Some games prov?ide intentionally scary mom??ents, while others turn into horror masterpieces entirely by accident. In honor of the sentiment, here's a list of regular games turned into horror masterpieces via the miracle of video game glitches.

Skyrim NPCs can survive decapitation

‌The world of Skyrim is a magical place, though not all the magics contained within are necessarily good o??nes.

Remember that guy who gets beheaded right at the start of Skyrim? Well, he does lose his head every time, as there's no way to mess with that scripting, but the wound isn't always fatal. This guy �as well as other enemies who wind u??p headless �can just get up and go on with their lives.

While there's no recording of this headless horse??less man going on a vendetta against Dova??khin for doing nothing to prevent his execution, I would keep my eyes open on a playthrough where that happens.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

Demon babies in The Sims 3

‌The Sims series is as far as it gets from a horror experience �or is it? Well, it turns out that babies in The Sims can become pretty hellish. There's a glitch that turns the babies in The Sims 3 into what feels like an early version of the necromorphs from the Dead Space series.

Putting our offspring in this world can be scary, yes, but I doubt this was an intentional allegory for the fears of parenthood like in David Lynch's Eraserhead.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

The Manimals in Red Dead Redemption

The original Red Dead Redemption could sometimes mix up human and animal models, which resulted in h??uman NPCs behaving like animals. No, not in the Wild?? West sense where we expect everyone to play like barbarians.

I'm talking about people literally behaving like animals. Some move like four-legged animals, some others even fly as if the??y were birds. Sure, this sounds fun when you're just reading about it, but it's probably not as fun to get mauled by a bunch of suit-and-tie-wearing coyotes.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

The evolved Manimals in Assassin's Creed Origins

Video games have gotten better over time, and that's why Assassin’s Creed Origins features an evolved version of the Red Dead Redemption glitch shown above. Now, instead of having humans behavin?g like animals, we have some animal NPCs that adopt human mannerisms.

Th??is might not be ancient Egypt done right, but it sure as hell is ancient Egypt done cool.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Low

Inexplicable Statue in Witcher 3

‌The Tower of Mice is already one of the eeriest places in the entirety of The Witcher 3, but it gets even worse if you pay attention at the wrong time.

If you stand in the specific spot shown in the video above, you’ll get to see a weirdly lean creature phasing in and out of existence. What is it? Nobody knows? for sure, but it's creepy as hell. The good news is that it's completely harmless. Maybe it actually likes Geralt.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: This specter is there for any player who wants?? to meet it.

‌Alma following you in FEAR 2

Alma is the little The Ring-inspired girl that serves as the poster child for the FEAR series. She shows up to spook players throughout FEAR 2, naturally, but this weird glitch mak?es her follow you around nonstop. The player in the video above gets rid of her by throwing a punch, which caused her to fly away in the most awkward manner possible. This is the perfect combination of funny and terrifying.

‌‌The FEAR series is already scary enoug??h as is. It doesn't need its scare factor to get further inflated by wacky glitches.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: As??tronomically low. This may be the only recorded?? instance of this glitch.

NBA Jam has ghosts

�em>NBA Jam came out in �3, a few months after the tragic dea??th of Drazen Petrovic.

Imagine trying to enjoy the game when the arcade machine starts shouting his name �and no one else’s �even though he's not even playing. That’s as close as it gets to a video game haunting �and it's totally real.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: 1??00%. This glitch is present in every early version of the game.

Fallout 4 companion becomes your greatest enemy

Most Fallout 4 fans don’t like Preston Garvey very much?? because of how pushy he gets with helping settlements, and most of them haven’t even had to deal with him going mad.

Yes, it's possible that Garvey will turn into an unkillable Terminator-like figure that will hunt players down until the heat death of the universe. Yes, that's something that happens, and someone has lived to document it.

This brave wasteland journalist tried everything, from regular bullets to explosives. Nothing would stop Garvey. The best he could do was temporarily stun the unstoppable force. He then had an idea, to build the most powerful settlement ever built?. Maybe its concentrated firepower would destroy Garvey. Too bad the settlement refused to shoot Garvey, seemingly remembering that he's the only person in the land who cares about settlements.

The ordeal ended not ??with Garvey's death, but with him rando??mly going back to friendly mode. There's no way of knowing how long this peace will last.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Extremely low, but keep your eyes open, and don't neglect you?r settle??ments.

Mount and Blade’s terrifying skybox

‌In Mount and Blade: Warband, a weird glitch might turn the entire skybox into the face of an angry man who merely stares at the player.?? Who is that? Why is he so pissed? Nobody knows.

I’m assuming that’s a very pissed-off medieval god, which is sadly the worst po??ss??ible kind of god.

Chances of it happening on your playthrough: Very high. This is ??a surprisingly common glitch.

The post Creepiest glitches in video games appeared first on Destructoid.

Most things are permitted now

I've beaten every mainline Assassin's Creed to date. Crazy, I know.

I used to be able to not have to add that goofy "mainline" qualifier in, but the series has become so bloated with mobile spinoffs that it's impossible to keep up with. You know it, I know it, and even Ubisoft knows it, which is why they opted to skip an entire year to lay low for a while. 2016 marked the first time in a while (2008) where there wasn't a big annual Creed, which is kind of a big deal.

It's refreshing that Ubisoft was able to exercise restraint, because Assassin's Creed Origins benefits f?rom eschewing the puppy mill style of ??game production.

Assassin's Creed Origins (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: October 27, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Egyptian culture is so entwined with death that a killy assassin game just makes sense. I appreciated the elevated spirituality in Origins, which constantly takes beats from the various polytheist communities within, and wraps them into a setting that doesn't feel as arbitrary as a few have in the past. I'm not going to act like I truly learned anything of value or got a free crash History 101 course in Egypt (though that functionality is coming), but at no point did Origins feel inauthentic, even when ?it was dropping fanservicey "origin" bits. Amazing vistas, hidden tombs, and arch?itecture that differs from the rest of the series, or most open world games in general, are its biggest strength.

This time you'll control Bayek an Egyptian that exhibits assassin-ey traits before the actual Brotherhood is formed. Initially, it's just kind of jumbled, with that classic Assassin's Creed in media res storytelling you've come to sigh at. Basically all you really take away at first is that Bayek is in trouble with the law, was formerly of the law, and you're supposed to like him. Names like Rabiah and Senu are thrown around, and eventually take shape (the latter is your eagle companion, which a?llows Eagle Vision to actually make sense), as do pieces of his backstory that explain why he is the way he is.

What kicks off as a revenge tale eventually weaves into the historical events of Cleopatra's exile, Roman influence on Egypt, and the mystery of the cult that Bayek has beef with. Despite the rough start it is engaging, and I found myself actually wanting to unravel said mystery yarn by yarn. Part of it is that Bayek is literally an outsider, even in his homeland, when juxtaposed to the Roman occupation. Instead of being kickstart??ed by an already badass Brotherhood, he's mostly on his own.

After the token hour or so of an intro Origins will open up and you'll be able to do whatever, with a very restrained amount of modern-day sections woven in -- I'm talking maybe 30 minutes in total, tops, if you get right back into the Animus after the several interludes. Even most of the sidequests don't feel like throwaway material, and allow for drunken street brawls or detective work. The latter has the tendency to pop up way too often (which is fine for the few bonafide mysteries, but not so much for the obvious "this guy was pushed off a cliff" Murder She Wrote wannabe tales).

There is PS4 Pro and Xbox One X support, the former of which this review is based on, and the latter of which I'll be able to try eventually for our review of the hardware. As for my tests there were some moments where it felt like Origins was buckling under its weight on the Pro. You're going to see goofy videos pop up starting today with various physics glitches (you know, the stuff people laugh at in GTA but condemn in other games), but it's stable, and on PS4, I didn't encounter anything that? felt outright broken or un??playable outside of one crash where I lost 30 seconds of progress.

Combat has been heavily reworked with a From Software school of thought. You can now control your left and right hand separately (though the left is relegated to a shield), as well as dodge more freely without a sort of? scripted dance to it. You're also not spamming the same weapon type over and over, swapping constantly as you acquire more loot. A fully expanded swimming system that lets you dive for sunken treasure or boating skills that will see you fending off hippos and crocodiles are another fun way to traipse across Egypt.

Everything contributes to an experience system, which can feel gamey, but also more freeing in a way. Some areas have soft gates with level requirements, but you really can go wherever, and do whatever to get ahead and gain new abilities. More so than any Creed game to date I found myself wandering the countryside, hunting and taming animals for materials to craft, c??oming across fun sidequests. I like organically finding things instead of reading them on a tome and following a breadcrumb trail. Senu's literal Eag?le Vision is also a great way for Ubisoft to differentiate themselves from the apt Detective Vision comparison that they've run into the ground over the years.

Helix Credits, a currency used to buy new costumes, mounts, or gear, are allegedly only limited to in-game money and not real cash. While the Helix item store is live a sus??picious "Buy more Helix Credits" option is not -- if it does lead to microtransactions we'll be sure to report on it. As it stands, my review session remained unaffected by any fear of loot boxes/loot box balancing. I was able to finish the campaign just fine without buying anything and by completing sidequests to level up.

I was really torn in assessing Assassin's Creed Origins, as it hits several of the same lows as the rest of the series, with its sometimes uneven mission structure and janky physics. But ?given that they now have the formula down to a science and didn't rush it out the door, all of that is a little easier to deal w?ith than its predecessors. It was a big risk trying so many new things at once, but it worked, and the setting carries it.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Assassin’s Creed Origins appeared first on Destructoid.

Them's the breaks

Green Bay's all-time great quarterback Aaro??n Rodgers is not currently quarterbacking. Two weeks ago, he suffered a broken collarbone after being hit by Minnesota's Anthony Barr. The injury likely ended his season. Green Bay is in something of a tailspin, as its plan was largely built ar?ound, you know, having a future Hall of Fame QB on the field and not Brett Hundley.

All of this means Rodgers has a lot of free time on his hands. Part of that was spent recently on Conan O'Brien's Clueless Gamer show while trying out Assassin's Creed: Origins. No one spent a lot of time worrying about Assassin's Creed, though. (If you're interested in that, we have a review you should probably check out.)

Instead, Conan spends the segment focused on the 13 screws in Rodgers' shoulder, bringing in an anatomical likeness to recreate the injury, and clowning ??on Green Bay offensive lineman David Bakhtiari. Someone's gotta take the blame for this.

_{[Disclosure: This post was written by a tortured Minnesota fan who is old enough and petty enough to still hate Gary Anderson.]}

The post Watch Aaron Rodgers and his surgically-repaired collarbone play Assassin’s Creed with Conan appeared first on Destructoid.

Blood on the sand

This week sees the release of Assassin's Creed: Origins, the latest game in Ubisoft's historical murder series, which now spans roughly twenty titles. The new game, launching on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, moves the wall-cli??mbing, horse-riding and neck-slicing to the blistering heat of ancient Egypt.

To celebrate the release of the latest chapter of the mainline Assassin's Creed series, Ubisoft have released a final trailer, showing people's hero Bayek blaze a trail for those that will follow him in th??e future Brotherhood of Assassins, who will forever wage war with the sinister Templar Order.

Assassin's Creed: Origins launches on PC and consoles worldwide on O?ctober 27.

The trailer may be locked to U.S territories.

The post Pyramids, elephants and head-cleaving abound in Assassin’s Creed: Origins launch trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

...yet...

The amount of triple A games that have embraced loot boxes is staggering. Not only have games been slowly expanding with DLC and seemingly cutting content to sell back to players later, but now games are being intentionally made with a boring ass grind to coax gamers into opening their wallet to speed up the proceedings. I was unaware that Assassin's Creed: Origins even had loot boxes, but apparently Ubisoft isn't introducing microtransactions alongside them despite the season pass having premium currency.

While playing Origins, players will come across? a merchant na?med Reda who offers a Heka (Mystery) Chest. This chest will have a chance to drop a random shield or weapon and will automatically open upon being bought. The only available option for purchasing this chest is in-game currency, called Drachma.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Origins' director Ashraf Ismail said, "The reason we did that was because we saw, even two years ago, people playing the game in different ways. There are people who like to go into a military location, infiltrate them, steal th?e loot and equipment and hopefully find some unique or legendary gear.

Then there was a smaller set of people who would focus almost entirely on the economy, ??buying and selling stuff to gain as much money as they can. And we felt like, okay, that's a valid way to play the game - it's a part of the RPG [aspect], so we'll let them play the economy. So, it's one way to be able to purchase or get some of the unique items in the game."

So according to them, this is solely for players who happen to hoard money. If that is the case, why even go the random box route? Why not just give the merchant a chance to be holding a "legendary" item instead of gambling for it? It seems tailor made for a gradual introduction of real world currency, but at least there aren't plans to add?? anything like that just yet.

Here's the deal with Assassin's Creed Origins in-game loot chests [Eurogamer]

The post Assassin’s Creed: Origin’s loot boxes won’t have a real money option appeared first on Destructoid.

Congratulations, it's a murderous cult!

Assassin's Creed has been gone for a while. Or at least, that's how it felt after receiving a new installment every year from 2009 up until 2015. The series had grown stale after years of familiar, safe games, so when Ubisoft decided to hold back for a year after Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, the sudden stop gave many of us whiplash. What ??would?? the next game be like?

Well, we now know that Assassin's Creed: Origins will be taking the series ??back to its roots, and in this new trailer released by Ubisoft earlier today, we'll even get to witness the genesis of the order of Assassins. 

Origins follows the story of Bayek, a guardian of Egypt known as a Medjay. Egypt is "on the brink of collapse," and, "To defend it, [Bayek] must become an instrument of justice and freedom." This game will tell the story of Bayek, and through his eyes, show us how t?he Brotherhood came to be.

That seems fine enough, but I'm hoping that all this talk of the Brotherhood and the Assassins is just window dressing on top of Bayek's story. Few games have been set in a place like Egypt, and during the age of Pharaohs no less. I'm really hoping Origins lets the larger st?ory take a backseat, and ?allows Bayek's character and personal struggle as an Assassin drive the story. 

Assassin's Creed: Origins wall-cl??imbs its way into stores on ??October 27, 2017.

The post New Assassin’s Creed: Origins trailer shows us the birth of the Brotherhood appeared first on Destructoid.

Learn all about Egypt without having to kill Cleopatra

Assassin's Creed Origins will be gettin?g an educational mo??de in early 2018. The combat and action will be removed so players can learn about life in Ptolemaic Egypt.

The mode is titled "Discovery Tour" and players who own the base game, set to release on October 27, can expect the free update in earl??y 2018.

In Discovery Tour, you'll have access to the entirety of Origin's open world. You'll see ?NPCs going about their day as well as animals. There will also b?e guided tours of things like the Great Pyramids provided by Historians and Egyptologists.

If you would prefer to get learned over getting stabbed, this mode seems right up your alley. Hopefully, this mode becomes a regular thing for future Assassin's Creed titles. Fully rendered 3D worlds of histor?ical locations could be a pretty cool way to teach kids. If it were up to me I'd let them in on a bit of the s?tabbing as well.

Assassin's Creed Origi?ns – Discovery Tour Shows a Different Side of Ancient Egypt [Ubisoft]

The post Assassin’s Creed Origins is getting a zero-combat education mode next year appeared first on Destructoid.

Veni, Vidi, Vivendi

Look, I love Assassin's Creed. Unlike many people it never really got old to me. Sure you can make valid complaints about the bullshit 100% Sync requirements, the combat, or repetitious side quests, but for me the fun is delving into ancient times in far away places. History is super interesting and what better way to pretend you're in ancient times than through a video game like Assassin's Creed? It has been one of the inspirations for me to get off my butt and go abroad, including studying abroad in Florence, Italy because I loved Assassin's Creed II so much.

On top of just the location, time, and society recreated as we imagine it was, I love meeting (and killing) historical figures, even if their existence or depictions aren't always 100% accurate. From hugging Leonardo Da Vinci to stabbing the Medici and Borgia out of existence, it's just fun to have them. Now we finally get a juicy new location and time period in ancient Egypt, and our historical figures include Cleopatra, Julius? Caesar, and Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII.

It appears our protagonist, Bayek, is working for Cleopatra, but as YouTube user Kasaix points out "AC II said she met her end by an Ass??assin." Uh oh. This game looks so cool, you're crazy if you're not at least a little excited. 

The post Julius Caesar and Cleopatra debut in new Assassin’s Creed Origins trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Xbox kicks off gamescom with a Ubisoft joint

Xbox's gamescom live event started off with a funky? bass line, some smooth whispered raps, and some arrows to the chest. That mask won't prote??ct ya neck. And spittin' fire doesn't preclude you from spittin' up your own blood.

The post Mummies wrap, pharaohs rap in catchy new Assassin’s Creed Origins trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

18 minutes of gameplay via IGN

Assassin's Creed: Origins's director Ashraf Ismail sat down to play a new mission with IGN in a new 18-minute gameplay video. As pointed out by Push Square, Ismail states that they are removing some frustrating aspects like auto-failing a mission whenever you are detected or when you accidentally le?ave the mission area.

This was one of my main gripes with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Not only were a vast majority of the missions boring esp?ionage or tailing objectives, requiring you to remain in blue circle, but it was so easy to accidentally leave the mission zone or get seen, forcing lots of tri??al and error which left the overall game experience muddled.

Gameplay shows off some tomb raiding, chatting with kids, and combat. I know it's in vogue to say say we're burned out on Assassin's Creed, but if they keep delivering detailed and accurate historic location?s them I'm into it. Definitely felt dull s?taying in the Americas and the U.K. for a while, but I think Egypt will be the breath of fresh air the series needs. Then hopefully they can finally make a AAA entry in China to make up for ruining the opportunity on that side-scrolling nonsense.

The post Assassin’s Creed: Origins won’t fail your mission upon detection appeared first on Destructoid.

Pun recognized and ignored

Remember those tombs that challenged your platforming skills in Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations? Did you miss them in Rogue, Unity, and Syndicate? If so then good news because they're back for Assassin's Creed: Origins and like in the pas??t they are based on real locations, this time on real Egyptian tombs and pyramids.

Creative director Ashraf Ismail told Official PlayStation Magazine "A lot of them are actually built off of the actual true tombs that we’ve researched...we put a lot of effort into recreating these tombs. Everything that is actually known we’ve mapped it out, we have images, we have research that’s been done on tombs, we actually try to replicate it as close as possible. So for example, the Greek pyrami?d, all the chambers, all the corridors are an authentic representation. Now, of course, we have a bit of fun and go a bit further, like, what are the secret chambers that have not been discovered yet?"

Gameplay wise those tombs or catacombs weren't my favorite parts of the games, but as with recreations of the cities the  recreation of real historic locations in the Assassin's Creed&nb??sp;series was a bit of nerdy?? inspiration for me personally to go abroad to places like Florence, Rome, Istanbul, and a desire to one day visit Israel to see Jerusalem as well as Acre/Akko.

I don't need this game to inspire me to visit Egpyt to see it's rich with history, but until I can afford that and the situation is a little safer there I will enjoy visiting in a digital world before comparing to the ac??tual location when I d??o finally go, as I did with Italy and Turkey.

Assassin's Creed Origins? brings back tombs and they're based on the real thing [GamesRadar]

The post Tomb raiding is back in Assassin’s Creed Origins appeared first on Destructoid.

And he kicked my ass

A year in hiding seems to have done wonders for Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft stepping away from its flagship franchise was unexpected, but that time away has Assassin's Creed: Origins feeling like a game that's familiar but still different enough to have my attention. It has been a while since Assassin's Creed struck that same balance with a new installment.

It seem as if, at least partially, Ubisoft borrowed from elsewhere to improve Assassin's Creed: Origins. Advance scouting is possible by sending a pet hawk into flight, a mechanic that's reminiscent of Far Cry Primal. There's a sprawling ?abilities tree, making this more role-playing game than any previous entry.

But, by far the most substantial change is to the combat. As much as I loathe the comparison, this is more Dark Souls than anything else. Fighting is based on a light attack/heavy attack/dodge system that so many games have aped in recent years. See?mingly gone is the ever-reliable strategy of endless waiting until it's time to counter with a button press.

In true bad assassin fashion, I fucked it all up in a hilarious way. The first guard I tried to assassinate was lined up for a stealthy, clean kill. Instead, I dodged to my left and ended up nudging him from behind. Within seconds, it was a three-on-one. Nevertheless, I pers?isted by setting everyone ablaze with a quick arrow to a nearby fire j?ug -- the explosive barrels of the ancient Egyptians.

The combat was better extrapolated upon in a gladiator arena, a setting that we're told will be featured in some missions (it's unclear if it'll also be a standalone mode). For a few waves, I fought increasingly large warriors. Taller, bulkier, more shielded -- that sort of thing. After whizzing through them, I squared off against the most intimidating Assassin's Creed opponent I had ever seen.

One-on-one, mano a mano, I was tasked with taking down a Dark Souls-like boss called "Slaver" who only loses slivers of health at any given time. I quickly learned that rushing in is a fool's?? errand. I ended up relying on the dodge button to act like a circle strafe. Sidestep his moves until I could get around him and unle??ash two light attacks and one heavy. Lather, rinse, repeat. Always repeat.

It wasn't necessarily that formulaic, though. I never quite picked up on his patterns and sometimes I??'d go on the offensive while he still had another strike in him. Get knocked on my ass and try to get back up before he finished me off. When things got especially bleak, I'd hide behind a spike trap and hope like hell that he accidentally brushed up against it. When things looked especially bright, I'd have built up my power meter to let loose a special attack. Those were the few times when I did more than just a sliver of damage.

It was all for naught. He defeated me two consecutive times and then my time with the ?demo was up. That's not an easy L to take. Art director Raphael LaCoste reassured me that this battle ?was very tough. Somehow, that just made me more frustrated that I failed.

As someone who has played every single Assassin's Creed to 100 percent completion, it's a jarring experience to have legitimate troubles with something. The final chase sequence of Assassin's Creed III aside, nothing the series has?? thrown at me has ever taken too many tries to best. The gameplay's just not particularly tough.

Assassin's Creed: Origins looks like it might change that. There's finally a nuance to combat that transforms it into more than just a mindless counter-fest. That combined with the role-playing systems makes this year's Assassin's Creed a real contender to finally be something that's kind of significantly differen??t??. If so, it took going back to the very beginning to find it.

The post I played Assassin’s Creed: Origins and I found a Dark Souls boss appeared first on Destructoid.

Good ol' reliable retailer leaks

Everyone's saying it but Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed: Origins exists. We were confident when the first leak came back in early 2016. It seemed even more likely when we got further details last month. There was also this screenshot that surfaced. An ugly t-shirt even showed up.

The point is that, yes, Assassin's Creed: Origins is real and will almost certainly be officially revealed at Ubisoft's E3 press conference on Monday June 12. The latest indication is this shiny pre-order card from Target. Retailer leaks are usually p??retty reliable.

A few miscellaneous items to unpack here:

• Falcon on the shoulder. Video games are automatically 15 percent better if they have a falcon. 
• Bonus missions for pre-orders and deluxe editions. Video games are automatically 15 percent worse if they do this.
• The old swirl! Not very on-brand, Ubi.

Anyway, yeah, new Assassin's Creed is definitely incoming. But you alread??y knew that??.

Assassin's Creed: Origins Gold Editio??n pre-order cards at Target, detail contents [NeoGAF]

The post Further proof that Assassin’s Creed: Origins exists appeared first on Destructoid.