope and innovating in some cool ways.

More than that, it’s the singular vision of creative people who had a personal story they really wanted to tell and who knew exactly how they were gonna tell it. Between this and f, it really does feel like we’re in a new golden era for this iconic franchise.

Review code provided by publisher. Silent Hill: Townfall releases on September 24 for the PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ Delivers a Scary Good Time While Continuing to Innovate the Series [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Co-founder of Section 9 Interactive Mattias Ottvall is back, and is joined by Environment Artist Gustav Bunse, Level Designer Robin Jansson and Game Programmer Isabella Norström as they dive into the gameplay and level design philosophies that shaped the player experience.

In the depths of a mysterious underground compound, a mission to investigate disturbances of unknown origin has descended into a harrowing descent through a broken and abandoned world. Players take on the role of a young combat technician, Cel, as she uncovers the truth behind the facility’s derelict areas and confronts the monstrous creatures that roam them.

Players descend into the halls of a sprawling complex, where broken machines whisper to you from the depths, and nothing you encounter is fully human. Outmatched by the twisted horrors you face, you must upgrade your gear and adapt, pushing your limits just to stay alive against the crushing pressure of the facility you’re trapped within.

Navigate branching paths and uncover hidden areas using your Scanner and the tools you unlock along the way. Pathways open as you grow stronger, allowing you to return to forgotten corridors and secrets once sealed away.

End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post Explore Gameplay Philosophies in New ‘End of Abyss’ Development Video [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The world was so compelling that it became the cornerstone of Remedy’s brand. They incorporated it into their cult classic Alan Wake franchise, making it a key part of the long awaited sequel. They released FBC: Firebreak, a co-op shooter that casts you as an emergency response team dealing with continuing issues in the Oldest House. Most importantly, the full-fledged sequel Control Resonant is now upon us, and it’s anything but a comfortable retread of the first game’s successes. Remedy has changed location, protagonist, and even combat style for their follow-up, but from the trailers it was clear that it still retained the brand of quirky humor and surreal weirdness that made the original so memorable. What remained to be seen was the new melee focus, something that Remedy has never attempted in their long history, would help or hinder combat encounters.

For those unfamiliar with Control (there’s a recap video that can be watched from the main menu if this applies to you), the series is focused on a shadowy government agency called the Federal Bureau of Control that investigates paranatural events. They secure and research various objects of power, while also dealing with entities or people that have extraordinary abilities. In the first one, you played as Jesse Faden, who enters the Oldest House, the ever shifting headquarters of the FBC, who is searching for her brother Dylan who vanished after an anomalous incident when they were young. Audiences latched on to the SCP-style tone of the game’s world as well as its unique and striking brutalist architecture, making it their fastest-selling IP since Max Payne.

The story of Control Resonant picks up seven years after the events of the original Control. This time, you play as Dylan, who is awakened from his coma when his sister jams the Aberrant, a shapeshifting weapon he’ll use throughout the game, straight into his chest. As he stumbles out of his cell in the Oldest House, he finds that not only has the lockdown been breached, allowing the Hiss, the antagonistic force that’s menaced the Federal Bureau of Control since the first game, to escape containment, but the surrounding area of Manhattan has been affected by a new paranatural event known as the Pattern, which has warped the city streets into something out of Inception.

Dylan, who has been subjected to FBC experiments for most of his life, is reluctantly recruited by the agency to help out with the situation, but is kept under close watch due to his previous Hiss infection. While in the first game he was mostly a blank slate of a character, acting as both Jesse’s goal and antagonist, Resonant manages to give him a depth that even Jesse lacked.

Designated as a powerful paranatural from a young age, the bureau attempted to harness his power for their own purposes, making him volatile and dangerous. Control Resonant uses this to the story’s advantage, allowing him to quickly become such an interesting character, searching both for redemption and a sense of self that he never was allowed to develop as a child. Several sequences dive into his character and his past, allowing us to not only understand him, but also come to a deeper understanding of Jesse as well.

Since he’s working with the FBC on the Manhattan crisis, Dylan is paired with Zoe De Vera, an agent that acts as his primary radio contact. Much like Remedy itself, Zoe has a love of music that is a big part of her personality, which is used to add impact to some of the game’s most memorable moments. Their relationship evolves throughout the course of the campaign, and I found it to be a surprisingly emotional friendship that anchors the heart of the game. She’s contrasted by Simon Arish, a no-nonsense hardass who views Dylan as a disposable weapon to be pointed at whatever the FBC needs to destroy. While he starts out a bit one-note, the journey he goes on adds more compelling wrinkles to his personality.

For fans of the original, we have a few returning characters, including Emily Pope, who has risen in the ranks following Jesse’s disappearance at the beginning of the game. Her performance is great, with real humanity coming through as she tries to parse the strangeness surrounding her. Dr Casper Darling gets some great sequences, presented in live action video as Remedy loves to do, filling in not only his past but Dylan’s as well.

In a surprise move, you’re often given dialogue choices when responding to people, either in-person or over the radio. These don’t have big, Telltale-style branching narrative choices, but instead just allow you to figure out what type of character your Dylan is. All of the options sound in-line with how he’s written, but it gives you a chance to dictate where you feel he is on his path of redemption and how he would feel at the moment. It’s not a huge part of the game, and can make things slightly clunky when trying to respond during action or exploration, but it’s neat to see Remedy experimenting with ways to make their stories more personal to the player.

Bringing you outside of the Oldest House is not only a stylistic difference from the first game, but also a structural one. Manhattan is a dense open world for you to explore, with discrete zones that all have their own personality. You start the game with double jump, hover, and dash abilities that make getting around a blast, and it only gets more fun as your mobility suite expands throughout the course of the game.

Part of the fun of the game becomes treating navigation like a puzzle. Many times you’ll look at your map and see you’re close to your objective, but you need to read the environment to try to figure out exactly how to make your way there. In addition to having side quests scattered around the zones, you’ll also have more traditional levels that you’ll enter, like subway systems or buildings, that will break up the exploration and put your more on a linear path. The world never feels too expansive, and there’s a healthy spread of fast travel points, in the form of free standing doors, scattered around the map, making it so you never have to struggle to get from one side of the world to another.

There are three main things that you’re chasing down to progress the narrative: story missions, Resonants, and Faults. Story missions are self-explanatory; these are the bigger missions given to you by the FBC to help try to solve the Pattern and put an end to its stranglehold on Manhattan. Control Resonant’s narrative feels better paced than the first one, with a very clear emergency that felt like it had more forward momentum to keep you engaged. Many of the game’s most memorable moments come from these missions, such as a dramatic escape from a place known as “the Sinkhole” or following a research team through several fractured timelines.

The Resonants are bosses that are scattered around the map, usually behind quests or levels that lead you to locating them. They are not on the main path, but defeating them will allow you to choose between a pair of combat abilities to add to your set of powers. Resonants are all gorgeously designed, either as staggering monstrosities or warped humans, and provide some of the best fights in the game. My favorite was the Dancer, who not only had the most fun patterns and attacks to learn, but was also an audio-visual feast from start to finish. While some of them are optional, it’s definitely worth tracking them down, as they are valuable for both the powerful rewards and the gameplay experience.

Faults are cracks in the world that Jesse has been exploring in order to do a ritual that will hopefully fix the Pattern once and for all. Indicated by the same strange FMV overlay that was used for Director Trench in the last game, you’ll need to seek these out in order to help her on her quest, while also saving her from the disastrous consequences of it. These sections of the game are almost exclusively platforming-based and reward you with new traversal powers, making the most fun part of the game even more entertaining.

While I loved the feeling of moving through these sections, they were most important for the interactions between Jesse and Dylan that drove them forward. The two characters have such a strong dynamic that brings to light their shared family history with sharp details, deepening the emotional core of the game in ways that surprised me. There’s a great little bit with them reminiscing about a video game, “Severed Circle 2”, they used to play when they were young that just makes the relationship feel so much more lived in and believable than in the first game. Faults are a perfect synthesis of gameplay and narrative, highlighting Remedy’s greatest assets.

Aside from the open world structure, the biggest shift in gameplay is the combat, which is now focused on melee weapons instead of firearms. Your basic combat kit has three components, your standard weapon that does your light attack, a stronger form that’s for your heavy attack, and a combo finisher which will happen after a series of light attacks. Each of them has their own stats and utility, and they can be mixed and matched to your liking. For most of the game, I was rocking the sweeping scythe attack for my light, which had a wider swing, along with a huge, slow hammer for my heavy attack, and an uppercut finisher that popped enemies into the air, taking advantage of the generous amount of air juggling you’re able to do thanks to Dylan’s floating power.

In addition, you slowly accumulate a set of abilities that run on a power meter that’s recharged by your melee attacks. As I mentioned before, Resonants will supply you with new options for your arsenal, and the choices you make will greatly affect your build. Options include summonable minions, powerful projectiles, or fiery enhancements to your weapons. All of these abilities have their usefulness, making the choices feel significant to your playstyle. The mix of abilities and standard attacks also creates a nice rhythm for the combat, forcing you to engage with the standard attacks to build your meter for the powers.

Like many modern action games, enemies have both a health bar and a falter bar, and figuring out how to affect each of them is important to victory. Filling up their falter meter will make them vulnerable to an execution, which gives you a brief burst of power that can easily turn the tide of an encounter. Unlike most modern action games, you do not have a parry button, only allowing you to dash out of the way if you want to avoid damage.

The feel of the combat is solid and satisfying, but I once again think that the encounters don’t really live up to it. Any time you run into a fight, the enemies are broken down into two types. There are small drones that won’t be terribly tough to deal with but will continue to respawn, and there are heavy creatures that are much more challenging, and need to be defeated to bring the encounter to a close. This structure feels a bit like the modern DOOM games, especially given that health is only recovered by picking up power-ups that drop from defeated foes, but it doesn’t work quite as well in Control Resonant.

The main problem I have is that enemies feel like they have too many hitpoints. Enemies do have levels based on where or when you encounter them, but even when you are evenly matched they still feel like they take a bit too long to kill. Combined with the fact that there are so many enemies at any given time, shooting at you from all directions, it makes many encounters feel tedious. I found myself standing in one place, slashing a heavy enemy over and over again while doing my best to not be pelted to death by projectiles coming from everyone around me. This type of structure would work better in a shooter, where you can constantly be in motion while chipping away at their health, but given that I need to hit them in melee range, it becomes a lot of button tapping at a certain point. The feeling is compounded by the fact that encounters themselves are also a bit too long, making many of the later game fights feel like a chore.

Fortunately, Remedy has done an excellent job with the accessibility options it presents in the game, allowing you to tweak a plethora of settings to customize the difficulty in very specific ways. If you’re like me and find the enemies feeling too spongy, you can go in and adjust the amount of outgoing damage you do with your attacks. Feel like you’re constantly dying because you’re being hit from all sides? Go ahead and tune down the incoming damage you take. Falter build up, power regeneration, enemy aggression and more can all be changed to your liking, allowing you to customize your experience to ensure you’re still having fun.

Since there are multiple paranatural threats loose in Manhattan, there are various subsets of enemies that all have different strategies to deal with them. The Hiss are the most common enemy type, with mechanics like regenerating shields to deal with, while the Mold were my favorite, with a resistance to blunt damage but a weakness to fire. Unlike the first game, which mostly had possessed humans for enemies, the creature design in Control Resonant is more exaggerated, often featuring huge monsters that have no semblance of humanity left in them. Towering bipedal beasts with hammer-like heads and horrible winged monsters that shoot laser beams are mixed in with mutated humans, providing some great visual variety to the encounters. I wish there were a few more enemy types, as given how encounter-dense the game is they run out of new tricks long before the end of the game, but I found them all visually unique and easy to read in the heat of battle.

To keep up with the escalating power of the enemies, you have access to several skill trees to enhance Dylan’s combat abilities. Each part of your arsenal has its own upgrade path that can be enhanced alongside a more generalized skill tree that affects everything you do. Obviously, there are some standard “do X percent more damage” options that aren’t as interesting, but many of them do change up how you play a bit. I really enjoyed a skill that allowed me to do extra damage when attacking from behind, which coupled well with my summons that could draw enemy attention. You can also craft artifacts that can be equipped into one of three slots, which further modify your stats in specific ways.

While I did like slowly watching my skills grow, there’s a bit of fiddliness with the process, as just like in Control, there are a ton of currencies that you use to do this. I appreciate the flavor that comes with using things like Living Shards or Warped Resonance as upgrade materials, but it felt like I spent a lot of time at vendors buying specific resources with the generic currency, when it probably would have been better if it was more streamlined. That said, I love the Remedy touch of forcing you to go into a strange liminal space called the Gap to interact with various stone structures to perform said upgrades, rather than just having it all run straight through a menu.

It’s these Remedy touches that really make the game shine, even when getting frustrated with overlong combat encounters that don’t offer much variety. For every fight that I found myself grumbling at, it would be offset by stumbling on a clever puzzle that hid intriguing lore notes. If you liked the dream logic style of puzzles featured in the original game’s Oceanview Motel as much as I did, you’ll find yourself frequently rewarded for your exploration.

Aside from the side quests, which are always a surreal pleasure to chase down, there are plenty of collectibles scattered throughout that make exploring rewarding. On top of that, doing quests and discovering collectibles will help you level up a zone, providing you extra bonus for that particular area, giving you a sense that the world is being helped through your actions. This sense of improving the area helps thematically reinforce the idea of Dylan’s path of redemption, finally finding a way to use the powers to help rather than hurt.

Near the end of the game, I took some time to go back through areas and sweep for secrets, and it’s some of the best time that I had. With the full set of movement powers, it feels like getting around an open world superhero game, allowing you to appreciate the world that Remedy has crafted. The gravity shift in particular, which allows you to shift which direction you’re oriented, allowed the developers to create some mind-bending spaces that feel satisfying to explore. In later areas, I found myself constantly in awe of how they were able to not only fold space on itself to create complex layouts, but also of how effectively they were able to invisibly lead me through these areas, making navigation feel like a puzzle that I was being elegantly guided through.

When I think back on my nearly 30 hours with Control Resonant, it’s not the friction with the combat encounters that pops into my head. It’s sense of discovery and exploration provided by exhilarating traversal abilities. It’s the surreal visuals I’m being led through by an engaging narrative. It’s the compelling characters and relationships that breathe life into the delightfully strange world. It’s a testament to the strength of the game that no matter how much I was sighing at yet another encounter that I had to button mashing my way through, I still fell in love with everything the game was doing. Control Resonant’s narrative, characters, and worldbuilding are top of class and not to be missed, and if you find yourself like me, bristling at some of the combat repetition, it’s incredibly easy to use the accessibility tools to create an experience that makes the melee combat work for you.

Review code provided by publisher.

Control Resonant launches 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.

The post ‘Control Resonant’ Provides a Visual Feast With a Compelling Narrative and Engaging Combat [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Titled “Entering the Facility: Meet the Creators”, the video features members of the devteam, kicking off with studio co-founder and programmer Mattias Ottvall, who explains the genesis of the studio when three members of Tarsier Studios set off on their own.

From there, Ottvall talks about how End of Abyss came about as an early prototype. Originally feeling more like a mobile game due to its faster pace, the gameplay was eventually slowed down and End of Abyss became more atmospheric as the team worked more on the environment, which widened the scope of the game. “It just became obvious quite early that, okay we have something that doesn’t feel so much like other games.”

End of Abyss is an atmospheric action-adventure game set in a dark science-fiction world with an emphasis on exploration, supported by engaging and tense combat. In the depths of a mysterious underground compound, a mission to investigate disturbances of unknown origin spirals into a harrowing descent through a broken and abandoned world. Players take on the role of the young combat technician, Cel, as she uncovers the truth behind the facility’s derelict areas and confronts the monstrous creatures that roam them.

Players will descend into the halls of a sprawling complex, where broken machines whisper to you from the depths, and nothing you encounter is fully human. Outmatched by twisted horrors, players must upgrade their gear and adapt, pushing their limits just to stay alive against the crushing pressure of the facility you’re trapped within. Players can navigate branching paths and uncover hidden areas using their scanner and the tools unlocked along the way. Pathways open as players grow stronger, allowing them to return to forgotten corridors and secrets once sealed away.

End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post Go Behind The Genesis of ‘End of Abyss’ in New Developer Video [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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!.