NLG - Next Level Gaming

Hot on the heels of a dormant, long-overdue-for-a-sequel Ubisoft video game franchise getting a Netflix series in Splinter Cell , another IP from the Ubisoft stable fans have been waiting a long time to continue playing in is making the leap to the digital-streaming service. Beyond Good & Evil, the cult classic 2003 title, is receiving a Netflix feature adaptation that reportedly blends live action with animation.  According to The Hollywood Reporter , Rob Letterman, who directed 2019's  Detective Pikachu , is set to take up directorial duties on the Beyond Good & Evil adaptation, with Jason Altman and Margaret Boykin form Ubisoft Film & Television producing. According to the report, the adaptation is already in early development, and the team is searching for writers at the moment. Fans of Beyond Good & Evil have been clamoring for a new entry in the series, and at E3 2017, Ubisoft announced Beyond Good & Evil 2 with a cinematic trailer . Unfortunately, deta

Despite all of the new info about Halo Infinite we got last week, some details were conspicuously absent. Namely, Microsoft and 343 Industries weren't talking about multiplayer, which is traditionally a major draw for the series.  Today, the official Halo Twitter account confirmed rumors that the upcoming game's multiplayer mode will be free-to-play, making it accessible to people regardless of whether or not they purchase Halo Infinite.    Halo is for everyone. We can confirm #HaloInfinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and will support 120FPS on Xbox Series X. More details will be shared later! pic.twitter.com/9bIrppFiON — Halo (@Halo) July 31, 2020 The tweet also confirms that the Xbox Series X version will support 120 frames per second – presumably compared to the Xbox One version, which likely won't.  This free-to-play move is a big one for a series that has earned just as much (if not more) acclaim for its multiplayer modes than its single-player offerings.

Sucker Punch's samurai simulator Ghost of Tsushima has been out for 10 days now, and we've spent an impressive (or alarming) amount of time wandering its gorgeous island setting, slaughtering invasive forces, and being kind to the local wildlife. Sony has released a slew of stats that highlight exactly what players have been up to, and it's pretty eye-opening. All told, nearly 140 million enemies have collapsed in fear at the sight of hero in Sakai. You like music? You're not alone, as more than 28 million songs have been played on the in-game flute. And, most importantly, exactly 8.8 million foxes have been pet. Check out the complete stats in the gallery below. Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                                Want more Ghost of Tsushima coverage? You're in luck. Whether you're just starting out , curious about its Kurosawa mode , marveling at i

Earlier this year, Square Enix announced a glut of Final Fantasy VII Remake merchandise was on the way. Joining the various memorbilla to celebrate your fanfare was two jigsaw puzzles, which come at a great time, considering our current quarantine situation and people looking for more things to do indoors. You can now pre-order these jigsaw puzzles that are releasing in October from the Square Enix Store and other retailers. The 1,000-piece puzzle (pictured above) features Cloud posing with his Buster sword on his Hardy Daytona motorcycle. It costs $24.99, and finishes at  2 ½ feet wide. If you're looking for something more reminiscent of the original release, the 500-piece puzzle is of the cast, using the classic character illustrations by Tetsuya Nomura (pictured below). It finishes at over a square foot, and retails at $19.99. Both puzzles are set to come out on October 28, so if you want to piece together your Final Fantasy VII favorites, get your pre-orders in to secure t

After an initial release that failed to meet fan expectations , Anthem saw a rapid drop-off in its player base, and failed to transform into the long-tail living game that its creators had clearly hoped to craft. But BioWare has also more recently articulated its goals to dramatically rework the game to better capture its potential. The developer has remained pretty quiet on that work, but today offered a relatively robust examination of one of the game’s biggest trouble spots – loot and equipment. In a detailed blog post from BioWare, studio director Christian Dailey explained some of the changes that the team is exploring. Amid several important adjustments, BioWare is increasing the frequency of loot and aiming to make those drops be more meaningful and viable when they arrive. More of the loot you collect will have deterministic routes to pick-up, rather than being entirely random. And loot will have much increased options for modification, including the rerolling of inscriptio

My daughter pretends she doesn't like Star Wars as a way to annoy me, but can't hide her love of video games. At age seven, she's become an avid gamer both on PC and console, and is an expert in all things Roblox, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves. She's also starting to show an interest in some of the games I play, primarily platformers and JRPGs. As you may have read already, at age six, she loved Kingdom Hearts III , but was also mighty confused by it. I won't let her sit in on the bloody games like The Last of Us Part II or Ghost of Tsushima, but I have let her watch me compete in Overwatch. Yes, it has guns and violence, but it's also colorful and competitive, and she's latched onto the latter two elements in a big way. She likes watching me compete, and thinks the world of D.Va's character design. A few nights ago, I booted Overwatch for a few matches, and my daughter entered the room. Unprompted, she proceeded to critique every single hero in the

After the success of The Sims franchise, many wondered what the illustrious Will Wright would work on next. The answer became clear in 2005 when the legendary developer announced Spore, an ambitious creature creator/god game that saw players make new alien lifeforms and have them become the top dog on the planet and beyond.  Join Andrew Reiner, Joe Juba, Ben Reeves, and me as we create our monstrosities and send them to the stars, live for your viewing pleasure. We'll be kicking the show off at 2 p.m. CT so be sure to join us in the chat and end your week on a high note. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube , Twitch , Mixer , Twitter , and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week!

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios Developer: DLALA Studios, Rare Release: August 20, 2020 Platform: Xbox One, PC A revival of the classic Battletoads franchise had been rumored for years before the game's official announcement at E3 2018. It was originally scheduled to release in 2019, but got delayed to uncertain point in the future. Except that point isn't uncertain anymore, because today Xbox revealed the new release date: August 20. Click here to watch embedded media The latest trailer emphasizes Battletoads' mash-up of various genres, including elements of brawlers, platformers, and top-down shooters. The game has three-player couch co-op, and will be releasing on Xbox One and PC, and it will also be available on Game Pass on both platforms. We weren't completely sold when we played the game last year, but with the extra development time, hopefully developer Dlala Studios has made the experience more enjoyable. Click image thumbnails to view larger ve

A revival of the classic Battletoads franchise had been rumored for years before the game's official announcement at E3 2018. It was originally scheduled to release in 2019, but got delayed to uncertain point in the future. Except that point isn't uncertain anymore, because today Xbox revealed the new release date: August 20. Click here to watch embedded media The latest trailer emphasizes Battletoads' mash-up of various genres, including elements of brawlers, platformers, and top-down shooters. The game has three-player couch co-op, and will be releasing on Xbox One and PC, and it will also be available on Game Pass on both platforms. We weren't completely sold when we played the game last year, but with the extra development time, hopefully developer Dlala Studios has made the experience more enjoyable. Click image thumbnails to view larger version                                                                                                         

Click to watch embedded media Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the new battle royale that has Twitch stardom written all over it. Participants take part in a 60-player competition that finds them battling one another in nonsensical mini-games to become the last person standing and achieve victory. Think if you took the character from Human Fall Flat, dressed them in a pink allegator outfit and put him in a match of ABC's game show Wipeout and you've got the idea.  Join Kim Wallace, Dan Tack, Ben Reeves, and I as we see what all the fuss is about and try to get that number one spot for your viewing enjoyment. We'll be going live at 11:15 a.m. CT so be sure to join us in the chat and enjoy our whacky shenanigans. If you can't get enough of our live shows, remember to subscribe on YouTube , Twitch , Mixer ,  Twitter , and Facebook to get notified when we go live each week!

Since the esoteric Demon’s Souls flew in the face of gaming trends, From Software has become the gold standard to emulate in the world of action/RPGS, providing desolate backdrops where unyielding challenges give way to unprecedented victories. So, how do all the games stack up against one another? Everyone has their tastes and preferences when it comes to Souls titles, and they all have plenty of reasons. Hell, you can go on YouTube and watch literally hours of discourse and analysis on minutia of each game.  The Souls games are about challenge, and they are about triumph. They are about defeating that which cannot be beaten. They are about testing yourself against the impossible and somehow still managing to come out on top.  The first, second, third, and tenth time you get smashed under a giant's maul is crushing; but when you eke out that victory against all odds, drop your controller and shout, "Not today, [expletive]," you've maybe found a piece of yourself th

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare begins Season 5 content on August 5, with the rollout of a new band of mercenaries - The Shadow Company. How this will effect anything other than the obvious potential cosmetics is unknown, but it leaves the field wide open for some potential new game modes involving three teams. Maybe it's just new skins, but there will probably be a lot more to it than that. We won't know for sure until the season begins! Check out the Shadow Company reveal trailer below! Click here to watch embedded media  

Stardew Valley launched in 2016 as a digital PC game. Since then, it has released on other platforms , and it even had a retail release . But today developer Eric Barone (aka ConcernedApe) revealed a new physical edition coming to Switch and PC in partnership with Fangamer. I'm really pleased to announce a physical version of Stardew Valley for Switch & PC! This is in collaboration with @Fangamer and there is both a standard edition and a collector's edition w/ bonus goodies. Pre-orders are now available: https://t.co/u0Cp2PAyms pic.twitter.com/VbqK7Koylh — ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) July 30, 2020 In addition to a standard version, Fangamer is offering an exclusive collector's edition that has all kinds of additional treasures including a six-piece wooden standee scene, a comic, a unique box, and farm deed suitable for framing.   The special edition costs almost $70, but the standard version is only about $35. They are both available for pre-order now on Fan

A few months ago, we learned the exciting news that 2K had renewed its partnership with the NFL through a multi-year deal. This was a nice surprise, as 2K's last officially licensed NFL football video game – ESPN NFL 2K5 – came out in 2004. At the time, the press release revealed multiple games were already in development and scheduled to release in 2021, but these titles would be a bit different than what we had seen in the past, as they would be “non-simulation football game experiences.” Today, 2K confirmed actual NFL stars would be in its games by announcing a partnership with OneTeam Partners and the NFL Players Association. The deal allows 2K to feature names, numbers, images, and likenesses for over 2,000 current NFL players. Financial terms were not disclosed at this time.  “We’re thrilled to be working with the NFLPA and OneTeam to bring the biggest and best stars in football to the games we’re working on,” said David Ismailer, president of 2K. “We want to give fans ex

Derek Kolstad is best know for his work writing the John Wick series, but his newest project should interest stealth game fans. According to  Variety , Netflix and Ubisoft have joined forces to produce a Splinter Cell animated series. Kolstad will serve as the writer and executive producer for the show, which may have already received an order for 16 episode across two-season. This is crazy news, and hopefully it means that Ubisoft is also prepping that Splinter Cell game we've been begging for for years. [Source:  Variety ]

Click here to watch embedded media On this week's episode of The Game Informer Show , we share our early impressions on the recent Avengers war table, Grounded's early access, and Superhot expansion Mind Control Delete. Then we try a new segment call Game Informer's Meaningless Character Rankings. As the name implies, it's meaningless, but it's going to catch on. Finally, we close out the show with a round of community emails. So please join Jeff Cork, Brian Shea, Alex Stadnik, and myself for another wild and ever-entertaining episode!  Thanks for listening! Please make sure to leave feedback below, share the episode if you enjoyed it, and follow me  @ benjaminreeves  to let me know what you think. You can watch the video above, subscribe and listen to the audio on iTunes or Google Play ,  listen on SoundCloud ,  stream it on Spotify , or download the MP3 at the bottom of the page. Also, be sure to send your questions to  podcast@gameinformer.com  for a chance to