Sundays are for raising a cold glass, hearing a thump, and realising that your coaster had stuck to its bottom. Before you pick it up, let’s read this week’s best writing about games (and game related things).
Read as much or as little Wordle (opens in new tab) help as you need, from general guess-saving advice to the January 22 (582) answer laid out in bold capital letters. Those hoping for something less extreme will find a clue for today’s Wordle just below, designed to nudge you in the right direction without giving the game away.
I found today’s answer came quite quickly—perhaps down to a little luck, or maybe just being in the right frame of mind. Whatever the case, I do love a day when it all falls together and the answer just seems to fall from your fingertips.
Wordle hint
A Wordle hint for Sunday, January 22
It might help to focus on UK and Australian-style English vocabulary if you want to find today’s answer. This informal word is used to describe someone friendly, pally, or chummy. There are two different vowels to discover today.
Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle?
No letters are used twice in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
Anyone can pick up and play Wordle, but if you want to do it well and make all of your guesses count, these quick tips will help get you started on your Wordle winning streak:
Choose an opener with a balanced mix of unique vowels and consonants.
The answer may contain the same letter, multiple times.
Try not to use guesses that contain letters you’ve already eliminated.
Thankfully, there’s no time limit beyond ensuring it’s done by midnight. So there’s no reason not to treat the game like a casual newspaper crossword and come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Sometimes stepping away for a while means you can come back with a fresh perspective.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
What is the Wordle 582 answer?
Let’s keep winning. The answer to the January 22 (582) Wordle is MATEY.
Previous answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.
Here are some recent Wordle solutions:
January 21: BLURB
January 20: ALTER
January 19: MUCKY
January 18: CHARD
January 17: ADOPT
January 16: FROCK
January 15: SPIRE
January 14: KOALA
January 13: HUMAN
January 12: LEAPT
Learn more about Wordle
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.
You should start with a strong word (opens in new tab) like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
You’ll want your next guess to compliment the first, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you might have missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s simply a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the correct word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words and don’t forget letters can repeat too (eg: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips (opens in new tab), and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used, you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle (opens in new tab), as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle (opens in new tab), refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures (opens in new tab). Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
Amidst rumors that 343 Industries has been taken off of lead development of the Halo franchise, the studio has taken to Twitter to state that it will continue to “develop Halo now and in the future.”
343 Industries’ studio head Pierre Hintze shared the message on Twitter, saying, “Halo and Master Chief are here to stay. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great.”
Rumors then started swirling that 343 Industries would be taken off lead development of the Halo franchise and would instead help third-party studios bring Halo to life in the form of new games. As reported by Metro, one such leaker named Bathrobe Spartan even said that initial plans for story-based DLC for Halo Infinite have been canceled already.
In response to the rumors, 343 Industries has planted its flag and said it is here to stay.
343 Industries “will continue to develop Halo now and in the future,” says studio head Pierre Hintze. The statement was released in response to rumours that 343 would instead take a backseat on future Halo games by serving to manage external studios, rather than developing the games themselves as they had on Halo Infinite.
Home » Uncategorized » Reconstructed Mass Effect Scene Gives Normandy Crew More Development
Nearly 15 years after the game’s release, a scrapped scene from the first Mass Effect’s introductory segment has been reconstructed by a dedicated fan.
Unveiled via a post to the r/masseffect Subreddit on Jan. 20, the scene was rebuilt by user vegzkiller. Though they weren’t able to fully animate the character models, they did have some unused dialogue bits related to the scene which they could work with.
The cutscene sees Shepard walk in as Corporal Jenkins is hassling Kaiden about demonstrating his biotic abilities. Though Kaiden refuses at first and even tosses a mug at Jenkins — which Shepard then has to catch and throw back — he eventually relents and uses his powers on Jenkins’ hand. This causes Jenkins to bump into Shepard by accident, leaving him embarrassed. Doctor Chakwas then chides Kaiden, and Jenkins retreats further into the ship.
It’s a small scene, but also one which provides some extra context for how the rest of the crew interacted before the events of the game. Fans can see the reconstructed scene for themselves down below.
The scene isn’t the first vegzkiller has reconstructed and shared. Earlier this month, they revealed that there was a fully-made scene of Mordin using biotic powers to guide the team through their suicide mission at the end of Mass Effect 2. This was scrapped after it was determined Mordin wouldn’t be a Biotic user, but was still fully accessible and rebuildable within the game’s code.
Those interested in following vegzkiller‘s journey to reconstruct scenes can do so by keeping up to date with his Reddit account. For more on all things Mass Effect, be sure to take a look at our related articles down below.
The original Granblue Fantasy was a JRPG mobile game only released in Japan, but that didn’t stop enterprising westerners going to the effort to play it. That’s mainly because it counted Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and art director Hideo Minaba among its developers.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is set in the same universe and has the same Final Fantasy vets involved, but it’s a big, splashly 1-4 player action RPG blockbuster, with combat reminiscent of some Platinum Games. You’ll find the latest trailer below.
Home » News » Velma Claims Title for IMDB’s Worst-Rated Animated Series Ever
The Velma animated series has achieved a new feat among animated series rated on IMDb, though it’s not exactly something worth celebrating.
On Jan. 20, the show managed to garner a collective rating of 1.3/10 on the ratings database, making it the worst-rated animated series in the site’s history. The score is based on ratings given by IMDb users, who can submit their own scoring of a given show or movie that will be factored into an average score displayed on the site proper. As of this article’s writing, the score is based on more than 38,000 ratings submitted by users.
Making matters worse is the sheer volume of ratings submitted for the show. Compared to some of the other lowest-rated shows one can look through on IMDB, Velma’s total number of negative ratings is several times higher with over 36,000 1-Star reviews. Most every other low-rated series, and the low-rated animated series in particular, achieved their low rating due to only a couple thousand negative ratings.
About the only plus side is that this negative publicity seems to be working in the show’s favor. Despite its low rating, it is currently ranked the 17th most popular show on IMDb, standing among the likes of Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, and Yellowstone. This is only a measure of how often people are coming to IMDb to look up a specific show though, which would track given the show’s negative reception since it premiered.
For those not in the know, Velma is a prequel series which follows the titular sleuth’s efforts to set up the Mystery Gang from Scooby-Doo. Unlike its source material though, it leans more into the norms of adult cartoons with elements like violence, nudity, and profanity littered throughout its episodes.
Velma can currently be streamed through HBO Max. For more on Velma and everything Scooby-Doo related, check out the related articles down below.
First reported on in English by Wccftech (opens in new tab), CD Projekt investor relations manager Marek Bugdoł told the Polish outlet Parkiet (opens in new tab) that Cyberpunk’s Phantom Liberty expansion would be the studio’s largest post-launch add-on to date—in terms of budget. CD Projekt global PR director Radek Grabowski was quick to emphasize this point on Twitter (opens in new tab), cooling a rush of speculation that the long-awaited expansion would surpass The Witcher 3’s highly regarded Blood and Wine in size and scope.
CDPR has an excellent track record of post-launch additions to its games. The enhanced editions of The Witchers aside, The Witcher 3’s Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine remain a high water mark for videogame expansion packs. That latter DLC especially is a tough act to follow, a $20 add-on that included an entirely new open world zone, Gwent faction, and substantial main quest line.
After Cyberpunk 2077’s long marketing cycle and subsequent blowback, CDPR’s been keeping its cards close to the chest, but I’d be thrilled even if Phantom Liberty was something more in-between Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine in scope. That first expansion remains my personal favorite of the two, boasting inventive multipart quests, a fascinating story, and one of the best villains I’ve ever seen in a game. Night City has plenty of under-utilized real estate that could benefit from new quests and characters as well—there’s not really a need here for an all-new zone.
Full voice acting from Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves definitely goes some of the way toward explaining Phantom Liberty’s expanded budget, and games are just taking more time and money to make in general these days. I’ve got high hopes for Phantom Liberty though, I want it to take after Hearts of Stone in showing off CDPR’s capacity for weird, thoughtful, and surprising storytelling, and I’m not the only one (opens in new tab).
Alongside a number of fixes that, among other things, addresses the Maximum Security Achievement/Trophy bug, The Callisto Protocol’s latest update has added New Game+.
Striking Distance Studios shared the patch notes for the v. 3.01 update on Reddit, and it will finally allow players to jump back into the horrors of The Callisto Protocol after they roll credits with all of their weapons, upgrades, and Callisto Credits.
Some of the other fixes include general performance optimizations, players no longer taking damage when vaulting over objects, voice leveling and subtitle mismatch adjustments, and much more.
The full list of changes in update v. 3.01 can be seen below;
NEW GAME+
Users who previously completed the game will have access to NewGame+ after the patch.
Application restart may be required.
Requires an active save file from game completion.
GLOBAL
Fixed an issue where some users were not correctly granted the “The Protocol is About Life” achievement
Added New Game Plus. Complete the game to unlock New Game Plus and carry your progression over to a new save. All weapons, upgrades, and Callisto Credits can be collected at the first Reforge
General performance optimizations across all platforms
Players no longer take damage when vaulting over obstacles
Fixed multiple issues where certain camera angles or progression paths could cause environments to stream out and allow Jacob to fall through the ground
Consistency pass on cabinets, lockers, and shelves to display correctly in High Contrast mode
Voice leveling and subtitle mismatch adjustments across localized languages
PC
Fixed low frequency crash in the Tunnels level during the Two Head fight
Skip Cinematics button has been mapped to the Interact/Pickup input
Fixed a long hitch when enabling Ray-Traced Shadows in the main menu
Prevented mouse cursor from displaying during some area transitions
PS4
Fixed low frequency crash in Snowcat when Jacob is talking to Dani
In our The Callisto Protocol review, we said it “is a satisfyingly gory spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, but it’s ultimately more of a striking modern mimic than a scary new mutation.”
Huzzah! The weekend has arrived. Time to shrug off the workweek, relax, and do something fun.
Games are something fun, and we play on firing up a few over the weekend.
A couple of us are playing our favorite staples, one is still playing our 2022 GOTY, and the other is trying an upcoming release.
Here’s what we’re up to this weekend:
Experience the massive Battle Royale, the all-new DMZ mode, and so much more in Warzone 2.
Connor Makar, Staff Writer – REDACTED, various
This weekend, I’ll hopefully be playing some NDA’d thing I sadly cannot write about quite yet, but I’ll also be playing some League of Legends (I know), Warframe (I know!), and maybe Warzone 2 (I know…).
Ultimately, some work bits must be done. One of these games might end up cut, probably Warzone.
FIFA 23 – Official FIFA World Cup Deep Dive Trailer
James Billcliffe, Gudies Editor – FIFA 23
The other day my wife told me off for shouting at the TV and said, “do you actually enjoy playing FIFA 23?”
The answer is I really don’t know. I’m usually big into Career Mode, but since it’s bugged to the point of unplayability (player match scores and therefore player growth is broken) I’ve turned to the penny arcade abyss of Ultimate Team for my football fix this year, and I have an embarrassingly good squad.
I’ve not spent any money, mind – but since I packed a tradable Kylian Mbappe early on from Squad Battles rewards, I’ve not looked back. This weekend sees the arrival of the Team of the Year for 2022, and I’ve been saving free packs for a while. Here’s hoping I don’t get anything good so I can draw a line under it all.
Elden Ring was our actual 2022 GOTY, and honestly? Nothing else came close.
I keep telling myself I need to play something new; something I’ve never experienced before. Yet here I am, booting up Elden Ring again. Almost a year later, I think I’m finally ready to start a new save and so a few things differently. Time will only tell if I’ve the patience to make it to the end again, though.
Alongside that, I finally tried Vampire Survivors, and thanks to Jim’s video essay on it, I learnt that I can actually play it on mobile. That means any waking moment not spent actively doing something such as working, sleeping, or playing Elden Ring is probably going to be spent running around in circles for the foreseeable.
Make the hard calls and head in the only direction you can – into The Pale Beyond.
Stephany Nunneley-Jackson, News Editor – The Pale Beyond demo
This weekend, I am going to try out the demo for The Pale Beyond. As I wrote earlier in the news piece, the game has a bit of a The Terror vibe to me, which I really enjoyed watching.
I like survival and management games, and The Pale Beyond seems as though it will tick both boxes for me. I’ll let you know what I thought of the demo after I have played it, but I have a feeling I’m going to like it.
Other than that, I plan on continuing trying to train my dog to stop jumping on visitors and pulling on the lead. Wish me luck. He’s quite the handful.
Morty Jenkins
That’s what we’re up to. What about you? What are you playing this weekend?
A new update for The Callisto Protocol is now available, adding New Game+ mode.
Completing the game will provide access to the game mode once the patch is applied. The game needs an active save file for the mode to be offered.
Watch The Callisto Protocol Official Launch Trailer featuring the song ‘Lost Again’ by Kings Elliot.
All weapons, progression, upgrades, and Callisto Credits can be collected at the first Reforge with New Game+.
Along with New Game+, the patch fixed “The Protocol is About Life” achievement issue. General performance optimizations were applied across all platforms, and you will also no longer take damage when vaulting over obstacles.
It also fixed multiple issues where certain camera angles or progression paths could cause environments to stream out and allow Jacob to fall through the ground. A consistency pass was made on cabinets, lockers, and shelves to display correctly in High Contrast mode.
Voice leveling, and subtitle mismatch adjustments were made across localized languages.
On PC, the patch fixes a low-frequency crash in the Tunnels level during the Two Head fight, and the Skip Cinematics button has been mapped to the Interact/Pickup input. The Striking Distance Studios team also fixed a long hitch when enabling Ray-Traced Shadows in the main menu and fixed an issue that prevented the mouse cursor from displaying during some area transitions.
Finally, on PlayStation 4, the patch fixed a low-frequency crash in Snowcat when Jacob is talking to Dani.
Released in December 2022 to middling reviews, our The Callisto Protocol review gave the game a score of 3/5 noting how despite there being a good game oozing within, it has missed potential and is “milquetoast” for a spiritual successor to Dead Space.
It seems the general public isn’t too hot on it either as the game hasn’t sold quite as well as expected, per a recent report. Sales seemingly haven’t yet covered the reportedly £132 million it cost to develop. Investors in the game’s publisher are said to have lowered target stock prices as a result, and it missed the 5 million unit sales mark as was predicted.
The Lost World is a multiplayer adventure game that immerses players in a lost civilization filled with mystery, danger, and adventure. The game’s main focus is on cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where players must work together to uncover the secrets of the lost world and survive against its many dangers. Story The story of the Lost World takes place in a forgotten civilization that has been lost to time. The civilization was once a great and powerful empire, but it has been lost to the sands of time. The players are a group of explorers who have stumbled upon the ruins of this civilization and must navigate the dangers and mysteries within to uncover its secrets.
Gameplay The gameplay of the Lost World is centered around cooperative multiplayer. Players must work together to survive the dangers of the lost world, such as hostile creatures and environmental hazards. In addition, players must solve puzzles and uncover the secrets of the lost civilization in order to progress through the game. The game is divided into multiple levels, each with its own unique challenges and obstacles. As players progress through the levels, they will unlock new abilities and weapons to aid in their quest.
Lost World Direct Play:
Multiplayer Features The Lost World is designed to be played with friends, and the game’s multiplayer features are a major focus. Players can join together in groups of up to four players, and must work together to overcome the game’s challenges. In addition to cooperative multiplayer, the game also includes a variety of competitive multiplayer modes. These modes pit players against each other in challenges such as races, battles, and puzzles. Graphics and Sound The Lost World features beautiful and detailed graphics that bring the lost civilization to life.
Features and System Requirements:
Beautiful graphics
Unlock new abilities
Unique challenges
1 :: Operating System :: Windows XP/7/8/8./10. 2 :: Processor: AMD FX 6100 3 :: Ram :: 8 GB RAM 4 :: DirectX: Version 11 5 :: Graphics:: NVIDIA GTX 1050ti 6 :: Space Storage:: 16 GB space
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
Hellcoming is a first-person survival game that immerses players in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by demons. Set in a dystopian future, the game challenges players to survive against all odds as they navigate through a dangerous and unforgiving landscape. The game’s focus is on survival mode, which tasks players with scavenging for resources, building shelter, and defending themselves against the demonic hordes. The game’s unique blend of horror, action, and strategy elements make for a thrilling and intense gameplay experience. Storyline The game takes place in a world where a catastrophic event has unleashed hordes of demons upon the Earth.
The player takes on the role of a survivor in this new world, fighting to stay alive against the demonic forces that threaten their existence. The game features a rich and detailed storyline that unfolds as players progress through the game. Gameplay In Hellcoming, players must balance the need to gather resources with the need to defend themselves against the demonic horde. The game features a robust crafting system that allows players to create weapons and tools to aid in their survival. Players must also manage their food and water resources, as well as build shelter to protect themselves from the harsh elements.
Hellcoming Direct Play:
Combat Combat in Hellcoming is intense and visceral, with players facing off against a variety of demonic enemies. The game features a variety of weapons, from makeshift clubs and spears to advanced firearms, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Players must master the art of combat to survive against the relentless demon horde. Graphics and Sound The game features stunning graphics and a gripping soundtrack that immerses players in the post-apocalyptic world.
Features and System Requirements:
Beautiful game
Fun game
New story
1 :: Operating System :: Windows XP/7/8/8./10. 2 :: Processor: Intel i5 or new-gen i3 / AMD equivalent 3 :: Ram :: 8 GB RAM 4 :: DirectX: Version 11 5 :: Graphics:: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 6 :: Space Storage:: 4 GB space
Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game
1 :: Download Game 2 :: Extract Game 3 :: Launch The Game 4 :: Have Fun 🙂
To successfully imitate the kind of mega-budget worldwide blockbuster most closely associated with Hollywood productions, filmmaker Frant Gwo literally went global. 2019’s The Wandering Earth, a sci-fi disaster adventure that became one of China’s biggest-ever box-office hits, takes place in a future world where Earth has been implanted with thrust rockets and piloted out of orbit to avoid a solar disaster. Astronauts must steer the spaceship-planet to a new home, while the surface freezes and its diminished inhabitants huddle underground.
The film’s enormous scope helped the movie become a Chinese smash, though it fell short of a worldwide phenomenon. (In the U.S., it had a limited theatrical run, then premiered on Netflix a few months later.) Wandering Earth’s extensive, sometimes convoluted world-building, drawn from a short story by The Three-Body Problem author Cixin Liu, left plenty of room for a follow-up. But Gwo must have grown attached to the less icy version of his home planet, because The Wandering Earth II, receiving a somewhat wider U.S. release alongside its Chinese debut, is something even less likely than a disaster-movie sequel: a disaster-movie prequel.
Set across multiple decades leading up to Earth’s launch out of orbit (enabled by thousands of fusion-powered engines around the globe), the prequel starts off with plenty of its predecessor’s grab-bag maximalism. There’s a seemingly mad scientist extolling the virtues of a “digital you that can live forever” — an AI-based plan pitched as an alternate way to survive the coming apocalypse. (It’s unclear, but it sounds like the idea was to upload everyone to a Matrix-esque digital world, and leave the actual one to fry.) Pro-digital terrorist groups attack a massive space elevator, explosions and low-gravity fisticuffs erupt, and we learn that 91% of Americans oppose moving Earth out of orbit because they don’t think a problem 100 years away is worth solving. (“The world isn’t on the side of the reality,” one official laments.)
Image: Well Go USA
The sprawling results initially feel like a mashup of Don’t Look Up and Independence Day: Resurgence, but as the film enters its second hour, then its third, it brings in even more familiar bits and pieces of other movies. (It runs 173 minutes, including credits and multiple postscripts.) There is so much movie in The Wandering Earth II, and so many disasters, countdowns, and chyrons to go around. The movie may set a record for the sheer number of subtitled locations, timelines, characters, and occasionally even hardware. The first movie’s astronaut, Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing) gets a backstory. So does one of the computer systems. The writing team steals bits of Interstellar one moment, and engages in parallel thinking with Moonfall the next. (“The moon disintegrates in 179 hours.”)
But perhaps the goofiest thing about Wandering Earth II is how resolutely un-goofy much of it is. There are moments of absurdity, but the film is often surprisingly grim, in a way that feels admirably ambitious but questionably useful. Much of the movie has a downbeat moon-gray palette, even in scenes that don’t take place on the moon. The saddest storyline it weaves across the decades is about Tu Hengyu (Andy Lau), a scientist grieving the loss of his wife and daughter, convinced he can fine-tune the digital echo of his young child into a fuller AI consciousness. (Here, there are thematic parallels with Yeon Sang-ho’s JUNG_E, a fleeter and more manageable science fiction movie premiering on Netflix right as Wandering Earth II lumbers into theaters.)
The dead-family storyline isn’t the only obligatory pause for pathos, either. Another character must deal with his wife’s imminent death, since cancer cases have spiked during the rise of dangerous solar activity. At the same time, he’s trying to secure one of the limited tickets to an underground city.
Image: Well Go USA
In many ways, Gwo carries this heaviness with more grace than the supposed masters of the modern form. Unlike Roland Emmerich (whose work the Wandering Earth series generally resembles) or Michael Bay (whose Armageddon feels like part of this movie’s DNA), Gwo isn’t afraid of quiet moments amid the bombast. He doesn’t nervously pack his movies with goony comic relief or shameless ploys for applause. Some of his imagery has an eerie, almost mournful beauty — even more so than the previous movie, which found some poetic imagery among the chintzier-looking special effects.
Yet none of this keeps exhaustion from setting in over the course of nearly three hours. Exactly how many countdowns to possible apocalypse can a movie bear, especially when the planet is demonstrably intact at the beginning of the next movie? The audience knows Earth survives, which turns Wandering Earth II into a torture device for its new characters: The planet will keep going, but these poor suckers can still get put through the wringer.
That obviously isn’t Gwo’s intention, and it is remarkable that his three-hour Wandering Earth prequel is simultaneously stranger and more emotionally grounded than the earlier film. Yet even at this length, even with eye-popping moments and believable characters, some crucial humanity feels missing. Classic disaster movies offer something similar to the feel of a horror movie: the terror of annihilation and the catharsis of survival, but spread over a larger canvas. Maybe that model just doesn’t work anymore. Skillfully made as it is, Wandering Earth II feels more like immersion therapy for the modern onslaught of apocalyptic news from around the world. Like franchises, global disasters no longer really end.
The Wandering Earth II opens in theaters on Sunday, Jan. 22, the first day of the lunar new year. Check the movie’s website for locations.
The Pale Beyond is an indie title that releases in February, and it puts you in the shoes of an unwilling captain whose seafaring vessel becomes trapped in ice.
This rather interesting-looking game tasks you with keeping yourself and your crew alive while stranded on the ice.
The Pale Beyond Launch Trailer
In the adventure-survival game, you are part of The Temperance crew exploring the polar south in search of The Viscount and its crew. The missing ship had set sail for the Pale Passage in search of absolute magnetic South and failed to return from the expedition.
While navigating the harsh landscape, which can change at any moment, the ship becomes stuck in the ice, and the captain goes missing. As the new, unwilling captain, you are now in charge of keeping 24 crewmates and 12 sled dogs safe, fed, and warm as the Polar Winter approaches. That’s not an easy task in such an inhospitable place.
You will need to tread lightly, as the possibility of a mutiny is strong. Every vote will count, so keep the crew on your side. And, please, don’t let the dogs die. You can always give someone else the job or boatswain or something else. You can’t get new dogs, and one less person is one less mouth to feed (I am such a horrible person!).
Watching the video reminded of the 2018 TV mini-series The Terror starring Jared Harris. Unlike the series, though, the game doesn’t seem to feature supernatural elements. Surviving the ice and starvation will be enough to contend with, I imagine.
Bellular Games, founded by YouTuber Michael Bell (BellularGaming) and creative director Thomas Hislop, is the development studio. The duo received support and funding from Northern Ireland Screen and The Treasure Hunters FanClub.
The Pale Beyond will release for PC on February 24. You can wishlist it now on Steam, and if the premise interests you, give the demo a try.
Pokémon Go is having a Larvitar Community Day Classic event on Jan. 21 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.
As expected with a Community Day event, Larvitar will spawn in huge numbers with a high chance for it to appear shiny. There are also several other bonuses and perks, which we’ve listed out below.
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic
If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, you can pop an Incense, then quickly tap each Larvitar to check for shiny ones, running from any that aren’t shiny. Notably, any Larvitar you’ve already tapped will face where your player is standing, so that should help identify which ones you may have already checked.
What Community Day move does Larvitar’s evolution learn?
If you evolve Pupitar into Tyranitar between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the fast move Smack Down.
If you miss out on evolving it during this period, you will likely be able to evolve it during a Community Day weekend event in December to get Smack Down. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move.
How does Tyranitar do in the Pokémon Go meta?
Tyranitar is at the top of the non-legendary PvE tier list when it comes to both dark- and rock-type moves. You can give it Smack Down and Stone Edge to make it a powerful rock-type attacker or give it Bite and Crunch to do dark-type damage. If you want to make it even stronger, try to nab a Shadow Larvitar from a Team Go Rocket member.
Tyranitar can also Mega Evolve, but its Mega Evolution has yet to be added to Pokémon Go, so stay tuned for whenever they add that, as it’ll just make it even stronger.
How do I make the most of Larvitar Community Day?
The following bonuses will be active during Larvitar Community Day:
Tripled XP for catching Pokémon
Incense lasts three hours
Lure Modules lasts three hours
Larvitar special photobombs when taking snapshots
That said, you should definitely pop a Lucky Egg and an Incense and try to nab some powerful Larvitar.
If you can Mega Evolve Aerodactyl, Steelix, or Swampert, you’ll score additional Larvitar Candy per catch.
Roughly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Carolyn, a mother of six, finally capitulated to her kids’ begging. Her children wanted to join Roblox, a platform that allows users to create and host online multiplayer games. Roblox became a vital way for kids to connect virtually during the pandemic, and despite her concerns about her kids, ages 12 and under, interacting with others online, Carolyn and her husband decided to let them play. Two years later, a slew of content moderation changes at Roblox has made it harder for her to control what her young children see. She made the hard decision to stop allowing her kids to play.
“Alright, I’m done. DONE. I deleted my kids’ Roblox accounts, and recommend you guys do too. I just spent six hours playing the games meant for 5-year-olds and it was freaking awful. Something is very wrong with Roblox Corp,” she said in a tweet thread.
In the following tweets, Carolyn described additional troubling content she encountered while playing on the platform, including a game called Public Bathroom Simulator that mimicked a public restroom environment. Carolyn told Polygon she expected some potty humor, but what she found was much worse. In the game, her character slipped on a puddle and got stuck on the ground. Afterward, other players in the game appeared to take turns doing role-play that simulated an assault of her character, an incident that has happened to others on Roblox.
Anyone can make a game on Roblox. The platform almost works like YouTube — except instead of uploading videos, any user can design and publish a game, or as Roblox calls it, an “experience” for others to play. This gives young users vast opportunities to develop and play in any virtual worlds and games they imagine. According to a Roblox spokesperson, the platform had 58.8 million daily active users in the third quarter of 2022, 46% of whom identify as being younger than 13 years old.
This presents a content moderation problem. Users can choose between roughly 9 million experiences, according to Roblox’s website. This immense volume of experiences makes it more challenging to moderate, despite the company’s active role in monitoring the platform.
Roblox filters potentially inappropriate user-made skins and chat, as well as personal information. The company says that it employs a team of “thousands” to monitor the platform for inappropriate content and that its trust and safety team typically takes “minutes” to address any behavior that violates their terms of use and community standards. Still, games simulating slavery and fascism or ones that simulate mass shootings have cropped up on the platform.
For most of 2022, individual Roblox games did not have an “age appropriateness” designation or rating, as the platform’s intended audience was simply younger children. Parents could restrict their kids’ account so that kids could only play on a set list of games curated by Roblox, along with other safety features, like disabling chat.
It’s up to the everyday people making games on Roblox to make sure their content has an age-appropriateness rating. To do so, developers fill out an Experience Questionnaire — specifying whether violence is depicted in-game and its frequency, level of intensity, and presence of blood — that will generate the recommended age group for their game. As of January, games whose developers have not filled out an Experience Questionnaire won’t be recommended to young users. (The dev forum doesn’t specify whether young users can still find these games independently.)
A Roblox game called Public Bathroom Simulator.Image: TallyWally/Roblox
Polygon spoke to a Roblox developer who specializes in creating family-friendly games and who wished to remain anonymous due to their relationship with Roblox. They believe that Roblox is taking strong steps to inform parents, but that it’s ultimately on parents to monitor their kids’ activity.
“Roblox is making great changes and efforts to inform parents about the content found in particular games with age guidelines, but it’s still up to parents to monitor their younger children and teach them online safety guidelines and rules to follow,” they said.
Carolyn and her husband took an active role in their children’s digital lives and regularly played Roblox games with their kids. She and her husband grew up playing games like RuneScape and Ragnarok Online, so the two were aware of the potential dangers of playing with others online.
“We had a pretty good idea of the things that can go on, and the things that can be published with just text and voice chat. And then, more recently, the user-manipulative games — like games where you can place things and change things about your character — I think that kind of opened up a new thing for parents to be worried about.”
These Experience Guidelines only add to existing moderation challenges on the platform. Though the content of certain games may be deemed age-appropriate by developers, kids can still interact with others on the platform through role-playing. Role-play games with imaginary elements and character interactions are among the most popular on the platform. This opens up opportunities for inappropriate interactions, either via chat or with role-play elements. So while a game might not contain blood or any of the age-restricted content marked as appropriate by the survey, a user could still go in the game and simulate an assault.
Roblox terms of use and community standards are relatively strict content rules when compared to other platforms and social media sites, like YouTube. For example, Roblox prohibits depictions of romance and depictions of political parties, in addition to explicitly banning content about extremist groups. To enforce these rules, the company also moderates through a reporting system, which allows users or a parent to report a specific user or a game that violates Roblox’s terms.
Image: Roblox
Polygon reached out to Roblox and received the following comment:
“To determine the suitability of content for each age category, we examined global industry standards and consulted child development experts to guide our policies. The experiences highlighted in [Carolyn’s] Twitter thread are marked as ‘All Ages’ because the content is generally suitable for all ages and may contain infrequent mild violence and/or light unrealistic blood,” a Roblox spokesperson told Polygon via email.
The spokesperson also said that while the new system has expanded the pool of experiences, the company has upgraded parental controls so parents can customize access to experiences based on age recommendations.
While the portion of Roblox’s older players is growing, a large number of users below age 13 remain. It’s true that Roblox takes a stronger stance in content moderation compared to other content platforms, but even then, changes like these may expose its younger users to more age-inappropriate content on the platform. After tweeting, other parents and family members said they deleted the game, and others shared their own horror stories.
So for now, caught between massive changes at a company and the whims of her own kids, Carolyn has stuck to the decision to delete their accounts. Luckily for her, it seemed like it went all right.
“I was expecting a huge, like, meltdown. But they were actually really cool with it. They’re like, All right, you know, if it becomes safe, we’ll play again. And I was like, Yeah. Wow. All right. Cool.”
Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down more of the weaponry of Deep Rock Galactic, including the “Thunderhead” Heavy Autocannon, the Corrosive Sludge Pump, and the M1 Garand-inspired M1000 Classic.
Directors and Hollywood studios have been remaking films for decades. Many of those remakes are considered among the best movies of all time: The Thing, Heat, Scarface, A Fistful of Dollars, The Departed… the list goes on. Each one of these examples reexamines and recontextualizes the original story, creating a recognisable but – vitally – distinct final product. A good remake retains the core essence, but provides a new perspective on the same events. This is a pathway that video game developers seem largely hesitant to follow, and that threatens to have the industry stuck in a creative rut. Nostalgia continues to exert its iron grip on pop culture, and it’s asking us to pay full price for games we’ve already played.
Among the least inspiring movie remakes are those that are overly beholden to the original work. Gus Van Sant’s 1998 shot-for-shot remake of Psycho comes to mind, as does Disney’s current campaign to pointlessly clone its animated back catalogue in live-action format. Sony’s first-party studios have adhered to a similar approach over the last few years with remakes of Shadow of the Colossus, Demon’s Souls, and last year’s The Last of Us: Part 1. While these remakes are undeniably fantastic games, that’s almost entirely down to their timeless original concepts – preserved almost entirely intact like precious museum pieces – rather than any new ideas.
Developer Bluepoint Games brings astonishing and valuable visual craft to its remakes of multi-generation old games, but its dedication to perfectly replicating the original experiences means each is still trapped by the constraints of its former console. Shadow of the Colossus’ world feels barren by limitation rather than design, while both horse riding and climbing remains as awkward as it was back on the PS2. Demon’s Souls’ setting is split into video game-y zones that frustratingly hold onto the one checkpoint per level design, rather than embracing FromSoftware’s later (and superior) approach to bonfire placement and immersive world layouts. These are two of the most lovingly created remakes of all time, but ultimately it’s money for new graphics. It’s hard not to imagine how much more interesting these games could be if new and modern ideas were appropriately applied to them.
But at least Bluepoint was working with games that genuinely did benefit from a huge visual upgrade. Naughty Dog’s 2013 survival horror classic remains very strong in its visual direction – particularly its PS4 remaster – and so it’s difficult to see exactly what the creative point of The Last of Us: Part 1 remake is. At the very least, it was a chance to weave the Left Behind DLC into the main game for a seamless story, but we didn’t even get that. Instead it’s nearly identical to the game many of us have bought and played twice before.
It’s hard not to imagine how much more interesting these games could be if new and modern ideas were appropriately applied to them.
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I worry the upcoming Resident Evil 4 will also fall into the same trap. Developer Capcom does have a phenomenal track record with Resident Evil 2, which completely reimagined the PlayStation 1 classic with modern visuals and – most importantly – gameplay. But the rules of its over-the-shoulder horror template were established with the original Resident Evil 4, a game so perfectly engineered that it not only still holds up well, but defined the principles upon which almost every third-person action game follows today. So what, exactly, is it about Resident Evil 4 that needs remaking? Why did Capcom not opt for Code Veronica, or the original Resident Evil, both of which would hugely benefit from the same bold reinvention treatment used for RE2? I can’t help but wonder if the Resident Evil 4 remake will simply follow Sony’s lead and be a clone with a fresh coat of paint.
In a similar spot is Dead Space, the EA horror game so inspired by the Capcom classic that it was referred to as “Resident Evil 4 in space” even among its developers. Like RE4, the original Dead Space holds up well today, so much so that when I played several hours of the upcoming remake for December’s IGN First, it was – graphics aside – often hard to tell the difference. Thankfully EA Motive has augmented this visually upgraded version with several new ideas, including mechanics from Dead Space 2 as well as new side quests, redesigned weapons, updated level design, and some small adjustments to the story. So while the remake is undeniably close to an experience readily available on Game Pass, so much so it feels something more akin to an extended edition, there are fresh experiences to be found. I hope there’s more of that in the hours I’ve yet to play, but I also can’t help but wonder what Dead Space would look like with a back-to-concept-stage approach. Perhaps a first-person perspective, or a greater emphasis on survival over shooting?
Dead Space Graphic Comparison – Remake vs Original
So why are so many video game remakes unlike the bold reimaginings that movie remakes are? The clone-like process is understandable when you take a closer look at industry trends and challenges. We’re demanding significantly more lavish production values and so projects cost much, much more than they used to. In response, entertainment culture as a whole has become increasingly nostalgic. Companies, be it film and television studios or video game developers, are seeking out pre-existing worlds and characters that are proven successes and come with (almost) assured popularity and massive sales. A decade ago, that was franchises, hence the explosion of things like the MCU and Call of Duty. Today, studios need even safer bets. Hence remakes.
Video game remakes not only come with an established and die-hard fanbase, but also a package of development benefits. There’s a huge amount of groundwork already complete; characters, story, locations, mechanics – the pre-production ‘creative vision’ – is all there. And, in many cases, so are the tools, since remakes are often developed in engines the team is already deeply familiar with. A remake is not a cheap thing to make by any means, but without the need for that initial pre-production expenditure it can be much more cost effective than a whole new game. And, crucially, the money raised by a ‘safe’ remake can then be invested in a much more expensive, ambitious project. In a world where AAA development costs have skyrocketed, it is understandable why remakes are becoming an increasingly popular direction.
In a world where AAA development costs have skyrocketed, it is understandable why remakes are becoming increasingly popular.
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But if developers want to provide perfect replicas of old games rather than bring new creativity, there’s an option for that: remasters. It’s a format that’s suffered a bad reputation thanks to the dreadful quality control in things like the old Silent Hill HD Collection and more recently the Grand Theft Auto trilogy and Blade Runner remasters, and so it’s unsurprising some studios are looking towards full remakes as better guarantees of quality. But remasters don’t have to be subpar. Last year’s fantastic Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is the perfect showcase of how old games can be polished up without the need for a full remake. Updated textures, character models, lighting, UI, and new voice work has been, for lack of a better phrase, ‘layered over’ the old game. It’s still the 15-year old PSP game fans love, but it looks damn close to something released in the last few years. It’s also being sold for 50 bucks – 20 less than the biggest new games – and presumably will still make a profit. If we’re talking about giving old games the update treatment and preserving the exact same experience I can think of no better blueprint.
And on the opposite side of the Crisis Core coin is Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a prime example of the sort of ambitious remake I want to see more of. It has its development safety net – the characters, events, locations, weapons, and story beats that older players are deeply nostalgic for – but it reimagines all of that with a distinctly modern approach to gameplay and narrative. It’s perhaps a bit too wild with its changes to be the benchmark for all remakes, but it’s among my favourite games of recent years because of how much of a new perspective it brings to the JRPG classic.
That brings us back to Resident Evil 2, then. For the remake, Capcom kept the core ideas of the original game: playthroughs for both Leon and Claire, the RPD police station and its backtracking formula, the lab hidden beneath it, and the puzzles required to progress. But all that was reformulated to feel not like a dose of nostalgia, but a hit of modern survival horror. The flow of exploration, the relentlessness of Mr. X, the desperate and gory combat, even the rewritten dialogue and story beats; it’s all distinctly fresh. That’s what makes it the gold standard for remakes, and I hope it’s the inspiration that other studios look to in the future.
With that in mind, it’s not hard to look at some games and see their tremendous remake potential. While Sony Santa Monica ponders what comes next for Kratos, it would be fantastic to see God of War’s original PS2 adventures remade using the engine and mechanics of the Norse saga. A third-person brawler take on those classic bosses and environments would be fantastic, not to mention a more mature narrative take on Kratos’ angry era. I’d also love to return to Rapture in a BioShock remake that sharpens up its combat, offers more character build choices, and replaces that infamously dreadful final fight with something more fitting. Perhaps Andrew Ryan could even stop you from swinging that golf club in the ultimate expression of BioShock’s themes of player control.
There’s plenty of remakes on the horizon, and it’s exciting to think of what new experiences they will provide. What will an open-world lend to The Witcher 1? What will the evolution of cinematic presentation bring to the original Max Payne games? How will Silent Hill 2 catch us off-guard again? Hopefully these remakes are being led by directors as bold and inventive as John Carpenter, Martin Scorsese, and Brian De Palma, rather than companies content to simply make ray-traced replicas of gaming classics we’ve already played and paid for.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
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