Every Monday, Phasmophobia cycles through one of 26 different weekly tasks, which are completed in Challenge Mode. These challenges force players to hunt ghosts using different rulesets t??han normal, with a curated set of starter items.

One such Phasmophobia challenge is Hide and Seek: Extreme. This particular task is seen as one of the hardes?t in the entire game, thanks to its brutal ruleset on a tiny map.

What is the Phasmophobia Hide and Seek: Extreme Challenge?

The official description for the Hide and Seek: Extreme challenge is, "This ghost wants to play a game, you better hide." It's ironic, given you must complete it on Camp Woodwind, where there are very few places to hide. The goal ??here is simple, in theory: guess the ghost type three times on Camp Woodwind.

You'll be guessing the ghost with a number of tough rule modifiers, making it?? much harder than Professional difficulty. These are:

• 0% starting Sanity
• 1-minute setup time before the ghost can begin hunting you
• No way to restore Sanity, making hunts inevitable after the 1 minute timer
• Fuse box is automatically on at the start
• Monkey Paw Cursed Object is available to use every time
• Ghost speed is set to 150%

You'll also be doing this with a severely limited loadout, with a mix of Tier 1 and 2 items to help you solve the mystery. If you fail, you won't lose these item?s, so don't worry too much about dying during this. Check out the full set of items below:

• Tier 1: Head Gear, Igniter, Motion Sensor, Firelight, Parabolic Microphone, Salt, Sound Sensor, Ghost Writing Book, and Video Camera
• Tier 2: Crucifix, EMF Reader, Photo Camera, Spirit Box, Thermometer, D.O.T.S. Projector, and Tripod
• Missing: Sanity Medication, Incense, UV Light, and Flashlight

If you manage to guess the ghost type three times in Phasmophobia's Hide and Seek: Extreme challenge, you'll be rewarded with $5,000 and 5,000 XP. A worthy reward for this particular underta?king.

How to Complete the Phasmophobia Hide and Seek: Extreme Challenge

In theory, y??ou could enter the Hide and Seek: Extreme challenge, guess the ghost type at random, leave instantly, and hope for the best. But yo??u've got to guess correctly three times, and with a one-in-24 shot each time, that would be incredibly time-consuming, and there's technically no guarantee you'd ever actually get it right.

You're best suffering through the pain of the challen??ge,?? unfortunately, even if you fail a few times. Here are a few tips.

My first piece of advice would be to do this challenge in co-op. Even if you die, guessing the ghost type correctly still counts towards your challenge progress. However, dying solo in Phasmophobia means the game is over, so adding some friends to the party increases your chances of success i??mmensely.

When the ghost hunts here, loop around the central area of the map. The 150% ghost speed makes it very difficult to avoid, but there are enough items in the center to make it possible. With 0% Sanity,?? these hunts will arrive frequently??, so don't be caught off guard!

In terms of your equipment setup, I'd recommend something that al?lows you to gather as much evidence as possible from the safety of the van. Because of the frequency of hunts, you want to spend as little time in the camp as possible in the Hide and Seek: Extreme challenge. For example, a Video Camera (orbs) with a D.O.T.S. Projector set up, as well as a Ghost Writing Book. Drop a Thermometer in there, too, and drop ??in occasionally to check for Freezing Temperatures evidence.

My final piece of advice is to guess once you have just two pieces of evidence. This mig??ht seem strange, but the lack of a UV Light here can make things incredibly difficult when that's ev??idence you're searching for. Just cut your losses after finding two pieces of evidence, and try again if the guess is wrong.

The post How to complete the Hi??de and Seek: Extreme weekly challenges in Phasmophobia appeared first on Destructoid.

Last night (or early this morning, depending on where in the world you are), The Game Awards kicked off. Along with honors aplenty, we also got announcements, including a premier of the new Witcher game. Among these was also the next iteration in the Killing Floor series.

Aptly named Killing Floor 3, the below trailer shows the high-octane violence that's afoot, along with the developer �?Tripwire Interactive �?saying the game is aiming for a March 2025 release. At this stage, there's no exact date for its launch, but you can wishlist it now on Steam.

Killing Floor 3 is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with full crossplay capabilities. You can also join the closed beta by going to the official website here. Tempted to join up myself. I'm a bit of a fan of the others in the series, yo??u see.

Getting mad Doom vibes

Having played the first two Killing Floor titles, I'll be intrigued to know where Tripwire takes things from here. From the trailer above, it still maintains its chaotic, co-op FPS goodness �?something we all know the franchise for �?but is anyone else getting a hint of modern Doom in there, or is that just me?

But is Killing Floor 3 coming to Game Pass? I want to know! There doesn't appear to be anything saying so, and the official Xbox page do?esn't mention it, either. As such, it might not be available on the service. It seems that it is not on day one.

Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to getting back into the thrill of taking on hordes of grotesque beings. The first game especially holds a place in my heart, despite me not having anywhere near the minimum hardware to run it when it was released in 2009 (I was using a netbook...not even a laptop!). Also, can you believe it's been nearly ten years since we had a Killing Floor game? Where does the time go?!

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Phasmophobia's Winter's Jest Christmas event is here! Much like the Halloween event before it, this festive celebration is a community event where players must work together to reach a common goa??l.

One of these goals is to open Krampus Boxes. Finding these is easier than it seems - Kinetic Games has made it extremely easy for every player to get involved in this event. Let's find out where to discover and open these Krampus Boxes in Phasmophobia.

Where to find Krampus Boxes in Phasmophobia

In Phasmophobia's Winter's Jest Christmas event, four maps have been giv??en a festive makeover. These maps are marked on the contract voting screen with a small present icon, and are as follows:

• 6 Tanglewood Drive
• Bleasdale Farmhouse
• Maple Lodge Campsite
• Point Hope

Krampus Boxes are scattered around the above four maps. Don't bother with the other Phasmophobia maps if you're looking to take part in the Winter??'s Jest event. The locations are random each time, so you must look carefully to ensure you don't miss them. There is usually at least two on each map, so don't give up after ??grabbing the first.

But how do you know when you've found a Krampus Box in Phasmophobia? You can spot them by looking for a big red box with a crude star dr??awing on it and a turning handle on the side. Given the maps also have big red present boxes on them, they're easy to miss when you're not looking for them.

Once you've found the Krampus Box, you open it by pressing the Activate key. On PC, this is left-click. You'll?? know it has worked because the handle begins to turn, and a large red Krampus head wi?ll pop out of it with a burst of confetti.

While this doesn't?? have any effect in-game, it will offici??ally count towards progress in the Christmas event, whether you complete the map or not.

How to check Krampus Box progress is Phasmophobia

If you want to check how the community is progressing in the Phasmophobia Winter's Jest Christmas event, simply head over to the event board in the pre-game lobby. ?Once complete, you'll be able to claim each stage's rewards for a limited time.

This also shows the rules of the Winter's Jest event, where you can also make progress by correctly identifying ghosts and completing optional objectives. During the Halloween event, Kinetic Games extended the deadline to allow players th?e time to complete these t??asks, so make sure you're collecting the Krampus Boxes on each map!

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Long thought to be a fool's errand, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. engine has finally been broken, rebuilt, and bent to the will of some insanely ambitious modders to add co-operative play to one of the original titles: Call of Pripyat. This is a stunning achievement in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. modding, and may even open the door to co-operative play in sandbox-style mods like Anomaly or G.A.M.M.A. down the line (this is pure speculation on my part, please don't tell Gro?k I s?aid that).

The engine powering the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. entries, known as the X-Ray engine, is at once a technical marvel and a prime example of "Eurojank." It's miraculous for being able to draw entities eons away from the player and allow them to interact with each other using tech known as "ALife," giving the world a living component rarely seen in titles made even by the most prestigious studios. It's also a nightmare to mod. Or, it was a nightmare to mod, until it was largely rebuilt by the community to be just a little friendlier to tinker with.

Still, co-op play was long asked for and long shot down. The amount of work the engine has to do for even just one player leads to notorious stuttering, even on high-end machines. Getting all those enemies and NPCs rendered and working properly on two machines would be crazy, right? Well, the X-Ray Multiplayer Extension allows for four.

There have been other attempts at co-op, including the Shadow of Co-op mod, but the lack of a moddb page, crashes, and no ability to save made it a bit impenetrable to most players. xrMPE promises all the game's original mechanics, in working order, with some added bells and whistles (including fan-favorite Gunslinger guns and animations).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is promising mod support as wel?l, so we'll have to wait and see if this engine is a little more malleable out of the box. Who knows, maybe we'll even have co-op in the sequel ??a little sooner than 15 years post-launch.

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Who doesn't ?feel all of their neuroreceptors firing up when someone talks about good times with split-screen games, whether they were co-op or competitive experiences? Whether it's because we're older and no longer have as much time to play as before, or because the industry just went another �?sadder �?way, I believe we all miss the golden age of peeking at your opponent's screen to get that sweetly dishonorable and unfair advantage.

A Way Out

What's better than breaking out of prison? Well, never getting caught, sure, but, if you're not that lucky or good at crime, I'd pick breaking out of prison with a buddy. That's the premise of A Way Out by Hazelight, a company that excels at co-op games, and that hit its current peak at narrative-driven gameplay with A Way Out. If you want?? a game that does co-op well, but is also filled with Hollywood-worthy set pieces, this is the one for you.

Timesplitters 2 

When gamers talk about great split screen experiences, their minds immediately wander to images of Goldeneye 007 while the game's sweet theme plays in the background. I'm extremely guilty of that, as that's the game that gave me the idea for this list. Still, I'd argue that Goldeneye was not the game to perfect its own formula, nor was Perfect Dark. I believe it was Timesplitters 2, the game that gave us one of the earliest �?and still one of the better �?PS2 shooters at a glorious 60 frames per second. I only ever got to fa??ce off three more people at the same time, but if you have the equipment �?and an actual gang �?you can play it with up to 16 people at onc?e.

Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock

The only game series to rival Guitar Hero in the split-screen rhythm arena is Dance Dance Revolution, but I'd argue Guitar Hero 3 edges it out due to the better song selection, and also because a guitar is way cooler and more practical to have and transport than a DDR mat. Guitar Hero 3 doesn't just mar??k the peak of its series, it likely also marks?? the last great moment in the history of competitive split-screen gaming �?for the time being, I hope.

Burnout 3: Takedown

Many racing games fought for this position in my heart, but Burnout 3 was just too aggressive to lose to the likes of Need For Speed, Gran Turismo, or Forza. Burnout 3 is a fantastic game even if you only play by yourself, but it becomes a completely different beast when you turn it into a duel against your best friend �?or your most hated enemy. This thing is as thrilling as a Quake 3 deathmatch, and still as fun and harmless as a game of Super Smash Bros.

Super Mario Kart

And if I'm singing praise to Burnout 3, I cannot do so without honoring the OG. Yeah, you could say that the original Mario Kart for the SNES walked so that Burnout could drift, but there's way more value to it than just that. Even though it was a two-player-max affair, the truth is that the good ol' Super Mario Kart remains highly enjoyable even for people wh??o ne??ver got to experience it when it first came out.

Gears Of War

When I finished watching the first gameplay footage for Gears Of War, I mostly sat in disbelief at what I'd just witnessed. There just was no way that I was looking at actual gameplay footage. There just was no way they could make cover shooting, something the series would make ubiquitous, fun. And that was before I learned that this fever dream of a third-person shooter had serious split screen co-op and competitive aspirations. Everything felt absurd, but the planetary alignment did occur, and Gears Of War ended up providing players with one of the greatest packages in the history of shooters. I know that Gears Of War is likel?y older than anyone reading this who hasn't played it yet, but I wholeheartedly say it's not too late to enjoy the original campaign in co-op?.

Beating ?General RAAM with your buddy on the highest difficulty will ensure your friendship lasts at least another 20 years.

Portal 2

To be completely honest, Portal 2 didn't need a co-op mode. The first game didn't have one, and it's still one of the greatest games in history. Portal 2, however, couldn't be content with being just one of the greatest single-player games of all time. It needed to be one of the greatest co-op experiences of all time, and it sure achieved its goal. Instead of just having players go through the base campaign with two players, Valve forged a masterful new campaign that had players working together on something that's not just mindlessly shooting stuff. I love mindlessly shooting stuff in games, but I'd argue Portal 2's co-op cam??paign, though bereft of a big plotline comparable to the single-player one, remains the most interesting of the two due to the added challenge?.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

Though hard to believe nowadays, at some point the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series was beloved by skaters and uncool people alike. You could play for points, go on an unhinged search for all the secrets hidden in the many awesome maps, or simply leave the game running to listen to its magnificent soundtrack. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was always worth it,? but it gained a whole new dimension when going head-to-head against your friends.

This g??ame, which I always played against either actual skaters or randos who somehow were always much better at it than me, provided me with some of the most memorable split screen moments of all time. Imagine what it can do for you �?especially if you're any good at it.

Goldeneye 007

How great is Goldeneye's split screen deathmatch mode? Well, it's just a part of one of the best video game adaptations of one of the best 007 movies of all time, and it's still the most famous thing related to the Goldeneye name. This was, for many years, the gold standard of couch multiplayer, and the first definite proof that first-person shooters could work, and rock, on consoles �?so ??long as nobody is playing Oddjob.

Halo 3

This is a list and not the ranking of my favorite split-screen games, but, had this been that, there would be no competition for Halo 3. This game's co-op campaign isn't simply the best in the series, it's also the first one to use the Master Chief and the Arbiter as players one and two, showing that the devs at Bungie were well aware that the co-op factor in a Halo campaign was as importan??t as the solo?? mode for fans.

People lived for the idea of finishing the fight with their best friend riding shotgun. The final level where you work together to finally escape the collapsing Halo i?s one of the most memorable moments in v??ideo games, for the co-op partners who cleared it.

Oh yeah, there was also the local split screen PvP, which I'm just going to say was even better than Goldeneye's and Timesplitter 2's.

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I would argue Sea of Stars was the bes??t indi??e game of 2023. I'd even go as far as saying it deserved more space in the game of the year conversation, but that's an argument for another time. With 5 million copies sold, Sabotage Studio has announced a new co-op mode coming to the RPG in a future update.

Sea of Stars is getting three-player couch co-op

Sea of Stars just surpas?sed 5 million copies sold, and as a reward, players are getting 'Single Player+' mode, teased in a new trailer. The short version is that it will allow players to team up with two friends locally on their RPG adventure. Since the indie game plays like a classic turn-based RPG, how will that work?

"Staying true to the game’s core turn-based roots, each player will engage in traversal and combat with a new 'Co-op timed hits' mechanic as they embark with friends on Sea of Stars�?grand adventure. The new mode is currently in development? and more details are set to be released soon."

Sabotage Studio

A new reason to go back and play Sea of Stars again sounds good to me. Along with the ability to play with a few buddies, we also get some new combat and traversal me?chanics, though they haven't been th?oroughly explained just yet. 'Co-op timed hits' likely refer to the attack and defense timing, which require the player to tap a button right when their character makes contact with an attack or the enemy attack hits. This results in extra damage on attack and significantly lowered damage taken on defense. Using context clues, it seems that in co-op, those bonuses will require all players to perfectly time the hits.

That should make for chaotic gameplay and probably plenty of arguments. Isn't that exactly what you want out of a couch co-op e??xperience?

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Dead by Daylight continues its trend of adding well-known movie and video game horror villains to its increasing roster. Now, Child's Play is the latest franchise to be incorpo?rated, as developer Behaviour Interac?tive brings the killer doll Chucky to the game.

A new trailer for the patch shows the pint-sized terror doing what he does best: stabbing people to death. Chucky comes with two modes, Normal and Hidey-Ho, the latter of which makes him temporarily undetectabl?e. He's also in a fixed third-person camera view du??e to his short stature.

Dead by Daylight has also added in The Good Gal, which is essentially Tiffany. Fans of both the game and the Child's Play series will be pleased to k??now that Brad Dourif has repr?ised his role as the voice of Chucky.

No short-changing with this update

But it's not just Chucky and Tiffany that have been added in. Patch 7.4.0 also brings with it a few changes, including some tweaks to a number of DbD's killers. There's also been a slight reducti??on to some of the larger maps, specifi??cally Mother's Dwelling and Red Forest Realm.

If that wasn't enough, the update also implements a ton of fixes, adds in a Player Card, which you "can earn collectable banners and badges" for, and adds support for AMD's FSR 1.0 upscaling technology. You can see the full patch notes on the Steam page.

It's a pretty sweet gig Dead by Daylight has. While a popular asymmetrical horror game in general, th?e fact that it has a long list of other franchises it can utilize for characters and enemies lends it that extra bit of longevity. With it now bringing Chucky into the mix, it kind of makes me want to reinstall it again.

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By now, much of the indie horror scene is aware of Lethal Company, the small co-op hit that's currently taking the genre by storm. While it's hard to say how long this popularity will last, the game is not only stayi??ng at the top of the Steam charts, but has smashed its ??player peak again.

As of right now, Lethal Weapon has hit 184,015 players over the last 24 hours. The chart over on SteamDB shows the trajectory the game's currently experiencing, and it's entirely possible that it could just keep going.?? We could easily see it break through the 200,000 mark.

It's also still the top non-Deck game on Steam right now, having not budged since the last time we checked. Okay, it's only been a week, but seeing as the likes of Modern Warfare 3, Counter-Strike 2, and Baldur's Gate 3 are starting to drop, it's a hell of an achievement?? for an independent gam??e.

For those who have yet to play it...

Compared to such games as Phasmophobia, Lethal Company is something that should be right up the alley of horror co-op fans. That includes me, but s?adly, I haven't got round to playing it yet. And I should, as it's extremely cheap to buy. I can't speak for other nations, but here in the UK, it's £8.50. I know some pubs that charge more for a pint than that.

The game's all about scav??enging and collecting scrap for a company called...well...the Company. According to developer Zeekerss, you can "use the cash you earn to travel to ?new moons with higher risks and rewards--or you can buy fancy suits and decorations for your ship."

The Steam reviews have also been pretty glowing, with it showing as "Overwhelmingly Positive." User Cheiph describes it as a "morbid, yet derpy masterpiece." I think it's high time I pull the finger out and finally see what all the fuss is over in Lethal Company.

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It's such a shame Back 4 Blood couldn't quite scratch that Left 4 Dead itch. It was, after all, supposed to be a spiritual successor to Valve's iconic zombie co-op series. Sadly, 'twas not to be. However, with the original L4D turning 15 recently, one o?f the OG developers reflects on the? game.

In a recent interview with Game Developer, former Valve creative lead Chet Faliszek waxes lyrical about the development of what would become an absolute classic in the FPS genre. With the idea being in development since 2005, it's interesting to learn that Left 4 Dead originally offered up just the versus campaign.

Fortun??ately, after playtesting from the team and words from Gabe Newell, some tweaking later led us to the product we know and love today.?? However, Faliszek admits that the game is pretty unstable:

I don’t think outside people can appreciate how broken the Left 4 Dead e??ngine was but still shipped...It lo??aded each map two or three times in the background

L̶e̸f̵t̵ ̶4̷ ̶D̴e̸a̸d̸

Faliszek?? also recalls how he was put in charge of the project, adding that "no one ever told me I'm runni?ng it."

As many of you already know, Left 4 Dead was originally going to be an offshoot of Counter-Strike (called Terror) before it became its own thing. What I do like?? is that it was ex-Valve writer Marc Laidlaw who thought to change it from "for" to "4."

To get a bit gooey about the past myself, I have very fond memories of playing the game on Xbox 360 during my time at uni??versity.? Ah, to be young and full of scrumpy cider at 3AM. Such heady days.

Anyway, it's sad that we've yet to receive a Left 4 Dead 3. Or any threequel from Val?ve, really. But the original lives on. I almost feel like redownloading it and rekindling those inno??cent years. Oh god, I'm getting ever so old.

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Sometimes an indie game can come out of nowhere and cover itself in glory, even for a bit. Zeekerss co-op survival horror title Lethal Company is just such a game, and it's ??currently taking the PC world by storm?.

According to the latest Top Sellers chart over on Steam, it's ranking as the best game ??in terms of revenue. This puts it at the number two spot overall, just behind the Steam Deck. Seeing it climb up from si??xth place in a matter of weeks is hugely impressive, especially because there seemed to be little hype surrounding it.

It was also revealed yesterday that Lethal Company had smashed 100,000 concurrent players. Well, according to data pulled from SteamDB, that record has been smashed again. At the time of writing, it's now at a peak of 117,278, which it achieved less than 12 hou?rs ago.

Pretty good going for a small indie title

Sons of the Forest experienced a similar burst in popularity so quickly after it was released. Selling two million copies in its first 24 hours, the follow-up to the 2017 horror game The Forest was a phenomenal success. Admittedly, it didn't last too long, and there are currently 6,618 people playing right now. In contrast, Lethal Company is recording just over 19,000 players.

For those who have yet to play it (yo!), Lethal Company is a cooperative horror?? title that tasks players with scavenging items on abandoned moons in order to sell them?? to an entity known as the Company.

It's been out for a month and it's already showing "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam. It's still in early access so no doubt the studio has a lot of work ahead of it. Still, this surprise horror hit is something fans of the genre may want to keep an eye on, especially those who enjoy things like Rust or Dead by Daylight.

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KarmaZoo, a cooperative platformer party game developed by Pastagames and published by Devolver Digital has set a release date for Novembe??r 14. In this unorthodox multiplayer experience, players seem to be encouraged to diminish the ego and prioritize the?ir friends �?or, in some cases, perfect strangers.

In the release date announcement trailer, it looks like this game is predominantly speed-based in the sense that players will be put into a course where they must make it to the finish line. But unlike most games of this archetype, KarmaZoo encourages selfles??s actions that benefit the collective over the self. 

For example, one scenario might be a large ravine that is impossible to cross, with spikes at the bottom. If you were to jump into the ravine, your? demise would trigger a tombstone to fall, providing your fellow players a stepping stone to cross it. In exchange for your noble sacrifice, you’d earn extra reward??s at the end of the round. But, it’s not all about self-sacrifice �?any positive action that benefits the team can be recognized and rewarded. So, it’s not a competition. It’s more a collaboration than anything else.

I say all that, but for those readers who’re itching to beat their friends in Karma-based minigames, there will be a competitive mode added to the final release. So, no matter if you’re feeling like working with a group of friends (or strangers), or if you want some brutal competition, KarmaZoo has you covered.

Based on the trailer, the game adopts this nostalgic, pixel-based art style that reminds me of indie games such as VVVVVV. I do worry that, thanks to the incredibly ?small sprite size for these characters, it’ll be a difficult one for those of us with poor eyesight. But, it might not be as big a deal?? in the game itself.

KarmaZoo is set for release on November 14, and will be available for the Nintendo Switch, PS??5, Xbox Series, and PC.&??nbsp;

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We'll probably never see a third installment in Valve's legendary Left 4 Dead series, but that's okay. L4D2 is still getting a lot of love and, in fact, it recently received a small update that comes packed with twe?aks, as well as one sought-after change.

As spotted by PC Gamer, the patch notes for the latest update to Left 4 Dead 2 notes that, among other things, Valve has finally decided to name the Swamp Fever gator, something that's apparently been requested by the community. From this day forth, the "swamp gator" shall canonically be known as...Fred.?? Do with this info as you must.

[caption id="attachment_398633" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image via Valve/Steam.[/caption]

According to my own Steam account, th??is patch is only a 2MB download, but as you can see from the notes, there's a laundry list of ?tinkering that's gone on.

Still rockin' the Steam charts

And why shouldn't the developer keep its 14-year-old zombie co-op game alive and well? It's an absolute classic in the genre, giving more of what people loved in the original release. It's still going pretty strong overall. At the time of writing, SteamDB registers almost 27,000 players fightin' hordes in Left 4 Dead 2 right now. Also, the game is currently at the number 44 spot on the Steam charts.

That might not sound impressive, but considering Elden Ring is just ahead at 40 and Cyberpunk 2077 is trailing behind at position 48, Valve's classic FPS is still managing to pull in enough players. Although we were supposed to be seeing a return to the L4D format with Turtle Rock Studios' Back 4 Blood, it didn't qui??te hit the mark. For many, it was a decent zombie shooter, but it just couldn't reach the ??heights of Valve's long-dormant series.

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If you've thought that playing fighting games with friends gets a bit too contentious, Riot Games is working on an answer. The League of Legends company showed off more footage of its in-development fighting game Project L t??oday with the reveal of Duo Play, a co-op option for t??he tag-team fighting game.

Project L is a two-on-two tag fighter, similar to games like BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. This means each side fields two characters, picked out of the League of Legends universe of Runeterra, for its matches.

While you'd normally pilot these teams solo, Project L is also offering Duos, which lets two players team up and each handle an individual fighter. It basically turns Project L into a co-op tag fighter, where you can combo off each other, throw out assists, and tag in and o?ut.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KalbPq3Ic4

This Duo Play is something that other tag fighters have done before, but does seem particularly well-suited to Project L. Aside from the fun tie to duo queuing in League, it could make the arena feel a bit approachable for newcomers. Alongside the breakdown video above, Riot also published a showmatch, where its developers showed off the Duo Play mode in Project L.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a7UzySL9o

If this seems like it's up your alley and you also happen to be in Las Vegas for Evo 2023, then you're in luck. Riot will be hosting show floor demos of Project L at the big fighting game event, wi?th four playable characters: Darius, Ahri, Ekko, and one to-be-revealed character.

Squaring off

That's not the only Project L content that hit today, either. A bunch of fighting game players and community members apparently got a hands-on session with Project L recently, and were able to t??alk a bit about it t??oday.

From the sounds of it, there are still some restrictions around how much they can say about the roster and characters available. But still, we can get a pretty good sense of how all the systems are coming together. Alongside Duo Play, there are some other neat concepts for the fighter, like a Capcom Vs. SNK 2-alike Groove system.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn0NSqDLyMs

Project L has been in the works for quite some time now, and the team's been taking its time crafting this game. But I have to say, it looks like it's paying off. Everything here seems ready to entice a lot of players who don't often pick up fighting games, while still having some really nasty options for long-time competitors. The roster could be the cherry on top too, as League of Legends certainly doesn't have a shortage of champions to pick from. (I also secretly hope Riot pulls in a Valorant cameo or two.)

With the demo headed to Las Vegas and a super-secret surprise developer reveal scheduled for Evo 2023's Friday Showcase, I imagine we'll be hearing more from Riot soon. But it's nice to know that I won't necessarily have to always PvP my friends in Project L.

The post Project L showcases Duo Play, its co-op tag mode appeared first on Destructoid.

There is no 'I' in 'T E A M'

Devolver Digital, in association with silly studio Pastagames, has lifted the lid on a delightful-looking multiplayer puzzle platformer, KarmaZoo, ??currently in development for PC and console platforms.

In KarmaZoo, teams of 10 randomly gathered players must use spirit, synergy, and even sacrifice in order to navigate a near-endless range of procedurally generated stages, all created within a pixel-perfect realm known as "The Loop". The 10-strong team must capitalize on a huge menagerie of characters, (including a returning PixelCat), abilities, and perks in ord?er t?o ensure that the whole squad, (well, not always the whole squad), is able to find their respective path through the level and, hopefully, get to the finish line unscathed.

Hel??ping your teammates, leading the herd, and even committing self-sacrifice so that others may continue will all earn your character the precious resource, Karma, which can be used to unlock new characters, perks, stages, and much mo?re. Check out the action in this announcement trailer.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FTzO??MPSBo&t=2s&ab_channel=Gematsu

In addition to The Loop, KarmaZoo also supports several local multiplayer modes, in which you can challenge friends and family to a variety of party-style games, such as being the first to reach the summit of a mountain, races through auto-scrolling mazes and labyrinths, and other quick-fire mini-games. Conqu?er as many as possible to claim your rightful place on top of the celebratory "Totem".

KarmaZoo looks like a great time-filler �?especially for those homestead gatherings �?sporting cute graphics, fun characters, and a nice spirit of teamwork and camaraderie. Definitely worth keeping an eye on this release? as we closer to its launch window. KarmaZoo is scheduled to launch this summer on PS5, PC, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch.

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Hosting parties needs a little more oomph

Dead Island 2 finally rises from the ashes this week, with plenty of zombies to slay in either solo or co-op. But if you're running on some older hardware, you'll need to be the one j??oining rather than making the party.

In a blog outlining Dead Island 2's co-op features, Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver clarify th??at certain consoles won't be able to host parties, only join them. T?hese are, specifically, the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and the Xbox One S, or what they call "Base Generation 8."

Because Dead Island 2 co-op games are peer-to-peer, rather than server-based, this means a player will have to host the game. Dead Island 2's graphical requirements mean that, at launch, a base Gen8 console won'?t be able to handle hostin?g co-op, only join it.

"We're working on giving the option to host on all consoles in the future," reads ??t?he blog post.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=f70Uz0fnX7E

PC, PS5??, and Xbox Series X|S players are fine to host. Higher-mark Gen8 consoles, or the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, can also muster the resources to handle it.

It's also important to note that Dead Island 2 is not cross-play, only cross-gen. PlayStation and Xbox players cannot play with each other in Dead Island 2. But, those within the same family of consoles—Xbox to Xbox, or PS4 to PS5—will be able to team up. You'll also need to reach a certain point in the game to unlock co-op as an option, though Dambuster e??stimates this should be about 20 to 30 minutes in. Players also can't jump ahead in the story, so while someone at Chapter 6 could help another at Chapter 3, it does not work in reverse.

City (un)living

Hopefully this is a road-bump that can get cleaned up soon after launch. While m??????????????????????????ore people seem to be moving up in? console generations, there may still be some folks getting their last miles out of the PS4 and Xbox One. At the very least, it's nice those players can still join on higher-generation system's parties.

If you're wondering whether this L.A. getaway is worth it, you can check out our review here, which comes away with a similar sentiment I had after playing it at PAX East: it is ??a bit of a miracle that this game actually came together.

The post Dead Island 2 won’t let ‘base’ PS4 or Xbox One consoles host co-op at launch appeared first on Destructoid.

My love of Infernax is no secret by this point. Many indie titles have shot for NES nostalgia, but Infernax provides an experience that genuinely belongs among the console’s best. Its tight gameplay, compact map to explore, and authentic difficulty curve drives home the feeling of playing a version of Simon’s Quest that became a beloved classic ins?tead of a series black sheep. Add in a host of secret characters and multiple endings, and you have a game just begging to be replayed.

I gleefully put in at least three runs through Infernax last year, yet the announcement of couch co-op via the Deux or Die update still piqued my curiosity. As much as I love this game, couch co-op updates to single games have left me underwhelmed in the past. For example, Shovel Knight's two-player mode was fun, but nowhere near the quality of its one-player campaign. Meanwhile, Deux or Die promises the new character Cervul, a plethora of unique abilities, and a revamped progression system. Would Infernax maintain its quality as a two-p?layer game, or would it be another novelty ?worth an hour or two?

Well, after playing Infernax this weekend armed with a friend (henceforth referred to as John Dtoid), I am extraordinarily happy to say that Berzerk Studio hit it out of the park with Deux or Die.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SzgFDI2X4Q

A rebalanced campaign

The first thing Deux or Die does fantastically well is remix the entire campaign with Player Two in mind. Right out the gate, the cutscenes incorporate Cervul and even add some unique dialogue throughout the adventure. Story was never the strong suit of Infernax, but I love the playful route Deux or Die takes. For example, after one NPC praises protagonist Alcedor, he adds a tepid “oh hi Cervul�?just to acknowledge him. It rides a fine line of lampshading its one-player focused story while avoidi?ng outright fourth-wall breaking jokes.

Fortunately, it’s not just story that was overhauled for Cervul. Every screen in Infernax is littered with enemies now, to the point of looking like a Kaizo ROM hack at first. This gives both players equal responsibility to proceed through the game e??ffectively.

Since so many enemies come at you from multiple directions, John Dtoid and I typically divided responsibilities between us. As the one in control of Cervul, I handled airborne enemies while Alcedor’s mace smacked things at ground level. After mastering the new mechanics, I was pleased to see that our pace matched a normal solo run of Infernax. Despite the overwh??elming enemy forces, both players r?ecieve ample power to match the odds.

[caption id="attachment_373208" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Cervul is my new favorite character

While the campaign rebalancing is nice, what really makes Deux or Die click is Cervul himself.

By default, Cervul chucks axes at enemies a la the classic Castlevania axe. Holding directions on the D-Pad lets Cervul change the trajectory of his throws, but he’s never particularly good at hitting things in front of him. Meanwhile, melee is the one range Alcedor is very good at. Both characters' mechanics naturally encouraged cooperati??on without stepping on each other’s toes. I always felt like I was contributing a lot as Cervul without ever fully stealing the spotlight.

[caption id="attachment_373209" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

As you progress further, Cervul unlocks and strengthens an extraordinarily fun set of skills. My bread-and-butter was the Crossbow, which requires a charge between shots but snipes enemies effectively. Meanwhile, against enemies throwing ranged attacks in turn, I could wield my Pavise with both hands and focus on blocking incoming shots to defend myself and ol�?John Dtoid. This let our playthrough of Infernax become surprisingly methodical instead of a test of our reflexes. I’d often stop and evaluate an area bef?ore selecting the tool that would lighten the challenge in ??front of us.

Honestly, there were moments when I felt like I was outright breaking the game with Cervul. However, instead of coming off as cheap, I instead felt rewarded for knowing what skills would work best in each situation. Using Cervul’s kit let me see the entire world of Infernax is a new light, almost as if I was pl??aying an e??ntirely new game.

[caption id="attachment_373210" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Promote synergy

The crazy part is that Cervul isn’t the only one bringing team dynamics. Alcedor’s support spells now affect both players, ranging from shields to full heals. This, too, adds a new layer of depth to Infernax.

By default, Cervul has a stack of bandages that can slowly but reliably heal either player individually. Meanwhile, Alcedor’s healing spells work instantly and heal fully, but he can only use a couple casts before his mana runs dry. This created a fun minigame w?here John Dtoid and I constantly thought of how to min-max our healing within dungeons, perpetually keeping our HP bars even with bandages so we could get optimal heals with spells later.

[caption id="attachment_373240" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Cervul’s tools do make him feel like four characters in one. However, switching his skills takes time, which in turn gives Alcedor much more agency in co-op. Covering that melee blind spot for Cervul is optimal in most situations, but this never feels forced or inconvenient. Even Alcedor’s shield, which generally is inferior to Cervul’s Pavise, still has the advantage of bein?g avai??lable on demand. There were more than a few situations where Johnny boy blocked shots for me while I was charging my crossbow, especially if I wasn’t paying attention to everything happening on screen.

Cervul winds up being a bit more powerful than Alcedor by the end of the game. However, it’s never to an extent where the scale is tilted too strongly in Cervul’s favor. Both players feel important throughout the campaign, and there’s enough freedom to let you control who will be more supportive and who will take point as the main attacker. I can’t believe I’m writing that sentence about a simple game like Infernax, but that’s how elegant the mechanics of Deux or Die are.

[caption id="attachment_373241" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Free play

Honestly, my only criticisms of Deux or Die are nitpicks. The boss rebalancing doesn’t fare universally well in co-op, leaving some foes unusually easy despite their bolstered health bars. There was also one encounter on the Ultimate Good story path that Cervul absolutely trivializes. As good as the co-op is, Infernax never fully sha??kes the feeling that it was origina??lly designed for one player.

That doesn’t particularly matter to me though. Infernax already felt complete at launch, so Deux or Die is like getting a new game for free. Moreover, with playthroughs lasting around six hours, Infernax makes for a great weekend adventure.

[caption id="attachment_373211" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

As an additional touch, Deux or Die lets you hot-swap between the two-player mode and one player controlling both characters. At first, I tho?ught this was a nice way to let solo adventurers experience the new content too. However, once I realized this let one player make progress while the other takes a break to use the bathroom or grab a snack, I realized how hard Berzerk Studio prioritized making a fun experience for tw?o friends over anything else.

Infernax doesn’t have the reputation of something like Shovel Knight, but Deux or Die proves its creators bring equal passion for their work. This free update was so transformative that I could have easily dropped $5 on it and felt I got my money's worth. If you originally played Infernax via Game Pass, Deux or Die makes a compelling case to buy the game o??utright. It adds abundant replay value to a title already overflowing with it, and I can’t wait to explore Upal with more friends in the future.

The post Infernax’s Deux or Die update makes it a fantastic couch co-op adventure appeared first on Destructoid.

Work together to survive the horrors

It's never too early in the year for scares and frights. Outlast studio Red Barrels confirms that The Outlast Trials is going into Early Access on May 18, 2023.

The Early Access launch will go up on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, though pricing has not been announced as of this writing. While Red Barrels has hosted a closed beta already, this will be the chance for many more players to hop in and try out the new Outlast for themselves.

You can check out a new trailer below, which focuses a little less on the gameplay and more on The Outlast Trials' voice actors and their ability to scre?am. They're pretty darn good at it!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKwMY4ZBJJ0

Red Barrels has made a name for itself in the horror genre with the Outlast series. They play almost like a found footage-st?yle experience?, where you have to sneak and scurry around while terrors hunt for you.

Outlast together

The difference in The Outlast Trials is that it can be a solo or co-op experience. You and up to three other pla?yers get "involuntarily recruited?" by the Murkoff Corporation to test certain trials, and you can opt to tackle them solo or with your friends.

You'll still be hiding, running, and fleeing. But special tools will allow you new ways to sneak around or ??slow down enemies. There's also character customization options for your chosen trial competitor, too.

Multiplayer survival horror has been pretty popular, as games like Dead By Daylight and Phasmophobia can attest. I'm sure Outlast fans are probably interested in seeing what Red Barrels does with more ?players in its horror designs.

Really, it's just nice to have ??pals to encounter the scares with you. It certainly softens the scares for the fright-averse out there, in my experience.

The Outlast Trials hits Early Access on May 18. No date's been ??set for full release.

The post The Outlast ??Trials screams into Early Access ??in May appeared first on Destructoid.

Golly, what a day...

As part of this morning's Nacon Connect live stream, the publisher offered up our first look at the gameplay of co-op action adventure Gangs of Sherwood, which is currently i??n development at Appeal Studios for PC and Gen 9 platforms. It is currently expected to launch in the fall o??f this year.

As the name suggests, Gangs of Sherwood is a multiplayer adventure set with??in an alternate, steampunk-style take on the Robin Hood legend. Up to four players will step into the roles of warriors Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and, of course, Robin of Loxley himself. The very early gameplay footage sees our band of outlaws battling their way through a castle, with each member of the party bringing bespoke weaponry and fighting skills as they sally forth past a squadron of guards.

The trailer ends with Sherwood Forest's finest facing off against a monstrous contraption of flesh and steel, known as "Red Roger of Nottingham". What is it with Nacon and rusty, aristocratic robots?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ_IRpUuj5c

While this alpha footage is a tad rough around the edges, I actually really dig the idea of a multiplayer hack 'n' slash title, and the novel twist on the tales of Robin Hood is a pretty bold concept. I don't see any sexy foxes, nor can I hear Brian Adams, so I'm assuming that this will be a particularly unique adaptation of the Totally Real and Definitely Existed hero. I'm especially eager to see what form Robin's nemesis, The Sheriff of Nottingham, will take in Gangs of Sherwood.

He's going to be a massive fucking robot? spider, isn't he?

Gangs of Sherwood is scheduled to launch this fall on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X. You can check out an extended gameplay preview over on the official Steam store page.

The post Check out the first gameplay f?ootage for Gangs of Sherwood appeared first on Destructoid.

Exorcise Class

For the students of Sakurazaki Academy, it looks like school's out �?outta luck, outta time, outta this dimension. The discovery of a dusty old m??irror by mischievous demon girl Kurona has led to the popular place of learning somehow fusing with the dark arts, resulting in both the interior and the exterior of the building forming a cavernous, gothic castle, while replacing textbooks, playgrounds, and chalkboards with iron maidens, candlelit chandeliers, and a mass menagerie of demons, ghouls, and specters.

That Kurona... what a dickhead.

And while one would imagine that, for any young student, these events would be?? a positive boon, rivaling even the longest of snow days, it seems that most of Sakurazaki's students and faculty have found themselves trapped within this nightm??arish world, lost deep in its centuries-old design and perpetually hounded by unholy creatures. However, all is not lost. The brave and noble Kamizono sisters were yet to arrive for class when the strange phenomenon first occurred. And, fortunately for our damsels in distress, Shinobu and her younger sibling Maya also happen to be part-time professional demon hunters �?duly honed in the fine art of kicking serious monster ass.

And thus, armed with an array of ancient magical arts, some surprisingly violent origami skills, and more than a round or two of good, old-fashioned lead, the Kamizonos don their finest demon-hunting armor (i.e. Goth Lolita outfits) and set out to teach Kurona and her newfound army of minions a lesson they won't soon forget. One thing's for sure, it's going to be a hell of a semester for our girls.

Grim Guardians: Demon Purge (PlayStation [PS5 reviewed], PC, Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Inti Creates Co. Ltd.
Publisher: Inti Creates Co. Ltd.
Released: February 23, 2023
MSRP: $24.99

Developed by anime-lovin' studio Inti Creates, Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is a spin-off title to the cheesecake series Gal*Gun, specifically Gal*Gun: Double Peace (note the initials). There is an irony here in that the Gal*Gun franchise was originally intended to fit within a 2D adventure genre, before the executive decision was made to make it a super-sexualized rail shooter instead. As such, Grim Guardians arguably sees the franchise experiment with what could have been, should the ini??tial design plan have been followed.

And, in some?thing of a double irony, it just might be the best game in the series.

At first glance, Grim Guardians looks to be a dyed-in-the-wool metroidvania, with a design that openly �?and happily �?apes the aesthetic of Konami's much-loved vampire hunting franchise. But while there are certainly elements of backtracking and exploration at play here, Grim Guardians is an arcade platformer first and foremost. It chooses to focus on forward momentum, level negotiation, and bullet-pumping action, rather than attempting to mimic the RPG elements of its inspiration. Grim Guardians is, in many ways, quite comparable to Castlevania �?/em> in debt, even �?/em> but ?is more content to focus on '90s style platforming action, than single map explorat??ion. Much to its own benefit.