IGN

Sabrina Carpenter has joined the ranks in Fortnite, and she’s bringing peace and love to the battle royale.

Developer Epic Games reported “dance-related stalemates are on the rise” as players sporting the Sabrina skin are putting away their weapons and getting jiggy with it instead.

“[Battle Royale] is all vibes now,” the developer teased on X/Twitter.

dance-related stalemates are on the rise since @SabrinaAnnLynn arrived in Fortnite. 😉 BR is all vibes now https://t.co/j4SRjIbCSG

— Fortnite (@Fortnite) April 8, 2025

“So, I was playing a game of Fornite ZB Reload and I saw two Sabrina skins just hanging,” explained one fan on the Fortnite subreddit.

“They crouched and uncrouched and I stopped shooting, and well, before we knew [it], us three became, like, nine players who stopped fighting and only danced around.

“Truly the most wholesome thing I’ve seen in a video game,” they added.

“This right here is why I love Fortnite,” added a commenter. “Out of all the online games I’ve played, the fact that this game has silly emotes and a rotating character pool that the community gets into makes for unique moments like this, that I’ve never seen in any other game.

“Imagine doing this in PUBG, or Tarkov.”

Sabrina Carpenter in Fortnite is so peak man😭 pic.twitter.com/JnJFuIg6tf

— Finzy (@Finzy) April 8, 2025

Sabrina Carpenter dropped into Fortnite as the Season 8 Icon of Fortnite Festival. As part of the Season 8 Music Pass, players can unlock the Sabrina Carpenter Outfit, themed cosmetics, and Jam Tracks like “Juno” and “Nonsense.” Sabrina Carpenter-themed items are also available on the Item Shop, including the “A Sweet Little Bundle” packed with items for fans to enjoy.

Did you catch the news that Fortnite is getting a special Nintendo Switch 2 port? Epic Games’ trend-setting battle royale showed up during a sizzle reel during last week’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct to confirm that a new version is in development. It’ll launch with Nintendo’s new hybrid console this June.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet – Surging Sparks Booster Bundle is back in stock at Amazon for $45.02, offering a rare discount on a high-demand set. That’s still above the official MSRP of $26.94 — but compared to the inflated prices on secondary markets, this is the best mainstream option available right now, especially since it ships directly from Amazon (not a third-party seller). The bundle includes six booster packs from the latest Surging Sparks expansion, which has been tough to keep on digital shelves thanks to new chase cards and high collector demand. If you’re building out your set or just looking for a reliable sealed product drop, this is one of the most secure ways to snag it without overpaying.

Pokémon TCG Surging Sparks Booster Bundle Discounted

Meanwhile, INIU’s 140W Power Bank is on sale for $74.56 — a solid 25% off its usual $99.99 price. Designed for power users, this 27,000mAh beast can fast-charge everything from a MacBook Pro to an iPhone 15 Pro Max, thanks to its PD 3.1 140W USB-C output and smart digital display. It also features three total ports, letting you charge multiple devices at once, and its compact, airline-approved design makes it ideal for remote work, travel, or gaming on the go. Backed by a three-year warranty and lifetime tech support, this is a reliable investment for anyone tired of running on 5% battery.

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Pokémon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box

Helldivers 2’s runaway success continues. It’s just won two BAFTA Game Awards: one for Best Multiplayer, another for Best Music. That’s from five nominations. The BAFTA wins bring to an end a fruitful video game awards season, drawing a line under what has been a remarkable year for Swedish developer Arrowhead.

Helldivers 2 accepts the win for Multiplayer at the #BAFTAGamesAwards ✨ pic.twitter.com/rYWwyc1KGR

— BAFTA Games (@BAFTAGames) April 8, 2025

Let’s remember, Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, with an astonishing 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks. It is a record no first-party Sony-developed game will likely ever beat. But so much has happened since that initial explosive release: a dramatic U-turn on PSN account requirements on Steam, review-bomb campaigns, and a community often at war with Helldivers 2 itself as nerfs and buffs either went too far or not far enough.

Through it all, Arrowhead has struggled to cope with a bigger, more mainstream playerbase than it’s ever had to contend with. But now, 14 months after Helldivers 2 hit PC and PlayStation 5, how does Arrowhead reflect on what’s gone before? Has it finally started to get to grips with the brutal, unforgiving world of live-service? And after that Killzone collaboration, could Warhammer 40,000 be next?

IGN sat down with Alex Bolle, production director on Helldivers 2, to find out more.

IGN: Congratulations on all the awards! When you were in the thick of development and things weren’t perhaps going as well as they might have otherwise been, did you ever imagine that a year after the game came out it would be considered one of the best games of 2024 and win all these awards?

Alex Bolle: No, no, definitely not. It’s a very humbling experience. I would say a year ago exactly, we had a hint that it would be a sweet year for us, but we were also in the thick of it. We were still fixing a lot of things, preparing our next big release for the content. So no, definitely not realizing we would get there.

Last time we spoke, we were preparing Omens of Tyranny. Even then we are like, okay, we have The Game Awards. We were preparing the whole shadow drop and everything. We were ready to make that shadow drop and be like, okay, this one is going to be fun. The awards part, maybe not that much.

I was next to my release manager trying to monitor the progress of Omens of Tyranny and the whole major order with the Illuminate. And I turned my head towards the TV at the office, it was like 2am. And I see Mikael Eriksson, the game director, just shaking hands with Snoop Dogg. And I’m like, what is going on here? Which reality are we?

So yeah, it’s been good. The Golden Joysticks, DICE, all those awards, it’s a good way to take a step back and look at the impact of the game. We’re nearing the end of the awards season and this one feels really good, because the credibility and the fame of it is just amazing. So yeah, it’s great. It’s going to be a good addition for the team, I hope.

IGN: It’s been over a year since the game came out, so people have had time now to reflect upon its release and its impact. Have you come to understand why it’s won so many awards, why it’s done so well? Why it’s resonated so much with gamers? Have you worked out why Helldivers 2 has ended up being the success it has been?

Alex Bolle: I wish the interview was two hours! It’s a whole soup recipe, or maybe more like a very sophisticated French dish. I don’t think we figured it out. One thing we keep at heart is just the interaction with the community. All the players, taking the time to really talk to them, understand what they want. We have so many devs that are continuously looking at Discord, at Reddit. We have a lot of things that come from there and we want to keep that interaction level.

That has been the thing that we thought, okay, when we prepare the fantasy for the next updates and so on, this is the part that we want to keep. We were talking about the future of the game with Mikael and it was all about that. What is it that the player wants? What is it that we are not achieving yet? What’s next? And this is always like, players in mind. It’s what works well. It’s the ability to talk to them, ability to make that kind of fantasy in the game around the Galactic War.

Last week with Pöpli IX, it’s been a year and we still manage to get those moments in-game. I think it’s important. These are needed. I was talking to our Game Master this morning, it feels good to have that. It’s one of the things we’ll cherish until we don’t make the game, but so far it’s working well.

IGN: You’ve spoken as a team before about the impact Helldivers 2 had on you as a studio, and it was a big shock to the system. Do you feel like now you’re starting to get a handle on what Helldivers 2 is, what the audience is, and settling into a sustainable, healthy way of keeping it going as a live service? Especially after having that influx of players that you weren’t perhaps expecting and the type of players that were different than what you were expecting?

Alex Bolle: We’re still trying to figure out the good recipe for a healthy cadence for the developers, for the players as well. Who do we cater to as well? It’s been super interesting. I’ve been at Arrowhead for a bit more than three years now, coming from bigger studios and yeah, there’s a lot of things that we had to go back to square one, on how it works at Arrowhead.

Johan Pilestedt, as one of our founders and the lead of the studio for so long, has been key in setting a development culture that we try to keep at heart while maintaining that live service aspect. This has been catching lightning in a bottle.

And I feel like every week is taking learnings again from the different wins and failures that we had along the way. Also from other developers. I think it’s been one of the good advantages that we had, is that success also allows us to talk way more openly with all the devs. It’s been very good on that side. It’s sharing ways to do it, better ways, more sustainable.

On who do we make the game for? That’s a tricky one. Arrowhead’s motto has always been ‘a game for everyone is a game for no one.’ When you add this amount of players, no one and everyone is a bit muddy. So it’s always a bit of a puzzle of like, okay, this content is for these type of players, this content is for this type of player. And this is where we are still working very hard with PlayStation, with the team internally to understand, hey, when you want to make this enemy, who do you have in mind?

I think it’s a very fingertip sensitivity that we are getting slowly. I think there’s a lot of work within direction as well to remind us who we were making the game for at the very, very, very beginning, because we have a lot of the old guard of Arrowhead still around to help us figure this out. We have one of the features upcoming that we’ve been developing with one of our old-time founders for example, and it’s been so good because he brings that magical angle on the co-op.

IGN: The internet loves to talk about Steam concurrents, but I would like to get your take as someone who knows the data. Do you think Steam concurrents are misleading? Do they give some insight into the success or otherwise of a live service game? Obviously you had a huge peak, but it is unreasonable to expect that to maintain itself forever, and Helldivers 2 seems to have settled on Steam. From your perspective, how do you view that?

Alex Bolle: I am far from being the expert of the studio on this. I do see sometimes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you talk about it, the more you show it, the more people are like, wow, interesting, it’s going up.

It’s a metric among many others. There’s many reasons for a game’s success or failure. I think we’ve been doing good numbers, like breaking some trends and everything. On our side, the only thing I can say is that, yeah, we want to keep that steady floor of players and bringing people again for new memorable moments for the game and for the community. So I would say that’s pretty much where we want to go. Do we have screens all around the studio with CCU [concurrent users] and all those metrics? Of course, because it’s always good to keep them in mind. But we’re not obsessed by it. I think we are in a position we don’t have to be, but we want to make sure, hey, when we make something, it’s meaningful. That’s the thing.

IGN: Whatever happens, you’ll probably forever now be the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time. I can’t see a game ever really topping that. As a studio, does that mean you can be a bit more relaxed about what you’re doing with Helldivers 2?

Alex Bolle: Yes and no. Yes, in a way, especially in these days for the industry, it feels like such a privileged situation. That is amazing. I think we are cherishing that a lot. At the same time, we don’t want to take this for granted. There’s a studio, we have developers to pay. We have a studio life to keep on for years and years and years. So that’s the thing where we’re like, yeah, it’s been good. We need to make sure it keeps going great.

There’s also an accountability for, again, the people we make the game for. We’re not going to just start to be like, okay, it’s fine. It’s going to be fine. We can take a bit more time. We want to take more time to make things better, especially now that the players are asking for it. But yeah, there’s definitely an ambition to keep things going, keep our standards of development, keep finding creativity and innovation. If we just became complacent, I don’t think Arrowhead would be Arrowhead.

IGN: Do you think it’s reasonable for a game like Helldivers 2 to have a multi-year plan that envisages the game being around for a decade? For me, Helldivers 2’s gameplay feels almost timeless, so it could become a forever game. Or will there come a point where you have to think about what’s next when it comes to Helldivers itself?

Alex Bolle: Thank you for acknowledging that the game might not age at all! I love when you boot a game after 15, 20 years and it still plays the same.

IGN: Helldivers 2 has that about it doesn’t it? It‘s about the things that happen in the game and the physics at play and the feel of it, as opposed to it being future-proofed in terms of visuals, for example.

Alex Bolle: Absolutely. When I talk with the team, when I talk to the directors, when I talk to Mikael about the future, it’s exciting because we want it to be around for years and years and years to come. And it’s almost like, how do we stay true to the Helldivers 2 fantasy, challenging enough that we keep making amazing new features and new systems and all that while we stay true to who we are? And I think it’s something that is so motivating for the years to come.

The more we figure out how to thrive in a live environment, and we still have a way to go to figure out a lot of things around that, the more we can let creativity loose on new systems that we would’ve never thought about a year ago when we released. I’ve worked on live games before and it’s where you feel like you have something you can figure out: what if I would do this cool thing I’ve seen in other games and adapt it to our sauce, that still makes it true to ourselves? I’m looking forward to this moment.

IGN: You’ve done a Killzone collab. I’m a massive Warhammer 40,000 fan, and as soon as I started playing Helldivers 2 I thought, oh my God, if I was an Imperial Guard soldier dropping down, facing off against waves of Tyranids or Necrons… can you give me any hope as a fan of both Helldivers 2 and Warhammer 40,000 that this is even possible?

Alex Bolle: What I can say is that we had a blast working on the collaboration with Guerrilla on Killzone. One thing that everyone agreed internally is that making something from a different game IP in our universe, this is quite fun. It has challenges because again, we are very, very cautious about our fantasy. So we want to be able to explore those possibilities. We got super excited with Killzone. We want to do more for sure. I can’t tell you more.

Our devs are players, they play so many games. Obviously Warhammer 40,000 is something that a lot of guys internally love to death. So the devs are discussing, the devs are proposing stuff, and the hype is building. So these are discussions internally that we are having. Warhammer 40,000, I can’t really tell you. Maybe. Who knows? We’ll see!

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

This past week has marked a flurry of Switch 2 preorder activity in the UK. Amazon UK recently opened its preorders to all, moving away from its invite-only system, but the console has since sold out, with more preorders expected between now and release on June 5. Argos also launched a new wave of preorders on April 8, offering the Switch 2 console, Mario Kart World Bundle, alongside games and accessories.

But, for now, the Switch 2 console and bundle are unavailable for preorder at Argos and every other major retailer in the UK, although games and accessories are still in stock. We’re still expecting more restocks soon, so for the latest information on Switch 2 UK preorders and any new product releases, bookmark this page for updates, and follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X or Bluesky for the latest news.

Nintendo Switch 2 UK Preorders

Meanwhile, Nintendo’s official UK preorders also began yesterday. But, the intense demand for Switch 2 preorders wasn’t confined to Amazon and Argos yesterday. Official UK preorders also went live at retailers such as EE, GAME, and Smyths, quickly resulting in the same rapid sell-out situation.

This widespread lack of availability has unfortunately paved the way for scalpers to emerge on eBay, offering consoles at inflated prices. Consequently, while Amazon and Argos were central to yesterday’s preorder activity, the Switch 2 console is currently out of stock at both.

How to Increase Your Chance of Getting a Nintendo Switch 2

Given the high demand and limited initial stock for the Nintendo Switch 2, securing a preorder often comes down to speed and vigilance. Retailers are likely to release stock in waves, and staying informed of these drops is crucial. To maximize your chances of successfully preordering, we strongly recommend taking the following proactive steps:

• ✅ Follow IGN UK Deals on Twitter/X
• ✅ Follow IGN UK Deals on Bluesky
• ✅ Bookmark the live preorder guide
• ✅ Bookmark the Amazon listing
• ✅ Bookmark the Argos listing
• ✅ Register interest at Currys

Nintendo Switch 2 UK Game Preorders

Argos is now offering preorders for Switch 2 games, including titles such as Mario Kart World at £74.99 and Donkey Kong Bananza at £64.99. Also available are Switch 2 Edition releases, which include updated versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom for £64.99 as well.

While digital versions of some titles, such as Donkey Kong Bananza at £58.99, may offer a lower price point, these physical preorders at Argos currently represent some of the most competitive prices available for physical copies.

Nintendo Switch 2 UK Accessory Preorders

Beyond securing your console and games, preparing for the full Switch 2 experience includes essential accessories, and retailers have now begun offering preorders. Among these are the innovative Switch 2 Camera, priced at £49.99, promising new ways to interact with your games and connect with others.

The ergonomic Switch 2 Pro Controller is also available for preorder at £74.99, offering enhanced control and comfort for extended play sessions. Additionally, protecting your new screen is paramount, and a Switch 2 Screen Protector can be preordered at Amazon for £3.99 when using the promotional code AQDWCMHS at checkout – a small investment for long-term peace of mind.

Switch 2 Preorder FAQs

The UK’s initial wave of Switch 2 console preorders has concluded for now. However, we anticipate further availability between now and the official launch on June 5th, 2025. In the meantime, here are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding Amazon UK preorders:

Q: Will there be more Switch 2 console preorders?
A: More Switch 2 console preorders are expected between now and the June 5th launch date. Stay tuned for updates.

Q: Why is Amazon quoting a June 7th delivery date?
A: Amazon is currently showing a June 7th delivery date for UK orders, which differs from the intended June 5th release day. This is a common automated error within Amazon’s system for estimating delivery times. Based on past experience with game preorders, it is likely that these orders will still arrive on the intended release date of June 5th. Amazon support has also indicated that June 5th remains the launch day delivery plan.

Q: When will Amazon charge me for my Switch 2 preorder?
A: Amazon will not take any payment until the item is dispatched for delivery. If you successfully preordered a Nintendo Switch 2, you will only be charged when your console is on its way to you. This differs from retailers like GAME, John Lewis, and Argos, who typically charge immediately upon placing the preorder.

Q: What are Amazon’s delivery costs?
A: Amazon offers free delivery on purchases over £34.99. In comparison, other retailers like GAME charge £4.99 for delivery, and Argos has a delivery fee of £3.95.

Q: Can Amazon UK ship the Switch 2 to the US?
A: While there have been conflicting reports and some users may have attempted to preorder from the UK for US shipping, it is generally understood that Amazon may complete some of these purchases initially but will ultimately cancel preorders intended for shipment to the United States.

Switch 2 US Preorders Delayed, Will This Affect The UK?

In a surprise move, Nintendo has delayed the start of Switch 2 preorders in the United States, just days before they were set to go live. The decision comes in response to ongoing tariff concerns and what the company described as “evolving market conditions”—a direct reference to the revived threat of Trump-era import duties on electronics.

For now, the preorder freeze applies exclusively to the US market, and UK preorders remain on track, with no changes to pricing or availability. Preorders were originally scheduled to begin on April 9 in the US, but Nintendo has now put them on hold indefinitely. While no new date has been provided, the company has reassured fans that the Switch 2’s global release date—June 5, 2025—also remains unchanged.

The official statement Nintendo shared with IGN: “Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.”

35% Off Nintendo Switch Online Memberships

GameCube games coming exclusively to the Switch 2’s exclusive online library is one of the best features of the new console. To make those membership costs just that little bit easier, UK retailer ShopTo has NSO at 35% off right now, and there’s an extra 5% when you use code SPRING at checkout.

While some Nintendo Classics catalogues are unlocked with the base online subscription, you’ll also need the Expansion Pack to play GameCube titles on Nintendo Switch 2. What’s more, while you can subscribe to a monthly model for just Nintendo Switch Online, the Expansion Pack is only available on the 12-month plan, so make a note when purchasing.

Astro Bot has once again won big at an awards show, this time securing five gongs at the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards, including Best Design, Best Family Game, and Best Game.

The BAFTA Games Awards — the UK’s independent arts charity celebrating excellence in games — took place overnight on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in London, UK. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Astro Bot, and Still Wakes the Deep led the charge with 11, eight, and eight nominations, respectively. Thank Goodness You’re Here! also received seven nominations, Black Myth: Wukong six, and Helldivers 2 was up for five awards.

And the winner of Best Game is…

ASTRO BOT🎮@TeamAsobi pic.twitter.com/fOsI1iGyPP

— BAFTA Games (@BAFTAGames) April 8, 2025

Accepting the award, Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet paid tribute to the game developers of the past, who paved the way for Sony-owned Team Asobi and other current studios to find success in the modern era.

Whilst Astro Bot was the night’s most-crowned game, The Chinese Room’s impressive Still Wakes the Deep secured three wins — including both performer awards — and Helldivers 2 won two BAFTAs.

Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Balatro, and Metaphor: Refantazio were also among the winners.

BAFTA Game Awards 2025 winners:

• Best Animation: Astro Bot
• Artistic Achievement: Neva
• Audio Achievement: Astro Bot
• Best Game: Astro Bot
• Best British Game: Thank Goodness You’re Here!
• Best Debut Game: Balatro
• Best Evolving Game: Vampire Survivors
• Best Family Game: Astro Bot
• Fellowship: Yoko Shimomura
• Game Beyond Entertainment: Tales of Kenzera: Zau
• Best Game Design: Astro Bot
• Best Multiplayer: Helldivers 2
• Best Music: Helldivers 2
• Best Narrative: Metaphor: Refantazio
• Best New Intellectual Property: Still Wakes the Deep
• Best Performer in a Leading Role: Alex Newman (Still Wakes the Deep)
• Best Performer in a Supporting Role: Karen Dunbar (Still Wakes the Deep)
• Best Technical Achievement: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

2024 BAFTA Game Awards winners included Baldur’s Gate 3, which secured five wins, including Best Game, with other wins for Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Viewfinder.

BAFTA recently revealed that the most influential video game of all time, according to the public, is Shenmue, which left the internet somewhat puzzled.

BAFTA polled the public to discover that while games like GTA, Tetris, World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Doom, and Half-Life 2 did make the list, the top as ranked by the number of votes received was Sega’s 1999 action-adventure game.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Earlier this week, we reported that the Korean Nintendo website had accidentally revealed an announced character coming to Donkey Kong Bananza (spoilers!), and now the website has confirmed an iconic track is making a return for Mario Kart World.

Warning! Potential Mario Kart World spoilers follow:

As with the Donkey Kong snafu, the guilty images were removed speedily from the official website, but not before someone snapped them and posted them to Reddit, of course.

As the images are pretty fuzzy — and there’s no accompanying text — this is essentially all we know so far. With a little cross-checking, it looks as though a hidden Rainbow Road track will sit just below Princess Peach’s Stadium on the four-way intersection in the bay area (thanks, Eurogamer), although it’s unclear if it’s a secret track or some kind of unlockable extra.

It’s also got some fans wondering if every four-way intersection could be the location of a hidden course.

On Monday, Nintendo justified Mario Kart World’s shock $80 price tag in response to controversy over the $10 hike for some Switch 2 games. IGN interviewed Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, at a recent Switch 2 preview event in New York, and asked about Nintendo’s pricing strategy (albeit ahead of Nintendo’s announcement about delaying Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S. due to the potential impact of tariffs).

“I would say it’s less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what’s the content, and what’s the value?” Trinen said at the time.

As IGN has reported, some Nintendo fans have expressed concern that they may be priced out of the next-generation if the company goes even higher than the already controversial prices for the Switch 2 and its games such as Mario Kart World due to the tariff situation.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Whether twiddling their thumbs during the decades since Commandos 3 or calmly hiding in a hedge waiting to knife a nosey Nazi in the neck on his next stroll past, if there’s one thing Commandos fans are known for it’s lurking patiently. Good things come to those who’ve waited, and Commandos: Origins fits that bill. Slow-paced, challenging, and consistently satisfying when all your plans come together, its brand of isometric stealth action is intact and has never looked better. I’ve sunk nearly 60 hours into it over the last week and a half just to see out the missions, and there are potentially dozens more hours available should I return to play through some of them again with the intention of leaving no stone unturned and no soldier unslain. The only major issue is the assortment of bugs I’ve had to become accustomed to in order to keep enjoying myself. Like a peskily placed German sniper, some of these I learnt how to avoid entirely, but there were others I just needed to find a way to neutralise.

For those of you who skipped basic training, Commandos is a classic series of real-time tactics stealth ’em ups set during the Second World War that goes all the way back to the late ’90s. Picture a crew of elite but generally crabby commandos crawling around on their bellies behind enemy lines, driven by a whole lot of mouse clicking, and you’re most of the way there. For a modern comparison, it’s a lot like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, only filmed exclusively from a drone (and without Guy Ritchie’s wit or Henry Cavill’s perfectly curled cookie duster). Or the BBC’s Rogue Heroes with 90% less swearing and 100% less AC/DC.

However, while its cheesy yet otherwise stony-faced approach may lack the outright humour of those crackling British Special Forces capers, Commandos: Origins is arguably the best version of the series’ concept to date. It’s a familiar yet modern experience for grizzled veterans, and also an intuitive and approachable one for new players who are ready to test themselves against a steadily escalating difficulty curve.

Where eagles stare

Like any great stealth game, Origins is as much a game about tactics as it is a salvo of deadly puzzles to solve. It essentially boils down to analysing every upcoming encounter, inspecting each enemy soldier’s vision cone, and finding a way to dispatch them that won’t bring the whole German army down on your squad’s heads. A large part of my time with Origins has been spent simply staring at the screen, surveying my prey like an ambush predator.

Each of the six commandos on your team has a set of unique tools and abilities. For the most part, Origins curates the characters available for each mission, tailoring the action for their skills. There are only two instances where all six soldiers will be on the same battlefield at once, which is kind of a shame because those are real highlights. That said, I probably would’ve played a huge amount of Origins exclusively using the Marine’s throwing knives and harpoon gun had I had the chance, so forcing me to expand my approach by sidelining him sometimes was probably wise and almost certainly kept things from becoming stale.

Speaking of sidelining, I actually don’t miss the inventory management of the previous games, though I feel like I wouldn’t have removed the ability to pick up and use enemy weapons for the Green Beret in particular. The argument here is that Origins is more about thoughtful stealth at all times – and less about spraying lead from scavenged MP40s at anything with a swastika on it. Thoughtful stealth, luckily, is empowered by the coolest part of Origins: Command Mode. Riffing on similar modes in the late, great Mimimi’s Desperados 3 and Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, Command Mode allows you to freeze time indefinitely and queue up individual actions for each of your commandos. Back in real time, they’ll execute those simultaneously on your say so. Nailing the timing on a set of Command Mode instructions is powerfully satisfying, whether it’s simply two crawling commandos stabbing a distracted pair of soldiers from the side, or a more complicated and elaborately choreographed ballet of harpoons, blades, and bullets.

It’s all quite a slow process to do well, but it’s a truly rewarding one when you figure out the solution to taking on what initially may seem like too many meticulously positioned soldiers to tackle. Maybe your first choice of target is impossible to kill quietly because he’s always in sight of one of his other comrades, and maybe that very squadmate is always in view of a third, and so on. But there’s fun in uncovering who should be the first domino to fall throat-first onto a Fairbairn–Sykes combat knife. Some enemies will leave their posts to investigate strange sounds, like the Sapper’s whistle or the Green Beret’s radio – or inspect the Driver’s burning packets of cigarettes. Some will only temporarily turn and face a distraction, giving you precious moments to slip by them. Experimenting with which routes and tools work best is a task that tapped into a compulsive part of my brain.

The opportunities are always there; it’s just on us to find them – and the fact that they’re not telegraphed or signposted makes every victory feel like you’ve outfoxed the developers. At one point I spotted a tiny gap in the view cones of four soldiers on a small set of stairs in the water. It allowed me to not only get behind them to wipe them out, but also to bring three other squadmates via boat to the rear of my main objective. Was that there on purpose? Probably, but maybe not. Leaving it ambiguous as to whether you’ve gone about an encounter in the precise way Claymore Game Studios surreptitiously left ajar for us – or succeeded with an unpredictable sequence of moves the dev team perhaps never saw coming – is just good design. Either way, the encouragement to explore every corner of the maps for the best opportunities is thoroughly baked in.

In large part, that’s because these levels are all exceedingly detailed dioramas, sprawling and dense, and every one feels like I’m playing a high-stakes game of toy soldiers on the kind of miniature map exhibits you might see tucked behind glass at a war museum. Missions take place all across Europe and North Africa, too, so the variety of backdrops is terrific – from snowy Scandinavia to lush, soggy fields and baking deserts.

The huge environments are also rendered entirely in three dimensions and you can enter buildings seamlessly, and the fact that I felt the need to say that should give you an idea of how long it’s been since we’ve had a proper Commandos game. You can make fine camera rotations in any compass direction, so getting the right angle to spot a gap in security is easy. That said, scrolling around too fast sometimes introduces a bit of temporary choppiness, but it’s a short-lived gripe. It’s otherwise great looking overall.

There is, unfortunately, some occasional clumsiness when navigating particularly complex, multi-storey structures. Over the course of the campaign I encountered a few enemies that appeared to be sharing a floor with me, but who were actually on a different level entirely and should’ve been hidden from view at that moment. I also had the misfortune of placing down a beartrap that became irretrievable because it wasn’t on the same platform I wanted to leave it, and being shot through a solid container that apparently wasn’t really there is never any fun. There were also occasional instances where my commands were being misinterpreted and my men were setting off to unintended areas and directly into enemy sight lines, due to an apparent disconnect between what floors are being displayed and what floor Origins thinks I’m clicking on. These aren’t major frustrations, though, and remedying them typically just required some minor zooming, or panning the camera slightly. That, or a quick reload to bring back the prematurely deceased.

Saving dyin’ privates

In the trial-and-error world of tactical games like Commandos, quick save is your friend – and Origins is no exception. The ability to pick up directly where you left off after doing something risky and/or stupid is what actually gives us the freedom to experiment with different approaches in the first place. Make no mistake, quick save well and truly saved my bacon (and quickly!) on many occasions – but, unfortunately, this essential feature also seems to provoke some of Origins’ most bothersome bugs.

For instance, loading a save you made while one of your commandos was climbing a wire – or perched high on a climbable pole – appears to leave the poor bastard marooned on an invisible level above the map, fruitlessly crawling or moonwalking into oblivion. The solution, naturally, is to simply resolve to never save while one of your men is climbing anything. That wasn’t the end of my issues, though. After another reload I noticed my Marine was no longer in his boat, but walking on water back to the marker I’d placed. This bug eventually resolved itself, but one where my Sapper simply disappeared off the map and became unselectable did not.

That kind of issue could’ve become game-breaking, but Origins – seemingly aware that it has a few technical landmines for you to step on – keeps a queue of several quick saves. For the most part, if something goes awry, there’s a strong chance you’ll have a slightly older save you can revert too. In this instance, though, I’d sadly filled all my saves without noticing my Sapper was no longer present. The only solution was restarting the mission entirely, which was over an hour lost.

One weird issue, and one I can’t tell whether it’s related to the quick saves or not, is the occasional instance of enemies falsely detecting one of your commandos in a bush they’re no longer hiding in – and getting locked in an alert state about it. They’ll subsequently circle it and blast it to hell to no avail. It wasn’t so bad because I was able to either skirt around it or totally exploit it by stabbing all the soldiers while they were busy slaughtering the unfortunate shrubbery, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to happen.

I wouldn’t necessarily call the enemies smart overall, and it would’ve been nice if they displayed a little more of the initiative we see in other modern stealth games. Instead of callously ignoring dead bodies after an alert phase resets, for instance, they might want to drag their kaput companions off to a predefined location, à la Hitman. They make up for their dim bulbs by being extremely dangerous, though – and they’re just unpredictable enough to keep you on your toes when you think you’ve got their patterns figured out. They won’t inspect the nearest hiding places in the same order after a reload, for instance, so you’d better have a backup plan – or at least make sure nobody’s climbing a telephone pole when they come looking.

Get ready to equip your wallet to your main hand for mad discounts. Some absolute ripper deals are going cheap today across all platforms. Whether you’re into slaying monsters, unravelling cosmic conspiracies, or trading blows in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, I’ve got a little something for every gamer who only wants the stuff worth stockpiling.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I’m celebrating the 27th birthday of StarCraft, the venerable RTS GOAT. It needs little introduction, so I’ll not zerg rush you with the fondest memories of the hundreds of hours I spent on it. Instead, let’s use this space to reminisce on how nuts 1998 was for Oz game launches. Half-Life, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, Tekken 3, Banjo-Kazooie, Baldur’s Gate, Pokémon Red and Blue—madness! It’s like the devs of the day heard “98” and mistook it for the review score to hit.

Aussie bdays for notable games

– StarCraft (PC) 1998. eBay

– Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) 2008. eBay

– Valkyrie Profile: CotP (DS) 2009. eBay

Contents

• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• PC Gear
• LEGO
• Headphones
• TVs

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

Kicking off on the Nintendo Switch, Monster Hunter Rise is down to just A$15, a fitting price for a game that saved Capcom’s bacon in 2021 by smashing expectations with its vertical gameplay and iconic Wirebug mechanic. Meanwhile, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (A$13) offers Studio Ghibli-esque visuals and world-building, thanks in part to the actual involvement of Ghibli alumni Yoshiyuki Momose.

• Monster Hunter Rise (-75%) – A$15
• Ni No Kuni II: P.E. (-84%) – A$13
• The Escapists: Complete (-90%) – A$2
• Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory (-44%) – A$50
• Expeditions: A MudRunner (-42%) – A$49
• Star Wars Heritage Pack (-32%) – A$77

Expiring Recent Deals

• Switch Lite Console Hyrule Ed. (-12%) – A$299
• FC 25 (-62%) – A$35
• Mortal Kombat 1 (-60%) – A$24
• Goat Simulator 3 (-24%) – A$35
• Mysims: Cozy Bundle (-35%) – A$40
• Darkest Dungeon Ii (-20%) – A$48
• Bluey: The Videogame (-35%) – A$40
• GTA Trilogy Def. (-60%) – A$32

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

Back to top

For anyone who is constantly fiddling with small electronics, Hoto is offering a nice discount on an interesting product that they just released. You can save 20% off the Hoto Snapbloq, a modular collection of precision powered tools, with a set of three tools currently selling for $209.99 after a $50 discount. That brings each set down to $69.99, and they normally retail for $99.99 apiece. Hoto is a pretty well known brand that’s popular on Amazon and even sold at Costco.

20% Off Hoto’s New SnapBloq Modular Electric Tool Kits

Anthros is a newer brand in the office chair space, having launched its first chair to the public in 2023. That same chair continues to be its flagship and now that it’s been out for a while, has managed to set itself apart in both looks and its pelvic-first design. Designed by a team of physical therapists, designers, and ergonomic experts, it builds on their experience with wheelchairs to deliver a uniquely supportive seat that’s truly designed around the mechanics of your body. It won’t be for everyone, but if you sit for long stretches and want to protect your back, and have more than a little expendable income or nice stipend from work, it’s definitely worth considering.

Anthros Chair – Design and Features

The Anthros chair is an ergonomic office chair, but it’s probably unlike any you’ve seen before. Its unique approach to ergonomics translates to a very unique look that stands out from the pack. This works to its benefit because it’s immediately eye-catching, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t look a little strange at first.

There is something a bit alien about its design. From the extra-wide seat base to the two-part backrest, the lower part long and rectangular and the top an irregular triangular polygon. It’s unlike any other chair I’ve personally encountered.

But it’s this very design that makes the Anthros chair what it is: an ergonomics-first chair designed by a team of physical therapists and clinicians that draw their experience from designing wheelchairs. It seems an odd shift at first, but not when you think about it. If you live your life in a wheelchair, even temporarily, it’s critically important that that seat be designed to properly support the patient’s body. If you’ve ever been to a physical therapist, then you already know the deep understanding that they have of the interconnections between each joint and muscle group in the body. They understand the spiraling chain of impacts that each piece has on the next. This chair is a natural outgrowth of that, a reaction to seeing other chairs on the market not address the actual mechanics of the human body in a proper way to support them over the long-term.

Put another way, if your back doctor designed a chair, it would probably look something like this.

I’m not an ergonomics expert and don’t have medical training, so I’m not equipped to evaluate the company’s conclusions about other chairs and their emphasis on lumbar support missing the mark. From my experience, I found that many of these chairs are quite comfortable, so long as they can match the contours of your back.

The crux of the Anthros chair’s design, however, is not lumbar support but pelvic support, and the company does seem to be onto something with its impact on promoting good posture.

Wide seat aside (we’ll get to that in a moment), the backrest is entirely purposeful, and its unique aesthetic is just a byproduct of what it’s attempting to accomplish. The lower piece of the backrest is not a lumbar support; it’s a pelvic support, and all you need to do is sit in the chair to feel the difference as it connects much lower on the back, right above your bottom, at about the level of the tailbone. The upper portion of the backrest supports the upper back. Together, these support a proper upright posture with the natural S-shape of the spine.

The seat cushion is also designed to support proper posture and comfort. It’s wide, plush, and highly contoured, avoiding putting any extra pressure on your legs that might result in reduced blood circulation. Below the upholstery, the cushion has two cutouts on the underside beneath your sit bones. Note that these are not on top and you can’t actually feel any portion being hollowed out. Instead, it just feels soft under your sitter and it distributes your weight more naturally without having pressure points on your pelvis. There’s also a layer of special material beneath the upholstery called CloudTex. This helps distribute pressure and increases the overall contact area, while also preventing the foam from sticking to the material.

The chair also comes with 4D armrests. They are lushly padded, similar to the seat and backrests, and can be adjusted for height, depth, angle, and width. Of the whole chair, these feel the most standard compared to the competition. The padding is very nice, and you can position them to be effective for different tasks, like typing or holding a controller.

When it comes to adjustments, I was surprised to find fewer here. Because of the way the pelvic support works, there is no need for a seat depth adjustment. You simply position your body at the proper depth and then move the support up to match. It does offer height, of course, and tilt tensioning. Unlike many other chairs, this isn’t a knob that you endlessly spin. Instead, it has defined notches, and each one makes a meaningful difference with how much resistance you feel when leaning back. It can also be locked to a 5-degree tilt to create a suspended, floating seating position – but this isn’t a chair you can really recline in.

While all of these basic features, sans armrests, are locked in, you can configure the chair in a number of ways. It comes in ShapeKnit Boucle fabric or Port Leather for an additional $99. For colors, you can choose either a black or white frame with four base colors shared between both types of upholstery: ivory, onyx, steel, and dune. If you opt for the fabric seat, you have pink as an additional option.

Interestingly, you can also choose the material that makes up the back of its two backrest supports. There are five shades of wood (yes, it’s real wood): Natural Oak, Sierra Oak, Ivory Oak, Gray Oak, and Walnut. You can also choose from four specialty designs, including Carbon Fiber, a black or white embossed circuit pattern, or a gradient black, purple, and pink. Anthros has also recently partnered with the ESL and DreamHack and has two additional options for each that should be available soon.

For the last configuration options, you can choose whether you want armrests or not (leaving them off will save you another $99), and choose between two kinds of wheel bases. You can choose a standard five-spoke base or a fixed four-spoke base. The latter option does not allow the chair to turn on a swivel. Instead, if you need to turn, you’ll have to move the whole chair. While this could clearly create some issues, it does help to ensure that you’re maintaining proper posture even as you’re turning and addressing your colleagues.

The fit and finish of the chair is overall good. It has a reassuring weight to it and is quite sturdy. The knobs all feel solid and the back and pelvic supports are firm and robust. It is made almost entirely out of plastic, however, which is a bit disappointing given its high price, though I don’t particularly have concerns about its durability and longevity. The manufacturing of the cushions and the stitchwork on the fabric is excellent, and there are no complaints.

Lastly, it should be noted that there is a small amount of assembly, but it pales in comparison to the average gaming chair. You’ll need to attach the wheelbase, which uses a slotted mechanism to make it easy to change if you’d ever like to, and slide the knobs onto the associated bars underneath the seat. The top backrest also needs to be attached, but slides into place and secures easily. The whole process can be done within ten minutes by a single person, even if they’ve never built a chair before.

Anthros Chair – Performance

Before receiving the chair, a representative from Anthros warned me that it typically takes a couple of days before most people really get used to its unique design. They were right. At first, it does feel a bit strange, but having used the chair now for around three weeks as my daily driver at work, I can say that it does indeed become comfortable and feels especially supportive in a way other chairs do not.

That isn’t to say that other chairs are necessarily worse in terms of comfort or, especially in the ergonomic office chair space that Anthros competes in, are going to leave you sore at the end of the day. I would certainly hope not given the high price they typically ask, and if you’ve read any of my other coverage, you already know that there are others that I found to be extremely comfortable. Virtually all great ergonomic chairs like the Steelcase Amia or Haworth Fern promote good posture, but it’s how the Anthros goes about it that sets it apart.

Other chairs focus on the lumbar region, typically through a long contour that presses against the whole back. The pelvic support on this chair immediately feels different and almost out of place. At first, I almost felt like it was pushing me too far forward. Because it’s so different, it’s critically important that you set it up correctly or else you’re likely to throw off your posture instead of helping it. The company offers free setup consultations after purchase for exactly this reason.

Getting it set up for the first time is different than with a conventional chair. Many ergonomic office chairs give you the ability to control seat depth and adjust lumbar support up/down and in/out. Here, you need to sit at the right depth first (about two fingers of space between the seat and your knee), then adjust the pelvic support outward to match your position. Then, sitting upright, you adjust the top cushion to match that depth. After all of this, you can adjust the recline tension so that it feels completely natural.

With all of this done, you should be able to sit back and rest into the cushions while still being in a proper upright posture with support for your key pressure points. It’s not complicated, but it’s also not the same process as with other chairs, and because of its approach to supporting your body, it’s arguably even more important to get right.

At first, it honestly felt a bit strange. After testing so many chairs, everything ranging from gaming chairs to high-end office seating, I’ve gotten used to the ability to lean back and slouch without even realizing I’m doing it. This chair doesn’t let you do that. You are in an upright position with your spine in proper alignment all of the time you’re leaning back.

After a couple of days of adjustment, however, I’m surprised at how much more comfortable it feels to sit in it. It was never uncomfortable per se, but that strangeness fades. Once it did, I started to notice how soft yet supportive the cushions were. The ability to lean back provides that more relaxed seating experience I initially craved, but without sacrificing my posture in the process.

The seat cushion may just be the best I’ve ever sat in. It’s thick and tapers down as it approaches the back. Even though you can’t feel the cutouts themselves, you can feel that weight distribution. It’s as if the seat nestles you into its center and cradles you there.

The armrests are slightly less impressive. They’re soft and are comfortable to lean on (though I find I do this less in the Anthros because of how it enables good posture). I also like that I can adjust them far enough down to where they are almost completely out of the way. I’m able to play guitar in this chair with the armrests depressed, which isn’t something I can say about most ergo chairs, where the armrests get in the way of the guitar body. At the same time, I would prefer if they were able to raise a little bit higher and move a little farther forward. I always felt like they were a touch too far back and had to consistently leave them all the way forward.

My overall impressions are very positive. I didn’t experience any back pain even during the adjustment period and can honestly say that its comfortable enforcement of proper posture did make me feel more energized when working or gaming at my desk. The craftsmanship in its construction is very good. The port leather is supple and breathable (though fabric would certainly be more breathable still), and the stitch work is perfect. I’m also a big fan of the wood accents on the back as it gives it a unique elegance that would be right at home in an office or modern home decor setting.

Still, for its asking price of nearly $2,000, I really would have liked to have seen finished metal instead of plastic, especially on the wheelbase, which is most prone to breakage.

Again, it genuinely does not seem like durability is a concern, and the company offers a 12-year warranty with a 30-day risk-free trial, putting it on par with other major players like Herman Miller and Steelcase. Clearly, this is a chair that’s intended to last at least 12 years into the future. Plastic, metal, or anything in between is less of a concern than with a chair offering a shorter warranty.