Nintendo and LEGO have teamed up once again to offer fans three new spooky LEGO sets based on Luigi's Mansion.
These three Luigi's Mansion LEGO sets - Luigi's Mansion Lab and Poltergust Expansion Set, Luigi's Mansion Entryway Expansion Set, and Luigi's Mansion Haunt-and-Seek Expansion Set - will all be available on January 1, 2022 and will feature other such characters as King Boo, Polterpup, Bogmire, Toad, Professor E. Gadd, and Boo.
The LEGO Super Mario Luigi's Mansion Lab and Poltergust Expansion Set will cost $24.99 USD and will include the iconic Poltergust that Luigi can wield and attach either a normal nozzle or the Strobulb accessory. By pressing a button on the Poltergust, Luigi can catch a Gold Ghost and "collect a coin reward from the machine in the lab."
The LEGO Super Mario Luigi's Mansion Entryway Expansion Set will cost $39.99 and lets you "maneuver your way into the frightful mansion, where you'll need to find a creative way to defeat Bogmire." You can also search for the Golden Bone for Polterpup and run into Boo.
Lastly, the LEGO Super Mario Luigi's Mansion Haunt-and-Seek Expansion Set will cost $79.99 USD and will let players "create a gem-hunting, ghost-battling level with rotating hallways to explore." There are hidden gems to be discovered, and builders will be able to connect all of the three new sets together.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email tonewstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter@AdamBankhurstand onTwitch.
The next Magic: The Gathering set, Crimson Vow, is launching on MTG Arena on November 11 in the U.S. (Nov 12 in ANZ), with the physical edition available in game stores globally on November 19 (with prerelease on Nov 12). It takes players back to the gothic horror-infused setting of Innistrad. Where the last set, Midnight Hunt - which also took place on this plane - was themed around Werewolves, and introduced a cool day/night system, Crimson Vow has Vampires as its central focus, including a number of cards inspired by the one and only Dracula.
Of course, that's all well and good, but classic horror is more than just Werewolves and Vampires, and today we have a new card to reveal that will help elevate one of the other monstrous creature types that was present in Midnight Hunt and is now being expanded upon for Crimson Vow - Zombies. That card is Necroduality:
Anyone who has dabbled with the many variations of Dimir (blue/black) Zombies decks (such as this one) over the last couple of months would know that Zombies already have the potential to really snowball, and this enchantment represents a great way to double down on that, or to help swing the board back later in a game.
"Necroduality is one of my favorite types of cards in Magic," Product Architect Mike Turian told me. "A card that you pick up and once you read it, the card makes you go back and reevaluate a whole class of cards to find the perfect ones to best take advantage of. In this case, with Necroduality creating a copy of each nontoken Zombie that enters the battlefield under your control, this changes the impact of every Zombie creature, reanimation spell, and cards that alter creature types in Magic. That is a lot of awesome cards to combo Necroduality with! Crimson Vow has a nice number of Zombie creatures that immediately get better. When you consider that many of the Zombies have Exploit and other powerful sacrifice effects, Necroduality will provide good fodder of creatures and powerful combos! I don’t want to spoil all of the fun our players are going to have but I bet they will be starting their own zombie apocalypse in no time!"
I also asked Mike about how the team approached the task of following on from Midnight Hunt while also standing apart. "Midnight Hunt was such a great set and our players loved coming back to Innistrad," he said. "We knew that the fan favorite plane of Innistrad was going to be a hit once again so with Crimson Vow, we were looking to bring in pieces of Midnight Hunt while also innovating and making Crimson Vow its own set. The switch of focus from Werewolves towards Vampires is one way that we were able to both continue what was awesome about Midnight Hunt while giving Crimson Vow space.
"Another way we set the sets apart is by introducing some new gameplay mechanics that weren’t available in Midnight Hunt. For instance, Cleave opens up brand new space in how you think about casting a spell. The introduction of Blood tokens for Vampires to feast upon let us have Vampires do something completely new and different as well!" You can read all about those new mechanics here. And you can see the cards that have been revealed so far here.
Crimson Vow is shaping up to be a fun return visit to Innistrad, so be sure to see what this Vampire-filled collection of cards have to offer on the official website.
Cam Shea has worked at IGN since the before times, has played moreBreath of the Wildthan just about any other game and writes about CCGs regularly. He's not really onTwitter.
N64's Goldeneye 007, one of the most iconic multiplayer games to ever be released, has been unbanned in Germany, sparking speculation that this could be a sign it may be on its way to Nintendo Switch Online or another platform.
This development is made even more interesting because there is usually an automatic review of any media on the list after 25 years, but Goldeneye 007 was released only 24 years ago in 1997. This could mean someone was lobbying for its removal from the list early.
Schnittberichte.com also notes that Stadlbauer Marketing - a toymaker who also licenses Mario Kart for its Carrera slot car line - has the German rights to Goldeneye 007. This could be a big hint that someone wants to re-release it in some form, be that on Nintendo Switch Online, on Xbox as original developer Rare is owned by Microsoft, or for licensed toys.
While this may be a promising sign, bringing Goldeneye 007 to modern platforms requires much more to actually happen. One of the biggest reasons is Nintendo or another company would have to do its part in negotiating the rights for the James Bond license and possibly the actors' faces that appear in it in digital form like Pierce Brosnan.
Igor Simić has always maintained a penchant for dark commentary on the world around him. One of his earliest games, called Children's Play, asked the player to run a factory staffed by children and keep them from falling asleep on the assembly line while a mutated teddy bear spouted critiques of sweatshops.
It was while he recorded music for Child’s Play that he met his future collaborator on Golf Club Wasteland, Shane Berry. In the studio break room Simić heard Berry's voice for the first time, and immediately cast him as the horrifying teddy bear.
From there, the two began a working relationship that spanned several videos and short films, with Golf Club Wasteland ultimately their first commercial attempt at a game. They and their fellow collaborators all had day jobs at its onset, so they began brainstorming something they could easily make in the evenings after work.
"I remember a couple of us were watching TV, and [Donald] Trump was becoming more likely a viable [presidential] candidate, and it was becoming reality," Simić says. "And also, Elon Musk on the other hand was more in the zeitgeist not only as an entrepreneur, but as a public figure. And also, Bernie [Sanders] was talking about the 1%, and somehow all of that coalesced in my head, and I realized, 'If Earth undergoes a massive climate change catastrophe, from the perspective of someone like Trump, who is a real estate guy in golf courses, that's a clean slate, because then the whole Earth can be a golf course.'"
The idea for a golf game jived with their need for a less complex project, too. Simić tells me the team never aimed to create a realistic golf game with Golf Club Wasteland. His development touchstones were simple ones: minimalist golfing title Desert Golfing, Worms, and an MS-DOS game called Gorillas where the player types in an angle and force in order to throw bananas at another gorilla across a city.
The finished product, Golf Club Wasteland, is a lovely, haunting experience. It takes place in the post-apocalypse where almost all human life has been wiped out. Earth is now used solely as a golf course for the ultra-rich who escaped to Mars during the catastrophe that destroyed their home. Its visuals are minimalist but striking, featuring courses plotted out through demolished brutalist architecture with looming neon signs, roaming wildlife like ball-kicking cows and a towering giraffe, and empty buildings. It's a lonely game that's more about the light puzzling involved to sink a shot despite all the destruction than it is about a high score, though you can play to finish in as few strokes as possible if you like.
Scoring well does unlock journal entries that give insight into the story and world of Golf Club Wasteland, but even if you're missing most of your shots, you can pick up the vibe just fine from the music. Golf Club Wasteland is tuned to its own radio show called Radio Nostalgia From Mars — a mix of stories, call-ins, safety public service announcements, and chill music underscoring the desolation of Earth as you golf. The dissonance between its relaxing tunes, the strange government warnings, and the melancholic stories shared by the world's inhabitants are not just the perfect background to hellscape golfing — they're integral to understanding the world you're golfing in.
Berry derived Radio Nostalgia from Mars from his own experiences in audio, ranging from being in a death metal band at the age of 12 to DJing, a career in the Japanese underground techno scene, and commercial audio work. But most fitting to Golf Club Wasteland's score was his work doing cable radio in Tokyo — producing radio shows that fed into cafes and convenience stores to a few million listeners.
"Not only did we have to produce all the music [for Golf Club Wasteland], we also had to come up with a story, basically, within the radio show, the world of what's happening on Mars," Berry says. "The premise is so absurd that we found very quickly on that if we made the radio show heavily satirical or lent towards a Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams kind of angle, it didn't lend itself to the pathos and the reality of the game, despite its kind of crazy premise. It became quite interesting to explore the plausibility of that world and the reality of the insanity of going to Mars."
A chance encounter at a Frankfurt art exhibition further aided Berry and Simić's desire to ground Golf Club Wasteland's absurdism in reality. There, they met a woman named Janet Biggs, who had worked as a part of the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah where scientists simulate what it might be like to actually live on Mars. They spent an evening with Biggs, listening to her tell stories about her day-to-day life in the habitat.
"It was in that meeting that I realized that the reality was absurd enough," Berry says. "We didn't have to do anything other than just describe what it would really like to be on Mars, and that would be funny and humorous within itself and lend a kind of plausibility to the game. So, there was a balance between this humor of the signs and the building marred with this plausibility of the radio show that's kind of self-referential and kind of irreverent, but also kind of leaning more towards realism than it is towards the absurdity of the underlying premise."
We can barely live underwater, and we can barely live in a desert for a couple of weeks without major problems...It's not going to be pretty moving to Mars.
As you can probably tell, Golf Club Wasteland doesn’t shy away from political themes and commentary, and in fact explicitly embraces them. Simić says they did want to veer far away from anything that could come off as preachy, and described Golf Club Wasteland as "anti-escapist entertainment" — it relates to real life, sure, and climate change is treated as a fact of reality, for instance. Berry adds that they wanted to be very explicit, too, about the idea that just moving to Mars to escape reality isn't an easy option for humanity.
"We can barely live underwater, and we can barely live in a desert for a couple of weeks without major problems, and a lot of those problems stem from us being human and being emotional creatures...It's not going to be pretty moving to Mars," he says.
Simić adds: "Perhaps one thing that people could take away as a point or a message or something of that sort is in the stories in the Radio Nostalgia from Mars soundtrack, the stories are mostly just regular people of different nationalities who wrote together with me a memory from their past life on Earth, since they're recounting from Mars. And in reality, these memories are of simple things, like a walk in the park, cycling in your neighborhood, having coffee, singing, dancing with friends in Havana, in Italy, in Berlin, and so forth. So, these are things that we have now, but the radio and the game attempt to make you think of things that you have now as if you had lost them forever. That's an emotional kind of message."
Golf Club Wasteland was almost a hard sell for me given the thorough saturation of my daily life in alarming news headlines about a darkening future. I don't want to pretend there's anything soothing about the idea of any kind of apocalypse, especially one inevitably presided over by the 1%. But Golf Club Wasteland's portrayal had an alluring calm to it that worked for me precisely because of how at odds it was with its subject matter. If the rich play golf on our ruins, it will be precisely like this — serene, unbothered, and careless as a ball rolls through a broken satellite dish, slides down a bemused giraffe's neck, and lands with a soft thud on the ruined surface we used to live on.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter@duckvalentine.
The first season of Game Informer’s Video Gameography explores the history of the Metroid series. After running down Samus' classic debut and handheld outing, we’re moving onto the most influential entry in the series: Super Metroid.
Released on April 18, 1994 for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Metroid sold well enough at the time, but its legend has only grown over time as more and more titles take inspiration from Samus' haunting adventure across the planet Zebes. Developed by Nintendo R&D1 with a staff of 15, and directed by Yoshio Sakamoto, Super Metroid is widely considered one of the greatest – if not the greatest – game ever made. In this episode, we talk about Super Metroid's grueling development, its unique approach to cinematic storytelling, the ways it surprised players, and how it helped spawn the Metroidvania genre.
Join hosts Ben Reeves (@BenjaminReeves), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), and special guest, Game Informer alumni Joe Juba for the next hour as we explore Super Metroid's lore, development history, and lasting impact.
If you'd like to get in touch with the Video Gameography podcast, you can email us at podcast@gameinformer.com. You can also join our official Game Informer Discord server by linking your Discord account to your Twitch account and subscribing to the Game Informer Twitch channel. From there, find the Video Gameography channel under "Community Spaces."
Bethesda has shared a few of the updates and Creations arriving with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition, including new questlines like Saints and Seducers, weapons and armor from Morrowind, fishing, and a new survival mode.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition will be released on November 11, 2021, and it includes all previously-released Creation Club content, new creations like Ghosts of the Tribunal and The Cause, and four free creations that will also be available to Special Editions owners, including Saints and Seducers, Rare Curios, Survival Mode, and Fishing.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Editions' New Additions
As previously mentioned, the Anniversary Edition will include a handful of new Creations for players to experience which add new questlines, weapons, armor, items, and so much more. Those who own Skyrim's Special Edition version can unlock these and all the other benefits at a currently unknown additional cost.
Saints and Seducers (Also Included for Special Edition Owners)
Saints and Seducers will include the largest amount of content that's ever been included in a single Creation. It consists of a new storyline, new armor sets and expansion, artifacts, enemies, and more.
Rare Curious (Also Included for Special Edition Owners)
This Creation will see Khajit caravans arrive in towns and the surrounding areas that are carrying "rare imports from the far reaches of Tamriel." These ingredients will let players craft new potions, arrows, and poisons. There will even be rare stones crafted by the Ayleids to be obtained like the Flawed Varla Stone and Welkynd Stone.
Survival Mode (Also Included for Special Edition Owners)
For those looking for a bit more of a challenge, Skyrim's Survival Mode Creation is an "immersive challenge" that will test players by forcing them to keep warm in the cold, keep their bellies full, and be careful not to succumb to exhaustion. Players will need to forge, catch, cook, and scavenge to survive.
Fishing (Also Included for Special Edition Owners)
Fishing will now be part of Skyrim and over 20 unique aquatic species are just waiting to be caught. Once caught, these fish can be cooked, displayed as trophies, or used as pets in an aquarium. There will also be fishing-related quests to undertake and these fishing spots will take you to some of the most beautiful places on the map.
Ghosts of the Tribunal
The Ghosts of the Tribunal Creation will let players earn over a dozen weapons and armor pieces featured in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
The Cause
In The Cause, players will have to deal with the Mythic Dawn, a group that is trying to form a new Oblivion Gate. This new content will also feature new enemies, locations, weapons, and even a conjurable Daedric Horse.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Next-Gen Upgrades and Concert
On November 11 at 11am PT/2pm ET/6pm GMT, fans will also be treated to the Skyrim 10th Anniversary Concert, which will feature music from the game performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email tonewstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter@AdamBankhurstand onTwitch.
Krafton, the publisher of PUBG, is adding Subnautica creators Unknown Worlds to its portfolio. The studio will continue to work independently on ongoing updates for Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero while also developing a new "genre-defining game" that is expected to begin early access in 2022.
“It was immediately apparent how closely Unknown Worlds and Krafton are aligned in the way we think about games and game development,” Unknown Worlds CEO Charlie Cleveland said in a press release.
“Subnautica and PUBG both started humbly and evolved successfully through constant iteration and feedback. We want to bring new games to the world stage – and with Krafton, we’re a big step closer. We’re truly looking forward to our future together.”
Unknown Worlds is Krafton's sixth studio, joining PUBG Studios, Striking Distance Studios, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, and Dreamotion. Unknown Worlds will retain its current structure and leadership team and continue to employ developers around the world.
“Unknown Worlds are incredibly skilled and passionate developers with an unparalleled gift for creativity and a proven track record of building successful player-driven worlds.” Krafton CEO CH Kim said in the release. “Krafton will spare no effort in helping them. Not only do they enhance our development capabilities, but we share a goal of creating unique experiences for global audiences.”
Tokuro Fujiwara didn’t play video games; he didn’t even know that Konami was a game developer when he walked into the studio to apply for a product planner job he’d heard about through a college recruiter. However, Fujiwara excelled at game development. After breaking into the industry at Konami, Fujiwara moved over to Capcom, where he created Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Bionic Commando before working on other 8-bit classics such as Strider, DuckTales, and Mega Man 2.
Fujiwara’s most significant contribution to the gaming industry, however, might be an often-overlooked RPG for Nintendo’s first console that never officially released outside Japan. Entitled Sweet Home, Fujiwara’s project sounds like a game bound for obscurity; it was an adaptation of a low-budget Japanese horror film that served as an early experiment in video game horror. In spite of all this, Sweet Home became a cult hit and went on to inspire the Resident Evil franchise as well as the entire survival horror genre.
Film Fright
At some point in the late ‘80s, Capcom began talking with Japanese film company Itami Productions about making a game based on the then-upcoming film Sweet Home. The gory horror flick centered on a small crew of documentarians who break into the abandoned country home of a famous artist named Ichirō Mamiya. According to legend, 30 years previously Ichirō hid several precious frescos somewhere inside his home, and the fictional film crew hope to uncover these lost treasures for a documentary. Unfortunately, a mysterious ghost traps the crew inside the late artist’s house, kicking off a series of paranormal events ultimately leading to their demise.
Before the film’s theatrical debut, Capcom sent Fujiwara to walk through the set and talk with the film’s director. Fujiwara and his team used reference materials from this visit to create many of the objects and environments in the game. When it came to the script, however, Fujiwara took several liberties, often elaborating on story elements that were only hinted at in the film.
For example, at one point in the movie, the fictional documentarians stumble upon a small grave. The crew then discovers that the grave belonged to Ichirō’s infant son, who had died tragically after accidentally falling into a furnace. Devastated by this event, Ichirō’s wife kills herself and begins haunting their home.
This plot point isn’t developed further in the film, but in the game, Fujiwara added a series of collectable diary entries that expand on the narrative. These diaries explain how Ichirō’s wife was driven crazy after the death of her child, and how she proceeded to lure other young children to their deaths so her son would have playmates in the afterlife. Thronging with premature souls, Ichirō’s house eventually becomes a hotspot of paranormal activity.
It was unprecedented in the late ‘80s for a video game to expand on a film’s narrative in this way. Most games of the era were lucky if they could accurately communicate the main beats of the film they were adapting, let alone embellish the narrative. Fujiwara, on the other hand, knew games were capable of doing more than was expected of them, and this push to explore the limits of the gaming medium can be seen in every element of Sweet Home’s design.
Scared 8-bitless
Since Fujiwara’s game was based on a movie, developing its story was relatively easy. However, Fujiwara had few reference points when it came to designing Sweet Home’s gameplay. A few early PC titles had played around with horror themes, such as Nostromo and 3D Monster Maze, but games rarely delivered the kind of oppressive atmosphere Fujiwara wanted. In 2003, Fujiwara told the Japanese gaming magazine Continue he wanted Sweet Home’s gameplay to be an interesting mix of unconventional concepts and an attempt to do something the industry hadn’t seen before.
Many of Sweet Home’s gameplay concepts still sound fresh even by today’s standards. Players control five different heroes as they explore Ichirō’s mansion and participate in random turn-based RPG encounters. Unlike most RPGs, however, monsters didn’t drop money or items. Instead, Fujiwara thought it would be more interesting if players collected important story items in the world and then used those items to open up new areas – a gameplay system that would later become a staple of the survival horror genre.
Players could also group their heroes into teams of up to three, but that meant one team was always short by at least one member. Characters also had special items that gave them unique abilities. For example, one character had a lighter that could burn away ropes blocking corridors and doorways, while another character had a first-aid pack that could neutralize status ailments. The difficulty ramped up significantly if party members started to die thanks to a permadeath system. However, Sweet Home remembered those who sacrificed themselves for the greater good and delivered one of five different endings based on players’ actions throughout the game.
One of Sweet Home’s most impressive features was successfully selling the horror experience on Nintendo’s 8-bit console. As players explored the mansion, furniture would suddenly move to attack them, ghosts could be seen fluttering down the hall out of the corner of the screen, and distorted animal’s sounds would be heard echoing though the mansion’s blood-scrawled walls. Sweet Home’s graphics seem crude by today’s standards, but when players first got their hands on the game two-and-a-half decades ago, many of them were too scared to play in the dark. Fujiwara had accomplished his goal: No one had ever seen anything like Sweet Home before.
A Reign Of Terror
Sweet Home released in Japan in 1989 for Nintendo’s Famicom, and received generally favorable reviews. The film’s official trailer actually helped promote the game, and many reviewers thought the game was the better product.
Unfortunately, RPGs had an unproven track record in the U.S. at the time, and Nintendo of America’s stringent release guidelines showed preference for kid-friendly content, so Capcom decided against localizing the game for the NES in Western markets. Despite that decision, Sweet Home’s legacy would be felt worldwide.
Years later, after the release of Sony’s first PlayStation console, Fujiwara was still fond of his work on Sweet Home. Now a producer at Capcom, Fujiwara felt like it was time for the company to remake Sweet Home as a new franchise using updated console technology. He handed the project to a creative young director named Shinji Mikami.
Resident Evil – as it would come to be called – was groundbreaking for a lot of reasons and deserves its spot in gaming’s hall of fame. However, many of Resident Evil’s most iconic elements, including the mansion setting, multiple protagonists with specialized items, environmental puzzles, telling a story though scattered notes, item management with a limited inventory, and even the door loading screen are all on display in Sweet Home. Resident Evil – and the entire horror genre – owe a blood debt to this long-forgotten 8-bit game that had no right to be as good as it was.
This feature, covering the history of the game, would go on to inspire Resident Evil and originally appeared in Issue 282 of Game Informer.
On this week's episode of All Things Nintendo, we have a surprising amount of topics to chat about. Host Brian Shea is joined by Ky Parker aka Captain Dangerous to talk about her work as a toy photographer and set builder, and what means to be a Nintendo Ambassador. They also chat about all the news coming from the world of Nintendo before Brian gives his review on this week's big release: Mario Party Superstars.
The All Things Nintendo podcast is a weekly show where we can celebrate, discuss, and break down all the latest games, news, and announcements from the industry's most recognizable name. Each week, Brian is joined by different guests to talk about what's happening in the world of Nintendo. Along the way, they'll share personal stories, uncover hidden gems in the eShop, and even look back on the classics we all grew up with. A new episode hits every Friday!
Be sure to subscribe to All Things Nintendo on your favorite podcast platform. The show is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
00:00:00 – Introduction
00:01:03 – Captain Dangerous Interview
00:27:10 – Advance Wars 1+2 ReBoot Camp Delayed
00:32:13 – Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Release Date
00:35:11 – Death's Door Coming to Switch
00:36:36 – Pokémon Legends: Arceus New Hisuian Forms
00:39:54 – Pikmin Bloom
00:45:25 – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity DLC
00:48:25 – Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
00:50:55 – N64 and Genesis Games on Switch
00:58:43 – Mario Party Superstars
01:18:20 – Definitive Ranking: Mario Party Minigames
01:27:58 – eShop Gem of the Week: Blasphemous
If you'd like to get in touch with the All Things Nintendo podcast, you can do so by emailing AllThingsNintendo@GameInformer.com, tweeting to Brian (@BrianPShea), or by joining the official Game Informer Discord server. You can do that by linking your Discord account to your Twitch account and subscribing to the Game Informer Twitch channel. From there, find the All Things Nintendo channel under "Community Spaces."
For more Game Informer podcasts, be sure to check out The Game Informer Show, which covers the weekly happenings of the video game industry, and Video Gameography with host Ben Reeves, which explores the history of video games – one series at a time!
If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we’re scared of something. If you’re saying right now, “I ain’t scared of anything,” well, come on, you know there’s thatsomethingthat makes your spine shiver. For me, it’s death and suffocating spaces. Oh, and Michael Myers, too. Fortunately, there aren’t any games based on Halloween out there for me to play (although the famed slasher is a playable killer in the excellent asymmetrical multiplayer horror, Dead by Daylight).
However, there’s plenty of games where you die. You can die in most games, though, but the ones that really emphasize those deaths are the ones that leave me shaking in my boots. Add a touch of claustrophobia to the formula and you’ve created my nightmare. My all-time favorite horror game is something some might not necessarily consider a game in that genre, but it spooks me nonetheless: BioShock.
For starters, I’m claustrophobic and Rapture is perhaps the most claustrophobic in-game city ever made (you know, the whole completely underwater thing is quite suffocating). Then there’s the submechanophobia, which is the fear of mechanical objects underwater. I blame Disney World for this one – something about an animatronic moving underwater just freaks me out.Oh, and the Splicers are terrifying, too, of course. BioShock doesn’t scare me too much these days as I’ve played it probably near a dozen times, but if you haven’t yet played it, go in blind and enjoy.
There are others that really get under my skin, too. The recent Resident Evil 2 Remake does the trick. Stuck in a terrifyingly hostile place? Check. Zombies that want to eat you? Check. Jump scares galore? Check. Extremely graphic deaths? Check. Large menace that stalks you constantly? Check. There’s this year’s Resident Evil Village, as well. I won’t spoil it here, but the House Beneviento segment in it is downright disturbing. Then there’s Outlast 2, which is perhaps the most disturbing and terrifying game I’ve ever played. I don’t go to church, but I felt like I needed to after finishing it.
What about you? What’s your favorite horror game? Are there any games you’re too scared to play? What are your favoritehorror moments in otherwise non-horror games? Let us know in the comments below!
Microsoft has revealed the Games With Gold lineup for next month. The lineup includes Moving Out, Kingdom Two Crowns, Rocket Knight, and Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes.
Moving Out is a wacky co-op game that takes cues from Overcooked. However, instead of cooking crazy dishes, you're moving furniture out of homes. In our Moving Out review, we said, "Provided you’ve got at least one friend in tow to share the load and the laughs, Moving Out is an absolute blast."
Rocket Knight and Lego Batman 2 were both originally Xbox 360 titles that are available through backwards compatibility. In Rocket Knight, the hero from Sega's Sparkster series returns for a retro action game experience. In Lego Batman 2, the caped crusader is joined by classic Justice League allies like Superman and Wonder Woman. And, Kingdom Two Crowns is a sidescrolling strategy/resource management game with a pixel art aesthetic.
Moving Out will be available the entire month, while Rocket Knight will be free from November 1 to 15, and the other two games will be available from November 16 to 30.
Roblox is experiencing major server issues, and some fans are blaming Chipotle for the outage.
A Roblox Status Twitter account said that as of last night, over 3 million players were impacted by the outage. The official Roblox account addressed the outage this morning, saying they are working hard to get things back to normal.
We know you’re having issues using Roblox right now.
We’re sorry and working hard to get things back to normal.
While fans are waiting to get back online, some are poking fun at a Chipotle promotion within Roblox, saying it's to blame for the outage. The promotion, called the Chipotle Boorito Maze, is an official crossover with the fast-casual food chain where Roblox players can dress up in a Chipotle-inspired costume, and visit a cashier for a free burrito that can be redeemed at a Chipotle restaurant in real life.
The promotion kicked off on October 28 at 3:30 p.m., and just a few hours later, Roblox Status reported the outage impacting millions of players. We don't know exactly why the Roblox servers are down, but the timing is causing some fans to connect the two events.
Horror games provide some of gaming’s most exhilarating experiences, and much like their silver screen counterparts, they aim to get you as close to experiencing death as possible without actually dying. In between the thrills and jumpscares, horror also lends itself well to character-focused storytelling that can often pull on one’s heartstrings (but not before bumping that heart rate up a bit first). While what makes something scary ranges from person to person, this list highlights some of the most terrifying recent games we’ve played. Here are ten great horror games, listed in no particular order, that you’ll have a spooky time getting lost in.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Pc
Resident Evil 2 Remake is a rare gaming feat in many ways. It successfully remakes the beloved classic of the same name, and it does so with some of the most visually stunning graphics in all of gaming. Plus, it’s straight-up terrifying. You play as either Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield while making your way through the zombie-ridden Raccoon City Police Department and other parts of the greater Raccoon City. As you might expect in a Resident Evil, there’s plenty of puzzles, scares, and of course, zombies. Easily one of the most terrifying entries in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil 2 Remake is a master class in horror, blending together what solidified the series as a mainstay years ago with modern graphics and gameplay that have you squirming on the couch with clutched, sweaty hands. It boasts a lot of replayability, too, thanks to its various playable storylines and multi-character side content. Whether you’re new to the franchise or returning for a scare, Resident Evil 2 Remake is an excellent place to start. |Our Review
Resident Evil Village
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia
Resident Evil Village features much of what fans love about the series with a return to the very roots of horror: vampires, werewolves, gargoyles, and other monsters. As the name suggests, it takes place in a remote village in Europe cut off from the rest of the world, which makes it easy for nine-foot-tall beauty Lady Dimitrescu, hammer-wielding Heisenberg, and cursed ventriloquist doll Donna Beneviento to play with protagonist Ethan Winters like a toy. Ethan remains as bland a character as he was in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but his arc is given a shot in the arm thanks to a mysterious search for his missing daughter. Plus, Resident Evil Village is chock full of lore that long-time fans will surely eat up, although whether or not it’s lore they like will vary from player to player. Resident Evil Village uniquely avoids the use of zombies, opting for classic horror antagonists like werewolves instead while still paying homage to all of the complex puzzles and survival-horror stress that popularized the series decades ago. |Our Review
Little Nightmares 2
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Stadia
Little Nightmares 2 might be the closest to a Tim Burton-made game as we’ll ever get if the famedNightmare Before Christmasdirector were a game developer. From the moment it begins, Little Nightmares 2 immediately oozes the familiar ambiance and dread of a horror game. Add to it the world’s unsettling characters, as well as protagonist Mono, which resemble claymation more than anything else, and you’ll find Little Nightmares 2’s platforming some of the scariest in the genre. Its puzzles sit finely between being complex enough to be fun and simple enough not to be irritating, and while combat is easily the weakest aspect of Little Nightmares 2, it adds just enough variety to keep players on their toes. If words like “macabre,” “sinister,” “Tim Burton,” and “mysterious” characterize your favorite games, Little Nightmares 2 is sure to be a hit for you. If you haven’t yet played the first Little Nightmares either, it’s also great, and when played back-to-back, the series gives you an unnerving and stress-inducing romp through one of gaming’s most unique worlds. |Our Review
Until Dawn
PlayStation 4
Until Dawn is perhaps the best couch-multiplayer title on this list and best played in a living room with friends. It is a classic b-horror camp film translated to a video game where you take control of eight teens trying to survive an ill-fated night at a spooky mountain cabin. Unlike the games it’s clearly inspired by (looking at you, Resident Evil), there are no puzzles or survival-horror inventory management systems to be found in Until Dawn. Instead, your primary focus is exploring the spooky locale and the characters who inhabit it. Until Dawn’s main claim to fame is how it emphasizes your decisions in-game. The fate of each character is up to you and the choices you make. Will you make it out with everyone alive, or will you be the lone survivor? That’s up to you, how much your hands shake while holding a controller (antagonists can find you if your hands shake too much), and how great you are at completing quick-time events. Those QTE’s are probably Until Dawn’s weakest points, mostly in that one glance away from the screen could drastically change a character’s outcome. Still, its production values, scares, and fun b-movie characters will have you forgetting about that failed button press in no time. |Our Review
Soma
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, Linux
Remember Amnesia and how scary that was? Well, Frictional Games took all the horror and existentialist dread from that series and placed it in an underwater AI-driven network of laboratories, living spaces, reactors, and more. You play a run-of-the-mill man who awakens in a seemingly abandoned research facility deep in the ocean, unaware of how you got there and, perhaps more importantly, why you’re there to begin with. Overgrown pipes and rusted gears fill the hallways of this network of underwater structures someone called home, or at least, the office. Drawing heavily on classic horrors likeAlienandThe Abyss, Soma thrives on making you feel alone… until you’re not, and then a hulking malfunctioning robot is doing all it can to make you fish food. As if the literal horror of being stuck on the ocean floor in an abandoned facility overrun with murderous AI wasn’t scary enough, the game takes many twists and turns that feel at home in one of Albert Camus’ existentialist stories. What makes something living? What exactly is life? How does AI play a role in extending our lives or perhaps taking them over? These questions await you hundreds of meters beneath the ocean waves of Soma’s sea of dread and terrifying ambiance. |Our Review
Dead by Daylight
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Stadia, iOS
There aren’t many horror multiplayer games out there, but when Dead by Daylight exists, that’s okay because it happens to be a scary movie brought to life. Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer game that sees a group of up to four survivors fight to stay alive by dodging an otherwise guaranteed death. That demise comes by way of the one player in control of the map’s killer. While the survivors fight to turn on generators, throw exit switches, and ultimately escape, the killer has one goal: slaughter the survivors first. It’s a ton of fun and perfect for online play with friends and family. When it launched, Dead by Daylight contained a modest amount of killers, but in the years since then, the killer roster has grown to 25, and that line-up is one of the main reasons Dead by Daylight is on this list. It doubles as an excellent way to keep things fresh and a love letter to horror. Its original killers are great, but Behaviour Interactive has added icons like Michael Myers, Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, Ghost Face, the Demogorgon, Pyramid Head, Elliot Spencer, Nemesis from Resident Evil 3, and more to take Dead By Daylight from a great game to check out to a must-play for fans of horror. |Our Review
Phasmophobia
PC, Android
If horror movies and television shows likeParanormal ActivityandThe Haunting of Hill Housefit your fancy, then check out Phasmophobia. The pitch for Kinetic Games’ early access title (note: because it’s early access, you’ll almost certainly run into bugs, so keep that in mind when playing) is that you and up to three other players are paranormal investigators. Not unlike the ghost hunters seen in movies likeInsidiousor evenGhostbusters, you’re tasked with finding ghosts within a given location and what ensues is a slow burn toward the inevitable jump scare that will have all but one (the person who got scared) laughing a lot. Phasmophobia isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but it’s a great game to play at night with friends. It doubles as a great game for people to watch, too, because who doesn’t love watching someone get scared? It’s also simple enough that anyone could jump in and experience the terror that is simply walking through a haunted house. Couple a round of Phasmophobia with a rewatch of Paranormal Activity, and you have yourself a terrifyingly great time.
Visage
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Visage is an indie game about exploring what appears to be a haunted house. It oozes terror in mundane rooms like a kitchen or a laundry room, but it doesn’t take long for the game’s more psychological scares to reveal themselves. You’ll find yourself transported to cemeteries, psychiatric wards, abandoned supermarkets, and more, and it's here that you’ll be tasked with solving puzzles as different characters, each experiencing their own thematic journey through a personal Hell. Not only are these character arcs terrifying, but they’re legitimately great stories, which can sometimes be rare in the horror genre.Because of this storytelling approach, players can experience a variety of different scares in the same setting. While Visage has some jank around the edges and a clunky inventory system, it’s worth seeing past those issues as it’s an exceptional option for horror fans |Our Review
Devotion
PC, Mac
Devotion is one of the most terrifying games on this list. It’s also the most controversial, having been pulled from online storefronts as a result of an in-game joke criticizing China’s president. While it’s still not available on most storefronts, it can be purchased on Red Candle Games’ official website. Devotion unfolds in a small apartment in 1980s Taiwan, using the otherwise mundane setting to tell the story of a family torn apart by marriage and career problems, and the struggles of raising a chronically sick child. Its gameplay is simple enough that anyone interested can give it a go – you’ll be collecting clues and items to solve puzzles – but the game uses its simplicity to keep the focus on the reason you’re playing Devotion: the horror. Devotion uses psychological scares to keep players on their feet, making them question if that hallway looked like that earlier or if you’re just losing your grasp on reality. Red Candle Games’ excellent sound design elevates the already fantastic horror experience to a new level, too, as every creak in the floor or whine from the window hinge will have you shaking in your seat. Devotion is downright scary, but it’s also a fantastic exploration into the family at the heart of this story. How does trauma breed new traumas? How does stress color the daily activities of life? These questions and more are answered as you barrel toward the game’s ending that successfully finishes before it can lose steam, a rarity in the genre. Simply put, if horror is your thing, play Devotion. |Our Review
Returnal
PlayStation 5
When you ask someone what their favorite classic horror movie is, there’s a good chance it’s eitherThe Exorcistor something like it, orAlien. If the latter is your answer, Returnal is a game for you. While it probably wouldn’t be described as horror first and foremost – its action-heavy third-person shooter gameplay sits front and center – a couple of hours with it reveals that it’s deeply rooted in the sci-fi horror that makesAlienscary over 40 years later. Returnal is about an astronaut stuck in a time loop. She crashed into an alien planet with nothing but a pistol on her person, and she must fight through hordes of hostile alien creatures and bosses to progress further and further. If you die, the loop begins all over, with little if any items carrying over from your previous run. Your one goal is to figure out what’s happening, and you do that by inching further and further toward the game’s thought-provoking ending. Returnal’s gameplay is excellent, but the horrors of the alien planet, the exotic yet dreadful atmosphere, and the mysteries contained within a reappearing and deceptively mundane house will keep you saying, “just one more try.” Don’t expect jump scares, demons, ghosts, or straightforward storytelling, but much in the same way thatAlienthrives on keeping Ripley as close to death as possible at virtually all times, Returnal stresses how lucky you are to be alive, with just a pinch of health left, after every encounter. |Our Review
What games on this list do you enjoy? What games would you add that aren't currently listed? Let us know in the comments below and if you enjoyed this list, be sure to check out our other recent genre lists:
A tactical RPG adventure, Disciples: Liberation is a fun outing in a fantasy world that puts you in the shoes of a classic RPG protagonist with special powers, a motley crew of companions, and a bone to pick with fate... then just keeps escalating the stakes further than you'd ever expect them to go. In fact, it punches above its weight class in the quality of its combat and content, but lets itself down with a disorganized mess of extra systems and some very prominent bugs.
Blending a turn-based tactics game with a proper RPG, Disciples: Liberation has you wander through isometric environments as you play through a hefty 80-hour RPG story – I did more than a few sidequests and optional fights, ending up at 92 hours played. It's not an open world, but it's not linear either; each chapter is divided up into a few regions that can be tackled in any order. Within those regions you fight a lot of turn-based battles, and it's good that those are fun and (aside from being a bit slow at times) pretty openly designed because there are a lot of them.
It's a suitably sprawling, cosmic story for Nevandaar, a fantasy world that's dark and terrible, but still allows for goodness and redemption. Your character, a gutter-born mercenary named Avyanna, has plenty of dialogue choices: Kind ones denoted by halos, aggressive ones denoted by horns, and snarky ones denoted by Avyanna's own twilight wings symbol. The sidequests have enough diversity, and enough compelling characters, that I couldn't always easily decide who to side with.
Disciples: Liberation knows what tone it's going for and sticks to it.
There's a lot of branching dialogue, most of it pretty good, but some of it's really cheesy and accompanied by equally cheesy voice acting. That's honestly a positive thing, because Disciples: Liberation knows what tone it's going for and sticks to it. Nevandaar is a comfort-food setting; this is a familiar, feel-good, generic fantasy done right.
When you settle in for a fight you'll control Avyanna, a few of her named companions, and a set of generic units you've recruited on your travels or produced back home in the ancient magical city of Yllian. There's a lot of variety to the units, from armored infantry to bone golems, possessed berserkers, and feral elf snipers. There are over 50 units, all told, and units level up as you go, so nothing ever becomes truly irrelevant. (Unfortunately, though your companions are a diverse and weird lot, on the battlefield they're just reskins of basic units with higher stats.)
In addition to its front line use, each unit can also be placed in one of your three back line slots, where it contributes a unique power from afar by buffing your units or weakening your enemies. Pro tip: Winter Dryads give your entire army permanent regeneration, which I found invaluable.
From armored infantry to bone golems, possessed berserkers, and feral elf snipers.
The combat maps are an ideal size, giving you enough room to maneuver and a sprinkling of terrain to play around. They avoid both the trap of feeling like a tight chessboard and the classic genre mistake of attempting environmental realism at the cost of being tactically interesting. No playstyle feels penalized, nor does any style feel fundamentally overpowered. Both melee-centric and ranged options have their high points, and while mobility is strong, units get bonuses and healing if they choose not to use an action point. Those small bonuses for not acting are brilliant design, allowing defensive strategies to flourish in a genre normally obsessed with aggressive movement. The enemy AI does its best, and does focus fire pretty well, but is very bad at knowing when to time its special abilities and truly terrible at staying put to capitalize on those bonuses.
I liked to build my armies out of combos of Undead (who have staying power), Demons (who hit hard), and Elves (to pick off the stragglers). The human Empire units are all obnoxious god-botherers and I couldn't stand their voice shouts after a while, so I mostly didn't use them. One of my favorite army compositions came about mid-game, when my undead Death Knights would inflict the chilled effect on enemies and Elf snipers, who automatically critical on chilled foes, would pick them off. Meanwhile Avyanna – who I'd built into a teleporting battle magician – would wreak havoc with controlling spells in the enemy's back line.
The spells are a particular joy, with an extensive spellbook of magic to collect that varies from situational buffs and fireballs to weird utility spells like walls or clouds of mist. It really nails the feel of that classic fantasy magic-user with a spell for every situation, even if you're playing as one of Avyanna's melee builds.
Other systems, however, seem designed almost at random.
Other systems, however, seem designed almost at random. Resources for building your base and upgrading your troops are poorly balanced, with some critical and others all but useless – I had a stockpile of over 200,000 wood and iron at the end of the campaign but constantly wanted more gold. They also accumulate in real time while the game runs, but can only be picked up in your base, so if you really wanted unlimited resources you could leave Disciples: Liberation running and visit every hour or so. There's other stuff that generally feels irrelevant and only comes up as a frustration, like persistent damage between unrelated combats, or the arbitrary limitation on how many buildings you can place in your settlement.
None of that really detracts from the otherwise nice story and combat, though. What does are the interface, which slows down gameplay, and the bugs, which are both frustrating and too numerous to list. The interface itself just has delays built in: It's riddled with submenus and loves to use three clicks for a task when one would do. It's also poorly signposted outside of combat, doing things like showing you a total for a number but not what that number means – it's not fun to reverse-engineer precisely what each point of strength does.
The bugs, on the other hand, are more than mere annoyances. Some were just exploits, like one that let me add infinite units to my army. Others were annoying but survivable, like low-level combats that can't be autoresolved, or skills that seem to do nothing. Other issues consistently cropped up that required me to reload a recent quicksave or quit out and restart. I can't be comprehensive, but I'll give a few examples that required a reboot to fix: A persistent bug made me unable to interact with the world at random. Clicking "Done" too quickly after combat locked me on the summary screen. I'm a veteran of weird bugs and probably have more patience for them than most, but these were bad enough that I'd be sure they're fixed before you commit to play.
None of them were apocalyptic, of course. My save worked, and I was ultimately able to finish relatively unimpeded, but it left me with the sour taste that combos, skill bonuses, and other key parts of the game either didn't work. Or, worse, that they didn't work and I had no way to tell they didn't work.
What would make a game that already features city and alliance building, survival elements, puzzles, and zombies, even better? Halloween!
Puzzles & Survival, the multi-genre mashup that has found a growing audience, is celebrating Halloween with a special in-game Locust Plague event where swarms of mutant locusts are attacking sanctuaries. Players must rally their allies to take on this monstrous new menace, get to the root of this disaster, and save Earth.
An ominous October onslaught
Puzzles & Survival’s Halloween Locust Plague event presents players with a near-Biblical challenge—clouds of locusts are suddenly descending on the land and wreaking havoc upon survivors who have already had to endure a zombie-infested, apocalyptic wasteland.
The swarm of mutant locusts is an existential threat, laying siege to your sanctuary and destroying your precious food supply. If humanity as we know it is to survive, you must scour the map for mutant locust swarms, initiate or join rallies against their bosses, and do whatever is necessary to exterminate them. Anyone brave enough to take on this challenge will receive a handsome haul of Halloween goodies.
How Puzzles & Survival hit 30 million downloads
Daring to mix several genres of games into one game is a bold move, and the Puzzles and Survival developers have managed to find the right formula to create a unique gaming experience. A zombie game that cleverly combines classic match-3 gameplay with strategic wargame elements, it’s been downloaded more than 30 million times and comes highly recommended on Google Play.
The turn-based match-3 gameplay is intuitive and addictive. You have to match tiles to deal damage to zombies and other players. Puzzle game players will excel quickly at pulling off massive combos to defeat their foes, while folks who aren’t proficient puzzlers will have to develop their skill.
When matching tiles, you are also slowly charging your heroes’ skill gauge. When the gauge is full, you can unleash your hero's specialty skill on the enemy. There are various types of hero skills: Damage, Buff, Debuff, Damage Over Time, and more, and they add depth and destruction to the puzzle mechanics.
A rainbow of heroes at your command
Similar to other strategy wargames, you need allies to survive in the world of Puzzles & Survival. The resources obtained from the match-3 gameplay help you upgrade heroes. As they become stronger, so do your sanctuary and alliance. Which heroes will champion your cause? It’s up to you and should be based on what type of player you are, and what type of strategy you plan to implement.
The hero roster in this game shuns stereotypes and is saluted for its diversity, featuring heroes from a myriad of backgrounds and races. There’s a tough-as-nails, dual sword wielding Japanese school girl, a fearsome dude named Dr. J who used to be a jester, and many more.
Locust swarm TVC comes online globally!
Additionally, an exclusive locust-themed TVC made by the Puzzles & Survival team is dropping globally for a limited time, so whether you’ve already played the game or haven’t created an account yet, now is the time to log-in and not miss out on these free Halloween treats.
Redeem secret gift code to claim FREE supplies!
The Locust Plague event presents an all-new hellish experience for fans of post-apocalyptic games, and promises to be a challenge to even those commanders who thrive on doom and gloom. As such, commanders may punch-in the following code to attain supplies in preparation for the incoming Plague: pnslocust.
Pizza Pops are not only one of the best snacks for gamers, but also for anyone who needs the deliciousness of pizza in minutes. In celebration of a Canada’s #1 selling pizza snack and a new contest that could award you with free access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, we thought we’d share with you the eight games that are popping off right now in the wide world of video games.
From the Left 4 Dead spiritual successor Back 4 Blood to the return of Master Chief in Halo Infinite to the epic tale of Zagreus and his journey out of Hell in Hades, gamers around the world have no shortage of incredible experiences just waiting to be played.
With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate you can play all of these amazing games plus over 100 more across PC, Xbox consoles, phones and tablets. By purchasing certain boxes of Pizza Pops, you can win 1 of 10,000 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate codes to start playing Sea of Thieves, Marvel’s Avengers, and over 100 other great games you can play today, as well as Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 the day they release. Each box contains a pin code, and there is no limit to how many codes you can enter at pizzapopsgamepass.ca in your chance to win one of these exciting prizes that can be worth over $200 CAD.
With the holiday season right around the corner and some colder months ahead, here are the best games that you need to check out and dive right into alongside your favorite Pizza Pops
Psychonauts 2
Even though Psychonauts 2 was released 16 years after the original, its arrival is as welcome today as it was back in 2005. This story picks up only a couple days after Psychonauts and the VR-only The Rhombus of Ruin and it gives us another opportunity to hang out with Raz and his friends. Luckily, this sequel brings with it many of the modern advancements we’ve come to enjoy without removing any of the charm and fun of the first adventure. The platforming and combat have been greatly improved and make simple actions like moving, jumping, and attacking even that much more enjoyable. One of the standout parts of Psychonauts 2 is its varied level design that will surely put a wide-grinned smile on your face until their credits roll. From playing life-size pachinko to jumping into a library book and playing in a 2D level for a bit, its creativity is hard to beat. Oh, and one area has you joined by a hilarious ball of light voiced by Jack Black, which can never be a bad thing.
Marvel’s Avengers
Following the release of Marvel’s Avengers’ Black Panther: War for Wakanda expansion, Microsoft made the big announcement that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ game about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and all the previously released free content would be available with Xbox Game Pass for PC, Console, and Cloud on September 30. Not only will players be able to suit up as Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, and Thor, but also as the previously mentioned Black Panther, Hawkeye, and Kate Bishop. This experience includes a full story campaign, three post-launch campaigns, and an ever-evolving multiplayer suite that allows you and your friends to… well… Assemble!
Hades
Hades won countless Game of the Year Awards from sites all over the internet, including IGN, and for good reason. This game about escaping the depths of the Underworld of Greek myth is one that just begs you to jump back in after you will inevitably die. Not only do you learn how to survive the dangers that lurk below, but each new run provides you with more story to let you learn about this world and the adventure of Zagreus. So, choose either the Stygius the Stygian Blade, Varatha the Eternal Spear, Aegis the Shield of Chaos, Coronacht the Heart-Seeking Bow, the Twin Fists of Malphon, or Exagryph the Adamant Rail and master this rogue-lite that dares you to defy your Dad and break free from Hell, no matter how many tries it takes.
Halo Infinite
Following a streak of wildly successful multiplayer technical preview weekends, Halo Infinite is well on its way to being one of the most anticipated games of 2021. While the multiplayer suite is free-to-play, Xbox Game Pass members will also gain access to the world-class campaign that will tell the latest story in the Master Chief saga. While it suffered a big delay that pushed it past the launch of the Xbox Series X, the extra time afforded to 343 Industries may have been just what was needed to create a game that lives up to the legend of the Master Chief himself.
The Ascent
While everyone was talking about Cyberpunk 2077, Neon Giant was hard at work at their own take on the cyberpunk genre with The Ascent. This Diablo-style action-RPG features a gritty and technologically advanced world that is just begging to be explored. As you make your way through its dangerously beautiful levels, you will earn better and better loot, level up and gain access to new powers, and be awe-struck by the visuals. Its 15-20 hour campaign is a perfect way to spend some time waiting for the bigger holiday releases of 2021, and you may even find an experience that rivals the most triple of AAAs.
Forza Horizon 5
Playground Games are masters at their craft, and now, with the power of the Xbox Series X, Forza Horizon 5 looks to drive to even higher heights. From parachuting into the game’s Gran Caldera Volcano to driving through the urban streets of Guanajuato to driving on the beach of a picturesque coast, Forza Horizon 5 is a game that will constantly surprise and delight and leave you with a ton of activities to partake in. Oh, and did we mention there will be over 426 vehicles to drive and a wealth of updates that will follow post-launch? This is one game that won’t be leaving your console anytime soon.
Back 4 Blood
When Turtle Rock Studios announced Back 4 Blood back in 2019, fans of the Left 4 Dead series let out a collective cheer that could be heard around the world. This spiritual successor to Valve’s beloved games aims to bring the addictive co-op zombie-killing gameplay of the originals to 2021 with new features and state-of-the-art technology that will be as fun as it is terrifying. You and up to three friends will be able to take on hordes and hordes of zombies, but this time with a new deck building system. Players will bring some of these cards with them to each level, and these cards - which can be part of either Reflex, Discipline, Brawn, or Fortune categories - grant bonuses and buffs to speed, stamina, and more. However, there are also corruption cards that will make things just that much more difficult by adding more fog to make it harder to see or placing a giant Ogre at the start of a level.
Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves is, without a doubt, the ultimate pirate fantasy that allows you and your friends to sail the seas to your heart’s content. While it may have launched with a lack of content, the support from Rare has been unmatched and they have turned it into a game that is not only filled to the brim with treasures waiting to be found and plundered, but also a free Pirates of the Caribbean story that has you living the Pirate’s Life alongside Jack Sparrow himself. While the game itself is a blast, it also features some of the most beautiful water we’ve ever seen. However, don’t get too distracted, as a rival pirate ship may be just around the corner waiting to steal what is rightfully (at least in your eyes) yours.
These are only some of the over 100 games just waiting for you on Xbox Game Pass through the end of 2021 and beyond, and there are so many from all types of genres available that are just waiting to be discovered.
If that sounds great, don’t forget that purchasing specifically marked boxes of Pizza Pops will give you a chance to win 1 of 10,000 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate codes to give you access to this incredible library instantly and all future games headed there like Halo Infinite this December. Today just may be your lucky day, so be sure to enter the pin code that comes with each box at pizzapopsgamepass.ca for your chance to win one of these exciting prizes that just may be worth over $200 CAD.
