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Control is about to receive its first major piece of story DLC, The Foundation. But that will come alongside a major update for all players with plenty of new content whether or not you dive into the new area. A March update video shows off all the new bells and whistles.

In the video, you can see the Shield Rush ability, which gives a more aggressive option to the existing Shield ability. Rather than just gather up debris to protect yourself, you can use it to charge into enemies and close the gap in the process. A couple of quality-of-life improvements are included as well, like better map readability and a revised ability tree with a points reallocation feature. On PC the update will also include Nvidia DLSS 2.0 for RTX users. That update will be available on all platforms.

On PC and PS4 only, the game will also get The Foundation DLC on March 26. (Xbox One owners will have to wait until June 25). The Foundation has Jessie heading into a new area to stop the Astral Plane from consuming the Oldest House. The adventure will explore more weird happenings within the Department of Control, especially as revolving around the character Helen Marshall, who had been presumed missing in the original campaign.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

GSC Game World has revealed the first screenshot of its upcoming STALKER 2, noting that it was prompted to offer an earlier peek at the game due to the world having to go into social isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The tweeted screenshot shows very little, but does reveal another grimy looking world, albeit one that looks significantly more graphically advanced than the 2007 original. Amongst the trees and abandoned vehicles is an ‘anomaly’; the supernatural energy disruption caused by the Chernobyl disaster that occurs before the first game. From the colour, it could be a harmful Tesla anomaly, or the more curious Teleport anomaly.

Dear Stalkers,

Here is your first glimpse at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: pic.twitter.com/HGOixm11M7

— S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) March 23, 2020

In a follow-up tweet, GSC Game World said “A lot of you are joining social isolation now. That’s why today, on a very special occasion, we are ready to slightly uncover the mystery of what we are working on. This is the first glimpse of STALKER 2.”

The tweet also promises more to come in 2020.

The original STALKER released March 20, 2007, meaning it has been almost exactly 13 years since it was released. STALKER was one of the most anticipated PC games of the time, with a long development process that was keenly followed by fans. We wrote in our review at the time that it “offers gamers a chance to experience something genuinely new”, and that it was “the truss work for an absolutely stellar sequel with larger zones, more character customization, better quest rewards, and stronger NPC personalities.” Hopefully the sequel fulfills these wishes.

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As well as both a prequel and a sequel, STALKER also (sort of) spawned a second franchise: two of its development staff went on to create Metro 2033, which shares a similar Eastern-Europe post-apocalypse vibe. The Metro games also were well received, with the latest – Metro Exodus – getting a solid review from IGN.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Rumors suggested Valve was working on Left 4 Dead 3, but devs have elaborated, saying the studio was never seriously working on a third entry for the beloved zombie series, and the leaked renders were more of a tech test while developing a new engine.

In this month’s episode of IGN Unfiltered, Ryan McCaffrey sat down with Chris Remo and Robin Walker from Valve to talk about Half-Life: Alyx, Portal VR, Left 4 Dead 3, and much more.

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The official Valve statement on the Left 4 Dead 3 rumors said, “We did briefly explore some Left 4 Dead next-gen opportunities a few years ago, but we are absolutely not working on anything Left 4 Dead-related now, and haven’t for years.”

What the team at Valve was experimenting with was Source 2, and Valve’s Robin Walker explained how it happened. “We used parts of a Left 4 Dead level as the first bit of level geometry to start building in Source 2, so a bit of that got out. It was essentially a rendering test, and people thought that meant we were working on Left 4 Dead.”

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Unfortunately for Left 4 Dead fans, that wasn’t the case. Walker continued, “We built lots of different things as part of building technology in Source 2… There were groups here who would generate a product in mind that would attempt to be a target for Source 2, and so a couple of those were Left 4 Dead-related things, but none of them reached the point where we were like, ‘now this is a product team that we’re going to build a big product around.’ They were more tools for moving Source 2 forward.”

Portal VR was another project which ended up being a blip on Valve’s development radar. “We [looked] at our various IPs when we started… before we selected Half-Life… which is a really standard thing for us to do. When you’re trying to explore something new, of course you start with ‘What are all the tools we’ve got from the past that could help us rapidly learn here?’

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“So we looked at various IPs and, yep, Portal was one of them, [but] we didn’t get very far in that. It was pretty clear when we looked at Portal as a whole… If we can’t do player movement, not as a result of their choice, but by launching them… momentum…standing on things… all that sort of stuff… then a whole swath of Portal’s puzzles… the whole back half of Portal, or more… goes away, and we’d need some alternative thing.

“The whole point of using existing IPs is to get a head start on trying to understand and learn, and if we start by taking away one of the most interesting things from the IP we’re looking at, then it doesn’t seem like we’re making a good choice there.”

Catch up on every single episode of IGN Unfiltered here so you can hear from the best and brightest minds in the video game industry, such as Hugo Martin and Marty Stratton (id), Stig Asmussen (Respawn), Sam Lake (Remedy), Bonnie Ross (343 Industries), Ted Price (Insomniac), and a whole lot more.

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Brian Barnett writes news, features, wiki guides, deals posts, and much more for IGN. You can get your fix of Brian’s antics on Twitter and Instagram (@Ribnax).

BioWare is collaborating with Dark Horse Books to release a book commemorating the iconic studio’s first 25 years. Though the book will likely discuss the studio’s popular hits like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the mot intriguing aspect is the promise that the book will detail secret, canceled projects. BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development releases October 13 and is available to pre-order now at Amazon for $40.

The 200-page hardcover “puts you in the room during key moments in BioWare’s history, with never-before-seen art and photos anchored by candid stories from developers past and present.” It sure sounds like this book will be a must-read for dedicated BioWare fans.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

New Releases normally covers the biggest video games launching each week, but thanks to Persona 5 Royal, this episode is looking a little farther ahead. It’s an action-packed episode with the likes of Ninja Theory’s Bleeding Edge, the anime-styled One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, and the Nintendo Switch port of Saints Row 4: Re-Elected. And after more than a decade, Valve is finally returning to City 17 with Half-Life: Alyx.

Half-Life: Alyx — March 23

Available on: PC

Yes, we’re finally getting another Half-Life game, and as the name implies, you play as Alyx Vance, filling in the story between Half-Life 1 and 2. Alyx is a VR game, letting you physically reach out and manipulate objects, fire guns, and solve puzzles. The game is compatible with most PC VR headsets, and if you own a Valve Index, you’ll get a copy for free.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

As fans eagerly await the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake on April 10, Square Enix has unveiled an interview with the developers of the game that clarifies some details. Co-director Naoki Hamaguchi said that the upcoming remake will be as big and expansive as other mainline Final Fantasy games. Since the remake only covers Midgar, which is the first five to eight hours of the original Final Fantasy VII, this represents a significant expansion of content.

According to producer Yoshinori Kitase, much of these new sections come as part of an attempt to expand Midgar beyond its original scope. Since the original game had to imply the connective tissue of the different neighborhoods of the city due to technological limitations, the team endeavored to “fill all the gaps” to make it a more continuous experience.

The interview also confirms the existence of endgame content, and covers the controversial exclusion of the wolf-like beast Red XIII as a playable character. Though he will be playable in a guest capacity, he will not have full character progression. However, he may be more fully-realized in future entries.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Apple’s brand-new 2020 iPad Pro is set to release on or around March 25, but you can place your order right now at a handful of retailers. These new devices are more powerful than previous models, but they also include a number of new feature that seem to have iPad fans quite excited. Let’s dive in.

Preorder New 2020 iPad Pro

11-inch Model – $799 and up

• Get it at Best Buy
• Get it at Walmart
• Get it at Apple

12.9-inch Model – $999 and up

• Get it at Best Buy
• Get it at Walmart
• Get it at Apple

Powering these new devices is the new A12Z Bionic chip, which Apple says is so zippy that it “outpaces most PC laptops available today.” It’s made to be powerful enough to handle graphics-intensive work, with an 8-core graphics processor that can power games, 4K video editing, 3D design, and AR apps without breaking a sweat.

The new iPad Pro has better cameras than the previous generation. You get a 12MP wide camera, a new 10MP ultra-wide camera, and a LiDAR scanner that enables all sorts of cool things in augmented-reality apps. Apparently NASA is using the same tech in its next Mars Rover.

Aside from that, the 2020 iPad Pro keeps all the other great features from previous models, including FaceID, Liquid Retina display with ProMotion and True Tone, and the compact, light form factor. All told, it’s a fantastic all-around computing device.

iPad Pro Magic Keyboard

• See it at Apple – $299 – $349

One of the wildest additions to the 2020 iPad Pros is the new Magic Keyboard. The keyboard is the same scissor-mechanism one found in the new MacBook Air, which means it’s reliable and feels great to type on. But the coolest thing is that it has a trackpad, which means you finally get to use a cursor on your iPad.

Basically, this lets these new devices function much more like a laptop, which is perfect for anyone who wants to use the iPad Pro for work. And it attaches magnetically, which is also pretty cool. The drawback is that these keyboards won’t be available until May. Still, you can preorder now.

Other iPad Pro Accessories

• Apple Pencil (2nd Gen) – $129 (save $30)
• AirPods Pro – $249
• AirPods with Wireless Charing Case – $169 (save $30)
• AirPods with Charging Case – $139 (save $20)

Other iPad accessories are also enormously useful with the new iPad Pro. The second-gen Apple Pencil is great for taking notes, marking up documents, and creating art in the many excellent drawing and painting apps. AirPods are Apple’s popular wireless earbuds that connect automatically to your iPad. You can also switch between devices easily.

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Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Pokemon Go may have changed up its gameplay to keep you from venturing into the real world, but fellow mobile game Pokemon Masters doesn’t require any physical travel. The game’s latest update, summarized in its patch notes, added several features that improve cooperative battles.

Available with the game’s version 1.8.0, Pokemon Masters’ latest update gives single players the ability to form a team of nine sync pairs when in cooperative battles, letting you play on your own. It also adds more emotes for these battles, so they should be more engaging and personal when playing with friends.

Other quality-of-life changes in the update include an improved display for the “increase text speed” button, as well as adjustments to trigger conditions for certain skills. It’s also easier to see which sync pairs are on a team when on the Edit Team screen, and a selection of other bug fixes and tweaks were also included in the update.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

The director of the original Final Fantasy 7 and producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake has explained why Square Enix has opted to release the recreation project in episodic parts, rather than remake the entire game in one package. A new interview also reveals that there is a whole new upper floor added to the Shinra building.

Talking to the Square Enix blog, original director and remake producer Yoshinori Kitase explained that in order to replicate everything from the original game in the highest quality possible, without cutting content and also adding new elements, the game had to be over multiple entries.

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“In order to make [the entire game as a single release] work as a modern game, we wouldn’t be able to go for the highest visual quality and we’d also have to cut back on areas and scenes from the original,” he said. “Essentially, to make a single release viable the resulting game would have ended up being a digest of the original story, and we didn’t think that fans would be pleased with that.”

The first release in the remake project, which launches in April, contains the Midgar portion of the original game. By Kitase’s statements it should feature everything from the original rendered in new technology, plus some new zones to explore.

“There were a lot of parts in between sections of Midgar that were implied, but never seen,” said Kitase. “That was something that we wanted to address with Remake – to fill in all those gaps, show how the different parts of the city are connected, and make it a continuous experience.”

One of the bespoke areas in Remake is an entire new upper floor for the Shinra Building, which – according to Remake’s co-director Naoki Hamaguchi – adds “a climax that was not in the original.”

Interestingly, this upper floor apparently relies on Red XIII to explore, a character Square Enix has confirmed to be unplayable in this first game. “The key to navigating this floor lies in using Red XIII’s unique physical abilities to overcome environmental obstacles,” says Hamaguchi. “Letting the player experience his heroics in this way is something that I’m confident will please the fans.”

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That extra additional material also includes “endgame content”, although Hamaguchi refused to reveal what that is in the interview. It may be that optional bosses are available to fight, which are a staple in most Final Fantasy games.

For more, check out our hands-on preview of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as well as our look at how the Sector 5 reactor has been changed, and how coronavirus may mean physical copies arrive later than planned.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.