Propelled to stardom by his fan-favorite role as Daryl Dixon in AMC's The Walking Dead TV series, Reedus' instantly recognizable face is also that of Death Stranding protagonist Sam Porter Bridges. And it sounds like it didn't take a whole lot of convincing either.

"When I had just started my own studio and had nothing, I pitched the DS project to Norman at a sushi restaurant and asked him if he would like to do it with me," Kojima said in a tweet. "He instantly said yes even though I didn't even have a script. The following month, we conducted scanning and performance capture for a trailer. I was still underweight and skinny at the time."

Kojima and Reedus' friendship and working relationship goes a fair bit back, having been introduced by film director Guillermo del Toro. The duo worked together on the tragically canceled follow-up Silent Hills, and then of course on Death Stranding, and now Reedus is reprising his role as Sam for Death Stranding 2.

Like the first game, the sequel is a star-studded affair with big names across the movie, TV, and video game industries. The full cast has yet to be revealed, but right now we know Death Stranding 2 is bringing back Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Troy Baker, and adding Elle Fanning (Maleficent) and Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2) to the cast. Filmmaker George Miller is also joining the cast in an undisclosed role.

As for when it'll release, probably not until the back half of 2025. It was revealed in May that the sequel had finished filming and recording, but after that it went into what Kojima called an "adjustment phase" he said would last for over a year. 

Fear not, here are the best PS5 games to keep you busy while you wait.

Reliable Crucible analyst Trials Report points out that 24% of all kills in Destiny 2's latest Trials of Osiris PvP event were scored by the Khvostov 7G-0X. For context, Trials Report adds, this rivals the 37% put up by the Ammit AR2 back in Destiny 2's "funny guns" era. You know, when players abused an exploit to turn guns into hair-trigger abominations spitting out a bazillion rounds a minute. In other words, the closest comparison to this gun's performance at the highest level of PvP is a game-breaking rifle forged in lag furnaces. 

Khvostov 7G-0X is good, and people know it. It has the handy Shoot to Loot perk to automatically scoop up Orbs of Power and ammo bricks, but its real claim to fame is a combination of its Exotic perk and extremely high base stats. This is a 600 RPM auto rifle with all the recoil of a phone on vibrate. It is a laser beam with a competitive time to kill out of the box, even before factoring in its special perk.

That perk, The Right Choice, causes every seventh bullet fired to deal extra damage and ricochet to nearby targets, including other players. This can give the gun indirect AoE, and many players have reported seeing rounds ricochet back to the Guardians they're actively shooting at in PvP, shortening the TTK further. And yes, people will pre-fire six rounds to cook a special shot. On top of that, its second unique trait, Eyes Up, Guardian, buffs that ricochet effect whenever you collect an Orb of Power, which brings us back to Shoot to Loot. 

This incarnation of Khvostov is a workhorse in PvE and a true threat in PvP. Bungie is known to rebalance weapons based on usage rate outliers, so with Khvostov eating 24% of the Trials pie, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a swing from the nerf bat soon enough. What a comeback for the gun that started it all. 

I've become a proper MMO healer in Destiny 2 thanks to a new gun and Exotic helmet, despite massive Well of Radiance nerfs.

Atari 50 is split between five "timelines" focusing on different parts of the publisher's history, and the upcoming Expanded Edition is set to add two more. The Wider World of Atari features 19 added games and seems like a bit of a grab bag, featuring games like cult classic shooter Berzerk, a look at the artist who created the Atari logo, and a dive into the world of Atari Homebrew.

The other timeline is The First Console War, which digs in on the rivalry between the Atari 2600 and its closest competitor, the Intellivision - years before Nintendo and Sega create their own battle lines. This one adds 20 additional games, including some from Intellivision maker Mattel's M Network division, which skipped the company's own console to make games for the 2600.

Of course, both timelines will feature plenty of the real highlights of Atari 50: interviews with historians and the creators of those original games. Atari's catalog doesn't have quite the cachet among modern retro fans that, say, Nintendo's does, but the story of gaming's earliest days is a fascinating one, and Digital Eclipse's work telling that story with this collection has been fantastic.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition is set to hit PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch as a standalone release on October 25 for $39.99. The two new timelines will be available as DLC for owners of the original game, but there's no word on pricing for that just yet.

Going retro? Check out the best Atari 5200 games. 

Of course, versions of this have existed on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles for years, but until now Steam users had to resort to using capture cards or third-party software to record their gameplay. This is legitimately massive news for PC gamers and comes with a wide range of applications that'll improve usability for content creators, streamers, and casual gamers alike. 

Best of all, Steam Deck compatibility has already been confirmed, which will make recording gameplay on the portable platform dramatically easier than the somewhat janky setup required before.

Some of the key features include background and on-demand recording, letting you decide whether you want a manual start and stop button to decide what gets recorded or whether you'd rather have everything automatically recorded and stored to be browsed as needed. You'll find replay and clip tools in the UI alongside a one-click share feature that lets you send clips to friends in chat or online through social media.

Steam's recording tool is available in beta now, so if you want to check it out you'll want to head to your Steam settings, navigate to Interface and Beta Participation, and then pick one of the Beta options. Once you're signed up there, head to Settings again, then to Game Recording, and from there you can pick either Background or On Demand recording to get started.

Steam is usually ahead of the pack when it comes to new features, so I'm hopeful this will have a ripple effect on other PC launchers, many of which have their own exclusive games you just can't get on Steam. At the end of the day, it's a non-critical feature, but one that will no doubt be seriously appreciated now and over time as it hopefully becomes the new norm for PC gaming.

And with that, many of the best PC games just got even better.

That figure, a daily average for controller usage across Steam users, was just 5% as recently as 2018. Valve says that around 42% of controller players go directly through Steam Input – which seems surprisingly low to me given how convenient it is compared to third-party tools, but another figure may explain some of this – and the controller makeup itself is equally interesting. 

Valve notes that 59% of Steam's controller players are using Xbox controllers, though it doesn't specify which generation of Xbox. The old trusty Xbox 360 model is so timeless, cheap, and easy to use (at least on Windows, where it's very plug-and-play) that I'd wager it represents a significant portion, but the Xbox Series X|S line also feels incredible in your hands. "We shipped a driver for Windows allowing us to better support Xbox One controllers, including the rear buttons on the Xbox Elite Controllers," Valve adds, laying out some of the ways it's enhanced controller play over the years.  

PlayStation comes in at 26% of users, with Valve's own Steam Deck, counted as a controller for these purposes, at 10%. "We worked with Sony to improve support for PS controllers including DualSense Edge, and can now automatically support future 3rd party licensed PlayStation gamepads," Valve says. 

The remaining 5%, I assume, consists of controllers of various other brands, from third parties to Nintendo. People are sleeping on the Nintendo Switch Pro controller, I'm telling you. As Valve says, Steam Input supports over 300 controllers, now including the Japanese HORIPAD made specifically for Steam. We've even got proper button prompts for most controllers across most games, so you don't need to memorize four different X button positions anymore. What a time to be alive. 

Steam Summer Sale hasn't even started yet, but its new "Deep Discounts" category boasts 95% off reductions and has my wallet quaking.

While I don't really think of myself as someone that particularly enjoys puzzle games more than the next person, it has become increasingly clear that there is a very specific kind of puzzle game that really speaks to me and captures my attention. Any puzzle that plays with my perception of space or time or significantly shifts my viewpoint to arrive at its solution immediately stimulates the small places in my brain that still generate dopamine.

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure does exactly this sort of thing. The core gameplay loop is fairly simple, at least at first: when you move the protagonist, Jemma, the world moves with her. If you move up, the vertical tiles in that column shift up one, wrapping back around to the edge of whatever map on the bottom. If you move left, then the horizontal tiles in that row shift, and so on. It's a bit like a repeating, digital Rubik's Cube laid out on a flat surface.

A different kind of RPG

"How can we make a puzzle game that presents itself like an adventure game and has a lot of the touchstones of adventure and RPG?" says Nick Suttner, Furniture & Mattress co-founder and writer for Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. He points to Hellman's fondness for Nintendo's Zelda franchise as a big point of discussion.

"We talked about what we do or don't like about [it]," continues Suttner, "'cause Zelda has like an adventure and big interconnected world, and how can we bring some of the vocabulary from an adventure game into a puzzle game, yet make puzzling the way that you interact with the world and through the spaces and fight monsters and do everything."

The game's movement and exploration quickly becomes complicated by, for example, objects that don't actually move tiles or maps that require some clever shifting to wrap around to a different area. I more than once had to simply stop and eyeball everything on the screen for a minute or two before moving forward, and even then there were several instances where I just… had to move about a bunch in a haphazard fashion before getting a proper solution.

Not that I think that's Arranger's fault by any means; circumstances of playing demos at any event (Game Developers Conference, in this instance) mean any significant amount of patience is lacking. And whenever I stumbled into the correct combination of movements rather than some kind of preordained plan, it was immediately apparent why that had worked and what I could have done to get there naturally, and I'm sure the currently available Steam demo would likely feel even better by comparison.

Artful movement

One aspect of Arranger that I found absolutely nothing but joy in is its art, which leans on Hellman's comic background. While many of the interactive objects and characters have natural limitations – they have to fit on a little square and move around – everything outside of the boards, so to speak, is also a playground for bright colors, deep shadows, and layered illustrations.

"Because the gameplay is all on a grid, and it's very straightforwardly confined to the grid and this quantized movement, the art can diverge a lot more and be very free," says Hellman. "So there's different kinds of illustrations and viewpoints incorporated, because the world doesn't have to be organized in a traditional way."

And it does feel like if there were one single word to describe Arranger, it'd be "nontraditional" in all aspects. Though I've only played a small amount of it thus far, it seems all the better for it. But you don't have to take my word for it; the Steam demo's right there for you to devour yourself.

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure is set to release for PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and mobile via Netflix on July 25, 2024. If that isn't your cup of tea, there is almost certainly something that will speak to you on our giant list of upcoming video game release dates.

Paul Hart, one of the creators of Cryptmaster, recently shared a screenshot of a Steam review which was filed by the user as negative despite praising the game. "This game is amazing, but it has a VERY niche target auditory," reads the review. "I put 'not recommend' review mainly so that whiners and haters know what they are getting into. Also, because 1 negative review won't change the ranking of the game."

Well, the user is technically correct. Cryptmaster still boasts 'Overwhelmingly Positive' Steam reviews, but Hart shared the insight that this single Steam review actually did drop the percentage of positive reviews down to 95%. It's since jumped back up to 97% at the time of writing, likely in part due to the reaction to Hart's tweet, but at the time the tweet was sent out, that one review was almost enough to lower the game's Steam ranking from 'Overwhelmingly Positive' to 'Very Positive'.

"Charming sentiment but rather amusingly this review did in fact drop us to 95%, so almost out of Overwhelmingly Positive. Unless you have a game which sells a LOT of copies, which unfortunately we don't, one review certainly can make a difference..."

Hart definitely has a point. The weirdness of leaving a bad review for a game you enjoy aside, something like this can have an appreciable impact on the success of a game whose developers are financially reliant on. Cryptmaster has garnered less than 1,000 reviews in the six weeks since its launch, and when you compare that to something like the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, which already has more than 50,000 Steam reviews just days from launch, it's easy to see how a single review carries so much weight on a more niche title.

Here's just some of the upcoming indie games we have on our radar.

Some nice Boon changes are right at the top of the lengthy patch notes. Several Duo and Legendary Boons will appear more frequently, Gathering Tool upgrades will net you Elemental Essence for your Infusion Boons, and you'll find "slightly" more Boons and similar rewards past Erebus. 

Among the weapon changes, the Sister Blades are the big winner in my book. For starters, "you now are immune to hit-stun effects during Riposte," and better still, a notorious bug causing this weapon's parry effect to whiff after choosing a Boon has been fixed. 

Here's a big one for all players: "Rearranged Grasp costs and positions of several Cards; you may need to reset your Arcana loadout." So when you boot up Hades 2 after downloading this update, give your Arcana table a close look. Arcana changes include:

• Death: reworked; Omega moves have a chance to deal Critical damage if the last one used was different
• The Moon: now costs 0 Grasp but has an Awakening requirement to activate any surrounding Card
• The Unseen: improved Magick restoration
• Divinity: Awakening requirement expanded to include activating a column of Cards (not just a row)
• Origination: now specifies that Curses from different Olympians are required; this is relevant with Demeter, whose Cyclone now is considered a Curse (along with her Freeze)

Back at the Crossroads Cauldron, you'll find several new upgrades, including one that I've personally been clamoring for since launch. Here's that full list as well: 

• Temporal Fluctuation: new! Lets time-slow effects such as Phase Shift (Selene) work vs. Chronos
• Circles of the Moon: new! Activating Warding Circles in Erebus fully charges your Hex
• Ashen Memories of Life: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Ash, slightly raise your Life limit
• Psychic Slivers of Clarity: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Psyche, slightly raise your Magick limit
• Bones of Burnished Bronze: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Bones, gain some Armor
• Nectar of Godly Savor: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Nectar, gain +1 Lv. for a random Boon

The patch is rounded out by dozens and dozens of Boon changes, which seem to be almost entirely buffs or outright replacements. Multiple Hexes of Selene have been buffed, too, with basically all of them getting their Magick-spend requirements slashed. 

There are plenty of bug fixes as well, naturally, plus updated UI icons for some extra-in-progress parts of the in-progress game. Hades 2 was already in a strong state, and this patch brings another few passes of polish. I reckon it'll be just fine to simmer a bit more gently until Supergiant breaks out the big guns for new content. 

Hades 2's first "Major Update" is months out, but in May Supergiant gave the roguelike's community a project: "If you play the game deeply enough, you'll find clues."

GTA Online Police Uniforms - Prison Guard

The Prison Guard outfits are the only official law enforcement clothing you can access legitimately in GTA Online, and you may already have them unlocked if you've completed the Prison Guard strand of the Vault Keycards prep mission for the Diamond Casino Heist. To purchase them once unlocked, head to a clothing store then interact at the counter to browse outfits and select Outfits: Diamond Casino Heist > Prison Guards.

GTA Online Police Uniforms - IAA Agent

For a more upmarket law enforcement look, it's possible to glitch access to the IAA Agent outfits. You can do this by following the process below:

• Visit the U.L. Paper marker in Pillbox Hill, or access via your phone if you've already completed the Operation Paper Trail missions, and initiate any mission.
• Select the IAA Agent outfit you want to access then start the mission.
• Open the Interaction Menu then select Appearance and scroll down to Illuminated Clothing, then keep tapping right on the d-pad to cycle through the options for at least 30 seconds.
• Now do nothing for 15 minutes until you're kicked for inactivity.
• Wait a few seconds on the kick screen, then follow the prompt to return to GTA Online and you should spawn wearing the IAA Agent outfit.
• Head to any clothing shop, interact at the counter then follow the Edit Saved Outfits prompt and you can save the IAA Agent outfit to a slot, then access it again at any point from a shop or your wardrobe.

GTA Online Police Uniforms - Police and NOOSE Tactical

For a more intense approach to law enforcement attire, you can also glitch access to the Police and NOOSE Tactical outfits. This process requires working with another player if you want the NOOSE Tactical outfit, though you may be able to secure the Police Tactical outfit if a random player jumps into the match with you. Here's how to do it:

• Bookmark the NOOSE/POLICE Job via the Rockstar Social Club, then quit and reload GTA Online if you're already in it.
• Open your Bookmarked Jobs through the Online menu and select the NOOSE/POLICE Job to host it, or get another player to do that and invite you.
• The Host will get the Police Tactical outfit, while the second player gets the NOOSE Tactical outfit, so decide with the other player who will get what.
• If you don't have another player to work with, use Auto-Invite Matchmaking to try and bring in a random player so you can start the Job.
• When the Job begins you'll switch to the Police or NOOSE Tactical outfit, then open the Interaction Menu > Appearance > Accessories and select a pair of Glasses to wear.
• Now open your phone, select Job List in middle then follow the trash prompt (Square on PlayStation, X on Xbox) to quit, and you'll respawn in free mode with the Police or NOOSE Tactical outfit on.
• As before, go to a clothing shop and interact at the counter, then follow the Edit Saved Outfits prompt and you can save the Police or NOOSE Tactical outfit to a slot for future access from a shop or your wardrobe.

GTA Online Police Uniforms - Cop Outfit

The most sought-after Police Uniform in GTA Online is the Cop outfit, representing the iconic dark blue police uniform and badge look. Unfortunately this outfit has been blacklisted by Rockstar, so although it's possible to glitch access to it you can't save it like the other outfits listed here and you'll lose it at the end of your session. You definitely need a second player to help you get this, and here's how it works:

• Get another player to bookmark the Cops 'n' Crooks I Job via the Rockstar Social Club, then quit and reload GTA Online so it's visible.
• Have that player open their Bookmarked Jobs through the Online menu and select the Cops 'n' Crooks I Job to host it, then send you an invite.
• As the joining player you'll be assigned the Hunters team, and when the Job begins you'll switch to the Cop outfit.
• Open the Interaction Menu > Appearance > Accessories and select a pair of Glasses to wear.
• Now open your phone, select Job List in middle then follow the trash prompt (Square on PlayStation, X on Xbox) to quit, and you'll respawn in free mode wearing the Cop outfit.
• You can use the Cop outfit for the rest of the session and customize it at clothing shops, however you won't be able to save it as it will disappear then you leave the session, so if you want to get it again you'll need to repeat the above process.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

The Fextralife wiki shows exact numbers on how the Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Fragments affect your damage and defense in the DLC. Before the patch, the first blessing level would give you 1.05x damage dealt and 0.952 damage received, roughly a five percent buff on both stats. The progression from there was pretty linear - a full 20 blessing levels would get you to double damage dealt and half damage received.

Since the patch, things have changed slightly. At max blessing level, you now deal 2.05x damage and take 0.487x damage. That's a roughly 2.5% buff to both stats, which is nice, but not exactly earth-shattering. The big change is that earlier blessing levels are now more powerful, which weights the progression curve to give players a slightly easier time earlier in the DLC.

For me, the difference seemed pretty extreme. I spent about two hours trying to figure out how to beat Rellana in Shadow of the Erdtree last night, and never managed to get her below 25% health. This morning, after the update dropped, I took another shot and beat her in about 10 minutes, and on the winning effort I'd even forgotten to hit the helpful NPC summon on the way in.

I thought it was all thanks to the new buff, but I was at blessing level four and apparently that means I got an additional 8.3% buff to damage and a 7.6% buff to defense. That doesn't seem like quite enough to make up for the deficit I faced against Rellana. Does that mean these buffs are better than they look? Am I bad at judging the value of stat increases? Or was the real help the good night's sleep and cup of coffee I got in the meantime? These questions are sure to haunt me as I get deeper into the Realm of Shadow.

Good news, Tarnished: Your Scadutree Fragments carry over in the Elden Ring DLC, so you won't start back at square one as New Game Plus gets harder.