Developer OrionGames has announced Arto, an action-RPG with a visually unique graphical style. It's in development for PC.

Arto features, as you'd expect from an action-RPG, plenty of weapons to unlock and upgrade as well as over two dozen enemy types to fight. But what makes it stand out is obvious by looking at the screenshots below or the announcement trailer above: it's the distinct art style, which Orion describes as breathing life into a word devoid of color. Each of the six biomes will deliver its own unique look.

The single-player story also promises a branching narrative with multiple endings, an open world to explore, and plenty of challenging boss fights.

You can wishlist Arto on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Developer Orion Games has announced Arto, an action-RPG with a visually unique graphical style. It's in development for PC.

Arto features, as you'd expect from an action-RPG, plenty of weapons to unlock and upgrade as well as over two dozen enemy types to fight. But what makes it stand out is obvious by looking at the screenshots below or the announcement trailer above: it's the distinct art style, which Orion describes as breathing life into a word devoid of color. Each of the six biomes will deliver its own unique look.

The single-player story also promises a branching narrative with multiple endings, an open world to explore, and plenty of challenging boss fights.

You can wishlist Arto on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Drivers in the UK could be allowed to watch TV from behind the wheel of a self-driving car if proposed updates to the law go through.

As reported by the BBC, an update to The Highway Code will arrive this summer that addresses what is and isn't legal in automated vehicles, and could arrive in the UK as early as this year.

The draft amendment states that watching TV from a car's infotainment apparatus – essentially a touch screen mounted on the dashboard – will be legal in situations where automated driving itself is legal. At the moment, this is only expected to be while travelling at low speeds on congested motorways.

It states: "While a self-driving vehicle is driving itself in a valid situation, you are not responsible for how it drives. You may turn your attention away from the road and you may also view content through the vehicle’s built-in infotainment apparatus, if available."

Using your phone or similar handheld technology in the car will still be illegal though, even if the car is allowed to be self-driving – unless, as the normal law applies, the driver is required to call emergency services.

This update was part of what the government calls "interim measures" to support early adopters of automated vehicles but full regulatory framework is expected to arrive by 2025.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Drivers in the UK could be allowed to watch TV from behind the wheel of a self-driving car if proposed updates to the law go through.

As reported by the BBC, an update to The Highway Code will arrive this summer that addresses what is and isn't legal in automated vehicles, and could arrive in the UK as early as this year.

The draft amendment states that watching TV from a car's infotainment apparatus – essentially a touch screen mounted on the dashboard – will be legal in situations where automated driving itself is legal. At the moment, this is only expected to be while travelling at low speeds on congested motorways.

It states: "While a self-driving vehicle is driving itself in a valid situation, you are not responsible for how it drives. You may turn your attention away from the road and you may also view content through the vehicle’s built-in infotainment apparatus, if available."

Using your phone or similar handheld technology in the car will still be illegal though, even if the car is allowed to be self-driving – unless, as the normal law applies, the driver is required to call emergency services.

This update was part of what the government calls "interim measures" to support early adopters of automated vehicles but full regulatory framework is expected to arrive by 2025.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Borderlands 3 is finally getting cross-play after PlayStation initially blocked the feature.

As reported by GameSpot, developer Gearbox announced at PAX East that cross-play would arrive this spring, meaning players on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC can all play together.

The studio revealed last year that full cross-play was ready for Borderlands 3 but it was told to pull the feature from PlayStation consoles.

Cross-play was available in Gearbox's latest game, however, as Tiny Tina's Wonderlands included the feature from the moment it launched last month, allowing up to four players to play online together regardless of platform.

Sony has been historically resistant to letting its players join those on its competitors' platforms but titanic titles like Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Rocket League have helped push cross-play into the norm.

Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida had previously commented that "our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play", which caused significant backlash amongst players on all platforms.

A few years on in 2022 and multiple games support cross-play, including Rainbow Six Extraction, MLB The Show, and Overwatch. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan made the turnarond clear, saying last June that the publisher supports and encourages the feature.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Borderlands 3 sticks to its guns and outdoes itself with an amazing arsenal of weapons, humour, and missions."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Borderlands 3 is finally getting cross-play after PlayStation initially blocked the feature.

As reported by GameSpot, developer Gearbox announced at PAX East that cross-play would arrive this spring, meaning players on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC can all play together.

The studio revealed last year that full cross-play was ready for Borderlands 3 but it was told to pull the feature from PlayStation consoles.

Cross-play was available in Gearbox's latest game, however, as Tiny Tina's Wonderlands included the feature from the moment it launched last month, allowing up to four players to play online together regardless of platform.

Sony has been historically resistant to letting its players join those on its competitors' platforms but titanic titles like Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Rocket League have helped push cross-play into the norm.

Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida had previously commented that "our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play", which caused significant backlash amongst players on all platforms.

A few years on in 2022 and multiple games support cross-play, including Rainbow Six Extraction, MLB The Show, and Overwatch. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan made the turnarond clear, saying last June that the publisher supports and encourages the feature.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Borderlands 3 sticks to its guns and outdoes itself with an amazing arsenal of weapons, humour, and missions."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Rocket League is getting a limited-time deathmatch mode.

Developer Psyonix is removing the ball in its new Knockout Bash mode as destroying other players becomes the only objective.

The eight-player free-for-all mode was revealed in a PlayStation Blog post and will introduce new mechanics including attack, block, and grab.

The event will only run for two weeks from April 27 to May 10, but features a number of tailor-made maps with various obstacles such as giant spiky pillars.

Maps also feature a "kill zone" where players must force their opponents in order to win using the new attacking, grabbing, and blocking mechanics, inspiration of which was taken directly from fighting games.

"We thought it would be fun if each move set juked another, like rock, paper, scissors," said Psyonix programmer Sky Breen, who was part of the team developing Knockout Bash. "This way, it would allow players to outsmart others if they can predict what move someone else plans to use."

Psyonix is "definitely breaking the rules" with the new mode, Breen said, "but we are hoping players will really love all the changes and new additions we have made."

Rocket League was first released in 2015 and has featured countless updates since, including the addition of new modes that take a step away from its football-based roots.

It's done ice hockey, basketball, and even American football, but Knockout Bash is the first time Psyonix has stepped away from sports altogether by not including any ball or goals.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Rocket League is an energetic mashing of arcade driving and sports, with a sky-high skill ceiling and endless personality."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Rocket League is getting a limited-time deathmatch mode.

Developer Psyonix is removing the ball in its new Knockout Bash mode as destroying other players becomes the only objective.

The eight-player free-for-all mode was revealed in a PlayStation Blog post and will introduce new mechanics including attack, block, and grab.

The event will only run for two weeks from April 27 to May 10, but features a number of tailor-made maps with various obstacles such as giant spiky pillars.

Maps also feature a "kill zone" where players must force their opponents in order to win using the new attacking, grabbing, and blocking mechanics, inspiration of which was taken directly from fighting games.

"We thought it would be fun if each move set juked another, like rock, paper, scissors," said Psyonix programmer Sky Breen, who was part of the team developing Knockout Bash. "This way, it would allow players to outsmart others if they can predict what move someone else plans to use."

Psyonix is "definitely breaking the rules" with the new mode, Breen said, "but we are hoping players will really love all the changes and new additions we have made."

Rocket League was first released in 2015 and has featured countless updates since, including the addition of new modes that take a step away from its football-based roots.

It's done ice hockey, basketball, and even American football, but Knockout Bash is the first time Psyonix has stepped away from sports altogether by not including any ball or goals.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Rocket League is an energetic mashing of arcade driving and sports, with a sky-high skill ceiling and endless personality."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

An Elden Ring fan is travelling 30 years back in time by creating a Game Boy demake of the FromSoftware open world hit.

Twitch user shintendoTV is streaming the game's development live after announcing their plans in a Reddit post (below), where they said the game will be designed to work on real hardware – presumably the likes of Analogue Pocket, rather than an original Game Boy.

While they're currently unsure how much of the game they'll recreate (as Elden Ring is truly massive) Shintendo is at least hoping to make the complete opening area of Limgrave.

The demake is being made in GB Studio 3.0, something Shintendo calls "a really impressive and brand new piece of software" that's still in development itself.

This means that certain features such as enemy pathfinding (enemies chasing after the player) aren't available yet, but Shintendo is hoping to have a playable version of Limgrave completed, alongside a demo, by the end of May.

The demake is set to feature iconic locations and characters from Elden Ring including the Church of Elleh, where players will encounter Melina, who simply asks: "No Maidens?"

Shintendo said on stream that there's "no real plan" behind development but they're just going to make one tile after another, each featuring pixel-art versions of various parts of Elden Ring.

It's not the only FromSoftware game demake that fans of the series have made, with the Bloodborne PlayStation 1 demake perhaps being the most famous example. Developer Lilith Walther has even announced a spin-off in the form of Bloodborne Kart.

It becomes the latest wacky way players are choosing to enjoy Elden Ring. One player, Let Me Solo Her, is letting himself be endlessly summoned to fight one of the game's toughest bosses, while a speedrunner has now beaten the game in under seven minutes.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path."

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Northman director Robert Eggers has confirmed that CG genitals were added to the naked swordfight scene with Alexander Skarsgård to prevent any accidental injuries.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Eggers opened up about the challenging filmmaking process behind The Northman as he admitted that certain shots called for some digital movie magic in order to achieve the desired effect, especially the nude battle between Skarsgård's Amleth and Claes Bang's Fjölnir, which required both actors to wear protective thongs.

"We actually had to add things digitally because they were wearing thongs [instead of being naked] because no one wanted to get their bits chopped off," he explained. "So, we actually had to add some CG genitals for certain shots so that they didn't look too Ken doll-ish. You've got to make it look real, so I'm sure we did some full-body scans of Alex. They're out there."

In the same interview, Eggers offered his point of view on method acting, which has become a topic of much debate recently, as he was asked to clarify the reason why, in his own words, nobody method acts on his sets. The filmmaker asserted that he doesn't enforce any rules for method acting, but rather he just needs the actors to turn up and follow the script.

"If someone wants to be Method, they're more than welcome to be Method," Eggers said. "But my main direction is don't blink, don't move your face, and say your lines. When you have an archetypal story with archetypal characters — Alexander Skarsgård looks like a Viking, is playing a Viking, on a mountain and dressed as a Viking — just say your lines."

Eggers previously spoke to IGN about the process of making his "Viking Hamlet" movie, considering the massive scale of his new film. He also discussed his approach to directing action, striving for historical accuracy while also folding in the supernatural elements of Viking mythology, and just how much metal was on his playlist while he worked on the project.

And if you love action-packed Viking films, our review of The Northman would suggest this is the perfect movie for you. With dramatic music and top-tier performances from a star-studded cast, it's an epic historical feature you won't want to miss and we have all of the details on when and where you can watch this tale of Viking vengeance.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.