The 2-minute trailer doesn’t really reveal anything new, but fans of the classic franchise will recognise that I.G.I. Origins seems to be going to great lengths to preserve the stealth-based gameplay the older games were famous for.

I.G.I. Origins was originally announced back in 2019 and slated for a 2021 release. It has, however, gone through a series of delays, likely thanks in no small part to difficulties in development brought on by COVID-19.

The game got its first gameplay trailer earlier this year, which alongside showcasing how I.G.I. Origins would play, also showed off the game’s lighting and shadows, as well as different weapons, elements of stealth, and even an assassination.

I.G.I. Origins is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Versions for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S haven’t been announced yet, but it is quite likely that the current-gen consoles will also be able to play the game.

More than 18 years later, we now have the first glimpse of the next game titled I.G.I. Origins. The game is currently in development at Antimatter Games, and is shaping up to be a worthy sequel all while paying homage to the games that came before. With the game’s imminent release date approaching soon, the time seems ripe to ask the question – what the hell is I.G.I. Origins?

The tale of I.G.I. Origins’ development is a rather interesting one; the game was first unveiled in 2019 with a short teaser. At the time, development duties belonged to Toadman Interactive and the game was being published by Antimatter Games. But later on, Antimatter Games took on development and as it stands now – Antimatter is in charge of both development and publishing the game.

I.G.I. Origins is set against the backdrop of an alternate history 1980s Cold War, and you take on the role of an agent codenamed Regent, who is serving a top-secret government organization by the name MI6. The involved nations are on the brink of a full-scale conflict, and your job is to prevent that from happening at all costs. An important point to note here is that this is a prequel to the original Project I.G.I., which makes Origins a great jumping-off point for newcomers to the franchise.

Those who have played through previous entries in the franchise would recognize this familiar narrative setup. And while it allows for some pretty varied level designs and operations scenarios, the major focus on the larger plot of preventing a war makes the story pretty forgettable. This was a major criticism of the original games, and there’s a high chance that Origins may suffer from the same complaints if it were to retread familiar ground. As such, it would be great if I.G.I. Origins deviates from the formula and tries to place some focus on the characters instead of conspiracies and the minute details of operations.

But either way, most fans are going in for the combat. I.G.I. Origins will play a lot like its predecessors, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is going to revolve around trying to find your way to the objectives through hordes of guards and enemies in highly guarded facilities. Players will have the option to freely choose their approach in missions, and the game would incorporate everything from all guns blazing to careful stealth kills to anything and everything in between.

The original games were pretty brutal in terms of difficulty, and going without prior planning would instantly result in a quick death. It’s pretty likely that Origins will retain the same level of difficulty, so players would have to try to mix action and stealth as per the situation to get through the levels.

Regent is a highly skilled agent, and will have access to plenty of varied weaponry to choose from. In addition to the trusty knife, there’s going to be a silenced pistol, an MP5 SMG, sniper rifles, and many other weapons in a similar vein. Each weapon will have its own pros and cons. So while the MP5 might have a silencer attached, the damage output would be markedly lower than a proper rifle which would obviously have higher damage but would make a lot of noise in return. As such, players will have to smartly choose their weapons of destruction for the job at hand.

And then there are the levels. Project I.G.I. and I.G.I. 2 featured sprawling levels with plenty of interiors and open spaces, and it seems fair to say that I.G.I. Origins seems to be building on what came before. The trailer showcased huge military bases populated with rocket launching stations and barracks, which has us excited for the release. We also saw the player sneaking into these facilities through forests and gutters and ladders, which would indicate multiple entry and exit points per level – which in turn should make each level highly replayable. Furthermore, we also saw a snippet of the player character equipping night vision goggles, which would further increase the variety in missions.

Any game with stealth elements needs to nail the level design, and Antimatter Games seems to have a great understanding of this level design. Of course, we would only know that for sure once the game finally releases – but it’s looking really promising nevertheless.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the visuals. I.G.I. Origins is looking like an absolutely gorgeous game, and a lot of that praise can be attributed to the high-quality visuals. Antimatter Games has made great use of Unreal Engine 5, and it shows. I.G.I. Origins boasts some impressive texture work alongside great lighting even in challenging scenarios with low light, and the reflections and post-processing effects like volumetric fog are all looking really quality stuff as well. And the surprising part is that all of this is being achieved on last-gen hardware, which is a testament to the developer’s understanding of the many nuances and intricacies of the target hardware.

And that brings us over to the topic of release. Unsurprisingly, Antimatter Games hasn’t revealed any concrete release dates at the moment, and the only confirmed platforms at the moment are PC, PS4, and Xbox One. While the game would obviously be playable on current-gen platforms as well, no native versions have been announced just yet. But judging from the short trailer and the available information about the game, it seems fair to say that I.G.I. Origins is still some ways from release, and a release in the ballpark of 2023 is looking like a good guess at the moment. But an important point to note is that we don’t have a lot of knowledge about the game’s development, and considering the fact that the game switched developers midway through – the game could end up being pushed to 2024 if it may come to that.

Either way, we have really high hopes from I.G.I. Origins. Antimatter Games seems to have a great understanding of what made the original games tick, and we really hope to see it build a sequel that brings back this beloved series. There is a great void for sandbox-styled stealth shooters in today’s gaming landscape – and I.G.I. Origins can use that to its advantage and end up becoming much bigger than anyone might have anticipated. Here’s hoping it does just that, and then some more.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Set in 1980 during the Cold War, I.G.I. Origins is a prequel to the first game and sees the player engaging in espionage. As Regent, you serve MI6 and complete different missions to prevent all-out nuclear war, eventually leading to the founding of the Institute of Geotactical Intelligence or I.G.I. Along with silenced weapons and rifles, one can use the shadows to their advantage, slinking around enemies without attracting attention and choking them out.

There are also Night Vision Goggles for fighting in the dark (as you do). I.G.I. Origins is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It’s not confirmed yet for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, but perhaps an announcement will be forthcoming. Stay tuned in the meantime for updates.

Toadman Interactive has confirmed the title of the next I.G.I. game. It’s now officially I.G.I. Origins and will be coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC via Steam in 2021. Antimatter Games, who worked on Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, is heading up development.

As a prequel to the original games, I.G.I. Origins takes place in 1980. The protagonist is an agent named “Regent” who takes on different missions for spymasters around the globe. You’ll be serving with the UK’s foreign intelligent service MI6 throughout the story. Eventually, how the Institute of Geotactical Intelligence aka I.G.I. started will be revealed, which brings us full-circle to “Origins” name.

The series’ penchant for first person shooting/stealth is still in place. You’ll use different gadgets and weapons to succeed and work to prevent “a new era of nuclear annihilation.” Will I.G.I. Origins also come to Xbox Scarlett and PlayStation 5 since its releasing so late for current gen consoles? We’ll have to wait and see so stay tuned for more details.

Forgoing all those crutches that games like Call of Duty or Overwatch have like a good pace or a little slack with bullets, Rising Storm goes for a far more realistic approach that borrows a lot from tactical shooters of old like Ghost Recon and ARMA, lending itself to requiring teamwork and communication to make much progress at all.

"You’re not going to easily land a 360-no-scope from across the map like this is some kind of Halo game,"

Against most of the genre however, the controls are largely pretty intuitive and easy to adapt to from more market friendly shooters. Of course there are additional layers to it like switching between semi-auto and auto on certain rifles, over or underhand throwing grenades, but they all make intuitive sense on the keyboard and don’t send you across the keys for critical commands.

You’ll need to become very comfortable with those commands too, as the game really doesn’t mess around with its simulative vision. You’re not going to easily land a 360-no-scope from across the map like this is some kind of Halo game, and hitting enemy unit from a distance will require you take things like bullet drop and wind into account. Recoil is a factor too, especially with automatic firing sending the gun kicking all over. Of course, they’re going to fire back at you too, and the sudden threat to your life can “suppress” you and make firing back even harder as the world around you blurs.

To describe the learning curve to Rising Storm 2 as a brick wall is an understatement. It’s far more accurate to liken it to a cult. This game will push you as far as you’ll go, and you’ll either drink the kool-aid and become sucked into the uncompromised vision or be turned far away. I had to peak back into the menus many times to make subtle adjustments or just figure out exactly how to do some of the more esoteric things the game allows. Those who weened themselves on more lenient shooters will find a barrier of entry to deal with that really limits the appeal.

"A boot camp or single player of any kind to dip players in gently would not go amiss, but the tutorial sections consist of empty maps and Youtube videos."

I’ll be blunt, this is not a game that really deserves to be looked at through the lens of an outsider. But such an angle is the one I can offer, and I do feel that it’s of value if the genre ever wanted to grow. A boot camp or single player of any kind to dip players in gently would not go amiss, but the tutorial sections consist of empty maps and Youtube videos.

I do respect the attention to detail and commitment to what Rising Storm wants to be. The game has a very unique pace and community because of it. The chaos of a mainstream FPS with screaming 13 year olds is completely contrasted by a focused band of brothers inching towards an objective through the jungle, sweeping for threats and communicating with each other to work together. The differing class roles each player can fill only encourage this level of teamwork you wouldn’t see on anything less demanding. Special roles like the Commander further cement as well the idea that you need to plan first and shoot second.

Further the sense of being on a battlefield is second to none, and a lot of that is completely thanks to the flow of the game and the audio design. Shots become muffled and your vision blurred after barely being grazed by enemy fire, a bombardment sends shockwaves through the immediate area and through the smoke you can’t see anything. Unfortunately, the visual fidelity did lose a little bit of that immersion, with flat textures on foliage and pop in all over the place as I played.

"The chaos of a mainstream FPS with screaming 13 year olds is completely contrasted by a focused band of brothers inching towards an objective through the jungle."

At least the maps are really well put together from a design perspective. Maps offer huge and expansive landscapes that feel quite real, but most importantly offer tons of options for all kinds of play styles, such as thick jungle to hide in, villages to capture and sniper nests to overlook and support from. The few maps it has don’t feel limiting because of how measured the pace of the game is and the options available to you and your foes to keep things interesting.

I don’t think this game was designed for someone who is not familiar with the series. It demands a lot to get over the hump and start to enjoy it. However, some strange graphical hiccups aside, I can respect the game for the uncompromising vision in what it wants to do, design to accommodate that play and great sound design to take you to the battlefield. You probably know if Rising Storm 2 is for you already, but if you want to scale that mountain you’ll find a very rewarding game.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam will be available to purchase on May 30, developer Antimatter Games have confirmed today. Players who have been looking forward to the sequel of the standalone Red Orchestra expansion now don’t have much longer to wait- in fact, you can pre-order it as of right now, if you’d rather not wait.

If you also want to play the game right now, you may be in luck- an open beta for the game is currently underway, so you can just hop in and check out what one of the more realistic, grounded, and difficult shooters on the market plays like. This beta will run till 4pm Eastern Time today- so you’ve got a few hours to check it out for yourself if you want to.

Are you going to be getting the game? Let us know in the comments section. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information on the game.