One of the biggest surprises that came out of last week's The Game Awards was Hades from Supergiant Games. This is the fourth game from the fiercely small studio, with the excellent Bastion [Gaming Nexus score 9 out of 10], Transistor [9 out of 10], and Pyre [9 out of 10] formulating one of the most consistently high-rated portfolios across the entire gaming industry. The surprise within the surprise was that Hades went into early access exclusively on the newly opened Epic Store the same night it was announced.

In Hades, you're the (possibly) prodigal son of the lord of the underworld, Greek pantheon-style. Everybody wants to pay the ferryman to arrive safely in the afterlife, but it looks like this son is looking for a way to leave the nest. Can you blame him? Even though the father says he won't stop his son, it looks like every other creature in Hades does want to stop him. There's a whole lot of hacking and slashing going on in this trailer, but the folks that made Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre know how to layer on an incredible story, too, and they always manage to tell it in slightly unexpected ways—whether it's told through Bastion's gravelly voiced Wild West voice overs, Transistor's date-your-weapon love affair, or Pyre's sportscasted globe trotting tale of freedom.

Wait, Hades is another bat-out-of-hell action-RPG from Greg Kasavin's crew? Well, I'd roll my eyes harder if his entire body of work was slipping.

We return to that isometric view from above, following the son's roguelike recombinant path through the awesomely illustrated underworld. Supergiant Games has such a distinctive art style at this point that, during The Game Awards, I'd returned to my seat during the middle of this trailer and said, "Huh, this looks like a Supergiant Games game." 

Hades is $20 for Early Access, and you'll only find it in the Epic Store. The developers' exodus from Steam has begun.

Rocket League has an update scheduled for later today (1:00 PM EST) that will hit all platforms.  Included will be four bug fixes that clean up car visuals, flipping issues, camera shake option not working properly and a bug with the inventory issue.

In addition, the team Psyonix team listed two known issues they are currently working on including No XP being awarded and the Most Recent filter issue with inventory.  Below is the full list form the official page:

BUG FIXES

General

• Corrected rear wheel placement on the ‘’99 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34’
• The force that flips cars into upright position will no longer accidentally trigger during dodges
• Fixed an issue causing the Camera Shake option to not be respected in all contexts
• Inventory window will no longer disappear when searching an item name

KNOWN ISSUES

• The "No XP awarded. Minimum score threshold not met." notification may appear despite earning enough XP in a matchThis is only a notification error; your account is still earning the appropriate amount of XP
• ‘Most Recent’ filter option may not sort your inventory correctly

Rockstar recently announced plans to open the Rockstar Warehouse as a place to sell game related items either inspired by or found in their titles.  The first game to launch since then was Red Dead Redemption 2, and the warehouse was loaded with items from the Outlaw Essentials Collection to support the game.

Today some additional items were added, including a Domino Set ($49.99), Pendleton Blanket ($199.99), Dynamite USB Charger ($29.99 - DO NOT take on a PLANE), Leather Valet Tray ($49.99), Metal Bottle Opener ($24.99), Match Box Slipcase ($19.99) and three metal 3D puzzles ($7.99-$11.99).  Some cool collectibles with a handful at a decent price, so keep an eye out here or at the Warehouse as new items continue to be added.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, adventure gamers: Child runs across vast, desert-like landscapes and can occasionally transform into a bird. The elevator pitch isn't terribly compelling, I know. But in this ruined land, your transformations will further transform the vast and (oh so) mysterious land around you.

Vane appeals to my more primitive instincts. Not primitive in a cave-painting sense—though I bet we'll get to see some cave paintings—but in a way that somehow triggers the more artful side of my survival instinct. Yes, the kind of primitive that stretches a boy's long shadow across desaturated sand dunes and tosses it up against sheer cliffs rising like a giant's causeway in the middle of a wasteland. Flat stretches of land that never seem to end except in a sandstorm. 

Also, it's still difficult to get me to take a second look at polygonal artwork. I'm okay with it in landscapes and architecture, but it's still nearly impossible to convince me that it looks good on character models. On a person, flatly polygonal shapes look unfinished rather than open to the imagination. But these puzzling interiors look great. Like a race of ancients that were building monolithic computers, with digitized angles cut right out of the sandstone. Also, I'm definitely okay with Vane's dusty sepia-toned hints towards being a 3D Inside. Or how stepping stones and ledges glitch into place like a less abstract Bound.

At first glance, I wasn't excited. But before I'd finished the trailer, there was something about Vane that proved to me it was aiming for something a bit different.

Vane is a PS4 exclusive launching in one month on January 15.

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of DOOM impacting the lives of so many Gamer's back in 1993.  Its been kind of cool watching my twitter feed and all of the folks reminiscing the first time they played the game and where they set it up at. Having said that, Bethesda today launched a 25th Anniversary Trailer to celebrate the game and culminates it with the introduction of the DOOM Slayers Club.

Visiting the official site, the DOOM Slayers Club doesn't have a lot of info released on it yet, but there is a present for joining (exclusive Zombie DOOM Slayer skin for DOOM Eternal) and they are selling official merchandise.  However the promise is that there will be exclusive contests, content, rewards and more for those that join and play DOOM titles per the official site:

Welcome to the Year of DOOM.
Over the next year we’re celebrating 25 years of ripping and tearing. Twenty-five years of mods, gibs, guns, and the most passionate, unwavering, and ardent fanbase this side of Phobos. Whether you cut your teeth in 1993 or if DOOM (2016) was your first trip to Hell, we’re asking all DOOM Slayers past, present, and future to unite in celebrating one of entertainment’s most iconic franchises.

Join the Slayers Club to receive an exclusive Zombie DOOM Slayer skin for DOOM Eternal when it launches. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks around how to participate in the Year of DOOM, including information on exclusive content, rewards, events, contests, and much more.

So if you plan to play DOOM Eternal, or any DOOM title, probably a good idea to join in, as the Zombie DOOM Slayer skin shown below will be able to be used in Campaign, Invasion and the unannounced Multiplayer at launch.

The Wand company made a pretty cool Fallout 76 Accessory in the Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI.  Apparently they didn't have any issues getting it manufactured and delivered to GameStop to sell, but with the game not performing well and a rash of negative news tied to it, it is not surprising that the accompanying toys and collectibles also have not fared well. 

Although poor reception of the game may not have a major impact on sales, The Wand Company and GameStop have discounted the Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI Self-assembly construction kit from $149 - $99 until apparently, they are sold out.  From what I have seen, it may be a bit of a bear to put together, but once it is, is pretty cool.  So if you didn't sell out for the Power Armor edition and its canvas bag issues, maybe this is the opportunity to grab a Fallout franchise collectible and save a little money.

Just a friendly Public Service Announcement that with the Elite Dangerous: Beyond Chapter 4 update scheduled for tomorrow, all in game progress will be wiped from the server.  If you have any open missions, especially those that are high-dollar for passenger or cargo, you have less than 24 hours to complete them or lose them.  

A Plague Tale: Innocence makes its visuals a priority, and boy does it nail its priorities. Any way you slice it, this is a pretty one, even for adventure games, a genre that doesn't typically water down its visuals to accommodate open world antics or multiplayer mayhem. But good looks don't last forever. That's why it's a good thing that the premise of A Plague Tale is attention-getting, too. Well, at least the premise that you're a big sister, Amicia, dragging your little brother, Hugo, through a rat-infested France. This is the medieval French countryside and cityscape, with a saturated photographic lens, I'm sure, but it has a lovely realism to it all, even if there's, of course, some authorial and artistic license at work.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2019.

Grinding Gear Games has launched it's largest expansion for Path of Exile on PCs. Path of Exile: Betrayal includes several new features including Raid Syndicate Safehouses, Veiled Items, new masters, streamlined mastercrafting, a unified hideout system, and new skills, items, and end-game maps. Path of Exile: Betrayal is currently available for PCs and will launch next Monday December 10th on Xbox One.

Holospark has recently released a new free update for Earthfall. The update includes the new ValkBait grenade, several new skins for characters and weapons, and an extension for player progression with levels 51 through 65. The new skins and weapon charms can be unlocked by hitting the new player progression levels. These new skins and charms include:

• New Character Skin: Spacesuit

• New Character Skin: Mixer

• New Weapons Skin: Glintec – Blue

• New Weapons Skin: Glintec – Orange

• New Weapons Skin: MP5 – Space Age 01

• New Weapons Skin: Golden Guns

• New Weapons Charm: Key

• New Weapons Charm: Sapper

• New Weapons Charm: Thresher

• New Weapons Charm: Whiplash

• New Weapons Charm: Beast

The update is currently available for free on Xbox One, PS4, and PC via Steam.