Project Hail Mary co-director Christopher Miller has moved to clarify recent comments in which he said there isn't a single green screen shot in the entire movie.
The Ryan Gosling sci-fi film, due out March 20, is based on The Martian author Andy Weir’s hard-science novel of the same name, and revolves around an astronaut who encounters an alien while trying to save Earth.
In interviews with the press, Miller, who directed Project Hail Mary alongside collaborator Phil Lord, said there is no green screen at all, the ship was built as a set, and the alien character, called Rocky, was actually in the scenes as a puppet. This, Miller said, helps make Project Hail Mary feel real.
Those comments sparked a mixed reaction, with some expressing disbelief, especially when you consider Project Hail Mary spends much of its runtime in space. “They actually shot in space,” joked author Zoë Rose Bryant.
Now, Miller has issued a clarification statement, taking to X / Twitter to say "no green screen" doesn’t mean "no VFX.”
“There were, in fact, thousands of VFX shots in the film (2018!),” Miller went on to say. “Green screen is sometimes used in lieu of building sets or figuring out locations/lighting in advance, which can be noticeable if not done carefully, and is something we didn’t want to do. We built the entire interior of the Hail Mary ship — but within the ship, there were still wire and puppeteer removals and ceiling replacements, etc.
“When Ryan is outside on the hull of the ship, we shot him in front of a black background for space and a shifting hue background when he was up against the aurora of a planet which allowed for truer interactive light on him than a green screen would. The wide space exteriors and spaceship shots were entirely digital and beautifully done by ILM. Rocky was a seamless blend of puppetry and animation from Framestore. And other great work from many more. It really does take a village and we had the best of the best on our side.”
So, Miller was correct in saying no green screen was used, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t visual effects in Project Hail Mary, which some had taken it to mean.
One high-profile fan of the approach taken for Project Hail Mary is Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, who praised Miller and Lord in a social media post. "What Phil and Chris did here, the amount of PRACTICAL sets and effects and puppets is just so beautiful to see," he said.
What Phil and Chris did here- the amount of PRACTICAl sets and effects and puppets is just so beautiful to see- so inspiring to hold- it's a goal- and aspiration and a commitment. Specially now- so much- now. https://t.co/7GjAdUC2wA
The first trailer for Project Hail Mary was released at the end of June last year — and it blew up online, garnering over 400 million views in a single week. At the time, that was a record for a film that was not a sequel or a remake.
Project Hail Mary stars Ryan Gosling as a professor, scientist, and astronaut who wakes up one day on a spaceship with no recollection of how he got there and a new mission that will put him at the center of saving humanity from a catastrophic event. Sandra Huller and Milana Vayntrub star alongside Gosling, who also produced the project. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse fame have teamed up once again for their first directed film in 12 years following 2014’s 22 Jump Street.
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.
Highguard, the free-to-play PvP raid shooter announced at The Game Awards last year and set to close next week, has released its final update.
Developer Wildlight announced that it would permanently shut down Highguard on March 12, but not before a "farewell tour," which also just-so-happens to be the name of the shooter's final patch.
Highguard launched on January 26 after almost no communication with prospective players between its December announcement and launch day. While Steam concurrents almost hit a high of 100,000, peak concurrents on Valve's platform soon plummeted (neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public). And though Wildgate was quick to address issues with the game, even adding a 5v5 game mode to counter 3v3 complaints, shortly thereafter, most of the studio was laid off.
Now, as the team issues its final patch, it thanked everyone who has and is still playing Highguard, writing: "Even though we are shutting the game down, we are excited to give our remaining players one last big update to keep you entertained over the weekend. Thanks again for playing with us. Enjoy!"
This final update adds a new Warden, a new weapon, account level progression, and a skill tree for those who want to get their final matches in.
Highguard 'The Farewell Tour' Patch Notes:
For our final patch, we’d like to thank everyone who has played and is still playing Highguard. Even though we are shutting the game down, we are excited to give our remaining players one last big update to keep you entertained over the weekend. Thanks again for playing with us. Enjoy!
Account Progression
You’ll now level up your account level just by playing the game. As you return to the lobby, you’ll gain XP, level up, and earn Skill Points to be spent on the new Skill Tree!
Everyone’s account will start at level 0, and goes to level 100.
Your first level acquired will reward you with 5 Skill points. Afterwards, you receive 1 skill point per level up until level 40 for a total of 44 points to spend. This allows players to choose up to two skill trees to max.
Skill Tree
The Skill Tree is designed for players to build out their upgrades in 4 distinct playstyles. Each branch has a variety of options for players to choose from, with 2 tiers of power on all small nodes. Here is a list of what each branch focuses on, along with a few examples.
Raider - for players looking to be unstoppable during Raids, along with some buffs and abilities focused on general combat efficiency.
Infiltration - while raiding, zipline further into the enemy base
Juggernaut - destroying a wall provides a short duration overshield
Spearhead - you receive a Domesplitter and a Thumper Charge when your Siege Tower rolls in
Harvester - for players who are looking to increase their Vesper gain and the power of their Warden Axe
Heavy Swing - you swing your axe with two hands, instantly destroying Vesper Nodes
Shatter Orb - destroy enemy soul orbs with your Throwing Axe or Regular Axe Swing
Field Crafting - Create Armor, Equipment and Raid Tools in the battlefield
Treasure Hunter - for those players who love to loot
Treasure Seeker - hidden chests can be found and opened at PoIs
Archaeologist - Can sell items to Trader Flynn
Artifact Mastery - Amulets have a bonus magical property when equipped
Protector - for players who enjoy defending and keeping the team together
Resonant Walls - reinforced walls are more durable
Unbreakable Armor - once every 2 minutes, armor loss is prevented on death
Vanguard - while defending your base, allies can spawn on you
You can unequip a skill easily, and you can Reset all your points at no cost by clicking the button at the bottom.
We’ve tuned the XP gain to be very fast so players can earn points quickly and enjoy the full spectrum of the feature.
New Warden - Koldo
Koldo was discovered on Highguard. A lost soul from long before the continent disappeared, trapped inside a suit of armor, he searches for answers to his past. Koldo uses the power of his soul to protect his allies.
Passive: Guardian Angel
Protect any friendly orbs around you from destruction.
Automatically deploy your shield when reviving allies.
Tactical: Soul Shield
Deploy a shield for you and your allies.
Ultimate: Battle Cry
Koldo raises a standard that creates a protective dome. He can pick up and carry the standard, and drop it again at will.
Being inside the dome gives allies faster health regeneration.
New Weapon - The Switchback
The Switchback brings unparalleled versatility, comfortably handling both close range and long range encounters. When used in hipfire, it’s a shotgun. Aiming down the sights will transition the weapon into a marksman rifle.
The name “Switchback” originates from its unique double-barrel design. You’re able to rapidly shoot twice before needing a rechamber, though you also can pace your shots to keep up a continuous stream of fire.
In the field, many Wardens have sought to wield the Switchback. Only a few have truly learned to master it.
Gold Versions
The Switchback has 2 gold versions that can be found in loot chests, or with Trader Flynn.
Basebreaker
Repeater
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.
This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Requiem.
Resident Evil Requiem is now in our hands and, as our review makes clear, it’s a massive success. But what’s next for Capcom’s long-running horror series? Resident Evil has settled into a release cadence over the last few years that alternates between new mainline entries and extravagant remakes. With the most recent remake being an overhaul of Leon S. Kennedy’s iconic Spain-set adventure,Resident Evil 4, the next one up on the docket is likely to be Chris Redfield’s co-op odyssey,Resident Evil 5. That would be interesting for many reasons, but to make matters more intriguing, one of Resident Evil Requiem’s third act plot reveals seems to hint at the ways Capcom intends to alter the series’ continuity in a hypothetical remake of the fifth mainline chapter. Let’s take a look at how Requiem may be quietly setting up a lore-altering remake of Resident Evil 5.
Big Spencer
Even people who have never played a Resident Evil game before have probably at least heard of the Umbrella Corporation, the nefarious pharmaceutical company behind many of the series' biohazardous events. Who they’re less likely to be familiar with is Oswell E. Spencer, the founder and CEO of Umbrella. Although he’s rarely made direct appearances in the games, Spencer could arguably be considered the overarching antagonist of the entire franchise. The first game took place in his mansion, after all, and the series’ dense web of viruses, monsters, and shady villainous factions almost all tie back to Spencer in one way or another because of his initial work with bioweapons.
Resident Evil Requiem brings Spencer back in the spotlight, but in an unexpected way that recontextualizes his place in the Resident Evil universe. Where previous lore depicted Spencer as a megalomaniacal oligarch who wanted to remake the world using weaponized viruses, Requiem presents a more human side of this ambitious scientist.
In the game’s final act, protagonist Grace Ashcroft learns that her mother, reporter Alyssa Ashcroft, interviewed Spencer in his twilight years. As part of their meeting, Spencer explained that he’d been taking care of an orphaned infant – Grace herself – and gave her to Alyssa to raise. He also seemed to express genuine remorse for all the death and destruction he’d caused. Requiem doubles down on this idea with the twist that Elpis, Spencer’s secret final project that the villains have been seeking all game long, is not a new bioweapon like they believed, but in fact an antiviral agent that can cure infections caused by Umbrella’s viruses. In Requiem’s “good” ending, Grace realizes that Spencer wanted to atone for his actions by using Elpis to nullify the bioweapons he once created. She releases the antiviral into the world, and Leon is saved from his T-Virus infection.
The scene of Spencer and Alyssa’s conversation is remarkable because it managed to evoke pity and even a bit of sympathy from me for a character who I know is an egotistical madman responsible for numerous atrocities and millions of deaths. That’s the power of strong writing and voice work. But while making Spencer more sympathetic serves a self-contained purpose within Requiem’s story, the idea that he had regrets before his death carries huge implications for the series’ established canon, especially as it relates to Resident Evil 5’s place in the timeline.
Flashback Attack
Spencer made one of his few in-person appearances in Resident Evil 5, popping up in aflashback cutscene that featured him talking with another recurring series antagonist, Albert Wesker. Spencer is shown as an old man in a wheelchair, barely clinging to life while still espousing his eugenics-minded philosophy. He raves about how he had the “right to be a god,” and reveals to Wesker that he was part of a program designed to create superior beings whom Spencer was to be the master of. Wesker then kills Spencer, saying that he was “arrogant even until the end.”
This is Spencer’s canonical death, although this version of him is incongruous with the revelations in Requiem. But that might not be a problem if a Resident Evil 5 remake reworks this scene and Spencer’s role in the plot to fit with his newer, more regretful portrayal.
Spencer’s death in Resident Evil 5’s main campaign is merely part of a cutscene, but the sequence became more interactive with the Lost in Nightmares DLC. The expansion sees Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine battle Wesker shortly after he kills Spencer, with you fighting in the very same room he commits the deed in. Should this sequence be recreated and integrated into the main campaign of a potential RE5 remake, Capcom would have the opportunity to rewrite Spencer's final moments so they line up better with Requiem’s reveals. This could be the first moment in the series’ timeline that our heroes learn of Spencer’s real feelings on his legacy. And with the DLC being one of the only parts of RE5 that mechanically feels akin to the franchise’s classic survival horror gameplay, it’s a prime candidate for a level that could be included in a remake that would, presumably, look to reformat the story to better suit the series’ renewed survival horror ambitions.
Capcom has already been fairly liberal with Resident Evil remakes making adjustments to previous continuity.
It makes a certain amount of sense for Capcom to do this, because this very scene has already been the subject of a retcon. The villains’ conversation sees Spencer claim that Albert was the only survivor of the Wesker program, but that turned out to be untrue when we learned about Alex Wesker, who was the main villain of Resident Evil: Revelations 2.
Capcom has already been fairly liberal with its Resident Evil remakes making adjustments to previous continuity. The first game’s remake introduced entirely new characters, the most notable being Lisa Trevor, the daughter of the Spencer Mansion’s architect. Umbrella used Lisa as a test subject, and her mutated body was the vessel from which William Birkin, one of the main villains of RE2, first harvested that game’s G-Virus. Resident Evil 2’s remake, meanwhile, adds a lot of flesh and nuance to characters like Ada Wong, Marvin Branagh, and Annette Birkin.
Most pressingly, Resident Evil 4’s remake ends with Ada stealing the dominant plaga sample (referred to as “the Amber”) and refusing to give it to Wesker, something that very much did not happen in the original game. Since Wesker’s work with Las Plagas created many of the threats present in Resident Evil 5, this alteration (as well as the reveal that Wesker recovered Jack Krauser’s corpse), hints that the context for how RE5’s monsters come to be will be different in the seemingly inevitable remake.
What Does This Mean For Resident Evil 5?
Recent Resident Evil games hinting that the events of RE5 will be different in the new continuity are pretty big clues that a remake of the fifth game is all but assured. While the remakes have been a largely successful creative endeavor, Resident Evil 5 in particular is an interesting subject for a remake. Both its mechanical and narrative relationships to the rest of the franchise are somewhat fraught, and a remake provides the opportunity to smooth over those discrepancies. I doubt that a remake would ditch the co-op campaign – one of the original version’s most beloved and foundational features – but the game marked the point where it was borderline impossible to argue that the series was still trying to be a survival horror game. Resident Evil 4 got away with the shift to a more action-heavy style because it revolutionized third-person shooting and was a masterclass in tension. RE5 doesn’t have the same pedigree and moved even further away from the atmosphere of the early games, something that could be rectified in a remake.
I say this as a fan of the fifth game: it could really use some serious changes. I have played through Resident Evil 5 somewhere north of 20 times, on multiple platforms and with many different co-op partners. It’s an excellent game to throw on with a buddy, and is easy to play as a casual hangout activity. That said, the series’ adherence to the “stop and shoot” mechanic, as appropriate as it is for the classic entries, is not conducive to the fast-paced two-person experience RE5 wants to be, nor is its incredibly primitive attempt at cover mechanics for specific encounters. A version of RE5 that uses the many refinements the franchise has made to its gameplay in the years since the original’s release would let it feel more fresh and dynamic instead of an awkward midpoint between Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.
More substantively, the Resident Evil remakes have done a tremendous job of improving the franchise’s narrative credibility with stronger writing and more believable performances while not significantly altering the actual plots of each respective entry. Resident Evil 5 could use this more than most, both because it pushes RE4’s carefully considered campy tone a bit too far into maximalist absurdism, and also because the game did not do the best job of navigating the perils of being a horror game with an African setting. RE5 has been a subject of controversy for racial insensitivity since before it was even released, and while your mileage may vary on how big of a problem that is for you, it’s difficult to absolve the game of the accusation. Not even secondary protagonist Sheva Alomar being a heroic figure can eliminate how misguided some parts of RE5 are. It’s not that the story can't be set in Africa, but the game’s middle chapters with plaga-infested tribal warriors could be easily swapped out for something that feels more in line with contemporary sensibilities.
No matter how Capcom decides to tackle a Resident Evil 5 remake, the alterations in these recent games indicate that the studio won't be faithfully remaking RE5's story. Quite how changes to Spencer's legacy and Ada Wong's decision will change the direction of any hypothetical remake is not yet clear, so we can't yet say if such retcons will pave the way for Capcom to better align the game with the creative sensibilities of the modern era, or if it simply means the lore around its story will feature minor adjustments.
We don't know what the next Resident Evil game following Requiem will be, but whenever the Resident Evil 5 remake does come together, it seems like it won't be exactly like we remember it.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
If you’ve spent any time in Resident Evil Requiem’s Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center, you know to steer absolutely clear of “the chef." A towering, burly, machete-wielding shambler, he’s the toughest “regular” zombie Grace can face in Requiem’s terrifying first half. The only way to take him down is to stock up on bullets, Hemolytic Injectors, and a whole lot of courage.
Or just get one of the noise-sensitive zombies to one-shot him.
As you’ll probably already know, there are a number of different zombie types or “characters” in Rhodes Hill. Among them are audio-sensitive patients who will lash out at anything that makes too much noise. If you’ve unlocked the Internal Dispute trophy, you’ll know you can exploit that quirk to get this zombie type to attack other enemies. That’s exactly what X user @neko_sougo did, baiting the noise-hater into attacking the chef. The results are unbelievable: a one-hit kill.
It seems impossible, and it is… well, certainly on the standard difficulty level. But this video clip seems to have been captured from an Insanity difficulty run. That would not only explain the massive amount of damage the zombie can inflict, but also the location of this one-sided brawl. Typically the chef hangs out in the kitchen, and later patrols the adjoining hallway of the west wing’s first floor. The noise-hating zombie, meanwhile, is located one floor up, in the office, which is where this clip was filmed. And so the chef has had to be baited far away past his typical patrol boundaries, something that the Insanity difficulty allows for.
There’s another clip to further suggest the noise-hater is a juggernaut on Insanity mode. User @SparkingSushi posted a clip showing the patient one-shotting Chunk, Rhodes Hill’s grotesque stalker enemy. To be clear: Chunk is the most formidable enemy in this section of the game. He takes no less than three Hemolytic Injectors to kill on standard difficulty. A hit to the cranium with a metal pole shouldn’t flatline him. And yet here’s the evidence in full-colour.
While these clips do seem to suggest that the noise-hater is incredibly powerful at Insanity difficulty, there are other things to consider. Requiem has only recently been released, and so hasn’t had every patch it’s likely to get across its lifetime — perhaps, then, this is a bug. We should also consider the idea that the clips are rigged. In a world where we’d all like our clips to go viral (and the chef one very much has, with 2 million views on @neko_sougo’s post and a further 2.5m views on a repost from @REBiohazardNews), we shouldn’t discount that perhaps the chef had been heavily damaged before the camera started rolling, allowing for the one-shot kill.
Should the power of this zombie be real, though, then it’s not only a very cool quirk, but potentially a wildly useful addition to Grace’s toolkit during an Insanity run. Forget pistols, knives, and lethal blood injections, all you need is a few glass bottles to bait all of your foes towards the insta-kill I.V. drip.
Bungie has finally revealed Marathon’s premium currency, called LUX, while promising it can’t be used to buy gameplay advantages.
In a tweet, the official Marathon account reiterated that seasonal gameplay content is free for all players. This includes zones and Runner shells (playable characters) for the extraction shooter.
“There is no pay for power,” Bungie said. Premium Pass rewards only include cosmetics, not gameplay items. And LUX can only be used for cosmetics, “not gameplay advantages.”
Meanwhile, Reward Passes do not expire, so you can buy a previous season’s Reward Passes. You unlock rewards in your Rewards Passes using Silk, which is earned by playing the game. You can’t buy SILK. You can also earn cosmetics via the Codex, with others available for purchase.
Confirmation of Marathon’s premium currency comes just hours before the game itself goes live (check out the Marathon release times here).
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.
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse — announced at Sony's State of Play showcase last month as part of Konami's celebration of Castlevania's 40th(!) anniversary — will play like a classic Castlevania game rather than a roguelike, despite the expertise of the studio making it.
That's according to Konami, which told The Verge earlier this week that while the game is in development by Dead Cells maker Motion Twin, it will play like a traditional Castlevania game.
"Castlevania Belmont's Curse is a 2D action-exploration game where players can freely explore vast, elaborately crafted maps," Konami's Tommy Williams said. "It is not a roguelike or roguelite game."
As for why Konami's making this clear now? Well, the announcement trailer did leave some fans wondering about the gameplay, not least because some thought they spotted a whip card pop-up on screen, as though it was a roguelike power-up.
As one prospective player said on Reddit following Konami's clarification: "Okay NOW I'm interested. I'm so sick of Metrovania games that are roguelike or roguelite or Soulslike, for that matter." Another simply said: "I wouldn't want it any other way, to be honest."
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is out later this year on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and is already available to pre-order. The new stylized 2D Castlevania game co-developed by Evil Empire and Motion Twin is set in 1499, where Medieval Paris is engulfed in flames as monstrous creatures suddenly emerge from the shadows. Armed with the legendary holy whip, the Vampire Killer, Trevor Belmont’s successor ventures into the burning streets and the looming castle to hunt down the beasts.
Konami says this is just the first announcement to mark the series' fourth decade, which started way back on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and has since spawned a hugelysuccessful and critically acclaimed adult animated series on Netflix.
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.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the latest Universes Beyond set for Magic: The Gathering, and it's out this week. If you’re already sold on meeting up with cardboard versions of the Heroes in a Half Shell, their friends, and their foes, then I've got some great news.
Amazon is once again discounting booster boxes, which are now down to their lowest-ever price. This is $124.99, which we saw briefly just a few weeks back, before Amazon hiked it back up to $143.84 for some time. With a return to that low price so soon before release, this is the best time to preorder and secure 30 booster packs at the best price possible.
This is a certified $84.71 in savings compared to its original $209.70 list price. That's also just over $4 for each booster ($4.17, to be precise), which is more than a couple of bucks off what you’d usually pay when buying them individually.
Also, just a heads up, Amazon has a preorder price guarantee, so if it drops even further or somehow goes back up in price between now and release day, you can be absolutely certain that you're paying the lowest price possible.
TMNT has been going through something of a price crash over the past week, with big discounts already available on highly sought after products in the line up, like the Turtle Power Commander Deck dropping to just under $55, and $15 off its MSRP.
That's alongside the Draft Night restock that promptly got an even bigger discount, and is now available to preorder for just $86.99, a massive deal compared to its $119.99 list price.
There's also been a massive restock, followed by discounts on Collector Boosters this week, which should be of interest to anyone wanting to chase the rarest cards going from the new set.
We saw similar drops for Spider-Man, which would be a little worrisome if Avatar hadn’t got the same treatment - and that set was great.
For more on Magic: The Gathering, check out the wild ride that is the game’s 2026 set lineup, as well as our guide to buying the first set of the year, Lorwyn Eclipsed, which launched earlier this year, and already has some mighty impressive cards that are racking up a tidy price on resale.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor, and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Bluesky.
This article also contains contributions from Lloyd Coombes. Lloyd is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
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