Author: Surej Singh

NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Bandai Namco’s upcoming action RPG game, Scarlet Nexus, is now available for pre-order for both current- and next-gen consoles.

• Read More: ‘Legends Of Runeterra’ review: exciting visuals, excellent design make it one of the best digital CCGs around

Although Scarlet Nexus hasn’t received a release date, since it is awaiting the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, it can now be pre-ordered via Amazon. The game, however, will be playable on the Xbox One and PS4 as well as PC.

Scarlet Nexus is set in the distant future, when a psionic hormone is discovered in the human brain, granting people with extra-sensory powers and changing the world forever. This brings about an attack from the Others, deranged mutants who descend from the sky with a thirst for human brains.

Those with acute extra-sensory abilities, known as psionics, are humanity’s last line of defense. Players will take on the role of Yuito Sumeragi, a new recruit in the anti-Other task force armed with talent in psycho-kinesis, and will unravel the mysteries of humanity’s new era.

Scarlet Nexus was first announced at the inaugural edition of Microsoft’s Xbox 20/20 digital event last week, alongside 12 other third-party games such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

July’s edition of the Xbox 20/20 event will showcase Halo Infinite, alongside other currently unannounced first-party titles. Other games that have been announced for next-gen consoles include Observer: System Redux and Cyberpunk 2077 – although the latter’s next-gen release will not be available at launch. 

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It’s no secret that Halo Infinite will be a launch title for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Series X console. Players haven’t gotten a glimpse of the game since it was first announced in 2018, but all of that will change come July.

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According to a new post on the official Halo forum, Microsoft’s 343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite will be one of the titles being showcased during the July showcase of the monthly Xbox 20/20 digital event, but no official date has been announced yet. It is also currently unclear just what the showcase will entail; if it will be a story trailer, or actual gameplay footage.

“You may have seen people talking about this lightly before, but we’re extremely excited to confirm that Halo Infinite will be one of many first-party titles included in the Xbox 20/20 event in July,” the developer wrote in the post.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it remains committed to the timely launch of the Xbox Series X and Halo Infinite later this year, despite issues faced from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All 15 Xbox Game Studios teams are currently working on next-generation games for the new console and Xbox Game Pass.

The Xbox Series X and Halo Infinite are expected to be released during the holiday season later this year. An official release date has not been announced for either product.

The company also held its first Xbox 20/20 event last week, during which it showcased 13 third-party games that will launch on the Xbox Series X. Among these games were Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Madden NFL 21.

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NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM

Nintendo has announced a new exclusive game for its Nintendo Switch console: Paper Mario: The Origami King.

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The announcement was made via the release of a new trailer that showcases the game’s backstory, the gameplay and new abilities for Mario. Paper Mario: The Origami King is slated to arrive on July 17, and is the latest entry in the Paper Mario RPG series.

Check out the announcement trailer below.

The Mushroom Kingdom is cast into danger when the evil King Olly unleashes his plan to the over the entire world. Princess Peach’s castle has been bound by giant coloured streamers that have transported it to a distant mountain. King Olly has also diabolically transformed Bowser’s minions into Folded Soldiers and enlisted them in his treacherous cause, forcing Bowser to team up with Mario.

The Origami King will introduce a new ring-based battle system that lets players flex their puzzle-solving skills to maximize damage to enemies. Mario will also be equipped with a range of new tools to help him take back the kingdom.

One of Mario’s new abilities showcased in the trailer, called the 1000-Fold Arms, allows players to interact with the landscape by stretching out and pulling, peeling and revealing new locations, helping them to solve puzzles and uncover unexpected surprises.

The Paper Mario series, an RPG spin-off of the Super Mario series, first made its debut in 2000 on the N64. The Origami King will mark the series’s debut on the Switch, and the first installment in the franchise since 2016’s Paper Mario: Color Splash for the Wii U. Pre-orders are now available via Nintendo’s official website.

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Sony’s recent State Of Play digital event unveiled gameplay footage from the upcoming samurai/ninja epic, Ghost Of Tsushima.

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The 18-minute clip showcases a handful of new details surrounding Ghost Of Tsushima, such as exploration, combat, customisation and photo mode, among others. The video is the first showcase of in-game footage since Sucker Punch showed off the game at E3 2018.

Watch the latest episode of Sony’s recent State Of Play below.

Protagonist Jin will make use of two distinct fighting styles throughout the game: Samurai – in which he was traditionally trained – and Ghost, a stealth-based ninja-like combat style that he will gradually adopt in the game.

The traditional samurai combat style is seeming focused on sizing up opponents and remaining observant of enemy attacks in order to counter them. Varying enemy offence styles will keep players on their toes, requiring them to switch between different combat stances to more effectively attack and defend themselves.

On the other hand, the Ghost technique veers towards that of the ninja, operating from the shadows. With this combat style, underhanded techniques and weaponry will be used to take out enemies, ranging from stealth-kills from a variety of angles to special tools, like smoke bombs, firecrackers and throwing knives.

Playing as the Ghost offers more agile movement, with the option of parkour manoeuvres and grappling hooks to get around. As players pick off their enemies from the shadows, those around will start to fear the Ghost’s presence and may even choose not to engage if they see him wandering around.

Another aspect of the game that was showcased during the State Of Play session was how the customisation of Jin will affect his overall capabilities. Multiple sets of armour are available in the game, each of them carrying specific advantages for one of the two combat styles.

While the game doesn’t include waypoints, exploration will remain a vital part of the game. To help point players in the right direction every once in awhile, the game will use Jin’s surroundings to help guide him. This can be executed in a number of ways, including a gush of wind blowing in the direction you want to go, or a bird flying above Jin heading in a particular direction.

The State of Play presentation also confirmed that Ghost of Tsushima will have a photo mode, which has customisable options, including colour grading and depth of field. Players will also have the ability to manipulate elements in the world, such as wind direction, lighting and particle effects.

Ghost Of Tsushima will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on July 17. Pre-orders are now available through the PlayStation store.

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With just over a month to go until the release of Naughty Dog’s much-anticipated The Last Of Us Part II, the company has announced a new weekly behind-the-scenes series for the game.

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Announced via the official PlayStation blog, Inside The Last Of Us Part II will be a weekly series that tackles different aspects of the game leading up to its launch in June. Naughty Dog’s senior communications manager Scott Lowe said that “each video will feature interviews with members of our team as we discuss the design, technology and ideas that have shaped the development of our game over the last six years”.

The first episode of the series, titled “Inside The Story”, takes a closer look at the narrative for The Last Of Us Part II. It features some of the core themes that Naughty Dog is exploring, including a glimpse into Ellie and Joel’s life in Jackson after the events of the original game, and how the development team is broadening the world and cast of characters.

Watch the first episode below:

The following episodes will dive deep into the upcoming title’s gameplay, details and world building. The videos will be released every Wednesday on the official PlayStation YouTube channel over the next three weeks. The Last Of Us Part II is set to be released on June 19 exclusively for PS4.

The Last Of Us Part II received a new story trailer last week, just days after it was confirmed that the game had gone gold and was ready for mass printing and distribution. The story trailer makes it clear that the game will follow Ellie as she fights her way through the infected to seek revenge on the survivors that have wronged her.

In other Sony news, the company recently confirmed in an earnings report that the PlayStation 5 is on track for a 2020 holiday season release, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Days after the official Mafia Twitter account sprung back to life after a long hiatus, 2K Games has announced Mafia: Trilogy with a brand-new teaser.

Details in the video are sparse, showing just images of characters from the past Mafia games, as well as logos for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, the Epic Games Store and Steam. However, at the end of the clip, it teases a bigger announcement will come on May 19.

Watch the video below:

Soon after the teaser dropped, pages for Mafia: Definitive Edition and Mafia II: Definitive Edition popped up on the Microsoft store, but have now been removed, as per IGN. The latter is set to be a remaster and was given a May 19 release date.

Meanwhile, the original Mafia seems to be an extensive remake which was “faithfully recreated, with expanded story, gameplay and original score”. The revamped title is scheduled to launch in August, according to the leaked listing. However, no mention of a Microsoft store listing for a definitive edition of Mafia III has been found.

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Mafia kicked off the franchise in 2002 on the PlayStation 2, the original Xbox and PC. Mafia II followed eight years later on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Finally, Mafia III was released in 2016 on current-gen consoles.

In other remaster news, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 have been revived for current-gen consoles with all new visuals, new game modes and the return of most of the original games’ iconic soundtracks. They will launch as a single package for PS4, Xbox One and PC (exclusively on Epic Games Store) on September 4.

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Epic Games, the creator of Unreal Engine, one of the most successful game engines to date, has unveiled Unreal Engine 5, its next-gen creation, featuring real-time footage from a PlayStation 5 dev kit.

• Read More: Sony’s State Of Play to debut new ‘Ghost Of Tsushima’ gameplay footage

The PlayStation 5 tech demo, titled Lumen In The Land Of Nanite, was specifically created by Epic Games to show off the capabilities of the Unreal Engine 5. The demo highlights two of the upcoming engine’s newest, and most powerful, technologies: Lumen and Nanite. Lumen is a global illumination system that will enable, photorealistic lighting in games, while Nanite is a virtual geometry system that allows artists to import and render 3D models and environments composed of billions of polygons. Learn more about the technologies at the Unreal Engine website.

Watch the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo below.

“I think a lot of people [will ask], ‘Oh is [the demo] real?’ But you know that demo was grabbed from the back of a PlayStation 5 development kit,” Epic Games chief technology officer Kim Libreri told IGN. “An HDMI cable went into a disc recorder and played out real-time – no editing, no tricks, that’s what comes off the box.”

While the demo seen above is fully playable, it will unfortunately not be released as an actual game. Libreri told IGN that if GDC happened – the conference was set to take place in March but got cancelled due to COVID-19 – fans would have gotten a chance to “play through the thing”.

Also of note, this is also the first time players are getting a glimpse of any game (demo or otherwise) running on the PlayStation 5, which Sony yesterday (May 13) confirmed was on track for a holiday 2020 release.

The Unreal Engine 5 will support the PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, although it will only be available late in 2021. Until then, the consoles will use the Unreal Engine 4.25. The PS4, Xbox One, PC, iOS and Android will also get the Unreal Engine 5 treatment next year, according to the website’s timeline.

Alongside the release of the tech demo, Epic Games has also announced that it is waiving its royalties for games the first USD$1million made in revenue for games using the engine. More information can be found here.

Epic Games also confirmed that Fortnite, its free-to-play online multiplayer battle royale, will be available on the PS5 and Xbox Series X at launch. It will reportedly support cross-play and cross-progression.

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