Top Story
ESPN scoops Overwatch 2 announcement ahead of BlizzCon
While not exactly the number-one destination for gaming news, ESPN has just managed to ruin one of Blizzard’s major surprises for BlizzCon: Overwatch 2.
According to a ‘training document’ obtained by ESPN, Overwatch 2 will feature a story-driven campaign, which includes a “four-player story experience set in Rio de Janeiro” and features “Hero talents and in-game items”. The original game is a strictly multiplayer affair, with a few animated shorts providing narrative framing.
Stay a while, and listen
According to the leak, the sequel will introduce a new multiplayer mode named Push, there will be at least one new hero and both the campaign and the new game mode should be playable at BlizzCon.
This fits with reports that (another!) StarCraft first-person shooter was cancelled to allow Blizzard to focus on Overwatch 2 and hotly-anticipated Diablo IV. Overwatch launched to considerable acclaim in 2016, and now it looks like Blizzard is ready to properly flesh out its world, characters and story.
BlizzCon takes place from October 31st to November 3rd.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
Which of these Infected from Left 4 Dead were NOT in the original game?
- Smoker
- Witch
- Spitter
- Hunter
The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!
News Bits
The 13th Doll is a fan-made sequel to The 7th Guest, arrives on Halloween
Sometimes fans decide that an old game needs a sequel and start making their own. In this case, The 7th Guest from Trilobyte got the community treatment, and the result is The 13th Doll which has turned into a proper product that will hit Steam on October 31st courtesy of Attic Door Productions. Expect plenty of brain-teasing logic puzzles as you try to survive a return to Henry Stauf’s terrifying mansion.
Hunt begins for fresh talent at Square Enix for next Kingdom Hearts
Square Enix Osaka needs more people as they start ramping up development of the next installment in the mega-confusing Kingdom Hearts series. For now, they’re looking for a UI Designer, an Effect Designer and a Technical Artist. Square Enix hasn’t announced any new Kingdom Hearts title, but judging by the job listings, this one is built using Unreal Engine 4 and will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Halloween Special
The Best Games to play on Halloween!
This week is Halloween, the annual excuse to scare yourself silly! While you could amuse yourself with horror movies, TV shows, or escape rooms, true aficionados of terror know that games offer the most immersive horror experiences. Let’s check out a few of the best Halloween scares!
Layers of Fear
While it’s nearly impossible to play the terrifying Silent Hills P.T. demo these days, Layers of Fear offers the next best choice. The first game from the team behind the more recent Blair Witch, Layers of Fear offers a first-person exploration of madness, and clever jump-scares a-plenty. Developer Bloober Team is a master of subverting expectations, leading to some true jump-out-of-your-seat moments. Make sure you play it in the dark!
Resident Evil 2: Remake
Arguably the best Resident Evil game and one of the best games of 2019, the remake of Resident Evil 2 incorporates everything great about the series – except boulder punching. Most importantly, it’s scary as hell. Resident Evil 2 Remake makes zombies scary once more, by making them tough and threatening rather than stupid cannon fodder – and they’re practically harmless compared to the Lickers and sentient plants. And let’s not forget Mr X, the trenchcoat-clad Tyrant-alike who stalks you relentlessly in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game.
Visage
Just what you want for Halloween: Another P.T.-like first-person horror game in a dark creepy house with a terrifying ghost girl hunting you! Visage features a contemporary setting, inside a huge haunted house full of puzzles where you’re constantly pursued by a creepy spectre who keeps on blowing the lights out. Even better: Visage was updated with a whole new free 4-6 hour chapter earlier this year. Twice the terror! Can your heart take it?
Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion
This one’s free, and looks like it’s been built in Minecraft or the original Doom. It’s also enormously deceptive. The goal, presented to you by the cute anime ghost Miss Spooky, is to get through 1000 rooms of her mansion. After you breeze through 100 rooms with nothing but cartoon pop-up spiders to threaten you, you’ll be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing to worry about. But you’ll be wrong. Suddenly the music changes and the game takes a turn into pure terror as horrifying creatures begin hunting you, even across rooms. We won’t spoil any more, but trust us – this is one scary game you don’t want to miss.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
No offence to Resident Evil, but for the longest time, horror games were all about shooting punctuated by the occasional jump-scare. Amnesia: The Dark Descent led the revolution that changed all that and made horror games about being alone and defenseless in the dark. Amnesia is one of the the finest examples, thanks to some clever mechanics: You can’t look directly at monsters, and you can’t stay in the dark too long either, or you die … but if you don’t keep an eye on the monsters and carry a lit torch all the time, they’ll get you easily! A really clever game – and definitely the one with the best invisible monster.
Trivia Murder Party
Enough being scared alone in the dark, Halloween is also a time for parties and being scared together! Jackbox’s Trivia Murder Party is the perfect Halloween party game: A trivia game where the goal is to get the most points, but with a twist – fail a question and you can be murdered! Eventually it comes down to one survivor and multiple ghosts who hunt the survivor and try to use their trivia knowledge to resurrect themselves and escape the Murder Party! An unforgettable quiz night.
Left 4 Dead 2
Then again, if you’ve only got friends online, you can’t beat a classic piece of co-op zombie slaying. Valve’s Left 4 Dead games are the definitive co-op experiences, and thanks to clever AI work they always feel like a fresh challenge. If you’ve already played the campaign to death, get another four friends and attempt some Versus. Freak each other out this Halloween! What could be more appropriate?
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
A neat combination of pretty much every game on this list, Man of Medan is the first game in The Dark Pictures anthology series from Until Dawn creators Supermassive. A group of friends tick off a bunch of angry fishermen, and then the whole lot get stuck on a haunted ship. You can either play the story alone, with a friend online (and neither of you can see what the other’s doing!), or with a party of people around the same screen! Whatever Halloween terror you’re after, Man of Medan provides. But will all of you escape alive?
Daily Fact
Saints Row IV was first game in Australia refused the new R18+ rating
Volition Inc.’s crazy sandbox action adventure Saints Row IV — where you’re literally the President of the United States and leader of the Saints gang — was the first ever video game title in Australia to be refused the newly introduced R18+ classification. It was deemed far too naughty and corrupting.
Until R18+ came along following the successful ‘Grow Up Australia’ campaign the highest ratings classification Down Under was MA15+, which led to some significant censorship of games if they ever wanted to go on sale. The Australian ban on real-life drugs in games is credited for some of Bethesda Softworks’ oddly named drugs in the Fallout series.
