Spyro Reignited Trilogy Is a Gorgeous, Fun Nostalgia Trip

Playing the Spyro Reignited Trilogy is like revisiting an old friend who’s been taking very good care of themselves. Having played levels from now all three Spyro games from the original trilogy, I’ve been consistently hit by waves of nostalgia and the muscle memory of jumps and glides kicking in immediately. But with the new coat of sheen Toys for Bob has brought to those games in remaking them from the ground up, Spyro doesn’t look as good as my memory pictures it — it looks so much better.

Having played some Spyro Reignited Trilogy levels ahead of Gamescom 2018 and dipping back into them for PAX West 2018, I’m continually impressed by the level of detail and life Toys for Bob has brought to these worlds. The studio has done a tremendous job of filling in the gaps left by the technology of the original games’ times, building on the clever level design and characterization Insomniac Games first created.

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Bioware Announces Anthem Demo Release Date

During an Anthem panel at PAX West 2018, Bioware revealed a demo of Anthem will be playable on February 1 for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

The early play session is being considered a VIP demo and will be automatically available to EA Access and Origin Access subscribers at both the Basic and Premier tiers. Those who have pre-ordered Anthem by the demo date will also be able to participate.

Bioware also clarified that this is an honest-to-goodness demo — not a technical test — though the size or content of the demo was not revealed.

However the developer did mention there will be an undisclosed number of internal alphas and betas between now and February 1, though there are currently no announcements about timing or how to be granted access.

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Anthem Demo Coming For PS4, Xbox One, And PC In February

EA has announced that it will make a “VIP demo” for BioWare’s Anthem available to EA/Origin Access subscribers on Xbox One and PC, respectively on February 1, 2019. The demo also be available to pre-order customers, which opens the door for PS4 players to get in on the action.

The announcement was made during the studio’s PAX West Panel. Anthem lead producer Mike Gamble said the demo is not “a tech test or a beta looking for feedback” and is instead a “slice of our game.”

EA has confirmed the Anthem release date as February 22, 2019. The game is a sci-fi action RPG that casts players as Freelancers, who are soldiers that are equipped with Javelins. These super high-tech Iron Man-like suits allow players to fly around environments and engage with enemies while completing quests either alone or with others.

Anthem gameplay was last shown at E3 (watch video of that showing above) However, following the show executive producer Mark Darrah answered questions from fans about the game. During the Twitter Q&As Darrah discussed loadouts, customization of Javelins, weapons, equipment, and more. You can read about all these Anthem gameplay details in our previous coverage.

Spider-Man PS4 Game’s Length Estimate Confirmed By Insomniac

Insomniac Games community director James Stevenson has revealed PS4’s Spider-Man takes about 20 hours to beat. Stevenson unveiled the number when answering an inquisitive player’s question on Twitter.

It’s worth noting that 20 hours is the average taken from multiple play testers. Stevenson wrote that 20 hours is about how long it takes for someone to beat Spider-Man on the default difficulty and only when completing some quests and activities. Those that do more will take “a lot longer.” So the 20 hour mark is for the average player who’s not looking to test themselves against the game’s most challenging combat or complete every optional objective.

To provide a comparison, most of Insomniac’s games are about 10 hours long. One of the more notable exceptions is 2014’s Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive–just under 20 hours on the default difficulty if you only do some of the side missions and gather a few of the collectibles. So Spider-Man is much closer in length to Sunset Overdrive than Insomniac’s other titles, like Resistance 3, Fuse, or 2016’s Ratchet & Clank. If you were hoping to beat Spider-Man in a weekend so you could get back to chipping at your backlog, it seems totally plausible.

Spider-Man releases exclusively for PS4 on September 7. If you’re looking for more information on the game, Kallie travelled to LA to interview Spider-Man’s creative director Bryan Intihar. She also got to play a segment of the game as Mary Jane, whose levels are something you should be really excited about.

Nuclear Throne Dev Just Surprise Revealed a New Game

Vlambeer, the developer of Nuclear Throne and Luftrausers, celebrated its eighth birthday with quite the surprise at PAX West 2018 — a brand new, never-before-seen game.

Unexpectedly playable at the Vlambeer booth at PAX, the game is currently untitled, and involves a one-button setup. Moving with the arrow keys, the player controls a ship around a contained field, shooting with the X key.

On the surface, Vlambeer’s next game — which has no planned release date or launch platforms — looks like a standard bullet hell shoot’em up. But there’s a deceptively deep strategy to the demo we played at PAX. The player can’t aim their ship while shooting — the ship instead aims itself as you move it while not blasting, locking onto the nearest enemy.

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Bloodroots Feels Like Samurai Jack Meets Hotline Miami

Bloodroots’ inspirations were clear to me even before the developers from Paper Cult rattled them off — Jackie Chan movies, Samurai Jack, and Hotline Miami, among them. But rather than just a simple pastiche, the level of this brutal, fast, and fluid action game takes its inspirations and crafts something unique and satisfying.

Just about anything in Bloodroots can be a weapon. As I stepped into the shoes of a wolf head-wearing lumberjack, I could grab anything from splinters of wood to, naturally, axes to carrots to one-hit kill every foe in my path. Combat is an improvisational spectacle, and I found myself wanting to replay just to experiment with new weapons thanks to how differently they all behave.

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