Platforms

As Bungie prepares to shift Destiny 2 to a twice-yearly expansion model buoyed by “medium-sized” releases, assistant game director Robbie Stevens pointed to the original Destiny 2 to clarify that we’re in for roughly Rise of Iron-sized experiences.
Stevens discussed Destiny 2’s future in a developer livestream earlier today, October 1. “The way we’re kind of looking at the size of these is similar to Rise of Iron from Destiny 1, but this is happening twice a year,” Stevens said. “The reason we’re talking about this, the rough shape of the box here that we’re filling, is that each expansion is going to have its own unique version of a campaign and post-game experience that you can dive really deep into beyond the initial playthrough, similar to how the Dreaming City or the Pale Heart from Beyond Light have worked. Beyond those initial campaign experiences, there’s further things to explore and secrets to uncover.”
The first expansion of this new model, Codename: Apollo, will set up “o..

Square Enix’s action RPG Final Fantasy 16 puts heavy emphasis on the action. The FF16 modding community is working on changing that — and pretty effectively, too.
When FF16 released in 2023, it was widely praised for revitalizing the series with overwhelming spectacle, arguably its best-ever (action) combat system, and an approachable world. Our 4.5/5 Final Fantasy 16 review agrees. That said, it was also criticized by some for thin RPG elements in a series known for putting out systemically and mechanically deep JRPGs.
Some fans of the series — including me — were disappointed by FF16’s threadbare equipment system and loot, in particular. You could go the game’s entire, nearly 40-hour campaign without paying much attention to steely protagonist Clive’s weapon options, and it wouldn’t make a meaningful difference in combat. That can make all the crafting materials that enemies drop redundant, and the same goes for some random field bosses.
Two new mods — Eikonic Equipment and Critic..

Halo: Combat Evolved came out over two decades ago, but speedrunning events for the classic shooter are about to change forever thanks to newly-discovered glitches that let you play as the Flood (Halo’s version of a zombie-parasite-headcrab thing.)
Former Microsoft software engineer and Halo speedrunner who goes by Mr Monopoli has recently discovered a series of glitches that open up brand new routes in Combat Evolved. Some of this stuff, like flying the Pelican, was previously possible with mods, but Mr Monopoli has become the first person in the world to discover how to unlock these tricks without modding the game.
“Using new glitches, I’ve discovered a way to possess a flood infection form in Halo 1 without mods,” the speedrunner tweeted earlier this week, alongside a video of the little face-hugger bobbing about. “You can fully control it and even climb 90+ degree walls and even ceilings!” That added verticality is what I imagine will make certain levels beatable within minutes, a..

Far be it from me to make Game of the Year predictions for 2025 when we haven’t even wrapped up 2024 – here comes the big but looming over that statement – but I don’t see other games letting you drift giant birds like the Akira motorcycle, so Monster Hunter Wilds at least has a head start by my count.

Monster Hunter Wilds – New Campaign And Hunt Gameplay – YouTube

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GameSpot shared a few minutes of new campaign and hunt gameplay from Monster Hunter Wilds this week, and the best detail is right at the front, as Reddit user Qtip_Factory spotted. The demo’s custom-made hunter, a greatsword-wielding woman with hair that stays luscious even in sweltering desert sands, rides her Seikret mount alongside the guild’s sand-ship, yanks her greatsword out of the ground after beloved smithy Gemma hurls it overboard, then immediately slams the handbrake on that Seikret for a picture-perfect Akira slide while staring down the camera. Absolute cinema.
This section of the intro has come up..

The Starfield Shattered Space DLC release time is fast approaching – are you ready to jump into a mysterious, more horror-tinged side of Starfield?
Bethesda has confirmed Shattered Space is launching on Monday, September 30 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. And in case you want to know exactly when in the day you’ll be able to dive in, Bethesda also revealed the complete list of Shattered Space release times across the globe. Those are as follows:
Starfield Shattered Space DLC release timesLos Angeles: 8am PDT September 30Ciudad de Mexico: 9am CST September 30Chicago: 10am CDT September 30New York: 11am EDT September 30London: 4pm BST September 30Sao Paulo: 12pm BRT September 30Paris: 5pm CEST September 30Berlin: 5pm CEST September 30Riyadh: 6pm AST September 30New Delhi: 8:30pm IST September 30Hong Kong: 11pm HKT, September 30Beijing: 11pm CST September 30Tokyo: 12am JST October 1Sydney: 1am AEST October 1Auckland 4am NZDT October 1
Shattered Space whisks players off to Va’ruun’kai, the hom..

Exil is another gorgeous side-scrolling Metroidvania that’s just hit Kickstarter, and it’s absolutely smashed its modest funding goal of… a singular dollar.
In true Metroidvania spirit, Exil has you traversing ”mystical landscapes” to ”uncover hidden paths and secrets” with fast and fluid action that lets you switch between different ability loadouts on the fly. What really caught my eye in the trailer below was how it riffs on Cuphead’s delightful parry – where you can double jump off of pinkish projectiles – which encourages you to put yourself in danger if you want the extra advantage.

Exil Kickstarter Teaser (2024) – YouTube

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Exil also has a vague ”multilayered story” that asks you to piece together its disparate fragments and is inspired by Attack on Titan. I’m wondering if that manifests in a Breath of the Wild or Outer Wilds way where you actually need to collect nuggets of information to find out what’s really going on – or, if it’s more of a wordless, ‘make ..

There’s a new Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater trailer showing off an extensive array of the game’s early cutscenes, and it looks both gorgeous and absolutely faithful to the 2004 original. But there’s just something about the old voice acting coming out of the new character models that feels a little bit weird.
Metal Gear Solid Delta reuses the voice acting of the original MGS3, so all the line delivery is just as it was back in 2004. The original Snake Eater has one of the all-time great sets of vocal performances, with just the combination of military thriller drama and campy anime shenanigans to make it all extremely memorable. David Hayter’s performance as Snake is absolutely iconic for a reason.
But while the camp worked great in the slightly stylized look of the PS2 original, it looks a lot weirder coming out of a bunch of modern, highly realistic character models. Just take a look at the trailer below. Look at when Snake starts speaking around the 0:43 mark. It’s a little of..

The Razer BlackShark V2 Hyperspeed punches well above its weight in almost every category and still comes in at an MSRP that’s considered low mid-range. The $129.99 PC-focused device remains one of the best gaming headsets I’ve ever tested purely because of its value for money – after all, you’re getting the drivers and microphone of the full BlackShark V2 Pro (a $199.99 device) for much less cash. Amazon has taken things one step further today.
You’ll find the latest BlackShark headset down at a record-low $109.99 right now, with Amazon shaving $20 off the original launch price. That’s a smaller saving in the grand scheme of things, but considering that MSRP was so favorable to begin with (and it’s a record-low we’ve only seen a couple of times before) I’ll certainly take it.
I’ve seen that discount pop up a few times in the last few months, but it only ever appeared first in late June. After that, this was a full-priced gaming headset until the middle of August, when it started jum..