Death’s Vow armor and a few shield skins It’s frustrating when video games hold back content, make it exclusive to customers who pre-order, then never offer it again, not even years after launch. Some of these extras are little more than cosmetic fluff you’ll forget about less than an hour into the adventure, but still– you hate to see it. If you missed out onGod of War, Sony is currently giving out several items for Kratos and Atreus that were previously limited to pre-orders, including the Death’s Vow armor sets....

Disney Illusion Islandmarks a new chapter in the rich legacy of Disney platformers. Rather than taking inspiration from retro classics likeCastle of IllusionorThe Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse,Disney Illusion Islandfocuses more on exploration and finding secrets to collect. As a result, you may feel a bit confused by how long this game really is. In my personal playthrough,I was able to complete the main story in around eight hours. After I went back and finished collecting everything the game hides, my playtime jumped to just under ten hours....

If you pre-orderedStellar Bladeor bought its digital-only Deluxe Edition, you’ll get a bunch of extra in-game goodies. However, you won’t be gifted them upon booting up the game, so here’s a quick explainer for where you may find and claim them. How can you claim the Digital Deluxe and pre-order bonuses forStellar Blade? The bad news is there’s no menu you need to visit first to redeem your pre-order or Digital Deluxe bonus items, nor do you obtain them upon clearingStellar Blade‘s opening prologue....

A Rising Chorus: Act II is the second major part of the story forDestiny 2 Episode Echoes. Now that we’re done withA Rising Chorus: Act I, we’re introduced to the force that’s been controlling the Vex from the shadows for the entire story arc so far: The Conductor. Provided you’ve completed A Rising Chorus: Act I, you should automatically receive A Rising Chorus: Act II as a quest in your Quest tab....

As you get into thelate-game stage ofWarframe, you unlock the ability to attach Arcanes to your frames and weapons. These are extra stat boosts under specific conditions, with some being easy to trigger and others requiring specific builds to reach their maximum effectiveness. One such Arcane provides an easy boost to your damage output but can be tough to acquire depending on how strong your gear is. Here’s how to farm the Primary Merciless Arcane inWarframe....

A waste of the license The heroes of the Marvel universe have had some success when transposed from their comic pages to the click-fest of the action RPG (ARPG) genre.X-Men LegendsandUltimate Alliance— both of which spawned sequels — provided hours of simple fun in both co-op and single-player, with excellent, fluid combat and lots of customisation. WithDiablo‘s David Brevik at the helm, Gazillion’s first addition to the list of Marvel ARPGs,Marvel Heroes, could have been something special....

“Shadow Hunters,” the new five-dollar add-on forInsanely Twisted Shadow Planet, goes live this Wednesday on Xbox Live.For real this time. Picking up after the conclusion, this mode (1-4 players) appears to mash up various game concepts in a new way. “We started with the exploration and puzzle elements from the Campaign,” says Fuelcell Games’ Joe Olson, “and incorporated those with the procedurally generated level and fast paced decision making elements from Lantern Run, then pushed these ideas even further…”...

One of the first confirmations After Epic unveiledUnreal Engine 5last week, we were given vague assurances that developers for both PS5 and Xbox Series X would have access to this new engine (and a console war argument was inadvertently sparked in the process). However, we haven’t really heard of any games that would use Unreal Engine 5, possibly because it’s still more than a year away and not a lot of next-gen games have been revealed yet....

So we’re a bit behind on bringing this to you, but do you know how long it takes to scour every single Twitter of every person in the gaming business? It’s a tiresome task, I tell you. However, we do it so we can bring interesting tweets such as one Randy Pitchford, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Gearbox made on Nov. 11. On that day he seemingly randomlyasked to the Twitter universe, “So… Borderlands DLC4, Clap Trap’s New Robot Revolution, was supposed to be our last DLC....

LittleBigPlanetPSP pleases me. Not so much because of the game itself, but because it represents Sony finally getting serious about putting high profile games on its handheld system. Sony’s support of its own portable platform has been shameful for the past half a decade, and while it’s been a long time coming, it’s good to see that the PSP’s library is being invigorated. LittleBigPlanetis just one of the big games hitting the system, and it’s looking rather good....

Only a Chef deals in absolutes If you needed another reminder that there willcontinue to beStar Warsmedia even after you’re dead, here’s a television show announcement for you. Lucasfilm today confirmed that Jon Favreau, the director ofIron Man,The Jungle BookandChefwill “executive produce and write” a new live-actionStar Warsseries for Disney’s online streaming platform. As with most of these recentStar Warsprojects announced by Lucasfilm, including a trilogy with Rian Johnson and anunspecified number of films from the showrunners ofGame of Thrones, no plot details are known—alls we know is that these filmmakers are really excited to be makingStar Warsstuff....

Diagnosis: adorable We are a couple days out from the launch ofKirby Battle Royale, a game that could very well be Kirby’s final appearance on the Nintendo 3DS. It’s a bit sad, like an end of an era, but the wait won’t be too long for the pink puff’s next adventure inKirby Star Allieson the Switch. The game looks gorgeous and the new Artist and Spider copy abilities will be extremely fun to experiment with....

The Kiss of Death, that’s all I need During today’s gamescom Opening Night Live stream, 2K Games dropped a new trailer for its upcoming action-adventureMafia: Definitive Edition– a ground-up remake of Illusion Softworks’ classic crime sim. Developed by Hangar Games,Mafia: Definitive Editionfeatures fully revitalised visuals, recreated cinematics, a re-recorded score, and new missions and character arcs for its cast of shady customers. Speaking of, our own Brett Makedonski has played several hours of the remake, and you’re able to check out his thoughtsright here....