The next generation of consoles is pushing hardware power further and faster, but the gulf of noticeable graphical and technical upgrades between generations is shrinking. Microsoft, for example, is consciously blurring the line by promising cross-generation support going forward with the launch of Xbox Series X. That makes quality-of-life features more valuable than ever, including at least one that's more significant than it may seem: multi-game suspension.The feature has largely flown under the radar, part of the suite of new features casually announced when Microsoft first revealed its next-gen plans. It was announced alongside other ambitious plans and quality-of-life features for new hardware, like an SSD to support faster load times and a new version of its standard wireless controller.Sony has not detailed specific plans for multi-game suspension, but it stands to reason that the feature could be included into the PlayStation 5. The company has already talked about a similar feature, reportedly to be called Activities, that will let you jump into individual game modes straight from the console dashboard without needing to load into a game's standard menu. It's conceivable that both console manufacturers could borrow these ideas from each other.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Alan Wake had a problem. He'd been teased as being a big part of the final DLC expansion of Control, dubbed AWE, and with that came expectations. Fans of Remedy Entertainment's 2010 psychological horror/thriller shooter had been waiting about a decade for the next phase of his tale. Wake worked furiously to make himself part of the AWE story, appearing in twisted cutscenes that captured his fractured mental state. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Though his writing had the power to alter the very nature of reality, not even Wake could make AWE more than an unsatisfying addition to both his story and that of the game he'd invaded.Control's AWE expansion ultimately is an underwhelming addition and a thin follow-up to the Remedy cult hit it's invoking. Especially following The Foundation, a DLC drop that added a lot of variety to Control with new powers and a new location that felt very different from everything else in the game, AWE comes off as more of a slightly tweaked rehash of the vanilla Control. AWE tries to tap into some of Alan Wake's spooky suspense underpinnings, and while it sometimes succeeds, it can't quite maintain them for very long.It's a bit of a whimper for a great game to go out on, as AWE feels more like a teaser for another game you'll have to buy at a later date, rather than a satisfying expansion of (or conclusion to) what we've seen in Control so far.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Windbound is an excellent island. It's just a shame that it's a poor archipelago.For my first few hours with the new roguelike survival game from Five Lives Studios, I walked a knife's edge--blissful relaxation on one side, speedily encroaching anxiety on the other. You would be forgiven for being lulled into a false sense of security. The sunny skies and gorgeous ocean are inviting. The art style charmingly stakes out a familiar middle ground: cartoonish gloss, realistic proportions. The monsters are memorably designed, and even the most imposing are at least a little cute. But as welcoming as it can look, the red and yellow gauges at the top of the screen are a constant reminder that this world isn't friendly.You'll stumble around early on, unable to do much of anything. Okay, you have grass, but what can you do with grass? Okay, you crafted a grass rope, but what can you do with a grass rope? You may try to wade into the water in hopes of swimming to the closest island, but your stamina gauge will quickly dash those hopes. Deplete it and you'll wake up on the beach, back where you started. Eventually you'll find a shrine on the island where you'll receive an oar, which is, in some way, legendarily significant. Locating this artifact will unlock some new crafting recipes. Turns out you can craft a grass boat with enough rope and some elbow grease.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Madden NFL 21 is a tale of two games, really. It introduces The Yard, the best new Madden game mode in more than a decade, situating itself nicely alongside the breezy and fun Superstar KO mode that arrived last year. But outside of these exciting inclusions that are well-suited for short sessions, Madden NFL 21 feels all too familiar, even for an annual sports sim. The tentpole modes that require a deep investment haven't received meaningful updates, and the on-the-field gameplay doesn't do much to move the series forward and is hampered by surprising technical issues.EA Sports has done well as of late with recognizing that not every player wants to sink a dizzying number of hours into Franchise or Ultimate Team. With Madden NFL 20, EA added Superstar KO, a sudden death overtime mode where each player gets one possession. It returns in Madden NFL 21 largely unchanged, retaining its excellent high-stakes matches. With Madden NFL 21, EA has added a second casual game mode that is even better than Superstar KO.The Yard is easily the most over-the-top game mode to ever appear in Madden. Inspired by backyard football, teams of six compete on an 80-yard field, getting three possessions each to try and score. You can play against the computer, team up with one or two friends, or see how you stack up online against other players. While it doesn't feature NFL Blitz-esque hits, you can get really imaginative with the stripped-down playbooks. You're allowed to throw unlimited forward passes behind the line of scrimmage, and many of the plays are set up to encourage this. Adding to this mechanic is the ability to snap the ball to any of your teammates. The Yard hinges on extravagant plays, as it requires you to move the ball 20 yards for a first down. Due to the limited number of blockers, there's a delay before the defense can pass the line of scrimmage.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Twelve Minutes, a game about a man trapped in a time loop, got a new trailer during Gamescom 2020 Opening Night Live. It revealed the games' cast, including James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and the Green Goblin himself, Willem Dafoe.The trailer didn't show much else outside some top-down footage of a man in an apartment. It ended saying that the game was "coming soon" without confirming a release date. Twelve Minutes was originally revealed during the Microsoft press conference at E3 2019.Twelve Minutes is described as a top down point-and-click adventure game in real-time, developed by Luis Antonio and published by Annapurna Interactive. It's inspired by movies like Christopher Nolan's Memento and Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

The Sims 4 is getting its own Star Wars game pack with Journey to Batuu, including new outfits, customization items, housing pieces, droids, and, of course, lots of lightsabers.The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey To Batuu should look familiar if you've had the chance to visit Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, as its setting is inspired by the layout of the theme park attraction. You'll have to chance to visit cantinas and merchants, purchasing your very own lightsaber and droid to take home. You'll also come face-to-face with many popular Star Wars characters, including Hondo Ohnaka from Star Wars: Rebels and Kylo Ren from the latest trilogy of films.These characters aren't just for show, either. In Journey to Batuu, you'll have to choose to align with either Rey and the Resistance or Ren and the First Order as you fight for control of the Black Spire Outpost. This quest will help you unlock all of the game pack's new items, some of which you can take back to your home when you leave Batuu.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

During Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020, we got a new trailer for Teardown, a previously announced game developed by Tuxedo Labs. The game is all about pulling off the perfect heist in the most destructive way possible.As seen in the trailer, Teardown is divided into two phases. The first phase sees you destroy environments in any way you see fit. You can drive trucks through walls, shoot out windows, position a plank so that it acts as a bridge between two rooftops, and so on. The goal is to shape the environment to your needs, creating a path between the many points on the map you'll need to travel to for your heist.The heist itself is the second phase. Upon tripping the first alarm, you must make a mad dash to deactivate all the alarms along the route you created in the first phase. Hopefully you destroyed the world in a way that makes traversal fairly simple with Teardown's first-person perspective.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Gamescom's Opening Night Live has been chock full of announcements, but one was more curious than the rest. Developed by indie studio Ratloop Games, Lemnis Gate is a brand-new turn-based FPS that centered around a unique, 25-second time-loop mechanic. It will launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2021.In Lemnis Gate, every turn matters. After each turn, players add a new hero into a time loop. These heroes then battle for various objectives, such as controlling a point or capturing a flag. The actions that are performed are then repeated throughout the entire match, with heroes from the past and present fighting alongside real-time actions akin to Nimble Giant Entertainment's Quantum League.You can check out the official reveal trailer for Lemnis Gate above.Info from Gamespot.com

Summer's nearly over, but we're not quite done with the big PC game sales just yet. Humble has kicked off its final sale of the summer, discounting a lot of different PC games up to 90% off. The sale runs from now until September 10. Most of the game keys redeem on Steam, but some redeem on Rockstar, Origin, or other launchers--be sure to note the corresponding client before purchasing.A number of publishers and developers are featured in the sale, including Rockstar Games, CD Projekt Red, and 2K. Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently $48, The Witcher 3: Game of the Year edition is only $15, and Borderlands 3 is down to $30. A number of other notable discounts include Grand Theft Auto 5 for $15, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order for $30, and The Outer Worlds for $30.Best PC game deals at HumbleAlien Isolation: The Collection -- $12.49 ($50)Battlefield 1 -- $5 ($20)Battlefield 5 -- $11.99 ($60)Borderlands 3 -- $30 ($60)Burnout Paradise Remastered -- $5 ($20)Forager -- $13.39 ($20)Grand Theft Auto 5 -- $15 ($30)Hell Let Loose -- $22.49 ($30)Hollow Knight -- $9 ($15)Kerbal Space Program -- $10 ($40)No Man's Sky -- $30 ($60)The Outer Worlds -- $30 ($60)Red Dead Redemption 2 -- $48 ($60)Star Wars Battlefront II: Celebration Edition -- $20 ($40)Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order -- $30 ($60)Syndicate -- $5 ($20)They Are Billions -- $24 ($30)Void Bastards -- $18 ($30)The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt GOTY edition -- $15 ($50)XCOM: Chimera Squad -- $10 ($20) See all deals at Humble Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is launching on PC on October 15, with the visual remaster also including two new game modes and civilizations to play as.Following in step with remasters of both Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, this third definitive edition spruces up the visuals of the strategy game to make it more palatable for a modern audience. That includes 4K support and fully rebuilt models, as well as improvements to the aged UI, reworked sound effects, and an enhanced soundtrack.Two additional game modes help expand on the existing remastered content. Historical Battles are set-piece feuds inspired by historical events of the time, while Art of War challenges return from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. These challenges are designed not only to test your strategically understanding, but also to guide new players towards discovering new parts of the game's meta.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

A new narrative trailer for Mafia: Definitive Edition debuted during Gamescom Opening Night Live, and it gave a glimpse into the world of the classic crime thriller. The trailer shows scenes of Tommy's induction into the Salieri crime family, and from there, it's a brutal descent into the heart of Lost Heaven's criminal underworld. The original Mafia is regarded as a classic for its focus on narrative within a large world. Mafia: Definitive Edition has refreshed graphics, a revised story, updated gameplay, and other bells and whistles. In addition to that, our interview with game director Haden Blackman revealed that the developers went to great lengths in preserving the spirit of the original game even when adding new story details and other updates.Mafia: Definitive Edition is set for release on September 25. While there were recent remasters of Mafia II and III, Mafia: Definitive Edition makes the biggest leap in terms of updates.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Id Software recently announced that Doom Eternal would be getting new campaign story content, called Ancient Gods. As part of Gamescom Opening Night Live, we got our first look at the DLC, which will launch on October 20.The first look at gameplay is as action-packed as you'd expect from Doom Eternal, with a few small changes. The Doom Slayer seems to have an upgraded grappling hook, allowing you to move horizontally parallel to a point instead of just towards it. There were also brief glimpses of new enemies that seem to be resurrected spirits, which fits into the heaven setting.Some changes are far more pronounced, such as a massive creature that looks like a twisted Cyberdemon and the ability to ride a submarine. It's all as outlandish as Doom has been since being rebooted. But if you're still catching up on all the lore presented in the sequel, here's everything you need to know.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

After months of teasers, Activision finally lifted the veil on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Now that the game has been formally revealed, we got another look during Gamescom Opening Night Live; this time, the presentation focused mostly on the story.Gamescom Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley interviewed Raven Software creative director Dan Vondrak, who gave more context to the game's story before showing off a new trailer. The brief story trailer went over some history of major world events like the Vietnam War with real-life footage. That transitioned into a story cutscene, a longer cut of the White House meeting seen in the debut trailer. It covered the Black Ops team discussing a mission to stop Project Perseus, including facetime with then-president Ronald Reagan.Black Ops Cold War is a direct sequel to the first Black Ops, eschewing some of the prior sequels. As the name implies, it dramatizes the Cold War between Soviet Russia and the United States, as nuclear tension and covert action were the main points of engagement. It will have multiple endings, and the campaign is expected to be about the same length as other Call of Duty games.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com

Chorus was previously revealed earlier this year for current and next generation consoles, and today we got a small glimpse at its fast-paced space dogfighting gameplay.The short gameplay trailer shows how you can quickly zip around larger space installations in a very nimble-looking ship, taking down enemies in a flurry of gunfire as you go.Chorus doesn't have a release date yet, but will launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, PC, and Google Stadia sometime in 2021. Catch up on all the other big Opening Night Live announcements right here.Info from Gamespot.com

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout's Season 2 of content is on the way. Developer Mediatonic revealed new medieval-themed minigames and costumes during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020. A giant castle for tail tag and a new block-pushing game where you have to climb over castle walls were revealed, as well as new dragon, knight, Viking, wizard, and witch costumes.Season 2 won't start for over a month, but when it does, it will have more games and costumes inspired by "epic quests." Despite being hyped beforehand, the Fall Guys segment during Opening Night Live was quick, only showing off new content during a short clip. Many of the same games are returning, albeit with new maps and obstacles. Those include swinging axes and games where you have to physically move ramps and platforms around in order to, say, jump through a floating ring that's otherwise out of reach.Fall Guys lead designer Joe Walsh started out his Gamescom appearance by thanking fans for the game's runaway success. He had previously promised that a lot of new content was in the works for the game, so expect more beyond the second season. We also know that, in China, a mobile version of Fall Guys is in the works--meanwhile, we're hopeful that the game will come to other platforms around the world.Continue Reading at GameSpotInfo from Gamespot.com