Even with Mike Mignola's Hellboy and BPRD saga having concluded in 2019, there are always new stories to tell in this sprawling horror universe. That's where the Miss Truesdale series comes in. These books reveal the early origins of the Hellboy-verse, and that process continues in the new sequel series Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man.

IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man #1. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man also has the distinction of being the latest project illustrated by Lonergan, whose recent graphic novel Drome is on our shortlist for the Best Comic Book or Original Graphic Novel of 2025 award.

Here's Dark Horse's official logline for the new series:

Fans first met unassuming Miss Truesdale in Victorian England when she discovered her shocking connection to the ancient gladiator, Anum Yassa. She is thrown into her past life to battle an ancient evil and protect the future. Now in Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man, Anum Yassa wanders the forest in search of answers about her past, present, and future lives - only to discover a dark entity on her trail and threatening all of mankind.

My ending the Hellboy world (sort of) in the B.P.R.D. series, I now find myself fascinated by the very beginnings of it,” said Mignola in a statement. “Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man is not a story I would even attempt to tell without the storytelling genius of Jesse Lonergan. For me, coming up with the story was a rollercoaster of strange surprises and Jesse has made it even stranger, more beautiful than I could have imagined. This is the deepest dive yet into the world and how it all works.”

“With Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea, we explored this past life relationship between a woman in Victorian England and the ancient gladiator she was in a past life,” said Lonergan. “Now, in Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man, those two characters are merged, a Victorian woman in this powerful gladiator body, exploring a new world and battling all manner of monsters and beasts. These travels and battles culminate in a confrontation that reveals deep truths about the Hellboy Universe.”

Miss Truesdale and the Rise of Man #1 is available in comic shops now. You can find a copy at your local comic shop.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

IDW Publishing has just kicked off a new era for the flagship Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. Issue #13 marks the debut of the series' new creative team, writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Freddie E. Williams II. It also serves as the first appearance of a major new villain known as Ujigami. And this villain is carrying a terrible secret.

Read on to find out what happens in this issue and learn the shocking truth of Ujigami's true identity, but beware of full spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 ahead!

Who Is TMNT Villain Ujigami?

Easily one of the biggest plot twists in IDW's long-running TMNT universe came with issue #100 of Vol. 1, which featured the death of the Turtles' father and mentor, Splinter. That death has continued to cast a shadow over the franchise ever since. That is, until the previous creative team, writer Jason Aaron and artist Juan Ferreyra, ended their run by bringing Splinter back.

That's a pretty major development for Yang and Williams to build upon in their new story, and they waste no time in doing just that. Issue #13 opens with the mysterious, masked Ujigami interrupting a heated Triad meeting and murdering Xiang Fei Tong, the leader of the Ghost Boys gang. The Turtles begin investigating the murder and discover a connection between the Triads and Baxter Stockman, now the newly elected mayor of New York.

Meanwhile, Splinter is shown eking out a meager existence in the slums of New York. He may be alive, but he's far from well, as he struggles with amnesia and a pervasive sense of dread.

The Turtles fear it's only a matter of time before the Ghost Boys confront Mayor Stockman, and their fears are proven correct when the gang's new mutant leader attacks him. But once again, the battle is interrupted by the arrival of Ujigami, who seriously wounds Stockman and claims to be a true, faithful ally to the Hamato family. Ujigami then escapes into the night.

It's there that the big reveal happens. Ujigami is Splinter. In his addled condition, he seems to think he's helping his sons by assassinating their enemies. Check out the slideshow gallery above to see the big reveal play out.

As it stands, the Turtles aren't aware that their father is alive, and they certainly don't know that he's masquerading as Ujigami. But it probably won't be long until the terrible truth comes out.

What This Means for TMNT's Future

Both Yang and TMNT group editor Jake Thomas spoke to IGN about this big twist and how it'll shape the series going forward. For Yang, fatherhood really is one of the driving themes of his TMNT run, drawing on his own personal experiences.

“Splinter's return to IDW's TMNT universe is huge – what an incredible way for Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra to end their run! Freddie and I wanted to make sure it was meaningful," Yang tells IGN. "I thought a lot about my own experience of fatherhood. My wife and I have four kids, and I've been tempted again and again to do everything in my power to make their lives as easy as possible, to keep them safe. But then... that's not always what's best for the kids, is it? Especially after they become teenagers."

Yang continues, "Great Turtles stories have always been about family, so Freddie and I are leaning into that. Can't wait for fans to read what else we have in store! And it's not just Splinter. There's another character who will soon be making an appearance – their first in the IDW incarnation of TMNT!”

Thomas explains that the goal with bringing back Splinter wasn't simply to restore the traditional TMNT statuis quo, but to do something drastically different with the character and reexamine his relationship with his sons.

“There is something undeniably powerful about the loss of a parent. When the Turtles lost Splinter – their master, their teacher, their father – back in TMNT (2011) #100, it changed the brothers and their world forever," Thomas says. "When we discussed bringing Splinter back, we knew the family couldn't just return to business as usual. The far-reaching story Gene and Freddie are just starting here is not about resetting the status quo, it is about questioning and examining the nature of family, fear, loss, love, and sacrifice, all through the incredible action, hijinks, heart, and humor that give these Turtles their power. Buckle up, this is going to be a wild ride."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 is available in stores now, and issue #14 will be released on January 14, 2026. You can pick up both issues at your local comic shop.

For more, learn how you can start reading the TMNT comics in 2025.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Netflix has released the debut trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 alongside first look photos, confirming a 2026 release window.

The teaser for the live-action series showcases fan-favorite Earthbender, Toph (Miya Cech), the newest member of Team Avatar that includes Aang (Gordon Cormier), Katara (Kiawentiio), and Sokka (Ian Ousley).

Welcome to the Earth Kingdom.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Season 2 is coming in 2026. pic.twitter.com/94av2BPOFF

— puɐlǝɹI ⅋ ʞꓵ xᴉlɟʇǝN (@NetflixUK) December 10, 2025

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a live-action reimagining of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series. It follows Aang, the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) to restore balance to a world threatened by the Fire Nation. In Season 2, after a bittersweet victory saving the Northern Water Tribe from the invading Fire Nation, Avatar Aang, Katara, and Sokka regroup and set off on a mission to convince the elusive Earth King to aid in their battle against fearsome Fire Lord Ozai.

Christine Boylan (Poker Face, Once Upon a Time) serves as executive producer and writer. Jabbar Raisani (Lost in Space, Stranger Things) is executive producer and director, alongside directors Anu Menon, Amit Gupta and Hiromi Kamata.

Season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender made its Netflix debut on February 22, 2024 and, according to the streamer, was the number one English TV show with 41.1 million views in just the first 11 days. The series was number one in 76 countries and in the top 10 in 92. Just a month later, Netflix announced that Avatar: The Last Airbender had been renewed for Seasons 2 and 3, which will conclude the story.

“We’re looking forward to working with all of our actors again and digging into the deeper, more complicated relationships that develop as their journey continues in Season 2,” executive producers Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani said. “We are going to show the real-world versions of iconic scenes from the original, and explore some of the stories that the animation didn’t. Mainly, we’re looking forward to seeing our gang all together again.”

New cast members rounding out the Season 2 line-up include:

• Terry Chen (Lucky Star, Jessica Jones, House of Cards) as Jeong Jeong
• Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness, Between the Temples, Ghostlight) as Lo and Li
• Lily Gao (Blue Sun Palace, Twisted Metal, Slip) as Ursa
• Madison Hu (The Brothers Sun, The Boogeyman) as Fei
• Dichen Lachman (Severance, Jurassic World: Dominion, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) as Yangchen

Also announced are two new cast members joining in Season 3: Jon Jon Briones (Ratched, Hadestown, The Last Voyage of the Demeter) as Piandao, and Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon) as Hama.

IGN’s Avatar: The Last Airbender review returned a 7/10. We said: “The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series enriches the original story with meaningful new material, but its breakneck pacing, exposition-heavy dialogue, and hit-or-miss effects aren’t precisely in balance.”

For more, check out IGN’s recent feature, I Hope Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Gets the Chance to Be Better, as well as Avatar: The Last Airbender's Biggest Changes From the Animated Series.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Rockstar's controversial recent firing of 31 Grand Theft Auto 6 staff has now reached UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has described the matter as "deeply concerning" and pledged that ministers would invesigate.

The layoffs, which took place at the end of October, were raised in the UK's Parliament during today's session of Prime Minister's Questions, by Rockstar North's local MP Chris Murray.

"The video games company Rockstar in my constituency last month fired 31 employees without providing evidence or union representation," Murray told the Prime Minister. "The [Independent Workers Union of Great Britain union] IWGB alleges union busting. Having met Rockstar they failed to reassure me they are following employment law and I share concerns about union busting.

"Given this government is responsible for the biggest increase in workers rights in a generation," Murray continued, "does the Prime Minister agree all companies regardless of profit size must follow UK employment law and all workers have the right to join a union?"

"It's a deeply concerning case," Starmer replied. "Every worker has the right to join a trade union and we're determined to strengthen workers rights and ensure they don't face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case that he [Murray] raises and will keep him updated."

For its part, Rockstar's parent company Take-Two Interactive previously described the firings as due to "gross misconduct, and for no other reason" after employees were found to be "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum" against company policy. IGN has contacted Take-Two again for further comment today.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is pick a goal and move towards it. You might have no idea how to get where you wanna go; you might have no idea where you are when it comes to accomplishing it; and you might not have much outside help, but you’ll do it anyway. What other choice is there? Just keep moving forward, and maybe something good will happen. That philosophy guided me through my three hours with Outward 2, a video game that mostly wanted me dead and was very good about making it happen. Everybody needs goals, right?

After making a character in Outward 2’s fairly (at least right now) limited character creator and choosing different elements of my backstory, which altered my starting stats – the RPG standard Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Willpower – my journey started in the city of Haboob, which has been recently reclaimed from the Scourge. I don’t know what that means, exactly, but it sounded good. Anyway, my recently arrived character won the housing lottery when a guy named Sebastian decided to move. Here I was, less than five minutes into the game and already a homeowner. Talk about a fantasy. We chatted before he left, and he seemed nice enough, and then I headed out to explore the city.

Haboob is gorgeous – a multilayered city of stone, with these giant rotating fans (there’s one in my house, near the bed) and I enjoy walking around it for a bit, grabbing an “on the house” (pun intended) drink at the local tea shop, and enjoying the vibe. Outward 2 isn’t the most visually sophisticated game out there – the character models kinda look like they stepped out of an Xbox 360-era Bethesda RPG – but its environments are pretty grand. After wandering around for a bit and speaking to the local Chamberlord, who hands over the deed to my new house, I call it a night. There’s not much else to do.

I’m awoken when a guard breaks in and tries to rob me (rude!) and whacks me in the head with a mace. Sebastian shows up to kill him, takes whatever it is, and then places the pistol he used to take care of the guard in my hand. At least he looks sorry about it, but because all the evidence of the murder points to me, I’m exiled with little more than what’s in my possession. The Chamberlord suggests I find Sebastian to prove my innocence.

Back to Square One

Outward 2 is a survival game, which means I need to find, craft, or buy my supplies. Out in the world, there’s nothing to guide you. I had no map and no leads. The only thing around was a big, dead bird under what looked like some sort of mystical lamp post. I decided to head east. Always into the east. I got into a couple fights, one of which was against a dude that really didn’t seem to want to be there. Outward’s combat isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it’s weighty and generally pretty solid. I’m doing all right even though I only have an ice pick and a bow I picked up in the city until I fall into a small, rocky hole. I can’t walk or roll out of it and Outward 2 has no jump button. I end up starting a new run. I ran into a lot of bugs in my time with my preview build of Outward 2 – items would duplicate or not be usable, characters would float in mid-air, and so on – but that’s to be expected of something this early.

I tried to use it as an opportunity. This time, I spent more time in Haboob because I knew I was going to get kicked out, found some new people to talk to, and was generally better equipped when I was framed for murder. Again. I just bought a house in real life, so I was particularly upset about this. How dare this dude? Who does he think he is?

But I was lucky in other ways. Remember that dead bird from last time? In its place, I found a woman named Oliele who helped me out by offering me some supplies, including a tent and a map, and told me where I might find Sebastian. There were a couple possibilities. I opted to head northeast to the True Levantines. Even with my supplies, life wasn’t easier. Drinking river water made me sick to my stomach, and my ice pick wasn’t a force in combat. I scavenged enough wood to build a shield and mostly tried to avoid fights. Even the map wasn’t much help. Oh, yeah, it was nice to see what the region looked like, but the map doesn’t track where you are, so… you know, it works like a real map. Outward 2 is willing to let you get lost, and I appreciated that.

Second Chances

This time, I didn’t fall into a hole, but I did run into other problems. Combat was risky, and when I camped for the night because my character was exhausted, I got attacked and… I couldn’t fight back. I could move, but I couldn’t swing my weapons. I opted to die, thinking that would be the end of it. Instead, I got a special little sequence because I died near a river, and washed up on its banks, my gear close by. Minus my tent.

Soon after, I spotted a weird ghost and tried to pick a fight. That was a bad idea. Not only could I barely hurt him with my ice pick, he never stopped following me when I tried to run away, so I followed the path I was on, the spectre hot on my heels, until I just happened to run into the True Levantine settlement and the guards finished him off for me. No sign of Sebastian, but I had a lead: south. Okay.

Then I got back on the road and died a whole bunch. I died to a big bird. I died to a weird bat thing. I fell over once and died. I died because I bled out. Each time I was rescued. Sometimes by a nice guy named Gep who I never met but left me a drink at his campfire. Sometimes by the healers at the True Levantine camp. Eventually, I decided it was time to buy a sword. I sold what little I had, and from there, things got easier. I made progress south. I found a weird tower where everything wanted to kill me. I killed an exiled mercenary and stole *his* tent. Ha! I explored a weird little cave and did some mining.

At this point I was rolling, and I figured I’d keep going until I died. Then I ran into one of those weird bat things again, and that was that. Three hours had flown by. Outward 2 doesn’t hold your hand, and I admire that. Exploring its gorgeous world is a lot of fun. I wish it was a little less buggy, and I wish that there was a bit more to do in a world that can sometimes feel big and empty – gathering materials in the areas I explored was difficult, and I didn’t get to craft as much as I wanted; I really wanted some linen, and I could not find or buy any of me for the life of me – but I did enjoying just picking a direction, setting off into the world, and seeing what I could see. There’s something special in that, and if the full release of Outward 2 can capture it, it might just make you want to go for a stroll.

Another day, another Skyrim port — this time The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition is out on Nintendo Switch 2 after a shadowdrop — and even Bethesda can see the funny side.

Skyrim’s release on Switch 2 has resurfaced jokes about Bethesda milking the life out of its open-world fantasy role-playing game by releasing it on all the platforms under the sun. Skyrim has been ported and remastered so many times that it’s become one of the internet’s most enduring memes.

"It's a bit of a joke at this point how often we release Skyrim, but it's a great game," Bethesda's Matt Carofano, creative director of the Switch 2 version, said while talking to Nintendo Life. "We want everyone to be able to play it in the best way possible."

And that, it seems, is at the crux of Skyrim's numerous ports. With each new hardware generation, Bethesda has an opportunity to reach a whole new generation of players who get to experience its RPG for the first time. This time, it's Switch 2, giving the development team the chance to "take advantage of the new hardware."

A few years after Skyrim's original release in 2011, Bethesda worked on a "remastering process," improving the lighting and graphics features. Now, on Switch 2, it can make use of things like volumetric lighting and improved weather conditions, fog, and clouds.

"We had previously done the version for the Switch, so this was going back to that and making improvements on it," Carofano said. "So it was really an easy development process and actually pretty quick in terms of our timelines. Making the game takes years and years and years, but bringing it to this new console was a much, much faster process.

"A lot of it was really just focusing on taking advantage of the new hardware. We can use DLSS now and get better resolution, better performance, and the game loads faster. Switch 2 has the Joy-Con 2 controllers that let you use mouse controls, so we added that. A lot of it is really just, 'How do we take advantage of the Switch 2? What can it do? And [how can we] give players the best version of Skyrim for that console?'"

Of everything, though, Carofano says it's the general performance that most impresses him, as the game "performs better, runs smoother, and loads faster. So it's just a better play experience on the Switch 2."

Reflecting on why so many people continue to play and enjoy Skyrim over a decade after its release, lead designer Bruce Nesmith recently said: "I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since. By all rights, a year later, some other game should have eclipsed it. And then two years later, three years later, five, 10. It’s like ‘what the hell is going on here?’

"Todd [Howard, Bethesda boss] would even go to these meetings and show us information, which I can’t give you the details of, about how many people are playing it. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’ Seriously, still, 10 years later."

Bethesda is, of course, working on its hotly anticipated Skyrim follow-up, The Elder Scrolls VI, but it has said next to nothing about it. We do know it will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan, after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.

Interestingly, Todd Howard recently refused to rule out the possibility of an Elder Scrolls TV adaptation, but did suggest the post-apocalyptic sci-fi franchise Fallout — the second series of which debuts on December 17 — was better suited to an adaptation.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

A six-minute prologue for next year's Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey will air in select IMAX theaters this weekend, and again next week before screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash.

To be in with a chance to watch this special presentation, you'll need to be sitting down in an IMAX theater this Friday, December 12, for 70mm screenings of Ryan Coogler's Sinners or the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring One Battle After Another.

From next weekend, the prologue will also air ahead of IMAX screenings for Disney's new Avatar threequel.

As reported by Variety, Nolan has chosen to release this prologue now during the busy holiday season while attention is high, and in IMAX 70mm as it is his preferred format. The Odyssey was previously announced as being the first blockbuster to be fully shot using IMAX cameras.

Due for launch on July 17, 2026, The Odyssey features an all-star cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Mia Goth, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.

Damon recently recalled an incident during filming where Holland personally called the head of Sony Pictures to arrange for one of the company's pristine 70mm prints of the classic film Lawrence of Arabia to be shown to The Odyssey's cast. "Tom Holland, because he’s Spider-Man and he’s everybody’s favourite at that studio, called [Sony Pictures boss Tom] Rothman and he arranged for us to screen it on a Sunday, the full four hours," Damon said.

The Odyssey is Nolan's 13th film, after previously helming Following, Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer, and The Dark Knight Trilogy. Such is the anticipation for the movie, that a limited number of The Odyssey tickets went on sale during the summer — a year in advance of the film opening.

While Nolan has long been celebrated as one of the great directors of modern cinema, The Odyssey is expected to perform particularly strongly following the breakout success of Oppenheimer, the Cillian Murphy-led biopic that fuelled one half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, earned a staggering $975 million during its theatrical run, and walked away with Best Picture at the Oscars.

The Odyssey will adapt the epic Greek story of the same name, which follows heroic king Ithaca (Damon) on his way home from the Trojan War (which famously ended with Troy conquered after the use of the wooden horse). The tale is based on myth rather than historical fact, so expect witches, Sirens, and the Cyclops to appear — as soon as this weekend.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Ah, the licensed video game. Once a collection of underwhelming retellings of big-screen blockbusters, littered with haunting polygonal nightmares (Hagrid, that’s you) and aimless Atari attempts (yes, E.T., that’s you), we’ve seen an uptick in actually good adaptations in recent years, with the upcoming Terminator 2D: No Fate looking like a promising attempt at turning James Cameron’s classic into some enjoyable retro action. So, we thought we’d pick out the best of the bunch.

We do have a few little rules, though, that stop just any old film-adjacent game from making the list. They need to either be:

• A direct translation or adaptation of a feature film
• An official movie sequel or prequel.
• Or a game that attempts to continue the story or provide backstory and additional canonical lore.

So, for example, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man is not eligible as it takes place in a Marvel universe separate from the movies and is much more rooted in the original comic books, but the PS2’s Spider-Man 2 would be allowed due to it being directly based on the Sam Raimi film of the same name. Make sense? I hope so. Let’s rank the top 10 best licensed games based on movies.

10. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

Console launch games come with the power to stun thanks to the leap in technology they inherently are unlocked by. The Xbox 360’s Peter Jackson’s King Kong definitely benefited from this, as the Lord of the Rings’ director’s epic retelling of the classic monster movie made a huge splash at the dawn of gaming’s HD era. With Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel helming it at Ubisoft Montpellier, King Kong felt more than a standard movie tie-in thanks to its many interesting and novel ideas. You had the freedom to explore its vast jungle spaces, which offered an unprecedented sense of cinematic immersion and was a breathtaking contrast against the previous generation’s more limiting, corridor-like spaces. King Kong not only ushered in a whole new generation of hardware but also a new way of thinking about how licensed games could be approached.

9. Scarface: The World is Yours

Scarface: The World is Yours has balls. Not only does a “Balls Meter” fill up as Tony Montana causes mayhem across an open-world ‘80s Miami, allowing for him to slow down time, enter first-person mode, and gain infinite ammo as he guns down as many gang rivals as possible, but it also has an audacity to position itself as a sequel to a film in which its protagonist dies at the end. In this alternative universe, Al Pacino’s antihero coke fiend survives the ambush at his mansion thanks to a certain little friend and escapes out of the back door, free to continue building his drug-running empire. Yes, it's largely a GTA-clone, as was commonplace in the era — see the also actually quite good The Godfather adaptation for further evidence — but its wild concept alone is enough for it to deserve a place on this list.

8. Rockstar’s The Warriors

In terms of creating immersive worlds and capturing a tone, not many do it quite like Rockstar. The Warriors comes from an era when we’d get more than one game a decade from the developer, and sometimes multiple in one year. A much smaller-scale project than the likes of GTA: San Andreas or Vice City, The Warriors acts as both a prequel and a retelling of the cult ‘70s thriller of the same name, focusing on the titular New York gang. Taking the form of a beat 'em up, it successfully drenches you in the seedy underworld alleyways that its characters inhabit, as Rockstar once again displayed their world-class world-building credentials. And that grimy tone is what The Warriors achieves most successfully, making it an adaptation that shouldn’t be overlooked, even when compared to the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption studio’s other headline-stealing projects.

7. Mad Max

Avalanche Studios’ Mad Max is the perfect example of taking the essence of a film series and turning that into the driving force behind a video game adaptation. In this case, it's the exhilarating car combat witnessed all the way back in the original 1979 movie, through Road Warrior, and into Fury Road’s landmark action. When Max is on foot in the 2015 game, it's perfectly good as it apes the successful melee formula concocted by Warner Bros. stablemate Rocksteady for its Batman Arkham series, but it's when the Australian drifter gets those hands out of raiders’ jawbones and behind the wheel of his iconic Interceptor that it really comes to life. Now a cult favourite, much like the original film that inspires it, Mad Max is one of a kind and a fantastic translation of George Miller’s vision in video game form.

6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Years before the Rocksteady Batman: Arkham and Insomniac Marvel’s Spider-Man games, the prospect of a successful comic book game was bleak. Even rarer was the thought of a genuinely fun movie tie-in. Treyarch’s Spider-Man 2, based on the Sam Raimi film of the same name, flew in the face of both those ideas. An incredibly detailed New York City (for the time, at least) felt like a revelation to swing around in, and Peter Parker’s web-slinging provided a whole new way to explore the sort of 3D open world that the PS2’s Grand Theft Auto games had pioneered. In a legitimately impressive technical revelation, Treyarch’s Spidey actually attached his webs to buildings rather than empty skyboxes. Flying between skyscrapers and thumping petty criminals was a thrilling sensation back in 2004, and, while it has since been far eclipsed by more modern Peter Parker and Miles Morales adventures, it certainly paved the way for those to exist.

5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

It’s difficult to think of a movie series that’s had more games to its name than Star Wars. Classics such as TIE Fighter and Rogue Leader were contenders for this pick, but we just think there’s nothing like the fulfillment of the Force fantasy that is delivered by Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Bridging the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this 2023 action-adventure is part of the official canon, with references to Order 66 and clashes with Darth Vader fuelling Cal Kestis’ story, but with an originality that doesn’t just lean on Star Wars cliches. An improvement in pretty much every way over its predecessor, Fallen Order, it's an easy pick for our representative of the most famous of film universes.

4. GoldenEye 007

It may not be the best to play now, but there’s just no denying the impact that GoldenEye 007 had when it arrived in 1997 on the Nintendo 64. Perfect Dark, shortly after, would go on to expand on the ideas established in its campaign, and games like TimeSplitters would borrow from its revolutionary approach to FPS multiplayer, making it so much more than just a movie adaptation. Yes, it featured a whole host of famous James Bond heroes and villains — including a truly broken Oddjob, who takes the term “sharply dressed” to its extreme —- and successfully captured the globetrotting exploits of 007 as much as a console with the limited power of the N64 could at the time, but it also shaped the next three decades of online shooters. This makes it so much more than just a movie tie-in, and something developer Rare should never be forgotten for achieving.

3. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

A video game prequel to the 2000 Vin Diesel vehicle, Pitch Black, has no right to be as good as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, yet here we are. Taking a heap of Half-Life campaign design and a healthy dose of Thief-like stealth, the Swedish Starbreeze Studios and Vin Diesel’s own Tigon Studios transformed a perfectly decent film series into a genuinely great video game, and one that many believe surpasses its source material. Its smart level design is enhanced by intelligent translations of Riddick’s abilities from the film, such as his trademark “eyeshine”, which lets you see in the dark, and a healthy amount of improvised blunt and sharp weaponry that fits perfectly with the movie’s grimy aesthetic. The plot’s premise — a prison escape — is fundamentally cinematic, but it's the ways in which Butcher Bay asks you to play intelligently in its world that pushes it beyond the big screen and into a truly great game.

2. Alien Isolation

The original Alien film from 1979 is a haunted house movie in space, with lone survivor of the Nostromo, Ripley, aiming to survive its dark corridors and the roaming Xenomorph threat until the credits hit. As such, it would become a natural inspiration for many survival horror greats, from Dead Space’s infested spaceship, to SOMA’s unnerving futurism, and, of course, Resident Evil 2’s stalking Mr X threat. So, naturally, when the time came for yet another Alien game to be made, survival horror seemed a logical choice for developer Creative Assembly, who would be the next in a long line to take up the challenge of translating the unique atmosphere of Ridley Scott’s original film.

What the studio made was beyond what could have been expected, as it evolved the idea of RE 2’s Tyrant into an ever-present danger that scuttled along the map’s sprawling web of vents. The Xenomorph, and the tech powering it, are the jewel at the centre of Isolation’s crown, and are what make it such a faithful recreation of Alien. By stepping into her daughter’s shoes and sneaking around the Sevastopol, you get as close a feeling as to what it would’ve been like to be Ripley and walk those Nostromo hallways yourself. It may not quite make the number one spot on our list, but it is the entry that most successfully captures the overall tone of its source material, embracing its terror to astonishing effect.

1. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

We wouldn’t have the likes of Tomb Raider or Uncharted without Indiana Jones, and in 2024, the king came back to claim his throne. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle took everything that made the original trilogy of Steven Spielberg films so special and managed to translate it into a lovingly designed video game from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames — perhaps not so coincidentally, a studio formed by former Escape from Butcher Bay developers. Not only is The Great Circle a fantastic, stealthy, puzzle-filled action-adventure that really places an emphasis on the adventure part, but it borrows all of the archaeological intrigue and, crucially, humour that makes the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade so special. So much, in fact, that the story told here would slot in nicely between them and act as a superior third of that trilogy than Temple of Doom ever did.

Throw in a fantastic pitch-perfect Harrison Ford impression from Troy Baker, a suitably swarmy performance from Marios Gavrilis for the villainous Emmerich Voss, and a healthy amount of Nazi punching, whipping, and shovel-smacking, and you’ve got all of the ingredients you need. But it’s so much more than just a playable film, instead grounding itself in flexible immersive-sim-esque gameplay systems that emphasise using brain over brawn. Violence is rarely considered a first option, and gained knowledge is always a much sharper weapon. It makes for a truly fantastic game in its own right, but one that is as referential as it is transformative, and a true-to-life version of what the Indiana Jones character is — a doctor, not a soldier. The Great Circle is as thought-out a licensed game based on a movie as you could wish for, and a perfect fit for the top of our list.

And those are our picks for the best games based on movies. What game that you love didn’t make the cut? Let us know in the comments! And for more licensed games, check out our list of the best Marvel games of all time.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

Doom co-creator John Romero has revealed that while his previous shooter was canceled, "elements" of it live on in his latest secret project.

Romero Games, the studio founded by John and Brenda Romero, was left "heartbroken" this summer after Microsoft reportedly pulled funding of its next project as part of the company's latest round of cuts and mass layoffs. The cuts also affected other internal Xbox studios, leading to the cancellation of the likes of Everwild and Perfect Dark, as well as other unannounced titles Microsoft had been funding.

Despite some reports, the studio did not close, and the Romeros assured fans they were "evaluating opportunities" from publishers that had been in touch since the funding issues were announced, but very little was known about the game other than it was a first-person shooter.

Now, in a new interview at Salón del Videojuego de Madrid (thanks, Eurogamer), John Romero revealed, to rapturous applause, that he had "survived the cancellation of a huge game." And while his current project "has nothing to do with the previous game," it "incorporates a lot of the elements that we had in the previous game."

"We're ahead — we're not starting at ground zero," he explained. "We have 50 million worth of a game. We can take pieces out and put [them] into a brand new indie game, so we have a lot of stuff to put in the game, and the design is completely different, but the team is really excited.

"It's a very much smaller game," he added. "It's more fun for us because the people working on it were all directors of different departments, and they didn't actually get to code or design or whatever — do it themselves — and so now we get to actually do that, do the thing that we're really good at ourselves. That's why small teams are great."

Fans believe we're just days away from our first proper peek at Avengers: Doomsday, as Marvel reportedly readies the movie's debut trailer.

A listing for the trailer has now popped up on the Korean Ratings Board, which mentions the look at Avengers: Doomsday with a runtime of 1 minute and 25 seconds.

The emergence of this rating, amid fevered speculation from Marvel production scoopers, certainly suggests our initial glimpse at Avengers: Doomsday footage is now imminent. And then there's the other solid reason why we're likely to get a trailer soon: next week's launch of fellow Disney blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Attaching a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday to the new Avatar movie would inevitably drive further interest in the blue alien threequel, with some cinemagoers likely attending just to see Robert Downey Jr. and co. on the big screen again after all these year.

And while Avatar: Fire and Ash is certainly expected to do well, there's added pressure for this chapter in the franchise to succeed. Recent comments from franchise creator James Cameron suggested the filmmaker would be content to step away from the series if Fire and Ash didn't do as well as expected, leaving plans for an Avatar 4 and 5 in doubt.

Avengers: Doomsday is now almost exactly one year away — another milestone that a trailer might celebrate. Due for release on December 18, 2026, the movie is expected to be Marvel's biggest launch since 2019's Avengers: Endgame — which itself will get a re-release next year to remind audiences of the MCU's last major climax.

With the return of Downey Jr. and directorial duo Anthony and Joe Russo, many fans believe Doomsday will be pitched as something of a direct sequel to Endgame (and, obviously, it is the first Avengers-branded follow-up since). Rumors abound that another major Endgame star has also been tempted back for a big role, inverting the relationship they had with Iron Man, now Downey Jr. is playing the villainous Doctor Doom.

To date, Marvel has only released its infamous cast reveal "chair" video showing off the film's enormous ensemble cast that takes in surviving members of the old Avengers, the Thunderbolts (AKA The New Avengers), the Fantastic Four and several high-profile members of the Fox-era X-Men. A few production photos have leaked out over the film's shoot, and fans certainly have their theories over where Doomsday's story is headed, but much of the movie remains officially under wraps.

Perhaps we'll get hints at all of that, when the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer does land... soon.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

South Park looks set to bring Season 28 to a close with the long-awaited(?) delivery of Satan and Donald Trump’s ‘butt baby.’

Today, December 10, South Park Season 28 Episode 5 airs at 10pm ET / PT on Comedy Central, before streaming tomorrow, December 11 on Paramount+ from 6am ET / 3am PT. Episode 5 is expected to be the season finale and bring to an end South Park’s current biweekly schedule of new episode releases until the new season starts.

For the uninitiated, the overarching storyline in South Park Season 27 and Season 28 has been Trump trying and failing to convince Satan not to go through with having their baby, aka the Antichrist. Now it’s actually happening, although vice president J.D. Vance, who has conspired with Trump to try to murder the baby in recent episodes, may end up having the last laugh.

The episode itself is appropriately called The Crap Out, and Comedy Central's episode description declares: "Satan's due, Stan's praying, and only a Christmas miracle can deliver the Antichrist on time." How will Stan factor in all of this? It’s unclear, but the clip below shows Trump and J.D. Vance working as bell ringers for the Salvation Army, so there is that...

Watch an all-new episode of South Park December 10th at 10/9c on Comedy Central and stream next day on Paramount+. pic.twitter.com/s7wYziizaJ

— South Park (@SouthPark) December 9, 2025

Also unclear is what happens with South Park from here. South Park abruptly brought Season 27 to an end after just five episodes, and the expectation is that Season 28 will end with the same number. Could we see Season 29 sooner rather than later?

Traditionally, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone create each episode week by week, which makes for a chaotic production but topical shows. Comedy Central had delayed the Season 27 ender just hours before it was due to air, with Parker and Stone insisting the blame lay at their door. “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” the pair told Variety. “This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!”

As far as we at IGN are aware, Parker and Stone had missed the scheduled release of South Park just once before, due to a power outage, but never for not getting an episode done in time.

It’s worth noting that during their San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel, which took place the day after the Season 27 opener aired, Parker said he and Stone were unsure what the next episode would be, revealing the decision was “super stressful.”

South Park has enjoyed big ratings and sparked much debate ever since the Donald Trump-skewering Season 27 opener in July, which you can read the details of here. It roasted Trump to such an extent that it sparked a rebuttal from the White House. Parker and Stone have said they were attracted to “new taboos” and a fear of speaking out against the Trump administration.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.