SHADOWS OF THE DAMNED

The textbook example of a diamond in the rough, Shadows of the Damned is the perfect game to kick this feature off with. Grasshopper Manufacture’s 2011 cult classic is a game that has garnered an increasingly sizeable fan following over the years, and it’s easy to see why, whether that’s because of its stylish action, its sense of humour, or the abundance of character and personality that it’s overflowing with. Hopefully, its upcoming remaster will bring a much larger audience to the game.

Story

Daymare 1994 puts players in the shoes of Dalila Reyes, who is a government spy working for a top-secret unit called Hexacore Advanced Division for Extraction and Search (abbreviated as H.A.D.E.S.). As a member of this advanced military unit, Dalila gets sent to a secret research facility where all kinds of horrors lurk in the darkness. As is already evident from this narrative setup, Daymare 1994’s narrative will be sticking to survival horror tropes like failed experiments and government conspiracies for its story. And while elements of it might be pretty familiar to genre fans, the story might just be worth seeing through to the end.

Connections To Daymare 1998

For the uninitiated, Daymare 1994 is a prequel to the 2019 horror game Daymare 1998. The original didn’t have the best of critical reception as can be seen from a rather measly score of 53 on Metacritic, but elements of the gameplay were ripe to be built upon with a sequel – hence the prequel. Daymare 1994 obviously takes place 4 years before the events of the first game, and the events in this upcoming story will bridge the gap and provide the required context for what ends up happening in Daymare 1998. The developer also promises big comebacks in addition to new characters, so that’s pretty exciting to hear as well.

Inspired by Dead Space

If that wasn’t already obvious, the Daymare games are heavily inspired by the Dead Space franchise – and it carries elements of its inspirations like a badge of honor. Everything from the setting to the over-the-shoulder camera and sci-fi elements hearkens back to the glory days of Dead Space. Furthermore, the moment-to-moment gameplay also revolves around using whatever scant resources you have and carefully tiptoeing around the dark and murky facility that’s filled to the brim with enemies and jumpscares at every corner. As such, it’s going to be a pretty familiar experience for fans of survival horror games – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Dismemberment

It’s almost impossible to talk about Dead Space without mentioning its impressive dismemberment mechanics, which was one of the prime pillars of its combat system. Of course, Daymare 1994 is also borrowing this particular mechanic for its own purposes – and players will be able to strategically shoot down enemies at limbs to weaken them, and ultimately render them harmless.

The Scanner

Our protagonist Dalila dons a super advanced H.A.D.E.S. suit which is fitted with all sorts of technical wizardry, but the scanner is set to be one of the most important tools in that suit of armor. Using the titular scanner, players will be able to assess every detail in the surroundings which will help in uncovering hidden collectibles, secret puzzles, and extra documents. It’s a pretty familiar mechanic, but players who want to complete the game to a 100% will have to pay a lot of attention to the scanner in the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Level Design

As can be seen from the gameplay and trailer clippings, Daymare 1994 will feature claustrophobic levels where players will be funneled into dangerous situations with little wiggle room to spare. The facility is filled with long corridors lined with sparse lighting, which helps induce a sense of anxiety within the player. Of course, there are also contrasting areas that are comparatively more open-ended – but those seem to be pretty rare from what little we know at the moment.

Puzzles

Exploration will obviously be an important part of the experience, and the game will be relying on environmental puzzles to tickle your brain cells. As such, you might have to scour the environments in search of hidden keycards, use different items to solve puzzles or take part in minigames like hacking to open certain doors. We’re not expecting puzzles to be too complicated in nature, but they will have to be engaging on some level to remain a worthy distraction from the combat and story.

Enemy AI

Over on the enemy side of things, Invader Studios promises that enemies in Daymare 1994 will be some of the most aggressive creatures that you have ever faced. Furthermore, the developers have also stated that enemies will also have “intelligent AI” – so you might have to dynamically alter your combat strategy if you wish to see the adventure through to the end.

Transforming Enemies

Another important point worth noting in terms of enemies is that certain enemies might be able to transform into a deadlier version of themselves. While we don’t exactly know how it will work, transforming enemies definitely sounds exciting – and they should hopefully help in adding more spice to the combat system.

The Frost Grip

While players will have the option to choose from different weapons like pistols or shotguns, the Frost Grip will be one of the most important tools in your arsenal when it comes to dispatching the many enemies that roam the facility. This exotic gun essentially spews frost upon the enemy which freezes them in their tracks, and in turn allows you to easily shoot them down or dismember the limbs with relative ease.

Multiple Difficulties

Invader Studios has already confirmed that players will have the option to choose the difficulty to their liking. Newcomers to the survival horror genre might want to stick to the Rookie difficulty, and those who have some experience with such games or just crave a tougher challenge might want to bump the difficulty up to Veteran. We don’t know how the experience will exactly change with the difficulty, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Visuals

As you might have already noticed, Daymare 1994 looks absolutely gorgeous from a visual standpoint. The game makes good use of Unreal Engine 4’s feature set to deliver a highly atmospheric experience, complete with all the graphical bells and whistles that one would expect from a current-gen release. There’s generous use of high-quality assets, and character models look reasonably sharp, but the lighting and reflections are what ultimately give this game an innately unsettling vibe which is pretty important for a survival horror experience like this one.

System Requirements

Thanks to the game being built on Unreal Engine 4, Daymare 1994 isn’t too demanding on the PC hardware side of things. As per the Steam page, you need a minimum of Core i5-4460, GeForce GTX 760, and 8 GB of RAM to run the game without any hitches. And even if you wish to crank the settings up to higher levels, you only need a Core i7 3770, GTX 1060, and 8 GB of RAM to do so. Most modern PCs and handhelds like the Steam Deck should be able to run the game without many issues, which is a great thing in our opinion.

Baldur’s Gate 3

It’s a testament to the kind of year that 2023 has been that Baldur’s Gate 3 is only one of many major releases. Nevertheless, Larian Studios’ tremendous role-playing game is a dream come true for Dungeons and Dragons fans. It offers a dozen classes, 46 subclasses, over 600 Spells, 11 races, 31 subraces and many more options to customize your character.

With a massive campaign that spans over 75 hours on a single playthrough with dozens of quests and multiple locations to explore, Baldur’s Gate 3 promises peak role-playing when it launches on August 3rd for PC.

Tower of Fantasy (PS4, PS5)

Hotta Studio’s Tower of Fantasy is an open-world action RPG, albeit with a sci-fi twist. As a customizable character, players travel the surface, learning more about the fall of civilization at the hands of Omnium, and battling all manner of threats. With four-player co-op, World Bosses and numerous quests, Tower of Fantasy also features an arena mode for PvP.

The combat also employs some interesting mechanics like equipping three weapons with different roles, building up charge and switching between them for more damage, and Simulacrums to transform into a unique character. Though currently available on PC, Tower of Fantasy arrives on August 8th for PS4 and PS5.

WrestleQuest

Wrestling video games are often simulations, rarely arcade titles, with the hottest talent. WrestleQuest takes a different approach, imagining the hero’s journey from the perspective of an up-and-coming wrestler in a fantastical pixel art universe. You start as a rookie and work through the ranks by training and learning from the greats like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant and more.

As you customize your wrestler’s moves and entrance, you take on all sorts of opponents and fight alongside legends like Diamond Dallas Page, the Road Warriors and more. WrestleQuest launches on August 8th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Atlas Fallen

In a world where everything has become sand and humanity is oppressed, you play as an Unnamed and discover a magical gauntlet. With the ability to manipulate and weaponize sand, you embark on a quest to take down Thelos and restore humanity. Developed by Deck13 of The Surge fame, Atlas Fallen is more of an action-adventure title with three weapons – the Dunecleaver, Sandwhip and Knuckledust – that change shape as you accrue Momentum in combat.

They can further be upgraded with over 100 Essence Stones, encouraging experimentation. Atlas Fallen releases on August 10th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC, and on top of lasting 25 to 30 hours, the entire game supports two-player co-op.

Sprawl

Would it be much of a month without a retro-style FPS? Probably not, but even by boomer shooter standards, MAETH’s Sprawl looks intriguing. Set in a cyberpunk city, you control former special ops SEVEN, who seeks to escape and venture to the SPIRE, while a mysterious voice pushes her onward. Corpo forces oppose you, but thanks to the Icarus implant, you can wall-run and slow down time, slaying enemies with katanas, pistols and a shotgun. Sprawl is out in August for PC, with a more definite release date to be announced.

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew

From the team behind Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun comes a brand-new strategy stealth title. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is set in the Golden Age of Piracy, as you venture the Lost Caribbean with eight crewmates, each possessing unique skills. You can freely select crew members for a mission and take any approach, utilizing new magical abilities to one-up enemies.

In addition to cleverly executed strategies and split-second timing, you can pause the game and instantly rewind to a previous point to try something else. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew arrives on August 17th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Madden NFL 24

For the uninitiated, EA Sports’ Madden NFL series is its other golden goose that has proven a monstrous success year in and year out with even fewer changes than FIFA. However, as EA transitions from FIFA to its new EA Sports FC franchise, Madden NFL 24 offers several improvements. FieldSENSE returns for added realism and control; the AI is smarter and more reactive; Franchise Mode features Free Agency changes and new commissioner tools; and new modes like 3v3 Superstar Showdown promise some unique experiences. Launching on August 18th, Madden NFL 24 will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC with cross-play support.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Lethal League developer Team Reptile presents a spiritual successor to Sega’s Jet Set Radio – Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. As Red, players join the Bomb Rush Crew and compete against rival crews for turf, tagging spots and earning REP while executing all kinds of tricks, whether it’s inline skating, skateboarding or BMX. Police forces will try to stop you, and new members join the crew, backed by the tunes of Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk arrives on August 18th for PC and Nintendo Switch.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Based on the 1974 classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a new asymmetrical multiplayer title, which previously published Friday the 13th: The Game. Releasing on August 18th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, it sees Ana Flores, Julie Crawford, Connie Taylor, Sonny Williams and Leland McKinney searching for Ana’s sister Maria.

Of course, the Slaughter family, including The Hitchhiker, The Cook and good ol’ Leatherface aren’t keen on letting them escape. The victims must use stealth and complete objectives to escape while the killers stop them. It’s pretty straightforward and backed by plenty of realistic kills.

Fort Solis

This cinematic sci-fi adventure game from Black Drakkar Games and Fallen Leaf is unique in its immersion. There are no camera cuts, loading times or a HUD, and its story is composed of four chapters with an all-star cast featuring Roger Clark (of Red Dead Redemption 2 fame), Troy Baker (The Last of Us) and Julia Brown (World on Fire). As engineer Jack Leary, players venture to the titular Fort Solis for a routine inspection and find the crew missing. Strange events begin to occur, pushing Leary to the brink. Fort Solis launches on August 22nd for PS5 and PC.

Immortals of Aveum

Ascendant Studios’ magic-based first-person shooter has been five years in the making, utilizing Unreal Engine 5.1 for its stunning visuals and Michael Kirkbride of The Elder Scrolls fame to help craft its narrative. Set in the world of Aveum, with Lucium and Rasharm at constant war, players control Jak, a recruit in the Order of the Immortals who looks to take down the big bad Sandrakk.

As a Triarch, Jak can utilize all three Colors of magic in devastating ways. With several different spells and talents, tons of gear pieces, and a meaty campaign with plenty of side content, Immortals of Aveum could be a dark horse in a jam-packed month. It releases on August 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

FromSoftware’s latest entry in the mech combat series begins with a clean slate, taking players to Rubicon 3, where megacorporations and factions battle over a precious resource Coral. As a mercenary pilot, you pilot a fully customizable Armored Core, utilizing different long-range and melee weapons while battling all manner of mechanized opposition in fast-paced combat.

Larger environments, seamless switching between projectiles and melee attacks, a new stagger mechanic, multiple endings and more await fans along with the return of the Arena when Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon arrives on August 25th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC.

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy

It’s hard to keep a band of heroes down, especially the Heroes of Trine. Amadeus the Wizard, Zoya the Thief, and Pontius the Knight embark on a new adventure to battle the Clockwork army. As a 2.5D action-puzzle platformer with co-op support, players must use each character’s skills to traverse environments in unique ways (like using Pontius’s shield to skate across water).

A new combat system and bosses, more variety with skill quests, and an adaptive difficulty to encourage replay value await fans when Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy launches on August 31st for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

RIDE 5

If you’ve looked upon The Crew Motorfest or Forza Motorsport and wanted something more bike-oriented, RIDE 5 may be worth checking out. The latest in Milestone S.r.l.’s motorcycle sim franchise features over 35 tracks and 200 bikes to ride. This year’s Career Mode sees players working through various Rivals to make a name for themselves, braving the dynamic weather to succeed.

Along with extensive motorcycle customization, the Race Creator lets you shape custom tracks and scenarios while riding aids help ease newcomers into the experience. RIDE 5 is out on August 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle

As the sequel to Invader Studios’ Resident Evil-inspired Daymare 1998, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle is a prequel with new characters, improved visuals and a revamped UI. It also features dismemberment, a la Dead Space, and a scanner for revealing items and puzzles in the environment. While it won’t compete with Dead Space Remake, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle may be an enjoyable blast from the past for fans of 90s survival horror when it releases on August 30th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Starfield

Starfield is Bethesda’s first new IP in over 25 years, and it’s obviously one of the most highly anticipated games of this year. This adventure will take you to the far reaches of outer space as you explore over a hundred different planets, many of which will be teeming with all sorts of activities to pursue and quests to complete. A refined combat system, gorgeous visuals, and detailed character customization are just some of the many improvements Starfield will be bringing to the Bethesda RPG formula. It will be released for Xbox Series X/S and PC on 6 September 2023.

The new trailer for Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle gives us a good look at the kind of enemies we’ll be expected to fight throughout the game, as well as a good idea of the weapons we’ll have access to. The trailer also revealed that Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle will be coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 30.

A follow-up to Daymare 1998, Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle was first unveiled a couple of years ago. The studio announced earlier this year that it would be releasing in 2023. The studio made the announcement alongside a series of screenshots to show off how development on the game was going.

For more details on Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, check out our inteview with the studio about the game’s enemies, horror, and how it improves on its predecessor.

Taking to Twitter, Invader Studios recently announced that Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle will release for PC and consoles (as a cross-gen title) sometime in May- though a specific launch date within the month hasn’t been confirmed. Meanwhile, the developer has also shared a new batch of screenshots to offer glimpses at how the horror title is shaping up. Check them out below.

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam and GOG) at launch. You can learn more about the game in our interview with Invader Studios co-founder Michele Giannone through here.

https://twitter.com/InvaderDevs/status/1628411843294203906

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Developer Techland delivered an excellent open-world survival horror experience in the form of 2015’s Dying Light, which combined horror elements with an excellent traversal system – creating for a fun yet horrifying experience through and through. The developer is back at it once again with Dying Light 2: Stay Human, which sees players surviving a zombie outbreak in the fictional environment called The City. The combat looks brutal in the best ways possible, and there are more options than before to get around the bigger environments. Wrapping it all up is a new narrative, which also looks really ambitious for the game’s framework. Dying Light 2: Stay Human releases for all major consoles and PC on February 4th, 2022.

While Microsoft’s console has an obvious lead over Sony’s offerings in the GPU department, Giannone thinks it doesn’t make much of a difference in development. Of course, Xbox Series X can run multi-platform games at higher resolutions, but the difference isn’t so stark that developers have to cut back on ambition and scale to make the game run on the PS5.

“Certainly from this point of view Microsoft has the advantage. More power also means having more creative freedom, but we don’t think it’s such a huge difference as to bring significant differences in terms of development, especially when considering cross-platform titles. As far as we are concerned, the development cycle will be the same on both platforms, the most marked differences will be noticed in the optimization phase,” Giannone said.

A plethora of developers share this common sentiment, most notably Blacktail developer The Parasight, whom we interviewed very recently. As the generation progresses, it’s quite possible that the differences start to hold more weight – but as it stands now, PS5 and Xbox Series X are both great pieces of console hardware.

"From the very beginning, Daymare’s was always imagined as a trilogy."

What are the biggest changes you’ve implemented in Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle as direct result of feedback for the first game?

The first step was to collect all the feedback, coming both from the press and from the players, and start again from the most appreciated strong points of the first game to then go on to improve all the weak points that emerged, and that in reality we already knew well. due in large part to technical and budget limits that a young team and a small production have to face when deciding to develop a product of such ambition. With the intention of extending the experience in general, however, and also reworking some mechanics in order to satisfy a greater slice of the audience, in Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle we have focused a lot on pre-production, so as to be able to work with due attention. and calm about all aspects of development.

Speaking of improvements, or in any case changes more generally, we will soon show something more, but from what we have brought out among the announcement trailers, screens and general information on the features, we are working hard to smooth the hardest corners and give a breath of freshness to fans of the Daymare series. Starting from the female protagonist, and moving from a completely new setting, great attention has been paid to what will be the new game weapon, called “Frost Grip”, and which will allow you to face different situations in a completely unique way, thanks to the possibility of being able to freeze enemies and props. Speaking precisely of the enemies, in this case we are not dealing with classic zombies, but aggressive and lethal creatures that, as it is easy to guess, make electricity their strength. On the technical side, we are focusing on improving the performance of the cut scenes (between lip sync and facial animations), the animations of the characters in general and on offering greater precision in the shooting phases. For everything else, we can’t wait to be able to show some gameplay and let the images speak for themselves.

Why did you decide to develop a prequel to Daymare 1998 rather than a sequel?

Because, from the very beginning, Daymare’s was always imagined as a trilogy. While we were still working on the first title, without even being sure it could come out, we were still creating a universe that didn’t stop at the first title, but that revealed a lot more. Precisely for this reason, throughout Daymare: 1998, it is possible to come across references, between files and communications, to a mysterious mission faced four years earlier. Also following a push from the most passionate players, curious to know more about the past of the characters they loved in Daymare: 1998, we decided to dive into a prequel that would reveal their past.

Can you talk to us about the revamped interface in the game? What are the biggest ways it improves upon the first game?

We realized that, although immersive and appreciated by users, greater attention and care had to be spent in developing the primary game interface, called D.I.D. The device, which in Daymare: 1998 served as an inventory, health check, map and file archive collected, has been completely reworked in Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle to be much more streamlined and intuitive than in the past. The visual connection to the previous D.I.D. is present, but the interaction has been significantly improved and we are sure that players will appreciate the path we have taken.

What kind of an impact does the new scanner have in terms of gameplay, especially in terms of exploration and puzzle solving?

Exploration has always been a fundamental point for the series, and this time we decided to give the player an extra weapon that allows him to scan the surrounding environment and discover details or information impossible to notice with the naked eye, by going to find new puzzles to solve, secret files and hidden objects.

We would like to talk more about this as soon as we have something juicy to show, but what is certain is that it is part of the new features that we have decided to insert to expand the experience offered by the first game.

"Exploration has always been a fundamental point for the series, and this time we decided to give the player an extra weapon that allows him to scan the surrounding environment and discover details or information impossible to notice with the naked eye, by going to find new puzzles to solve, secret files and hidden objects."

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle is promising enemies that are tough, aggressive, and resilient. Can you elaborate on that a little bit, and how it will play into the action and horror elements of the experience?

No place is safe. This is the new game rule. The enemies, in addition to being lethal and aggressive, will give the player no respite. Animated by a mysterious electrical energy that makes them one of a kind, the creatures of Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle will chase you far and wide, so you do well to watch your back and be ready even when you think you are in a safe place. We want to convey to the player a feeling of constant tension and fear to get rid of in the various firefights, capable of returning to the player the satisfaction of having killed a pack of unstoppable hunters.

Daymare 1998 obviously owes a lot to Resident Evil 2 in particular. Can you tell us whether that’s something that’s carried forward in Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle as well, or are you looking to do things a little differently this time, now that there’s a foundation to build on?

Without doubt the second. Many have described Daymare: 1998 as a love letter to past titles and the Resident Evil saga in general, and it’s clearly true. Mood, atmosphere and feelings more generally owe a lot to those games, even if we tried so hard to insert those original elements, including game mechanics, OST and history, which made it something unique, something of our own. With Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle, on the other hand, we can tap into our own universe, expanding it. It is true, the titles that inspired us, including Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dead Space and The Evil Within are within us, and partly influence our choices, but it’s the beauty of having a background from which we can draw and to be completely reworked and overturned, producing something totally new. We like to insert tributes and wink at the titles that have indelibly marked us and thanks to which we do this job, but the fact of being able to refer above all to something of our own is a unique and new sensation, which does nothing but stimulate us again. more in creating and extending a universe already made up of characters and stories that for some fans are already iconic.

Balancing action and horror is always tricky for any survival horror game. What’s your approach been in this game in that regard?

True, it is one of the most complex aspects. With Daymare: 1998 we learned a lot both about the importance of managing the entry curve of a title of this type, and about what the public expects, whether it is purely survival horror or action more generally.

Exactly as done with Daymare: 1998, and moreover as do most of the horror productions of all sizes, it is important to be able to stratify the gaming experience and offer more opportunities to the player, so as to be able to allow everyone to enjoy a product that comes close to their characteristics. This is where our game designers come into play, capable of balancing the experience in the best possible way and making it difficult but never too frustrating both for hardcore gamers and for those who want to live a linear and not too difficult experience.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle be?

We cannot go into details yet, but we want to at least replicate, if not extend, the experience of Daymare: 1998.

Do you have any plans for a Switch version?

We are discussing the possibility, but not at the moment. The platforms confirmed at the release of Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle in 2022 are PlayStation 5, Xbox X / S Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC Steam.

"With Daymare: 1998 we learned a lot both about the importance of managing the entry curve of a title of this type, and about what the public expects, whether it is purely survival horror or action more generally."

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Certainly from this point of view Microsoft has the advantage. More power also means having more creative freedom, but we don’t think it’s such a huge difference as to bring significant differences in terms of development, especially when considering cross-platform titles. As far as we are concerned, the development cycle will be the same on both platforms, the most marked differences will be noticed in the optimization phase.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth? 

The first and most logical of the answers is obviously linked to the speed of the uploads. Having the ability to access data so quickly allows us to have almost instant uploads, so as to avoid long waits between one map and another. If we analyze everything more deeply, however, we can understand how much this speed of access to giga of files can also have an impact at the level of game design or go to redefine some pipelines now consolidated in the gaming industry. Just think of what Insomniac Games’ latest Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart did. The current bottleneck, however, appears to be the almost always cross-gen nature of the products in the pipeline and the concept of multi-platform itself, so we will see only the exclusive titles for a single platform to fully enjoy these new technologies, while for all others will have to “be content” with being able to pass from the start menu to the actual game in a matter of seconds. As for the differences between PlayStation and Xbox, we believe that Sony has a distinct advantage from this point of view.

There is a difference in Zen 2 CPUs of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

We believe that as far as indie games like ours are concerned, this difference is easily circumvented, certainly more power is always welcome but we cannot complain about what Sony has made available. At the moment we believe that the Microsoft console is the one that can most easily reach a native 4K resolution, while we expect to see many titles in dynamic resolution on PlayStation.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60fps console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the graphically intensive next-gen games?

It’s very likely that when only titles truly designed and developed around next-gen consoles start coming out we’ll see those titles run closer to 1080p / 30fps than 1440p / 60fps on Series S.

"It will be very difficult to see next-gen games running in native 4K on new platforms as the actual 4K is still too expensive even for the new hardware put on the market by Sony and Microsoft, especially when combined with ray tracing."

Super Resolution is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. How do you think this will help game developers?

It will be very difficult to see next-gen games running in native 4K on new platforms as the actual 4K is still too expensive even for the new hardware put on the market by Sony and Microsoft, especially when combined with ray tracing. Having the ability to render frames at lower resolutions and then recompose them and make them look virtually identical to 4K frames will be crucial for developers.

While both utilize a custom octa-core Zen 2 CPU, the Xbox Series X is notable for its 3.8 GHz clock speed (3.6 GHz with Simultaneous Multithreading active) while the PS5 runs at a variable frequency up to 3.5 GHz. However, the PS5’s SSD is an different league, offering a Read Bandwidth of 5.5 GB/s (Raw) and 8-9 GB/s (Compressed) while the Xbox Series X’s Read Bandwidth is 2.4 GB/s (Raw) and 4.8 GB/s (Compressed). We spoke to Invader Studios co-founder Michele Giannone, who’s currently working on Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle for previous and current-gen platforms, on how developers can take advantage of the former along with how it compares to the latter.

“The first and most logical of the answers is obviously linked to the speed of the uploads. Having the ability to access data so quickly allows us to have almost instant uploads, so as to avoid long waits between one map and another. If we analyze everything more deeply, however, we can understand how much this speed of access to gigs of files can also have an impact at the level of game design or go to redefine some pipelines now consolidated in the gaming industry. Just think of what Insomniac Games’ Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart did.”

However, it may be a while before we see such pipelines becoming prevalent in the entire industry. As Giannone notes, “The current bottleneck, however, appears to be the almost always cross-gen nature of the products in the pipeline and the concept of multi-platform itself. So we will see only the exclusive titles for a single platform fully enjoy these new technologies, while for all others will have to ‘be content’ with being able to pass from the start menu to the actual game in a matter of seconds.”

As for how the PS5 or Xbox Series X compares in terms of their SSDs, “We believe that Sony has a distinct advantage from this point of view.”

Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle is out in 2022 and serves as a prequel to Daymare: 1998. It’s in development for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC.