Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4's Ork campaign is chronologically the first of four, kicking off our explosive return to the planet Kronus. And we're kicking off a month of very orky IGN First coverage with their opening cinematic (watch it above), setting the stage for a load of krumpin'. You gotta respect the boyz for knowing what they're about and living their truth, even if their truth is largely mayhem and murder. They never pretend to be anything they're not, you know.

The action starts with an Ork assault on one of the last battle barges of the Blood Ravens chapter of Space Marines. The long-time protagonists of the Dawn of War series, the red-clad Astartes are in a bad spot at this point in the 42nd Millennium, with the chapter barely clinging to life. And their return to Kronus hasn't gone unnoticed, with their perennial rival in the warboss Gorgutz meeting them head-on. It's the biggest and meanest we've ever seen him, trivially snapping a Primaris marine in half with his Mega Armor exoskeleton.

As the surviving Blood Ravens try to escape their doomed ship – led by returning heroes Commander Cyrus and Chief Librarian Jonah Orion – Gorgutz orders his Ork Rok (basically just a big asteroid full of orks with rockets built in) to crash on the planet and pursue the beakies. But the Ork campaign won't just be about his story, as there's a native warboss on Kronus already who isn't eager to bend the knee to this Nob from the sky.You'll get to learn a lot more about him, and the Ork campaign and battle mechanics, all month long as part of IGN First. So keep an eye out for our interviews with the creative director for Dawn of War 4, a demonstration of the new synced melee animation system, and a hands-on preview of the first several campaign missions.

For now, don't miss our first preview of the upcoming RTS sequel, and stay tuned for our exclusive new coverage all January long! And you can wishlist Dawn of War 4 on Steam if you're interested.

When asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, famed British mountaineer George Mallory famously offered the simple reply, "Because it’s there.” After several hours playing through an exclusive, hands-on demo of Cairn, the upcoming climbing-survival sim from The Game Bakers, I’m beginning to understand what ol’ George was on about. My time on the mountain was filled with arduous climbs punctuated with periods of quiet reflection, life-or-death battles against the elements, and a combined sense of victory and wonder as I reached higher and higher. Tape those fingers, chalk your hands, and get ready to dig in; this climb will be a test of wits and endurance.

Get a Grip

I stand at the base of a stone wall as small cracks and ledges pockmark the surface. I tentatively reach up a hand to grab a chest-high hold, and begin to slowly hoist myself up the face of the cliff. I’m working slowly and cautiously through the day and into the night, fearful to make a wrong move and plunge to my death. There are a few tense moments as my arms begin to shake, a telltale-sign that they are ready to give out, but, with a carefully placed belay for safety, I make it to the top. There, under a canopy of stars, I see Mt. Kami in the distance, a towering and ferocious summit as yet untamed by mountaineers, and our goal on this climb.

The deliberate, highly-manual control of climbing reminds me a bit of Manual Samuel, or even QWOP, where the challenge lies in your ability to precisely control each limb. However, while games like that ratchet up the struggle as you fight with your intentionally obtuse and flailing character, in Cairn, Aava is your partner, and a highly skilled one. While the majority of control is in the player's hand, she makes the connection to the cliff itself, and seems to be smart about her grips. Place one of her hands on an outcropping and she will grab on, slide a leg towards a narrow crack and she will wedge her foot in as best she can. It feels like a 90-10 sharing of responsibility, and as I ascended up the face of Mount Kami, I couldn’t help but feel a level of trust with Aava that grew with each leg of the climb.

There’s an ebb and flow to the climbing. Sometimes, clear hand and footholds make for a fast and controlled ascent. Often, though, the path isn’t so clear or friendly, and I have to make due with wedging a foot against a flat surface, or gripping around the outside corner of a rock, taking advantage of Aava’s crushing grip strength when there’s no edge to take hold of. These work temporarily, but exertion quickly expends energy. Small shakes in limbs giving way to tremors and audible sounds of distress indicate these grips are about to break. Maybe you can buy time by shaking out an exhausted hand or leg, but you will ultimately need to get to a firm and sustainable position, or risk losing hold entirely, and joining the untold number of climbers that never made it back from their attempt to scale Mount Kami.

A core promise of Cairn is that you can essentially climb anywhere, that all of the rock face is your playground. However, you don’t just stick to surfaces like a tree frog the way Link does in Breath of the Wild; picking your route is essential to ensure you have the cracks and other holds necessary to make headway. Calling the climbing a puzzle would be reductive, it’s more like a toybox filled with puzzles for you to choose from. There’s no yellow paint to mark the path, but you can pull the camera out for a wide view to help with the decision making (and enjoy the gorgeous vista while you are at it.) Sometimes it’s a straightforward choice, like a slower, but easier route, or a faster, but more challenging course. But often it’s more complex than that, with options that mix tough segments in different orders, or appear easy overall save for a section that doesn't have a clear path, and you’ll just need to figure it out when you get there.

Fortunately, Aava has more than just her physical prowess to assist with her climb. Climbot is her trusty robot companion, following close behind and carrying an end of Aava’s climbing rope. By driving a piton into the rock, she can build a belay, loop the rope through the piton to the bot, catching her if she falls, and allowing her to lean off the cliff to rest, or rappel down. There’s a limited supply, but once you reach a flat section, Climbot can collect the piton to use again. These are really handy for saving progress on long climbs, and can be literal life savers, especially if used before heading into particularly tricky sections. They do take a bit of time to set properly, though, which I learned the hard way when I realized too late that I was going to lose my grip and hadn’t secured myself to the mountain.

Live to Climb Another Day

I’ve reached the top of a few cliff faces now, and am growing more confident. I’m climbing faster, and reading the surface of the mountain more clearly, making better choices about which routes to take. As I near the top of another climb, I spot some scribbles on the wall, a drawing and message from a young climber who came this way. I pull myself up and prepare to make camp when another Climbot, similar to mine but badly damaged, drags itself into view before breaking down entirely. Its solo descent from some untold altitude, with no sign of its owner, tells the grim story of what likely transpired. A short while later, I come around a bend near a waterfall, and find the remains of a climber. Aava kneels down over her fallen comrade, telling them gently, “Sometimes you come for the mountain. Sometimes the mountain comes for you.”

Mt. Kami is a dangerous place, particularly for a solo climber. As you climb you face the ever-present threat of a deadly fall, but that’s not all the mountain has to throw at you. Cold weather can sap your strength and health, rain can erode your grip, while storms and nightfall rob you of visibility. You’ll also need to stay fed and hydrated to survive, and tend to physical wear and tear of Aava’s hands.

Thankfully, this mountain isn’t all sheer walls and rocky outcroppings. Long climbs are punctuated with terraces, flat areas part way up the mountain, and caves offering a respite from the ascent. Here, temporary campsites called Bivouacs offer a place to save and pitch your tent. Nestled in her shelter, Aava is protected from the elements, and can cook meals on her stove, sort through her pack, and catch up on some much-needed rest to restore her health. This is also a good time to prepare for what’s next by taping up bloody fingers and preparing warm food and drink to better endure dropping temperatures.

This is a long climb, and will take more resources than can fit in a single backpack. While you can occasionally grab edible plants mid-climb, it’s these terraces and caves where scavenging opportunities really present themselves. Streams, waterfalls, and ponds can refill your canteen, while local flora and fauna, like dandelions and fish, afford a chance to gather things to cook or eat. Bear-proof boxes or abandoned supplies might be right in front of you, other times you need to stray off the beaten path and explore.

Call of the Mountain

I’m now four days into this ascent, and I feel like I must be thousands of feet above where I started. I’m climbing extremely well now, finding narrow footholds and recognizing more ways to maintain my grip, but there’s something going on with Aava. I can’t quite put my finger on what, but there’s more to it than just trying to be the first to tame Mount Kami. Her agent has called a few times via Climbot, but she’s ignored him enough times that it seems less funny, more intentional. She was cheery enough following a message from friends with some well wishes, but when the smile faded, she looked more pained than pleased. I keep thinking back to a moment after Climbot plays back a message from Aava’s partner, some innocent updates about the going-ons back home. The way she turns to her mechanical companion, no offer of thanks or a smile, instead rebuking it with, “Happy now robot? You’ve ruined everything.” Something isn’t right, and I don’t know what.

While Cairn seems to be about the journey and struggle of the climb, don’t take that to mean that story takes a back seat. The Game Bakers have been clear that we might see some other climbers on our ascent, and, while what I’ve seen has mostly been the focused solitude of one person’s fight against gravity, the bits of dialogue from Aava and audio playback from Climbot have contributed enough pieces to the narrative mosaic in my three hours or so that I’m starting to get a better sense of who Aava is, and that whatever is driving this death-defying climb is something she’s willing to risk her life for. But I don’t know why, and every time I pull myself farther up the mountain it’s with the hope that it’s pulling me a bit closer to finding out.

The same can be said for Mount Kami itself. These often sheer, jagged cliffs give off an unmistakable hostility, but the waterways and greenery give it an undeniable serenity at times too. There’s a complex identity and history to this mountain, one that’s uncovering the further I climb. At one point in my demo I came across cave-dwellings that had been carefully sculpted into multiple homes and common areas, with a few abandoned writings that helped understand the people who lived there, and a bit of their relationships with the adventurers who came through. Later, a covered shelf acting as a platform for some abandoned tents, with journals wondering about the presence of bears, gives me a sense of dread about why they are abandoned and what might be waiting ahead. A broken cable car and toppled-over vending machine (with some convenient snacks) help fill in the story told of a place that was once more accessible and open to the world, but has since become more closed off.

As my time with the Cairn demo comes to an end I find myself thinking more about Mount Kami, about how I could approach every area I climbed differently the next time, and what awaits farther up. I’m invested in the story, but just as intrigued in the idea of talking to friends about their routes and watching others take on the mountain, especially those brave enough to challenge the piton-less, permadeath Free-Solo difficulty. Fortunately, I won’t need to wait much longer to test the mountain again, Cairn plants its flag on PS5 and PC on January 29th.