Everything

A lot of RPGs assume you're just some nobody with a sword trying to make their way in a strange and hostile universe. And there are few universes as large and hostile as Warhammer 40K. That's why I was so delighted that Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader puts you into the shiny, step-on-me boots of a titular Rogue Trader, the heir to the von Valancius dynasty and a very powerful member of the high nobility in the Imperium. Getting to roleplay someone of such status and wealth across more than 130 hours of gritty, tactical combat and superb quest writing is a fresh power fantasy for this setting and this genre. I just wish it wasn't plagued by more annoying bugs than there are daemons in the Warp. Rogue Trader is an absolutely colossal, somewhat lumbering CRPG. And like my grandiose, gothic voidship the Fortunatrix, it's not exactly polished to a mirror sheen. On the bright side, like Baldur's Gate 3 before it, almost none among the huge catalog of side quests and op

Look, I don’t need to tell you how great Resident Evil 4 is. You’ve either already played the original 15 times by now in any number of its various re-releases over the years, or were delighted to experience it for the first time with the phenomenal remake earlier this year (which IGN awarded our highest recommendation ). There was even a VR port of the original that came out just two years ago. But now, on top of it all, there’s a PlayStation VR 2-exclusive VR mode for Resident Evil 4 Remake, raising the question of whether it’s worth going back for yet another run through this horror classic from a different perspective. The answer may not at all surprise you! Yes, as it turns out: if you take an amazing horror game and give it a similar VR treatment to that of fellow residences of evil Biohazard and Village, it’s still amazing (and often even more chilling) in true first-person. But it’s also an imperfect port, with some finicky controls and tons of jarring cuts into third-person s

You have to hand it to Cherry – she is tough . From the moment you meet, and she's dragging what's left of her beaten, broken android body across the ground in vengeful pursuit of the guy who ran off with her girl, everything about who Cherry is – strong, sassy, principled, and gloriously self-aware – becomes instantly clear. Not only does it nicely set the stage for one of 2023's more unforgettable video game heroes, it leaves you with no doubt what metroidvania Cookie Cutter is all about. It's about violence. The gorier and the bloodier the better. Unlike other recent games pressed from the same mold, though, Cookie Cutter isn't about innovating the metroidvania template or incorporating ideas inspired by other genres, such as Hollow Knight 's soulslike influences. As old-school a metroidvania as it comes, Cookie Cutter blends a memorable cast with a sprawling, interconnected world and striking hand-drawn graphics. And although it does occasionally frustra

Geralt of Rivia voice actor Doug Cockle is eager to return for upcoming CD Projekt Red projects like The Witcher Remake, the next mainline game codenamed Polaris, and more. Speaking to IGN, Cockle made clear his love for The Witcher by saying he wants to voice Geralt forever, even if Polaris is moving away from the character. "I would love to just keep voicing Geralt until I can no longer voice anymore," he said. "It's just become such a part of me. I'm thrilled every time CD Projekt calls me up and says, 'Hey, Doug, are you available for such and such?' And my heart does a little flutter and leaps, and I go, 'Yes, of course I am,' because I love it so much." I would love to just keep voicing Geralt until I can no longer voice anymore. Cockle made clear he doesn't know much of what's happening at CD Projekt Red — or Fool's Theory, the developer making The Witcher Remake — but he's only ever had a positive experience work

It may have been developed by Harmonix – now a subsidiary of Epic Games – but Fortnite Festival is not Rock Band 5. Let’s get that out of the way immediately, because I’ve certainly already seen claims to the contrary. In fact, Fortnite Festival has more in common with the boy band Five than Rock Band 5; that is, it’s a transparently commercial exercise that simply switches the question “What if the Spice Girls were blokes?” with “What else can we sell for V-Bucks?” It is also not Rock Band 4.1. Hell, it isn’t even really Rock Band Lite. To be fair, Fortnite Festival doesn’t actually make use of the Rock Band moniker, so it certainly does have the scope to be its own thing. It just doesn’t make use of it. Sticking so closely to the existing Rock Band formula does invite certain comparisons, especially with the DNA of its spiritual ancestor on full display (even down to identical instrument icons for the guitars, drums, and vocals). Unfortunately, those comparisons aren’t all that

Naughty Dog has stopped development on the Last of Us Online , its troubled attempt to create an onine version of the popular franchise. The studio says that it would have needed to put all of its resources into post-launch content for years to come, and that approach would have severely impacted its ability to develop future single-player games. “We realize many of you have been anticipating news around the project that we’ve been calling The Last of Us Online. There’s no easy way to say this: We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game,” Naughty Dog said in a statement . The studio knew that fans of The Last of Us Factions multiplayer community would be upset with the news, and wanted to provide some context as to why it chose to stop development. An Update on The Last of Us Online: https://t.co/nMUm7TmH9h pic.twitter.com/fmuXCLzDMB — Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) December 14, 2023 “The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with this game

The Batman: Arkham games sit alongside Insomniac's Spider-Man as the best comic book games ever made. With the Arkham series, Rocksteady Studios blended excellent freeflow combat, top-tier voice performances, and an inspired rendition of Gotham City to create an unforgettable collection of action-adventure superhero games. While Gotham Knights isn't part of the "Arkhamverse," its fairly recent release inspired us to create this chronology of the Batman: Arkham games for those interested in playing (or replaying) the best Batman games of all time. Jump to : How to play in chronological order How to play by release order How Many Batman Arkham Games Are There? In total there are eight games in the Batman Arkhamverse . That tally will climb to nine when Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is released in 2024 . However, only six of the eight Arkhamverse games are currently playable — two mobile games have been shut down/removed from mobile storefronts. Wh

Earlier today, we reported on Circana's monthly US game sales report , which has Hogwarts Legacy and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in a neck-in-neck battle for annual bestseller . A few other new games, such as Super Mario RPG, made their debuts in the top 20 as well last month. But a quick glance over the charts for November reveals a conspicuous missing entry. Where's Alan Wake 2? Did it really not sell well enough to break into the top 20? Should we all start panicking about Remedy now? Speaking to IGN, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella explained why Alan Wake 2 didn't debut in the top 20 of Circana's sales charts this month. It's largely an issue of data reporting: Circana doesn't have data on every single sale for every single game. They can collect data from physical retailers, and select digital data from publishers and storefronts who choose to supply it. As a result, while Circana's data is extremely useful, in many cases, it's incomplete. T

Since 2009, Call of Duty has topped the video game sales charts in the US almost without fail, only torn down from its throne by Rockstar hits Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V in their respective release years. But now, a third contender is preparing to overthrow Rockstar and Activision's domination of US gamers' wallets: Hogwarts Legacy. This is according to Circana's monthly report on US video game sales, which has Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as the best-selling game of November, but still only the second best-selling game of the year to date. It's currently being beaten by Hogwarts Legacy, and at the rate things are going, it's possible (though not guaranteed) that's how it'll end the year. If Hogwarts Legacy tops the US charts for 2023, that would make this year the first time since 2008 that the number one spot wasn't held by either Call of Duty, or a Rockstar game (2008's best seller was Rock Band, per Circana). So, what&#

Mortal Kombat 1 is on track to deliver cross-play support for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S players sometime in February 2024. Developer NetherRealm Studios announced the update during a recent livestream , promising to release the long-awaited multiplayer feature in only a few months. It’s something that fans were told would not make the reboot entry’s launch build but should still arrive soon. NetherRealm intends to follow through, meaning fans won't have to wait much longer to play with friends on other platforms – minus Nintendo Switch . The livestream also revealed that Wi-fi filter support will arrive in the near future. It gives Mortal Kombat 1 multiplayer fans the option to decline matches based on another user’s internet connection, so you won’t have to worry about potentially spotty matches if you don’t want to. Finally, patch notes for Mortal Kombat 1’s latest update will be shown “very soon.” Community Manager Tyler Lansdown says NetherRealm has been w

In the days since The Game Awards last week, there have been a number of discussions from fans and developers about what the show should have been, or should not have been. And one common thread among them was a desire to hear more from more developers who were accepting awards. While a number of award winners did get up and give speeches that were limited to roughly 30 seconds, some other winners never took the mic at all. The Game Awards has in recent years presented several of its categories rapidfire, between announcement trailers , with no opportunity for winners to get up and give speeches. In some cases, whether you agree with them or not, you can maybe see the thinking behind that choice: it's a three-plus hour show, Baldur's Gate 3 won a lot of awards, does Sven Winke really need to clonk up to the stage multiple times in his armor to accept them all? ( obviously the answer is yes, but I can see how some might argue differently ). However, that doesn't really

Surprising absolutely no one, Fortnite and Lego snap satisfyingly together like a couple of plastic construction bricks. Combining the building creativity of Lego sets with Fortnite's expansive and often gorgeous island playgrounds is a smart match that creates an approachable yet fairly deep survival game. But while it streamlines a few of the more cumbersome aspects of the genre, Lego Fortnite also has the distinct feel of an early access game, trading as much on its future potential as its currently polished systems. There's a solid foundation here that developer Epic Games will surely build on over time, but Lego Fortnite can feel somewhat empty at launch – what's here is fun, there's just not very much of it. If you're familiar with survival games like Minecraft or Valheim , you'll immediately find yourself at home in Fortnite's riff on the genre, as it uses tried-and-true blueprints rather than starting from scratch. Dropped on a procedurally gener

Rockstar Games has released a trailer for today’s Grand Theft Auto: Online update that highlights The Chop Shop and Liberty City’s Yusuf Amir. It’s a 30-second video that aims to bring GTA 5 fans back into the driver’s seat with fast cars, eccentric characters, and new missions to enjoy. It’s a closer look at a more substantial addition that Rockstar promised late last month. It’s a Liberty City-meets-Los Santos crossover that takes players back to the golden days of GTA 4, but as detailed in a blog post from Rockstar , it also adds new content to enjoy. However, you’ll mostly be spending your time stealing cars and selling them off for profit. Players will utilize Salvage Yards as hubs for vehicle-stealing operations. “There are five Salvage Yard properties to choose from, whether you’re operating remotely from Paleto Bay or getting valuable, central real estate in Strawberry,” Rockstar says. “The Salvage Yard also features optional upgrades including Trade Rates, which extend

The Xbox Core Controller is hard to beat, but there are plenty of other controllers offering more customizations, extra controls, and special uses to deck out your Xbox Series X /S. Click here to jump to a detailed look at the best Xbox Series X/S controllers , or check the shopping list below: TL;DR – These are the Best Xbox Series X/S Controllers: Xbox Core Controller Turtle Beach Recon Wired Game Controller PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller Xbox Elite Series 2 Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra Scuf Instinct Pro Thrustmaster Eswap X Pro Thrustmaster TMX Force Feedback Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS One Honeycomb Aeronautical Alpha Flight Controls XPC PowerA MOGA XP5-X Plus There are an overwhelming amount of Xbox controllers, so we’ve tested and researched a range of options, picking our favorites. You'll find everything from customizable and budget gamepads to racing wheels and flight sticks ready to take on Microsoft's console. Best of all, many of our selections wor