State of Decay 3 is in early development for Xbox Series X at developer Undead Labs. The trailer begins with a lone woman out in the wilderness. Something is stalking her in the night, but she manages to scare it away. As she explore more of the desolate forest in the daytime she comes across a wolf corpse being eaten by a zombie deer. It's more terrifying than it sounds. We awarded State of Decay 2 a 7.5 review, saying its "survival RPG struggle against zombies is fun thanks to strong combat and fear of permanent death." Undead Labs released a major storyline expansion called State of Decay 2: Heartland last year. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Bungie, the studio that created Halo, is famously obsessed with the number seven. It is why there are seven Halo rings, for instance, and references to it can be found in many other places in both Halo and Destiny. But with 343 Industries and Microsoft now in control of Halo’s future, it seems that Bungie will never get the chance to see “Halo 7” on a store shelf. That’s because 343 is treating this holiday’s Xbox Series X flagship launch title Halo Infinite as “the start of our platform for the future.” IGN spoke with Halo Infinite Studio Head Chris Lee ahead of today’s long-awaited gameplay reveal of Halo Infinite. During that conversation, Lee revealed that Infinite is the last standalone release for the franchise for the foreseeable future. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=halo-infinite-october-2019-screenshots&captions=true"] “Halo Infinite is the start of our platform for the future,” he said. “We want Infinite to grow over time, versus going to those numbered titles and having all that segmentation that we had before. It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next ten years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community.” This does not mean that Halo Infinite is a live service game, a la Destiny. But it does mean that new story experiences will be told underneath Infinite’s umbrella, and it also means Infinite will be evolved technologically for quite a while. 343 confirmed that Infinite will get a free raytracing update sometime after launch. Gameplay-wise, hopefully the move to Infinite as a platform won’t mean that players are trapped on this Halo ring forever, but we’ll have to wait and see what 343 has in store for us in the Xbox Series X generation to find out. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/halo-infinite-step-inside-cinematic-teaser"] For more on Halo Infinite, don’t miss more of our exclusive conversation with Lee and Crocker, including details on the Xbox Series X’s premier launch title’s open world and its new weapons and upgrades, the first information on its villain and story, and why Infinite is trying to be a great starting point for new Halo players. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

[Editor’s Note: Very minor story spoilers follow. If you want to be completely surprised by what happens in Halo Infinite, turn back now.] Prior to today’s long-awaited gameplay reveal of Halo Infinite – the biggest launch title for the new Xbox Series X console this Holiday and the first mainline Halo game in five years – IGN had the chance to sit down with 343 Industries developers Chris Lee and Paul Crocker to discuss the new direction that Infinite looks to take the franchise, and how the story of Infinite both ties up loose ends from the Forerunner Saga while also laying the groundwork for new storylines in the Halo universe. Halo Infinite takes place well after the ending of Halo 5, with a rampant Cortana nowhere in sight and the Master Chief adrift in space. The Pilot (as seen in the E3 2019 presentation trailer, which 343 reconfirmed to IGN is the very beginning of the game) then discovers him. The Pilot's name will be revealed during the course of the campaign. “He ended up being named by the actor who plays him", said Crocker, the game’s associate creative director. “The name is actually his two best friends from childhood.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=halo-infinite-october-2019-screenshots&captions=true"] “Chief and the Pilot are in exactly the same position as the player when the game starts,” Crocker said. “They don’t know what’s happened. They’re learning what’s happening, together.” Lee told us that the new Xbox Games Showcase demo takes place roughly four hours into the campaign, which he said is “several times larger than our last two campaigns put together,” referring to Halo 4 and Halo 5.

The Banished Are the Bad Guys

Players fight The Banished in Infinite – a rogue faction of Brutes (along with plenty of familiar Covenant Elites and Grunts too) who were prominently featured in Halo Wars 2. The team at 343 is quick to note that you won’t need to have played that 2017 real-time strategy game to feel comfortable in Infinite (“It’s not required reading,” Crocker noted), nor will you have to consume the comic books and novels of the larger Halo universe in order to understand what’s going on in the new game – a criticism of Halo 4 and 5 that 343 acknowledged. “We don’t want a game where players have to do homework to enjoy this game,” Crocker said. But why The Banished? “Because they’re super cool and everyone likes them,” he said with a laugh, before more seriously adding that the team wanted “to have something that’s an evolution of the Covenant so you get some of the familiar, but something that’s different [too], and it comes together to feel fresh.” [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=It%20is%20both%20the%20conclusion%20to%20what%20has%20to%20date%20been%20known%20as%20the%20Forerunner%20Saga%2C%20and%20it%20also%20sets%20a%20course%20for%20new%20stories."] [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/halo-infinite-step-inside-cinematic-teaser"] To that end, it is both the conclusion to what has to date been known as the Forerunner Saga, and it also sets a course for new stories. “It is the conclusion of events that have been set up in the past, but it is very forward-looking as well,” Crocker said. “We want places to go and we want new mysteries.” Lee added, “It’s setting the foundation for future storytelling as well as tying some of those threads from the past. You don’t need to go through the whole franchise to learn and understand the fiction coming in, but if you do have that knowledge we want to reward that. You’ll see these [extended universe] elements and nostalgic moments. There have been a lot of goosebumps in the studio as we have [finished] different scenes and things that are in the game.”

Meet the Villain, War Chief Escharum

As to whether or not we should expect a chattier Master Chief, a la Halo 4, or a more “strong and silent type” performance from veteran Spartan-117 voice actor Steve Downes, a la Bungie’s original trilogy, Crocker said, “I think it’s probably somewhere in-between. We are definitely leaning more towards the strong silent type but there is quite a strong emotional core that involves him being a lot more vocal.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/28/halo-infinite-will-be-a-spiritual-reboot-for-the-franchise-ign-unfiltered"] The end of the demo showed a flashback sequence, during which the UNSC Infinity supercarrier – a centerpiece of the previous two Halo games – blips off of radar. So was it destroyed? “The simple answer to that question is that that is one of the things Chief is going to discover during the game,” Crocker explained. “What you saw in the montage at the end was us setting the stage for the journey the Chief and Pilot have been going through.” [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20villain%20of%20the%20story%3A%20a%20Banished%20leader%20named%20War%20Chief%20Escharum%2C%20who%20is%20the%20leader%20of%20The%20Banished%20on%20this%20Halo%20ring."] That ending sequence also introduces us to the villain of the story: a Banished leader named War Chief Escharum, who is the leader of The Banished on this Halo ring and “is connected to The Banished in a fundamental way,” according to Crocker, and proclaims this Halo ring as his last stand, knowing that Master Chief is coming for him: “This is my last fight, a true test of legends,” Escharum says in the gameplay demo. “A story that will outlive us both. Set a fire in your heart. Bare your fangs. Fight hard. Die well.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/the-complete-halo-saga-in-22-minutes"] That same speech also mentions “The Harbinger.” Neither Lee nor Crocker would say what that is referring to – besides confirming that it wasn’t Escharum referring to himself in the third-person – but the ending of Halo 5 had me guessing that it might be Cortana. I presented my theory to the developers, but they wouldn’t comment one way or another. For more on Halo Infinite, don’t miss more of our exclusive conversation with Lee and Crocker, including details on the Xbox Series X’s premier launch title’s open world and its new weapons and upgrades, why Infinite is trying to be a great starting point for new Halo players, and why there won’t be a Halo Infinite 2. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Developer 343 Industries has knocked off the numerical ordering for Halo games with the upcoming Halo Infinite. With Halo Infinite being previously confirmed as a "spiritual reboot" of the series, Infinite is seemingly a logical starting point for new players, and two Halo devs confirmed that to be true. IGN sat down with Halo Infinite Studio Head Chris Lee and Associate Creative Director Paul Crocker and they revealed some of their thinking on how the Halo Infinite team is making this entry rewarding for new and old Halo fans alike. When we jump into Halo Infinite later this year, we won't get any sort of “Previously on Halo…” video summarizing the events of the past Halo games, nor does it have a special tutorial mode like Gears 5's Bootcamp training mode to walk us through any mechanics. Instead, Lee and Crocker said the team wanted to start Halo Infinite in a way that pays homage to "the traditional Halo start." The two reconfirmed that last year's tease is the beginning of Halo Infinite, which once again features Master Chief waking up to a universe that needs him. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/28/halo-infinite-will-be-a-spiritual-reboot-for-the-franchise-ign-unfiltered"] "The sense of mystery and wonder was something we felt we really wanted to rekindle in the franchise, and that was one of our learnings from developing [Halo] 4 and 5," Lee said. "We really wanted to bring some of the magic from the universe, to give players more things to unlock and discover. That was a really key one for us. It also allowed us to think about it as this great place to bring new fans that have never experienced Halo before and existing fans and put them all in the same place. Let's create this mystery: what has happened since Halo 5? Everyone is trying to learn about the circumstances of the UNSC. You don't need to go through the whole franchise to learn and understand the fiction coming in, but if you do have that knowledge we want to reward that too." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/halo-infinite-step-inside-cinematic-teaser"] In Halo Infinite, Master Chief takes on a faction of rogue Covenant led by Brutes called The Banished. This group isn't new to the series, however. A Brute named Atriox led The Banished as the primary antagonists in Halo Wars 2. Lee and Crocker confirmed that playing Halo Wars 2 would definitely give players better insight into their motivations, but it's not required homework. Instead, they've framed Halo Infinite so that the player is learning alongside its leads. "Ultimately the Chief and the Pilot are in exactly the same position as the player when the game starts," Crocker said. "They don't know what's happened [since Halo 5]. They're learning as they go through the game together. The player is learning about the history of Halo, the Pilot is learning what it means to go on an adventure with the universe's greatest soldier, and Chief is also learning what it's like to be with a guy who's not a Spartan. All these things come together to help flesh out the world and explain what is happening." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=halo-infinite-october-2019-screenshots&captions=true"] If you'd rather learn more about the story before we actually get it in our hands, be sure to read our exclusive interview with Lee and Crocker about Halo Infinite's villain and story. You can also check out our conversations with them about Halo Infinite's exploration and new weapons, and why there won't be a Halo Infinite 2. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN. You can chat with her about video games and anime on Twitter.

Master Chief's next adventure takes place on another Halo ring, but this one will be unlike the rest we’ve visited. Halo Infinite allows players to explore the new battleground with a lot more freedom instead of being confined to levels. As shown in the campaign gameplay demo during the Xbox Games Showcase, Chief can hop in a Warthog and take on mission objectives in whatever order you choose. He's even got a grappling hook called the Grapple Shot to help him get around easier. IGN interviewed Halo Infinite Studio Head Chris Lee and Associate Creative Director Paul Crocker to get more details on the depth of the exploration and how we'll go about earning upgrades. If you're curious about Halo Infinite story details, be sure to check out our interview with Lee and Crocker on that. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/halo-infinite-step-inside-cinematic-teaser"] Wide Open Ring Previous Halo games have had a sort of pseudo-openness to them. You could maybe find a skull tucked away behind an obscure pillar, or a terminal in a Covenant outpost, and Halo Infinite builds on those experiences. "I would think about it more like kind of delivering on that promise we've had from the past," Lee said. "There's a lot of open gameplay in those previous games, but they're always in these linear levels. This time players will have the freedom to explore the ring. But we are telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end that we want to carry the player through as you go." [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=There's%20definitely%20a%20sense%20of%20freedom%20that%20you%20haven't%20had%20before%20%5Bin%20Halo%5D."] Lee and Crocker were quick to explain that while there is an openness to the ring, the gameplay will always come back to telling Chief's story. "What you saw in the demo that we showed, you have this map. There's this huge open section of the ring. As you get to that point in the game, this is several hours into the campaign, then you have the ability to traverse that whole area and explore where you want to go on the ring. That's what we mean by open and explore the different places that you can go to. There's definitely a sense of freedom that you haven't had before [in Halo]. You will get to choose your path there. But we do also want to tell that story, so while you're doing that we want to keep the story moving forward versus like a nonlinear story or something like that," Lee said. There's also a lot to find in the area shown in the gameplay demo, Crocker said. They couldn't go into the specifics about what kinds of things we'll find beyond equipment upgrades since they're related to the story (they didn't technically confirm skulls or terminals either, though I took that there's an implication for them to be in the game), but Crocker explained why we may want to explore the ring regardless of any sort of collectibles. "There is a kind of emotional core to it. You'll be pulled to some of these locations as well, which you could say is story-based. It's also what the franchise is about. We really are trying to make sure there are things for Chief to do that reinforce the heroism and the hope he brings to humanity and those are pretty strong draws around the world," Crocker said. But what if you miss something early on? Crocker said you can always go back throughout the game. "You may or may not be able to achieve all of the goals you have at the very beginning of the game in all of our spaces, but you can always go back and explore and find more stuff to do. There's nothing stopping you from doing that." Lee also confirmed that there will be ways to overcome those massive gaps shown briefly in the world map in order to traverse the ring. Eventually, he added.

Upgrades Fit for a Spartan

Another thing that popped out at me while watching the gameplay demo was the "Upgrades" tab in the map menu. Halo Infinite doesn't have any sort of experience meter, nor does the Chief keep a permanent weapon loadout as far as we know. Lee explained that upgrades are items you'll discover as you explore, rather than some sort of experience-based skill tree or other mechanics that wouldn't make much sense in Halo. "We do have a light upgrade system for Chief as he explores this ring. He'll be able to upgrade equipment items," Chris said. "The grapple and the drop shield that we showed are kind of in that concept of a spiritual reboot that harken back to the equipment system in Halo 3. Those are two new equipment items that Chief will be able to find and use as you play through the game." As shown in the gameplay demo, the Grapple Shot can be used to pull Master Chief up to elevated areas, get closer to enemies, and even grab a fusion coil that can then be thrown at attackers. The Grapple Shot does have a cooldown, but it's unclear at this time whether or not the actual Grapple Shot can be upgraded to do different things. The Drop Shield was, as you saw, a shield Chief dropped for additional cover while in battle.

Shiny New Weapons

Then of course, one of the things we'll find as we make our way through camps of the returning Halo Wars 2 enemy, The Banished, is plenty of weapons. The gameplay demo showed off several new ones:

• Ravager - A Banished three-round burst energy weapon that runs on plasma fuel. The fuel level is, as always, represented by a percentage. There is a blade on the end of it that slightly increases melee damage.
• Mangler - A Banished pistol with giant kinetic projectiles that fires more slowly than the UNSC pistol but deals more damage.
• CQS48 Bulldog - New UNSC riot shotgun that replaces the classic shotgun. This one is upgraded with a dum magazine and 12 gauge over the classic shotgun's 8 gauge.
• VK78 Commando - This UNSC rifle can go full auto and is good for mid-long range.
• Pulse Carbine - A familiar but not quite identical version of the classic Covenant carbine weapon.

Lee and Crocker didn't say whether or not there will be hidden specially named weapons like there were in Halo 5. For more on Halo Infinite, don’t miss more of our exclusive conversation with Lee and Crocker, including details on the Xbox Series X’s premier launch title’s story, how they're designing it for new players and longtime Halo fans, and why there won’t be a Halo Infinite 2. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN. You can chat with her about video games and anime on Twitter.

Gorgeous open-world air combat game, The Falconeer, will be a launch game for Xbox Series X. The game, which has previously been annoucned for PC via Steam and Xbox One, will support 4K / 60 FPS on the next-gen console, can take advantage of HDR features, and will part of the Smart Delivery upgrade program. As you might expect, no specific release date has been given, with The Falconeer scheduled for a Holiday 2020 release, just like the Series X itself. We've played preview versions of The Falconeer before, calling the fantasy air combat game, praising its unusual falcon-fighting premise, and saying it's "already nailed its beautiful aesthetic and haunting atmosphere". [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Hello Neighbor 2 will come to Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC in 2021. Set immediately after the events of the first game in the horror franchise, you'll play as Quentin, a reporter looking into disappearances in the Raven Brooks area - before coming across an abandoned house occupied by a raven-like monster. The story will fit into the cross-media universe Hello Neighbor's become since its original release. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/hello-neighbor-2-announcement-trailer"] The game expands the original's single-house setting to a full open world, and allowing you to scavenge for materials across the whole of Raven Brooks. Where the first game's threat, Mr. Peterson would navigate using developer-placed waypoints, the new monster uses self-learning AI to stalk you, apparently learning from your movements and attmepting to stop you figuring out the neighbourhood's secrets. You can play an alpha for the game by heading to the Hello Neighbor 2 website. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Square Enix has revealed Balan Wonderworld, an action platformer from a new studio, Balan Company. Teased this week, Balan Wonderworld will see characters Emma and Leo travelling through the surreal Wonderworld, using theater-inspired costumes that offer different abilities along the way. Balan Wonderworld is from Yuji Naka, the former head of Sonic Team, as well as Naoto Oshima, the creator of Nights Into Dreams. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=balan-wonderland-xbox-series-x-screenshots&captions=true"] Balan Wonderworld will feature 80 different costumes, which players can swap between in order to solve puzzles along their adventure. Developer Balan Company is a new Square Enix studio that will bring together both in-house and external developers. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/balan-wonderworld-announcement-trailer"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is coming to Xbox on December 4. The critically-acclaimed JRPG series will make its Xbox debut with a new definitive version of Dragon Quest 11. The updated version includes updated music and even an option to play a demake version in pixelated graphics. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/dragon-quest-xi-s-echoes-of-an-elusive-age-definitive-edition-xbox-announcement-trailer"] Dragon Quest 11 S was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase pre-show and introduced by series director Yuji Horii. We awarded Dragon Quest 11 an 8.8. review when it was first released on PS4 in 2018. Dragon Quest 11 will be released on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Game Pass. Square Enix also confirmed that Dragon Quest 11 S will be coming to PS4 and Steam. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

After shipping Half-Life: Alyx, Gabe Newell set off for a 10-day vacation in New Zealand with friends - and has been stuck there since the country locked down in March. Thankfully, he seems to have enjoyed himself. Speaking on TVNZ1's Breakfast show, the Valve co-founder explained that he's been working remotely ever since lockdown. New Zealand has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic notably well, with Newell saying, "The hardest part by far," he explained, "is being worried about friends and family who aren't in New Zealand." To thank the country for its hospitality, Newell and two friends, Spanish race car driver Alex Riberas and Riberas' partner Teagan Klein, have announced 'We Love Aotearoa' a free concert and event taking place in Auckland on August 15. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/18/ign-first-half-life-alyx-gabe-newell-interview"] Aside from the music, the event will lean into its founders' professional interests, with games and virtual reality experiences, as well a line-up of racing and drift cars. Speaking about why he wanted to give back to the country he's been staying in, Newell said: "For me, it's very much about the community spirit, this sense that everybody can come together and solve this super-challenging problem, and then be welcoming to us, essentially, as COVID refugees. There's the natural beauty, there's all the fun stuff you can do, but it's the people that have really made our lives different." In terms of his work, the legendary developer said that there was no difference between working from Seattle or New Zealand - which hopefully means he's been able to make some headway on his work with Matrix-like brain-computer interface technology. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.