Pokemon Developer's New 3DS Game: Harmo Knight

Harmo Knight is the new Nintendo 3DS title from Game Freak, the team behind the Pokémon series.

The game was announced by Satoru Iwata during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. From the footage released, it looks like a hybrid of a traditional side-scrolling platformer, replete with a Mario Bros-style world hub, and a rhythm action game. The game's hero charges through levels, from verdant hilly landscapes to city rooftops, collecting musical notes and swinging a quaver like a battle axe/golf club. Presumably, you have to execute your attacks in time with the game's music.

Official logo

The game is scheduled for release in Japan on September 5, 2012, priced at ¥1,800. No word on a Western release date.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

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Pilot Ordered for ABC's Joss Whedon Marvel TV Series - And it's S.H.I.E.L.D.

We now know what the big Marvel TV series is that Joss Whedon is helping bring to ABC, which is set inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe and tied into the Avengers – It’s S.H.I.E.L.D.

Deadline broke the big news, revealing S.H.I.E.L.D. has officially been given a green light for a pilot by ABC. Whedon will co-write the pilot and possibly direct it as well. Writing with him will be his brother, Jed Whedon and Jed’s wife, Maurissa Tancharoen. Jed Whedon and Tancharoen wrote Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog with Joss Whedon and were most recently writers on Spartacus.

Executive producing along with the Whedon brothers and Tancharoen will be Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb and Jeffrey Bell. Bell is another former Whedon collaborator, having been the showrunner on Angel in its final seasons - making it likely he could serve as showrunner on S.H.I.E.L.D. if it gets a series pickup. (Whedon will be a bit too busy prepping Avengers 2 to serve in that capacity, one would assume)

With the pilot already greenlit, it’s looking very possible that S.H.I.E.L.D., should it get a series order (and it has to... right?), would be on the schedule for fall 2013.

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Kid Icarus: Uprising - The Final Showdown

This Saturday saw the grand final of the Kid Icarus: Uprising Battle Events take place in Central London. For the past eight weeks, the series of competitive Nintendo 3DS events have been touring the length and breadth of Great Britain, giving the general public the chance to take on pro-gamer Russki in a tournament to win a trip to IPL 5 in Las Vegas this November.

On Saturday, 24 finalists descended on the Century Club in Soho, (some coming in from Scotland) to duke it out in front of an audience of Nintendo fans. While only one person was going to be walking away with the main prize of the trip to Vegas, five runners up also managed to get their hands on a full deck of Kid Icarus: Uprising AR cards (400 of them!).

A victorious James Rushton

Fighting off fierce competition, James Rushton was the overall winner of the tournament, and he'll be jetting off to Vegas later this year courtesy of IGN and Nintendo. We'd like to thank everyone who took part across the country and those who came down to cheer on the competitors this weekend. Check out the snaps of the event below – a massive thank you to Ace Ashun for supplying!

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Mini-Series Teases Doctor Who Premiere

The BBC has unveiled a new mini-adventure that will set the scene for Doctor Who's seventh season.

A new episode of the "Pond Life" mini-series will be released every day in the run up to the premiere of the latest season, which takes place on Saturday.

The first episode is already available, and future episodes will release at noon each day. The series promises to explore the domestic events that take place in between time travel, and will reintroduce the love triangle between Amy, Rory and The Doctor after the long break since the last series.

It culminates in the premiere of season seven, Asylum of the Daleks, on Saturday. Arthur Darvill, who plays Rory in the hit show, has revealed that the final episode of Pond Life will end in a cliff hanger that leads into the new batch of five episodes very nicely.

The Doctor's latest adventure kicks off on BBC One on Saturday 01 September at 7.20pm.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Canadian Science Fiction Hit Continuum Coming to Syfy in America

Several of our Canadian readers had asked if IGN TV, whether via a written review or on the Channel Surfing podcast, would give our thoughts on the science fiction series Continuum. But as we explained on Channel Surfing, we couldn’t do this, because we haven’t seen the show – it hasn’t aired in the US yet.

But that will change soon. Deadline is reporting that Syfy is finalizing a deal to air the series in the United States, picking up the first season of ten episodes. Continuum will join fellow Canadian-originated series Lost Girl on Syfy.

Rachel Nichols in Continuum

Continuum stars Rachel Nichols (Alias, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as a Vancouver police officer in the year 2077 who is transported to the present, along with a group of convicted prisoners she must track down. Yes, that’s right – this is a sci-fi/genre series shot in Vancouver (where The 4400, Smallville, V, Fringe, Supernatural and so many genre series have been shot) that is actually set in Vancouver!

The cast also includes Erik Knudsen (Scream 4), Lexa Doig (Andromeda, V) and Roger Cross (24).

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Review

Death is a great teacher. Failure in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is, as it always has been for this series, the greatest way to learn where you should have gone, what you shouldn't have done, and how you could have done better. Counter-Strike players spend a lot of time learning -- consequently, they are always getting better.

Growth is an important factor in Global Offensive, especially if you're coming into Counter-Strike fresh or after a sabbatical. This is an extremely hardcore, skill-based first-person shooter, and it forces you to think differently than other modern shooters. If you’re a Call of Duty player, you’re going to need to change your play style to succeed here. Counter-Strike also tries developing into something new here as well, despite doing little to push itself beyond what it’s always done best. Global Offensive modifies old maps to keep veterans on their toes, and introduces official new modes that encourage different play styles for the first time in almost 15 years.

For the uninitiated, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a small-scale, team-based first-person shooter with permanent death. When a counter-terrorist kills a terrorist planting explosives in a classic Defusal match, or a CT escort swallows a sniper round in Hostage Rescue, the victim is dead for good and doesn't respawn until the next round. As such, players on both sides must exercise skill and care. The bomb objective, meanwhile, gives everyone a purpose. Of course matches end when everyone on a team is dead, but a clever and coordinated terrorist team will give the CTs the slip, plant their bomb, and protect the bomb site. Between rounds, everyone spends earned cash on better gear and guns, and the cycle continues.

Pieces of the Counter-Strike formula are dated at this point, but the superb heart and soul of Global Offensive is timeless. Teams are small, guns are lethal, and rounds are short. There's an addictive just-one-more-round quality to it, because there's a constant desire to do better than last time, to earn a satisfying kill, or to win in a new way. Call of Duty and Battlefield vets will wonder why they can't sprint to escape enemy fire or look down the iron sights to improve aim; Counter-Strike players will feel like they walked into their redecorated home. Certain map redesigns will catch hardcore fans off guard, but the changes are for the best -- the underpass choke point in de_dust, for instance, has a new escape route.

Even in the face of genre evolution, Global Offensive doesn’t care to adapt. CSGO is so dedicated to Counter-Strike's aging ideals despite market and trend changes that it brute-forces its way to success. Part of what makes it such an engaging competitive game is that killing in Global Offensive requires a wholly different skill set than other shooters. Everyone is limited to what they have and can see, with little room for character modification or on-the-fly advantages. Running and gunning is a useless play style, even if you've bought a helmet and kevlar that round, to the point that someone standing still is more likely to score the kill. Walking, crouching, or standing are your best bets to reduce the inaccurate spray of machine-gun fire.

Consequently, killing in Global Offensive feels good. There's a sickening sensation to dropping someone dead because you know they're not coming back. It's also satisfying knowing you used limited resources to play smarter than your victim. If players aren't watching corners, providing covering fire, or using smoke grenades and flashbangs, they're more likely to take a headshot from a more delicate and patient triggerman. The desire to experience that distinct feeling is a strong motivator to keep playing, even when you're getting steamrolled by an obviously better team.

If you've played Counter-Strike before, Global Offensive probably sounds a whole lot like Counter-Strike. Like Counter-Strike: Source before it, Global Offensive exists simply to modernize the look of the classic competitive shooter, while doing little to disrupt the core form and function. At the same time, it does enough to color outside the lines of tradition to justify your time and effort.

“

There's a sickening sensation to dropping someone dead because you know they're not coming back.

Fire is one of the most interesting new combat variables. Molotov cocktails and incendiary grenades either roast groups of guys or force them in another direction. Flames are a useful distraction or scare tactic, too. They're particularly useful during Demolition matches, which focus the fight at a single bomb site rather than giving terrorists two to pick between. The new and modified maps in this mode aren't as big as classic Counter-Strike arenas – entire sections have been cut off to direct teams toward a central location – but their thoughtful design is as intricate as ever. The Lake map is a standout -- there's a wide open yet densely populated yard around the bomb site, which is inside a sizable lakeside home with plenty of vantage points and hiding spots. To separate Demolition from Defusal, players can't buy between rounds. Instead, it takes a cue from the other new mode, Arms Race, in which each kill unlocks another weapon instantly. The better you do, the more you have to switch up the way you play, and because Demolition is so fast you'll need to be quick on your feet.

Arms Race can get out of control, but patience pays off.

Unlike other game types, Arms Race allows for respawns. It's the most chaotic and care-free mode in Global Offensive, with players throwing caution to the wind for the sake of climbing the kill ladder as quickly as possible. It's a shame there are only two maps in Arms Race -- a problem that will more likely persist on consoles than PC.

If you have the option, playing the PC version is unquestionably the best way to experience Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Mods, mouse and keyboard, and the usual PC-only options are better than the ports. Plus, Valve is much better about long-term PC support -- it abandoned Team Fortress 2 on consoles, and Portal 2's level editor was PC exclusive. If you prefer to play on consoles, Global Offensive is the same great game, with the following special bits:

PlayStation 3

For those who want to play on PlayStation 3 but don’t want to deal with the imprecision of analog sticks, Counter-Strike: GO supports mouse and keyboard, giving it a pretty noticeable edge over the Xbox 360 version. If you’re feeling saucy, Move is another option, although nuance dies with the motion controller. Move is accurate, and your quick reflexes will score kills, but the unavoidable instability of holding a remote will give your cursor some seriously unpleasant wobble. Worse, moving the wand quickly can confuse the controller, which often and irritatingly misinterprets basic left/right looks as a want to turn around 180 degrees.

Xbox 360

Aside from the lack of keyboard/mouse input, the Xbox 360 version of Global Offensive is functionally identical to that on PS3 -- the new radial user-interface on both platforms is as elegant as it is on PC. Because it’s a hardcore competitive game, Counter-Strike blocks party chat in an effort to combat cheating, forcing players with headsets to play with friends or brave the Wild West of obscenity that is Xbox Live.

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PES 2013 Adds Licensed Brazilian Teams for the First Time

Konami has officially announced a new licensing agreement that will bring 20 teams from across Brazil to the Pro Evolution Soccer series for the first time.

Some of the region's most prestigious football clubs, including Flamengo, Corinthians, Sao Paolo FC, Palmerias and Santos, will now feature in Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.

"The Latin American region, particularly Brazil, continues to grow tremendously for us, so it's important we bring teams and licenses from this region," said Erik Bladinieres, Director of Latin America for Konami. "Bringing in these teams from Brazil, along with the Copa Libertadores license, makes PES 2013 the most authentic soccer experience available in the market."

The full list of teams includes: Flamengo, Corinthians, São Paulo, Santos, Portuguesa, Internacional, Palmeiras, Fluminense, Ponte Preta, Coritiba, Grêmio, Vasco, Atlético Mieiro, Bahia, Atlético Goianiense, Sport, Figueirense, Náutico, Botafogo, and Cruzeiro.

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The Expendables 2 vs Toy Story: Action Heroes vs Action Figures

Pixar's Toy Story series is beloved by children of all ages and contains some of the most human and heartwarming moments in the history of CGI animation. You already knew that. But did you also realise that the trilogy of big screen outings for Buzz and Woody contains enough balls-out action set pieces to recreate the trailer for The Expendables 2, shot for armour-piercing shot? Check the two trailers out below and find out what happens when action heroes are replaced by action figures. Spoiler alert: Jean-Claude Van Damme is just a cuddly teddy bear either way.

The Original Expendables 2 Trailer

Pixar's The Expendables 2 Parody Trailer

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5 Includes Mustafar, Black Sun and Republic Commando

Per usual, Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ supervising director, Dave Filoni, went big at the main panel for the series at Star Wars Celebration VI today. And that was before George Lucas shocked the audience with a surprise appearance!

Accompanied by visual effects supervisor Joel Aron, Filoni debuted a ton of new clips and revealed many new storylines for the new season.

One big plot turn in Season 5? Anakin Skywalker helps start the Rebellion! That’s right, the future Darth Vader sets in motion events that will later come to be his bane.

As Filoni explained, pockets of rebels have begun to appear in the galaxy, and “Clones have come to be a symbol of imperial tyranny as much as the Droids have,” as so many systems find themselves in the midst of the war and the toll it takes. Filoni noted, “Anakin suggests to train these pockets of rebels themselves,” feeling they would be better off at least getting the rebels to work for the Republic and able to take on the Separatists themselves. The planet Onderon will be a key part of this storyline, as we see the rebels there in action, including Lux Bonteri, who we learn is originally from that planet.

We saw a beautifully animated scene set on the planet Onderon, as Ahsoka and Lux work alongside an Onderon female helping coordinate a massive fight with Battle Droids. The rebels attack on winged creatures, along with mounted beasts that look almost like a horse meets a dinosaur, with some very impressive tracking shots through the battle, with another rebel leader tossing thermal detonators down, blowing Droids up. Ahsoka’s ally is a sniper and she calmly takes out one enemy after another from the perch she, Ahsoka and Lux are on – until Separatist ships fly in, firing at them, leading to them leaping onto the winged creatures to escape.

The next scene we saw was a dialogue-heavy one, set in Anakin’s bedroom, which we were seeing for the first time. As Filoni noted, Anakin has a lot more stuff/possessions than other Jedi, including mechanics he’s tinkering with and Podracing posters and mementos.

Filoni said this scene was meant to touch upon what Obi-Wan knows or doesn’t know about Anakin and Padme’s relationship (and secret marriage). In the scene, Obi-Wan comes to speak to Anakin, knowing he’s agitated about a man from Padme’s past who has come back into her life. Obi-Wan cautions Anakin about his feelings for Padme, saying he understands having those feelings (he brings up Satine), but that it’s important not to give into them. When Obi-Wan suggests that Anakin be prepared if a relationship begins between Padme and this man, Anakin angrily replies, “They have no relationship!” Says Obi-Wan, “Then we should have no problems, should we?”

Several in the audience cheered at an Easter Egg in this scene – an image of Podracer Ben Quadinaros (a Phantom Menace character who’s developed one of those specific Star Wars cult fandoms) on Anakin’s wall.

Filoni noted that they were always fighting the perception that animation is inherently humorous and have, “Moved ourselves to more dramatic [material].” When it comes to the central figure in The Clone Wars, Filoni noted, “Anakin at this point is a lot quicker to anger at this point.” Initially, when the Clone Wars began, he saw it as an adventure, but “The longer the war has gone, the more it has beaten the Jedi down and the more Jedi die.” Unaware that Palpatine “will never let them win the war” until it has served his own purposes, Anakin, “has a lot less patience. He has a pretty interesting season.”

As for Ahsoka, Aron noted she’s “Older and wiser.” With Anakin and Ahsoka, Filoni said, “They’re master and apprentice, but ultimately she’s his friend. She’s like his little sister." Ahsoka, Filoni felt, understands Anakin’s anger more than anyone and tries to give him room.

Two scenes were shown from an upcoming arc focused on R2-D2. Filoni noted that as the series has gotten darker, the droids still allow for there to be comic relief and lighter moments and offer “the fun and sense of adventure” that makes Star Wars so appealing.

The Artoo storyline has the Astromech droid teamed with several other droids, “Tasked with infiltrating the separatist fleet to get an encryption model that will help crack this code.” Filoni said this storyline was, “One of our best adventures of all time.”

The first scene from this storyline had a very fun nod for fans, as the ship carting Artoo, the other droids, and a very small alien leading them ends up in the middle of a comet storm – in what Filoni admitted was influenced by the comets in the original version of Disneyland’s Star Tours ride.

The second clip from this storyline offered a huge crowd pleaser – a Republic Commando in action! We were shown concept art of this Commando, a new character, who has a full beard and – out of his armor – wears a very fun, classic Star Wars style costume, with 1970s influences.

There was a cameo by Republic Commandos in Season 5, but they weren't involved in any fighting. But in the scene we saw, this new character was in his full Republic Commando gear, deftly taking out a whole base full of Battle Droids himself, working as a distraction for Artoo and the other droids, who continued to move forward through the battle.

Filoni also referenced an unusual episode coming up called “The Voice” , which will be “a whole exploration of Moebius and his art style, which was a big influence on Star Wars. It’s weird and abstract. Really experimental stuff.”

Next, we got the clip that was pure “Holy crap” fan bait, beginning with the reveal that we will be going to Mustafar in Season 5 and on that infamous lava planet, we’d meet the Falleen and Black Sun, the crime group first introduced in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Filoni cautioned we wouldn’t meet that story’s villain, Xizor, but we did see art of Falleen wearing the distinctive hairstyle and type of clothing Xizor is known for.

As for the scene itself, it has so much to geek out over. It begins with a ship approaching Mustafar, and inside we see Darth Maul, Savage Opress and Death Watch leader Pre Viszla, all working together. As the ship lands and opens, an entire squad of Death Watch fly out on their rocket packs. It should be noted that Darth Maul seemed to have entirely new legs! He no longer had the overtly robot legs we’ve seen before, and was wearing pants – though who knows what mechanics were underneath them. In the scene, Maul walks up to one of the Falleen, telling him, “We request an audience with our leaders.” The Falleen laughs and replies, “It’ll be your funeral.”

The final scene focused on Bo-Katan, the Death Watch member (voiced by Katee Sackhoff) introduced last season. While we still don’t know the specifics, it’s obvious there are some big divisions between Death Watch/Mandalorians this season, as the scene involved Obi-Wan (wearing Death Watch armor!) being taken as a prisoner by a group of Death Watch members – whose armor is distinctively colored red, not blue. Bo-Katan, leading a small group of blue-armored Death Watch attack the men holding Obi-Wan, in a scene that has Bo-Katan kicking a lot of ass. At one point, she shoots a line around one of her enemies, wraps it to another and manages to set off the second guy’s rocket pack, sending both of them flying off to their doom.

After the aforementioned surprise appearance by George Lucas occurred, the audience was treated to another showing of the brand new Clone Wars: Season 5 trailer, which debuted last night at Celebration and should be online by the end of the weekend.

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DC Announces More Before Watchmen

With Before Watchmen climbing up the comic book sales charts, it's no surprise that DC Comics has unveiled plans for yet another Before Watchmen mini-series -- this time focusing on that creepy old baddie, Moloch. The announcement was made at DC's All Access panel at Fan Expo Toronto.

Before Watchmen: Moloch will only run two issues, written by Nite Owl and Dr. Manhattan scribe J. Michael Straczynski, with art by 100 Bullets' Eduardo Risso. Moloch #1 will hit on November 7 with issue #2 to follow on December 26. It's unknown if the series will include pieces of the Crimson Corsair back-up stories that have been running throughout the Before Watchmen titles.

Moloch has made appearances in other Before Watchmen books thus far, including Comedian and Ozymandias. Could there be more Before Watchmen on the way?

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.

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Strike Back: Cinemax Season One Blu-ray Review

It would be easy to call Cinemax's original series, Strike Back, derivative entertainment. After all, the series is clearly borrowing more than a few pages from franchises like Rambo, The Expendables, 24, MacGyver, James Bond, Call of Duty and literally dozens of others. And usually this sort of obvious creative theft warrants more than a few rightfully deserved criticisms. But somehow Strike Back defies the odds.

The show is so well shot and executed, the flaws aren't nearly as distracting as one would expect. Instead, Strike Back is a balls-to-wall hardcore brainless action series that plays like Roger Corman, by way of big-budget popcorn entertainment. And while the results are often flimsy in the story department, the series serves up loads of intense, pulse-pounding mayhem.

Despite the “Season One” moniker, Strike Back: Cinemax Season One is actually the second series of a BBC show of the same name. As it turns out, the original series was so popular that it spawned this show, a joint venture between Cinemax and the British network, Sky1. This version of Strike Back is largely a reboot of the show, with only one major character returning, and only for a few brief moments. In the UK, this season of Strike Back is referred to as Strike Back: Project Dawn.

For those unaware, Strike Back follows an elite team of soldiers working for a super secret branch of MI6 called Section 20. The season is broken into five two-part episodes. Each episode traditionally deals with the usual Call of Duty-style action as our heroes hunt the bad guys, mostly terrorists. The beauty of the two-part system is that if you don't end up liking one particular arch, no worries. Another one pops up in just an episode or two.

The characters of the series are mostly flimsy one-dimensional cliches, from the womanizing super solider to his strict “by-the-book” partner – we've seen it all before. But instead of pretending the show has any real deep meaning or value to add to these tired archetypes, Strike Back focuses on eye candy of all varieties, be it extreme action set pieces, gratuitous nudity (just about every woman throws herself at the main character) or nasty war violence. The obvious tone adds a sort of comic book feel that lends itself to overall enjoyment of the series, despite the story and character limitations.

Whichever way you cut it, Strike Back makes no excuses for itself – it's a slam-bang James Bond action series, with soldiers instead of classy, well-dressed spies. And the show delivers just enough awesome to keep things fun. The show is dumb, but it seems very aware of that fact, and sometimes that's quite refreshing in its own way.

Strike Back: Cinemax Season One arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO and Cinemax Home Entertainment. The series is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, encoded in 1080p/AVC and mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The season's 10 episodes are spread across four discs.

Shot in HD, Strike Back looks incredibly clean and sharp, with a nuanced theatrical appearance that adds an A-grade charm to the B-level entertainment. The encode is detailed and colorful, with not a hint of artifacting, banding or other annoying distractions. Image depth can get a little flat at times, and some minor motion blur was detected, but this is an otherwise terrific presentation right on par with other HBO releases.

Audio is even sharper, rich with lively atmosphere, perfect mixing and crystal clear dialogue. Action cues are aggressive and engaging, layered with awesome surround usage and intense bass. Rarely, if ever, does this track disappoint. So turn down the lights and crank up your receiver and let Strike Back knock you off your socks.

Extras for this release include five cast and crew commentary tracks spread throughout the season. The tracks are pretty solid, if a little repetitive. The set also includes a DVD and Digital Copy of the season -- a nice added bonus I wish were a standard on all TV releases.

Strike Back: Season One is a mindless action series, but it's just as enjoyable as B-movie thrillers like Taken or TV shows like 24. With a pretty heavy comic book/James Bond feel, the show delivers plenty of fun, plenty of action, and plenty of wild violence, sex and mayhem.

"Never recreate from your memory. Always imagine new places!" Follow R.L. Shaffer on Twitter, Facebook and MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

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House and ER Vets Head to Falling Skies

Deadline is reporting that House alum Robert Sean Leonard has landed his first post-House role on TNT's alien invasion series, Falling Skies.

Check out IGN's review of the Falling Skies Season 2 finale!

In a role that seems like a fun departure from Leonard's Dr. Wilson on House, the actor will play "Roger Kadar, PhD - an obsessive but gifted scientist who runs Charleston’s power grid and lives underground with his pet rats. The children of New Charleston, intrigued by his cool science toys and unusual pets, eventually dub him 'The Rat King.'"

Leonard and Reuben.

Additionally, Falling Skies star Noah Wyle has got to be excited about this second bit of casting news, as his former ER co-star Gloria Reuben will join the series in Season 3 as well; playing "Marina Perlata, an aide to Wyle’s Tom Mason, who has been one of the leaders from the human resistance movement against an invading alien force. Attractive and a very put together woman, Marina is extremely intelligent and her political knowledge and experience could prove extremely helpful to Tom."

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Alleged Heavenly Sword 2 Concept Art Leaks

Concept art for what was supposedly planned to be Heavenly Sword 2 has leaked online showing off Nariko in what appears to be a desert setting.

A series of nine images appeared on AllGamesBeta purporting to be from a planned sequel to the 2007 hack and slash adventure that never materialised.

Though they haven't been confirmed, the art style seems pretty similar to the supporting artwork that we saw before the original title was released. A sequel to Heavenly Sword has been talked about for years; the game was originally planned as being the first in a trilogy, but since Ninja Theory has recently focused on multi-platform development, it seems increasingly unlikely that a follow-up to the PS3 exclusive will happen.

Ninja Theory is currently working on the Devil May Cry reboot, DmC, which is due out on January 15, 2013. They previously worked on Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, the art style of which was very clearly inspired by Heavenly Sword.

You can check out some of the leaked concept art below, or head over to AGB for more.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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X-Men Legacy #272 Review

Technically X-Men Legacy can still be considered a tie-in to Avengers vs. X-Men, if only because it's still taking place concurrently with the events of that series. But Christos Gage has plucked Rogue away from the battle and placed her in a "fish out of water" scenario on an alien world. At this point I'm growing weary of excess AvX tie-in books, so this arc is a breath of fresh air, pointless as it may be in the long run.

Rogue became acquainted with the Thundercats-esque Vray last time, so this issue switches things up by making her a prisoner of the insectoid Hive instead. Basically, this arc is Rogue's chance to play John Carter of Mars and use her great powers save an entire planet from a devastating war. The only snafu is that her borrowed Ms. Marvel abilities have run out.

I'm enjoying the fun, almost pulpy tone of this arc. The John Carter comparison is apt, as Gage is busy merging the X-Men franchise with a more old-school brand of science fiction than the norm. And fortunately, issue #272 is less burned by unnecessary narration than #271 was. While there's a bit too much dialogue at times, this still makes for a smoother reading experience. Gage seems intent on using both factions and their opposing philosophies to comment on Rogue's own troubled psyche. However, the connection is a bit too weak and tenuous to succeed. This is a fun, adventurous conflict that doesn't function on the deeper level it seems to strive for.

Rafa Sandoval returns to the series for this arc, and unfortunately his pencils are mixed once again. His work is more detailed than before, and he delivers some engaging action scenes and general design work. However, Sandoval's chronic problems with female hair remain, and his tendency to reuse facial expressions and poses can be aggravating.

We now know Gage's run will be ending shortly. Unfortunately, that fact may be the biggest flaw with this whole arc. With so little time left, is it really worth ignoring the rest of the Legacy cast for what is ultimately a fun but forgettable field trip?

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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The Invincible Iron Man #523 Review

It can be draining to review Invincible Iron Man on an issue-by-issue basis, both because the series never varies tremendously in quality and because it's the sort of book that requires the reader to take the long view when making an analysis. Some chapters are just slower and less eventful than others, and issue #523 happens to be one of the slower ones.

The same running threads continue in this chapter, with most of the focus directed at Tony's attempts to undermine Mandarin's empire and Pepper's efforts to deduce the identity of the new Iron Man. At the moment the former is proving more interesting than the latter. There's too little indication as to what exactly Rhodey is up to with his antics. Is the whole thing an elaborate ruse to get Pepper looped in on Tony's plans? Surely there has to be a more direct way of accomplishing that.

In Mandarin Land, Fraction delivers some fun interaction between Tony and his rogues as he works to enlist them in his plans. The balance of power is slowly shifting as Tony and Zeke become more proactive and Mandarin shows the strain of his lofty position. There are even hints that Mandarin himself isn't the end-all, be-all villain of this storyline. It's interesting to see how many new seeds are blossoming even this late into Fraction's run.

Little has changed regarding the art, which has been the case for years at this point. Unfortunately, Salvador Larroca doesn't have the opportunity to break out his altered flashback style as he did in issue #522. Still, the issue offers a nice mix of simple character interaction, high-octane, armored action, and sci-fi imagery. Oddly, the one visual element of the book that has changed is the cover design. It's a positive change, but it seems weird to suddenly make the change in the middle of an arc and the tail end of a four-year saga.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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The Huntress is Coming to Arrow

Arrow is gaining yet another DC Comics character. EW.com reveals that the new CW series, based on Green Arrow, will be introducing Helena Bertinelli, AKA The Huntress, for a multi-episode story arc. Australian actress Jessica De Gouw will play the character, who will be introduced as a vigilante and a potential love interest for Oliver Queen.

The official character description says Helena is “set on destroying her father’s organized crime empire. But Helena’s blind pursuit of revenge will put her on a collision course with the Arrow.”

Jessica De Gouw will play The Huntress in Arrow

EW says Huntress will likely first be seen in the sixth episode of Arrow, on the heels of the introductions of China White, Deadshot and the mysterious character played by Torchwood’s John Barrowman.

The Huntress was previously played by Ashley Scott in the TV series Birds of Prey.

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Sonic Saga Vol. 1: Darkest Storm Preview

Archie is launching a new trade paperback series for everyone's favorite blue hedgehog, dubbed Sonic Saga. The volumes will collect classic Sonic stories from throughout Archie's history, beginning with selected stories from Sonic the Hedgehog #162-167. Here's the official summary from Archie:

"Sonic’s epic adventures aren’t just stories – they’re SAGAS! Blast into the action at Sonic speed with the debut of the all-new Sonic Saga series! Sonic and his friends are put to the ultimate test as evil forces converge!  The immortal tyrant Mammoth Mogul is released from his Chaos Emerald prison and the wicked wizard Ixis Naugus returns from his exile! As the armies gather, it’s all-out war in The Darkest Storm! Sonic Saga Vol. 1 collects selected stories from Sonic the Hedgehog #162-167."

Darkest Storm goes on sale tomorrow for a meager $11.99.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.

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Doctor Who, Hellraiser Comics Find New Blood

Last year, Image Comics launched a great new series called Witch Doctor, which we adored here at IGN Comics. Now, Witch Doctor scribe Brandon Seifert is prepping the second volume of the series alongside tackling the comic book adventures of some iconic genre franchises: Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Doctor Who. We caught up with him to see what he's unleashing on us this fall.

IGN Comics: First, congrats on all the new work. We’ll talk about this again closer to release, but what’s the status of the next volume of Witch Doctor?

Brandon Seifert: Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #1 (of 6) goes on sale November 28! I’m excited to finally be back — it’s been a little while since we did Vol. 1, but we wanted to make sure to “come correct” on this. So the whole mini-series is already written, and issues #1-3 were all drawn before we even announced the release date!

IGN: That's great to hear. Now, how did the Hellraiser and Doctor Who gigs come about?

Seifert: If we’re going to be perfectly honest, they came about because of Allison Baker — the co-publisher of MonkeyBrain Comics, and wife of writer Chris Roberson. Allison and Chris have always been super supportive of me and my work. Chris has written for both BOOM! and IDW, and Allison put in a good word for me at both of those companies. In the case of BOOM!, it led to them offering me a writing gig on the Hellraiser Annual that came out in April. In IDW’s case, I got in touch with them about something unrelated — and found out that Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall had read Witch Doctor and thought my handling of that eccentric doctor character and his weird sci-fi adventures would translate well into me doing something on Doctor Who. And it so happened that I’d already pitched some ideas to Who editor Denton Tipton a few months before, because Doctor Who is one of my favorite things ever!

So — Allison, thanks again!

IGN: I’ll admit that I’m not a Hellraiser fan. Like, at all. So to that end, what would you tell someone like me – who loves your work on Witch Doctor – is a reason to pick up Hellraiser?

Seifert: I feel like the Hellraiser comics are very different from the movies. The movies are very self-contained, like horror movies tend to be — they have to be, if they’re going to give you any real sense of peril for the characters. When you’ve got a horror franchise that’s based on a hero rather than a villain, like Scream or something, that’s different because you’ve got a protagonist who you can reasonably expect is going to survive the movie — because they’re survived the past ones. The Hellraiser films aren’t like that.

But the comic series is about both the villain — Pinhead — and about the heroine — Kirsty Cotton. Kirsty’s been the heroine throughout the comic series — which kind of makes it less of a straight-up horror story, and more of a multi-genre piece. The Hellraiser comics have horror, but they’ve also got action and drama — same as Witch Doctor. So when I sit down and write a Hellraiser comic set in this universe, I’d argue it’s honestly more like Witch Doctor than like a Hellraiser film — although without the sci-fi element, and with way less humor.

As a writer, I like exploring the ramifications of things. In Witch Doctor, that shows up as we examine classic monsters you feel like you know, but then reveal there’s lots more going on with them than you expect, and it’s all tied into the darkest corners of real-world biology. In Hellraiser: The Road Below, I’m doing the same kind of exploration, but it’s with Kirsty Cotton, the choices she’s made and the power she now has.

IGN: What’s the general plot of Hellraiser: The Road Below?

Seifert: In the last couple years of the Hellraiser ongoing comic, Kirsty Cotton has gone from being the “final girl” of the first two movies, to being a Cenobite-hunter — and now, to being a Cenobite herself! Pinhead stepped down — and convinced her to become his replacement, so she could “change the system from the inside.” But when Kirsty became the new Pinhead, she realized that if Hell is evil, it’s a necessary evil.

Hellraiser: The Road Below is a sort of “year one” story, picking up really early in Kirsty’s time as the new Pinhead. This is Kirsty still really committed to carrying out Hell’s work, catching the people who deserve to be punished and bringing them back to Hell. She’s really convinced she’s doing something good for the universe... but there’s ramifications for her actions she’s not expecting. And when she’s summoned by a frightened mother who wanted to make a deal with a devil to save her child from a blood feud that’s almost wiped out their family, Kirsty’s going to learn just how true that whole thing about Hell and good intentions is!

IGN: While I’m not one of them, Hellraiser has a very passionate fanbase. How do you balance bringing your own vision to the story while staying true to what the fans want/expect from a Hellraiser story?

Seifert: That’s honestly hard, because I can’t really guess what Hellraiser fans “want,” and it’s easy to second-guess myself if I start doing that. At the end of the day, with Hellraiser or anything else, the only thing I can do is make sure I’m telling a story that I want to tell, and a story that I, as a reader and fan, want to read. And I’m doing stuff in The Road Below that I’ve wanted to read since I first got into Clive Barker back in high school — so I think that part is going well!

IGN: How involved is Clive Barker in the ongoing work of the Hellraiser comics?

Seifert: Hellraiser is definitely still Clive’s baby, and even in Hellraiser books like The Road Below that he’s not actually co-writing, he’s still there behind the scenes reading and vetting everything, and bringing things back onto the track he wants them on if they wander off it. And the ongoing Hellraiser title — that’s Clive. He’s co-writing it, and the other people he brings on are there to help implement his vision for the world and the characters.

IGN: Which Hellraiser movie is your favorite and why?

Seifert: I think the first one is still pretty unmatched — but I’ve got a lot of affinity for Hellbound: Hellraiser 2. This is the one where you got to see Hell, where you got to see people turned into Cenobites and where you got to see the Cenobites’ god, Leviathan. That’s my jam, right there. One of my favorite things about Clive’s work, the thing I found more inspiring when I got super-into his writing when I was in high school and my brain was all squishy and influence-able, was his worldbuilding and the scope of his vision.

The original Hellraiser is great, and it’s definitely the scariest movie in the series — but it doesn’t have the scope or the depth of Hellbound. Hellbound actually gets into the world of the Cenobites, who they are, where they come from and what they do — and that’s the sort of thing that interests me, as a fan and a writer.

Head over to Page 2 for some Doctor Who and Witch Doctor goodness!

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Why eSports Are Like Dubstep and Pro Gaming Isn't For Gamers

There’s something in the air at the World Championship Series StarCraft II Oceania Finals at the Australian Technology Park. It is, in fact, the roof of the Australian Technology Park. Or was, rather. 100km/h winds had blown a section of it off the converted locomotive workshop earlier.

But there’s definitely a buzz down here, and it’s not just the iron sheets above us vibrating as they cling to the roof while the gale outside tries to peel them off like a stubborn nether-hair from a bar of soap. People seem excited. Excited about StarCraft II. They’re sitting in clusters fixated on the big screen while a man brings around platters of tiny chicken schnitzels on tiny pieces of toast. The crowd is small today, but it’s a Friday. The show isn’t open to the public until tomorrow, when we’re assured things will get a lot more boisterous. All 600 tickets for the event were snapped up inside of 11 minutes. Tomorrow the crowd of people cheering on a man in a small glass booth playing a video game against another man in a different glass booth will be a lot larger and louder.

Larger. Louder.

There’s very little about this experience that would seem real to your everyday everyman. It barely makes sense to me. I’m watching two people I don’t know battling against one another on a video game I’ve never played. The commentators aren’t called commentators, I can’t quite figure out why everyone is cheering and I don’t actually understand what anybody is talking about.

This must be how my wife feels when I play video games at home. Or perhaps a more potent example would be what my sister feels like when she watches cricket. She doesn’t understand the game and she doesn’t understand the rules.

Two of the expert StarCraft II shoutcasters brought in to provide commentary for the event, Nick ‘Tasteless’ Plott and Dan ‘Artosis’ Stemkoski, laugh when I confirm with them they don’t know anything about cricket.

“No, we don’t!” says Plott. “Basically our jobs are to try and make that as accessible as possible to a viewer like you, for instance. We’re just trying to translate, ‘Okay what’s this guy trying to do? What’s this guy’s dilemma? What’s the other guy’s advantage? We’re there to navigate the viewer through the experience so they can enjoy it.”

Thus far I’m still working on volume. When the commentators start shouting I figure something exciting is happening. Plott and Stemkoski are the commentators I’d know all about if I knew anything about StarCraft. The pair are currently based in South Korea.

“

[In South Korea] if I say I’m a StarCraft commentator that doesn’t require an explanation.

“Out there,” says Plott, “if I say I’m a StarCraft commentator that doesn’t require an explanation. If I say I’m a pro-gamer that doesn’t require an explanation. They did a poll a few years ago where they asked young Korean boys, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and the number one response was professional gamer.”

“We live in this world where it one of the most watched things on TV, completely culturally accepted. It’s not a taboo, it’s not weird and there’s an ecosystem there that supports it.”

Peter Neate is 31. He’s from Brisbane. For three years, however, Peter Neate lived in South Korea and everyone called him Legionnaire.

After qualifying for the first World Cyber Games main event in 2001 Neate found himself in South Korea.

“I went overseas to Seoul in Korea and I was the only Australian to win a match,” says Neate. “They set up a show match afterwards and I was the only one to win versus a Korean pro-gamer. They offered me [a chance] to stay, just out of the blue. I really did not expect it and I didn’t really understand just how big professional gaming was in Korea at the time, so I turned it down.”

“I did a bit of research after that; I started playing a lot more. The next year, WCG came around again, I qualified, I went to Korea, I extended my Visa out for the full three months and I just went around trying to play as much as I could. We got very fortunate, I was there with another Australian... we got picked up by a sponsor a couple of days before our Visas were to expire.

“We were sponsored for three months and we played non-stop. At the end of the three months there was a big tournament – 512 players I believe – in Korea and I went through to the top eight where I got noticed by one of the professional teams. I became friends with them and they asked me to join so I leaped at the opportunity. From that time on I spent three years playing professionally in Korea.”

Neate out of retirement for another crack.

Neate illustrates just how hardcore South Koreans are about eSports.

“Back then they had an event down in Busan, the second largest city in Korea,” he says. “They did a custom built stadium, on the beach; they brought the players in on rafts, up onto the beach.”

“There were 90,000 spectators. So if you think about that, it’s like an AFL Grand Final. That many people were turning up just to watch a computer game.

That’s Australian Rules football, for non-antipodeans.

“It’s amazing,” Neate continues. “It’s really hard for people who haven’t seen anything like it to understand how big it is. In Korea, it is considered a sport; it’s a real sport, it’s the fourth biggest sport in Korea after soccer, baseball and basketball I believe.”

Neate retired after three years, conceding many players stay in the scene for longer.

“It’s a full-time job over there, so a lot of Koreans stick with it for a lot longer,” he says. “For me it was long enough. I’d done everything I’d wanted, my brother was getting married and I’d never actually met his fiancé because I’d been over there for so long. I’d had a lot fun, I’d travelled around everywhere and I just felt it was time to move on and get back to normal life.”

Normal is probably not a term you’d apply to the life of fellow finalist Andrew Pender. Pender has a nickname for his nickname, but that’s not what makes his life so fascinating. No, it’s because Andrew ‘mOOnGLaDe’ Pender, or GLaDe, quit his job to play StarCraft II eight to 12 hours a day in the lead up to this tournament.

Pender’s first real-time strategy game was the original StarCraft.

“As that went on Brood War came out and I continued to play during high school and I stumbled across pro gaming on the Internet, and I thought that was an amazing thing at the time,” he says. “That was the thing I wanted to be as a kid. Pro-gaming; it sounded so amazing.”

Dream job(?)

“From there after StarCraft I jumped into WarCraft III as fast as I could and started competitive playing there in the hopes that one day I could be a pro gamer, but at the time it was only a hobby. For six years I was competitive playing WarCraft III and I managed to travel around the world for it and do rather well, nothing too amazing, and then StarCraft II was on the horizon so I quit WarCraft III, worked for a couple of years until StarCraft II came out and then pretty much put all my time into StarCraft II and tried my best to go pro gamer with it.

“Basically from there I started to do very well and I joined a pretty good team and I managed to travel around the world with a salary and make some money and some fame and do pretty well. For the last two years I’ve just been travelling around the world for StarCraft II.”

The prospect of being paid to play games might be a tempting one for many. It sounds like the perfect job for someone who loves games. However, one of the more interesting things is how few games pro gamers actually play.

“If you’re a pro gamer you’re probably only playing StarCraft,” says Plott.

Stemkoski agrees; he spends his free gaming time playing StarCraft too.

“Yeah, it’s definitely mostly StarCraft,” he says. “I find that I’m so involved in StarCraft, I enjoy it so much that I find if I have some free time I don’t necessarily want to pick up a PlayStation controller. I want to go and play some more StarCraft. There’s a reason why this is the biggest eSport; it’s because it’s the best game.”

Pender tends to avoid other games too.

“

I used to play many, many games before I became a professional gamer. Once you become a professional gamer it’s a lot harder to just jump on another game.

“I used to be a gamer, he says. “I used to play a lot more other games; I used to play many, many games before I became a professional gamer. Once you become a professional gamer it’s a lot harder to just jump on another game.”

“In the back of your mind you’re worried that it’s going to affect your StarCraft, or your mouse movements or whatever. But that’s not really the main reason I don’t play many other games. Currently I don’t have time for it, and when I do have time for it I kinda don’t want to be in front of the computer, more than anything. I like to do physical things. Anything but be on a computer.

“I do love exercising. I do a lot of boxing; not so much the getting hit in the head, but the training for it I really enjoy.”

There are other misconceptions about pro gaming.

Though probably not ones shared by these rabid fans.

“I think that the biggest misconception about pro gamers and especially about this industry as a whole is that it’s a bunch of geeks or nerds or something like that,” says Stemkoski. “We have such a diverse line-up of humans that play this game and complete professionally at it.”

“We had people that worked at McDonalds, we had people that were bodybuilders, we had people that play basketball, just every type of person. There are dog catchers that turned into professional video game players. This is not something like some of these other sports where, ‘Well, you have to be born this tall to do this’. No, anyone can do it.”

So where to now for eSport? Speaking to GamesIndustry International at Gamescom Riot Games co-founder Brandon Beck believes that the popularity of eSports could grow to the point where video games are actually played at the Olympics.

“We don't have our sights set on replacing soccer right now, but we definitely think that eSports has a place as a large, important, mainstream competitive activity,” he said. “I fundamentally believe that eSports will be an Olympic event in my lifetime.”

Plott and Stemkoski stop a few miles short of anything as monstrously optimistic as this, but both agree eSports are on the rise.

First, you win the StarCraft. Then you get the power. Then you get the women.

“It’s gonna take some more time,” says Stemkoski. “Some places are starting to catch up, like China and Germany, and to a lesser extent Sweden. These places are starting to get more and more there. You need to get the word out, you need a lot of tournaments, and the more that you have the more people will see it and the more it’ll be in the news.”

Plott picks up from Stemkoski.

“The way I would look at it is, are you familiar with dubstep?” he asks. “So like, dubstep started out in the UK and it’s actually been around for a long period of time now. Imagine the UK is to dubstep what South Korea is to eSports.”

“

Imagine the UK is to dubstep what South Korea is to eSports.

“They had the right club scene, they had the right attitude; progressive, electronic music was taking over there. Nowadays everybody knows what dubstep is right, but it just took time for it to catch on. If you imagine video games as music, I feel like eventually there’s just gonna be a point in time where this is kinda a genre of gaming that’s just gonna take over everywhere.

“I mean, two years ago this was so niche outside of South Korea it was mind-boggling how long it took me to explain to anybody how big my job was. Now I’ve ping-ponged all over the globe, we’re going to Germany right after this, and I would say I don’t know whether it’s going to be two years, five years or 10 years, it’s gonna be a genre of gaming. “

Looking at just how heavily the likes of Black Ops II are becoming geared towards the competitive player, I’m inclined to agree. It’s not going to matter if you or I are interested or not. Enough people are.

I leave to find the foul weather has knocked over a tree just outside the building. If a tree falls in the park and everyone is inside watching two men play StarCraft II, does it make a sound?

Apparently not.

While veteran Peter Neate’s tournament was ended early, Andrew Pender came in as runner-up in the Australian National championship and was the overall winner of the Oceania Finals the following day. He and his fellow finalist will advance to the StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Final at the Battle.net World Championship in Shanghai, China in November.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can chat to him about games, cars and other stuff on IGN here or find him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN Australia Facebook community.

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Report: Leaked Dragon Age 3 Questionnaire

Details from an unauthenticated survey for Dragon Age 3 have appeared online. The third part of the series has yet to be announced by series publisher Electronic Arts.

The survey (summarised on NeoGaf) apparently contains a summary of the game, asking readers to highlight the parts they liked or found appealing.

It evokes a world of chaos. The empire of Orlais is riven by civil war; the Chantry is divided; the Templar order has broken away; the Mage circles have rebelled. Some unseen force is manipulating events, bringing about disorder and destruction. Out of this confusion emerges The Inquisition.

If the survey is true, it seems that players will be cast as the leader of this group. One version of the alleged survey reads: "Make your player a rogue, warrior or mage and set up your crew from up to ten (!) complex companions to lead them against those who attack you by systematically spying on, revealing and destroying them."

Other questions hint at possible titles for the third installment, including Dragon Age 3: The Breach, Dragon Age 3: Inquisition, and Dragon Age 3: Apocrypha. It also contains concept art for potential companions in the game.

Potential companions in Dragon Age 3?

We've reached out to EA for comment.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

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